In View of Eternity

Old Brain.

2011-01-20T00:44:00.002+08:00

Sometimes I feel like an old man who had worked hard his entire life only to realise that life can't be fulfilled by job satisfaction or passion alone. Its like experiencing an epiphany, realising that all those years I've slogged off resulted in the negligence of something way more important; relationships. The problem is, I'm only 23. Many more years to slog off before I'm supposed to feel this way.

2 Years Later

2011-01-20T00:31:00.002+08:00

I realised that it has been 2 years since i last blogged.
Went to read back on all my older posts and was surprised how childish I sound (wrote).
What surprised me more was how much people liked my post.
I guess like me, they too were young and childish, haha.

I can't deny that I was amazed by some of the posts though.
The wisdom, compassion, humour and wit displayed captivated me.
I daresay I'm quite impressed with the old me, haha.

Got so busy with life the last 2 years that I forgot the joy of writing.
I remember the reason why I used to write my blog posts with such enthusiasm wasn't because I wanted more readers, but because I knew one day I'll come back to my blog again and re-read my posts.
And when I do, I want to be entertained, haha.
So I guess I'll blog again whenever I'm free, even though blogs are no longer as popular as they were.

Or perhaps I should get a tumblr.

Weird Love.

2009-07-11T12:04:00.000+08:00

My fav quote of the year:

“We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”

-Anonymous

Weirdly Normal..

2009-07-05T20:18:00.008+08:00

Here are some nice weird quotes that i found...

“Life isn't weird: it's just the people in it.”
- Anonymous

“We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box.”
- Anonymous

“When a woman is very, very bad, she is awful, but when a man is correspondingly good, he is weird.”
- Minna Antrim

“My roommate says, I'm going to take a shower and shave, does anyone need to use the bathroom? It's like some weird quiz where he reveals the answer first.”
- Mitch Hedberg

“People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history.”
- Dan Quayle

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”
- Hunter S.Thompson

We all have an individual brand of weirdness.
What one person sees as weird, might seem normal to another.
What seems normal, might seem weird to another.
Society tells us that we should be normal.
Education teaches us to be normal.
But what they are seeking is actually 'standardization'.

The truth is, Normalization isn't standardization!
Because all of us are not the same.
Because all of us are normal in our own way.

So enjoy being yourself today.
Enjoy being weird.

This post has so much value in view of time and eternity, because to be able to enjoy life, it is first necessary to be able celebrate your individual unique weirdness.

Happy Emo People...

2009-06-28T03:22:00.012+08:00

Even the happiest people can feel emo at times...

Nemo

Cartman

SpongEMO Squarepants

and even...

EMObama

The Solution:

Is Beauty really in the eye of the beholder?

2009-06-06T01:26:00.004+08:00

This is a continuation from my previous post...
I think I made men sound rather shallow in my previous post, haha..

I guess some of you were even shocked, that such a nice guy like Rickson who judges not by other's appearance and only looks at the character & heart would say such a thing!!
Okay okay, i'm exaggerating, i'm not that perfect a person, haha..

Anyway, i want to continue from there.
I mentioned that men prefer pretty women...

Many agree that men are stimulated by visuals while women by words.
Men get turn on easily by pretty women, while women get turn on easily by words.
And thats the reason why so many men get cheated by pretty women, while so many women get cheated by men who know how to sweeten words.
The worst thing about it, is that they don't just get cheated, but repeatedly.

And now, let me share with you a revelation i had recently.
I've heard about so many stories of how couples got together.
Men are turn on by a woman's looks, but surprisingly so many guys told me that at the start of their friendship with the girl, they were not attracted to the girl's looks at all!

So how does it makes sense?
Men are turn on by looks, but many men fell in love with a girl that did not really had the look to turn them on in the beginning?
An oxymoron?
Not really...

Here comes the good stuff...
A man's brain, is connected to the visual input more than anything else!!
Thats why men prefer pretty women.
Because the visuals excites the brain.
But it can work the other way round too, and I've experience that myself.

What I mean is that other than having the visuals affecting the brain, a man's brain can affect the visuals too!!
And that is the reason why when in love, a man thinks he has the prettiest spouse in the entire history, present & even future of the world!!

Because afer he really knows her, after he sees her character, how nice and caring she is, the man's brain starts affecting the visual input, his brain starts telling his eyes that this girl is so awesome.
And he starts seeing her prettier than she might be in her appearance.
That is why in most of the romantic scenes of a love movie, the guy can't help himself but keep telling the girl how beautiful she is.

And that is also why so many times when i see certain girls, my first impression on them is only average, but when i really get to know their character, they'll suddenly seem so pretty!

And that is also also also also why, some people might appear so attractive at first sight but afterward seem only average..
The chinese calls it bu4 nai4 kan4..
(Singlish = Starting see see very chio, but afterwards see long long already sianed)

It's a visual trick that a man's mind plays on him.
It has its advantages and disadvantages, but a word of advice for the women out there, make best use of this advantage..

So all I've talked about above, I believe can be termed as "Inner Beauty".

Oh, and for guys... When a girl falls in love with you, most of the time she'll think that you're the best guy on earth!! Not perfect, but better than all the other imperfect guys out there, haha..
(If i'm wrong, correct me, coz there's a limit I know about girls)

So that's all!! This post has value in terms of eternity & of time, unless you're those blessed with the gift of Celibacy. (which means you wanna stay single all your life)

Differences in Preference

2009-05-27T23:25:00.007+08:00

I read in a book about the differences between what a gender looks for in a spouse.

Of course, both look at character too, and without a shadow of doubt I believe character is of most importance in a marriage, or any aspect in life...

But here are the differences in preference..

Women prefer men who are confident but gentle and considerate. Funny but appropriate and tasteful. Engaging but not stuck on themselves. Sensitive yet strong and protective.

Men prefer pretty women.

E

2009-03-29T00:35:00.006+08:00

Before i continue with the last part of my story, i wanna express how i feel in this post now.
Anyway this is my blog, and other than writing stories about my life that are obviously mildly exaggerated and deep meaningful thoughts, i seldom express my personal emotions about my personal life.

The words of a quiet man is precious.
The silence of a man of many words is equal.

Don't waste your time loving someone who doesn't treasure you the same.

Clapping is a response to something worth celebrating.
It takes two hands to clap. But when one hand is in pain, it is smart for the other healthy hand not to clap, even though it can.

These 3 statements are not just advice from experience, but also exactly how i feel now.
Some people resolve by emo-ing.
Others, like me, write.

If you're smart, you'll understand.

Stitches: Part 2, Unlimited Accidents

2009-03-21T04:00:00.005+08:00

You are recommended to scroll down and read the earlier posts titled: "Stitches: Part 0, The Story of How I got my New Stitches" and "Stitches: Part 1, The Beginning", before you attempt reading this post... This will make your point of view on this mini biography a more holistic one. Enjoy~

And so the story continues...

At the blink of an eye, Rickson is now 7.
He has just moved to his new house where he shared a bedroom with his younger brother.
They both shared a double-decker bed, occassional rotating every few years on who shall sleep at the top or the bottom.

Rickson was a nice boy (he still is), and he would often give in to his younger brother (when his younger brother was still young and adorable that is).

The double decker bed has such nostalgic value.
His cousins will often drop by and they would play 'blind man' at night, swinging around like monkeys.
You would expect Rickson to hurt his head here, but he didn't.

It was.. one day, when Rickson wanted to go to bed.
His bed, was the lower one of the double-decker.
In a weird way, he had a habit of running towards his bed at a fast pace and jumping towards it.
"Fun", was what he would described it with his then limited vocabulary.

BUT One day, because of parrallex error
(It was unfortunate that he will only be taught of parrallex error when he's 13, in secondary 1 science curriculum, which will be in another 8 years time),
he ran at his top speed,
jump towards his bed,
and...
........
......
....
...
..
.

"BUANG!!!"

HEADSHOT...

Looking back as he writes this post now, Rickson realized why they say that "Knowledge is Power!"
IF only his teachers had taught him about parrallex error when he was younger...

Word of Wisdom from Rickson:
"Knowledge is Power!
But Stupidity is of Greater Power!!
So get yourself some Knowledge to save yourself from the Devastating Destructive Power of Stupidity!!"
(All these are spoken from pure experience)

Another blink, and he's now 8.
His maid was always mopping the floor at the worst timing.
This time, Rickson was rushing out of the house for school.
With pieces of homework clutched in his left hand, he looks at his watch on his right wrist and hastens his pace upon realizing the little amount of time he had to reach school, not noticing that the floor was all slippery and wet.

When his left heel made contact with the shiny slippery white marble tiles on the floor, it slide forward due to the reduced friction of the wet surface (something he didn't learn in his science class again).
That leg was swung so violently front that the forward motion of it pulled his upper torso backwards.
And all within the split of a second, his weight that was leaning backwards far outpowered the centre of his gravity, causing him to SLIP and...

"BUANG AGAIN!!"

another headshot...

A year later, the 9 year old Rickson walked into his bathroom one day to take a shower.
The floor was relatively wet but he decided to ignore it.
He removed his clothes, walked towards the shower, SLIPPED, AND SOMERSAULTED INVOLUNTARILY!!!!
(For those who didn't catch it, he fell again)

"Another Barlukoo" (Bar-loo-koo, meaning blue black on the bump of the head), his mom likes to say.

He learned that day that 'Ignorance is not a Bliss'.
That Ignorance, is a Blister..

Rickson sits in his classroom feeling all excited.
He was going to recieve his grades for his Primary 4 examination papers.
The next period had just started and the Health Education teacher walks into the room announcing: "Rickson Tan. 90/100!"

He was quite stunned, but he appeared as if it were normal, and went to recieve his result sheet from his teacher.
Back at home, he was so happy that he began singing, dancing and jumping around.
He started jumping on his sofa seat, then on the top of the sofa (the part where you can rest your head).

Little did he remember that his dad had just changed the sofa set awhile ago, and instead of having a strong and heavy base, this one had wheels on it.
When he jumped on the top of the sofa, his weight pushed the sofa backwards, causing him to fly off.
That motion swung his body backwards in the air, causing him to land on the floor...
ON HIS FACE!!!

To be exact, it was on his two front teeth!!

He cried for 15 minutes lying down on the floor hoping someone would come 'sayang' him.
Unfortunately, no one was at home.
He had to cry until he was too tired to cry, pick himself up, called his mum to tell her what happened and listened to his mum telling him that he was stupid.

Even more unfortunate was that he only did well in his Health Education exams but did badly for his other subject which were much more important.
As a result of that accident, the roots of his two front teeth were slightly damaged.

How can someone knocked his head so many times you would ask.
All these may seem horrific, terribly dumb, extremely amusing, or whatever you would like to call it.

But all these, are nothing compared to the next two major accidents that are waiting for Rickson.

Tune in to the next and final episode: "Stitches: The Finale".

Next Time, Right Here, at I-V-O-E.

Stitches: Part 1, The Beginning

2009-03-15T02:00:00.005+08:00

You are recommended to scroll down and read the earlier post titled:
"Stitches: Part 0, The Story of How I got my New Stitches", if you've yet to...

Okay, here comes the truth...
(I promise you its not some weird story i came up with, its nothing but the truth now)

Unlike the previous post on the story of "how i got my stitches", this true story is not supposed to be funny, so don't laugh even though it sounds dumb.

Here goes..

There is a beginning for everything under the sun.
But no beginning is entirely something new.
Every beginning begins because something happened before it had began, causing it to begin.
The beginning of the story of my scar, goes back to many things that led it to begin.
And now, i shall begin from when it had not began.

This story goes back to a Rickson at the age of 3.
He was short, cute and chubby. (yes i know, its unbelievable other than the 'short' part)
There are often many different responses parents could react on upon seeing their child trip and fall.

The more traditional (Auntie) Asian would pick their child up and go: "Aiyo ah boy, pain anot? Sayang sayang, don't cry k..."

The strong American Dad will go: "Come on son, pick yourself up, you're a man."

The (ideal) caring and encouraging Dad would stretch his hand to pick his child up and go:
"Son, its allright. The reason why we fall is so that we can pick ourselves up."
(Like Bruce Wayne's dad)

For Rickson, it was a unique response that not many would expect nor experience.
It could well likely be on of the molding blocks of his character when he was all grown up.

The 3 year old little Rickson was walking out of his room one day. He tripped on his little legs and fell towards his room door, knocking his head on the door.
Upon the realization of the pain, tears begin to build up in his eyes.
But just before he could cry...

"Haha.. Orbigood!!"

(Orbigood [Or-bee-good], means 'you deserved it' in Singlish)

He turned around to see his elder brother laughing at the incident.
Before he knew it, his mum realized what happened and came towards little Ricky.
Her fingers slowly parted his hair to the bump on his head.

She looked into little Rickson's eyes and said in Chinglish (Chinese + Singlish) while laughing:

"See lar, never open your eyes properly. Orbigood lar. Your Orbakut so big, now look like you got elephant's head."

(Orbakut [Or-bark-cut] means 'a bumped on one's head due to an injury' in Singlish)

Rickson's elder brother laughed harder upon seeing his mum's response.
With the stinging pain still lingering in his head, he softly massages it with his little palm and stares with disbelief at his brother and mum.
He couldn't help himself, but to...

Chuckle.
He hastily runs in front of the mirror to take a look at the bump on his head, and laughs at how funny it looks.

That explains why at such a young age (referring to the current 21.5yr old Rickson) he has wrinkles on his face when he laughs .

Because he laughed too much when he was young.

(It is a good thing to laugh a lot though)

To be Continued.... (More bumps coming up)

Stitches: Part 0, The Story of How I got my New Stitches!

2009-03-09T22:25:00.010+08:00

As obvious as the title is, this post is about my new stitches!

Many people ask me how i 'attained' those 5 stitches on my forehead
To save myself the trouble, and to also entertain myself in future when i read back on this post, i shall blog about it.

Here goes..

"It all began slightly earlier than the sunrise of a day in February.
It was 5am in the morning.
The birds were chirping (those that God created to chirp loudly before the sunrise to wake everyone up), the guys were snoring and the bladder was leaking.
Okay, not really leaking, i mean i was just experiencing a high tide lar.

I hastily jumped off my double decker bed with a somersault & a spike and landed on the tip of my toes.
It was all done so stealthily that you could hear the sounds of atoms and molecules colliding in the air (you know, the buzzing sound in the background when you use a lousy sound recorder to record yourself singing because you wanted to listen to your own singing because of your narcissism.)

A loud waterfall could be heard.
And after a few seconds, i was done relieving myself.
I took a slow walk back to my bunk from the toilet.
Suddenly, i felt my left ear tingle.
I focused all my 'focus power' (erm.. whatever that is), on my left ear, and i could hear a cry of help.

