Monthly Archive for June, 2009

swinging away for awhile

Published on June 25, 2009 in emotions and me. 10 Comments

swing_by_naupliosa1

Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes, we just don’t know what the reason is. Do we need to know? Maybe. Maybe not.

It’s pretty upsetting when certain things don’t happen. But I can’t always expect everything to happen, right? There is a reason for those things to not happen. Now, it’s a matter of accepting those facts and decide to move on, or to stay.

I’m taking a break off the blog for awhile – just because. No particular reason. Just because I can.

Toodles.

p/s: I’m getting a little excited now. Graduation is next week! I’ll have to drive down to KL alone, but it’s gonna be all good. I was hoping for certain things to happen so I wouldn’t have to go alone, but since it didn’t come true, I may just as well accept it. With a smile. :) Dreams aren’t meant to come true so easily anyway. *shrug*. I can still go home and dream.

will we ever learn?

Published on June 22, 2009 in emotions, family, life, love, people and thoughts. 14 Comments Tags: , , .

It is with deepest regrets that I’ve learned to accept that humans are so selfish to a point of no return. It is most upsetting to learn that selfishness can be seen, even in a family with blood relation or ppl who tells you they love you. It is mind blowing that someone who tells u in the face that they love you can still turn their backs on you when their happiness is at risk. We humans are sick beyond cure. And I think we will only get sicker.

All the goodness in life I’ve ever believed in tend to vanish right before my eyes. Things that mattered in life (in my personal opinion) are family, love and friends. When these ppl turns all selfish on you, you can only wonder how much meaner the world is outside of this circle of ppl whom you love.

I still want to believe in a thing called love. I still want to believe in a thing called genuine sacrifices. I still want to believe in a thing called putting yourself in others shoes. Just when you thought that things are getting better and faith is building up within you, something happens. Something bad happens. You hear stories about how obnoxious and selfish someone’s boss may be. You hear complains about family members not helping out when they could have been able to. You see certain phone calls that are still being made which makes ponder, or phone calls that should be made but have not been made at all. You read things you’re not supposed to from the web. You see before your very eyes the company you work for treats you like dirt and plays you out. When all these happens, that faith shatters. Whatever happened to the goodness in mankind?

After a while, you learn to pick up those shattered pieces and you put them back together again — in one piece. You start to believe again. Until something bad happens again. It is like a cycle. Every human has a limit. Picking up shattered hopes and dreams aren’t exactly a pleasant activity. After a while, some chooses to stop having faith anymore. How do you keep telling yourself to have faith in all the goodness when the things you see happening around you are total contradictory to what is believed as goodness?

Sometimes, this evil conscience within us does a summary of the things we see and tells us, “This is life. Suck it up and join us. Humans aren’t all that good after all. It’s a nasty world. To survive, you have to be one of us”. That’s how we end up joining the clan of selfishness. We become one of them when we give up hope and faith we have on life.

I am most definitely having trouble these days trying to believe in all this so-called goodness in life. I’ve tried to be optimistic and positive and to have faith in all the people that have come in my life that they are in most ways, good ppl. It is most depressing when the goodness you believe isn’t true. It is like you’re believing in something that can never happen. At least I feel cheated. I was taught to believe that to some certain extend, there will be goodness in life.

What about sacrifices? Genuine sacrifices; sacrifices that are made to make your loved ones happy, to see them have their dreams fulfilled and to see them smile. Isn’t that sort of sacrifices worthwhile? Isn’t that so much better than money itself? Or fame? Or pride? Even if that sacrifice causes you to lose something that you truly want, but if your loved one can fulfill his or her dream, why not right? I think it would have make me happier. Well, that’s me though.

Like I’ve once said; we will never learn the meaning of life until something drastic happens. We only know how to learn the lesson of appreciation through losing. It is so sad that only through drastic sadness can anyone learn about anything that is important in life. I still cannot understand why should we allow Death to teach us the lesson of appreciation? Or allow Lost to tell us what’s important? I thought humans are the smartest organism on Earth. We build skyscrapers, create new technology to make life simpler, find cures for illness, etc. And the same smart geniuses cannot figure out and understand simple facts like appreciation? It’s truly a joke. The joke is so on us. But it is so not funny, if you haven’t realize.

