What happens when two blind people with canes are walking on their own on the same side of the walkway but are coming towards eachother from the opposite directions? Do they know when to stop before they collide? Or do they battle it out with their canes as to who was on the right of passage?!
I admire blind people who venture in the great vast world on their own like that.
I admire anyone with a disability who manages to lead a more "normal" life - in comparison to someone who has no disability.
Monday, September 15, 2003
Friday, September 12, 2003
Slowly noticing...
(1) Midlife crisis gone too far when ur a 70y/o man driving a red celica with ur chair pushed too far forward and u cant see properly over the steering wheel and ur driving along at 20k/hr
(2) Terrible Two's is really terrible. And apparently i was the worst. Mum claims that she told me to NOT open a draw filled with my uncle's music cassettes or she would spank the hell out of me. So what do i do? When my uncle was babysitting me, i went to the draw and opened it and poured water all over the tapes. He just stared at me and didnt say a word!
My neice the other day (who will be two on the 28 Sept) was naughty, pouring water all over our floor in the living room...luckily its tiled. But when my mother stopped her, and called her "naughty" in vietnamese, she started crying - it was offensive apparently to her! (amazing how they understand so much!) She cried and didnt stop until she puked all over the lounge chair! *sigh* She was being naughty, and she already learnt to be defensive and was denying it.
(3) Mobile phones on the train. Be courteous please! When ur on a train and there are people around:
(i) pick up ur fudging phone instead of waiting for the polyphonic ringtone to play twice! Its bloody irritating!!!
(ii) when u are frantically smsing friends/boyfriends/whoever, please put ur phone on vibrate alert or just lower the bloody volume, the phone is in ur hands, ready to respond...so its not like ur going to miss it!
(iii) when u answer ur bloody call, try not to speak too loud so that the people in the next carriage can hear u!
(4) Being happy for other people is a good thing, even when they are happy for the wrong reason...if they share their happiness with u, its just too infectious to ignore! =D
(5) I like spending money on other people as much as for myself. I like the process of selecting the present, then paying for the present, wrapping the present and then handing the present, and more importantly - i love the appreciative expressions on the recipients face!
^_^
(6) I switch off when im around people who are too out there. I am literally speechless!
(2) Terrible Two's is really terrible. And apparently i was the worst. Mum claims that she told me to NOT open a draw filled with my uncle's music cassettes or she would spank the hell out of me. So what do i do? When my uncle was babysitting me, i went to the draw and opened it and poured water all over the tapes. He just stared at me and didnt say a word!
My neice the other day (who will be two on the 28 Sept) was naughty, pouring water all over our floor in the living room...luckily its tiled. But when my mother stopped her, and called her "naughty" in vietnamese, she started crying - it was offensive apparently to her! (amazing how they understand so much!) She cried and didnt stop until she puked all over the lounge chair! *sigh* She was being naughty, and she already learnt to be defensive and was denying it.
(3) Mobile phones on the train. Be courteous please! When ur on a train and there are people around:
(i) pick up ur fudging phone instead of waiting for the polyphonic ringtone to play twice! Its bloody irritating!!!
(ii) when u are frantically smsing friends/boyfriends/whoever, please put ur phone on vibrate alert or just lower the bloody volume, the phone is in ur hands, ready to respond...so its not like ur going to miss it!
(iii) when u answer ur bloody call, try not to speak too loud so that the people in the next carriage can hear u!
(4) Being happy for other people is a good thing, even when they are happy for the wrong reason...if they share their happiness with u, its just too infectious to ignore! =D
(5) I like spending money on other people as much as for myself. I like the process of selecting the present, then paying for the present, wrapping the present and then handing the present, and more importantly - i love the appreciative expressions on the recipients face!
^_^
(6) I switch off when im around people who are too out there. I am literally speechless!
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
My mother's story...
When i was trying to decide on what kind of career i could follow "if all else failed", i considered writing my mother's life story.
