Stare At Me. Remember This Face

This boy of about seven-years of age was hobbling along slowly. One crooked leg after another, slowly inching his way past the checkout counter. He had to bent to flip one leg in front, and then bed and flip the other leg in front. And he had the contraption around both his arms but and it probably hurt a little to walk the way he did.

But it can't hurt more than the stares that people were giving him. He walks alone headed towards the exit.

I don't know what it must feel like to have people gawp at you like that. Like you are not normal. Like you are a caged animal. I don't know how his mother's heart must break whenever he cries over why he isn't the way other seven-year-olds are. I don't know how he learns to contain his anger over his situation and why people stared so openly at him.

And yet, he inched his way to the exit. Alone.

The cashier stopped working altogether just to stare. One of them even walked closer to get a better look. It was his back that we could see now but I am curious about what was going on inside his young head. How does a seven-year-old deal with something like this? Is he strong enough?

But that wasn't what I was concerned about. Why was he alone? I was done paying and told myself to walk past and not be a busybody. I walked past him and out the exit.

Being me. Sigh....

I just couldn't help it, so I turned around and waited for him. He flip-flopped slowly and when he exited the door, his eyes finally met my gaze. I don't think he has ever had a grown-up stranger approach him and ask him things because when I asked him, 'How come you are alone?' he stared at me with his mouth hanging open. I can only imagine that the only form of communication he got from the general public was curious looks, sneaky glances and then the back of the heads of people who were pretending that they were not looking while he KNEW they were.

I thought he didn't speak English but before I could say it in Cantonese, he stuttered, 'My mother.'

Ahhh...so he came with his mother. There was a hint of a smile, I can't be sure, though, but I continued asking, 'Where is she?'

'She's driving, bringing the car around to here. Asked me to wait for her,' he said in his barely audible voice.

I told him that it was good and that he should not try to go anywhere alone. He nods his head and I turn around. As I drove away, I saw that he was sitting quietly waiting for his mother to come get him. What if she didn't? What if something happened? How could his mother just let him walk alone, in that state, through a mall of staring people?

I don't know the story behind it so, I am not in the position to judge. I stole one last look at my rear view mirror and hoped that he has every single ounce of strength to tell the world this:-

'Look at me now. Remember this face. I am no less than you are and one day, many years from now, when you think you are ahead, you might see this face again.'

In The Hall Of The Mountain King Piano Duo

I love the piano piece 'In the hall of the mountain king' and was just lurking around the internet to see if anyone else had a different interpretation than I. Indeed....indeed. This duo created one of the most awesome and fantastically jaw-dropping presentation ever!

The pace is just right. Build it slow and the end it with MAYHEM!!! LOL. The ending was a little too explosive for me but in general, it was A.MA.ZING

Explaining Mortality To A 2 Year Old

Repost from digital diary from 2002

*** ***
‘The dinosaur got red, yeah mom yeah?”

“Yes, Josh. There’s blood inside the dinosaur”

“The big T-Rex wants to eat other dinosaurs, yeah mom yeah?”

“Yes, Josh. Sometimes dinosaurs eat dinosaurs. Like Joshua eat chicken, you know”

“There’s red inside the chicken and dinosaur, yeah mom yeah?”

“Yes, Josh. There’s blood inside the chicken and dinosaur. We are all living beings, we all have blood”

“Mom, when dinosaur eat dinosaur, the other dinosaur die yeah, mom?”

“Yes, Joshua”

“When Joshua eat the chicken, the chicken die yeah mom?”

“I’m afraid so. It has to be dead before we eat it, Josh”

“It’s painful, yeah mom”

Pause.

“Look, there’s a spider on the wall, Josh! GO catch it!”

“The chicken is painful yeah mom?”

Pause.

“You want to read a book now, Josh?”

“No mom”

“Yes, it’s painful”

“The chicken and dinosaur die yeah mom, yeah?”

