Was invited by a friend recently to attend a "Landmark" seminar. Didn’t want to reject a friend outright as I would a telemarketer. So I went to check out the website for more info. The layout of the website looked professional enough but I couldn’t figure out what the heck were they offering. It looked like another of those self-help / motivational course type of seminars (which I’m skeptical of) but everything was just so ambiguous. So I did a search online regarding "Landmark Education" and good grief! France has listed it as a group with cult-like traits.
Sure, there were positive reviews of the seminar and how it transformed lives – but those testimonials were found on Landmark’s website. Not very impartial I would say. Other websites and forums had scathing criticisms of it… and there were even some lawsuits initiated by people who suffered mental breakdown after attending the seminars (allegedly due to the brainwashing techniques used).
To be fair, I think those who sufferered mentally already had emotional issues to start with… and these issues were exacerbated by the verbal abuse participants are subjected to at the forum. That said… why would anyone pay money to get scolded?
Anyway, I rejected my friend’s invitation to attend a seminar. I can just see myself having a cat fight with any course leader that tries to scold me on stage in front of all the participants. Hmm… if anything, I may end up abusing the course leader till he/she cries. That would be funny. Hehe. Maybe I should attend on one of those bad weeks where everything goes wrong and I need to vent my frustrations. :P
Talking about venting frustrations… my mood is most foul in the morning. I am so not a morning person. Waking up early, rushing to get ready for work, getting stuck behind slow coaches at the MRT station and jostling for space in a crowded train puts me in an absolutely pissed off mood. However, a new toy I bought over the weekend has made packed morning train rides a lot more bearable. Please give a round of applause to the Nintendo DS Lite!
I bought a deep red DS Lite over the weekend. Found the games a little too childish/girly at first… and didn’t really like the fact that most games had to be played with the stylus. That’s till I got hooked on Space Invaders! Yes! The (I think) 30-year old game. It’s sooooo captivating that when I was stuck at Cityhall MRT this morning due to a train fault, I wished the fault would last longer (despite being late for work). Heh. I think the DS Lite is a good motivational tool. It makes me more cheery and forgiving in the morning. I’ve been brainwashed by aliens. Woohoo!
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