I guess in some ways it would be a tribute, but also just a simple biography of her life. To me, her life was interesting...she was brought up with 10 other brother's a sisters...some of them died very young, her father was jailed because he was fighting in the war on anti-communism side which provoked my mother to marry my father. She was a boat person on her own with my grandfather who happened to have some illness which prevented them to go straight to Australia and whilst looking after my grandfather she had my brother to look after, who was only 1 y/o. She did this in a foreign country with no money of her own. She only had the clothes on her back and another to change in. All her belongings were left in Vietnam with her sisters, in which they later sold for money that they much needed.
But life for my mother wasnt always grey in those days. Her family was once wealthy farmers of rice. But the city was booming and they moved there with so much hope, away from the country in which they should have stayed in.
You see, my mother's life was so colourful with many things occurring in her life when she was younger. She endured heartaches, her parents divorce, war, immigration, etc. There are so many stories that she shares with me...i wish i had recorded them in one way or another. I guess i have to get her to repeat the stories again, but this time have my MD ready to record them.
But she isnt the only one with stories, all her sisters have their own to share too.
I absolutely hate going to Vietnam, but the one thing that i appreciate is seeing my aunts and cousins who share their own stories from their past as girls in a time of revolution in post-war Vietnam.
IF and when i get the time to write my mother's story, i only hope that i do it justice.
I guess in some ways it would be a tribute, but also just a simple biography of her life. To me, her life was interesting...she was brought up with 10 other brother's a sisters...some of them died very young, her father was jailed because he was fighting in the war on anti-communism side which provoked my mother to marry my father. She was a boat person on her own with my grandfather who happened to have some illness which prevented them to go straight to Australia and whilst looking after my grandfather she had my brother to look after, who was only 1 y/o. She did this in a foreign country with no money of her own. She only had the clothes on her back and another to change in. All her belongings were left in Vietnam with her sisters, in which they later sold for money that they much needed.
But life for my mother wasnt always grey in those days. Her family was once wealthy farmers of rice. But the city was booming and they moved there with so much hope, away from the country in which they should have stayed in.
You see, my mother's life was so colourful with many things occurring in her life when she was younger. She endured heartaches, her parents divorce, war, immigration, etc. There are so many stories that she shares with me...i wish i had recorded them in one way or another. I guess i have to get her to repeat the stories again, but this time have my MD ready to record them.
But she isnt the only one with stories, all her sisters have their own to share too.
I absolutely hate going to Vietnam, but the one thing that i appreciate is seeing my aunts and cousins who share their own stories from their past as girls in a time of revolution in post-war Vietnam.
IF and when i get the time to write my mother's story, i only hope that i do it justice.
Wednesday, September 03, 2003
What's wrong with me???
I have noticed somethings that have been happening to me and i dont quite understand why...
Really odd things that have left me feeling insecure about myself.
I use to be this really brave girl, who would face up to any challenge!
Bite back when bitten.
Had the inner strength to soldier on.
Jumped off a cliff just to prove my purpose.
Argued until the sun has set, and risen the day after.
Scaled heights to show that i could touch the stars when i wanted to.
I was all of these things and then some.
Why have i changes so, in a way that i now cower away when speaking to someone. I consciously stroke my hair like i have something to hide. Even when im addressing a customer on the phone, i still reach for my hair and give it a stroke or put some strands behind my ear. They cant see me, so what am i so afraid of? Its not like a subconcious nervous reaction...like people biting their nails without knowing and then look at their fingers some time later, and find that most of their nail has been chewed off!
Why have i become so insecure??? When did i begin to second guess myself in such a way??? How did it come to be that i am no longer confident in myself or my actions???
I sometimes find myself walking around, going from one destination to another looking nonchalant but seriously worrying about something!
I also walk around looking at the floor. What happened to holding my head up high?
I avoid making eye contact with people. I use to look people in the eye and kept their attention until i chose to let go of it.
I find myself very unhappy.
I have started to lie.
Or maybe i have been lying all this time? And i have been in denial...
I might be going through a "Transition Cycle" in which im at a point of "inner contradictions" or "inner crisis" - based on the diagram on the website i have linked this blog to. I have been dealing with the so-called "Quaterlife Crisis"...I wonder if that is all part of my Transition Cycle? Or is the Transition Cycle part of the Quarterlife Crisis?
I use to be good with change. Saw it as an opportunity. I now look at it with distress.
