Potpourri

Don't have a burning issue to yap on about today, so here's a smattering of extremely random thoughts.

Favorite sinful food :
1) Bacon
2) Green tea frappucino
3) Creamy pasta
4) Chocolate!
5) TIRAMISU

wow. it's amazing i haven't become the stay-puffed marshmallow man yet.

TV Shows :
Will and Grace - funny funny show. so campy and yet so witty. but I wish they would make the characters more life-like.
Charmed - a truly guilty pleasure. the plots have more holes in them than swiss cheese. yet, how much fun is it to see 3 attractive witches cavorting around in fashionable clothes while trying to destroy various threats to the world?
'Ello 'Ello - fav sitcom of all time. A Brit sitcom set in occupied France during WWII. The Brit actors speak in faux-French accents. What a BRILLIANT idea! Good Moaning! I am here to piss you a massage! Those who have seen this show know what i mean.

What do I look for in friends? Not someone perfect, that's for sure. That would only make me barf. Besides having shared interests, I connect with people who are at least aware of, and try to deal with their own issues. Whether it be religion, or parents, or even sexuality. Is that another term for emotional maturity? Talking with people who say things because they have been taught to do so drives me batty. Reminds me of too many religions, and the relationship that people here have with the Singapore government :). They either complain and grumble with no constructive comments, or accept meekly while seething underneath. There is never one right policy, and the assumptions you make will always drive the conclusions you get.

Can't remember where I said this, but it's like I have 2 different sets of friends sometimes. There are the school and work friends, most of whom are proceeding along this track in life towards the 2.4 kids and the 5 Cs (Condo, credit card, cash, car, children?), and moving up and on. And then there are the lindy friends, who are geeky, quirky (or a combination of both), and taking different routes through life (full-time lindy teacher, insurance agent cum entrepreneur, sabbaticals, whatnot). Am I then a combination of both types? The scaredy-cat who wants comfort and safety, but envies those who dare to venture beyond? Man, I am a bundle of contradictions today :)

Signing off,
Ajantis

Ohaiyo! Japan dash!

Woo hoo! Going to the World Expo! Always wanted to go to Japan, and now's the chance to do it!

Japan is a country which we always fetishize, even in Singapore. Think about Dance Dance Revolution, Para Para, Japanese schoolgirl outfits, kawaii anime and manga. Not to mention all the Japanese-oriented youth sections that have opened up in places like Far East and Bugis, which are supposedly but pale imitations of Harajuku district in Tokyo.

The West is far worse in its depictions of Japan. Lost in Translation, The Last Samurai, Karate Kid, are but a few examples of how the supposed alien-ess of Japan is used to make a point.

That philosophical aside aside, i am interested in finding out how true these depictions are. I want to hear midi music in the underpass, singing bathtubs, strange Glay-inspired teens in Harajuku, the works.

Speaking of strange things, one of the faster growing sports in the US is synchronized ice skating for guys! And it started in Ann Arbor (the university town where I studied) half a century ago... To top it off, one of the guys who takes part in the New York Team is a 67 year old man, who retired at 55, tried painting in an ashram for 4 years, then took up synchronised ice skating after he realised that he sucked at it. Talk about bizarre sports. This is something that the director of Water boys and Swing Girls should make a movie about...

On a completely different topic, Gimble had its 8th anniversary concert last night! Gimble was my first acapella group, and it will always have a very special place in my heart. The friendships made were truly valuable ones, and I will always be thankful for the experiences and relationships forged in the 3 wonderful years there. I grew up tremendously, both musically and personally. Even the occasionally unpleasant episodes that are natural to any group of friends were great learning experiences for me. I learned to loosen up, to not have such a high and mighty view of my own importance (yeah i was a stuck up prig...), and these are lessons/truths that I have taken away with me.

It was tough to leave acapella behind upon coming back to Singapore, but after a while I realised it was time to move on. And lindy hop came along :) And I found yet another group of wonderful friends to hang out with. Bee, Oats, Footloose, HM, Mingers, Tra, DaSwingMan, Selena, L, WITSSH, Goldfish, Arie, C.... ha ha the list goes on.

I am grateful for these good friends in my life. Maybe that's a good note to end this post on.

Cheers!

