The One

When I was a kid, I used to ask my mother "How will I know if he's the one?"

My mom used to say "You won't...until he turns out to not be the one".

And so, this is how I believe blogging will be. Do I know if this is the one and only blog I'm going to be true to? Time will tell...and when it does, I may return to blogging again...or I may not.

If I don't, it has been a pleasure updating my friends with what's going on and meeting new people, who have brightened my world and made me smile.

Take care everyone and have a fantastic New Year ahead. I only wish great things for you in 2009...and an abundance of happiness, the kind which makes you smile from the heart and infects everybody else around you.

May your cup runneth over...may your pockets be heavy...may your spirit be light...and may you always keep in touch with this littl' ol' MoO on an island in the middle of nowhere! ;)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Duality

Balance...

I find it fascinating that everything has something equally opposite.

The left is a mirror image of the right. Only then can the body achieve an easy balance. For darkness, there is light. For beauty, there is ugliness. For happines, there is despair. For every up, there is a down. For every high, there is a low. Stop and go. And the list goes on and on and on.

Was the world created like this for us to appreciate both sides of the coin? If we had a world filled with all things evil, would we ever know good? Would anyone aspire to be good? Would there ever have been a Santa Claus? Would there even be an incentive to be good? Would it be that somehow, man would eradicate themselves because they were all evil?

It all comes back to balance. The scales must not be tipped, lest we unleash chaos. But where there is chaos, some order must rule. Where someone rules, someone must serve. And again, the list goes on and on and on...

But then I started thinking - is there anything that doesn't have an opposite? Is there anything that stands by itself? At first, I thought prayer. But then, isn't the absence of prayer its balance? Does that then mean that something which doesn't have a named opposite is just the absence of?

Perhaps this is the way to adopt what is coming for 2009. Accept it as it comes and see what could possibly be the opposite of it. Then maybe that might put it into perspective (like a challenge could really be an opportunity) and it truly might just be the case of looking at it differently. Then maybe, I can find some balance in my soul and some peace in my heart.

Roll the dice thrice...

Lots of things come in threes - The Holy Trinity...The Three Stooges...The Matrix Trilogy...the LOTR trilogy (although I think they may have actually been 6 books)...The Triple Gem...there's even a website that looks at threes right here.

I wonder why is that? Pairs are expected - ying and yang, man and woman, good and bad. For every reaction there's an equal and opposite reaction. It's easy to explain two. It's easy to understand the rationale behind two.

Perhaps three comes from triangles and how three is somehow stronger than two. You can never make a shape with just 2 points. You could never get a table to stand for very long on just two legs. There would never have been 'Tiga Sekawan' and a story to unite the three main races in Malaysia. And don't even get me started on 'Ménage à trois'.

And what's with three times lucky? Or three's a charm? Why is it lucky? Why is it a charm? Is there some magic in the number three that makes the third go better? Which is really strange because the probability of one in three is much less than the probability of one in two. So it might make sense to hedge your bets and cut your losses.

And why on earth am I spending time wondering about threes?

All4Books

If you don't already know (or haven't already guessed), I'm a HUGE book fan. It's probably something that I'm truly passionate about...something that I truly love.

And this has something to do with what I think should be done. Something that I think we can possibly achieve. But I don't believe that it's going to be an easy thing to do. But goals and challenges never are.

I read a book recently by Mem Fox called 'Reading Magic'. It talks about how we can encourage children to read and how we can get kids to love the act of reading. To me, I think it would be an amazing goal if we could promote literacy among Malaysian kids. At the moment, our literacy rate sits between 88-93%. Now I don't know exactly how we define literacy (as in, is it simply being able to identify the alphabet and read words at a very basic level? Or is it being able to read fluently?). But I read somewhere a scary statistic that didn't seem to reflect the high literacy rate - Malaysian children on average read 2 books a year (and this is the same with Malaysian adults). Malaysians prefer to watch the TV over hunkering down with a good book.

Now granted, the price of books these days aren't exactly cheap and I have yet to come across a decent library in KL...but surely the RM1,000 threshold set up by the government must help! But I suppose if you earn minimum wage and don't put in a tax return, then there really isn't any point to have a threshold.

I believe there must be a way with which we can help make our kids more avid readers. I am hoping that parents will spend time reading a book a day to their kids. That may be a huge commitment but how can you say spending 10 minutes daily with your child building their vocabulary and imagination a waste of time? (I'm laying on the guilt so you better feel bad!).

Or if you know of children who would love to be read to, READ TO THEM. Read aloud to youngsters as much as you can, as often as you can. I still remember the pleasurable times we had listening to '3 Little Pigs' and when the wolf tried to 'Huff and puff' and 'blow the house down!'. And the troll under the bridge, listening to the 'trip trop trip trop' of the littl' billy goat.

