Tenacity

I've been thinking.

And that's not easy.

Before you think I'm rhyming,

let me assure you, I'm not... deliberately.

I've simply been thinking about

this word called tenacity.

.... okay going into normal writing mode....

I saw this show called Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency where a young model was dismissed for having a bad attitude. The crucial turning point for her dismissal (according to the show) was an episode where she threw a fit against a senior staff of the company. The senior staff told her that the soft drink she was drinking wasn't good for her body which was beginning to gain weight. Furious, the girl told Janice "I damn well drink whatever I want."

It reminded me of what someone told me recently. He said, people type themselves and refuse to change themselves, or rather see no need for change. They insist, 'this is who I am', and see little hope or need for change.

There are several angles to view this from. Some might feel this as symptomatic of individualism, others may see this as an existential phenomenon. Before I go philosophical and bore you to tears, let me state the angle I'm going in, simply tenacity.

Tenacity is a great word. It means being persistently determined. Tenacity tells you, don't give up easily, persevere, keep going at it. But what is 'it'?

I think it is great when the 'it' are values. Like, "I'm going to support my parents in their old age no matter whether they ask for it or not." or "I'm going to do my best in the test without resorting to cheating." or even "I'm going to give up my seat on the bus and train to the elderly no matter how tired I am, how heavy the things I'm carrying or who looks at me weirdly." People who apply tenacity to mold themselves into strong characters, to uphold moral righteousness in their lives, to pursue worth (like climbing Mount Everest) certainly shows humanity in the best light.

However this tenacity can be mistakenly applied as shown by the young model. Perhaps in her case, people might argue that she's not being tenacious, but being stubborn and prideful. So what's the difference between being persevering and tenacious, against stubbornness?

It is all in the 'it'.

When the model refused to recognize and acknowledge the problems caused probably by her own mistakes, she misinterpreted advice for antagonistic attack. That aside, she mistakenly persevered in holding to her own stand, refusing to heed advice. The 'it' in her case, was her pride.

At the end of the day, and of this post, are a couple of questions to ponder. Are we blind to our flaws? Are the things we are being tenacious about, worth the effort?

If you feel that having that soda drink triumphs the loss of your boss' esteem, I will certainly not say nay.

GAD: Gadget Away Day

GAD Challenge to Myself:

24 hours

No handphone
No computer
No television
No telephone
No digital camera (Too heavy to carry out anyway)
No blackberry (which shld be easy since don't have it)

Can I SURVIVE?

Find out more the next time, when I steel myself to...
set a date for the GAD Challenge

Statler & Waldorf

I love Statler & Waldorf! They were wickedly FUNNY!!

Muppets

I love the Muppets!

I bought stickers

normally I shun away from the cutsey stuff

for some reason today

I lost my REASON

and did THIS

They're so cute

I disgust myself... -_-;

When we read music...

When people ask me, why do you like classical music? I sometimes wish they could experience the same rush I go through when reading through a piece of great music.
Literally akin to riding a roller coaster or skiing down the mountain. =D

Mozart Violin Concerto No. 3, 3rd Movement.

Gosh... I wonder if anyone in Singapore can get away with this kind of cadenza??!

You can always search YouTube for the usual concert rendition. ^_^

Yet another classical music video

You'll never hear Paginini again without being haunted by the image of this guy's face...

All About Mom

Anita Renfroe's The Mom Song (William Tell Overture)

Here's the Lyrics:

