500!!!

there ought to be fanfare, blaring trumpets, thumping drums, symbals clanging, a parade marching through, celebrations all round.

but... there isn't. it is just my 500th post. a landmark of no significance whatsoever.

:)

The Grasshopper

inflation is now, more than ever, a very real problem. even the aunty working downstairs know that while the price of everything is going up, wages are not. especially for those who are not highly educated and without a specialised skill.

many people then blame the government. saying that, even if the factors leading to the increases in price are beyond the government controls, the government can and should do something to lower the cost of living. but the government will not. this is not a government that will take steps to distort prices.

however, what the government will do is to give financial assistance, distribute some wealth. it has done so in the form of growth dividends, GST offset package and even WIS. the government claims that the amount of money that it has given out to the lower income is more than enough to cover the increase in prices. of course, the caveat is that this ang bao can really only cover the increase in prices of basic necessities, not luxury items. and it will only help the lower income if they do not spend it all at once, but rather, save what they have received and use the money to pay for their living expenses. however, someone with a lower income has a higher propensity of spending a windfall within a short period of time, thus leaving him with little to tide him through the rest of the year. so this ang bao from the government won't help him much and he will still have to deal with higher prices on his own income.

what can the government do about that? is it the government's fault that people spend what is given to them quickly rather than use that money to offset the increase in prices? i am not saying that what the government has done will solve all our problems. many of our material aspirations will still be dampened because of the rising prices. however, to foist all our problems onto the government is irresponsible. we, ourselves, also have to think of ways to solve our own problems, fulfil our dreams.

Circles...

"have no corners. not like triangles. triangles have corners... have 3 corners... see..."



a line out of "I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry".



sometimes our lives are very much like circles... no corners, just going round and round. like Zhao Zilong in "The Three Kingdoms: Rise of the Dragon". all his life fighting and in the end, he returns to the same place. one big circle. the flasback at the end (spoiler alert) where he is back at the temple/fort where he first made a name for himself was particularly poignant, especially if you are someone like me who would think about all the emotions that i would feel if i were in a similar situation. i would be thinking of the impendeing end, all the things that i have done, the name that i have carved out for myself, the journey that i've taken which has brought me back to where i first began. i would feel poignant, there will be an aching in my heart and a slight sour taste in my mouth. but my lips will be curled upwards in a wry smile, my eyes will be focused into the distance, with a glint of joy, joy in the knowledge that while i have spent my life going in a circle, i have seen many beautiful things along the journey.

it is not the destination that is important. for all our final destination are the gateway into Death's dominion. but the experiences that we have had, the people we have met, the lives we have touched, the story that we have left behind.

it may be a circle. but let it be a beautiful one.

Increased Productivity

I think that I will be blogging a fair bit more nowadays, thanks to my latest buy...



I've been spending much time exploring its functions, seeing how it can help increase my productivity. The GPS will most likely be useful, and so will its ability for me to scribble thoughts, ideas, to do lists, etc. With luck, I would have helped the govt spend its money well...

But for now, i'll be satisfied with using it to allay my boredom... And man... Am I bored or what! I now understand why we say that we are bored to tears... Cos when you are really bored, you tend to feel sleepy. And when u try to stay awake, you inevitably tear. Well, at least that's what happened to me...

I wonder whether it's faster for me to use this keyboard or whether it's faster for me to use the stylus and write... ha... perhaps it will be my little research project to kill time... which seems to be crawling slower than a drunk snail....

grr... need more fun things on my phone to... erm... increase productivity.


hehs.

Specters

from the past haunt me.

i chanced upon this clip.

i think if you were to make me go through it again, i will be paralysed with fear when i reach the Jacob's ladder.

An answer

i wasn't referencing to our need for sex in my previous post. i was talking about something more fundamental, that which fuels the need for sex: the biological imperative to propogate our genes, the undeniable drive to ensure the survival of the species.

what inspired that post? perhaps what i've been reading. Orson Scott Card's Ender Series. Ender's Game, the first book, is a great read. not as good as Huxley's Brave New World and definitely not as good as Rand's Fountainhead, but probably on par wth Asimov. but it's good enough for me. i don't think i'm in the right frame of mind to go through something more powerful and moving.

Do you know how a butterfly thinks?

we would think that once a butterfly tastes the sweet air of freedom, experiences the thrill of soaring through the air and sees the beauty of the light, it won't ever want to go back to the dark imprisonment of its chrysallis.

however, the above is highly anthropomorphic. we have no way of knowing how a butterfly thinks (or not). and it is not realistic to think that the butterfly would value its 'freedom' after the metamorphosis as much as humans value our 'freedom'. the only thing that we can be sure of about the similarities of a butterfly and a human being is that we are both driven by the same base desires to ensure the survival of the species.

lastly, the light that the butterfly is attracted to might well be some bug-zapper thing.

bzzt...

Control

i had to muster every single ounce of self-control, draw on every single little lesson in every form of philosophy about patience and tolerence just to stop myself from unleashing the fury of hell... oh but in that moment, how i wish i could bring fire and brimstone hailing down on some people!

why are some people just so infuriatingly stupid?

and so this post is my catharsis. to allow the rage that was boiling in me out as a gentler, more benign stream of steam, still scalding, but less, far less, damaging.

GRRRR!