Somehow, there must be a way to get more kids into reading. If we can set up our future, then we're all set for the future. Malaysia can only become better with an army of highly literate children.

Dontcha think?

On one hand...

Now the countdown gets really intense.

We're closing in on New Year and I can count on one hand the number of posts I have left before this blog needs a decision. I'm veering towards moving on...and I think that decision is going to stay.

On one hand, I'm a littl' sad that I'm going to stop chronicling my life on a blog. On the other hand, I'm looking forward to trying other means of chronicling. (Sidetrack note, is chronicling an actual word?).

Its like a lot of things really. On one hand, I love the holidays because it means I get to stay at home and read my book. On the other hand, it means that we have to spend time with Jason's family and that can get old really quickly. I do admire couples who stay with in-laws and get along really well with them. I just shut down eventually because it gets on my nerves. And I'm guessing that that was part of why I got sick after the wedding. Stress...

The other thing I love is going back to KL and spending time with family and friends. On one hand, it means that I get to see the people I love. On the other hand, it means that we don't really get a holiday. We just hook up with lots of people and basically spend the whole holiday catching up. Which defeats the purpose of a holiday really.

But I guess the deal is not to focus on the down side of things and just enjoy things as they come. Take it one step at a time and enjoy the ride because tomorrow, who knows what may happen. I can handle it...heck, I always say 'Bring it on'. So what could possible go wrong?

Right?

Six is my favourite number...

I have a new favourite song. I think it's really cool...

Have a listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW6F_g3upKA

Tis' The Season

You know, Christmas must be one of the seasons that impact global warming the most. First, people put up lights and decorations that soak up electricity (and think about all the shopping centres with their trappings and trimmings!). Then, they consume massive amounts of food (and still have MORE that they can't finish which sometimes ends up in the bin). And don't get me started on the cards and presents! How many people actually recycle their cards? And how many people get presents that are useful, let alone environmentally friendly?

Now don't get me wrong. I'm a big fan of Christmas. I actually love this holiday and all the beautiful decorations that come along with it. I love giving hubby presents and watching him open his gifts with anticipation. And I enjoy the time that we spend with his family (and that's saying something).

But perhaps what we need to adopt is more the spirit of Christmas than the consumerism/materialism of Christmas because some things are meant to last and some things just contribute to landfill.

So on that note, let me wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. Have a safe holiday and enjoy time with your loved ones. And if you're looking forward to a well deserved break, put your feet up, enjoy some soft music and get comfy with a book...because I know I would.

*hugs*

Eight = Luck?

I had my staff review today...

And my current boss asked how I felt about my score.

What can I say? I'm not entirely thrilled...even though I did get an overall 'Exceeds Expectations' review. But is that because I'm putting pressure on myself to be more than I can be? Or is it just because I know I put in so much blood, sweat and tears that I believed I deserved a better score?

I couldn't tell him. I was tired, sleep deprived and just not in the mood. Plus, I can never win with him so why even bother?

Your boss should know how fantastic you are...you shouldn't have to tell him...isn't that the way it should be? Your boss should also be the one that sings your praises to everyone else and recognises you for the contributions you bring to the team. What happened to that breed of bosses?

*sigh*

It's no wonder so many people want to become their own boss...

The Art of Procrastination

Oh, how totally slack have I been? I only have nine more postings to go before I reach a hundred...well actually, eight minus this one...which means I'll have to do one a day from now until we hit 2009. Oh the pressure! I can't take that kind of pressure...what am I to do? What am I to write about? Oh the stress!!! *melodramatic sigh* *does the whole damsel in distress MovieWorld thing*

*Yeah right!* Now, let's put some elbow grease on and get down to the blogging.

I used to be an on the blink procrastinator. What do I mean by that? Well, I'd do it now and again, not very often but just a dabble here and there. And then, I became worse. I became a part time procrastinator. I think it could've been due to all the 'Urgent and Important' issues at work that demanded immediate attention, constantly.

And now, I think I've become a full-blown home procrastinator. It doesn't hurt that Christmas is around the corner and everyone is either on holidays or is expecting to go on holidays. *sigh* But I think I've perfected procrastination...I think I've done it so well that I can possibly leave home stuff alone until next year almost...

Now just a littl tip I've learnt along the way to complement procrastination...I highly recommend a good cuppa hot Mocha (when you get the perfect cup, there's nothing better that the first sip of froth and the hot liquid going down, warming your body...mmmm...) and a good book (lots of people are raving about Twilight for some reason...must be time to crack it open and have a read...) and perhaps some really nice chocolate...can you beat cookies and cream Lindt?

Yup, I'm pretty sure I'm all set to procrastinate...now all I need to look for is that reading pillow of mine...now where did I leave it...hmmmm...maybe I should leave this aside for now and go look for that pillow...which could be on the bed...which could mean a nap...mmmm...nap...