*shakes head in despair*.

I am not a perfect person. But at least I dare say that I know what’s important in life and what would make a person so much better and richer; and sometimes it’s not all about the money. Or maybe that’s just me. I should probably join the clan of selfishness. It is sometimes tired to uphold that belief when you cannot see concrete evidence that there is such goodness.

*sigh*.

Life is worthwhile, right? Life is beautiful, right? I should still have faith, right?

Happy Father’s Day

Published on June 21, 2009 in events and family. 2 Comments Tags: .

My dad is one funny, bad-tempered man. :) He’s not perfect, but he’s my dad. He’s still as old-school as ever when it comes to certain ideas and thoughts, but he’s open enough to accept certain new-school ideas. Sometimes he drives me up the wall, but I can still live with that.

My dad usually let’s us get away with anything. Well, unless it’s like some huge mistake we make, then getting off the hook wouldn’t be all that easy anymore. He’s our guinea pig to any new facial products we buy; mask, creams etc. I think he secretly loves all these girly stuff. :P

Music is one of his favorite things. I guess that’s why all 3 of us are somewhat musically inclined, getting his music genes.

Best of all, my father treats his daughters as his friends. :)

I won’t be celebrating Father’s Day with him this year coz he’s in KL right now, but I do hope he has a good time today.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY, DAD. :)

p/s: You know how google always creates logo and puts it on their mainpage whenever there are special events (i.e. Easter, Earth Day, New Year, Olympics) but why didn’t they do it for father’s day? I remember seeing it for mother’s day…

sometimes, there can only be one

Published on June 20, 2009 in emotions and love. 10 Comments Tags: , .

This is exactly what I mean by sometimes, there is no second chance for certain things. Yes, there will be others who will come by, but what good does it do if it is not as good as the one you want?

When it’s over, it’s over. If it means that much to you, then you wouldn’t want it to be over now would you?

BUT… do remember this;

Something to ponder, eh?

Have a good weekend.

p/s: I love tumblr too. :)

tweet tweet

Published on June 19, 2009 in people, stuff and thoughts. 6 Comments Tags: , , , .

I was browsing through my Facebook when I came across the status update by Threadless;

Threadless wants to remind all the Tweeters in the house to go tweet what tee you’re wearin’ with the #threadless hashtag! We’re giving away $25 gift codes all day!

Guess what? I am wearing one of my Threadless tees today. :) *woot woot* And I have most definitely tweet in hope of getting that $25 gift code. I hope I get lucky today.

Anyway, I saw a bunch of ppl left comments on the status and went ahead to read it, only to realize that there is a huge hu-ha discussion about twitter! :P

twitter

There are still ppl who aren’t a big fan of twitter. I guess it’s how a person views this very popular social link app. To me, it’s merely microblogging. You can write anything you want. Infos are being exchanged faster and easier, including pictures. It’s like the status update feature on Facebook, minus all the other applications and features you get on Facebook. :P  With certain apps downloaded to your mobile, you can even tweet using your mobile when you’re on the go. I know a lot of other social links can do the same thing, but twitter is just simpler.

Then again, the above statement is only my personal opinion. You don’t have to agree with me. Btw, I am truly a twitter addict. You can opt to follow me on twitter if you’re one too. :)

There are pros and cons for each and every single social links that has been invented. It’s just a personal prefence. But if threadless is going to give out $25 gift codes for sending out a tweet, why not?! Btw, I love threadless too. :P

so u think u can spell?

Published on June 14, 2009 in events, people and stuff. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I was watching the Scripps 2009 National Spelling Bee finals on ESPN earlier today and I am still very much amazed by how well these kids spell. Mind you but I am so not talking about spelling simple everyday words, but these are crazy-I-don’t-think-I’ll-hear-any-normal-human-being-use-’em-daily type words. I was very much flabbergasted. I think at one point, my mouth just hung open. I was even clapping to the success of every speller.