Why oh why am i reduced to tears by it now?
I should be dealing with it all much better than i did before, should i not? Isnt that what growing up is all about? Am i doing a back flip and instead of growing, im actually mentally regressing*? What happened to my maturity? Out the window i suppose...
*regression (noun) 1: an abnormal state in which development has stopped prematurely [syn: arrested development, fixation, infantile fixation] 2: a defense mechanism in which you flee from reality by assuming a more infantile state.
Really odd things that have left me feeling insecure about myself.
I use to be this really brave girl, who would face up to any challenge!
Bite back when bitten.
Had the inner strength to soldier on.
Jumped off a cliff just to prove my purpose.
Argued until the sun has set, and risen the day after.
Scaled heights to show that i could touch the stars when i wanted to.
I was all of these things and then some.
Why have i changes so, in a way that i now cower away when speaking to someone. I consciously stroke my hair like i have something to hide. Even when im addressing a customer on the phone, i still reach for my hair and give it a stroke or put some strands behind my ear. They cant see me, so what am i so afraid of? Its not like a subconcious nervous reaction...like people biting their nails without knowing and then look at their fingers some time later, and find that most of their nail has been chewed off!
Why have i become so insecure??? When did i begin to second guess myself in such a way??? How did it come to be that i am no longer confident in myself or my actions???
I sometimes find myself walking around, going from one destination to another looking nonchalant but seriously worrying about something!
I also walk around looking at the floor. What happened to holding my head up high?
I avoid making eye contact with people. I use to look people in the eye and kept their attention until i chose to let go of it.
I find myself very unhappy.
I have started to lie.
Or maybe i have been lying all this time? And i have been in denial...
I might be going through a "Transition Cycle" in which im at a point of "inner contradictions" or "inner crisis" - based on the diagram on the website i have linked this blog to. I have been dealing with the so-called "Quaterlife Crisis"...I wonder if that is all part of my Transition Cycle? Or is the Transition Cycle part of the Quarterlife Crisis?
I use to be good with change. Saw it as an opportunity. I now look at it with distress.
Why oh why am i reduced to tears by it now?
I should be dealing with it all much better than i did before, should i not? Isnt that what growing up is all about? Am i doing a back flip and instead of growing, im actually mentally regressing*? What happened to my maturity? Out the window i suppose...
*regression (noun) 1: an abnormal state in which development has stopped prematurely [syn: arrested development, fixation, infantile fixation] 2: a defense mechanism in which you flee from reality by assuming a more infantile state.
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
My apologies...
The blog below...it was in regards to my imaginary Mr Perfect!
It is still straight from my heart because it was all the wishes i had in my heart poured out on to the blog, but there isnt a real person like that...i mean if there was and he was there and i didnt take up the chance even though he was right in front of me when i needed him most...ermm...id be quite pathetic...
But then, i am quite pathetic! How many grown people still have an imaginary friend who makes them feel "that" much better about themselves? You see, whenever i get into a relationship, i feel better about the fact that im not single...so i dont need an imaginary friend to make me feel better about not having a bf...cos i have one! (at that time anyways...)
And when the relationship ends, my imaginary Mr Oh-So-Right comes waltzing in to help me heal.
So, to all my friends who thought this Mr Right existed...and that i didnt have the guts to make it happen, sorry to have fooled u, but there isnt one. If you find one like the one i describe, be sure to inform me! ;)
It is still straight from my heart because it was all the wishes i had in my heart poured out on to the blog, but there isnt a real person like that...i mean if there was and he was there and i didnt take up the chance even though he was right in front of me when i needed him most...ermm...id be quite pathetic...
But then, i am quite pathetic! How many grown people still have an imaginary friend who makes them feel "that" much better about themselves? You see, whenever i get into a relationship, i feel better about the fact that im not single...so i dont need an imaginary friend to make me feel better about not having a bf...cos i have one! (at that time anyways...)
And when the relationship ends, my imaginary Mr Oh-So-Right comes waltzing in to help me heal.
So, to all my friends who thought this Mr Right existed...and that i didnt have the guts to make it happen, sorry to have fooled u, but there isnt one. If you find one like the one i describe, be sure to inform me! ;)
