Marbles, Sand and Coffee

In response to krystal's blog, the story [slightly rewritten by me] went like this:

So you take a huge glass jar and fill it up with marbles. Make sure you fill it to the brim.

Full already? Shake it a bit, to let them settle, then try to pour more in.

Managed to pour more in? Good. Can any more marbles go in? No?

Can you say the jar is full? Ok then.

What if you pour some sand in? Smart, eh? The fine sand trickles down and fills up all the space left in between the marbles. Fill it up to the top, and make sure you don't spill any.

Any more space in the jar? No?

What about some coffee then? What will happen if you pour some coffee into the jar?

Try it.

What happened then? Were you able to pour it in? Of course you were. The sand soaked up the coffee and so you managed to squeeze in one cup of java into the mix.

Have you realised something? Everytime you think the jar is full, there's actually a bit more space for you to fit something in.

Now what's the deal? What's this gotta do with my life, you say?

Think of it this way.

The marbles are the most important things in your life, the things you will never compromise on. Things like your family, friends, your career, et cetera. Even your dog if you will it to.

The sand is the other extras in your life. You know, the stuff you could do without, but yet are still in your life anyway. Things like your deadend job, the endless social acquaintances, the shopping and movies, and all the other little distractions.

See, even with a whole bunch of marbles in your life, there will always be cracks for you to fill up with sand. You can have a whole bunch of important things in your life, but there will always be other little stuff to distract you from them.

The key thing is to not fill up with so much sand that the marbles start to drop out of the jar. Like, why would you let the little stuff get in the way of the big ones? At least marbles are something hard and solid, that you can hold in your hand.

Ever tried holding a handful of sand? Yea, that's how stable they are.

And the cup of coffee? Well, that's mainly to prove another point.

That despite how many marbles

How much sand in your life

There is always time

For a good cuppa coffee with a fren. :D

The City

I love this song. I always imagine a passing overhead shot of NYC in the morning whenever I hear the intro. And if you change the words to "S'pore City", it's almost exactly what I feel towards Singapore. You can't stand it, but yet, you love it and in a funny way, you can't get away from it. And so was inspired this illust...



NYC Weather Report by Five for Fighting

Got to get away from here...
Got to get away from all these thinkers... drinking up my thoughts again
Got to get away from here...
Got to get away from all these choosers, losers... all my best of friends
Sit back New York City
You're not cute but you're oh so pretty
When the rain comes you fall up again...
SUNNY... You are a part of me
SUNNY... You are the heart of me

Got to get away from here...
Got to get away from all these people who need people... You know it really makes me sick
Got to get away from here...
Got to get away from expectations, recreations, just for the sake of it

Sit back New York City
You're not cute but you're oh so pretty
When the rain comes you fall up again...
SUNNY... You are a part of me
SUNNY... You are the heart of me

Sit back New York City
You're not cute but you're oh so pretty
When the rain falls you come up again
Sit back New York City friend...

Got to get away from here...
Got to get away from what I'm thinking...I'm thinking...it's too much for anyone...
Got to get away from here...
Got get away from what you're drinking... you're drinking...so I'll take another one...

I am Woman, Hear me Roar

This is an interesting article about Women In Power. I read the original in my subscribed copy, and the interesting part is where the articles written by various women in powerful situations. These women talk about how they gained power, status, and importantly respectability in their various fields, and also juggle family and work life at the same time. They range from Oprah Winfrey, to a HK virologist who worked with the bird flu virus and SARS.

I guess the most empowering thing about the article is the message that you can do it. It takes planning, commitment, and a whole lot of guts, but it IS possible.

A group of us were hanging around outside the classroom, waiting for the lecturer to come and the class to start, and we started talking.

"You know, after the exams are over, I don't know what to do anymore."
"Ya, I know what you mean! You feel so aimless, like you got to do something, but there's nothing to do."
"Ya, and I don't know how to pass the time also."

When I heard that, my thoughts went back to what I did after my last exam and report deadline. Which was return to the room with Yenn for a 3 hour nap, followed by a trip to the library, which resulted in a very hefty reading list for the next few weeks or so.

