The Case Against Raising Children

I always told myself that sometime down the road, my caring nature will make me want to raise a child, and it all depends on my partner too anyway. I do have friends who are willing to take all responsibility of raising a child on their own despite whatever the partner wants, but I want the child to have two parents (even if it is two fathers).

However the recent case of William Yau being found dead for a week in the Klang River is retchingly discomforting. Yes, the parents were partly at fault for leaving the children unattended. Yes, the parents should have come up with some kind of a code for the children to follow when left alone. But I think there's something terribly wrong about the world that we are living in, a very wrong kind of wrong.

I'm, for one, a person who believes that our children should be able to explore and be protected in an open environment, and when I say this, I don't mean that the child has to be accompanied to every restroom break or walked hand-in-hand from the car to the front gate of the school. The fact that we have to be so cautious and critical with the way we handle our children means that our children will grow up to trust less easily, and this is not a community I want to contribute towards.

I say all of this now, but maybe raising a child is that worth it in the long run. I'll see when the time comes.

Have a great long weekend guys (and gals)!

A Probably More Human 2013?

Greeting wonderous lifeforms (except you horrid cockroaches)!

I am guilty of not taking the stage here for some time, although it has never been a responsibility per se, but things was kinda hectic and mundane at the same time.

I already failed two of my resolutions, which is to sleep at 11pm everyday and to not get sick. My current sleep time average would probably be 12.00am, or maybe even that's an excessively optimistic estimation. I still have bacteria-stragglers playing guest in my upper respiratory tract, and now am on a short Augmentin course. Well, things could have been much worse. For example, I could already be dead (although some might claim that to be good, but we'll leave such discussions for the impossible future).

Two things happened randomly recently; they weren't exactly eventful, but it got me thinking a little.

1. I saw a Korean monk talking on a variety show, and although I'm Christian, good values do transcend religions and we should learn all that is good. The biggest part of his message is to allow ourselves to be human, to let ourselves feel anger and hate and insecurities and it's probably worse if you suppress them. However, we should also be always aware that we are feeling it, and the self-awareness alone will give us more freedom than we actually think.

2. It was 7.30pm, and I'm lying on the bed, totally already decided that I shouldn't go to the gym and rest instead. Somehow, I felt insecure somewhat (it's okay to feel it!) so I stuck a Magnum Mini down my throat and let the guilt lead me to the gym. On the way back, I wanted to grab something to eat before I took my meds, but nobody seemed to be free and I didn't want to waste too much time so I could return home and sleep early (hopefully). I went to Ming Tien food court and ta pao-ed Onion Naan and Tandoori Chicken. On the way back, I couldn't resist but to just eat the folded Naan right from the plastic bag. Like a hobo. When I reached home, I did the same to the chicken, ravaging it like some kampung Ah Beng. Sometime, this small little things show us how human we are, that we do not need nice plates and bowls and utensils to feel civilised. Sometimes, it's okay to give in to our basal urges. Sometimes.

Okay, random post ends. Thanks for wasting your time reading this wall of nonsense!

Oh, and I also recently tried BodyBalance at the gym, just for fun. So weird to learn all this at the gym when your own mum is a yoga instructor, haha. I guess you could say the same about people who run on treadmills when the road is just out the door (but it's different, really!).

Tomorrow is already Friday, so let's have ourselves a good one okay! I need to be less shy! Yosh!

XOXO

2013

Overall, 2012 was a really twisted year with the climax being my tonsillectomy. Despite what people usually say about the year going by fast, it seemed to go at an acceptable speed for me. Looking forward to the new year, these are some of my resolutions:

Music: Start piano classes, find a teacher by the coming weekend.

Health: Cut to 10% body fat, then stabilize for 2 weeks, then bulk. This should involve just cardio and core training and not too much weight training along with a deficit diet. Sleep at 11pm everyday. Drink lots of water. Avoid simple sugars, simple carbohydrates and fried food. Swim everyday if I can help it (stupid Kelana Jaya is still closed till today).

Career: Look for another job. I don't hate my current job, but I don't love it either. And staying too long in a job that pays me this much is a big sabotage for my career, because it tells other employers that I'm willing to work for that little (although this is really a special scenario, others may be quick to judge). I would also probably need more experience in a larger corporation anyway, but I need to see how I cope with my Masters.

Qualifications: Apply for Masters within two weeks. Get referral letters from my ex-lecturers.

Relationships: Get closer to each of my friends and family. Step out of the closet to to my sisters. Evaluate other acquaintances. Get a significant other (crossing fingers).

Finances: Spend wisely, keep track of all purchases.