Without hesitation, i took off towards the direction of the cry.
Okay okay, i admit i hesitated for awhile.
I was thinking what if something dangerous lies out there and i get hurt? I still have my dog to look after, and and... I'm still single!!

Anyway, after hesitating for only one second (yes, i thought all those thoughts and many more in only one second), i took off towards the direction.
What i saw the next minute left me stunned with appallment for a minute!!

I saw my officer being cornered by a Hugenormous Brown Bear!!
Okay, i know some of you might not believe me, you might ask how do i know its a brown bear when its 5am in the morning and its still dark?
That how can i see the 'browness' of the bear when there is no light yet?

I can't explain this, but i just know its a brown bear.
Its its.. its like.. I guess its coz i studied design in my poly.
Where i learned alot about colour.
And i guess maybe its because i'm too familiar with colours that i am able to see that the bear was brown even in the dark.
Anyway..

The bear was about to attack my officer!!
In a flash, i was reminded of everything that i've learned and experience in life, about my life purpose, etc, etc, yada, yada, yoda, etc..

To cut things short, i ran in front of my officer to shield him.
As the bear's body got closer, i decided to retaliate.
The bear swung his paws towards me.
I dodged it, and out f my reflexes i gave him a headbutt..

And then... then...

Memories of me slacking on my couch watch discovery channel came into rembrance.
I remembered watching with my girlfriend an episode about brown bears.
Wait, i don't have a girlfriend.
Sorry, bad memory, i think its my mum.
Anyway, i was watching the program when i commented on how cuddly the brown bear looks.
I even remembering myself saying that I'll bet with my mum that the bear is as soft as a teddy bear.

Back to the story...
I swung my head as hard as i could, visualizing myself heading to score the golden goal in the Fifa World Cup Finals match.

Kkkrrrr...

My forehead cracked open.

I was wrong..

The bear's head, was harder than i thought...

And that, was how i got my stitches."

Okay, thats the end of my story!!
As in thats just a story, not the real thing, haha..

The real thing, shall come in the next post!!

This post has no value whatsoever in time nor eternity.. Rickson just wanted to waste some time misuising his creativity to write rubbish, and he's glad that he wasted your time (reading) too.. :)

This new year is not NEW, until your perspective is NEW

2009-01-15T22:06:00.016+08:00

After every 356 days a new year comes.

I've lived 21 times of such '356 days'.
(Sad to say, my ORD is one and a half '356 days' more, haha)

After 21 times of such experiences, i came to a conclusion.
That this year is not NEW, until your perspective is reNEWed!

What i mean is that unless we change, the new year will be exactly like the year that just passed.
Unless we change in our actions and our thinking.

Because you will either decide to change, or Change will force you to decide.

Life, is all about your perspective.
If you've myopia, you won't be able to see things clearly.
If you're wearing sunglasses, everything will look darker and you might not see certain things that are dark.
If you're wearing rainbow colour glasses, everything will look gay to you, even a fierce black cat staring at you with its fierce green eyes will look like a colourful teletubby kitten.

Its how you see things that influence your decisions!!

Lets say we do an experiment, we put an empty glass on a table, fill it half with water and ask 4 very different people what do they see.
The 1st person, an optimist, will say he sees a half full glass.
The 2nd person, a pessimist, will say he sees a half empty glass.
The 3rd person, a SUPER optimist, will say that he sees a half full glass which will be filled to the brim soon.
Because of his positive view of the glass, not only does he see the half full glass, but he sees himself initiating to fill the glass further.
A positive hopeful perspective will stir up initiatives. (its the hopeful people that initiate new things!)
FINALLY, the 4TH PERSON. He walks in to the room, sees the glass, and says: "I see a half empty glass, which will be fully empty soon because the water is going to evaporate."

There are people like that, who sit there, rot, and hope that everything else will rot too. I beseech you, please don't be like the fourth guy, haha..

We need to change in the way we see things.
Our mind and beliefs are like an auto-pilot system that guides our behaviour.
If you realised that your auto-pilot is leading you to the wrong destination or direction, then change it now!

Its either you lead the change, or the change will lead and drag you along time.
The former gives joy, while the latter pain.

Take a look at my previous post again.
Where i mentioned "this is how my 2009 will look like" and i left a big empty space there.
Some of you might see it as an empty space.
Filled with nothingness. Nothing to hope for, nothing to blog about.

But in my perspective, it was the most beautiful thing i could write about how my 2009 will be like.
It is an empty canvas.
We all appreciate well written works.
We would value a canvas filled with something great.
And when we see an empty canvas, it'll be of no value whatsover, because its just empty.

But an empty canvas also mean something.
Its gives you a space where you can hope for something new, where you can pen down something new.
And that, in my perspective, is better than anything else; having a NEW story.

It is now exactly a month in the new year.
How is your new year coming along?
Are you still the same as what you were last year?
Are you still trapped in bad habits that hinder you from getting a breakthrough in life, from moving up to a new level of fruitfulness?
How was January?

If you realised that you're still in the same path, it is not to late to make some changes, there is still 11 more months.

Because Life changes with time.

But the quality of your life doesn't.

It changes, with the change of your mindsets, your beliefs and your perspectives.

Because the New year is not yet new, until your perspective is renewed.
So decide to make it new today.

This post definitely has value in view of time & eternity.
Because having to view in eternity, is in itself a topic about perspective.

Rickson's 2009.

2009-01-12T23:21:00.002+08:00

2008 has been such a hectic year for me.
I can't help but imagine how my 2009 will be like.

And this, is how my 2009 will look like:

Yup, i'm not kidding.
That's how 2009 looks like to me now.
& that's how i believe it'll be...

Why are you Homophobic?

2008-12-02T19:32:00.015+08:00

Homophobia is an irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals.
In other words, its the fear of or contempt for homosexuals.

A passage i found online:

"Society holds out the hope for change to just about everybody else.
If there is something unsatisfying in your life, you don’t have to be stuck there.
The issue could be anything ranging from losing weight, finding a job, education, poverty, cigarettes, alcohol or drugs.
Whatever the issue is - society says that change is possible.

Except for one group of people - those affected by homosexuality.
To this group many say that change is not possible.
How unkind, hurtful and intolerant, it is for others to say that while change is possible for everyone else, it is not possible for homosexuals - for this one special group of people there is no hope for change."

Is that true?

There are many people in the world with homophobia.

And being a more traditional country, there are more people in Singapore with homophobia than many parts of the world.

But why?

Why do people despise or even detest homosexuals?

Male-to-male relationships often incite a stronger reaction in a homophobic person than female-to-female. Many females are alright with having homosexual friends, because lesbians and gays are not much a threat to them.
But the men. Whenever they see a gay man, they react with disgust.

I was once hugged by a homosexual in my army camp.
At that point of time i didn't know he was a homosexual.
He had not seen me for a week and hugged me and told me that he missed me.
I felt it was okay thought he was a little weird.
But few weeks later, the discovery of his homosexuality sent shudders down my spine.
I questioned myself of my response.

Are homosexuals supposed to be rejected & outcast, or to be accepted?

Let me show you a few wrong mindsets most men with homophobia have.
And i hope that you who are guilty (like i am) would decide to look at them with a new perspective.

MYTH #1: Homosexuals will be interested in me!

Whenever i see homosexuals, i will take a step back.
I'm afraid that they would end up liking and approaching me.
The look in their eyes.
That girly smile they wear.
Its all too scary!!

FACT #1: His homosexuality doesn't mean him being interested in you

Homosexuals have the same interest in people of the same gender as you have to an opposite gender.
Just because I am interested in the opposite gender doesn't mean that i will be interested in EVERY girl that walks past.
Similarly, just because homosexuals have an interest in people of the same gender, it doesn't mean that they'll end up liking every person of the same gender who walks past, especially not you!

Okay, lets get honest here.
As a guy, why would you be interested in a particular girl?
Maybe its because her looks caught your attention resulting in a very good impression.
But if you found out that her character was terrible, would you still be attracted to her?
If you go forward to introduce yourself to her but she scoffs at you and walks away, would you still be interested?
If she sees you and runs away, would you still be interested?

What I am trying to say is that, you who believe that homosexuals will eventually be interested in you, are the perfect person that a homosexual would not be interested in.
Because your behaviour towards them would really turn them off.
The point I'm trying to get across is to stop thinking that they would be interested in you.

MYTH#2: Homosexuals are freaky people

Homosexuals are really weird people.
They look so scheming, so sneaky, as if they're about to do something sick.
I can't stand the sight of them!

FACT#2: Homosexuals are freaky. As freaky as you are that is

I am referring to the men here.
Many guys are afraid of gays because they feel that their actions are just too freaky!
They would always imagine homosexuals planning to do something sick & disgusting.
The fact is, there really are Freaky Homosexuals out there.
They do weird stuff that scares the socks off many.

But just because a few Homosexuals are weird, it doesn't mean that all of them are weird.
In fact, if you would to compare, those who are weird are just the minority.

If you think about it, there are more weird & freaky non-homosexuals than there are homosexuals.
Think about it, there are so many non-homosexual freaky guys out there!
If you are a female or have a female friend with encounters of such people, you'll understand.

Many guys when in love with another girl, or just admiring her, would go dig out as much detail about the person as possible. He would go to friendster and see all her photos, starring at them for hours. He would read her profile and then check out all her 5000 testimonials one at a time. He would go to facebook and click on every link that he can find, just to find out more about her. He would read every post in her blog, even those 5 years ago!

Isn't that just freaky?!

To some of you it is, to some its not. To some of you this is perfectly normal.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Freakiness is in the eye of the beholder too.

The common factor here, is the beholder.
It isn't how beautiful or how freaky a person is, its how you see it as.

The truth is, looking from a certain perspective, you are equally as weird!!

MYTH#3: Homosexuals are just different and unacceptable

According to my moral beliefs, homosexuality is wrong and thus it is unacceptable.
How would the children in future grow up to be, seeing homosexuals around acting as if its normal.
Its not normal and behaving like a homosexual is not acceptable

FACT#3: Homosexuals are truly different, just like how every person is different

Everyone is different.
Everyone has different problems and different struggles.
And you say that it is unacceptable, how un-accepting should we be towards homosexuals?

Should we condemn them like the Nazi's did?

Where men convicted of homosexuality could be incarcerated in concentration camps.
Where castration was given as an option to homosexuals in exchange for lower sentences.

"Homophobia is like racism and anti-semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood."
- Coretta Scott King 1998

FACT#4: Homosexuals are just like you; human

Homophobia is the fear of homosexuals.
Lets dissect the word to understand its true meaning.

The Greek word 'homo', where we get the word homosexual from, means 'the same'.
So, literally, 'homophobia' means a fear of things that are the same.

Isn't that ironic?
Isn't that so dumb?

To be afraid of something that is the same as you.

Yes, being homosexuals they are different.
They have different desires, different preferences, et cetera.

But aren't these people human too?
Are they not as human to you?
Aren't they, 'the same'?
Why would you then condemn something that is similar to you?

Anyone can love someone who is lovable.
Even animals, they can love what they love.
But only a heart of a human, one that has to ability to feel compassion, can love someone who is unlovable.
Someone whom the society rejects and deems as 'unlovable'.

I am not asking you to accept the person's behaviour, I'm asking you to accept his humanity, to accept him as a human.

Everyone deserves to be loved.
But the outcast of society deserves to be loved more.
Because they've been through so much more.
Because they've experienced so much lesser love.

Many people have different views on homosexuality.
But lets not debate here whether homosexuality is right or not.
Lets not talk about helping homosexuals change.

Homosexuality is too vast a topic for me to address completely.
Their thinking, their beliefs, their hidden pain, their struggle, et cetera.
Society complicates life for homosexuals.

There are so many things that i don't know.
But what i know, is how much they crave for love & acceptance.
Yes they have homosexual friends who can totally understand them and accept them, but what they want is acceptance from their families, from the society.
And the rest of the non-homosexuals, is the society that they are longing acceptance from.
It is you.

But we can't do much can we?
Unless we are experts in the study of homosexuality, we can't do much to help them.
Except, to accept them.
Because acceptance, in itself is already, much.

So to make it practical, Guys, next time when you see a homosexual, please don't shun him away.
Please don't scoff at him or laugh at him.
Just be nice like how you would to a normal friend.
But of course practise wisdom and not mislead him to think otherwise.

For the girls, next time you see a guy acting like a jerk with homophobia, don't hesitate to bring him back to reality with a simple but effective slap.

One thing that i know can stand time & even eternity, is love. And acceptance is a means of showing love. You could make a difference even in eternity, with just a simple act of acceptance.

Love Language Exam Paper

2008-11-14T16:58:00.012+08:00

If you were to remember the last English Language examination paper you had seen, you would remember that there were many different types of questions.

Some of us have a preference in doing a certain section of the paper, while others never liked any of the sections.

Well, the way a man/woman chooses his mate, is similar to the different sections.
To each section, I've known at least one friend who belongs to it.

So lets see what kind of question, would be your love style.

1. Multiple Choice

You are given 4 choices and you are supposed to choose one.
If this is your love style, you are more likely to get to know more girls/guys, and then from there you choose the best one.

Advantages:
It is good in a way because you get to know more people and you'll be clearer on who you are more compatible with, what kind of person you prefer to be with for the rest of your life.

Disadvantages:
The bad thing is that you might appear flirtatious to others.

Temptation to watch out for:
The instructions say circle one of the four available answers, DO NOT circle more than one answer!
Circling two or more answers does not mean that your chances of getting it right is higher just because you had definitely circled the right person.
In fact your answer becomes invalid because of the wrong answers that you circled along with the right one.
What I am trying to say is that you should know your limits.
Choose one girl/guy only, don't choose more than one!

Sample:
Which of the following girls do you want to be with for eternity? (Circle only one answer)
a) Jane
b) Jene
c) Jine
d) June

2. True or False

You are given a statement and can only answer TRUE or FALSE.
You do not have much choices, not because there is a lack of attracted personnel's, but because you only want to consider one at a time.

Advantages:
You are focused, it is only a yes or no.
There is no third party that you allowed your mind to be distracted by.

Disadvantages:
Because it is so direct and straight to the point, only a yes or no, you might spend too much time thinking of the answer.
You might become very indecisive and waste much time.

Temptation to watch out for:
Many people answer true or false questions straight away after reading the question.
Sometimes the question is tricky and you gotta read the question a few times to understand it first!
So stay in balance, don't decide too quickly nor waste too much time thinking.

Sample:
You are in love with Bob and recently you think of him more than stroking your pet chinchilla. True or False?

