In-or-out of the box

Mathematics is getting more and more complex and difficult. It pressurizes and plagues most students all time. Most students are usually very tense and stressful during lecture time. So, the lecturer made a joke in afternoon lecture yesterday. Here it is:



Almost every student laughed at it. I bet you find it very funny unless you have heard that kind of jokes before. The joke is simple and amusing. It took a while for hundreds of students to stop laughing at it.

Meanwhile, I asked my friend a stupid question. I said, “Why are we laughing at it? (^^)” He said, “(@_@) My God! That is a funny joke (:D)”. Well, of course I know that is a joke. You may wonder why I asked that stupid question then. We laughed because we know it is mathematics.

Let me clarify my statement. We laughed at it because we know it is a mathematical joke in the first place. We know what mathematics is, how it looks like, what dy/dx stands for, and what we are supposed to answer to that question. We look at it from the mathematical point of view. What if you show that joke to someone who knows nothing about mathematics and is confused mathematic with someone’s name? Would he possible laugh at that joke? I guarantee you, hell NO! He might even says, “Correct lah (:P)! There you see (pointing at dy/dx in question)”.

Our mind categorizes things we see based on our knowledge and images captured. If we see something that looks like a bird, we automatically think it is a bird. If we see something we are unfamiliar with at night, it must be a ghost. I know it is kind of lame but it’s the truth. The mind sees what it chooses to see. Our mind is framed up to narrow down into a certain way of thinking when we see something. In a way, we can’t normally think out of the box. What we have learnt in life make us to be able to realize or comprehend things faster. That is why smartest are the dumbest sometimes. Their brain is too quick in categorizing things. It is just too fast in getting into the box. It is a draw back of knowing too much. (A good reason not to learn :P)

One of my Poly lecturers told the class a story once. I don’t remember who and when he did. It is a true story though. I would like to share the story because it is about smart people who can’t think of out of the box at the right moment and a normal guy who saved smart asses.

A group of professional engineers were in dilemma. They were assigned to build a lift in a hotel to facilitate the guests’ access. To build a lift, it is required to drill big holes on ever floor. No guest likes to stay in a hotel where is rackety and messy. More importantly, they need to shut down the hotel for a certain period due to construction. Shutting down the hotel is the last thing hotel owners want to do. It would certainly affect the business highly. At the same time, the hotel is in a desperate need of a lift. The engineers were discussing over and running out of ideas.

Lucky, there was a cleaner who was washing the floor nearby. When he heard the discussion over, he said, “ You know what! If I were u, I would build the lift outside the hotel”. *CLING*

That is what happened when you cannot think things in a simple way. This is what happened when you are too smart. This is what happened when you cannot think out of the box.

Anyway, this is just my opinion though.

Ciao.

Goodchild.

Holiday Bug

There is something called “balance” in life. Every little thing has its draw back. There is always a “but” after something nice is said. Good news always comes with bad ones. It is always the way it is. It is the beauty of living.

Time is a short immortal. Six weeks of holidays had gone. I did nothing special in those days, not even something that would possibly bring me up to better level. Well, holiday is meant to be holiday. So, I should not really mind how those days were spent. Let bygones be bygones. And now, school day is back.

But…but I am still infected by holiday bug. That is when a “but” comes in, a draw back. My biological clock is corrupted. Not being able to sleep is bad enough. Not wanting to sleep is surely worse than anything else. That is why I am blogging now, a good way of living through a sleepless night. I definitely do not want to miss a very first lecture of a new semester. If I do, it is a bad omen. Lucky, class starts at 1:00pm on Monday in my new timetable. It is a bit relief. Isn’t it?

School day is back. It is time to fight and to be serious. The night is almost over but not quite. Now what?

Goodchild.

Last minute of 2008

A bottle of Tequila and shockingly deep belly buttons?
Nah.

Come on, who could possibly be that damn lucky while counting down the last 10 seconds of 2008? Well, who knows? Lucky few would have a chance to kiss their loves after watching fabulous bursting of fire works. At least, most people are fortunate enough to shout “Happy New Year!!!” to their friends or other faces nearby after counting. But when it comes to me, it was never that awfully simple. It left me a tall tale to tell.

Two bottles of Scotch, Chivas Regal, were a good kick for us to stand all night long on rough sands with bare feet. It was almost 11:00pm when cabs got Vivo. Hundreds of people were queuing at the escalator just to get on the third floor. All of them were pathetically desperate to get on it. The queue was unnecessarily long. Let me rephrase that. That was damn ridiculously long, the longest queue I have ever seen in this island republic. Some people even ended up in a fight. Lifts and escalators were shut down as a consequence of hunger. People are ready to eat each other to survive.

