One of the things I learned in Japan was not to put too much on my plate. The nature of the training we did required us to do a lot of tasks, all under a deadline. There were times when I felt there was too much going on that I felt paralyzed by indecision. It sometimes felt like I had so much to do that I didn't know what to do first. What I did to cope was to focus on one thing at a time and shut out all the other pending jobs from my mind until I actually needed to deal with them.

If I thought too much about the sum of all the things I had to do for the day, it would be too much for me handle - as opposed to breaking them down in manageable chunks. If I concentrated on one thing and then move on to the next without worrying about anything else, it seemed like it would get everything done faster as a whole. This approach would allow me to finish the day's workload without getting too stressed out.

I think this is what I have to do now with my new job, because I honestly feel overwhelmed with all the assignments piling up. It feels like I'm in way over my head with all the research materials I have to read before getting into writing the newsletters I have to finish. Just thinking of all the stuff I have to get done makes me want to do nothing. It's a self-defeating mental habit I know, but I'll have to get around to it sooner or later.

We just saw the Incredible Hulk last night. I can't say it was a bad movie, because it honestly looks like a lot of effort was put into making this reboot. Any movie with Edward Norton and Tim Roth are justifications alone to go and see it, but I can't say I was blown away by this one. I was probably expecting too much, I guess. It was hard for me not to make comparisons with Ang Lee's version which unlike a lot of those out there, I liked immensely in spite of the "clunky and cartoonish" CGI. Come on, YOU try and make a Hulk without the aid of computers and see if it's the least bit convincing. Too talky and introspective? I didn't think so. The human interest throughout Lee's take on the not-so-gentle giant kept the whole thing afloat between the action scenes.

Anyway.

I'm not saying the new one didn't have scenes and dialogue of the same nature, but somehow there were a few things, in my opinion, that got in the way of fully enjoying the movie. I was probably expecting something else, but after a little hindsight I came to appreciate all the little details and references the film made to its pulp-based counterpart. After all, I never really read much of the comics to know how closely the movie follows the source material, but I think the key element still stands true in this version - namely, Banner's perpetual quest for inner peace.