Most films about the teaching profession are very positive. A forceful and charismatic teachers lands in a (usually) lousy (inner city, no doubt) school with a class filled with delinquents, lazy jocks, the misunderstood creative outcast, the nerds and the rest of the usual cast of student "archetypes", at least by way of Hollywood scriptwriting. To Sir, With Love is perhaps the most iconic of redemption-of-students-by-saviour-teacher, the formula of which was replicated by films like Stand and Deliver and Dangerous Minds (based on true stories, yeah okay).
I bet there wasn't a dry eye in the cinema by the closing credits.
And then you have Dead Poet Society and the female copycat version Mona Lisa Smile where the teacher inspires the students to think outside the box and abandon the shackles put upon them by the hidebound society that cossets their privileged arses. While most of these movies share a running theme that is mocked by the most cynical as mawkish sentimentality, they do underline an important aspect about the teaching profession: teachers are potential cult leaders.
I'm just kidding.
(the rest is under cut for extreme movie spoilers)
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
Choosing to be Happy
Yup, it's a choice.
Just adjust your expectations to meet your reality. Easy right?
Not.
*sigh*
Just adjust your expectations to meet your reality. Easy right?
Not.
*sigh*
Unforeseen hiatus
I have disappeared from posting here for over a month. Was I missed? I would like to think so (narcissist, much?).
My Daddy passed away last month on the third. It was a stunning blow for our family; we took it for granted that he'd live as long as his mother did, his father and his siblings (only two died before hitting sixty). I guess we forgot that all of us were born to die and that there is no promise or contract to let us know how long we have in this world. I have had my Daddy for over thirty five years (he had his for much less, so did my Mum), but I don't think there was ever enough time to have with the people you love, right?
I penned (typed, rather) a little tribute to my Daddy on Cowbird. You can see it here.
Goodbye, Daddy. See you on the other side.
My Daddy passed away last month on the third. It was a stunning blow for our family; we took it for granted that he'd live as long as his mother did, his father and his siblings (only two died before hitting sixty). I guess we forgot that all of us were born to die and that there is no promise or contract to let us know how long we have in this world. I have had my Daddy for over thirty five years (he had his for much less, so did my Mum), but I don't think there was ever enough time to have with the people you love, right?
I penned (typed, rather) a little tribute to my Daddy on Cowbird. You can see it here.
Goodbye, Daddy. See you on the other side.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Slow start to the new year
Holy God!
I just remembered today that January is almost over and my last post here was last year for Christmas. In my defense, I have just started a new job, has a steep learning curve to keep up to (and slipping down the slippery slope every so often) and has been falling asleep before 11 pm on a daily basis.
When is a girl gonna have time to update her blog? Does anyone read me anyway?
But then I recalled that my aim for starting this blog wasn't to impress anyone with my (lack of) mad writing skills. I did it to have a repository of some kind to store items that crossed my way that are:
1. Interesting
2. Funny
3. Made me think
I noticed that my writing has slowed down since I got me a smartphone after mooching phones off of my Dad and Sis for the past unknown years. Yeah, the first time I forked out a tonne (or what felt like it) of money for a toy that's gonna be rendered obsolete in a few months time. But in the mean time, I have been using the Flipboard app to read interesting stuff from the New Yorker, Chicago Tribune, Al-Jazeera, The Atlantic, BBC World, The Atlantic Wire, Forbes Tech News, Futurity.org, Popular Science, NYT Bits and many more.
So now I am inundated with COOL STUFF TO READ. Well, as long as my battery is still alive, that is; my addiction to Word Feud puts a significant dent on my battery. But the drawback to using the smart phone is that the multitude of access to COOL STUFF TO READ has kinda slowed down my writing; I still haven't figured out how to update my blog using the phone. On the other hand, typing is darn slow (*shakes fist at touchscreen keyboard*) and redolent with spelling errors (no, auto correct doesn't always help).
Anyhoo, I am promising myself (hah!) that I shall work harder on writing on this blog (and the others that I have, hehehe) and to post something at least once a week. We'll see how that goes.