It was already 11:30pm when LRT stopped by at Beach Station. The party was at 20 minutes walking-distance away from the station and no one would be expecting that there would be another long queue waiting ahead for them. Queue, queue, queue and queue again. Why the hell did everyone end up in queuing? What is wrong with their goddamn management plan? I bet no one likes to pay 35 bucks to spend New Year Night in queuing. Not one bit, especially when among those wet and sweaty Indian guys who enjoyed too much in pushing around and staring at fair chicks who were unfortunately stuck near them in the crowd. No manner at all. That is gross and wildly inappropriate. That is totally absurd.

I know our minds tend to exaggerate others’ flaws, but that was a harsh truth going on down there. And the worst part of it is that I was standing just right among those bloody people when fire works burst up perfectly and redden the smoky sky. Unlucky two of my friends were also standing next to me right there and getting pushed. Thank God! I got a chance to say “Happy New Year!” to their faces at the right moment at least. Lucky me! By the time all of us met on the beach, both fire works and crazy high-pitch voices are already gone. What else could possibly worse than that in New Year?

Anyway, we had fun and danced 5 hours straight till exhausted at last. It has been 3 years I never went out in New Year Night. I was in a shower when last seconds of 2007 were being counted and just about to be 2008. For this time, I was among those sweaty guys. At next twelve months time, where would I possibly be?

Anyway ..

Happy New Year! Everybody. Have fun in 2009. :)

Goodchild.

That sucks.

I think I did something wrong. No no, Put it this way. I screwed up too much lately. Let me rephrase that. I have made the biggest mistake in my life. It is by far the most regrettable act I have ever done since my first day of aging. I may perhaps comfort myself by throwing excuse like ‘it is normal for someone to face that kind of problem. It is just something “forgivable.”’ But I know myself well enough that I hate these kinds of self-soothing excuses, accompanied by a perfect word in a pair of sarcastic quotation marks.

A couple of months ago, I read a book namely “One more day”, written by Mitch Albom. Don’t get me wrong here. My act has nothing to do with that book. I just want to talk about something from it. There is something intriguing asked on its first page or may be even on its cover, if I am not wrong. Since I posses that book no longer, there is a high uncertainty in my assurance. So, here it is:

“If you had a chance, just one chance, to go back and fix what you have done wrong in life, would you take it?”

It is a very generous and irresistible offer. Isn’t it? How many of people over 100 you think will simply say “Yes” to that question? Would it be 80 or 90? Make it even 95 or more than that. Every single one will take that kind of chance without hesitation. But I don't think I will. Let me clarify about my opinion. I am saying this not because I know for damn sure that no chance like this would be given in reality, in life, but because I think that those mistakes make us who we are today at best or at worst. Everything happens for a reason. Agree? ☺ Whatever doesn’t kill us simply make us stronger.

However, we love to talk about rewinding time. I bet everyone loves to do so although it is sadly out of our capability, especially when we lose someone we can’t replace or we did something wrong which we can’t make it up to. Sometimes, the consequences are just too much burden to bear with. It is like the world is on your shoulders. Everyone is leaning on you. Sometimes, it feels like the world is almost over when everything is fairly paid. Well, I guess the night is dark just before the dawn.

There is a sucker born every minute. Sadly, I am.

P.S. Merry Christmas Everyone! :)

Goodchild.

Fool enough?

...

There is a time when a man needs to fight.

And there is a time when he needs to accept that his destiny's lost.

The ship has sailed and that only a fool will continue. The truth is I've always been a fool.

From "Big Fish".

Goodchild.

Movie Freak

“It’s difficult to understand the sum of a person’s life.

Some people will tell you it’s measured by the ones left behind.

Some believe it can be measured in faith.

Some say by love.

Other folks say life has no meaning at all.”

Morgan Freeman

If you have seen the movie “The Bucket List”, you will be familiar with that phrase. It begins at the end. It seems strange to start a movie with the end. But all endings are beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time.

Do you already think by now this fella is already on the wrong track? No, no, no. Don’t run away. Stay with me. I will not talk about movies. I will not talk about how awesome they are and why they deserve five stars. I will not talk about how they dazzle you and why you like to borrow perceptions from them. I don’t usually talk about things that you already realized or noticed. I don’t usually do the questions that you already know the answers.