The champion for this year’s competition is 13 year old Kavya Shivashankar. The word that got her to victory is Laodicean (it has 2 distinct meaning: of or relating to Laodecia, or indifferent in matters of religion). *gulp*. Yup, I don’t even know how to pronounce that word. I don’t know how to use that word to make a sentence. I just don’t know. Do normal humans use that word?

I don’t even remember the rest of the words that the competitors are asked to spell during the competition. I’m still very much amazed and flabbergasted.

The only time where I had to come close to remembering these supposedly English words was when I was taking my GRE a couple of years ago. Even THAT killed me. The only word I remember from the list of words I was asked to study is kismet (and it means fate). I know it’s a total different set of word list created for the GRE and the spelling bee competition, serving different purposes but still — they are English words which look most alien to me, as though it is not English. Maybe it’s simply coz English is not my first language. But STILL! Who talks using those words anyway!? At least in their daily conversation they don’t, or do they?

Anyhuu, these kids have my respect (they are mostly 7th, 8th graders). They are allowed to ask questions in relation to the meaning of the word, the origin of the word, an example how the word is used in a sentence, etc. which again makes no difference to me whatsoever. Somehow, the answers to the questions give them clues and very slowly, they spell the word. Most of those who did not make it, misspelled by only one alphabet. ONE.

You can find more of these info, in terms of the rules and the history of this competition in the official website.

Here’s some footage of the competition.

Right after that, I turned to Star World to watch Jimmy Kimmel Live, only to find out that he was doing the Jimmy Kimmel’s version of the spelling bee competition with Kavya as his competitor. Hilarious.

p/s: Monopoly Deal should be named card game of the year.

adults should watch cartoons (and learn from it)

Published on June 13, 2009 in life, people and thoughts. 7 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Each and every single cartoon that has been created has some moral values attached to it. I don’t know how many of us adults are actually aware of that fact, but I find that sometimes, the values that are taught in cartoon movies are values that are lacking in our society at this point of time. Nothing complicated, just some really simple values that you and I have subconsciously know. We just somehow or rather choose to ignore them.

Cartoons are said to be meant for kids. It is supposed to teach kids the values that have been instilled in the story. But really, I sometimes think adults should be the one to sit in front of that TV and watch that cartoon. Most important part is to have that adult learn these values. Like I say, it is very simple value that the world is lacking off today.

Disney cartoon Cars teaches us that being arrogant and selfish gets you nowhere. Sometimes, you cannot do things alone. Like I’ve said before, everyone needs someone sometimes. Teamwork can sometimes do wonders – especially if everyone is appreciative of everyone else in the team. Sometimes, the end result is not everything. It is the experience that matters. True friendship lasts forever, and you can pretty much find all these in Cars.

Family is important. So very important. Finding Nemo and Meet the Robinsons teaches us that. It’s not just about having a family, but it is about trust and believing in the ppl whom you love and care for — even if they were to screw up big time.

Charlotte’s Web (well, maybe this is not so much of a cartoon), a movie that was depicted from a children’s novel teaches us not to be judgmental upon someone whose looks are not all that very much presentable. Beauty is nowhere near skin deep. Beauty comes from within. When you truly love someone, be it a friend, a lover or family, you will do everything in your might to help them. Selfishness is nowhere to be found in such true feelings. Nowhere.

There are a whole lot more. I can most definitely go on forever. A lot of the values that have been mentioned can be found in other cartoons as well; to name a few i.e. Toy Story, Kungfu Panda, Monster Inc., Lion King, all the Disney Princess cartoons, The Incredibles, Chicken Little, Shrek. Even cartoon series teaches us something — Fairly Odd Parents, Spongebob Squarepants, Phineas and Ferb (I love them) etc.