Well, inaugural post for the year is of course sharing prurient stories (which are always the best kind) with a scientific bend. The first of which is good news for men who drink green tea and take the little blue pills to keep their soldier upright. A team of Japanese researchers from Kyushu University have found that the healthily arousing cocktail is beneficial to suppress cancer or to promote the effectiveness of chemotherapy on cancer. Of course this exciting experiment has been conducted only on rodents at the moment, but I am sure there won't be a lack for human volunteers.
So far so good, right? Hehehe. Not quite.
Bad news for Internet porn aficionados is next. Apparently, viewing Internet porn has serious effects on your working memory. So if you have been missing appointments, forgetting your significant other's birthday (how could you with Facebook?) and finding it difficult to concentrate on work, take a long, hard look at your Internet porn habits. Granted, the study was only on a small number of men (n=28, all claiming to be straight), but it is highly likely that the same outcome will be seen in females as well as non-heterosexual males AND females.
The Internet has helped democratise pornography. Previously, it can only be obtained furtively from shady stores and if you are from countries that heavily censors the reading and viewing material of its citizens, great pains are involved (aided and abetted by your local friendly DVD pirates). But the cyber revolution has helped everyone with a computer and a modem to access a plethora of erotic materials in various forms and genre. Gone are the days where a flash of flesh is enough to make a sex-obsessed person's (this goes for males and females of all ages, ok? No ageism) day, it seems that vanilla sex is no longer good enough for those who are actually getting some. Porn addiction has been changing expectations of both partners and not for the better. Oh dear. There are more scientific studies out there on this issue and not just a Cosmopolitan survey, but you can Google those up on your own free time.
Perhaps this new year (with the upcoming lunar new year) we should resolve to clean up our Internet habits, should this pertains to us. Ahem.
*whistles and looks innocent*
I just remembered today that January is almost over and my last post here was last year for Christmas. In my defense, I have just started a new job, has a steep learning curve to keep up to (and slipping down the slippery slope every so often) and has been falling asleep before 11 pm on a daily basis.
When is a girl gonna have time to update her blog? Does anyone read me anyway?
But then I recalled that my aim for starting this blog wasn't to impress anyone with my (lack of) mad writing skills. I did it to have a repository of some kind to store items that crossed my way that are:
1. Interesting
2. Funny
3. Made me think
I noticed that my writing has slowed down since I got me a smartphone after mooching phones off of my Dad and Sis for the past unknown years. Yeah, the first time I forked out a tonne (or what felt like it) of money for a toy that's gonna be rendered obsolete in a few months time. But in the mean time, I have been using the Flipboard app to read interesting stuff from the New Yorker, Chicago Tribune, Al-Jazeera, The Atlantic, BBC World, The Atlantic Wire, Forbes Tech News, Futurity.org, Popular Science, NYT Bits and many more.
So now I am inundated with COOL STUFF TO READ. Well, as long as my battery is still alive, that is; my addiction to Word Feud puts a significant dent on my battery. But the drawback to using the smart phone is that the multitude of access to COOL STUFF TO READ has kinda slowed down my writing; I still haven't figured out how to update my blog using the phone. On the other hand, typing is darn slow (*shakes fist at touchscreen keyboard*) and redolent with spelling errors (no, auto correct doesn't always help).
Anyhoo, I am promising myself (hah!) that I shall work harder on writing on this blog (and the others that I have, hehehe) and to post something at least once a week. We'll see how that goes.
Well, inaugural post for the year is of course sharing prurient stories (which are always the best kind) with a scientific bend. The first of which is good news for men who drink green tea and take the little blue pills to keep their soldier upright. A team of Japanese researchers from Kyushu University have found that the healthily arousing cocktail is beneficial to suppress cancer or to promote the effectiveness of chemotherapy on cancer. Of course this exciting experiment has been conducted only on rodents at the moment, but I am sure there won't be a lack for human volunteers.
And other non-Homo sapiens volunteers.
