A contemplation for New Year

The beginning of the year is always a good time to reflect and ponder things. Here's an interesting piece below:

The Paradox of Our Time in History

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete…

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember, to say, “I love you” to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

George Carlin

Read more...

Toshi's wrap up of year 2008

From my personal point of view, 2008 is mostly an unproductive and bittersweet year.

Unproductive, because I don't attend college (yet).

Bittersweet, because the acridity and the pleasantness intermittently come and feature themselves for most part of the year.

But I've decided not to dwell to much on the negatives.

Because this has been the year when I came to learn new things and wisdom which could prove quite handy in my latter part of life.

The best part of it?

Let's see, here are the main highlights of 2008:

1. Going to Menado and Sangihe

This was a spiritually life-changing experience for me. From 6 to 27 March 2008, I could see for myself my (paternal) ancestral homeland and what it looks like at the borders of Indonesia's north.

2. Foreign Prophecies goes famous

For the first three months of 2008, my blog gets featured and commented most and was quite widely (albeit sparsely) discussed in the Indonesian blogosphere.

This blog entered Patung's IndonesiaMatters rank right from the beginning of February and has been climbing up the ladders ever since.

Read more...

Indo-lyric: Melupakanmu (Jikustik)

English translation:

Forget you

now I could prove
I could find you
though it takes a long time to wait
every shards of memories
I hold firmly on my hands
shaded from rain and storm

Reff:
till this day
I've never thought
of forgetting you
in my heart
I don't wanna
forget you
forget you

Look at the night stars
that have been a life companion
while looking in this long wait

repeat Reff 2x

Original lyric in Indonesian:

akhirnya ku buktikan
dirimu bisa kutemukan
walau mencari menunggu lama
setiap keping kenangan
kusimpan erat di genggaman
terlindung dari badai dan hujan

Reff:
sampai saat ini
tak pernah terpikir
melupakanmu
di dalam hatiku
ku tak pernah mau
melupakanmu
melupakanmu

pandang lah malam bintang
menjadi teman perjalanan
saat mencari menunggu lama

ulangi Reff 2x

Read more...

on Pencil case and washing the dishes

I always wonder why is "pencil case" called a "pencil case". I mean, that rectangular container does not necessarily keep only pencils, right?

The same thing goes for the phrase "washing the dishes". When one is asked to "wash the dishes", does it mean that you only clean up the plate and ignore the cups, glasses, or other cutlery?

If you think that this is merely a buffoonery in English language, then think again. When translated to Indonesian language, "pencil case" becomes "kotak pensil" and "washing the dishes" becomes "cuci piring" which remains faithful to its original English rendering.

Read more...

Nothing is for certain except death

The following text is originally lifted from the trivia section of The Jakarta Post dated Saturday, 3 May 2008.

~Compiled from various sources~

  • The Mount of Olives in Israel is the oldest, continually used cemetery in the world.
  • By law, all executed criminals in the U.S. have to have an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
  • A body decomposes four times faster in water than on land.
  • If you are planning on being cryogenically frozen, the ideal time to start the procedure is within 10 minutes of death.
  • The first recorded means of execution is stoning. It was usually a public participation sport, and it was considered bad form to hit the victim in the head. The preferred method was to keep the victim conscious and suffering for as long as possible from internal injuries and broken bones.
  • Dr. Joseph Guillotin did not invent the guillotine; he just persuaded officials to use it as a means of executions because of its speed and efficiency. It is a myth that he died by the device.
  • Murderers, on average, are 7.5 years younger than their victims.
  • The Vietnam Memorial has the names of 38 people engraved on it who are listed as killed, but weren't.
  • Extreme cold is more lethal to humans than extreme heat. Cold makes you sleepy, and when you fall asleep, you die.
  • Funeral directors in Florida gets 500 frequent flyer miles for every corpse they ship out of Daytona Beach International Airport.
  • Japanese factory worker Kenji Urada became the first known fatality "caused by robot" in July 1981, in a car plant.
  • The death of George V was timed so it would make the morning papers.
  • In the "old days", men and women used a Laff Riot of deadly substances for cosmetics, which would often lead to their insanity and death. Lead was used for that pale white skin in the form of Lead white and Venetian Ceruse, which was absorbed into the skin, into the tissues and blood and caused acute lead poisoning. Mercury, in the form of mercury sublimate or "Solman's Water" was used to remove warts and bleach freckles. Belladonna, a fatally toxic hallucinogen, was used to redden cheeks and lips.
  • It is said that most people who commit suicide "arrange" it so the people/person they want to "punish" or gave a final "I told you so" find the body.
  • The most common animal people on their death beds or in death hallucinations/visions report seeing is a grey or black dog.
  • More men than women commit suicide over love affairs gone wrong.
  • In the 20 years of the Great California Gold Rush (1849), about 300,000 died from disease and 362 were killed by Indians.
  • When Anne Boleyn was beheaded, so was her dog, Urian.
  • It is estimated that in one hour, Genghis Khan's army killed 1,748,000 people. Each of his men was ordered to kill as many people as they could until they dropped down from exhaustion, and bring the ears of the victims to the officers for proof.
  • Union General John Sedgewick was killed during the Battle of Spotsylvania on 9 May 1864 while sitting on his horse and making the comment that the confederate troops were so inept that they "couldn't hit an elephant from this dis...". Those were his last words.

Read more...

  © Blogger template Shush by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009

Back to TOP