Consume

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
con·sume
–verb (used with object)
1. to destroy or expend by use; use up.
2. to eat or drink up; devour.
3. to destroy, as by decomposition or burning: Fire consumed the forest.
4. to spend (money, time, etc.) wastefully.
5. to absorb; engross: consumed with curiosity. –verb (used without object)
6. to undergo destruction; waste away.
7. to use or use up consumer goods.


Isn't it interesting? That if you can be consumed by the very thing you consume?

110AZ

My son showed me this on the paper ...

110AZ

and it took a couple of seconds before I had it decoded.

I had asked him to write 1 to 10 and A to Z.

Am

Not

Looking

Forward

To

Meeting

His

Teachers

In

The

Future...

Power vs Freedom

Interesting article - click on the title to read it:

" ... gaining power, according to research by Pfeffer and others, is mostly a matter of building relationships with people you don’t necessarily like, i.e. taking on many, many obligations, social and otherwise. Generally, lunching with enemies and bigwigs is not considered the most fun to have in the afternoon, but according to the evidence it’s what it takes to claw one’s way to the top, and it’s non-optional. The truly ambitious are not free to choose a solo sandwich in the park. "

Conversations ......about school

Me: What did you do in school today?
Boy: I flush before I pee.
Me: That's good. What else?
Boy: I flush before I pee!!
Me: Oh!!!!!!!! You FLUSHED before you pee.... Why?
Boy: Because there was 'nrg nrg' inside!
Me: *laughing* Oh my!... so someone didn't flush?
Boy: Yes! Someone didn't flush. I saw him! But I'm not sure what is his name.
Me: Hahhaa... never mind. What else did you do in school today?
Boy: Nothing.

Right, I send my kid to school today to flush away somebody else's poo. Excellent!

Party!

Happy Birthday!

Waited till this morning before deciding on having a party for the boy. Called the usual suspects, went grocery shopping, and then slogged in the kitchen for the next 3 hours. But checked out those smiles!

Uma's Playground

Thank you for having us at your party!

(All photos in this post taken by Danesh Daryanani)

A compliment?

"You are intelligent but you got no common sense!"

???

I really don't get it. How does that work?

Human Rights

The Big One: What's the definition of Human Rights?
Me: Errr, the right to live?
The Big One: It's more than that.
Me: What?
The Big One: Most people don't know what is it themselves but pretend they do.
Me: So what is it?
The Big One: It's simply the right to co-exist!
Me: Whaaaaaaaa.... that's so beautiful!

I checked out wikipedia this morning. His definition beats them all 10-1.

Not knowing what you want ...

....will not get you what you want!

Case study:
A: Are you able to help me beautify this?
B: What do you mean by 'beautify'?
A: You know, make it nice?
B: Right, so how do you want me to make it nice?
A: Can you do it?
B: I might be able to, if I know exactly what you want.
A: So you are not the person I should speak to for these things?
B: I might be able to do it, but I need to know what you mean by 'making it nicer' before I can tell you whether I can do it or not.
A: So do we have a department in our office that can help us do this?
B: Do what?
A: Make this better.
B: Can you give me some examples on what you mean by making it better?
A: So you can't do it? How about the other department?
B: I don't know if I can do it unless I know exactly what you need and I don't know if the other department can do it either because I don't know what you need them to do!
A: Why don't you speak to them?
B: Speak to them?
A: Yes.
B: Why?
A: Ask them if they can do it!
B: Do what?
A: Make it nicer.
B: No!
A: Why not?

At this point, B, aka me, floats away....

Not Lying. Forwarding Truths

The violin teacher to the boy, " Are you still drinking from the milk bottle?"
The boy, "No."
The mother raised her eyebrows so fast, the other parents cracked up laughing.
Back home, the mother asked if the boy wanted milk. He replied, "Yes! From a cup, not a bottle ok?"
Right, you asked for it!

Lesson

Been quite lax so obviously the boy couldn't understand when I decided to be firm with him on Wednesday evening. He dilly-dallied, played badly, dallied some more and came up with a million excuses as only he can. And then, for some obtuse reasons, I decided he needed to be shouted at so I tried that, and even made sure I bullied him into tears, refusing to give him any water when he wanted some and hoping maybe after all this torture, he'd turn into a better student.