The thing is, as we grow up, the adults would tell us, “Hey, it’s just a cartoon. Welcome to the real world”. *confused*. Whatever does that mean? The values that is instilled in all of these cartoons doesn’t matter anymore? What, the real world has none of these? Now we are suppose to learn how to live life the selfish, judgmental way? That’s why somehow, adults grow out of watching cartoons I guess.

Think about it. Life wasn’t meant to be mean. Sure we’ll face obstacles, but why is it that people don’t learn these simple yet important values that has been introduced to the story line of these cartoons? Kids learn them. Then we mighty adults have to come in and tell them, “welcome to the real world” — whatever that means.

Oh well. I find the world becoming sicker by the day. It’s not even about fearing strangers anymore. Even the one person that claims to love you can still say and do nasty things to you. So yea, tell me, is the world becoming sicker by the day or what? To think that we are supposedly more civilized than before. Some of our actions today, make me think twice about how civilized we really are.

If these values are being taught to a kid, it shouldn’t be very difficult for grown-ups to understand, right?

how can u not love the Internet?

Published on June 9, 2009 in hobbies, stuff and thoughts. 11 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

I think one of the bestest creation ever in the 20th century has got to be the Internet. I mean what’s not to love about the Internet? It gets you connected to anyone and everyone in this entire world. Talking to friends and families who stays halfway across the world is easy and affordable. It makes information travel further than it used to. It makes shopping all the more easier. You can now buy things off the web, stuff you can never get in your home country at an affordable price. The internet is an example of globalization; a world with no boundaries. Lovely.

Some may say that the Internet is evil and kids especially shouldn’t embark in the journey of embracing the world of technology. I wouldn’t deny the fact that the Internet has its evil side. But what doesn’t? Life has its evil side as well. Does that mean we shouldn’t live life? I don’t think so.

Information is endless in the Internet. By endless I mean infinite. Absolutely everything that you need is in here. Got a cork stuck in the wine bottle and don’t know what to do about it? Just google it! Your phone goes cuckoo and messages just couldn’t come in despite having good reception? Just google it! Need a recipe to cook for you beloved lover? Just google it! (oh and btw, I think Google is by far the bestest search engine ever — come on, we now use google as a VERB. THAT has got to mean something).

And then there’s this huge shopping mall online. I mean you can literally buy TONS of stuff online. To be honest, some of the stuff aren’t all that expensive. Try eBay. I’ve bought a watch off eBay once and the transaction experience was pretty good! Of coz it is more trustworthy to buy from a powerseller (it’s indicated next to the name of the seller), so watch out for that. Another cool website to get reasonably priced t-shirts is threadless; that is of course if you like cheesy, funny, cute (and some may be lame) type t-shirts (I LOVE IT!). It is most definitely one of a kind. Shipping the tees from the US is not all that expensive and owning this crazy tees is absolutely lovely (for me that is).

I’ve even bought a lomography camera off lomographyasia based in Hong Kong. The camera arrived in Penang in a mere 3 days. THREE DAYS! There are some local Malaysia shopping websites as well which I’ve had rather great experiences with; crossover, acmamall and shashinki. I know there are lotsa fraud cases when buying stuff off the Internet. I guess it pays to be careful and buy from more secure and trustworthy websites. And to be honest, it can be really safe and cool (coz you get to buy stuff that you can never find in your home country).

Internet allows us to pay bills from the comfort of our home, which is a huge deal for me. I absolutely hate queueing up to pay off my bills. Then there’s the whole blogging thing! That’s cool as well. It makes us learn from other people’s life and experiences and see things from others’ perspective. It rolls back to getting all the information we need about anything and everything. The cooler thing about blogs are it is written by real people. People just like you and me. Some even ended up being your friend. :)

…and don’t even get me started on Twitter. I am so hooked on it.

The stuff I talked about is just a tiny fraction of what makes the Internet so great. As evil as it may be, it is one of those creation that I am most thankful for. The Internet will only grow bigger. You have just gotta to learn to love it.

Writing this long post only shows how much I love the Internet. :P

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