The Eternal Ramblings of a Conflicting Mind

一顿可爱的晚餐, 一种自我的享受. 一场可怜的工作, 换取優游的樂趣. 一杯美麗的紅酒, 喝出別种心情. 我今天 一個人... [21 Nov 2009, Ho Chi Minh (Saigon)]

...this is too good not to share. This will only makes sense if you know Jack Nicholson’s speech from the movie “A Few Good Men”. If you don’t know the movie then it will be meaningless. For those who live and breathe “sales”, this is for you … Sales: "You want answers?" Finance: "I think we are entitled to them!" Sales: "You want answers?!" Finance: "I want the truth!" Sales: "You can't handle the truth!!!" Sales (continuing): "Son, we live in a world that requires revenue. And that revenue must b e brought in by people with elite skills. Who's going to find it? You? You, Mr. Operations? We have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You scoff at sales division and you curse our lucrative incentives. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what we know: that while the cost of business results are excessive, it drives in revenue. And my very existence, while grotesque and incomprehe

無意中發現了《伶歌》這張唱片，一聼之下，竟叫我無比驚嘆。只能說，“好！” 京劇的唱腔，傳統配樂，加上現代科技錄音、製作。真的讓人無法控制地跟著哼起來。 與有心人一起分享其中最棒的一曲： 《將進酒》 (click here to listen) （這是是我在李白衆多詩詞之中，最喜歡的。喜歡其豪、爽、利、勁。） 君不见黄河之水天上来，奔流到海不复回。 君 不见高堂明镜悲白发，朝如青丝暮成雪。 人生得意须尽欢，莫使金樽空对月。 天生我材必有用，千金散尽还复来。 烹羊宰牛且为乐，会须一饮三百杯。 岑夫子、丹丘 生：将进酒，杯莫停。 与君歌一曲，请君为我倾耳听。 钟鼓馔玉何足贵，但愿长醉不复醒。 古来圣贤皆寂寞，惟有饮者留其名。 陈王昔时宴平乐，斗酒十千恣欢谑。 主人何为言少钱，径须沽取对君酌。 五花马，千金裘，呼儿将出换美酒，与尔同销万古愁。

It was in my plan to catch the exhibition all along. But there were always things going on and I had pushed it back several times. Yesterday, I managed to see it, finally. I planned to do a one-hour tour. It would have been just right, if not for the fact that I was confronted with a horde of noisy students as I entered the hall. Just my luck. It took a full 15 minutes before the teenagers shipped out. The general feel I gathered of the whole set up was not excellent, but it was alright. Although I strove hard to see a coherent theme or structure for the various 'rooms', it was hard to understand the curator's motivations and objectives. I do not claim to be knowledgeable in modern art, but the least I can do is to have a general feel and appreciation of certain types of installation and sculpture. There is one piece of work which provoked an unexpected reaction on my part. It was the installation piece "Flanders Field" by Berlinde de Bruyckere. The anti-war them

這個scene我常畫。也不知道爲什麽，就覺得每次畫完后的心情、感覺，都不一樣。組圖很standard:就是一片水，兩座山，一個太陽（有時像夕陽，有時像朝陽。） 怎樣？還行嗎？

There are moments when I question my existence. As if I don't feel that I'm quite real. But fact is, I am. And I've been around for a while now. I can't imagine the resources I must have consumed to get from infant to adulthood. Okay, that's another discussion for another day. Found some old photos and thought I'll put them up for laughs. (Guess what... I think I prefer the me , NOW...) "Now" is so much better, ain't it?

I'm not so much a believer of astrology. But I do find some elements of the 'study' rather interesting. And for the life of me, I don't understand what's been going on in the month of July. Reading the monthly forecast on one of the few astrology website that I've been following, I found out about the major solar eclipse happening on 21 July. According to the forecast, it was going to be an eventful day, where effects of the eclipse will lend a long and heavy hand to the rest of my 10 years of life. And what a load of cr*p. July had proven itself to be the worst month of the year for me. I suffered much in ill health, and even more in work life. Never had such pent up anger in me for a long, long time. It was one of those pet peaves of mine: I can tolerate arrogance (if the person had the intelligence or the cleverness to be arrogant), I can stand sly (if the person had the skills to be a consumate wheeler dealer). I simply cannot endure stupidity , especiall

I often wonder what it'd be like working for nobody. By that, of course I meant working still, but not as an employee. Be your own boss, so as to speak. A friend of mine told me off the other day: "you complain so much about your bosses. Be your own boss first, and then comment la." He does have a point. Never done that before. My rants have always been about unfair treatment . Of course, this is entirely by my own subjective perspective. Hell, it is something to consider, isn't it?

It's extraordinary... I had hoped I would not be ranting for a long time. But here it is again. Disappointment is a strange thing. You'd think that because you have worked with fair-minded and rational people for 6 months, you will continue to enjoy that same level of respect and understanding. But things sometimes do not go according to one's wishes nor intentions. Disappointment drops by for a visit once again. It's official ... It still is and will continue to be a boys' club. Really doesn't matter even if one of the principles is female. If camaraderie exists, I believe it exists in the male species, exclusively.

Oh yes. I went to Mass yesterday. Strange it had none of the strangeness I had anticipated. It felt familiar, even divine. Waking early has its advantages: I had the whole morning to read to my hearts content. I shall do this again coming Sunday. Hopefully the Boss will be happy I do.

Some days are just not so good days. Today is probably one. Today, a tortured genius died. One cannot deny the fact that he is an eccentric individual as much as you deny that he is one of last century's icon. Michael Jackson's music meant something to me. As an individual, I feel his pain as a misunderstood individual. And that's probably how I feel right now. It is one of those days I will remember for a long time because I had my bouts of self-doubt, at same time that the world mourns (and some will gloat) the death of the most iconic pop culture genius of our time.

Yesterday, I had an unfortunate encounter with someone who really got on my nerves and very nearly pushed me to anger. The man had displayed a total lack of common sense that I could not feel any kindness to him. After the encounter, I had to remind myself to take a deep breath and move on with the rest of my evening. "We are above such petty nonsense," we must tell ourselves.

Funny how the "Big Guy" works. I was stuck in a sudden downpour at lunch in Phuket. I would have missed my flight if the rain did not stop in the next 10 minutes. As I was sipping on my Coke, I thought it might be a good time to have a conversation with Him. (Incidentally, Siew and I were talking about religion as we were sipping away on tom yam.) So, I spoke to Him first: Hey, say, pops. I really need to catch that flight. Can you stop the rain if I lit a candle for the Mum tonight? (Hmm... it looked like the rain drops turned a wee bit lighter.) And again: How about if I went to Mass this Sunday? Please, pretty please? (Ahah! It seems to have turned from a downpour to an every-day tropical rain.) At this point It felt like one of those pricing negotiations in my software sales days: Okay. Here's the deal. I'll read 5 books from the OT.... (Turning to a trickle now... wow...) And... : And I'll throw in St John??!!?? (And suddenly, I had my very own parting-of-the

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Having procrastinated for the longest time, I have finally gotten off my butt to start a blog... in my professional capacity. Strange to see how I have more to ramble about in my chosen field of 'expertise' than my personal life. I am such a bore.