3. Fill in the blanks

You are given a question with a blank and you are supposed to fill it in with any word.
You are the kind who would not stop until you find the "Perfect One".
Your life is a quest for the Right Person.

Advantages:
You know what you want, and you are determine to fill in that blank, to answer that question.
Also, you can try out answers, putting them into the blank and see if it fits the sentence.
If it doesn't you can immediately change it.

Disadvantages:
A blank page, or a complete sentence would not be as distracting as an incomplete one.
Having that blank there could be very distracting to you sometimes.

Temptation to watch out for:
Do not spend too much time on filling in that blank.
Don't focus too much energy on it too, don't let it give you a headache.
It's not worth spending too much time on it because usually these questions only cost 1 or 2 marks, there are more important things in life.
If you can't think of an answer, move on to do other parts of the paper (your life) first before coming back to the question again.

Sample:
I want to be with _____ forever. (You might be stuck with the words 'girlfriend', 'mother', 'Barack Obama', etc, etc)

4. Comprehension

You have to read a passage first before answering a few questions.
You like to read other's lives.
You like to analyze other's lives.
You like to understand the one that you love and know more about him/her, (Not hiding behind a pillar or tree peeking though) before asking yourself many questions.
Questions on whether he/she is the right person for you.
Questions on how the future will be like if you would to be together with her.

Advantages:
If you managed to get many questions right, it means that you really understand the person that you like. It'll be fantastic because when understanding is present, a relationship would be easier to develop.

Disadvantages:
It would take a very long time to read the passage and think of the answers.
It could be a very slow process, so you will have to be patient.

Temptation to watch out for:
Don't think you've passed just because you've answered correctly only one of the questions.
People tend to get happy even though they got the other 4 questions wrong but one right.
Because one question itself in this section costs 5 marks!
What i am trying to say is that, because the person you like has one or a few very good point/s that you like, don't let it blind you from seeing the other many many problems that might be dangerous if this relationship moves one.
But you don't need to be too picky and get full marks for this section too.
At least get a good pass!

Sample:
(Too Long for a sample, hehe)

5. Essay

I'm going to glorify this point a little more.
Partly because its one of the most romantic of all, but MAINLY coz it's my love style!!
haha..
You are given a short question to write an essay on. You have to write a minimum of 500 words.
You are the type who would like to not just find your love, but in between have a love story as well.
You love stories.
You love love stories.
You love your story to be a good love story.
You love creative introductions.
You love a very eventful body (in terms of an essay).
You love an exciting climax.
You love the part where the characters have to go through so much trials.
You love to see the characters emerge in triumph.
You love the adventure, the intensity.
But most of all, you would love a fantastic ending.

Advantages:
You think about her/him quite often.
You pay attention to his/her simple details.
You love spending time with her/him, not just going for plain old cliche style dates, but always trying something daring and new.
You will end up loving the person a lot because of how much you've put into the relationship.

Disadvantages:
You might end up putting more effort into this relationship than her/him.

Temptation to watch out for:
You also might end up being more in love with the essay than with her.
I am referring to being in love with the romantic dates, adventure more than the person herself/himself.
And when nothing exciting is going on, you might feel that the love is no longer there.

Sample:
If you could choose, how would you like the day where you meet the one whom you'll marry to be like? How would things progress from there?

6. Leaving it Blank

You have totally no interest to answer any of the questions
It doesn't bother you if you end up not marrying.

Advantages:
You might have the gift of celibacy!
Unlike the average person, you wouldn't be so distracted by members of the opposite sex.
Thus you can focus more on other important things in life!

Disadvantages:
You will have to bear through many Chinese New Years & Christmases when your relatives often pop out the magical question on when will you be getting married.

Temptation to watch out for:
Rickson might avoid you because he is afraid that your 'celibacy anointing' might rub off on him and he might become a celibate too. (Nah, Rickson won't avoid people, but he really doesn't want a share in that anointing, so please don't lay hands on him, haha)

7. Wrong Questions (with spelling error, etc)

You are doing a wrong question!!

Your question has a punctuation or spelling error. It might not seem like a huge error, but there is a high chance of answering it wrongly since the question itself isn't even correct.

You are on the wrong path in life!

Maybe it's because it is not the right timing, that you should be focusing on other areas on your life for that moment.

Or it could be that you are looking for a wrong thing in a mate.

Maybe you just want to find a mate with a hot bod that you'll be attracted to, et cetera.

And that is one serious wrong question that you are on!

Advantages:
No Advantages, go report on the error in your question, get it changed!

Disadvantages:
The right answer to a wrong question is still a wrong answer.

Temptation to watch out for:
Because the question is wrong, it might seem very easy, and you might be tempted to just be lazy and answer the question hoping you'll get it right.

Sample:
I was be going to borrow you my flim when you ____ can anot?

So THAT'S ALL!!!
Though i say these are love styles, often it can be influenced by your circumstances.
For example i might be an essay guy, but suddenly if 4 very nice almost perfect girls fall for me (though i know it won't happen, haha), i might use the multiple choice style because of such a situation.

Its just an example lar, i won't end up like that i think, haha.

Value in view of time & eternity this post has.
As mentioned in the previous post, you need to know yourself better.
To enjoy life you gotta enjoy relationships.
And one of the most important relationship you will have is the relationship with yourself!
Thus, know yourself more!!

9000 words to Describe Rickson

2008-10-31T17:29:00.011+08:00

A Picture paints a thousand words...

A mosaic like this paints 9 thousand words, about me.. :D

Try this out too

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s Mosaic Maker.

1. What is your first name? Rickson
2. What is your favourite food? Meat Balls
3. What is your favourite colour? Purple!!
4. What is your favourite drink? Strawberry Yoghurt Drink
5. Dream vacation? Heaven (I mean vacation, i don't wanna migrate there yet, probably in 80 years time then i would, haha)
6. Favourite hobby? Singing Everywhere (esp. in the lift, bathroom, staircase and when doing household chores)
7. What do you want to be when you grow up? Preacher
8. What do you love most in life? Life (of course)
9. Describe yourself in one word. Awesome! haha.

Though it doesn's seem like, this post has much value in view of eternity and time.

Because to enjoy time & eternity, you must first enjoy yourself. And to enjoy yourself, you must first know yourself.

Though it doesn't say much in words, but doing up such a mosaic will allow you to see how coulourful (or uncolourful) your life is.

And to remind you of who you are.

OR.. maybe its just fun and the bored you might want to try this out, haha...

Political INSPIRATIONS

2008-10-16T17:26:00.013+08:00

The recent US elections stirred up such a hype, not just in their country but worldwide. Speeches by candidates touched millions of people.
White-collar workers, women, children, textile workers, dishwashers, immigrants, slaves and also... Musicians & Vocalists...

Enjoy these Political Songs, and BE INSPIRED!!!

"Yes We Can" by Barack Obama (will.I.AM)

Oh, and some comedians were inspired too...
"No We Can't" by John Mccain

BaraCk n 'Roll

And here.. is a song not motivated by any speech but challenged by a minister to be written.
I shall not say much, enjoy the difference that you see & hear. USA vs Singapore...

"Mai Hum" by Lee Hsein Loong

And finally, if you feel like getting inspired, listen to this great speech, so great that i call it the 21st century version of Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream".

Barack Obama's Speech

This post definitely has value in view of eternity & time.
Politians have the power to change the world, to change our present, to change our future.
Especially if its the future president of the most influencial country in the whole world.
Hopefully, our politics will be as strong or even stronger that what we've seen. (soon)

Last of all, may the Best man win the elections (i mean Obama btw).

21st Birthday Wishlist!!

2008-10-15T20:45:00.010+08:00

Oh Gosh! I can't believe it's been almost a year since i last blogged.

And i still remembered how much i enjoyed blogging!
I shall revive my blog now!

Pardon me if the level of my vocabulary, my grammer usage or my spelling deteriorated, i've been serving my NS for four months, thus...

Anyway, i shall start of with a simple post, on my 21st birthday wishlist!!

I'm not a very materialistic person and i don't ask for much, so here goes!!

NOBLE WISHELIST

1) WORLD PEACE!!! (of course, who could miss out on this most famous wish)
2) Singapore's economy to recover (doesn't really affect me, just that there are too many people who went crazy recently)
3) Nations world wide will come up with solutions to global warming and take necessary actions
4) That someone could create an alternative for plastic, a more eco-friendly one
5) That China would totally break free from communism
6) That the Israelites will turn their heart...
7) That AIDS, HIV,Ccancer, multiple-sclerosis and all kinds of crazy sicknesses to disappear out of the face of the earth!! (As in really really vanish, not disappear & move on the the moon or whatever, we don't want our Astronauts to be infected)

okay, all these are good thoughts but.. hmmm...
i guess these are not things that i really really want for my birthday, though its good that it happens..

I shall be more honest now.

UNREALISTIC YET HONEST WISHLIST

1) That i will have 1 million US dollars in my bank by the age of 21!!
2) 100K sounds good too
3) I don't mind 10K too
4) Okay okay, what about 5K? (please...)
5) That i can visit heaven! (temporarily only, not to stay yet, i still got many years ahead, haha)
6) I will have the ability to teleport
7) My NS days will fast forward (ORD tomorrow!!)
8) that my dog can talk (english or chinese will be good, hokkien would be more interesting though)
9) that my dog wont' have a very irritating human voice (preferably a Morgan Freeman voice)
10) that my dog will learn how to be nice to pretty girls.. or to any girls.. okay, to everyone..
11) that my dog will learn how to cut his own hair, bath and clean his own poo.
12) that my dog will smell like lavender..
13) that my dog can play the piano well
14) that i can one day go scuba diving and find a pineapple at the bottom of the sea! (not a decomposed one though)
15) That someone wil buy me a pet sponge, a pet starfish, a pet underwater squirrel, a pet squid and a pet crab! (Not the stuffed-toy version please!!)
16) And that all of them can talk!! (Talking pets, wooo~)
17) To be able to buy the whole TOPMAN & LEVI's & ED HARDY & QUICKSILVER & BILLABONG & RIPCURL's boutiques..

Oh well, i guess all these are a little too unrealistic right. Hmmm... let me try again.

HALF-REALISTIC HONEST WISHLIST

1) My pimples miraculously dry up and fall off (not while i'm eating though)
2) scars to naturally heal (wolverine?)
3) miraculously become shuai-er (think takeshi kaneshiro)
4) hair to grow faster [think samson (the ones on my head of course)]
5) to have to vocals of Jason Mraz or Bono or Chris Martin or Martin Smith or Magni
6) to play the guitar like jason mraz
7) I will grow 5cm more in height.
8) I will have photographic memory
9) That I can super duper speed read (so i can complete reading all the books in the world)
10) To be in divine health, no sickness whatsoever and that i won't need to see a doctor anymore for years
11) That my Parents, brothers, grandma and relatives would be super healthy and all live to 100 years old!!

okay okay, i know all these are only half realistic and requires a miracle to come to past.
I shall be real honest and realistic now..

REAL HONEST & REALISTIC WISHLIST

1) To gain 10kg!!!
2) To have a super nice personalized guitar (expensive and sounds super nice, with cool purple colour strings)
3) I don't mind MANY MANY NEW NICE clothes, jeans, shoes, bags, accessories, etc, etc.. (the keyword is MANY MANY NEW NICE!)
3) That Rickson will not lose his coolness or sense of humour due to 2 years of mundane life stuck in a 'certain place'..
4) That God will bless me with a (great) partner! (soon.. hopefully not in 10 years time, haha..)
Here you go, 40 great Wishes for my 21st birthday!!
Well i have many many other very important wishes, but most of them are spiritual ones (another 20 more? haha) & I guess many of you won't understand, so i shall not overwhelm you too much for the time being, haha..
THAT's ALL..

This post has TOTALLY NO VALUE in view of eternity or time for anyone else other than the author (me!).

Unless you are one of those who are dedicated to granting wishes like a 21st century un-obese Santa Clause that lost track of his time because he lost his calender and was decieved by his 7 reindeers that October 19th is actually the new Christmas because they wanted to save snow white from decomposing and need the power of the 21st century un-obese Santa Clause to revive her, whom the found out might be in Singapore thus coming over and coincidentally saw this blog and decided to coincidentally grant the last wishes before this male turns to the age of adulthood, THEN, it has value for you!!

P.S. I promise the next post will have some value in it!

The Meaning of Life?

2007-10-25T00:06:00.000+08:00

Wow.. i didn't realise that my blog had died..
Anyway, let me try to revive it again...
I promised to blog about "How to Pursue Happiness".
But i shall do it after this post, because its linked..

Anyway, like the title says, i'm gonna blog about the meaning of Life.

What is the meaning of life?
What is life's purpose?
What is the reason you're here for?

Some people believe that we're here just to exist.
To be born, to grow up, to study, to find a girlfriend or boyfriend or computer game to others, to study more, to play and slack, to get married, to find a job, to earn money, to have children, to have grand children, and to die...

Others might not agree and feel that there has to be a purpose for their existence.

So what is that purpose?
What do you find meaning in life?

I am not a super duper old wise man or whatever, so i can't give you a 100% correct answer.
So i plan to open up the floor for you to tell me what do you feel the meaning and purpose of life is...

The main attraction of this post will not be what i write, but it'll be what comments that you guys will leave.
It'll be interesting to see everyone's different opinions.

Pls feel free to drop your thoughts and feelings down in my comments.
Not too offensive stuff i hope, haha..

For example you feel that the purpose of life is to have fun.
Or mayB some of you feel that you find meaning in your life when you see other people happy, etc, etc..

So don't be shy!!!
Whoever you are, even if you want to keep your anonnymous status, don't be shy..

Dun be intimidated by other's opinions too, coz mayB other ppl's meaning to life is so noble, but yours might not be.

Like to find a rich husband or a rich wife.
To play dota until you die.
To find a girlfriend/boyfriend.
To find 2 girlfriends/boyfriends.
To be alone with your goldfish everyday, etc, etc..

No matter how.. eh.. "unique" you see your purpose and meaning of life, there is no right and no wrong, only opinions.
So feel free to flood my blog!!
(not with dumb stuff though, haha)

This post has value in view of time and in view of eternity... That is if people really do respond and leave comments, haha..

FUN = Joy ??

2007-08-22T13:22:00.001+08:00

To my readers and myself : Sorry for the super duper long delay in updating my blog!!
As you know, I was on my final year project for the past 3 months.
I had a great time doing the project although i had to stay in school from Sunday to Thursday on the 3rd last week, Monday to Saturday on the 2nd last week and Sunday to Friday on the last week.
As in overnight.
So i guess now you could understand why i did not blog for the past few weeks/months.

Anyway, to redeem myself, i've prepared a very good post!
I decided not to continue from the previous post because i realised that i do not have ample research to write a great post about that topic.
So sit back, relax, forget about Rickson not updating his blog for months and enjoy this post!!
Oh, and prepare yourself for a paradigm shift!!! (change in thinking due to being able to see in a new point of view)

Here Goes..

I've realised that not much people has given this a thought.
Is Fun the same as Joy?
Why is there an extensive use of the former but the later used only in certain circumstances?

In the world today, everyone is seeking for Fun.
Upon recieving invitations to parties, to new places where they haven't been to, the first question that pops out from their mouths is...

" Is it fun? "

While on the other hand, I've yet to hear anyone asking "Is it joyful?" or "Will I feel joy?", etc, etc...
So what do they really want?
What do we really want?
Does having fun gives you joy?

The answer behind this question....... is no..

Fun does not equals to Joy.
Having Fun does not equals to having Joy.

Now let me give you a few important points about the difference between Fun & Joy.

1) Joy lasts long, but Fun is temporary.

A common question asked is "Was it Fun?" (not was it joyful)
Another common phrase is "I had Fun that day" (not joy again).
Did you see it?!
Fun is commonly used with "was" and "had", which means Fun is often assisiated with the past.
Fun can fade away easily.

I come to a conclusion through different analysis and research that:
Fun is TEMPORARY.
What about Joy?
A common way to use that vocabulary is "I have joy in my heart."
Joy is seldom assisiated with the past tense.
Phrases such as "I have fun in my heart" and "I had joy" is almost never used. (unless your English isn't very good).

Try to understand the two important sentences I am going write next.

Fun is for the today that will become a yesterday.
Joy is for the tomorrow that will become a today.

Allow me to break it down.
Men today pursue fun all day all night long.
But fun fades away so quickly.
You could be having fun one moment and totally lose the fun the next moment.
But for Joy, it is the opposite.
Joy is something to be pursued for the future.
Joy is like a dream, a vision, a goal that people pursue but will not recieve it immediately, unlike fun.
But upon strong pursuit, we will recieve Joy, and Joy usually lasts long.

thus,
Fun is for the today that will become a yesterday.
Joy is for the tomorrow that will become a today.

2) Joy is e state of heart. Fun is the activity of the heart.

What i mean is that Joy is in the heart, if you have it, you have it. If you don't, then you don't.
But Fun is more of an activity.
That when you are doing something, you feel the fun.
When you stop doing that something, you stop feeling the fun.

Let me give you an analogy.
Having Joy is like saying "I am healthy!"
Having Fun, is like saying "I love to play sports!"
So Fun, though associated with Joy, can be present in total absence of it.
Fun can be present in the absence of Joy.
But Joy cannot be present in the absence of Fun.

Why?

Because the presence of Joy, having Joy in your heart causes you to do things with enjoyment, leading you to experience fun in doing little things that might not seem fun to others.

Joy is like Spectacles to one who has myopia.
When you wear your spectacles, you'll see everything clearer no matter what you are doing.
But for Fun, its like a person with myopia squinting his eyes.
Only when he is squinting his eyes can he see clearer, but when he stops squinting his eyes, he sees a blurer vision again.
And squinting your eyes can never give you as good a vision as wearing your spectacles if you have myopia.

In other words, having Joy is a higher level of having Fun.
Fun is found in the activity.
Joy is found in the person, that causes whatever activity he does to be fun.

3) Fun dies in the presence of pain. Joy can live in the presence of pain.

When arguments appear, when conflicts arise, when wounds are felt, Fun will run.
Simply because Fun and Pain are the opposite.
When you have the pain of rejection, the pain of regret, etc, etc, you would not have the mood to have fun.
Becuase Pain is an emotion.

It affects you mentally
Whereas Fun is just the activity.
Thus when we are affected by such emotions, we won't feel a desire to participate in activities that produces fun.

But, like how humans can live breathing oxygen and carbon dioxide together, Joy can live in the presence of pain.
As mentioned earlier, Joy is the state of heart, pain is an emotion and fun is an activity.
Having the right state of heart can allow you to control the emotions that pounce towards you which therefore will affect the activities that you participate in.

Let me break that down for you
Joy = state of heart = spirit
Pain = emotion = soul
Fun = activity = body

The spirit is a level above the soul which in turn is a level above the body.
In other words the spirit is in a higher position than the soul which in turn is in a higher position than the body.
Thus having the right spirit (joy), can control your emotions (soul), which in turn can control what you do (fun)

let me break it down further.Lets take it that:
Spirit = State of Heart = King
Soul = Emotion = Prince
Body = Activity = Slave

The prince can give orders to the slave who has to listen.
Emotions can command the body to do things as it will.
So when you're feeling down, when you're feeling pain, Fun is commanded to leave by your emotions.
Which means you'll lose the mood to have fun and enjoy life.

On the other hand, the slave can't command the prince to do what he wants.
Which is the problem that the people in the world is experiencing today.
We try to take part in activites to cover up the hurts and brokeness of our hearts.
We try to ask a slave to command a prince.

In reality, it is impossible!
You would say "Maybe the slave can use violence to threaten the prince.
Yes, in reality that might work, but eventually the prince would try to escape, along with the help of his father and his followers.
We try so hard to cover our feelings and emotions by doing things that makes us seem like we're doing okay
But one day the prince will escape!!!

The solution then becomes obvious.
How do we command the prince.
Go for the King!!
The answer is the state of your heart!!

The King could command the Prince to do what he wants, in turn commanding the servant.
Our state of heart ultimately decides how we think and what we do.
Even when there is pain, negative emotions, etc, etc, having the right state of heart, namely Joy, will drive us to think positively, to know that emotions are just temporary, and to do things positively too.

So go for the King.
Don't ask a slave to command a prince.
Stop blindly pursueing Fun!!!

PURSUE JOY INSTEAD !!!

Have the right state of heart.
Have Joy!
Don't have sympathy on your emotions.
At times we might feel down, sad, hurt, etc, etc.
But if you listen to your emotions and continue doing things that will deepen those emotions, if you continue harbouring and focusing on such emotions, you'll be dragged further down each day.

The smart thing is to control yourself .
I'm not saying that we deny that we feel sad or hurt.
I'm saying that we should make decisions that will minimize the harm that negative emotions can have on your soul and body.
When you're sad, don't have self pity on yourself and keep listening to music that will make you even more sad.
Becuase you will end up being worse than before, you might fall into depression or feel even more pain.

Instead, tell yourself that everything will be alright.
That None of us are perfect, we still make mistakes.
That at least you have experience now on how to handle things better and not get hurt in the future.

I shall summarize all this post in two sentences.

PURSUE JOY, AND FUN WILL FOLLOW!!!

Because pursueing joy instead of fun is more beneficial to you.

This post has great value in view of time.
Upon learning this principle that fun does not equals to joy, you will seek and pursue for the right thing which has beneficial results and gain to you on earth.

This post also has great value in view of eternity because by understanding these principles will your character strengthen, will you have joy in your heart and will you enjoy your future allowing you to not waste time thinking of the wrong things but focusing on doing great things.

Now that you see that seeking Joy is the better choice, the next question is "How do we seek for Joy?"

I shall blog about it the next time

This is Rickson Tan.. out.. (camera zooms out and pans out to show the audience in the live studio chattering)

The Lack of Love..

2007-06-24T23:06:00.000+08:00

The world today is a world growing cold in love.

People are seeking for love everywhere only to find out they've been finding it in the wrong places.
Many people think that marriage is the only solution, because when you're married to a person, that person has to "vow" to commit to you forever.
Which brings forth security and feelings of being loved.

But in this century, the divorcement rate in every country is escalating rapidly.

What is the cause for all these?
Or rather, which is the cause and which is the effect?

Is divorce an effect for the lack of love or is it the one that causes feelings of lack of love?
what else is linked to the lack of love in the world?

For now, i could think of two main effects..
The lack of love results in the development of either one of these two characteristics in our lives.

1) A rebellious attitude
2) Depression

It might be difficult to believe, but yes, the lack of love is manifested in such a way.

I shall talk more about it next time (due to my fatique gained from my final year project, i have to continue it another day), but for today, i want you to really spend some time thinking.

Do you have a lack of love?
Not just bgr, but love from parents, love from friends, or even love from yourself.. I'm sure that at least 80% or more will have a lack of love in a certain area of his/her life.

If you do, what form has it manifested as?
You have a rebellious attitude (pride) or some form of depression (feelings of unworthiness or insecurity, etc, etc..).

So identify the problem first.
I will update soon in more detail about what really are the exact causes of rebellion and depression, and the effects of the lack of love..
This post is more like a Pre-post for the up coming post.

Coming Soon...

2007-06-20T21:59:00.000+08:00

Sorry!!
It's been an extremely long time since i've blogged, due to a major project i'm taking on now.

I'm currently doing my final year project!!
Its like the final examination for the 3 years of my Diploma, and thus the delay.
Sorry for the inconvenience.

I'm apologising to those people who like to read my blog and feels that i'm wasting my "interesting-blog-writing" talent. I'm not saying its very good, i just say its interesting, haha.. Bad things can be interesting too. So don't think that i'm proud when i say i have the talent to write interesting stuff, haha..

I will do my best to keep blogging!
If possible, i'm going to blog by this Sunday..
so prepare yourselves for the most most awaiting blog entry this summer.. Coming soon..

I Shouldn't Be Alive

2007-04-16T10:13:00.000+08:00

This title is the same title of a documentary airing on Discovery Channel.
You've guessed it, I am not going to talk about relationships or love or infatuations in this post.
I'm going to teach you survival skills...
Treat this as a advertisement break from your everyday life.

I watched an episode of "I Shouldn't Be Alive" a month ago, but was too busy to pen it all down.
Anyway, its about these 3 friends who decide to explore the Amazon forest together.
It'll be interesting, so sit back and enjoy~~

The story starts off with 3 friends who want to explore the Amazon forest (by the way, its a true story).
They went to a nearby village and found a guide who self-elevates his ability as a guide.

FOUL #1 - Make sure your guide is really experienced. read up a little and test him first.
FOUL #2 - They were unable to tell that the guide was not very good because they themselves have not read up much on or have much experience in survival skills.
TIP #1 - Always read up on something before you start doing it

Unaware of what the forest has in store for them, the four of them started the adventure.
On the 2nd day(if i remember correctly), one of the guys complained about pain in his foot.
Due to my poor memory, lets just name this guy "Squidward".
So anyway, Squidward took off his boots and found out that his foot was in a very bad shape.
It has becomed a square!!
Nah, kidding.
The skin off his foot was peeling off and his foot was partially swollen.

FOUL #3 - What Squidwart just experienced is called TRENCH FOOT.
This is a symptom whereby our feet get soaked in water for too long such that the skin tears and now germs and bacteria are given direct access to his foot.
If left untreated, it will get much worser, to the extent that it leads to death.

TIP #2 - Every hour of travelling (especially if the ground is wet), take a small break. Sit down, take off your boots and socks and let your feet breathe. Dry your feet a little by using your hands to clean your feet. By the way, I am only referring to people travelling in a forest or jungle, not in a city or town. I don't want this post to spark of a new trend of taking off your shoes to dry your feet in orchard road.

Anyway, Squidward also complained about his headaches, which was a symptom of his trenched foot.
So Sandy (the guide's name, a result of my poor memory again) decided to make his way back to the village with Squidward.
The other two guys, "Spongebob" and "Patrick" decided to continue exploring the Amazon forest.

FOUL #4 - Do NOT explore a forest without a guide!!!
Tip #3 - Follow the guide always.. But don't follow him too closely, the guide might misunderstand due to the society issues of our century, which were stirred up even more by many movies such as Brokeback Forest.. i mean mountain.

So Sandy and Squirward went off, while Spongebob and Patrick decided to try out the river.
They build their own raft and decided to go down the river.

Foul #5 - Know how strong the rapids of a river is before attempting to sail on it.
Tip #4 - Never try out a river unknown to you.

As they were going down the river, the rapids got so strong that it threw the both of them off the raft.
Upon regaining consciousness, Spongebob realised that he was now alone, left only with a machete (huge knife, a.k.a ang moh parang).
He decided not to take the machete as it was quite heavy, and decided to walk along the river to find Patrick.

Foul #6 - A knife is the most important tool you can have if you are in the forest. It is a vital tool for your self-defense and survival.
Tip # 5 - Carry your knife with you everyhwere!

After walking for 5 hours, Spongebob got very hungry.
He realised that he made a wrong move by leaving his machete, but decided not to go back and take it because e would have wasted 10 hours if he did that.

Tip #6 - Told you the knife is important.
Tip #7 - Find food.
a)fruits
Choose those fruits that you see animals eating.
Test those fruits by rubbing it against your skin and wait for 1 or 2 minutes.
If nothing happens, rub against your lips and wait for 1-2min.
Then your tongue for 1-2min.
If rashes or something else appear, don't be stupid to continue eating, its actually safer to eat your own faeces than those.
If nothing happens, bite it and chew for1-2min, then swallow and wait for another 45min.
Still nothing happens?
Then its totally safe to continue eating the same kind of fruit.

b) insects
find some wierd looking nuts from the floor and crack them open.
If you see larvae (white in colour, those that look like extremely fat and hairless caterpillars, usually portrayed as alien larvae in movies), you can eat them directly, they are super high in proteins.
Don't be afraid to eat it, i think it'll taste like bubble tea pearls.
Pluck out the head of grasshopper, then the legs, then the wings, and slurp up the juice from its body.
Those are super rich in proteins too. (Rickson is not making all these up, these are facts!! by the wway, it has been proven that insects contain x times more proteins than animals. That explains why ants are so strong :D)

c) snall animals..
like rabits, snakes, or even a snake that swallowed a rabbit (two-in-one).
Look out for small snakes (not those like the cobra which obviously has alot venom in it) that has its attention drawn away. Maybe the snake found a mice or something.
Then from behind, grab its head tight. You control a snake's entire body by controlling its head.
Slice the snake into two, open in up and tada!! Amazon Unagi.. something like that lar..
If you find a rat in the snake's belly, please throw it away.
If you find a hamster in the snake's belly, you might want to split open the hamster's stomach because hamsters eat grasshoppers too, and you might find a grasshopper inside for food! Its all about survival man. (Rickson's personal advice).
BUT, if you neglected Tip #6 and left your knife somewhere else, then i don't know how you're gonna eat the snake and hamster you found man. You can still eat the grasshopper though.

Tip #8 - Told you the knife was really important. Its good that you realise it by now. Maybe you can start taking precautions by carrying a pen knife everywhere you go..
But guys please don't use it to cut other people.
And girls please don't use it to cut yourselves.
And biology students, don't experiment dissecting hamsters at home.

But Spongebob did not have the courage nor the knowledge to find food, and thirst was getting to him.

Tip #9 - look for water in plant stems (vines).. chop off both end and pure rainwater will flow
If you don't have your knife, then it'll be more difficult.
Because water everywhere might b filled with bacteria, unless it comes from a clear sky, which rarely happens in a forest because the sky is covered by leaves in the Amzon forest.
If u see a puddle of clean water don't try it immediately.
Dig a small hole a metre away and let the water from the puddle flow in and get filtered by the roots in the ground.
Then drink straight from the top of the new puddle.
The bad news is, the water might still be infected.
The good news, its less infected. :D

After a long day of travelling, Patrick could still not be found.
The night is setting in with clouds of insecurity and fear covering the sky.
Spongebob lies down on the ground, hoping that the night will pass soon, while dreaming of his pineapple home under the sea.

Foul #6 - Do not sleep on a the ground of the forest!!
Why? Because at night, millions of ants will come out, and the bites of the ants can kill you.
Futhermore, if it suddenly rain heavily, a flood or landslide might get you.

Tip #10 - In a forest, the most dangerous time is in the night.
Build your "house" early, before a hint of nightfall sets in.
The best is that you use a poncho to make a hammock (a hanging bed or couch made of canvas, netted cord, with cords attached to supports at each end.)
If you do not have a poncho, find a tree hollow, gather alot of branches and make a bed there.
Just make sure that you are above ground.

Poor little Spongebob's efforts availed him little in trying to get some sleep on the ground of the forest.
When he woke up, he was filled with ant bites and mosquito bites.

Tip #11 - Bring a mosquito net along.
Cover yourself with it when you're sleeping.
The animals that hunt in the night are scary, but the most dangerous of all are the many mosquitoes that are ready to sample your blood without permission and inject drugs into your blood which causes dengue and malaria.

Tip #11 - Find natural mosquito repellents
Find a fruit that looks like a coconut which stinks real bad.
I don't mean a decomposed coconut, i mean a coconut looking fruit that looks fresh but stinks like crap. Smellier than smelly tofu (famous delicacy in certain parts of asia).
Wait... i think the smell comes from the inside of the fruit.
So you got to crack open the fruit first.
If it stinks, you got your mosquito repellent.
If it does not stink, rejoice, you found yourself a coconut (food).
Anyway, rub the flesh of the fruit (not the coconut, the other one) on a small portion of your skin and wait for an hour.
If nothing happens, you probably hit the jackpot.
Mosquitoes hate the smell of such fruits, many other animals too.
So apply on your skin before nightfalls (even if your face has lots of pimples).

A balloon flew up into the air, reaching for the heavens.
Suddenly, a very strong glare emits from the sky.
Patrick jumped up to his feet, to realise... that he was dreaming. (extra parts by Rickson to add interest)
It took him less than a minute to recover from that temporal amnesia he had and realised that he is now lost in the forest alone.
Technically he is not lost alone because Spongebob is lost too.
So i have to rephrase it...
Patrick is now alone and lost.
As darkness pours down from above, Patrick realised that he was in trouble.
Thoughts of regret filled his mind as he thought about the times he was watching cartoon instead of watching the many seasons of survivor that aired frquently on prime time back in his country.
Can Spongebob and Patrick outwit, outplay and outlast the Amazon forest?
What about Squidward and Sandy?

CREDITS

Adapted from "I Shouldn't Be alive"

producer
Rickson Tan

writer
Rickson Tan

Et Cetera (etc)
Rickson Tan

This post has great value in view of time, because you'll never know when you'll end up lost in a jungle/forest.
Plus the fact that most men will have to go for National Service (in my country - Singapore) and would have a high chance of being in a forest. These survival skills alone can save your life.

This post have value in view of eternity too because your life could be saved by knowing such skills, and the extra years of life you have from surviving gives you more time to do things that have great value.

more time = more opportunities to do great things.
So get yourself more time by learning survival skills, watching your health, and taking simple precautions to avoid accidents such as putting on your safety belt.
Yes, putting on your safety belt has value in view of eternity too!!! haha..

But it is also how you use your "extra" time that is important..

voom*
How do we make the best smoke signal?
voom*
What if you fall sick in the forest?
voom* voom*
What are the best ways to get out of a forest?
voom* voom* voom*
Have you ever wondered why we tend to walk in circles when lost?
voom* voom* voom* voom*
Tune in next week, only on i-v-o-e channel...

]to be continnued]

Diploma in Acceptance

2007-03-22T10:52:00.000+08:00

Today, I am going to feed you with the foundation basics if you were to take a diploma in acceptance... What do i mean?

There are laws that are not in the physical realm.
Laws such as the law of gravity, the laws of motion, and even the laws of love, etc, etc..
Basically, those are the laws that keep the earth going round.
All these are good.
But, many of us behave as if we are highly skilled in certain laws.
To be precise, the law that is often abused and the one that i am going to talk about, is the law of acceptance.

Why that?
Because so many of us think that we know about acceptnace so much that we can decide who/what should be accepted and who/what should not.

It is as if we know and understand literature so much, that when someone comes up with a new way to express certain things with literature that we feel is not right, we dismiss it as wrong.
But if you were to understand literature, literature is about personal expressions of experiences being artistically penned down into words, and there is no right or wrong.

let me give you an example.

One day John comes up to you in tears, "Bob... Tyrannosaurus died yesterday. He was a really good terapine (small turtle). He was my best friend whom i always trusted, he had never betrayed me before, never hurt my feelings, never cheat on me, and he's always there for me. I really miss him."

So you replied, "Don't be sad. You didn't really lose a best friend. You still have me."

"But he was really my best friend. He always listened to me whenever i had problems."

"How do you know he even listened? He doesn't even have any ears for goodness sake."

"But.. but.. but... He was always there for me."

"Because he was stuck in his tank 24 hours. Listen John, don't be so sad, he isn't your real best friend. You still have other friends out there."

"BUT HE WAS REALLY THERE FOR ME!!!!"

"He's just a terapine, so what if it died? Come on John, don't think so much about it already, its just a terapine."

"HE'S NOT AN IT!!! HE'S MY BEST FRIEND WHO IS ALWAYS THERE FOR ME!! AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION HE DOES NOT LIVE IN A TANK, HE LIVES IN THE TOILET BOWL IN MY ROOM!! AND YESTERDAY HE JUST DIED AND DISAPPEARED INTO THIN AIR!!"

" He was in your toilet bowl? No wonder i saw something moving. Phew! Heng man, i thought my stomach had worms or something like that."

For those who didn't get it, Bob flushed Tyrannosaurus down the toilet bowl lar.
Anyway, many of us behave like this.
Wait, let me rephrase it.
All of had behaved in the same manner at least once before.
What manner am i referring to?
Bob rejected John saying that his terapine was his best friend. And he even tried convincing John that he was just being foolish.
But the fact is, to John, Tyrannasorous was really his best friend!!

So many of us behave like Bob.
When we think we know certain things, we reject anything that is contradictory to it and neglect the feelings behind it.
Even worse, we continue making people feel bad by convincing them that they were foolish.

I don't mean only in such situations.
How many times have we not accepted people who are different? or should i use the word that we oftenly use to describe them : wierd.

People who not just have physical but mental disabilities too.
People who have problems with their eyesight,
people with speaking disabilities,
people who have problems with their legs,
people who look wierd,
people who are extremely obese,
people with huge birth marks,
people who have a paralyze body or facial part,
people with a funny hairdo,
people who are hyperactive,
people who can't control talking alot,
people are slow in understanding,
people who are super duper quiet,
people who behave differently at times,
people who do not talk in a very tactful manner not on purpose,
people who are not trained to have manners from young,
people who don't look very decent,
people who look too decent (a.k.a nerdy),
people who have a wierd sense of dressing,
people who have "lower class" occupations,
girls who behave too rough,
guys who behave too gentle (a.k.a aqua),
people who are bisexual or homosexual, etc, etc...
The list continues running.

I mean who have not rejected at least one person in his/her life?
or should i say, who had treated everyone he/she know with great acceptance?
And when i say acceptance, i mean "the act of accepting with approval; favorable reception".
not many right.

But, Why do we need to show acceptance?

Because all of us are of the same level, none of us are of a higher breed, even if we think so.
All of us are humans.
So what if John was being foolish to think that his terapine is his best friend?
So what if he sees things in a different point of view?
John is still a human like us who have feelings and Bob (as a good friend) should accept the part of John that loves his Tyrannasorous.

Imagine you were the one who was born with a paralyzed limb or facial feature instead.
How many people will make fun of you in primary school?
How many bullies will beat you up in secondary school?
How many companies will turn you down in interviews just because you look different?
How many people will treat you as their best friend?
How many guys/girls will approach you and talk to you because you look good?

Imagine you were the one who was sexually abused when young and thus when you grow up you lost trust for the opposite sex and only are attracted to the same sex..
After so much abuse, you grow up thinking it'll be better but now you continue getting rejected by society.

Imagine you were the one born with a very low metabolism rate and could not shed weight no matter how little you eat. You have this physical problem, and instead of encouraging you, people around you laugh at you for being fat.

Its not just these extreme cases that deserve attention.
Even the minor ones such as behavioral problems and stuff.
Some people just do not know how to behave "normal" even though they want to.
Instead of helping them, we condemn them and judge them.

I admit that i am guilty too.
But i realized that those people are suffering enough already, and they deserved to be loved as much as i deserve to be.
In fact, even more!!
Why do I, a person with not much problems or difficulties recieve more love than people who have so much problems and difficulties just because i am well recieved by society?
It is not fair ot them.
How many times have they cried out thinking how unfair life is to them.

It is not life that is so unfair, it is people who create and add in to the unfairness of life!!

Whether you are part of the cure or part of the disease (like in the coldplay song), it is our choice. Those who choose to be the cure continue reading. Those who still don't feel a need to be part of the cure, please keep reading what i've written above until you feel a need to be part of the cure.

Or you could try asking your friends and family to help you by not being accepting to you for one week. By the end of the week, you'll understand how it feels.
So let me give you two enlightening points on how to accept people easier.
How to "force" your unsympathetic hearts (many of us have pity on people at times, but we don't know why we just can't show it) to become accepting.

1. Do Not Judge!!! measure...

Judging is one of the killers of relationships, be it with friends, strangers or close ones.
Measure instead.
What do I mean? For example, maybe you have to take the waist line of an obese person. So you measure her waist and tells him that her waist line is 45 inches. That is called measuring and is okay. But, when you tell her "you are fat", that is judging!

Judging doesn't care about how people feel, judging is just making a general statement, and that is what hurts people. Things like "you are always like that", "you are like this everytime", "you are never so good", etc, etc.. Avoid speaking in general because speaking in general is a part of stereotyping and judging.
When people ask you how his hairstyle look, (no matter how terrible it is) don't tell the person that your hair sucks or something like that. Give an honest answer but do not neglect his feelings. You could say "hmmm.. I feel that it'll look much better if its neater, or you could cut your hair shorter because i don't think long hair suits you", or something like that. I'm sure none of you want to hear people saying that your hair sucks. So avoid speaking in general!

2. See people as "perfect enough"

"I am imperfect yet people accept me. Thus I am going to accept him even though he's less perfect."

That is the mentality to have if you want to become a very accepting and loving person. None of us are perfect, though there are some people whe are way less "perfect" than us. Remember what i talked about in "Dream Girl... Dream Guy part 2"? We fall in love because we start seeing a certain person (be it opposite or same gender) as perfect, neglecting their flaws. This is how we can love others too!! As in in terms of friends.

Though many people have much more flaws and are many times irritating or scary to be with. But we just have to remember that we are on the same level as them, we are all humans. Thus if you want to love someone, see the person as "perfect enough" for you to love him. No one is too imperfect to recieve your love.

This post have great value in view of time and in view of eternity.
Because with more accepting people in this world that we live in today, it will be a much better place. The people who get rejected by society will be able to see and feel hope, and love.

The suicidal rate in this world is ever increasing, 1 out of 3 deaths in China is because of suicide. And i believe that the main reason is because they do not have hope, because they were not accepted.

Thus, i ask that those of you who read this be more accepting today. Start small conversations with the "wierd" people that you know whom not many people talk to. You'll never know how much impact these small things that you do with acceptance have.

Dream Guy... Dream Girl... (part 2A)

2007-03-12T01:36:00.000+08:00

From the Board of Directors of I-V-O-E : If you have not read the previous post "Dream Girl... Dream Guy... (part 1)", i encourage you to read it first before you read this post. It'll be better and you'll get more out of it.

The post that you were waiting for.. is finally here!!!
Its been sooooooo very super ultra super extra very duper extra long man. haha.
Sorry readers.. I've just completed a major project and am now in an industrial attachement, thus the delay in the delivery of this post. I promise i'll do my best to not get delayed for so long in future. Probably an update every week.

Anyway, before i start officially blogging about "Dream Girl... Dream Guy... (part 2)", i want to share how i feel about the response on my blog. Firstly, i'm happy because i really enjoyed blogging and the comments you people gave.
I recieved encouragements, praises, hate comments, and even confessions from a guy who thinks he's a girl.
On the other hand, i was wondering, who really reads my blog? Because only 5 different people left comments on my previous post even after much persuasion. Hmmm.. Actually i know quite a number of my friends -at least more than 5- who read my blog. I guess you're just shy lar, so i shall forgive all of you, haha..
Okay, commercial break time is over. Time to touch back on to my main topic.

The theme of my blog is doing things in view of eternity, yet enjoying life on earth.
But have you wondered why did i include a post about having a dream guy/girl/animal/object?
I mean, having a dream guy/girl/animal/object give us joy and pleasure only in our minds, in our fantasies. But usually, the great expectation leads to a greater disappointment. Needless to say about people who having dream guyS or girlS. Yes, to me, having a dream guy or girl will make us more miserable. UNLESS, we know how to handle it...

Here comes the serious stuff...

Let me show you now, what the words "dream guy" or "dream girl" mean to the average person.

Your dream guy or girl is a person who appears in your fantasies the way you picture your perfect spouse to be. - Rickson

Of course that is not a perfect defination, or something i found in the dictionary. I believe though, that that is how most of us would think when the words "dream guy" or "dream girl" are mentioned. I found this quote by anonymous (as in the author is unknown, i'm not referring to any anonymous who left comments on my blog, haha)

“Infatuations: This is the stuff of 'falling in love,' living in a rosy magical glow, etc. My beloved has no faults and is perfect. We shall live happily ever after. This is denial, overlooking many things all too obvious to those around me. Infatuati”

What the author mean is that infatuation causes you to live in your own fantasy. You do not think by logic or common sense when in an infatuation. One more last quote.. I couldn't find it on the net, either i forgot the words, or it never existed. Because it really seemed like there is no such quote around, must've been something thats always in my mind and feels so real that i thought i read it somewhere..
Anyway, here goes..

We fall in love when we start seeing someone who is imperfect as perfect...

If you noticed, there is one word which is common in all the quotes/defination mentioned above: perfect. So what point am i trying to make here?
That, like what i mentioned above, we fall in love because we start seeing certain people as perfect. And the most important question here is that..
Why do we see certain people as perfect?

I'm sure i've whetted your appetite right now, but i'd like to have another commercial break. I want you right now, to think about a girl or guy that u have an infatuation on.
For those who do not know the meaning of "infatuation", please read my previous post.
Anyway, choose one of the infatuation that is more recent or the most impactful one.
Take one minute to think why do you see the person as perfect?
DON'T continue reading, just take a one minute break to think about it. Because i believe that by doing so, the things that i am going to share with you later will make more sense.

So, go take a break right now, look out of your window and start thinking. Not only does it benefit your brain, it benefits your eyes too. Staring too long at your computer can give you asmagtism or cause myopia, haha.
Come back in a minute~

I see your true colours
Shining through
I see your true colours
thats why i love you
So don't be afraid
to let it show
your true colours
true colours
so beautiful

like a rainbow.

The average age of females having eating disorders... is 15..

COMMERCIAL BREAK OVER!! haha.

Lets get back to the main topic.
So why did see that person as perfect? Because she's so cute? Because he's so sexy?
It might sound stupid (or it might sound like you're stupid if that is the real reason), but that MIGHT actually be the answer to why you see that person as perfect.
In fact, the answer to why we see the person we have a crush on as perfect because... He or she fits in the description of our Dream Guy or Dream Girl!!!

Put on your safety helmets, here comes the good stuff..
Having a dream guy or dream girl is like placing a recruitment ad on who you would like to be with. We have limited space to write what we want, and thus many of us will just post the main points such as "have beautiful eyes", "a very happy person", "have a great sense of humour", etc, etc.. AND... when the person comes along with all these good points that we are looking for, we instantly HIRE them!!
Even if they have many other bad points, we'll still hire them.
And, the thing about infatuation is that we see people as perfect when we look at their good points (the ones that we want). BUT, we neglect that fact that the person have many other bad points too. and thus... your infatuation for that person develops!!

let me give you an example.

So you have this female friend of yours.
She's pretty, has a good attitude, shares the same interest as you (for example basketball), and even able to shoot a hoop from halfcourt. But when she raises her hands to shoot a basketball, the sight of the numerous cylindrical, keratinized, often pigmented filaments characteristically growing from the epidermis of a mammal (hair) found at the hollow under the upper part of the arm at the shoulder (armpit) does not affect you at all.
For those who do not get what i mean, i mean "the sight of the uncountable hair at her armpits does not affect you", haha.

Why? I mean, a woman having armpit hair (especially if found in large quantities) is a chracteristic labelled as "unhygenic" or "lazy" or even "disgusting" in many parts of the world. But why wouldn't it affect the person who has a crush on her?
Because he sees her as perfect!!
Her good qualities "blinded" him so much that he could not see her bad qualities.

So, all his friends would talk behind her back about how unsightly it was to play basketball with her. How wasted it was that such a pretty girl happens to be pretty "disgusting" too.
BUT, the guy who has a crush on her would feel otherwise.
The thoughts that will come into his mind might be something like this:
"WoOahH!!! she's such a rare beauty!! she has such a strong character man!!
she's so brave to not shave her armpit even though society calls it as unsightly..
WoOahH!!! She's pretty, she loves basketball, and now she's sooooo brave and daring!!
She dares to make a statement.. oh.. and she dares to break wind (fart) in front of a lot people too... i LoOoOoVe courageous women!!! She's not afraid to be who she is... she's just so.. so.. sooo... unique!!!"

hahahaha..

oh btw, I (Rickson) did not know that women have armpit hair and that they shave them until the age of 18!!! Shocking.. As in no one told me. And society managed to conceal it from me for 18 years!! Amazing.. Or maybe i was just naive in the past, haha.. anyway, lets move on from here.

So let me summarize what point that i was trying to make.
Having a Dream Guy or Girl leads to having an infatuation.
And why would i blog about something that sounds so common?
Because, having an infatuation leads to many other things and some might be dangerous.
On the good side, infatuation helps love blossom. It gives you a desire to know someone more and to love the person more. Infatuation itself is not bad, but it may lead to many bad things.

Anyway, take a break for awhile to digest everything i touched on 1st, then continue reading on "Dream Girl... Dream Guy... (part 2b)"
Here comes the trailer..

Have you had an infatuation before?
voom*
The 3 bad points of Infatuation..
voom*
that has been stealthily affecting you.
voom*
voom*
voom*
Unwanted infatuation..
voom*
Learn how to get over it today...
voom*
voom*
voom*

(to be continued)

Dream Girl... Dream Guy... (part 2B)

2007-03-11T06:03:00.000+08:00

Continued from Dream Girl... Dream Guy... (part 2A)..

please read that post before reading this in order to digest better.

Now let me give you 3 bad points that Infatuation has.

1. Infatuation leads to Lonliness & Disappointment..

Yes, you finally found out why you feel lonely so often.

Although it is not the main source nor the main cause of loneliness, having an infatuation contributes to it. Especially if the person whom you have a crush on does not feel the same way for you. I do not need to emphasize so much on this point, because most of you could agree on the many times of lonliness you felt when this girl or guy does not feel the same way you feel for them. And many times, this lead us into getting disappointed in ourselves, having thoughts that we aren't we good enough for others. In fact, the lonliness generated from having a one-sided infatuation might lead us into depression.

For a two-sided infatuation (meaning both parties have a crush on each other), lonliness might be released in times when you are unsure of how the other party feels or you misunderstand the other party.

The lonliness generated is an exceptionally high amount because your expectation for a person when you're in an infatuation is exceptionally high; perfect.

As in the things they do, not who they are, because you are already seeing them as perfect, thus certain actions that you did not expect from them might cause a great amount of disappointment.

2. Infatuation is a glutton.

Now what do i mean by saying that?

I mean that infatuation eats up your time, energy and even your joy, like a glutton.

It really does take up alot of our time. When we have a crush on someone, we spend a large percentage of our time thinking of the person.

Remember my goldfish example in the previous post?

We will think of the person we have a crush on to the extent that we are giving up hours of quality fellowship with our bed. We end up rolling on our bed, thinking about the person we like, thinking about how to impress the person, thinking about the countless different ways you would bring you and the person together if you were God, thinking about how you would "coincidentally" bump into each other or how "fate" will bring the both of you together.
If you have gone through this before, you don't need to feel so guilty, because almost all of us have been through it (except for those who so far only had crushes on their goldfishes).

Check out this quote i found:

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” - Dr Seuss

3. Infatuation might cause you to end up with the "wrong person".

Now this is one of the most important point that people tend to miss out on.

Why do i say that?

Because when we have infatuations, we set a certain standard that the person we want to end up with has to be. And, when such standards are met, we will begin to see them even more perfectly. We recieve a sense of confirmation that he or she really is THE ONE from the standards that we place.

Chim.. Let me break it down so that you can digest it better.

Lets say Jane (fiction character) likes cute guys who are at least 1.8m tall.

So she gets to know this cute 1.8m tall guy, and her heart then tells her that this might be THE ONE. Jane also likes guys who has a good sense of humour, and it happens that this guy has a good sense of humour too. Now, jane also likes guys who can play the guitar well.

Coincidentally, this guy can play the guitar well too.

WOW!

Jane's getting excited. Is this THE ONE for her? She keeps that thought ringing in her head.

Last of all, Jane likes romantic guys. And this guy is not only romantic, he is SUPER romantic.

So the idea that this guy is THE ONE now concludes into a fact in her heart.

And the fact stays in her heart even though later on she finds out the guy smokes, is a flirt, or maybe he was born a girl!!!

So that is how it works.

We set certain requirements THE ONE must have. And when someone comes along with such qualities, we take is that he/she/it is THE ONE!! Neglecting the fact that we might mislook on the things that we do not want our ONE to have because of our blindness (Infatuation blinds).

There are certain bad qualities that we cannot overlook if we want to find THE REAL ONE.

Let me give you two of the most inmportant qualities your THE REAL ONE must have.

a. Filial Peity

Why that?

Because, if a person is not filial to his/her parents, it means that he/she is not a committed person. And if the person cannot be committed to someone who raised him up with unconditional love for years, you cannot expect him to be committed to you.

This pattern is reflected in our society too.

Compared to decades ago, the respect that parents recieved from their childrens decreased.

Honoring and respecting our parents used to be a commandment that is highly valued in most societies.

But the IN thing now... FREEDOM.

A freedom that teaches us that there is no need for commitment, and what we want is more important than what we must do. The consequences...

A rapid increase in divorce rate. Now 1 out of every 4 Singaporean marriage, 1 out of every 3 American marriage, 1 out of every 2 French marriage, suffered divorce.

So find someone who will do what he/she must instead of what he/she wants.

And if you someone who is not filial, start practising it today.

Be grateful to your parents, they raised you up, feed you, cloth you, work their lives out dry for you, and what do they gain?

A taste of our adolescence and teenage attitude, all the rebellion, etc, etc..

It is as if they owe us something. But in fact we owe them our lives, so be grateful and practise filial piety.

b.Anger Management

If you know anyone who has never been angry before, GOOD NEWS!!

You've found a martian!!! haha..

Because humans are bound to get angry no matter how good their temper is.

The problem is..

How FREQUENT do they get angry and what do they do when they get angry?

People who get angry quite frequently but do not release their angry through physical means are quite alright. Of course, they must release it, if not they'll end up with tonnes of grudges.

The dangerous level is people who release their anger physically.

Even in small amounts, it is very dangerous.

For example, they beat their brother-in-law's dog with a broken bamboo stick, or do other stupid stuff empowered by anger. These are the people you should watch out for even if they do not abuse you physically. Because with such practises (releasing anger physically), one day he/she might start abusing you.

I'm sure you've heard the term "practice makes perfect". That is true for our attitudes too.

So by constant giving in to anger, constantly "practising" anger, they master the skills of abusing people. So watch out for such people.

Anyway, before all my friends start turning into monks and nuns or practice celibacy, i shall not add any more bad points of having an Infatuation. Personally, i feel that having a dream guy or dream girl is not that bad, its just that we do not know how to handle it.

After addressing so much about this issue, i want you to question your heart again.

Are you having a crush on the wrong person?

Or worse, are you in relationship with the wrong person?

You wonder why you feel so sad with him/her, and now you realise he/she is the wrong person.

Think about it now, do you really want to be with THIS ONE whom you like now??

Its not too late if your answer is no.
Countless books and magazines contain articles about how to love. I strongly do believe in loving others, but if you have feelings with the wrong person, if you have a crush on a person you do not want to be with, you need to know how to "un-love" them. Not to the extend that you hate them, but just to break free from that bondage of Infatuation you are in.

Of course i will still advice you to love the person as a friend.

So now here it is.

After many years of experience and hard work, i've discovered how to break free from an infatuation easily. It took me only one week to break free from the feelings i had for a person (girl, not guy) for approximately two years.

2 Steps To Get Over An Unwanted Infatuation

1. Know EXACTLY what you want.

The key word here is EXACTLY.

Why?

Because the lack of details open room for misinterpretation.

For example...

You tell your friend to buy a ball of blue string for you.

So your friend goes to a shop and realises that there are different types of strings; rafia, cloth, etc, etc. And, there are different tones of blue and different lengths of string too.

So because there is a lack of details, he would not get EXACTLY what you wanted. His brain will just be focused in getting a ball of blue string. And most likely, the material and length will not be EXACTLY what you wanted, but since it is already bought, you decided to just use that blue string.

So it is in our own lives.

We tell ourselves that we want some string (spouse) that is blue (good looking, or any other quality). And we when we arrive at the shop (world), we realise there are lots of blue strings with different material (personality) and length (attitudes). And because of the lack of details we gave to ourselves, we just choose and blue string that seem the most attractive.

And after awhile, we might realise that this is not the EXACT blue string that we want.

But since we have already bought it, we decided to use it anyway.

So BE DETAILED!!

Details Determines your Destiny.

Don't be focus with just one or two qualities that you look in for THE ONE, such as appearance or financial status. Instead, make sure you do not miss out on points such as being filial, understanding, etc. The lack of such characteristics are often the cause of realising that you're with THE WRONG ONE years down the road.

I would rather you use the time to find THE REAL ONE than waste it on a wrong person.

You can save the time of going back to the shop again. But, i advice you that if you realise that you end up with the wrong ball of blue string, go back and change it. Its better than suffering the rest of your life with it.

Knowing EXACTLY what you want is an insurance that secures you from having a crush on the wrong person in future. Of course, the outcome is still base on what you ultimately decide on.

Oh by the way, do not go to the other extreme to expect that you will find a real perfect spouse too. Humans have a fallen nature and none of us are perfect. Be ready to neglect on certain points such as looks, financial status, or certain character flaws. But do not neglect major flaws such as unfilial and angry (very angry i mean) people.

Always be flexible to neglect the minor expectations.

And to see if you are not overdoing it, measure it with yourself.

Your expectations for someone cannot be more perfect than you are.

Because a swine can never attract a sheep.

2. See the person IMPERFECTLY.

This is the GOLDEN RULE to get yourself out of an infatuation.
Force yourself to look at his/her shortcomings. Then weigh it with his/her good characteristics.

Which is more worth it?

Is it worth having a boyfriend who loves you alot but is one who cannot control his temper that might lead to physical abuse in the future?

No its not.. Be patient...

It is not as if he is the only person who will ever love you so much. If he was able to love you so much, someone else would be able to too. So weigh the pros and cons well.
If the person is an extremely good person, but does not look that good, or does not look like the way you dreamed THE ONE to be, he/she is still worth it.

THINK WITH YOUR EYES OPEN!!! -Rickson

Measure it well.

Don't get blinded by the love and care that the other party offers to you.

If you decide that the cons is heavier than the pros, then force yourself to remember the cons and remind yourself regularly that it is not worth it.

That you are worth someone better.

REMIND YOURSELF which is heavier(the pros and the cons).

And do your best not to be wishy-washy, not to be influence by others' opinions.

Stick to the equation you made, whether it is worth it or not.

And i can promise you, if you do it right, in a week or so you will be able to get yourself out of an unwanted infatuation.
Only unless his/her pros outweigh the cons, then i encourage you to continue on.

So thats all for now.

Remember what i'd touched on and do not let yourself fall into uneccessary infatuation.

And don't worry, there is still someone else out there.

This article has great value in view of eternity. It also has a great value in view of time. Because who you marry will determine whether you have heaven or hell on earth. So be patient and don't get blinded. THINK WITH YOUR EYES OPEN!!

Dream Girl... Dream Guy... (part 1)

2007-02-07T14:45:00.000+08:00

Have you ever had a dream girl or guy?
Here's a piece of good news for you....... YOU'RE A HUMAN!!!

For those who never had a dream girl or guy or had sorta of a crush on anyone or object or animal before... I'm not saying that you're not human, (unless you're a hamster who can read) eh... you're just unique.. haha..
So don't be so sad, you'll grow up and have a crush one day.

For those who don't know what the word "crush" mean, let me try to explain it to you in simple terms.
Remember when you were younger when your mummy bought you a pet? (I'll use goldfish as an example) You can't stop thinking of your goldfish right?
When you are in school, you think of your goldfish, when you are bathing, you think of your goldfish, when you are eating, you think of your goldfish (other than thinking of eating your goldfish), even when you sleep, you dream about one day when a fairy will come down to make your goldfish be able to live outside water, so he can sleep with you.
Remember those times?
Thats an example of you having a crush on your goldfish.

But usually we humans have crushes on other humans, i used goldfish as an example for the sake of the minority "unique" ones out there, haha.

Anyway, thats the same for us (the goldfish example) !
When we have a crush, we think of the person/people/object/animal everywhere we go and everytime. When we are bored, stress, tired, joyful, sick, or even when we read about things such as floods in Jakarta, we think about our crush.
I know its hard to admit it, but you know that it is true!
I mean only when you're having a crush lar (perfect use of singlish here, haha).

Anyway, let me give you the true defination of crush with the help of dictionary.com

The defination of crush is "an intense but usually short-lived infatuation."
and the defination of infatuation is "A foolish, unreasoning, or extravagant passion or attraction."

Look at the keywords here, SHORT-LIVED, FOOLISH, UNREASONING & EXTRAVAGENT PASSION OR ATTRACTION.

See, now you believe in my goldfish example. haha.

I have alot more to blog about this topic, alot of serious stuff.
But since valentine's day is around the corner, i shall not spoil the mood first, will continue blogging part two of this topic.

By the way, in anticipation of curious questionings i will recieve in the future, i gotta say that i don't really have a crush right now.
Even if i do, i won't be indulging in this foolish, unreasoning, or extravagent passion or attraction.
So don't come up to me and asking me who my crush is, or why do i blog about this, do i have a crush etc, etc...
You'll see the true intentions of me blogging about this topic on my next post =D.

I would like to end off this post differently.
If you noticed, my blog have so little comments.
Not that i want to seek fame or anything like that, but i enjoy making my blog more interesting, it could be a place where you could share your point of view to me too.
So for this post, i would like all the readers out there to be SPONTANEOUS!!

Leave comments about at least ONE THING that you want your dream girl/guy/object to have or be or be.
OR, one situation whereby you want to be with your dream girl/guy/object.

For example, you always hope that one day you would "accidentally" fall of the bus steps. And "coincidentally", you dream guy (the guy you have a crush on) is behind you. So you experience abit pain for the moment (Like an old Chinese saying goes "First bitter, then sweet"). So your dream guy have to carry you home because you have a twisted ankle now.
Ooops, "coincidentally" you alighted at the wrong stop too, which happens to be two bus stops away from your house. And your dream guy somehow forgot about the existence of vehicles (like in many love drams) and decides to carry you all the way home. And when you reach hope, you "forgot" to bring your house keys, and "coincidentally" your whole family went abroad 2 hours ago and will be back only tomorrow. So out of compassion, your dream guy offers a stay at his house, and he "forgets" about the existence of vehicles again and carries you all the way home.

Something liddat. Of course, it does not need to be so detailed and i hope that truly there is no one out there with such a fantasy. Its scary.
So go leave a coment NOW. I don't mind if you're shy and leave the comment as anonymous.
I'll lead by example and leave one "anonymous" comment first, haha.

So lets get into the mood of valentine's day confession!!

plus, for all the single out there, you'll feel better to know that you're not the only one on earth with such wacky fantasies, haha.

This post has certain value in view of time due to the fun it brings. It does not have any value in view of eternity, but the 2nd post that is linked to this will be of great value.

Wah Cow!!

2007-01-27T23:18:00.000+08:00

Finally!!! A new post in my blog. I've been waiting so long to fork out some time to update my blog, due to the unlimited projects my school offers me which makes me feel that the school fees are more than worth it.

Anyway, today's blog will be a little different. I will expose my creative flair in storytelling to you guys. I'm gonna blog about a story which i came out with in one of my modules called concept pitch.

Enjoy!!

The story of a black cow

The story starts with a scene of the universe. The camera zooms in slowly on earth and you could see that Mars is yellow(yes, Mars is yellow, i'm the creator of the story and i call the shots, hah). Then, the Narrator speaks in an Elvis-tone voice: "If pigs can fly, what about cows?"

With great speed, the camera zooms into earth, whooshing past small meteorites and honey stars, until we reach the grassfields in New Zealand. There are many hills and mountains surrounding the grassfield where a million cows can be seen grazing it.

The camera pans to the right to show a cow walking up one of the hills in the foreground, away from the rest of the herd. The cow is black in colour with white patches instead. He takes a look back at the herd with disdain, and continues walking forward. After a few steps, cow stops at the top of the hill. His attention gets caught up by the majestic glow of the moon which outshines all the stars around it. [(you can see mars beside the moon (yes, you can see Mars with your naked eye in this story and it is still yellow)] Visions and destiny can be seen stirring up in his soul, through cow's eyes.

Suddenly, what seem like sparkles whizz past cow. Without hesitation cow turns its head to take a look. To his amazement, he sees 3 little fairy pigs flying to their little mushroom-camouflaged houses. The 3 little pigs have wings and each of them wore a skirt of a different colour; red, green & blue (like the powerpuffgirls). They happily enter their place of dwelling which happens to be mushroom-capped houses each made of different materials; straw, sticks & bricks.

Out of curiosity (a natural basic instinct of cows), cow motions himself closer to the mushroom houses. Another surge of curiosity stirs in him again (cows are really curious animals man). He ponders for awhile, then blows at the mushroom houses. His gentle breath becomes whirls of typhoons in the point of view of the little pigs with their little houses. The foundation of their houses instantaneously gave way without showing any hint struggle. What seems like a 20 feet vicious black giant is standing in front of the powerpuff pigs now.

Fear overcomes them as they cover their heads with their hands and go down on all fours with their wings sticking out. Suddenly, a growl can be heard... from cow's stomach. The pig's wings illusionizes into beautiful delicious grass blades in the eyes of cow. Without any thoughts of compassion, cow bites its' wings and swings the pigs away, causing their wings to snap. He continues to chew the wings while the pigs lay unconscious beside him.

Out of the sudden, cow's body begins to float. He takes a look at himself and sees sparkles surrounding his body, causing it to glow.Now it dawns in him that he has the power to fly like the powerpuff pigs. He looks up into the sky again, with passion burning in his eyes, like a small boy chancing upon a giant chocolate cookie ice-cream bubble-gum sweet (thats what i would like when i'm young). Cow bends down to gather strength in his legs, and takes a gigantic jump towards the moon. (background music: A symphonice band plays a piece that stirs up hope, faith and destiny) Whoosh, he disappears out of sight into space.

The introduction of Star Wars starts playing, with the classic Star wars sound track and the text “A long time ago in a galaxy far far away” starts rolling. “Whee!” cow flies past the words. Cow continues flying in space with glee shown all over his face. Meanwhile, more honey stars, cow carcasses in flying pose and Doraemon opening a wrong door into outer space can be seen in the background. Cow looks to his left and realizes that he has flew past the moon. A great sense of satisfaction fills his being, as if he had reached his destiny.

Then, he realized that his left hand is beginning to catch fire. Cow looks up, and to his horror, he is about to crash into Mars! He panics and tries hard to steer himself away but he could not. As he accelerates closer to Mars, cow panics more, with tears in his eyes now, he struggles hard to brake but to no avail. He is now just a few feet away from Mars, traveling at an amazing speed covered in a fireball. Now he looks like as if he saw a giant Godzilla-eating Lizard. [as in a giant lizard eating Godzilla (yes, cows are afraid of lizards in this story just as how elephants are afraid of mice)]

The camera zooms out to a bird eye view as cow slams into Mars with a loud “piak”. His blood sprays all over Mars causing Mars to turn red. An astrologer pulls away his telescope an exclaims, “WAH COW!”

A boy who coincidentally looks like me(the author) on the street points to the sky and exclaims, “WAH COW!” The people on the streets and in their houses notice that Mars is red in colour too and exclaim together in one voice, “WAH COW!”

Upon noticing the red-coloured Mars, a British man spits out his tea and exclaims in a very strong accent, “Gee, I must say, WAH COW!”

A french artist was painting the Eiffel Tower with Mars beside it (the Mars painted on his canvas is yellow in colour). When he realized that Mars has now became red, he tore his painting in anguish while exclaiming in french, :"OH MON DIEU, LA PLANETE MARS SE TRANSFORME DE ROUGE EN JAUNE" while the subtitle appears: “WAH COW!”.

Bruce Lee swings his nun chucks around practicing while screaming “WA TAH! WA TAH!” He looks up to see that Mars has became red and exclaimes, “WAH COW!”

A Martian on Mars stands on Mars in shock. It looks at the (red) ground and paused for 3 seconds. Then it utters in an robotic-alienic voice, “WAH COW!”

The camera goes back to the scene of space (Mars is now red), while the narrator says “Cow had a dream, and the birth of his dream was the birth of a story that touched millions of lives. His story can now be found in a history book name “Fairytales”.... plus he caused Mars to turn red and pigs unable to fly AND... the cow never came home.”

Credits Roll. (Audience cheer and applause like mad) (a archapella groups starts singing "Wah Cow" over a beethoven tune)

The three little pigs wakes up to see the big bad wolf preparing to eat them. The pigs squeak to each other, with the subtitles appearing : “Stupid cow, eat our wings”

THE END
© 2007 Rickson Tan

So you've guessed it, it was because of cow that
1) Mars became red
2) Mars is now not visible to the naked eye from earth(coz when cow hit mars, it moved further away from earth)
3) We have the fairytale we now know as "The cow jumped over the moon"
4) Pigs were unable to fly
5) A cartoonist got inspired and decided to create the powerpuff girls
6) The phrases "if pigs can fly", "the cows never came home" and the all time favorite one that Singaporeans use, "WAH COW!" were created.

So thats all for today.
By the way, if you (or you know anyone) who is finding a good scriptwriter (both in comedy and other genres), please consider me, haha..
Wooooo~ my blog has advertisements too.

This post has some value in view of eternity. Because it stirs up laughter, which is good to the soul, and lessen stress so that people can continue doing their work with a smile.

It has great value in view of time too, because it can be used to make an short animation or even produce a movie from that story, which i strongly feel will be a great one, haha..

So thats all for today, Have A Nice Day!!

Nice guys finish last..

2007-01-17T00:00:00.000+08:00

If you are wondering "whats with your title Rick? Nice guys finish last?", it means that i managed to attract you into reading this post.
But, if you are not thining like that, then erm... maybe you're just sleepy lar.

Anyway, what does my title means? Its about platonic rleationships.

In case you do not know the meaning, Platonic relationship means relationships free from sensual desire, esp. in a relationship between two persons of the opposite sex. Many dictionaries do not have a clear explanation on it, so i shall rephrase it according to how Singaporeans see it in a simplier version.

Platonic relationship means best friends of the opposite sex who are not in love.
(wooo, Rickson's blog is so educational, haha)

I blog about this because I read an article about it 2 days ago in LIFE! newspaper. It was interesting and the writer managed to convince me that his opinions are facts. BUT, his 'facts' have certain loopholes and are not a 100% accurate.
Although this might seem as a worldy topic to many, it is really an important one.
So now, let me give you an interesting revised version on platonic relationships.

Oh wait... I can't find that newspaper article!!
I guess it was used to clean my dog's poo or the family of lizards we rented part of our house to ate it. Sometimes my homework disappears in the same way to. I wanted to tell my teachers the truth about not bringing my homework, that my dog pooped or pee-ed on my homework or the lizards ate it, but eventually i just told them i was stupid and lost it.. something like that..
Anyway, i shall just talk about what i can remember.

Platonic Relationships.. can they exist?
Those who think that platonic relationships can exist please raise your hand.

oOoh.. I see all the females raising their hands but only 50% of the males raising his hand.

Those who think that platonic relationships cannot exist please raise your hand.

oOoh, only 25% of the remaining raised up their hands. What happened to the rest?

Women strongly believe that platonic relationships can exist, many of them have had a close guy friend before. But what about men?? and boys??
Many men believe platonic relationships can exist too, while many of the boys (under 13) do not really know what is the defination of platonic relationships. I guess many of them haven't learn that word at their age yet.
BUT, the problem is that most platonic relationships don't work out for men.
Let me speak in a man's point of view now.
This post is to help women recieve new revelations, while helping men to vent their emotions out.

Here comes the shocking fact of the post....

Almost all men have had a crush on their best friend (man or woman) before!!

Shocking right? For the moment, i won't touch on the topic about men having crushes on their male best friend. Its a little too sensitive to people. A word of advice to all men out there: Becareful. haha..

Anyway, its true!!

But the main problem is that, the men who have crushes on their best friends do not want to tell them. They would rather have a a groups of lizards to bite their armpits then admit that they have a crush on their best friend. Yes i know, many of you women who are reading this now will be thinking who will ever want that kind of torture. Of course i'm excluding the fact that some women do have an obsession with lizards. Anyway, i shall move on. Yes, its really true!

I shall be brave and share with you some of my experiences.

I use to have this close female friend by the name of John (fake name, a female by the way, not a male, because i don't want to leak out who the person is). Anyway, i was John's best friend (still the same female person, not another male john). I had a crush on her before she had a boyfriend.

But months later, she chose to be with another guy. I was sad, boo-hoo, listened to sad songs everyday ( i was still very young then, it was like 6 years ago). The saddest thing was that, our relationship bear a huge ressemblance to a chinese love drama that was airing at that time called MYP qing2 ren3. Almost 50% of the story was the same as our relationship, it was very sad. But after awhile, i continued my friendship with her, because i did not want to appear as the sore-loser who gave up after losing etc, etc.