Long short weekend

Thursday : Dinner, then swing fling, then Harry's, then supper.
Friday : Dress up as Jap schoolboy, watch Swing Girlzu, lindy bomb cinema, Harry's
Saturday : Bal-swing, Performance Lindy, Work, Harry's.
Sunday : Day off, Gym.

Is it any wonder that my body feels like it's been pummeled by a thousand sumo wrestlers right now? That said, this is one of the best weekends i've had in Singapore in a while. Haven't stayed up this late this often since college. which was 5 years ago at this point.

Swing Girlzu was ultra-fun! Imagine 15 girls and guys all dressed up as Japanese students, all dancing in the cinema at the end to Sing Sing Sing. And the New Paper even showed up! Who says Singaporeans aren't sponteneous. And the movie was a delightful combination of cheese, camp and Japanese humour.

Performance Lindy class was fun too. I was apprehensive at first ; part of the reason i didn't go for performance lindy the first time was because of my knees and also because i was afraid of not being able to do the aerials/moves. That said, I took to heart what someone said... it is not the cost of doing something, it is sometimes the opportunity cost of NOT doing something that is important. Why let an irrational fear stop us from trying something out? That's of course different from doing something reckless... :) That said, it was interesting trying to figure out how to work my muscles to do things like backward rolls and handstands. Personally, I found the aerial preps easier than the rolls and stands :P. So, the whole point of that convoluted set of sentences was that while I am still somewhat sucky at performance lindy, class was enjoyable. Gives me additional impetus to go the gym, that's for sure. We'll see where and how this goes.

Told Arie and L about H last night on MSN. Their reaction was really cool and touching. Am glad that I got to share this part of my life with them.


Anyway, back to work tomorrow! Time to be serious again :)

happy happy!

got promoted. got a raise. got a good bonus this year. life feels good right now ^^

anyone seen the latest playstation portable? might just go get one. or maybe a bang and olufsen sound system (drool)

gonna do an extremely silly thing today. maybe i'll post the pics on here later.

Life and Death

The Terri Schiavo case saddens me.

First of all, I have to state that I unequivocally believe in living life to the fullest, regardless of the obstacles and curveballs thrown in our way.

And that is why this whole incident is upsetting. So many doctors have testified that Terri is in a "persistent vegetative state", with no hope of recovering normal cognition. But the hope and belief that somehow Terri will wake up someday keeps her parents fighting for her survival. Despite the fact that people who have woken up from such comas in the past still had functioning brain material. And the worse part is that people who believe in the "sanctity of life" project their values onto her case, and make her out to be a test case of the issue of abortion.

Still, i find myself asking. If all evidence points to the fact that she cannot recover, and that she will remain aware and unconscious, is keeping Terri alive in some ways denigrating the sanctity of life? By fixating on the fact that she sometimes smiles or moves, despite the point that her brain is mostly dead, are we projecting our own fears of death or values onto a case in the face of scientific and objective evidence?

Is letting her go instead the more courageous thing to do? To release our own emotional ties so that someone we love can stop leading a mere facimile of life?

Again, I have to emphasise that I am all for life. I was reading about the case of a former national water polo player who was stricken by ALS. Once muscular, his arms are now sticks and he can barely raise his hands. Yet, he has accepted his condition and lives as meaningful a life as he can. That he continues to strive against his condition in such a way is deeply worthy of our respect.

Accepting our fears, and learning to let go, can sometimes be the most courageous thing a person can do.

Atheist Agnostic Religious Fanatic

Had to blog about this. It's one of the most powerful articles i've read in a while. Honest. Sincere. So much resonance, especially in a world where religions seem to keep defining issues in more black and white manners.

H and I have always debated about religion. H is an atheist. I am an agnostic, mainly because it is somewhat more comforting to think that there is a greater being out there that can make sense of all the wonderful and crap things that happen around us.

After reading this article, i'm not so sure. Maybe choosing not to believe in a greater thing or entity out there is the more courageous thing to do, because it forces you to take responsibility for your own actions.

Part of the reason I have never been able to join an organised religion is because I feel like too many variants of it focus on blame and guilt and closing off debate. But i appreciate the sense of community that religion provides. Yet, there are many other ways for us to be part of the communities around us. And this article only reinforces that point for me.

I literally felt a shiver up my spine while reading this article. The emotional truth came through for me. And the way she raises her kid. It's so darn awesome.