Inspiration 365 Days!

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Nintendo is banned everywhere but the classroom at Tokyo Joshi Gakuen school in Japan as the ubiquitous DS consoles become the latest tool in English instruction.

Junior high school teacher Motoko Okubo has used the handheld DS and textbook software since May in weekly sessions focusing on vocabulary, penmanship and audio comprehension.

With years of games such as Super Mario on the prohibited list, she says students weren’t expecting the Nintendo welcome.

“They’ve been using it at home playing games, so at first they were surprised they can use it at school,” Okubo said.

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Ninety per cent of inspiration is perspiration.

— Proverb

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I’m working on my Happiness Project, and you should have one, too! Everyone’s project will look different, but it’s the rare person who can’t benefit. Join in — no need to catch up, just jump in right now. Each Friday’s post will help you think about your own happiness project.

This week — read something for fun!

I’ve noticed something when I ask people what they’re reading: they often name some highly estimable, dense, serious book, and then confess that they’ve been reading it for months.

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When an egg breaks by a power outside, a life ends. When an egg breaks by a power inside, a life begins. Great things always begin from the power inside!

— Author Unknown

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Hold on tight to your dream
Hold on tight to your dream
When you see your ship go sailing
When you feel your heart is breaking
Hold on tight to your dream.

It’s a long time to be gone
Time just rolls on and on
When you need a shoulder to cry on
When you get so sick of trying
Just hold tight to your dream

When you get so down that you can’t get up
And you want so much but you’re all out of luck
When you’re so downhearted and misunderstood
Just over and over and over you could

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Last April, I read this Time article and the numbers stunned me- “Every year, more than 500 billion plastic bags are distributed, and less than 3% of those bags are recycled. They are typically made of polyethylene and can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade in landfills that emit harmful greenhouse gases.”

More than the numbers, however, my main takeaway was that we (normal people and not scientists or radical activists) can do something about it- “Reducing your contribution to plastic-bag pollution is as simple as using a cloth bag (or one made of biodegradable plant-based materials) instead of wasting plastic ones. For your next trip to the grocery store, BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag).” Hmmmm, I can do that. And maybe I can get other people to do it, too.

Toys are no longer just child’s play in Japan, where an ageing population and expanding waistlines have spawned a wave of gadgets to help adults beat stress, battle the bulge or relieve loneliness.

From exercise assistants to dancing robots and nodding potted plants, Japanese toymakers are increasingly turning their attention to grown-ups as a growing market to make up for flagging sales to kids.

The shift comes amid increased efforts to get people into shape in a country where more than one fifth of the population is aged 65 or older, a percentage expected to rise to 40.5 percent in 2055, according to the government.

Meet Hasbro’s Ampbot, the mother of all Rollys

Cross a Segway with a Rolly and Miuro and out pops this A.M.P. soaked in a grey-goo afterbirth of Robotic procreation. The two-wheeled, dancing A.M.P. (Automated Music Personality or Ampbot) from Sega-Hasbro stands 2.4-feet tall and features a MP3 or iPod cradle on its back, stereo speakers, and the ability to follow and interact with its owner. There’s a 5-inch mid-range speaker in the chest and a pair of smaller tweeters in the shoulders for a total output of 12 watts. Osamu Takeuchi of Sega Toys says, “The owner can also enjoy being chased around the house by the robot.” Uh, yippee? The Ampbot and controller require 6x D and 3x AAA batteries for about 10-hours of continuous music. The stalking begins November for $745 $500 in the US and Japan.

Professor Randy Pausch made a surprise return to Carnegie Mellon University to deliver an inspirational speech to the Class of 2008 at the Commencement ceremony on May 18, 2008.

Pausch was included in TIME Magazine’s 2008 list of the world’s 100 most influential people. His book, “The Last Lecture,” co-written by Jeff Zaslow of the Wall Street Journal and based on Pausch’s now-famous talk “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” is a New York Times #1 bestseller.

Living Life with Cancer - Inspiring Many

Dr. Randy Pausch is a living inspiration. Diagnosed diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer in 2006, he has gone on to show people how to continue *living* even after getting the diagnosis of a terminal illness.

For his head-on, straight-forward, entertaining and motivational approach to facing the diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer, I would like to introduce my superhero, the incredible Dr. Randy Pausch, professor and author of the Last Lecture.

He even comes with his own Superhero outfit.

The Inspirational Randy Pausch