Tattoo thoughts...

I've been entertaining thoughts of getting a tattoo recently. Again. The last time was a few months ago; I think maybe nov, dec and jan. It was actually a colleague who got me interested when she showed me her new tattoo. We had planned to get one together but the plan just never took off.

Anyway, what triggered my latest mania? Hmmm...I'm not quite sure... Oh yeah, the other day, I was at Mid Valley and I saw someone who had a fresh tattoo on his arm! Yup, i think it was that, which triggered my sudden interest. An interest short of an obsession, i must say! I am thinking of getting either a moon angel with an inscription that says: love, peace and joy in sanskrit or two dolphins around the yin and yang symbol

I'm still trying to see the pros and cons of getting the tattoo:

PRO: It looks good
CON: It becomes not so nice when you're older

PRO: It's pretty cool
CON: It may stretch and sag later on

PRO: It's the IN thing now
CON: May not be the in thing when you're an old crone

PRO: It contains meaningful message
CON: The needle may be infected...(god, what an awful thought!)

PRO: You can show off to friends
CON: If it turns out ugly, you'll have to live with it forever!

PRO: But, it looks goooood!
CON: Is that the only argument you can make?

PRO: It's pretty?
CON: I give up! You're delusional, obsessive and compulsive. And...You're not
thinking rationally.

PRO: I am too! Thinking rationally, that is.
CON: Yeah? Why do you want a tattoo?

PRO: (uncertain)...It looks good?
CON: I rest my case.


Hmmm...I think I'll just...see where the wind takes me. If I am meant to have a tattoo, the wind will take me there. As it always has.

Here are some tattoo ideas:

Who I Am - Part 1

I AM:
Just another soul fleeting on earth
Aiming for the light at the end of the tunnel
Still holding on to dreams that may never be
Yet hoping they will come true never-endingly

A mass of emotions warring for release
Nary a moment not seeking for peace
Taciturn and wary of strangers and friends
Hiding behind a mask of indifference

Realising too late of what may have been,
I am who I am but just another soul fleeting on earth
~Jay Ann~

Value of a smile, laughter

"Laugh when trouble comes your way. Nothing conquers calamity better than that." -Kural 621

People often underestimate the value of a smile, laughter. But somehow at the back of my mind, my conscience knows its healing powers, the strength that laughter lends when you're down, and how a smile could just make your day!



Here's something I found from an article by Chuck Gallozzi:

Benefits of Laughter

1. When you make fun of yourself, you disempower those who would make fun of you and disarm possible confrontations.

2. Laughter dissolves tension, stress, anxiety, irritation, anger, grief, and depression. Like crying, laughter lowers inhibitions, allowing the release of pent-up emotions. After a hearty bout of laughter, you will experience a sense of well-being. Simply put, he who laughs, lasts. After all, if you can laugh at it, you can live with it. Remember, a person without a sense of humor is like a car without shock absorbers.

3. Medical researches have found that laughter boosts the immune system. The study of how behavior and the brain affect the immune system is called psychoneuroimmunology. Though still in its infancy, this science is rapidly gaining much attention as mankind strives to understand the mind-body relationship.

4. Laughter reduces pain by releasing endorphins that are more potent than equivalent amounts of morphine.

5. Humor helps integrate both hemispheres of our brain, for the left hemisphere is used to decipher the verbal content of a joke while the right hemisphere interprets whether it is funny or not.

6. Laughter adds spice to life; it is to life what salt is to a hard-boiled egg.

7. Develop your sense of humor and you will find you are more productive, a better communicator, and a superior team player.

8. Everyone loves someone who can make them laugh. The more you share your sense of humor, the more friends you will have.

9. Humor brings the balance we need to get through the turbulence of life comfortably.

10. Laughter is even equivalent to a small amount of exercise. It massages all the organs of the body, according to Dr. James Walsh.

11. A sense of humor can help you accept the inevitable, rise to any challenge, handle the unexpected with ease, and come out of any difficulty smiling.

People whom I meet regularly often wonder why I'm always smiling. Honestly? I don't think I smile enough or laugh enough. And in this day and time, not many people do either. I like to smile and laugh at the most silliest and senseless things...but some people find me queer because of that.

For me...Smiling is my armour. Smiling hides my sadness. Smiling overcomes my embarrassment. Smiling helps me cope with life's uncertainties. Sometimes when you are in a rage, and something really funny happens that makes you want to smile or laugh, you'll discover that you anger has vanished. That's the kind of power a smile, laughter has. It instantaneous and highly effective.

Yet, smiling is subjective. It depends on whether or not you let it heal you. All you have to do is allow it to happen! Always keep an open mind, open heart and the willingness to stretch that facial muscle of yours and indulge in a hearty laughter. Laughter is infectious, after all!

"If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane." - Jimmy Buffett

Cheating consequence!

I keep a collection of jokes and other interesting written materials that I've come across over the years from various sources; books, magazines, the net and others. The collection of jokes ranges from randy jokes to sarcastic humour to plain cheekiness. Well, here's one:

A lady walks into a drug store and tells the pharmacist that she needs cyanide.

