International Blog Day 2011

I have decided to participate in the International Blog Day for 2011 Celebration.
This event is sponsored by NuffNang, a Blog Advertising community viewed by 8 million people around the world daily.
The mechanics are simple enough to participate in. International Blog Day 2011

"On Blog Day, bloggers will post a recommendation of 6 new blogs, and this way, everyone will find themselves discovering new, previously unknown blogs thanks to the viral effect of social media."

As a token of my appreciation to my fellow Bloggers, I have taken the liberty of recommending six (6) Blogs that I follow and enjoy reading, constantly for different reasons. Each Blog I chose is distinctly different and unique. 
There are other great Blogs that I follow that I have grown most fond of, mainly for the intimacy of what is shared and the candour of the Blog author. Albeit some of them maybe a bit too personal and private that I would rather not dare cross the boundaries of what their preferences are, without seeking their permission to be subject to global scrutiny.
So I chose carefully, and safe, with what can be classified as Rated GP. General Patronage.


First, The Colour of Our Skin, Marie Harmony.  A great woman from Dublin, Ireland.  Her heart reaches out through her words as she shares her life's journey in varying roles that we, as women take on.  She is awesome and inspiring and never fails to grip your soul. Marie also has a Photo-Journal Blog and a Poetry Blog.


Second, My Inner Chick, Kim.  Kim is a woman Blogger with clear sense of purpose.  She breathes and lives for a Cause. Paramount among her causes is a personal experience when her entire family suffered the loss of her sister, murdered by her husband.  Classic victim of wife battery and abuse.  She is also a mother, a cook, a daughter and owns a lot of funny bones in her body.  Perhaps she will strike you as a Fashion Blogger.  But she is way beyond that.


Third, My Milk Toof, Inhae Renee Lee is young lady artist of Korean descent who studied in California Institute of the Arts and Ecole' Nationale Superiuere des Beaux-Arts in Paris whose talent and gift just blows me away.  She is a resident of Berkeley, and has also authored several children's books. If you check out her site, I promise, you will be in love with the two teef.


Fourth, The Book of Drachma, Tim.  Well if you have not chanced upon this writer/Blogger, then you are missing a lot!  He is a medical physician from Oklahoma and is a couple of moons away from publishing his novel, The Book of Drachma. You will be completely immersed in this medical fantasy and I dare you resist the urge of buying his book once it hits the book stores.  I am in an enviable position to have read the original manuscripts!  He hosts two Blogs, one of which is a Photography Journal.


Fifth, Hyperthetically, Leroy, is from Denver and contrary to his belief, is a real-life genius!  He is a computer artist, a scientist, a creative thinker, among others, but above all, a very great writer and poet.  He hosts three (3) Blogs, the other two are called Amorphous Trapezoid and Games Conceived.  I may have failed to mention, he also dabbles in inventing games. He would have made the perfect partner to Einstein had they been born on the same period.


Sixth, Hill Blocks View, Flip.  He may sound completely demented but he is absolutely hilarious! He writes with a punch and guarantees to give you a belly ache or gas when you read his posts. In real life, Flip would probably blow up your water pipes if you intend to tap his services and you live somewhere in New Mexico.


I could go on and on, but I was asked to choose only six.  I would have loved to include several more but since most of them have an Adult Warning, I decided to follow the popular rules, rather than my customary non-conformist and deviant behaviour.
I sincerely hope you guys get the international accolade you all deserve!  Cheers!

SECOND WIND

I have had a couple of weeks feeling down in the dumps.  I am never good in handling "losses."  I can say honestly I am working on that ability.  Now, I'd like to draw from what has commonly been referred to by athletes as their "second wind."


No, I am not really referring to that burst of adrenalin after 16 rounds of tequila shots (albeit I use this all the time when having fun-times in a Club), nor am I referring to your breathing straightening out in a marathon, just when you thought you are about to collapse. Mainly, it is rediscovering a new energy and enthusiasm to overcome my "blues."

Humour always saves me.  That endearing and inexplicable cognitive behaviour of man to laugh at his own misery and mishaps or even others.  Or just about anything that crosses over from hilarious to completely ridiculous and foolish.  My Dad always used to say, laughter is the best form of medicine.  
So let's look at these recent STATISTICAL SURVEY RESULTS a great buddy of mine sent to me. I call him "Yoda Master" as he loves to say, "Do or Do Not, There is no try." I smiled when I read it and to all those who need a smile, try this on for size.

TASTE LIKE CHICKEN SURVEY

COMPUTER TROUBLE SHOOTING SURVEY

USEFULNESS OF YOUR FINGERS DURING TRAFFIC SURVEY

 BEATLES SONG LYRICS SURVEY

WHAT I LEARNED IN CSI SURVEY

PEOPLE WHO FIND YOU ON FACEBOOK SURVEY

EASIEST TO SLEEP SURVEY

WHAT YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU HEAR A CAR ALARM SURVEY

YMCA SONG LYRICS SURVEY

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN YOUR PRESTIGE AND TIME

“It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves seriously.”