I just want to talk about how I feel...Yeah, how I feel about them, the flawless movies which deeply interest me, and how dare they influence me. I want to tell you how much I internalize their opinions. I know what you are thinking. This bloke is a freak. Particularly a movie freak. Particularly a movie freak who enjoys movies alone. It is shame in blood but I admit that I am. I’m a movie freak. If I find them to my liking, I will simply just internalize and adopt their perspectives as my own. I can watch a movie a thousand times over that I profoundly fixate. I still enjoy watching it in the last time as same as I did in the first time. I prefer to watch a movie that totally dazzled me and took my breath away along with its cast at the end than a new one which I am not very sure myself to find it to my liking. As a direct consequence I end up watching my favorites again and again, and over and over.

F.Y.I, I mostly watch drama. Not Korean or Japanese Love drama. Love, Love, Love... You know what… they just can’t simply burst out from the cocoon. In a matter of fact, they are unconsciously rated by the amount of tears shed away. The more tears streaming down, the more thumb-ups awarded in return. They just soothe weak souls for God’s sake. Rooms are full with softness. Trust me your soul will simply burnout and turn into ashes if you internalize them enough. That is totally absurd. Damn! I’m already pessimistic enough and digressing from my topic. Alright, I’ll just let it go.

Anyway, where was I? Ahh.. favourite movie part, alright. Let me tell you what happened when I tried to introduce my very dramatic drama to others. A few months ago, I had visitors at my house. I tried to entertain them in an act of hospitality. So I showed them my favourite drama namely “Big Fish”. It is about a father who loves to tell stories in a slightly exaggerated manner but they really happened throughout his life. Basically, when he starts to tell a story, time rewinds and shows the moments. In a way, the story line is not thrilling, no bandits robbing Swiss bank, no gun powder or no assassination at all. So what happened is that they simply get bored in very first twenty minutes while I was enjoying my fifth time of watching. It is obviously too far from them finding it to their liking. I was shocked and speechless.

Well, my bad of keenness to introduce those stuffs to them badly. But, what I want to confront is that this move is about a man’s life. It serves much higher purposes than those plane-hijacked movies. Our life is also a movie which is written, directed and acted by ourselves solely. It is like watching other man’s life in 90 mins. How could they easily get bored? Alright, never mind. Put it this way. Most people just want to be entertained. As long as they are amused in 90 mins of watching a rolling tape, just be it 1 or 5 stars. If not, the movie is deliberately wasting their time. Ain't I right?

So, what about you, fella? Do u also watch a movie for the sake of being entertained? If so, pass up my following favourite movies;

1. Big Fish
   
2. The Shawshank Redemption
3. The Pianist
4. The Bucket List
5. Schlinder’s List
6. Sleuth
7. Dead Poet Society
8. Into the wild

I’ll let notify you some more if I found new favourite ones. But not going to be very soon, as I told you the guy like me keeps watching his most liked movies a thousand times over.

GoodChild.

Flair

Everybody should have one talent. What is Urs?

Nobody should have more than one talent. If you do, trust me you are lying or you don’t know what your talent is. The only talent I have right now is for cashing my allowance. What am I? A joker? Nope, that’s the truth, a harsh one. I don’t think I have a proper one like other does. Perhaps I haven’t found something at which I am truly good at yet. Who knows?

So of course, I wonder where my talent lies. It came to me in an epiphany. "Eihh, I was not that bad at drawing. If I would have cultivated it, it might have turned out to be my talent. Damn! I should have fostered it. Shouldn’t I?" So I bought a sketch book and some pencils as if mine has something to do with drawing. It is difficult to take up drawing again at my age. Particularly for the guy like me who has never made any pictures since I was twelve.

Why at that particular age? Alright. I can still recall me of myself fantasizing over and sketching a small village for Chris’ sake. I drew it not because I wanted to but because my stupid little cousin-sister was crying over me to get one of those. The drawing was certainly very much less magnificent than my imagination. Anyway after that I don’t even remember if I had made another successful attempt at sketching a single proper drawing again. But, now is what really matters right? So, I sharpened my three new pencils and let them accompanied by an eraser. The bad thing is that they are still there, simply lying on my sketch book without having touched or moved or used at all. Well, but not anymore, folk, not anymore. By the time being, I might have used one of my sketch-paper at least. Perhaps I might have already found the answer.

Everybody should have one talent. What is Urs? :)

Goodchild.