Carte blanc

The availability of a big blank canvas now scares me. It used to be a nice medium that allows free flowing expression, espoused in words aplenty. Now, this beautiful canvas has become a forbidding chore. Filling it up with sensible writing has become an insurmountable task. Writing at length has become a forgotten skill. The human mind, when detached from long chains of thought for too long, actually can forget how to create, relate and concatenate the various ideas into a cogent and coherent narrative. We decay as a people.

The Perils of FB

Facebook is highly pervasive and because it allows users to make singular spurts of writing, there is very little need to develop the entire thought process into something credible or useful. This is not good if we intend to develop a thinking masses.

The ability to make a proposition and thereafter craft a sustained argument for or against the proposition is an important skill that people ought to develop. Social media like FB (and Twitter and any other simiar kinds) where a singular sentence or utterance is sufficient to pose as a response or entry is particularly disheartening.

Initially, the novelty of it all makes it chic to be a user of FB. Thereafter, one ends up being hooked to FB because it is there. There is almost no such thing as a writer's block on FB because one needs not always begin a conversation. One can easily make a comment on an existing conversation and be noted. In this regard, the attention given to the utterance is in fact a kind of reward to encourage repeated visits to make more of such entries.

By and large, one starts to prefer FB over other forms of social media requiring more writing and less instant gratification (of being noticed). Very soon, we will see arguments made that are of deteriorating quality. This is alarming but until the trend can be reversed or people can overcome their tendency to choose the lazy way out, society risk become stupider and less able to sustain an argument.

Madness

There is so much one can endure... and then some. Some people are suckers for punishment while others thrive doling out stupid requests.

Sweet sweet rainwater...

Singaporeans must be made of sugar and spice and everything nice.

That's why they fall apart in the rain.

They fall down, their cars skid, they get into road traffic accidents, they are scared to touch rain water...

Choices

What's wrong with choice? What's wrong with no choice?

No choice is sometimes easier.

This *has* to go out

This is probably my 5th attempt at publishing something since 2011 began.

Work is not that bad. It's hectic and random but I rather enjoy it because... because. I think it is good to enjoy work and I appreciate things better, especially when I'm in my post-retirement job.

I now understand Mary Poppins better, when she sings,

In every job that's to be done
There is an element of fun
You'll find the fun and snap the job's a game

In every task you undertake
Becomes a piece of cake
A lark, a spree
It's very easy to see...

- excerpt from "A Spoonful of Sugar"

Now, thank god I've not have to resort to the spoonful of sugar or I'll really expand exponentially (given the amount of work to be done).

Still when you are able to toss out career prospects and forget about promotions and ranking and so on and concentrate on getting the job done, you realise you can be in a position to negotiate things far better than before.

Maybe that's why people say we create our own cages. I've broken free and I stay happily free.

Oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah hey...

When I saw the running ticker on Channel News Asia last night about a ferry sinking accident in Mersing/Sibu where 3 Singaporeans died, I laughed out loud and then I cursed.

How bloody stupid, I said.

Then I heard the details in the news bulletin later. Sadly, the details confirmed my suspicions all along.

29 passengers and 2 crew members on a bumboat designed for 12 peeople.

No one donned life jackets.

The ferry sank less than 300 m from the jetty.

So clever lor, Singaporeans.

Aiyah, never mind lah... sunny weather, short distance (to shore). Let's just squeeze a bit. Can one lah.

So "mah fun" (troublesome). No need to wear lah. All of us good swimmers right?

Thank you you, you all lor. For your heroic acts, your insurance covers are all void. Yay...

Man, I'm still seething from their sheer stupidity that I'm not even coherent here.

El stupido Singaporeans. Stupid, dumb, kayu, bodoh, gila, jiak sai tua...

More

What don't go well together...

Christmas

Rebuilding hard disk data from back up system

Making 18 tiramsu

Playing Tap Fish, Tap Fish Exotic, Tap Ranch, Tap Resort Party, GodFinger All Stars, We Farm Safari, and Adventure Bay simultaneously on an iPhone

Planting broccoli on We Farm Safari

Having a mahjong game after a steamboat dinner

Sleeping till 10 am

Undone laundry

The day after Boxing Day.

What I really really want...

[This post is inspired by Quinsy. I had wanted to reply to her FB post but as I wrote, I decided defacing my own blog would be more appropriate than her FB account. So here goes.]

If I were a woman, what do I really really want?

Is it love?

No. I want three things: Money, sexual satisfaction, and companionship. What can a man provide? All three? Unlikely. So how?

Well, we call it "phases".

As with all critical events analysis, there is a tipping point or key lever that holds the entire picture together. Looking at the three things, what will that key lever be?

Let's begin with a few simple questions:

1. Can companionship get you money?

2. Can sexual satisfaction get you money?

3. Can money get you companionship?

Ok, these are not meant to be answered out loud. Supposing you can't get more than one thing, which one of the three will greatly help you towards the other two?

Again, I don't expect an answer.

My point is simple: identify the key lever, milk it for what it is worth, then pursue your other interests.

There was an article some time ago that said that modern man - sexist, I know - should have at least three marriages. One to help him in his career, one to get him his family, and one to see him into old age and death. The key idea is "phases", consecutive marriages. It's not concurrent. I've got to make this clear, lest I'll be stoned for promoting polygamy - I did not, I do not, and I will not.

So once one knows what one's priorities are, it'll become much easier.

No?

Email Repopulation

My hard disk crashed and I've lost all your email addresses.

If you wish to be back in my mailing list, please send me an empty message so I can restore your email addresses in my address book.

Many thanks.