The pharmacist said, "Why in the world do you need cyanide?" The lady then explained that she needed it to poison her husband.

The pharmacist's eyes got big, and he said, "Lord have mercy, I can't give you cyanide to kill your husband! That's against the law! I'll lose my license, they'll throw both of us in jail and all kinds of bad things will happen! NO! Absolutely not-- NO, you can NOT have any cyanide!"

The lady reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of her husband in bed with the pharmacist's wife.

The pharmacist looked at the picture and replied, "Well now, you didn't tell me you had a *prescription* ..."


.......grin-grin.......

Zodiac

These links give a pretty accurate reading on your zodiac...Enjoy!

The Zodiac is made up of 12 different sun signs. Your date of birth determines which one you are. Click your sign below for complete detailed information on your sign:

• Aries - Mar 21 - Apr 20


• Taurus - Apr 21 - May 21


• Gemini - May 22 - June 21


• Cancer - June 22 - July 22


• Leo - July 23 -Augt 23


• Virgo - Augt 22 - Sept 22


• Libra - Sept 24 - Oct 23


• Scorpio - Oct 24 - Nov 22


• Sagittarius - Nov 23 - Dec 21


• Capricorn - Dec 22 - Jan 20


• Aquarius - Jan 21 - Feb 19


• Pisces - Feb 20- Mar 20

Frustations Appeased

Found this somewhere, somtime ago...(sometimes it's just so tempting to say some of these to certain people). But look at the bright side, you can always say it in your mind! ;-D

1) Obviously you’re unable to assimilate my stimulating concepts into your blighted and simplistic world-view.

2) I don’t know what your problem is, but I’ll bet it’s hard to pronounce.

3) Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.

4) I can see your point but I still think you’re full of it.

5) I like you. You remind me when I was young and stupid.

6) What am I? Flypaper for freaks!

7) I’m not being rude. You’re just insignificant.

8) I’ll give you a nice, shiny quarter if you’ll go away.

9) I’m already visualising the duct tape over your mouth.

10) I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you.

11) It’s a thankless job, but I’ve got a lot of karma to burn off.

12) Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.

13) How about never? Is never good for you?

14) I’m really easy to get along with once you people learn to worship me.

15) You sound reasonable. It must be time to up my medication.

16) You’re just jealous because the little voices talk to ME.

17) I’ll try being nicer if you’ll try being smarter.

18) I’m out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message…

19) I don’t work here. I’m a consultant.

20) Who me? I just wander from room to room.

*grins*

Era of Madness...

This is my letter to all those people who are married to their jobs:

Dear World,

Why are people so caught up in their careers in this era? Why is it that they are willing to slave away hour(s) after hour(s) in their office? What do they wish to gain? Material wealth? Recognition? Accumulating wealth for children/ family, whom they have no time to spend with? What IS IT????

I see people everyday and meet people everywhere i go...and most of them have one thing in common: Slaving over work until the wee hours. They are so committed, it would seem that work IS their life. What about the more important things in life? The REAL things. Things that matter! I can think of only one MOST important thing in a person's life: FAMILY! Career comes later...it is secondary, it is essential but not absolute. We work to live not live to work! But somehow, I feel that people are living up to the latter decree rather than the former.

They don't seem to realise that at the end of the day...it's family that counts. There are people out there who slog all their lives for their boss' company only to wake up and find themselves kicked out. Then there are bosses who enslave others for their own prosperity with little regard that those 'slaves' are human too. There are also those bosses and employees alike, who are totally buried in their jobs that they expect no less from others. These are the ones who will never realise the value of family and love until the last moment...when it is all just too late.

Somehow people are under a delusion that material wealth will ensure the happiness of their family. Yeah, sure money can buy a lot of things...make that a WHOLE lot of things BUT still it cannot buy what really matters. And if you don't know what really matters then...(I weep for you).


I see people shackled to their job and it scares me to think that one day maybe i'll be among them. Perhaps because I'm at the adolescent stage in the working world, that i can 'see' more clearly what others do not see before them. They are too steeped in this, this fever...or plague...or disease that seems to have made them prisoners. Prisoners who are totally unaware of their predicament and captor. It is all just so sad.

Have you really thought what happens when you finally have all the money and recognition that you've always coveted but no one to share it with. No one knows what's gonna happen tomorrow. Your family and everyone you've cared for and loved can all disappear in the blink of an eye. Think about it! The question is: IS IT ALL WORTH IT? Is it worth it when you've lost your family? Is it worth it to have lost the chance to be a part of your children's childhood? Is it worth it to have lost the chance to spend quality time with your parents in their old age and family? Is it worth it when your children don't know you well enough to love you?

Someone once told me that he had to bribe his children with money and chocolates just to hear them say, "I love you, dad". He was always too busy going on overseas trips and barely sees his children. Sad to say, even now he barely has the time to spend with his children. And now, they have all grown up, he still has to bribe them.

