Ventricular ectopics

Adrenaline-induced ventricular ectopics.


Public domain

Damn uncomfortable feeling.

I need a break from everything.

Girls (and boys) just wanna have fun

My mother says, "When you gonna live your life right?"
Oh, mother, dear,
We're not the fortunate ones,
And girls,
They wanna have fun.

Someone passed me the YouTube link to a song from not-so-long ago.

As a pimply boy, I got teased quite a lot for listening to Cyndi Lauper's songs. Punk had arrived in Singapore a few years before. It was also the era of flashy clothes and Centrepoint Kids. Going to a "good" school, it wasn't easy being different from others, especially if that difference was perceived with a negative tint.


Photo: www.cyndilauper.com

I had an oppressive childhood and that is the main contributing factor to my liking for anything anti-establishment. The question that's constantly in my mind is, "Why can't you leave me alone to do my things?"

And I must add that the best thing that happened to me is being married to Wifey. I can get away with a lot of things with her. Heck, I even envision Faith dressing up like Cyndi Lauper when she grows up. Now THAT would be interesting...

Feeling airheaded

Source: www.apple.com

I want!

The passing of a legend

Sir Edmund Hillary
20 July 1919 - 11 January 2008

Farewell to a Beekeeper, Mountaineer and Sherpa Friend

My inner Nineveh

You know you are working too hard when you have no other aspirations except to see the day through.

No wonder everyone's bereft of a soul that dreams.


Source: The Project Gutenberg

Where there is no vision, the people perish

What is my dream?

Western rubble = Eastern treasure

"Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten!"
"No one has the intention to erect a wall!"

-Walter Ulbricht, leader of East Germany
June 15, 1961
Two months before construction of the Berlin Wall

So 1984-ville has decided to install a piece of the Berlin Wall in one of its parks. It wasn't that long ago that Communism in Eastern Europe came to an end, along with it the Cold War and oppression of the common man. The Berlin Wall became a symbol of this oppression.

Erected in August 1961 by the East German communist government, under pressure from the Soviet Union, to stem the tide of defectors crossing into West Germany, it came to signify the attempt by rulers to control the ruled, keeping freedom out and forming the fences of a literal and figurative prison. An explicit shoot-to-kill policy was adopted by the East German government on anyone trying to flee westward and about 200 East Germans are known to have died for a chance at freedom.



A piece of history? Maybe. But art? Blood was shed over it. It is a symbol of how badly human beings treat one another. Communism as a political system might be in disfavour now but the threats to freedom remain. When you see kids skateboard past the wall, tell them about the blood and tears that used to bathe it.

Lest we forget.

Every morning

O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days

-The Bible

It's been a long while since I woke up glad. I think not since school days. The turning point came when I was conscripted into the army. It was dreadful with each waking and the shadow of it, together with the subsequent years in the hospitals have never really disappeared.

Help me be glad with my days.


Photo credit: www.the-wallpaper.net

Crisis point

Spent most of last night's sleeping hours fretting about career directions in 2008. Having a family to support limits the options available. Irregular paycheck but exciting stuff? Probably not.

Had a minor epiphany when looking back at my working life. You know how some people put more energy into a second career (hobby?) than their day jobs? I'm exactly like that. Somehow, an after-hours job generates more passion. Maybe I'm highly unsuited for a regular 9-to-5 life. Unfortunately the pay from such work sucks, big time. It wasn't that much of a problem living as a bachelor. Perhaps this is what they mean by family life.


Photo credit: www.collider.com

We will see how things unfold in 2008. I'm keeping my cards close this time.

The first day of the year

New Year's Day and we have to deal with two fussy kids. I wonder how the rest of the year will turn out as Faith goes through a year of change. It will be a sore test of my patience. I wonder how Wifey and I will handle the demands of parenthood.

On the bright side, I am looking for another job this year. Somewhere that pays less but definitely less stressful.

I wonder how will I feel in 365 days' time?

Only God knows.