(Stolen from http://morgueradio.blogspot.com/2009/06/lol-cats-and-immortal.html)
(Stolen from http://morgueradio.blogspot.com/2009/06/lol-cats-and-immortal.html)
So far so good, right? Hehehe. Not quite.
Bad news for Internet porn aficionados is next. Apparently, viewing Internet porn has serious effects on your working memory. So if you have been missing appointments, forgetting your significant other's birthday (how could you with Facebook?) and finding it difficult to concentrate on work, take a long, hard look at your Internet porn habits. Granted, the study was only on a small number of men (n=28, all claiming to be straight), but it is highly likely that the same outcome will be seen in females as well as non-heterosexual males AND females.
Spanking the monkey wasn't an experimental parameter in the study.
(Stolen from http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/omg-masturbating-lolcat.jpg)
The Internet has helped democratise pornography. Previously, it can only be obtained furtively from shady stores and if you are from countries that heavily censors the reading and viewing material of its citizens, great pains are involved (aided and abetted by your local friendly DVD pirates). But the cyber revolution has helped everyone with a computer and a modem to access a plethora of erotic materials in various forms and genre. Gone are the days where a flash of flesh is enough to make a sex-obsessed person's (this goes for males and females of all ages, ok? No ageism) day, it seems that vanilla sex is no longer good enough for those who are actually getting some. Porn addiction has been changing expectations of both partners and not for the better. Oh dear. There are more scientific studies out there on this issue and not just a Cosmopolitan survey, but you can Google those up on your own free time.
Perhaps this new year (with the upcoming lunar new year) we should resolve to clean up our Internet habits, should this pertains to us. Ahem.
*whistles and looks innocent*
Monday, December 24, 2012
Merry Christmas!
For the ladies ... and gents who swing that way.
And to the gentlemen, I hope this don't happen to you when you are decorating the tree.
Have a lovely and blessed celebration, y'all!
And to the gentlemen, I hope this don't happen to you when you are decorating the tree.
Have a lovely and blessed celebration, y'all!
It's just not right anymore
I always zone out when I listen to audiobooks, but I may make an exception to this one.
*giggles hysterically, rolling on the floor*
*giggles hysterically, rolling on the floor*
Monday, December 17, 2012
Monday, Monday ...
Let the LOLs begin!
1. Star Wars/Christmas
2. Loki/Lilo
3. Homer??!?
4. Star Wars/Tim Burton
5. Multiple Nativity
6. We are at war
7. *Shudder*
8. When male comic characters pose like female comic characters ... call the chiropractor.
1. Star Wars/Christmas
2. Loki/Lilo
3. Homer??!?
4. Star Wars/Tim Burton
5. Multiple Nativity
6. We are at war
7. *Shudder*
8. When male comic characters pose like female comic characters ... call the chiropractor.
9. The lost hobbit.
10. Girls do stupid things for love for millennia.
11. Dafuq?
12. Bad ideas are bad. Really bad.
13. Self help books are helpful, yes?
14. Manly horn-eys.
15. I'll bet there are fanfics. I'm quite sure.
Have a great week anticipating the holidays! If you got some work done, good on ya!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Talking to yourself ...
... is not a bad thing. Sometimes a little navel gazing and self reflection is good for you.
Because if other people talk to us the way we talk to ourself, we'd kick them out of our life.
Is your personal equation killing you? Think about it.
Because if other people talk to us the way we talk to ourself, we'd kick them out of our life.
Is your personal equation killing you? Think about it.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Dopamine addicts of the world, UNITE!
Why is pleasure such a dirty word? It's God's gift to us! It drives a lot of our motivations.
The pleasure principle is not necessarily the worst way to live your life. We should enjoy our present since there are no guarantee for tomorrow.
So take care of yourself. Take charge of your enjoyment. Don't wait for permission. Don't wait for others to please you.
Enjoy!
The pleasure principle is not necessarily the worst way to live your life. We should enjoy our present since there are no guarantee for tomorrow.
So take care of yourself. Take charge of your enjoyment. Don't wait for permission. Don't wait for others to please you.
Enjoy!
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