J K Rowling: "I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination"

Rowling is such a beautiful writer. Here are a few quotes from her 2008 Commencement Speech at Harvard.

"Talent and intelligence never yet innoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates..." 

"And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life." 

"Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes." 

"As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters."

I love her choice of words. An exquisite speech and masterpiece of writing. A transcript of her speech can be found here: http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/06/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination

Bruno Mars Performs 'Grenade'

Not many pop singers-songwriters today capture my attention. To me, they are either not "singing" (but talking gibberish) or their voices are drowned by all the digitization. Not to mention some who absolutely have zero talent but think their lives are worth beaming to the world as entertainment. Ouch, sarcastic much, ;-P. I am sure some doctoral student must be studying these media trends right now, LOL. But this Bruno Mars, methinks he is talented. Thanks Ellen! (Yes, The Ellen Show). "I'd catch a grenade for love", anyone else thought of this line before? OK, Taio Cruz wrote Dynamite, Katy Perry wrote Firework... those songs just didn't do anything for me. Another song, "Just the way you are" was performed on Glee Season 2 Episode 8 Furt. When Glee covers your song, you know you've arrived. Here's wishing him success and that he will use his talent to help make a positive difference in the world.

Update: Jan 12, 2011 - I thought I'd elaborate on my criteria for labeling BM as creative/talented. It is based primarily on his creative output since I don't know this chap -- his songs, his vocal quality/delivery, my subjective experience of his performance, and probably that of others too (Glee) added up to my overall Gestaltian perception of and reception to his performances - "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts".