On Facebook

I am finally on Facebook.

After resisting it for so long...

Why the change of heart? I realised that quite a few of my colleagues were on Facebook, quite some friends as well. One of the reasons I didn't join Facebook was because my sister wasn't on Facebook, and she told me that I can't be more tech savvy than her. But with everyone else on Facebook, I guess it is only a matter of time before the wave caught me.

You can find me here.

我是真的真的愿意 by 小松小柏

我是真的真的愿意

如果云彩上有不雕零的花，我愿攀上天梯采下，放在你脚旁
伴随着你，用心期待，等你弯腰亲吻着它
如果山顶上有不褪色的虹，我愿谱上绚丽音符，藏在我心中
默默为你，附上新诗，直到你能为它歌唱
我是真的真的愿意，生生和世世只因为爱你
你是否愿意为我守候，让未来的路以永恒为期盼

如果山顶上有不褪色的虹，我愿谱上绚丽音符，藏在我心中
默默为你，附上新诗，直到你能为它歌唱
我是真的真的愿意，生生和世世只因为爱你
你是否愿意为我守候，让未来的路以永恒为期盼

我是真的真的愿意，生生和世世只因为爱你
你是否愿意为我守候，让未来的路以永恒为期盼

(I can't find this on Youtube, so just the lyrics. Recommended by a friend of mine.)

Another collision

Just when you thought things have quieten down for the JMSDF, they decided to get themselves into the news again.

Japanese destroyer tried to stop before collision: defense chief

Not a good thing, too many collisions in too short a timespan.

In collisions at sea, the naval vessel usually comes out the loser. Because you would think that a warship, tasked with shooting the enemy, would have better sense that to get itself into navigational problems. It is hard to shoot the enemy if you can't even navigate safely.

"The mark of a great shiphandler is never getting into situations that require great shiphandling." - Ernest J. King

Other sea service quotes can be found here.

Carrying a notebook

To most of your, carrying a notebook around probably makes you think about carrying a portable computer around. After all, unlike the good old days, when portable computers cost a bomb and weighed like one, the netbooks available nowadays are small and cheap as well.

But no, I am not talking about computers here, I am talking about the paper kind of notebooks.

I used to carry a notebook wherever I went. I would jot down thought, phrases that came to mind. I would then use these to expand on for prose and short writings. The recent spate of works were results of my notebooks.

But I haven't been doing that for a while.

Then an established writer, You Jin, mentioned in a recent newspaper article that she always carries her notebooks with her wherever she goes. It reminded me of my past practice, and I have once again decided to stick with it.

A notebook allows you to capture your thoughts before your forget them. They serve as ideas or references for future expansion, even if eventually you choose not to work on them. The ideas noted down can be built on, expanded, combined with other thoughts/ideas. Or left alone. But if you don't capture them down in a notebook when you can, you will end up losing them. Because too many things race through our minds each day, it is just impossible for us to remember each and every thought/idea.

Calligraphy piece - 精湛 exhibition prep

While in Japan, I spent some time working on my calligraphy piece, which is going to be part of an exhibition organised by 温知会 from 30 Oct to 3 Nov. The final products are below.
One of them will used for the exhibition, depending on my teacher's decision. A vast improvement from the drafts so far.

At Le Soleil

We visited a place called Le Soleil while in Japan. It was a farm theme park, where children get to see flowers, farm animals, even ride on ponies and milk goats. But, it happened to be raining on the day we went, and all the animals went indoors and there wasn't much we could do.

The baby, though, managed to see some goats, and even got a chance to feel a guinea pig. Guess it wasn't a totally wasted trip after all.

Time for change... not

In a previous post about the recent change in the ruling party of Japan, I mentioned that it is unlikely that there will be many significant changes.

The new ruling party promised to end the refueling mission of the JMSDF in the Indian Ocean. And it seemed that, contrary to my belief, they were really going to make good that promise.

Until today.

Kitazawa considers refueling support for antipiracy mission off Somalia

Guess they have decided to end the refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support of the US's war on terror, only to continue it somewhere else (off Somalia) for a different purpose (war against piracy). But they are still going to deploy the JMSDF overseas in support of an international operation.

I wonder how long it will be before the Japanese people get tired of this playing with words.

I know not what is in store

I know not what is in store,
I think back at what was before.
Hating myself, yet without means,
Helpless I am, endless spins.
Only in my dreams I see you,
How I wish sunrise is never due.

(Written on 7 Dec 1998.)

My Sister's Keeper (film)

I caught this movie on the plane. What struck me was the plot. Biologically engineering a child so that parts of her can be donated to help her sister. She was not conceived by accident. Nor was she artificially conceived by childless parents wanting a child. She was artificially conceived to fulfill a purpose in life, that of prolonging the life of her sister.

Anna was raised to help Kate.

To Anna, what was her meaning in life? Her parents have made her meaning in life to be helping Kate.

When Kate dies, what happens to Anna? That is something the movie does not explore. Now that Anna has lost her original meaning for being, how is she is find a new meaning to her life?

(The book has a different ending, with Anna dying and Kate living. Guess that resolves the issue of having to explore what happens to Anna if Kate dies.)

温知会

The calligraphy society that I belong to is known as 温知会 (On-chi-kai). It comes from the Chinese idiom, 温故知新, which means to revise what you already know in order to learn something new.

I think this concept is really important. We need to constantly reviewed what we know, because as we grow in knowledge and experience, we may gain new understanding. We will look at things in different ways and thus even the same event that happened before, will mean something different to us now. This applies not just to calligraphy or taiji, but to all learning processes.

The moment we stop reviewing our past knowledge, we have shut off an invaluable teacher, ourselves.

Making decisions

We all have to make decisions. Some big, some small. We have to decide whether to get out of bed or sleep another 5 minutes. We have to decide whether to wait another minute or dash across the street. We have to decide if we take a risk and invest in a small Internet startup or put our money on established blue chip firms. We have to decide if someone is the one we want to spend the rest of our lives with.

We all will hesitate once in a while, but at the end of the day, things only move when someone makes a decision, even if the decision is a decision not to do anything. It is indecision that we should fear. If we do not decide, we may end up late for work. If we do not decide, then we may miss the bus. If we do not decide, we may miss the chance to make a killing on the stock market. If we do not decide, we may end up losing our partner for life. There are no right or wrong decisions, only good or bad ones.

So decide. Make a choice. Even if the choice is not to choose. Then live by your decisions. Because you made them, and they were the best decisions you could have made at any given time, with your given knowledge and experience.

Be content?

There are people who say that we should never grow contented with what we have. I think being contented with what we have is very important to being happy. Rather than saying that we should never grow contented, we should do our best and then be contented with what we reap. Things can always be better if you put in more effort, but that is when you need to strike a balance. What is it that you want, what is it that your treasure?

I want to live in a world of peace

I want to live,
In a world of peace,
One where people see,
Not just you and me,
But what is inside,
This material shell of mine,
A world where people care,
Not for just you and me,
But for the world itself,
For that cat by the street,
The dog half-dead,
A grizzly wandering,
That gorilla without a home,
For that tree decaying,
That forest being cut.
A world where you and I,
Can live on and pass on,
To sons and daughters,
For future humankind.

I will always be there

Don't worry, I will always be there,
Beside you, anytime, anywhere.
When things look rough,
When times are tough,
Look beside you and you will find,
That I am there, just behind.
Ready to help you whenever I can,
To give you support in all your attempts.
Always there, never far away,
For, away from you I do not stray.
I will stand by you in all that you do,
Lending my hand whenever you need.
So when you need that extra hand,
Do not forget you have this friend.

Shooting star

So swift, so fast,
Not more than a moment did you last,
Little more than a small dot of light,
Yet in the dark you seemed so bright.
Flashing across the sky,
The brightness died even as you fly,
Little more than a single streak,
Yet a sight seeming all too quick.