Torn Apart: A True Story of A Lost Childhood by James Patterson & Hal Friedman

I've just finished this book. It's a true story of how a boy by the name of Cory coped and overcame a little known and understood condition called Tourette's syndrome.

a happier me :)

I came across this article entitled Loving your Day Job and Your Life by Summer Pierre . Many of us are unhappy in our day jobs. What can we possibly do to make our jobs a happier occcurence in our lives?

Summer Pierre, suggests avoiding office gossip like the plague as it can be draining --- how very true. As much as it may be a way to create intimacy with the others at work, it also can drag you down as there is absolutely nothing that you can do about it, so why indulge in gossip in the first place?

This is something that I absolutely MUST work on as I have a hard time trying to distance myself away from people at work who come to me with office gossip. I really MUST leave work as soon as I am finished with my last class of the day. To hell with office gossip!! All it does is generate negative vibes.

She also says that we need to figure out what abundance means for us. I totally agree with this.

Many people associate abundance with money but is it really all about money or could abundance be interpreted on other terms? How do you define 'abundance'?

For me, it is the level of sanity that I can have in a day. The ability to have 'me time' to do the things that I love (for me that means being able to read books... and lots of it!!!). Of lately, that would also mean being able to have time to workout and not feel sooo knackered at the end of the workday that I feel like not working out at all.

early morning walks

I'm proud of myself --- I've been working out first thing in the morning after I wake up. I've been doing it for four straight days. It makes the long weekend holidays worthwhile :)

I wonder if I would be able to keep it up during the weekdays...

Lion Dance

I was in Mid Valley earlier today and saw the acrobatic lion dance. It was amazing.

It certainly has been a long time since I last saw a lion dance. The precision and coordination of the lion dancers as they performed the acrobats on the stilts was simply awesome!

The dancers really made it  look as if the lion was alive and had a personality of its own. It looked around at the crowd, blinked its eyes and shook its behind --- it was sooo cute!!!

perceptions

Strange things are happening at work. I have to look for another job. I don't like how the current place is run. I don't agree with the management's decision. They make some pretty strange decisions. 

Students have successfully removed one teacher. They seem to play favourites. You are not valued for your knowledge and what you can bring to the table. You are valued for making the students happy (never mind if all that you do is talk the whole time and no real learning takes place). 

Students seem to think that talking to a native speaker will make their speech better. Thing is, native speakers are unable to detect and correct inaccuracies in students' languages but they speak with the right accent and that is all that matters.

I doubt if the students can tell the difference between a trained teacher and an untrained one, but that is all unimportant. All that matters to them is that the teacher sounds the part.

Many of them tell me that they want to live in an inner circle country. They have no idea that inner circle countries are not interested in taking in Middle Easterners.    

the monsoon

There was drama at work. The teacher who was told that her services were no longer needed threw a fit in the teachers' room.

She was annoyed (and who could blame her for feeling that way) and probably hurt too. She has been teaching for over 30 years and this has never happened to her before. She was close to tears when I arrived at the scene. It was ackward --- I didn't know what to do. I walked in, saw the scene going on and slowly turned the other way around and left the room.

I think the students just have absolutely NO idea what they are turning away. They say that her classes are boring... but don't you learn even from boring classes??? Thing is, teacher is in her 70's and you don't expect someone that age to break into a song and dance in her classroom. She was trained in the day and age when you don't have fun in the classroom but does that make her a bad teacher by today's standards???

Should this be even allowed?

Should students be allowed to dictate which teachers should be teaching them? Should students be allowed to have a say in the termination of a teacher's services?

The students where I work have ganged up and decided that they didn't like their teacher. Over the span of just two days, they have managed to pressure the manager to terminate their teacher. On what grounds, you ask? Her crime? Her lessons were boring. Is that enough grounds for terminating a teacher?

It's bad karma and I certainly hope that what goes around comes back and hits them in their faces. There is a God out there.

footsie spa

i bought a pumice stone and foot scrub and treated feet to some pampering.  i should do this more often. bliss :)

my completed reads

I finished reading Busy Woman Seeks Wife last month and Before I Knew Him last week.

the story: the beginning

here are the characters:
siamese cat
pillsbury
material girl
runaway
scientist
craftsman
servant
peter pan
hunk

Strange sayings in the nite

Pillsbury has been saying some pretty strange things to Craftsman. There is great likelihood that Pillsbury says these things to Craftsman with the intention that Craftsman will convey the message to the commoners. These revelations are normally conveyed to Craftsman at night. Unknown to Pillsbury, Craftsman has no intentions of becoming the messenger.

The Royal court incapable of appreciating a good piece of art

The Royalty wasn't impressed with Peter Pan. It isn't Peter Pan's fault. The Royalty (as is often the case) just doesn't know how to appreciate a good artist.

Pillsbury thinks that the solution is to present the Royalty with a bouquet of lilies. Pillsbury thinks that lilies will make his shop smell good. Never mind that the lilies aren't qualified in the required area and don't know the technicalities that come with the art, nor do they know the lines to the script.

He thinks that the Royalty will be in awe of lilies which they could very well be but it isn't ethical to present someone who has no technical skills and expect the Royal family to be acquire some skills in the art of Kama Sutra in return.