Discipline: Just say no to distractors. Be much, much more patient. Eat plenty of humble pie. Love deeply.

My Christmas Party 2012

I'm going to host a Christmas lunch for some friends on the day itself, and because I haven't done a proper hosting in a long time, I've appointed myself as CEO (Chief Entertainment Officer), CFO (Chief Food Officer) and COO (Chief Organising Officer). I was even spirited to design a simplistic logo for the party's thirteen-word party title.

Can you guess the title? Maybe I should start a contest, but no one's gonna join anyway.

By the way, I was suffering from respiratory tract infection for the past few days thanks to the lack of sleep (more accurately, I'm not sleeping early enough and my body decides to hit me in the trachea), but I'm getting better now despite no medication.

If the world ends tomorrow, I love you all. Yes, even the people I don't like.

XOXO

Trying Times In One Way Or Another

I'm still alive, and I guess that's enough reason to be happy about.

My mind has been muddled over the past month, and that has prevented me from becoming sufficiently motivated to update the blog, but I guess I need to make an entrance once in a while anyway. I do miss blogging anyhow, and I shouldn't let my quest for perfection ruin a transcendent opportunity through archiving my everyday life and thoughts.

Just a quick update before I disappear again, this is an extremely short summary of what has happened:

1. Went for Final Fantasy: Distant Worlds concert with MPO. (My childhood relived! *googly eyes*)
2. Went for a MPYO performance. (The concert master is a cutie.)
3. Lost a friend for 3 weeks then due to my perseverance, regained it. (I had nightmares at one point, but I'm just glad that it's over.)
4. Finished my experiment with slow carbing. (It works so well for fat loss but becomes tricky if you want to bulk. Or it's just troublesome I guess.)
5. Went for the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale. (My damage was only RM106, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew and swallow.
6. Lost another hardcore character in Diablo 3 because my computer crashed. (Dammit.)

That's all I can think off now...

Also not in the best financial position right now, and Christmas also happens to be around the corner. :(

Why I Support Obama

First things first, congratulations to Barrack Obama for winning his second term as president, a job well done indeed. Now, there will be less annoying campaign ads (not that I am affected too much by them) and the country can return the usual running state. Before Obama was mandated his victory, people around the world were watching the television and the Internet for continuous updates about the polls, me included, but I believe that many have chosen to let this poll go unnoticed. After all, it doesn't really affect them, or does it not?

America is truly a symbol of democracy for countries around the world, and although their democracy system may not be completely flawless, the leaders and citizens fight hard to uphold the basic principles of the land of the free. As we approach a globalised world, America which used to be one of the places with the darkest history of racism, is slowly becoming a wonderful multicultural deposit of wealth, cultures and intelligence. Even Malaysia can't brag anymore about being Muhhibah or having good goodwill between all ethnolingual groups, as although American may be explicit with their racism, they probably have a little more tolerance than us in Malaysia who hide our extreme discrimination under our family rugs. Heck, some of us couldn't even bother hiding anything, and our government policies continue to favour a certain ethnolingual group when they aren't even indigenious to our land, not too mention the dirtiest and corruptest racial politics you see being played the nearer we close to our own elections.

It deeply saddens me indeed.

But Barrack Obama, as a leader of a first world nation, can offer to be a leading example of the policies that people thought will never get past the lobbyists: higher taxes on tobacco, the legalisation of gay union, heavy focus on education, reduction of national deficit, pulling out of the war, and to become less dependent on foreign nations. He might be taking a long time, but he has already made so many 'unpopular' decisions and still have won the election.

Because people believe in hope. And people believe in a better.

And we should too, regardless of where we live on this planet we called Earth.

Edit: I actually wrote this yesterday before I slept and scheduled it to be published at 8am, but I'm editing before it goes live so here you go. Maine and Maryland just won their gay marriage freedom, and Washington is on its way to victory. Minnesota voted out. Change is indeed quick.

"No Status, Please."

Wow, what a long hiatus. But if you have read my previous post, you'd probably know why I am such an infrequent poster these days. I also came across a fever and twisted neck muscles yesterday and am still resting today; it almost felt like being a paraplegic.

Today is weird.

How many of us can say that we are inspired by a porn star (and when I say this I mean not inspired to do porn, or to perform better in bed, but rather in the way we lead our life)? Today happened to be the day I can proudly say "yes, I have", which is just pure surprising even to me.

I can write about everything he has written, but I think you'd be better off reading it yourself:

No Status, Please. - Bryan Slater

You can argue about the morality of porn till the cows come home, but I totally salute Bryan Slater for approving equality of status in a relationship regardless of sexual role, a principle I totally belief in.