time flies like an arrow
21/04/2008
How I know I’m a child of the times:
I was born in the 70s.
Stuff I listen to hit the airwaves in the 80s.
I discovered the loveliness of staying up late (and waking up even later) in the 90s.
But I can’t believe it’s not the year 2000 anymore.
How the world evolved since I came into existence:
The first Rhytidectomies were attempted in the 70s. The rate I go (sunscreenless sometimes though usually thoroughly moisturised) I might need one.
In the 80s big hair was all the rage, and all I can remember was hearing about the Iran-Iraq War on the news.
And everyone discovered the big fat dubdubdub in the 90s, so that went by pretty darn quickly. Maybe my world stopped because of Y2K.
And before I know it, here we are, in 2008 where – my friends and siblings have a truckload of kids in tow and I catch myself wondering if there’s something wrong with me for not wanting any; I’ve virtually stopped watching TV; I don’t even go to shopping physically, I shop for everything electronically; I can drive a car *the horror!*; 80% of the songs on my iPod is an 80s/90s ‘oldie’.
Funny how time flies.
the charm is in the little differences
17/04/2008
Yesterday we followed our weekly routine and found ourselves at Target. While I was focused deeply in the subtle differences between Dr Scholls Sport Insoles vs 16 Hour Insoles vs Comfort Insoles – and mind you, it is a pretty high involvement decision so I was taking it really seriously – I felt someone walk up to me from the perpendicular aisle. She rustled up close casually, and with a voice that made me think of honey in rosewater, she said, “Honey, this is for you” as she shoved a card into my hand and moved behind me from right to left. I turned around, perplexed, to find a dark haired, medium built lady with sharp, dark features and olive complexion staring back at me. She had her hair pulled back from her face, and wore a dark overcoat.
“You need a psychic reading?” she asked with Eastern European inflected American.
“Um, no thank you.” I replied, in Singlish inflected English.
With that, she went on to inspecting the dental products on the shelf behind me. And I tried to get back to my mental shoe insole comparison, but to no avail.
What the hell just happened? Did she just ask me if I need a reading?? Did she just ask only ME?? And she’s now looking at toothpaste??
I glanced at the card she shoved in my hand, and I guess it finally hit me that I should expect the unexpected here. My home in the country.
I wonder if KF felt this strange displacement while living in our home in the city.
Today at Best Buy when some average looking kid – Asian, a little tubby, probably 14 or 15, in his expensive Nikes and spectacles, something you’d see in a heartland mall – blurted out oh my Gard, I don’t wanna be a wrestler while playing with a Wii demo, I thought someone turned the TV on.
I guess I’m used to KF and his family speaking to me in American, but when I hear it outside the family unit, it’s just, weird. Surreal. Unreal.
Every thing works a little differently. Walking down the street, we chanced a retiree getting out of his home. He made eye contact while we were having our conversation, and I guess it was my cue to say something. I offered a – Good afternoon – and he smiled and said lovely day today, isn’t it?.
Little things like that. In our City Home, I don’t speak to my neighbours even if we’re in the same lift all the way to the 26th floor – we smile and mumble hello, but that’s about it. And if we’re talking, they usually arm themselves with a bunch of questions, like “which unit do you live in?” or “you buy or you rent, ah?”.
No one makes inconsequential small talk. Which is a lot more polite than the probing questions I’m usually subjected to. At least I don’t have to fib my answers.
It still gets to me when I hear the youngsters here talk. People who look just like the kids and young’uns back at City Home, but sound like the young’uns on our imported TV shows. I can’t describe it, but each time it serves as a little wrenching reminder that Oh dear! I’m keep forgetting I’m not in Kim Seng!
It’s funny for now. It remains to be seen if it’ll be funny later on when I remember I can’t click my ruby slippers and zap home.
sprung
12/04/2008
It’s the middle of Spring, and it’s getting hot. It is about 26°C today, and it’s making me all sweaty. I’m not even outside. I need a new sunscreen.
In other news, the Olympic Torch came and left San Francisco in a huff. Loads of people were all ready to make their stand and protest something or another as the poor runners just did their job and ran with a torch on fire, but were a little annoyed when the Mayor did a little switcheroo and they ran a different route.
You’d think with all that’s going on in the US, or even just SF, they’d be protesting more relevant issues.
know thyself
01/04/2008
The most useful book I’ve ever read is this: The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. Strange to start with such heavy stuff, and I won’t bore you with the details of when and why, suffice to say, it was pretty enlightening. Literally, it was like someone turned on a light in an area of my world that I chose to ignore. And I think and hope I now know myself and my motivations a little better, and am a little more honest with myself. And perhaps the people around me.
Today as I was stuck doing some routinely mundane things by myself, I started listening to the 98% of my processor that was idling while the 2% was focused on tasks. It was rambling as usual, but when I pieced together all the various rambles throughout the day and throughout the weeks, months and years, I found myself with an undeniable fact in a mountainload of evidence.
In fact, the mountain of undeniable empirical data is now just staring me in the face, taunting me to spill it.
And since I have no insecurities, (HAHHAHAHA!!! Liar!!!) I will.
I have – 3 states of being (and my being is really discontentment most times).
I am either hungry, sleepy, too hot or too cold (depending on how close I am to the equator).
Sadly, I’m probably not as evolved as the average human.
Take today for instance – it’s an average day. I wake up at about 9am, and by 10am I’m starving. So I have some breakfast. Getting breakfast makes me tired. But I plough through it nonetheless till about 1pm, when I’m beyond hungry. I eat again, but all that eating makes me sleepy. So I goof off a little and surf, and get some caffeine flowing through the system. It’s cold here, brrr… and I nurse a cup of hot tea. Come 3pm, I’m super-peckish, so off I head for some instant noodles, and I’m feeling good for maybe about 20 seconds. Then I feel the SF freeze in my bones. Errgghhh. Annoying. I plod on. Before I know it, it’s 5pm. I can’t do it anymore. I’m bored outta my mind. And the fatigue started to set in. We left at 6.30pm, and I was kinda looking forward to getting out and about, and to our drive ahead, but I started to get hungry again. So we went to dinner somewhere around the Sunset for a bite. But instead, I stuffed my face (was a really good Butterfish dinner set!) and almost fell asleep in the car.
And that’s how I’m completely discontented in a day, the ungrateful snot I am. HAHAA.
So here’s what I’m going to do, from today, April Fools’ Day (couldn’t ask for a better start, right?). I’m going to break out of my States of Discontentment and feel a different state. Something more positive. Something happier. Something more productive.
I know the best remedy it. You know why? Cos I pay attention to my processor! You can too. Just single out experiences which are positive and try to replicate those situations, or maximise their occurance. I just did. I opened a new window, went here, filtered a few searches, ended up here, and treated myself to a couple of the results.
It sure made me feel content, pleased and excited!