OSCAR WILDE

Today, I Thought About Gandhi

There are few people in this world that need no introduction.  Mahatma Gandhi is one of them.  There are days when I feel like I have slept too long and yet there's this "giant mush" I feel in my heart and things just don't seem to be coloured in the right hues I want them to be.
I remembered one of his famous quotes: 

"If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide."

Nah ...I love myself too much to inflict self-harm, albeit I do hold an impressive level of tolerance for physical pain, I don't believe in short cuts. It is just that I am feeling rather "off" from my rhythm and and "roughly right" in terms of my inner harmony.  

Most times when I am feeling these disconnects, I take to painting.  After a few attempts and I couldn't get the right colours I wanted, I decided to surf the net.  I chanced upon a couple of good picks.

The first one about Rowan Atkinson, ("Mr. Bean"), having been in a very recent car crash.  The chap is more than famous worldwide, he is absolutely rich.  This is his second major auto accident.   He was driving a Mclaren Formula 1.  Yeah it is one of those cheap cars that you buy for a small amount like 2 million euro.  The news said, "he is shaken, not stirred" and has walked out of the hospital with a broken shoulder bone.  Other than that, it's the car that was totally wrecked. It's funny how funny people survive situations that any one would consider a major tragedy.

Along with this find, I found yet another treasure. Most of my older followers would know that I am a self-confessed Coehlo stalker. Coehlo had posted a link on his Blog that leads his readers to "Gandhi's Top 10 Fundamentals for Changing the World."

Well I don't know why the world fixates itself on Top 10's. To an average, attention-deficit person like I am, I saw the list and I realized that there is absolutely no way an individual can progress to Numbers 4, 5, 6 to 10, if the person fails to master the Top 3. I would much rather talk about the first 3.

The Top 3 Fundamentals of the the Top 10 Fundamentals of Gandhi.

First: Change yourself. 

You think this is easy, try it! 

"You must be the change you want to see in this world." How do you really re-invent yourself?  How do you really change the way you think about things?  People are stubborn. We all are. I know I am. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." How many people do you know would admit that we all need a few fixings and tweaking here and there in terms of mindset?  How many times have you honestly accepted that you are wrong to think, feel and act that way? 

I keep trying this but I keep reverting back to my "comfort zone." Its always so much easier to hide behind the excuse, "Well that's how I believe things should be and that's that." It is so easy to do this, I change everyday but then again I am completely wrong, I guess.

Second: You are in control.

"Nobody can hurt me without my permission."

I read and re-read this.  Have I been hurting for all the wrong reasons?

This tenet so closely reminds me of Covey's 7 Basic habits of Highly Effective People.  He said, "Be proactive."  Choose what matters to you and do not attribute anyone else the "power" to influence your thoughts, emotions and reactions.

So I start my day with a mantra, "You go girl, you are totally in control!" Whilst humming and singing to my favourite tune on the car radio, some jack-ass cuts me and I curse him to high heavens.  There goes my being "in control" and I get to the rest of my drive road-raging.

Third: Forgive and let it go.

Fine, so who do I forgive if I have killed 'em all? Right, I am just kidding.

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."

I always subscribed to the opposite of this principle.  To kick-ass and fight back takes courage, only to be told by a really wise man (albeit dead), that the ability to forgive is an indicator of strength. The inability to forgive keeps you in bondage, which arguably, is true.  I reckon the most pathetic part is being unable to forgive and the other party has completely forgotten what it was all about.  That just sucks.  

I do subscribe that negativity breeds more negativity, and wallowing in past hurts, failures and pain would never get me anywhere.

Great! My epiphany: I just need to master Number 2, so I can handle Number 3. And in order for me to be able to embrace the principle of Being in Control, I need to change Myself. 

I stopped at the Top 3. Perhaps someday, when I have the moral ascendancy to proceed to Number 4 of the Top 10 Fundamentals, I am worthy to Blog about it.

Repost: Choosing The Path Of Least Resistance

Choosing The Path of Least Resistance

I am reposting (click link please^) the third Post I made in February 2011, (back in the days when my Blog was called Coffee and Smokes Chat), mainly because I am deeply moved by a comment left by a person who chose to remain Anonymous. 

His comment was Dated 1 August 2011.

This is what he said: 

Anonymous said...

My wife is dying.

July 18, we celebrated 22 years together. She is 46 and, if the doctors are right, will never be 47. Cervical cancer that moved to her lungs. I say this because I want you to know how important your post here is. I see her in your words. Our life has not been the easy path, ever. It was her path. She chose each step, regardless of the things around her. Even when she might stumble. And now she still chooses her step. Even while looking death in the eye, she raises her skirt and lifts her foot, and takes the step she and she alone has chosen.

The grace and strength is humbling to watch.

I really wished you left an address so I could respond to you directly.  But nevertheless, I am awed by the story of your unconditional love and I am dedicating this re-post to your wife; she is an as inspiration to all of us with her unquestionable fortitude and grace even in the face of the most daunting of all life's challenges.  Thank you so much for sharing your touching story.  I am humbled by this gesture.

I wish you will see this re-post.

Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death.  ~Author Unknown