“Yes, Josh. They die”

It’s difficult to explain why we inflict pain on animals just because we have to or want to eat them. Kids might come up with questions we don’t really want to answer….or can’t answer.

Nice Working Sunday

Sunday is a time for rest....while that is true, I think there is something to be said about taking advantage of the silence, the calm, the lack of need to hurry anywhere or do anything to just...work on stuff that's been backlogged.

Call me a workaholic and I continue to stand by my decision to do a little work today. I can't sit here and watch that to-do list of mine and not do anything when the kids are out for a movie (something that I don't or CAN'T watch....Christmas Carol. Eugh! Horrors! Not even kiddie horror for me, thank you very much).

As a freelance writer, every second of time that ticks by is money. And besides, I've already taken the kids mall-crawling yesterday and they had a blast playing in one of those play areas that they will SOON outgrow since all the kids there are itty-bitty little ones still learning how to walk.

And I went full blast with my spending on books too yesterday. I'm telling you, the only way to break my bank account is for me to live next door to a book shop, I swear. There is no way in hell I would spend this amount on clothes. A piece of blouse costing anything more than RM20 is EXPENSIVE to me! I know...I am such a miser. I don't understand how some people can simply sign their life away for the latest fashion from some curious designer from a curious country and have shortened their names to two syllabus (unless it is naturally that way) just for the sake of marketing or branding.

But all in all, I spent Sunday working on some backlogged articles. And I've also taken the time to read a little and practice the piano for a while....

T'was nice, it was.

This Ad....Er.....

Eh? Looks like some people still don't get the 1Malaysia concept geh? ah well...let's advertise, 'Cina pun boleh senang masuk UM'

So much rain, is it really the end of the world?

It's been raining and raining and raining and raining and raining and raining and raining and raining here in PJ (KL to some others who are not familiar with the term PJ) and I think in a way, it's clogged my brain. Writing, which is second nature to me (first nature being going toilet), is slow because my brain just ain't functioning. Or maybe I just need to eat more Spirulina because it seems that Spirulina boosts brain activity. I get mine from Cosway and apparently, they are really good. Anyway, I'll leave that to you but according to me, I think there is some basis for those claims.

Under normal circumstances, I love the rain...when I am tucked comfortably indoors with the comforter pulled all the way up to my chin and sipping on a cup of nice Chamomile tea but when you have to run around like a lunatic, it's just not cool. Which brings me around to the topic rain.

Someone once told me that the world will end up like...you know, Water World. God will end the world, once again, with so much rain that there will be flood all over the place, I mean, all over earth. Hhhmm....I've not watched 2012 the movie yet, so I've no comments on that movie, but if it is true that the rain is an indication of the end of the world, there are two things that I am going to do.

One, build an ark.

Two, sail to the driest part of Africa.

But first, let's start with the ark. Does anyone here know how to work the hammer?

Bell Boy

Just had an emotional conversation and needed the mood-lifter. Here's one to share with you....you know, just in case you need a mood lifter too. :-)

*** ***

Once there was a church that had a bell that no one could ring. One day, a boy came and asked the priest if he could try. So the boy went up into the tower and ran straight into the bell, face-first. The bell tolled loud and clear. The shocked priest gave him the job. But one Sunday, he ran straight toward the bell with his face and missed and fell off the tower and died.

"Congregation," the priest said before the assembled masses. "Does anybody know this boy's name? Because I don't know him, but his face rings a bell."

No Hands Off Policy On Twilight

I heard on the radio that I should be completely incapacitated and very depressed. I should bury myself in a pile of cow dung and slowly watch life ebb away in sheer proof of mortality. They announced the news that should render me bereft: Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart were caught holding hands in the land of love, Paris, and somehow, the author of Twilight confirmed that the two are very much in love.

I love Robert Pattinson for the messy mop of do that he wears around his head and the shy grin that he beams once in a while. Love that. Whether he has abs or not, I don't care. Just love him...even when his jokes reek and his mannerism (like jerking around, twitching, etc) sucks. I am not even as in love as I am with the devoted vampire, Edward Cullen, that he plays.