It wouldn't be long before they 'bribe' the old folks home to look after you. It wouldn't be long before you never see your parents again. It wouldn't be long before your wife and children give up on you. And it wouldn't take long for the wealth that you've spent years collecting deplete before your eyes.

Finally, I see you standing alone, lonely and disheartened, regret and defeat etched on your face. And probably this is only the beginning of a lonely, sorrowful life into your final years on earth.

You can change this ending because it's all in your hands! Change it before it's too late.

Weeping Heart

Sunset & Sea

Sunset and Sea...a combination that i find simply irresistible! The sea has a strange pull (for me at least). Somehow I find the large column of water very...calming, soothing and i could just sit at the beach...forever.

I took these pictures at a beach (in Sepang) right here in Malaysia:




At a different angle (notice the small boat right under the sun:



As the sun disappears behind the clouds and beyond...



These pictures manage to capture the fading sun but not the ambience, not the feeling you get when you're right there staring the sun in the eye (i know it's not good for our eyes *tongue out*, *smile*). I closed my eyes and felt the fading sun as well as the cool, salty breeze on my face and the wind whispering in my ears, when i stood at the beach that day.

Brangelina...

I found this on YouTube when i was looking for Bryan Adams' songs (i loovvve his voice btw)...



I thought they looked good together, but then again i also thought Reese Witherspoon-Ryan Phillippe looked like an ideal couple as did bruce-demi, tom-nicole, and meg-dennis. Hopefully, their union lasts longer than the 7-13 years marriage that the ones i mentioned had. Of course, 7-10 years of marriage is considerably pretty long in the Hollywood standards. Nevertheless having an ideal opinion that marriages should last forever, makes me hope that "Brangelina" will stick it through.

As I listened to Bryan Adams' deep, gorgeous (if that's the right word to describe his voice - the only other word i can think of is sexy) voice, i was watching the video. It was a collage of brangelina pictures...some were of them looking at each other, and others were of brad looking at jolie or jolie-looking at brad when the other isn't paying attention. I thought it was kind of sweet and sooo awwwwww! But, then again what do I know! People fall in and out of love at the drop of a hat these days. It was probably because the Bryan Adams' song.

"Have You Ever Loved A Woman" by Bryan Adams. Sung for the movie "Don Juan DeMarco". If ever there was a song as deeply sensual...with words designed to woo and seduce women...this is IT!. But that's just MY opinion! Enjoy listening to it.

Cat-Attacked!

I was involved in a catfight on Wednesday. Yup, in a catfight...Only, when I say catfight, I mean it literally!

There I was taking my little doggie for his ritual walk around the apartment compound and suddenly I heard this hissing-screech behind me. Just as I turned I saw a bob-cat launch itself at Ossie, trying to claw at him.

As I was holding Ossie on a leash, he couldn't really run far. The only option (apparently my dog thought so) was to circle my feet. Get the image of me caught between a frantic dog and the cat-from-hell. I tried to shoo the cat away and simultaneously tried to separate my little doggie away from the sharp claws of the vicious-mad cat by picking him up.

The end results when I finally managed to lift up my little doggie:

1) Scratches on both MY legs.
2) A hysterical dog in my arms.
3) A still screeching cat within two feet from me.

Thankfully, the cat retreated and I walked away with my little doggie. Oscar's thick coat of fur must have protected him from the scratches because HE didn't seem to worse for wear. In fact, when we got home, he was very nonchalant and cool. Darn it! But it was HIM the cat attacked and ME who got the worst hit. *miffed*

Caption: My pet rascal Oscar, always under the delusion that he is one macho dog.

And people THINK taking a pet for a walk was harmless and no trouble. Well think again!

Delightful words!

I've always been amazed by adopted words. The delightful thing about such words is the humour in saying them (especially when pronounced deliberately wrong) or the association with some similar phonetics and images. The following ones are quite funny when seen under the 'humourous' light:

hors d'oevre ("or duhrv"), which means delicacy - horse devoured.

annus mirabilis ("anus muhrabuhlis"), which means a wonderful year - anal ikan bilis??

coup de grace ("koo de grahss"), which means finishing blow - chickens in disgrace?

cri de coeur ("kree' de kur"), which means heartfelt appeal - can i answer that with cuckoo-raa-koo?

in loco parentis ("in loh'koh pa-rentiss"), which means in the place of a parent - yup, them craaazzy parents!

deus ex machina ("day'us ex mahkuh-nuh"), which means a contrived device to resolve a situation - sound more like 'the sex machine'? Say it slowly and you'll see what i mean.

doppelganger ("doppul-gang-ur"), which means a ghostly double of a living person - dope-algae angel...whatever does that mean?

feinschmecker ("fine-sh-meker), which means gourmet - a fine schmuck!

gourmet ("gur-me"), which means gastronome - somehow it always sounds like...door mat!

mano a mano ("mahno ah mahno") means directly or face-to-face confrontation - i get the image of two bulls facing each other with their nostrils flaring.

Well, that's all for now!