I also thought of all the shopping I wanted to do, [as soon as I got my paycheck] the blogging, the art, maybe a few afternoons sitting in a cafe sipping coffee and reading, finding a wireless router and trying to configure it in my home, maybe a new graphics tablet, the lindy, the japanese......

Nothing to do? Sorry gals, I passed that stage a long, long time ago while still in school. [although technically I am still in school, but let's not get distracted.]

But it did occur to me how easy it was for us to just let our jobs take over our lives. Most of us, we work most of the day. We leave at 5,6,7 and go for dinner with BF/Friends/Family. Then we watch TV at home, sleep and repeat cycle the next day. With maybe some shopping over the weekend as an interlude.

Your job takes up the majority of your day, and of your energy. And hence, sometimes, there isn't time left for much other stuff. "I'm interested, but I'm so busy with work now, I don't have the time!"

Well, when will you ever have the time?

I realised what a big risk it was to let your job take over your life, till pretty much all you live for is your job. Imagine, that if as students, you can already feel such a sense of aimlessness after your papers. What would happen if you lost your job for some reason or another? Do you have anything else in your life to back you up? Do you other ways in which you can earn an alternative income?

We always say we don't have enough time to do all these things. And then when something happens, we lament that we didn't do something earlier to prevent it.

Well, make a change. Don't let your job lead your life. You lead it.

One Hell of a week...

In more than one ways.... starting from Sat when I watched the Possession of Emily Rose with DF...[his idea]

Now, I'm not the World's Most Devout Catholic, [I'm somewhere towards the other end of the scale] but something about this movie chilled me to the bone. Yes, chilled is the word. For those who don't know, the movie is about the [purportedly] true story of Emily Rose, whose demonic possession is the only one officially recognised by the Church so far. Ok......

The movie is not particularly scary. If you want a real scare-fest, I'd say look to the Koreans or the Japanese.

However, it did touch me on several levels. One, because as a Chinese, you're constantly exposed to tales of the supernatural world around us. Witness the Hungry Ghost Festival every year. And it goes without speaking that you are brought up with tales of ghostly hauntings and wandering spirits and vengeful gods.

Two, as a Catholic, you are brought up to believe in the existence of the Devil, and his minions. Because face it, if you believe in God, you have to believe in the Devil. The existence of one implies the existence of the other. And if you read your Good Book regularly, you will know that there are demons in the world around us.

And if you forget that fact, or let it drop from mind, there's always Emily Rose to remind you. :p

So if you're brought up with helpings of both of what I just mentioned above, you get a pretty shaky mix of Asian-Western Fried Potato. And I say fried, because if you put in too much helpings of supernatural beliefs from each culture, that's what you become.

And if you're an Asian-Western Fried Potato like me...... You sleep that night with a bottle of holy water next to your bed. [PS, I ain't kidding about the holy water. Conveniently, or fatefully enough, my mom went on a pilgrimmage to Malaysia and brought back bottles for the whole family] And you will NEVER dare wake up at 3am in the night, as that is supposedly the demonic hour, where demons roam the earth.

This I do to myself, after the previous Black River House scare... duh.......

And what do I do this week? One exam ended on Monday, and the very last essay of the term was handed up, so I have officially started holidays. ^_^ Me and Yenn are two very happy birds, Yenn with her now-incessant Mapling, and me with my long-neglected library books.

[Aside: The National Library has doubled the loan quotas for all library card holders, so this is a GREAT time to start your reading habits!]

And of all things, I start with... The Dante Club, by Matthew Pearl, which is the story of a series of murders modelled after the Hells of Dante. ^_^!!!

Like, for instance, in one of the scenes, Neutrals [people who refuse to choose between good and evil] are set upon by flies and maggots which eat their very flesh while they are alive. In another, Traitors are placed in ice so that only their heads are above the surface. Simoniacs [priests who accept money for unholy reasons] are buried headfirst underground, so that their legs are above, and then their feet are set on fire.

WHAT'S FREAKIN' UP WITH ME??? I NEED MORE CHICK LIT!!! I need to read and see more of the pink cottony, lah-lah fluffy rainbow stuff and EXORCISE all these from me!!!

Time to start more on the Photoshopping and stuff before I go completely wonkers one day......