Get up now Get up now Get up out of bed Wash your face Brush your teeth Comb your sleepy head Here's your clothes And your shoes Hear the words I said Get up now Get up and make your bed
Are you hot? Are you cold? Are you wearing that? Where's your books and your lunch and your homework at? Grab your coat and your gloves and your scarf and hat Don't forget you got to feed the cat
Eat your breakfast The experts tell us it's the most important meal of all Take your vitamins so you will grow up one day to be big and tall Please remember the orthodontist will be seeing you at three today? Don't forget your piano lesson is this afternoon So you must play
Don't shovel Chew slowly But hurry The bus is here Be careful Come back here Did you wash behind your ears?
Play outside Don't play rough Would you just play fair? Be polite Make a friend Don't forget to share Work it out Wait your turn Never take a dare Get along Don't make me come down there
Clean your room Fold your clothes Put your stuff away Make your bed Do it now Do we have all day? Were you born in a barn? Would you like some hay Can you even hear a word I say?
Answer the phone Get Off the phone Don't sit so close Turn it down No texting at the table No more computer time tonight Your iPod's my iPod if you don't listen up
Where you going and with whom and what time do you think you're coming home? Saying thank you, please, excuse me Makes you welcome everywhere you roam You'll appreciate my wisdom Someday when you're older and you're grown Can't wait 'til you have a couple little children of your own
You'll thank me for the counsel I gave you so willingly But right now I thank you NOT to roll your eyes at me
Close your mouth when you chew Would appreciate Take a bite Maybe two Of the stuff you hate Use your fork Do not you burp Or I'll set you straight Eat the food I put upon your plate
Get an A, Get the door Don't get smart with me Get a Grip Get in here I'll count to 3 Get a job Get a life Get a PhD Get a dose of...
I don't care who started it You're grounded until you're 36 Get your story straight And tell the truth for once for heaven's sake And if all your friends jumped off a cliff Would you jump too? If I've said it once, I've said at least a thousand times before that
You're too old to act this way It must be your father's DNA Look at me when I am talking Stand up straight when you walk
A place for everything And everything must be in place Stop crying or I'll give you something real to cry about Oh!
Brush your teeth Wash your face Get your PJs on Get in bed Get a hug Say a prayer with Mom Don't forget I love you
**KISS**
And tomorrow we will do this all again because a mom's work never ends
You don't need the reason why
Because
Because
Because
Because
I said so
I said so
I said so
I said so
I'm the Mom
The mom
The mom
The mom
The mom
Ta-da

Words by Anita Renfroe Copyright 2007 Bluebonnet Hills Music/BMI

Meanwhile, S_nie and I each bought this cake for our moms. ^________^ I highly recommend this! One of the best cakes I've eaten. ^_^ Bought from Swissbake, Marine Parade.

The bottom layer was crunchy inbetween layers of sponge cake and creamy chocolate+coffee mousse. Yum! My mum even took a pic of herself and the cake! haha! Sorry, not posting it up on the Net.

My Political Compass

I always thought I'd be more pro state (authoritarian) must be all those socio modules. No surprises about the left wing, I always knew I was more left wing minded than right wing... no matter what my antics signal. -_-"

Take the test here: http://www.politicalcompass.org/

Coffee Art

QL: Specially for you! Cafe Latte Art!

Belated Birthday Celebrations 2008

After a night of tossing and turning, waking intermittently, I woke up to the sound of my phone buzzing. [I don't really know why I can't sleep well now that exams are over...anyway, back to the main story] Glancing at my clock... which showed 12.20pm, I answered Em's call.



Oh... gotta wake up. We are having lunch. And we are suppose to meet at 1pm. Darn.

So predictably, I was late.



But Anyway...

Lunch at Kuishinbo was pretty good. We ate till we were too full... and then we ate somemore. Size and appetite are inversely proportionate. Really. Em ate the most, followed by QL (who wins over me by the fact that she sat down to lunch half an hour before I did) and finally pathetic me. WHY? You'd think with my size I should have ate the most. Maybe I do? More bigger-than-bite-sized meals spread across the day? Anyway, this was my belated birthday treat from the girls. Yay! Free food! Why not rejoice?

The chocolate cream puffs at the bottom right hand corner were my favorite. We were pretty stuffed after these desserts. -_-"

Post ASKA concert with TPO, Singapore

One thing I really don't like about finishing concert projects is the nostalgia. I'd like to tell myself to 'Get on with life... move on... you've got those things you want to do, STOP THINKING ABOUT THE CONCERT!' But the reality is that I keep getting bombarded with memories, savoring each one OVER and OVER again. The worst is the music that keeps circulating around your head. And I keep getting sappy EVERYTIME. -_-"


Trust me, I do try to bombard myself with other music, I've been listening to Sibelius, listening to Switchfoot, Planetshakers, David Tao, Ella Fitzgerald, Ashkenazy, Perlman, Corrine May... I even looked up some of those indigenous Orang Asli/ Malay music that my prof. is crazy about... ARGHED. ASKA's still in my HEAD!


I blame it on my youth. If I wasn't so into Chage and Aska in the 90s, I'd be behaving like a proper adult and not going into a teenage fantasy world, going gaga, reliving adolesence manifestations today. -_-"


But he's so cool and suave!

I got to take picture with him and got his autograph too! Ahhaahaaha....!!!

