Meteor Melinda

"I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out
in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me
in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time."
- Jack London

I read this quote and somehow my thoughts went off at a tangent to those brain-dead patients who are being kept alive by machines.

What's the point in living if you're being kept alive by a machine? What is so alive about that?

That's why I'm a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) proponent and I am definitely against the use of any machinery to keep me alive. At my age, I don't believe in prolonging the agony for myself and my loved ones. I also don't believe my loved ones should be wasting all that money that would be better channeled to those who are living. If it's God's will that I should live then I shall live, with or without the machine.

After all as Christians, what is there to fear about death?

Having said that, and in case you think I'm getting morbid, let me end with:

Dum loquimur, fugerit invida
Aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

- Horace, in Odes Book I

which translates as:

While we're talking, envious time is fleeing: seize the day, put no trust in the future.

Yes, let's seize the day, and live! And when it's time to go, let's go!

Kazoom! I'm a meteor.

The Wonder of Picnik!

For those of us who are not Photoshop savvy let me introduce you to a fantastic web-site that allows you to fix your photos.

Let me give you an example. Here's the original photo.

Saya besar macam gajah!

Here's the photo after I (ahem!) fixed it with Picnik.

Still besar macam gajah but look so much better, yes?

The wonder of Picnik is that it sooo easy to use. No techie speak to decipher. Only sliders to slide this way and that until you get the effect you want.

Summore FREE! Unless you want to upload 100 photos at a time and use more effects in which case you pay USD 24.95 a year.

Try it. You'll love it.

Haha, that makes me sound like a Picnik promoter but I'm not. I'm just a deliriously happy user.

Do You Know... (2)

...that the car owner loses his NCB when he makes a police report if the accident involves a motor-cyclist?

Here's how I found out this little snippet of information.

A few months ago my colleague met with an accident. A motor-cyclist who was weaving in and out of traffic hit the side window of her car. At that time she was waiting for the traffic lights to change so her car was stationary. Nevertheless, due to the impact the motor-cyclist flew and was almost run over by another on-coming car.

My colleague made a police report because there were three parties involved and the motor-cyclist was hurt. She then paid a few hundred ringgit to replace the side window (Honda spare parts are very pricey) because she did not want to lose her NCB. After all she was not in the wrong, right? Wrong!

Later, to her horror, she discovered that her NCB was canceled simply because the accident involved a motor-cyclist. It doesn't matter whether who is right or wrong. Once a police report is made and a motor-cyclist is involved the car owner loses his or her NCB. That is so unfair!

So if you're driving a car it is advisable for you to give all motor-cyclists a wide berth and pray that they don't come too near to you.

It Is Possible

It is possible for you to be much used of God as an instrument in His hand, and yet never know the fellowship of His heart.
It is possible for you to do much splendid work for God, and leave behind a record of flaming zeal, and yet in the crumble of His analysis there may be but a trace of love or holiness.
It is possible for you to be a master workman in His temple, and yet never know what it is to dwell with Him in the secret place of the Most High.
It is possible for you to make a great stir in your religious zeal and your busy, bustling work, and yet you be a mere imitation and an empty counterfeit.

- A. B. Simpson

When all is said and done, the greatest tragedy is to have God say, "I do not you."

Badminton Is A Bloody Sport!

Don't believe me? Here's the proof.

The result of a shuttle attack!

But then I have always been and still am super clumsy and accident-prone when it comes to games and sports.

Let me give you one example. Back in the days when I was in college we had to take up a sport. Since I am not a sporty person I opted for table-tennis thinking that it was a very "safe" sport. Mana tau my partner slapped me with the ping-pong bat! My tears shot out like projectiles and I literally saw stars. It was exactly like what the cartoons depict when someone get hit on the head.

After that bad encounter I decided to take up athletics instead. I mean, what can possibly go wrong with running round the field, right? Well, as trainee teachers and members of the athletic society, we were assigned to assist in the state level inter-school sports and I made history. For the first time in the history of the sports event an official, which is yours truly, fainted on the field.

I tell you, sports and I go together like oil and water.

Do You Know...

...what these symbols mean?




I have seen these symbols before but I didn't know what they meant and I didn't bother to find out either. Maybe I'm a laggard where this is concern but I was only enlightened last week so this bit of info is for people like me.

12M means you must use the contents of the tube within 12 months and 24M means you must use the contents of the jar within a 24-month period. It's as simple as that! I felt kinda stupid not having come to such a conclusion on my own but I cannot know everything, right?

It seems the contents will only be effective or remain fresh for that number of months from the time you open the jar or tube or what ever.

So check all your tubes, jars and bottles for that symbol. If it shows 12M and you are still using it after one year, you have to seriouly consider whether it is doing you more damage than good. Throw it away!

A Wife's Age

This is the reason why some wives age before their time while some wives remain forever young.

Pretty Present

Received a present from my sister last Sunday. She always buys me stuff that I like but consider too frivolous to spend hard-earned money on.

Something pretty. Something I like but would not have bought.

Thanks for pampering me. I feel loved.

Rasa Unmasked

Lillian invited me for Rasa Unmasked by Sutra Foundation last Wednesday. I have heard much and have skimmed through some newspaper articles about Ramli Ibrahim, our very own Malaysian dance icon, but have never attended any of his concerts. Since there was no prayer meeting on, it being the third Wednesday of the month, and it's a complimentary ticket, why not?

Ticket to Rasa Unmasked

To be honest, we were prepared to have the performance go over our heads but there were parts which we really enjoyed. To our uninitiated eyes it appeared to be a a hotch-potch of Indian, Balinese and modern contemporary dance forms.

Cannot take photos so here's what was produced in the programme

The parts where the lady lamented on and on were super boring since we did not understand Indian, that is assuming it's one of the Indian dialects she is singing in. However, I really have to commend them for strong core muscles. Being able to keep one's balance standing on one leg whilst turning and doing stuff with the rest of the body is no mean feat.

Very Balinese

Being the typical kiam siap Penangite we refused to pay RM10 for the programme and were a bit - actually a lot - lost during the performance.

The programme we were too kiam siap to buy

We interpreted the performance as some karma rebirth story but it's actually about creation, the maya of existence and human emotions or rasa being interpreted through dance.

I found out all that when I finally laid hands on a copy of the programme which they were giving away FOC at the end of the evening. See, kiam siap-ness does pay off in the end.

This page would have helped make sense
of what was happening on stage

Clothes For Health

The other day hubby and I were at our favourite Malay tomyam stall for lunch. There were a number of Malay ladies there and all of them were obese. Hubby looked at them and commented that their clothes (baju kurung) were so shapeless that it was no wonder that they allowed themselves to get fat. They could get away with it!

Actually his observation is so true. Shapeless or loose clothes allow us to cover up our unsightly bulges so we happily pile on the weight and all the while we are endangering our health. But when you put on a pretty dress that shows off a less-than-perfect figure that'll trigger off alarm bells that, hey, you're on the slippery slope to obesity. The last straw that'll break a fully padded back is when someone asks you, "Are you pregnant?" That's when you know you're out of control.

So ladies, let's invest in some nice form fitting clothes - for our health's sake if not for vanity's sake! Haha!

But having said all that, exercising is easier said then done which is why most of us resort to the big cover up and let things slide. Sigh.

Not-So-Good Friday

Yesterday the day started off well. I read through Matthew chapters 26 and 27 in the morning and was humbled once again by what the Lord had done for me. I felt waves after waves of His love sweeping over and enveloping me. My heart just overflowed with love and gratitude for Him.

That was the pinnacle of my day. From then onwards it deteriorated.

We had material deadlines which we could not meet due to our client's sudden obsession for the nitty-gritty. We were asked to double the font size for the toll-free number which we did. When the artwork was submitted she claimed that it wasn't doubled.

We were baffled because we did double the point size so we asked her how she came to that conclusion. Believe it or not, she printed out the copy and measured the increase in size with a ruler!

The customer is always right so the ding-donging process for approval dragged on and on while we pleaded for extension after extension of the deadline. If deadlines are actually deadlines we would have died a number of times yesterday.

But you know what, His love carried me through. I thank God for drenching me in His love so I could face the day. It's still a Good Friday after all.

Raining Cats and Dogs

It was raining cats and dogs, rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses every evening for the past week or two.

On Tuesday evening the front porch of our office leaked. Rain was pouring down like there was no awning there.

The contractor came to fix the problem and, could you believe it, it didn't rain at all the next evening and we were so hoping that we could check whether the contractor did a good job.

See, I tell you. God has a sense of humour.

This photo was taken by me

This photo was taken by darling hubby.
Same camera, different photographer and the photo looks better.
Can even see the drops of water!

The whole porch was wet through

I Have Visitors

The sole purpose of this blog is for me to post some random thoughts. I did not expect people to visit then tiba tiba I had two comments over the past two days!

Thank you, thank you for visiting.

Now I have to be more careful di. Cannot simply say things that may come back and haunt me in the future!

God's Sense of Humour

God has a sense of humour. He can even use a joke shared from the pulpit to minister healing. That was what He did yesterday.

Pastor John Kirby shared this quip during his first sermon as the Interim Pastor for TOP's English section yesterday. I am not quoting it verbatim because I am terrible at quoting people word for word but it goes something like this:

"People who give you a piece of their mind can give away so much that they have nothing left!"

Haha. You'll never know how much of a comfort that was after a week of rude, crude, unreasonable and irrational verbal bashing.

Stressed to the Max

My stress meter registered 10 over the past 10 days.

On the work front there were so many things to rush out within a short space of time and having an impatient, stressed out client barking away at us did not help the least bit.

The church is in transition and again there are so many things to attend to. Letters to write and so many emails and sms-es to send out in order to keep everyone informed.

I find that in times like this it is the simple, foundational truths of our faith that can provide a stabilizing factor to undergird us and to keep us sane through all the upheaval.

• God is who He says He is.
• God can do what He says He can do.
• I am who God says I am.
• I can do all things through Christ.
• God's Word is alive and active in me.

I taught these facilitating a video Bible Study by Beth Moore. I never expected them to be my life line.

I survived. God is good.