Our relationship then slowly became a platonic one; on the surface that is. She sees me as a best friend, confides in me her problems, struggles, and worst of all, her problems with that guy. It gave me lots of hope everytime they had a quarrel, but the worst part was her telling me "I wish he is like you, even abit can already, then i'll be much happier".
And the worster (new word) part is that, when i switch on the television, the main actress confides in her best friend about her boyfriend and says "i wish he is like you".
AND, the Worstest (newer word) part is that the main actress did not end up with her best friend at the end of the drama.. AAAAAHHHHHH!!!

So women, now you know what goes through the mind of a "best friend".

There were many many other instances (maybe 2 more), whereby i had crushes on my best friend (still females).

This is what i mean by "nice guys finish last". Because most of the time, those boyfriends torture our "best friends" emotionally, yet our "best friends" chose to stay with them.

Of course i should not stereotype platonic relationships like this. The good news is, it does not happen like this all the time. I've had many real platonic relationships before that do not involve any crush. So my close female friends out there, don't worry too much, haha. Through experience, i've managed to discipline myself and guard myself from falling into crushes, unless all along i really like this girl or what lar.

Anyway, crushes in platonic relationships happen more often than most women think they do.
In the article that i mentioned to you earlier, the journalist said that it happens all the time and thus platonic relationships does not exist to men.
Thats his point of view, but if i were to estimate, platonic best friends relationships only happen 30% of the time to men. Maybe 70% for women.

So for those people with platonic best friend relationships, keep watch. Maybe your best friend has a crush on you. Or maybe he/she/it doesn't. But if you only want a platonic relationship, then take precautions. Do not mislead them!!
But How?

1) Ensure minimal physical contact.
If it is true in the physical realm, it will be true in the spiritual realm. So if you do not have feelings for a person but still engage in alot of physical contact (tickling, "smacking each other", etc, etc), it will soon be true in the spiritual realm and soon you will lead the person into having feelings for you.

2) Watch what you say.
Avoid mushy stuff such as "Good nitez, sleep titez, Lollipop Dreamz!" even if it is your trademark good night message. "Lollipop dreamz" for good night is enough if you would like to have a trademark good night message. Don't overdo it, because by doing so, the other person will sub-consciously recieve it as "remember to dream of me!!" or something like that.

3) Watch how much time you are spending with him/her/it.
If you are spending more time with your "best friend" then your boyfriend/girlfriend/itfriend, then something might be wrong. Your "best friend" might draw up certain conclusions that will mislead him. For those who are not attached and are spending more time with your "best friend" than your homework, your grades must be pretty lousy. An average hardworking polytechnic/secondary student spends 20 hours on projects and studies. For JC it should be around 25 hours. So if you're spending more time with him/her/it than your homework, something must be wrong. So for those hardworking people, spend less time with your "best friend". For those lazy people, do your homework!!

And guys (some girls too, but mostly men).. Just be brave, confess it out. Even if your "best friend" does not feel the same towards you, you've let it out of your heart. Then from there, it is easier to decide to continue waiting or to give up, rather then holding on not not deciding on what to do.

Anyway, for those guys who lost hope and strongly believe that "Nice guys finish last", i've got good news for you!!

Why would your ex-best friend choose to stay with her current boyfriends who tortures her and forces her to eat lizards than to be with you; a nice and loving guy who would not even torture a lizard?
She must be BLIND!!! (not literally blind i mean, as in blind in seeing truths)
And do you want to have a BLIND girlfriend like that?
Certaintly not right, so rejoice!!!

It does pay off to be nice. The fact that you did not end up with her was a reward, not a punishment. (only applicable to those who have best friends who are tortured by their boyfriend but do not want to leave them)
For those of you guys who held a torch for your best friend who is a good person but do not feel the same for you, look on the bright side too. At least through this experience, you learn, grow stronger and build a better character. AND, a better character means becoming more attractive too, so rejoice too, haha..

So do not grow weary of doing good today.

This post have certain value in view of eternity and definitely lots of value in view of time (you don't wanna waste your time getting yourself into unwanted crushes)

Ah Beng Musician

2007-01-07T21:41:00.000+08:00

This will be my 1st post whereby i reveal a little of the lame side of me. Lame as in interesting and funny, not acting humorous. Because in the Singapore, people coin almost anything funny as lame. Anyway, like the title of my post, it'll be about "ah bengs". A friendly one though, i won't condemn ah bengs because i would be condemned myself physically(my looks). Anyway, here goes...

Usually, I would help out in children's church busing.
Which means I get on to a bus that the church hired, direct the bus driver to the children's house, pick them up and drop them off in church. But today, it was more interesting.

My bus driver is a "half-ah beng". He speaks & behaves like one to a certain extent, minus away the harsh common vocabulary commonly used by "ah bengs" because of their limited vocabulary (a.k.a vulgarities). Anyway, i managed to talk to him a little, and he dropped me off near my house after the busing because he lives near me. I found out more of his job because he complained and complained about this girl who yada yada yada yoda soda cola mola(etc, etc, etc...). Anyway, the thing that was worth blogging about is about our conversation on one topic.

It started with him asking "Ni3 shi4 christian ah3 ?" (in english: are you a christian)

It was strange that he asked that, because he was driving a bus full of children who are going to church, and I am the Teacher (yes, the children call me Teacher Rickson in church, how cool, haha) on the bus, so usually the bus drivers will assume that the teacher is a Christian from that church. Anyway, i said yes, and asked him why. He chuckled a little and told me he thought that i was not a christian.

So i asked him bluntly, "because i look like an ah beng?" (in chinese, with my fluent ang-moh accent. I dunno why i have this ang moh accent when i speak chinese, but i have a perfect Singaporean accent when it comes to English or Singlish.) He chuckled again & told me that before i board the bus, when he saw me walking towards the bus, he was thinking "Wah seh, don't tell me its this guy leading the bus today".

He told me he thought i was an ah beng who was trying to act classy, because i was carrying a guitar for i had to play for children church later. So judging by my outward appearance, i was a classy ah beng; an Ah Beng Musician. You know, like those Hong Kong classy gangsters.

To the readers out there, if there really is any, you may wonder why do i blog about this. Especially those who have seen me before. Why, because the majority of people who've seen me before thinks that i look like an ah beng. too!!!

Thats so sad lar, because i'm such a good boy(in Singapore standard). i don't smoke, don't take drugs, don't use vulgarities, don't run around naked, don't commit suicide(its a crime to commit suicide in Singapore, and the fact that i didn't commit a crime like that contributes to me not being an ah beng, haha) nor kick my dog. (i only kick my brother's dog, haha.. i mean very softly, think massage, thats the strength that i use.)

Nor do i torture animals. Other than sleeping on my hamster in the past. It escaped from its cage and could not be found. A week after, we found a roti prata version with dried strawberry sauce of my hamster. It was not my fault, really. Anyway, this shows how lazy my maid was, took one week to find the missing roti prata (i doubt she'll get a chance to read this, haha..). Oh btw, i've tried strawberry prata (strawberry sauce on roti prata), its a little too sweet, but its tasty.

The only thing that i did was to dye my hair purple. And after using sunsilk colour lock shampoo, the hues and saturation of my hair was adjusted(photoshop language). Apparently, the shampoo lived up to its name; colour lock shampoo. When i first washed my hair after i highlited it purple, my hair colour locked on to the foam of the shampoo. PURPLE FOAM!!! It was cool... until i went to visit the guy stalks me everywhere, the guy who i see everytime hiding in a reflective surface (my reflection).

Anyway, what i'm trying to say is judging a book by its cover its not a very smart move. You see, i have friends who are quite handsome but are idiots on the inside. On the other hand, i have a few friends who look like idiots BUT are BIGGER IDIOTS inside!! haha.. Sorrie, that was just a joke, i don't judge people as idiots. Back to the book by its cover thingy, because when you judge someone by its cover, you will behave as if the person is who you think he is. You will avoid people who look like Ah Bengs (i've experienced that before), or mayBe look down on people.

So i shall summarize this post. Next time if you see someone who look like an Ah Beng (whether he is carrying a guitar or not, or whether he has faded coloured hair), they might not be Ah Bengs. So stop judging Ah Bengs today! and stop judging people who look like Ah Bengs too, haha..

This blog does not have any worth in view of eternity. In view of time, mayBe a little. But it fulfills the 2nd agenda of my blog, enjoying life on earth =D.

Technical Difficulties

2007-01-06T03:57:00.000+08:00

Btw, i'll design my blog next time, so sorry for the boring layout and deisgn... I'm not really a fan of boring stuff, so you'll see changes soon (i hope).. =D

Animal Planet, National Geographic and Discovery Channel??

2007-01-06T03:54:00.001+08:00

Watch Animal Planet, National Geographic and Discovery Channel!!!
Especially discovery channel, they're airing the best of Discovery 2006.
A MUST SEE program airs on thursdays 9pm on Discovery Channel, i forget what is the title of that show. I think its about some guys trying out all the myths, like whether putting a menthos into a diet coke will cause it to explode and many interesting stuff like that. (channel 8 is coming up with a new program like that too, but i prefer to watch the original and more interestingversion)

Why the sudden interest on this channels? Well, i realised that i could really learn alot from these channels, instead of watching tv dramas, soap operas, sitcoms and cartoons (sorry spongebob). Whats more, you get visuals and audio. Reading the papers is good, you should read it everyday, but what you get from reading "the crash of Flight 93" and watching the documentary film about Flight 93 is totally different. It is not just news, but news with emotions and a certain amount of drama attached to it. You get countles interviews of the victim's family, more details etc, etc.. Plus, it is interesting!! Even if you are just an undisciplined lazy extrovert who hates reading the newspaper. You should really try watching it, its good!!

Anyway, why i decided to substitute watching hours of tv dramas, soap operas, sitcoms and cartoons(sorry Patrick and Squidward) is because i want more knowledge. Yes, i can get them alot through newspapers and stuff, but i can also get knowledge in my slacking time now.

I shall list down some interesting things i came across watching those channels. If you already know these things that i am about to mention, good for you. But if you don't, then enjoy these interesting information!!

Do you know that:

There was actually another plane planned by the terrorists to crash into the whitehouse (i'm not very sure if its the right building) in America on September 11? The passengers in the hijacked planed called home from the plane and were informed that the plane was not in a normal plane hijack, but of a terrorist suicide mission. They fought back with the terrorists and when the plane was just 15 minutes away from the target, the terrorists were forced to crash the plane because the passengers almost broked in to the codpit armed. All the passengers of Flight 93 died as heroes.

400 million people died in airplanes and airports? Either through accidents, hijackers or terrorists.

Coca cola can be used to wash toilet bowls? Becareful of what you drink.

Dogs from K9 units saved about a thousand lives in wars and detecting of bombs?

When USA ended the war with vietnam, they abandoned all the dogs from the K9 unit because the dogs were labelled as "military equipment"?

You can marry your dogs at Japan? Some guy formed his new religion and started a mini church to marry dogs. He is the only high priest in the church.

When you decide to cremate your dog, you can call for a mobile funeral service? You have to pay US$200 though. Some clumsy guy with a dog casket will come to your house, put it in the casket, theb cremate it in his mobile funeral service dog cremating vehicle. Then you get to kneel by the dog's coffin and you all habe to bow down to this picture of a "manga version of Mother Mary holding a newborn puppy in her arms" in respect!!!! Thats super.. erm.. unique... and sorta disgusting too man..

So watch Animal Planet, National Geographic and Discovery Channel today. It definitely has worth in view of time and to an extent, even eternity...

Blogging?

2007-01-06T03:09:00.000+08:00

This is an introduction to the beginning of my blogging experience. (the pros and cons of blogging)

After months of contemplating, i finally decided to start a blog. And when better to do it than on New year's day? Initially, the first thing that comes into my mind when you mention the word blogging, is "a waste of time". I mean i enjoy reading people's blog to an extent, and i know how much people enjoy blogging. But Rickson blogging??? No way!!! I doubt my friends would believe that i'm blogging too.

Because like the title of my blog, i do things "In View of Eternity". What i mean is, that i do not want to waste time on things that do not have any impact nor last. My initial thoughts were that i could use the time that i were to spend on blogging to do other things that are more productive. Things such as working, praying ( i believe alot in prayer, not just believing in my head but also through numerous experiences), doing projects, spending time with my family or even spending time teaching my dog how to do a backflip.

Anyway, you would've guessed, it turned out to be a happy ending - I am now blogging about why i did not want to blog, haha (wooo, the first haha in my new blog). The reason? Because i realised that by blogging has worth in view of eternity.

1st of all, by blogging, i can train my writing (or should i say typing) skills so that i would be better equipped to write (or type) a book in future.

Secondly, by blogging, i can get in touch with myself and spend time with myself. I can discover more about myself and people can also point it out to me through what i blog on. I can also go back to my archive in future and look at my past posts and realise how foolish i was in the past(of course i hope it'll never happen).

Thirdly, because i could get response from blogging, i can learn how people will respond to certain things and thus learn how to relate better.

Fourthly, when we blog, we will feel that people are listening to what we say. Of course it is not as effective as real friends listening to your problems face to face, but in some sense we feel that we are sharing and releasing our problems to our friends when we blog. So you could say blogging can prevent depression to a certain extent (only to a certain extent).

And last of all, unless my account gets hacked or i forgot my blog address or blogger decide to close down or i could no longer access to internet anymore, the things i post will always be there. Thus, i can always go back to the things i've learned in the past; i can remember what i've learned.

There are many more other reasons to why blogging is good. If after reading this post you don't feel convinced to start a new blog or to start posting better stuff on your blogs, there must be something wrong. Because i myself feel so convinced by myself that i should start posting great stuff that could be of value in view of eternity in my blog. (i really managed to convince myself man =D)
So if you really don't feel convicted, you either

1) did not really understand what i mention above,
2) have a terrible psychological problem (anger or depression)
3) think that i'm an idiot
4) you are reading a blog of the wrong language
5) you have a wife (random)

or mayB you're just too busy (which i feel is the best reason to stop someone from blogging).

Anyway, so if you already have a blog, i hope you'll blog well this 2007. Avoid writing stuff like "Today morning, i walk to my kitchen, sit down, and ate breakfast. Then during lunchtime, i ate lunch at my living room table. And during dinner time, i went to eat dinner in the kitchen again!!! Weeee!! Its all so fun, eating at the right time. Then when i go home, it was already night time, time to sleep, and guess what i did??? i went to sleep!!! Woooohoooo!!!"

i mean such boring stuff does not have any value at all in terms of time (not to mention in terms of eternity). So load up great stuff in your blogs today, fun stuff that can stirr up laughter, informative stuff, emotional problems you have, your persoanl revelations and all your great experiences!!

Enjoy life on earth, but don't waste it.