I AM A NINCOMPOOP!

Last night, we changed tack. I sat with him to plan out what we were going to practice and how we were going to achieve that. What an amazing change! The boy knew what was to be expected, knew he agreed to it prior, could see it on paper, was allowed to strike each item off when he completed it and knew that the practice will end only when he has finished everything on the list.

LET THE NINCOMPOOP NOT FORGET THIS LESSON!

Perception

So I was late for my session with the Swamiji. I went to the wrong place and had to call the Big One back at home. He checked it out, told me where I should be and exclaimed, "Whaaa $125! Quick, you better take the cab!"

Back home, I told him about how this is supposedly the closest you'd ever get to "God" and so he asked if I got a discount from "God" since I was obviously late . My response? "What makes you think God gives discounts?" He chuckled, but persisted... "How about SY? Did she give you a discount?" To which I responded, "SY is not a God so she can't give discounts either!".

We both laughed really hard then.

My Sunday with a Swami

So I was told, that meeting an enlightened one is the closest we'd ever get to meeting God. So I sat there, staring at 'God', watching him.

Here's a note I wrote on my little notebook "If you had been touched by God, will you know? (and even if you did know) Would you believe? (you were)"

Anyway, I guess if there's one conclusive note, it will be that I've had the most amazing experience. For a moment at least, I became me.

Bananas, Oreos and ....

If a BANANA is a Chinese who is "white" inside and an OREO is a Black who is "white" inside, then guess what an Indian who is "white" inside is? A COCONUT! Anyway, I was giving my colleague grief by accusing him of being a BANANA when the COCONUT pointed out that I'm a BANANA myself. And the only way we could explain it to the American was to bring up the OREO.

I wouldn't call this racism.

I will be proud if the boy grew up to become a BANANA OREO COCONUT mix. All of it, white, black, brown, yellow and all the other colors in between! If anything the world is lacking in now, it's colorful Global Citizens!

Inspired.

So I've been working 14 odd months in this company and my boss finally shows up for a week, all the way from Kentucky - I meant the state in the US of A. Apart from the many highlights, like taking the team for a spin on the Singapore Flyer and trying to pop popcorns with our mobile phones, i've been inspired.

Me thinks ... tough job, great boss, is way better than great job, tough boss.

His 2nd Violin Performance

Yesterday, the boy had his violin lessons and then his public violin performance later that same afternoon. Yes, it wasn't last week. I remembered wrong.

Anyway, so when his turn came, the teacher lined up the 4 of them to play their pieces. He then moved the microphone stand closer to the kids and was lowering the mike closer to one of them when suddenly, one woman from the audience gasped and exclaimed, "OH MY GOD!"

The teacher looked up, recognised the woman, laughed and then swiftly moved the microphone away to another position.

Meanwhile, another person had nudged the woman who made so much noise and rebuked, "Hey, you should have more confidence lar!"

The microphone had been lowered and placed just 6 inches from my little performer's violin.

Eventually, the boy performed brillantly! He did forget some bits but recovered well.

So yes, the woman, aka I, definitely should have had more confidence in him.

Spoke to the big one on the way to work this morning... apparently he made similar noises too.... something like, "LEOOOOOOOOOW!"... which means "FINISHED!" in Teochew.

Lunch @ $1.70

90 cents for the BeeHoon and 80 cents for coffee. This provided I remember to pack it before 11am. After 11am, the price of the BeeHoon shoots up to $4 a plate. I don't really care much for their lunch version, which has added 'leow' aka extra ingredients - a couple of shrimps, some strips of fishcake, maybe 3 or 4 slices of pork, shredded cabbage, not forgetting a mouthful or so of scrambled egg, and more oil.

The lady boss must have thought I wanted to save some money or something by always eating plain BeeHoon for lunch and so today, she asked me, "Don't want to add more ingredient arh?" (with a you are pitiful look) "Like that enough a not?" and piled more PLAIN BeeHoon into the styrofoam box.

I'm glad I can live simply... and hopefully life will be simple enough for me to do that and still be happy.