Really, it was a enjoyable performing with him and the other Japanese musicians, Sawachika and Furukawa and not forgetting our conductor Mr. Fujiwara. I can't believe they are like 50 years old and plus. hahaha... Makes me wonder how they keep looking young. ~_~
Yeah but anyway, really whenever the guitar or piano comes in, I feel a lot settled. Rhythm, beat, feel of the music, you can really count on them. Maybe cos we are classically trained, so there are really slight differences in the way we play offbeats and syncopations. Slight but there's definitely a big difference in the way the music moves. To me at least.

I don't think the music was particular difficult for the orchestra, but seriously, to perform continuously with only about 4 short breaks really tested my stamina. And Aska just kept singing! Without any breaking, or hint of strain! Wah... so pro. *_*

Sigh, they are all so nice and friendly, and obliging! So happy to have performed on the same stage with them. Okay, I really must settle my emotions now that I've satisfied my nostalgia with a blogpost. Must stop watching youtube videos too, darn it.

p/s I wonder if I really like older men like QL says... *shudder NAH~~~ I just admire them. REALLY! -_-" why am I defending myself to myself??

Behemoth Ice Kachang

The rationale for ordering this after our feast at Crystal Jade's La Mian Xiao Long Bao, was that it was mostly ice which would turn to water, and hence won't take up too much space in our stomachs.

Clearly, our logic, or rather, MY logic was based on delusional hope.

My Garden Corner

I've created my own garden corner!

I finally got an orchid plant. It's a small pot which I bought from the Pasar Malam set up near home. Did a little bit of research and found out that it is of the dendrobrium variety. Which variety is it exactly I've no idea. Think I'll go look for the aunty tonight and find out.

I also got this vine plant with cute pods and button like flowers.

Have no idea also what plant this is either too. Anybody knows? [I later found out it's common name is: Ant Plant]
Meanwhile my old favourites are still there surviving.

Compare them to when I first got them in April 07.
http://jtcontinued.blogspot.com/2007/04/blooming-cactus.html

By the way, Em, the plant you gave to me is not a mint plant but an Indian Borage. See article link: http://www.greenculturesg.com/articles/oct07/oct07_Plect_amboinicus.pdf

It's shooting up like nobody's business. Time to cut and repot.

My Workstation has expanded!

Sorry bro, when you come back to visit, there may not be space for your bed in my room cos... my workstation has expanded!

After last sem's intensive courses, witnessing the TON of reading materials strewn over my room, spilling over to the living room... I decided, I needed more table space. So I dragged the extra dinning table we had into my room. Idea courtesy of my mummy, who remarked offhandedly at the mess, 'you should use the table outside, more space.'

Good idea, mummy! I shall use the table outside, inside my room! Bwahahahaha.... Check out the ever evolving state of my study table.

From studying outside...

To studying inside...

Getting my L-shaped table extension...

Adding another extension....

Today's Workstation!

Sistic outing

Today, I went to Sistic at JP and spent over $300 on tickets...

Time Keeper Blog

The blog is a really useful thing for me to keep track of time and to remember important things I want to tell myself.

Of course there's always my trusty and beautiful organisor, not to mention my ever faithful diary. But the diary's too lengthy and too filled with details, and my organisor is too filled with tasks and events which may not be important enough to remember.

So, the blog's pretty good. Not only does it tell my important people the important stuff that's happening to me, it keeps track of the important stuff that are important enough for me to remember! And then some others... which are just pure entertainment. hahaha....

So today, what do I want to keep track of? It's my first day in school though school actually started two days ago. I miss my classmates, most of whom are in F_, which I did not sign up for, and is PACKED. I just sat for the 1st lecture of S_, T_ & Soc. He showed a Youtube video of an interview with a scientist. It was suppose to have been an awe inspiring clip of a world famous scientist talking about controvesies. I however, was totally lost. At the back of my head, I kept swinging between 'Maybe I should drop the course' and 'Why not wait and see, you can drop by 20 Jan)

Sigh, the funny part is, i just realised that now the 3rd years have finished the core modules, we won't be able to gather together in our little comfort grouping anymore. The only time we'll meet as a group will be at 'class gatherings'. Guys, I hope I'll see you all in T_ism or E_tions!

2008

I've decided. This 2008, I shall enjoy more time alone with G_. That means more excursions to the Botanic Gardens, maybe that trip to the Museum to take a look at the Greek statues and more cycling to the ECP.

May your year be a lovely one too. May your heart continue to hope even in the midst of darkness.