What is the world coming to?

Read a sobering post about child pornography in the US on the New York Times. How one 13 year old kid can be so easily seduced by a group of pedophiles online in the safety of his own home. These pedophiles conspired to get him to believe that it was normal to take his clothes off and do sexual favours online for free gifts and money. And the way they did it, one small step at a time.. and how the internet community that they formed only encouraged them to think that what they were doing was justifiable, and that the real culprits were the young boys and girls who tempted them with their flesh....

All of it, and more, is quite disturbing. This is what they mean by the dark side of the internet.

Ok, time to move on to a lighter-hearted topic.

Places I want to visit before settling down :
1) Herrang!
2) Bhutan (mountains and sheeps and goats and weekly archery contests oh my!)
3) The Appalachian mountain trails (I wanna hike this for all 4 months that is needed to walk the trail)
4) Europe - anywhere (see 1)
5) Kilimanjaro
6) Vietnam

If you could choose one place to go to tomorrow with your significant someone, who would it be?

Been having strange dreams lately (or rather, been remembering them) :P
- Running a marathon, and realising that my Timberland shoes had split. Thinking "damn, but well at least Timberland shoes are lifetime guaranteed". Running home to changem y shoes and missing the rest point for the marathon. Stopping by the National Library (which had conveniently located itself by my apartment). Realising that I had forgotten to put my playstation portable back while running to the relay point. Stopping by a tutition student's house to drop off the playstation. And then getting into an argument with the mom cos I had assigned the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe to my student as a reading assignment, which the mom deemed too "christian".
- another weird dream : driving a bus from somewhere in the city down little alleys back home. careening the bus from side to side while narrowly missing some drains. realising i was falling asleep while driving and forcing myself to wake up. then actually waking up.

As L says, I am weird.

Ajantis is weird.

Lightness of being

It's amazing what a good chat with a close friend will do for you. That's one of the things i've missed most since coming back to the US. A good chat with a friend who actively listens and contributes to the conversation really helps put things in perspective.

I ended up walking home feeling much lighter than i have in months. The Haagen-Daaz ice cream, the vegetable fritters and fish paste you tiao all helped of course. Yum :)

Everything works out in the end. Work isn't everything. And it's little moments like these, these times when you connect and share with your friends, that get me through the days till I can be with H.

Thanks E ;)

Quiescent posteriors

Short quick post.

Was rehearsing in performance class today, and practicing a move with Bee. And somehow, several times in a row, couldn't help but end up grabbing her butt.

Other random thoughts :

Have had a crush 4 times in this life so far. Once in JC, once on H, and twice in swing (bizarre right!) Maybe it just means that i'm fated to hang out with swing geeks ;) Which also means that i need to convert H to a swing dancer :) Anyone wanna help?

Ate way too much today. Besides pho and calamari and 2 scoops of ice cream with B, I ended up scarfing takoyaki balls on the way home. Ai....

Ajantis is counting in his dreams....

Randomness. Leadership. Puppies

Random thoughts about management :
1. Set clear expectations and targets
2. Provide support and guidance
3. Provide feedback about the job, not the person
4. Take emotions out of it
5. Serve the people you lead

I always feel like there is so much more I could do as a manager and leader...

Sad sad story. Brokeback Mountain. Go watch it (if it ever arrives in Singapore).

Are you a dog person? What kind of breeds (and no, not Dino, L's elbow-humping poodle thingy).... H and I were talking, and we both decided we didn't want a big dog, or a dog so small that you could step on it without thinking (so, no chihuahuas in a teacup, either)
We kinda decided on a french bulldog. Most people seem to think it ugly, but I personally find it cute. So what breed would you want?

Was listening to launchcast today, and a song came on that I hadn't heard for sometime. Ani Di Franco's 32 Flavors came on. Sheer aural bliss. Love the lyrics.

squint your eyes and look closer
I'm not between you and your ambition
I am a poster girl with no poster
I am thirty-two flavors and then some

Ajantis is probably only made up of 15 flavors

Whim wham whoom

Actually feeling stressed about work. Really stressed. Too many balls to juggle. And friends who know will tell you that it takes a lot to get me stressed.

Need to find time to sit down and untangle my jumbled mind right now. Complete de-frag!

We'll see.

Ajantis is stressed with a capital S

The reactions of atomic dust

So was talking to some friends who read my blog yesterday. It was nice to get some support, although I was irritated at the common refrain - "oh don't mind XX, he/she's usually like that + he/she was probably worse than usual cos he/she had a flu"

That wasn't a fair reaction cos said friends were trying to be supportive. So i started trying to figure out why that refrain got my hackles up. Part of it comes from the authoritarian part ofme that likes to figure out who is right and wrong.

But a larger part of it was, and this is as best as i can put it : It's ok if you are having a bad day, and are being a bit more irritable than usual. But let us know it so that I know not to set you off. It doesn't take that much to be self-aware and say, "hey, i'm having a bad day, so don't do XXX". But to be kinda passive aggressive about it is just annoying. So the reason the refrain mentioned above annoys me is because it is too easy an excuse, because it gives the person too easy an out just because he/she is like that or he/she is having a bad day.

I am feeling a lot better today though. Thanks guys (you know who you are)

Part of the reason I might be feeling better -- note the tendency to attribute everything to reasons and causes -- is discovering one of the currently fastest fading fads online -- Lip-synching. L had already sent me some links, but saw an article about it yesterday and started surfing for videos. I have to say, some of these guys are quite talented at making a fool of themselves. My fav are the Back Dormitory Boys.

Of course campiness/silliness are quite different from sheer lack of talent and a monstrous ego. It is quite amazing... and scary when you look at the kind of stuff you can find on the net. brrrr.

Alright. Time to go play some DQ VIII (and no, not Dairy Queen... Dragon Quest!)