The road not taken

Two roads diverged in a wood and I...

I took the one less travelled by and that has made all the difference.

These meaningful lines were taken from a poem written by Robert Frost, and how well it reflects life! Everyone's life is always sealed with 2 choices. A great life, or a mediocre one - which by definition, is the more commonly travelled path.

But life is such a big topic some might say... so for those who are not sure where to start, consider starting by just choosing to have a great week, day, or even just a great hour.

So...

Do you see the two roads in your life?

What went right?

Good question.

There is enough time?

Whenever an illusion of such thinking creeps up!

Stop thyself...

For when one thinks there's time to spare,

That time can easily be spared away.

Do we really have time to spare... for facebook for example.

When we are 1 hour away from an important examination?

How about if we're 1.1 hours away?

5 hours?

10?

100?

Conversely. How much preparation is enough for an important exam?

100?

10?

5?

1.1?

There is no such thing as too much time. One will only know whether our preparations should have been longer or shorter after the actual exam itself.

At least, if one fails an examination, sometimes there's the opportunity to retake it.

But what if the important task is life itself?

How much time does one need in life, to succeed in life? (Effectively how long does one need to live?)

Do we really have enough time in life? To achieve the really important things? Our life's work?

How much time will we need?

30 years? 20 years? 10 years? 1 year?

a month?

a day?

There may not be enough time...

The proof for disbelief

Is
Very
Long

Singapore Rain

The Asian rain
Sweeps down meadows
Of mountains green
And Singaporean
Windows

Forte
the wind cries
the clouds do follow
and the only thing resisting
windows...

Life the chess game

I noticed that the only time I'm ever serious is when I'm in a chess game.

Child of Mugging distraction

In the simpson's there is one episode (Last Exit to Springfield) where Homer was faced with 2 ideas in his brain.

1. Lisa needs bracers.
2. Keg of beer or free employee dental plan.

While it would have been obvious for us to see that any person of reasonable intelligence should see the relation between these 2 ideas namely, that Homer should choose the free employee dental plan because Lisa needs bracers; In the episode Homer in that instant did not realize this and it was quite amusing to watch such stupidity.

Until of course, I realized that I myself am often guilty of such idiocy as well.

Many ideas exist in our mind. Unfortunately unless we consciously try to see connections between them, compare them, or combine them, these precious ideas remain unactivated; floating, and destined to the mind's recycle bin.

With that in mind. Consider, the collector of knowledge. How smart can knowledge make a person who does not see connections between them and utilizes them? At best that person can become a walking encyclopedia. Even if homer had all the ideas conveyed in the Britannica Encyclopedia, with his level of brain activity. It is plain to see that it wouldn't make much of a difference.

Therefore dear friends. If these symptoms fit your heart too, consider changing professions... from a know it all - to a connect it all.

The end of a curse?

In retrospect, I should have just resigned earlier...

When I felt it was a dead end job.

Seriously.

It's in the genes

All gazillion of them.

Prancing about my room the banana brown beetles knock themselves out. Light is nice to the beetle... though lethal. Yeah, what to do... it's in their genes right.

Yes, and it's in my genes too or rather an interplay between my genes and environment.
Something inspired a thought in me today... what is the clearest personification of my identity? What am I now that I have always had since I was born and will continue on till the day I die?

Manifested by every cell in my body. If ever I have a soul or essence, it must be made of deoxyribonucleic acids.

What I am today is the result of a 21 year waltz between genes and reality. Yes, if I had poor nutrition for example, I would have never been able to grow up to 173 cm even though my genes would have been the same. I would also never have learnt how to swim if I hadn't had access to a swimming pool. Genes give us capacity. But having the capacity to do or be things doesn't necessarily mean that it is innate. A glass that has the capacity to contain orange juice doesn't mean that it contains orange juice. But it will have OJ though if one pours OJ into it.

so...
do you know your genes and what you're truly capable of?

Humans and Machines

Humans,
and Machines,
They're different.

Machine capacities, the more one uses them, the more they degrade. That's why we need warranties.
Human capacites, the more one uses them, the better they get. That's why there will never be warranties against change- For that change is called growth.

Also;

Machine capacities, don't use and it will inert at best
Human capacites, use it or lose it

Nothing worth having

Ever comes easily

Another grateful day

1. I'm grateful that I managed to complete viewing 5 webcast lectures in half a day.
2. I'm grateful for a renewed zest to be independent.
3. I'm grateful for loving friends.

Butterfly printer

The butterfly flutters
Lands on Printer A
How are your Printer B
Oops I am
mistaken bye now!

The butterfly pierces
The air in
The happy room
The hymn of chicken pies

Elucidate this sun
demands the butterfly
till I return
for now I'm off
to Mars

1st Day of the Tiger Year

The atmosphere of new year arrives once more. This time last year I did not come back. This time I did though.

Anyway, coming back to KL has it's good points. Sleeping on my bed aside, I get to do some shopping and tick some items off my shopping list.

random.
I'll be shameless now and record 3 things that I'm currently grateful for:
1. I'm grateful for really good buddies that I have been hanging out with for the past week. Palpably the good times we share in this life are finite and transient, but at least our memories of them will last much longer.
2. I'm grateful for renewed perspectives and self knowledge that I have discovered recently.
3. I'm grateful for the good relationship between CKL and myself and to know that she has been doing fine.

Yep and that much I will record for now.

After a long long time

Yes folks. After almost 11 months this blog has come alive again. The weeds of thoughts again spring from them fingers of mine. My comma key isn't working on my keyboard. Oh well.

Week 4 has just ended. Time passes really fast in NUS.

I'm not struggling as much as I am anxious. Anxious that my engine is not quite started yet when the race has already begun 4 weeks ago.

Education is to me perhaps... preparation to be of service.
And I shall leave it at that. as the predicate following 'perhaps...'

For it is not wise to overconceptualize things.
It is not wise to point at the moon and focus on the finger.

Whilst missing all that heavenly glory.