yeah!

+1 for progressivism

weird

i dreamt that barack obama gave me a missed call...

he must have found out that i was photoshopping one of his pictures!

on privilege

so this wise guy once said, 

When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests.

and i thought wow, thats a reeeeally smart tactic. by volunteering to be in a humiliatory position, the only way...is up! after all, if one enjoys hardship, then there is no hardship...all the more glorious is that the possibility for change will never result in disappointment. its no wonder that this philosophy of no disappointment was reiterated by yet another smart guy some 900 years later..

Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, "Come up here," than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.

and so is the nature of human pride, a cyclical beast bound by the laws of nature still...those who expect more are eventually disappointed while those who are happy with less are always overflowing. pride pedals the wheels of a stationary bicycle.

these parables teach of the futility of the chase of fame, power and comfort--futility in a sense that these things do not last, due to the fact that they are taken away as soon as they are achieved. whether by nature or by men, neither is as significant as the phrase we have all come to hear and admire, albeit without full appreciation, "And this, too, shall pass away".

in these times i have often wondered if these old words could still apply. in fact they do. it is quite valid to assume that the philosophy of zero expectation could lead to a very contented and happy life. the expectations do not just include material posessions like food, water, shelter and mates. im not talking about job security, nor even friends, nor quality of sex life. no, this philosophy also applies to the things higher up the Maslow hierarchy: psychosocial dynamics affecting our value of selves...

sooner or later down the road of life some of us become more demanding (more expecting of things, put into context), and pride somehow convinces us that we have a right to demand what others are not getting. the false conclusion involving something that is specially given, with the idea that we are special people who deserve them--to put it simply...it is the principle of privilege gone nuts.

not everyone can get special things, because not everyone is special. but problems still arise...because pride has a funny way of convincing the man that he is special and so thinks he deserves what he actually doesnt. to avoid the risk of such a humiliating mistake, i guess the best move is just to not expect privileges. after all privileges are not rights, and rights only guarantee that all men are equal (women, you are equal to men too).

if Jesus and Solomon are right, then the humble will receive their privileges, while the proud will have theirs stripped away leaving behind a bitterness on their tongue for life, man and God. their loss.

opinions

one would assume that a normal conversation entails an unspoken agreement to the mutual exchange of opinions. this is not so. if theres one thing ive learnt, its that the assumption is usually taken for granted.

it would be good practice instead to restate or at least surface this agreement before the actual opinion exchange, lest the hearer becomes offended by the speaker. such an agreement would shift social liability to the hearer who is willing to receive valuable opinions that might otherwise become ammunition against the speaker, and so lend itself to become the agent of dissolution of an otherwise amicable social exchange.

in other words, keep your opinions to yourself, unless asked. in bold letters. and in no uncertain terms. sign contract if necessary.

oh..i can feel my eq rising already!

love aircon love it

"aiyooooh so cold, don't know how you sleep in the fridge!"

time

it is precisely because we are given enough time to do everything that we end up spending time on everything and not enough on the few things, the few things that if all that time were suddenly taken away we would spend what little time we had on, such that though it would feel like there wasn't enough time, every moment of it would still be sweet.

hopefully maybe someone

one day ill just sit and be quiet, and i wont even have open my eyes, yet someone out there will know what im thinking. that someone will know what is about to come out of my mouth, what im about to do next. most importantly that someone will know why i will do what i will do.

i dont need that someone to believe, nor understand, nor even agree. at one point i might even be happy with just not being misunderstood...

shhh...someone's coming.