But you know what? The picture that is supposed to kill me? This one.



Well, so what? So, they're holding hands. So they are together. So they are bonking the eyeballs out of each other. So what? I don't really see the big deal. Yeah, I love him. Yeah, I hate her. But so what?

I just can't stand Kristen Stewart, not because she is holding that man's hands. I can't stand her as Bella in Twilight because all she does is bite her own lips, twitch around like a retard and behaves like she is about to have a nervous breakdown. And she does not know how to move her lips and mouth when she talks. Hate that about that girl. She's still got time to grow out of that one, at least. I sincerely hope she does.

If it's a promotional gimmick, I have to give it to the guys, man! AWESOME timing!! Four more days to the premiere of New Moon and here we have it – confirmation of that togetherness, affirmation of undying love for each other...IN REAL LIFE. Proof that the kisses and soon-to-come bed scenes are right out of their real life romps in hotel rooms while filming.

I am just so happy to see that they are all so together in all this. They're so together that they can't stop themselves from holding hands with each other all the time.



See? Even the male co-stars are having a hard time keeping their hands off each other. I bet my bottom dollar that the second picture is a direct result of the famously cheeky Peter Facinelli poking fun at the news.

Sick Not With AHeeNee Flu

This Baby Sleeping Picture can be found here

Sometimes I go out like a ton of bricks. Sometimes I lie there waiting for the sun to come up. Sleep, I think, co-relates with how old you are. I am NOT saying that I am old but hey, aren't we all getting there? Anyway, I had a bit of the flu all weekend through. No, don't worry, it's not the AheeNee (AH1N1) flu. Just a normal sinus problem. But sheesh, people look at you like you have sprouted horns and became Lucifer when you sneeze these days. It's almost illegal to have the flu, you know.

Anyway, spent Saturday moaning and groaning and since I had the flu, I had the perfect excuse to go my mom's house where I feel like a daughter and not the mother. Being in charge gets tiring, you know. So, whenever I go to my mom's place, I have every excuse to be pathetically childish.

Then on Sunday, spent half the day either doing nothing or drifting in and out of slumber....like pig.

It's amazing because this morning, woke up and sent the kids to school and then went back to bed and slept like a log till noon! Can't quite believe it, I'm telling you - the work backlog. Groan...but I am sick, y'all! See? I get pathetically childish even in my own blog. Usually, I would struggle just to catch a 20 minute nap. After struggling, it becomes impossible to sleep, right? Right!

But these few days, I have no problems sleeping at all times, all hours, in all positions, on all types of surfaces! Amazing. I even skipped gym for sleep. That's....wow, for your info.

Anyway, tomorrow is back to gym for Body Step. Hope I don't break a knee cap after the sleep-holiday that I had these past few days.

Step, Step...and Away!

Sweet Slumber

By Nora Isaacs

Leslie Bradley remembers lying awake as a child, unable to sleep. "I've been something of an insomniac my entire life," says the 56-year-old owner of Blue Spruce Yoga in Lakewood, Colorado. But after she contracted West Nile virus in 2004, her sleepless nights became intolerable. "I was in really bad shape," Bradley says. "I couldn't sleep at all without taking drugs like Ambien."

After the prescription sleeping pills became less effective, Bradley decided to explore an alternative route, making an appointment to see Ayurvedic doctor John Douillard, director of the LifeSpa School of Ayurveda in Boulder, Colorado. He put Bradley on a regimen of herbs, tea, self-massage, and breathwork. He also helped her understand the best bedtimes for her body type and encouraged her to make changes to her lifestyle, such as eating a bigger lunch, and not teaching evening yoga classes.

Drawing on her yoga background, she began doing Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand), Halasana (Plow Pose), and restorative poses before going to bed. Within three months, Bradley was off the drugs. "All those things combined have basically cured my insomnia," she says. "I feel much stronger and more solid, more vibrant."

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