#155: Natch, We're All Stardust Anyways.

I enjoy being the observer, especially when it comes to late-night discussions. For me, the topic is often irrelevant. For me, the interest comes from the insight gained in seeing a myriad of alternative perspectives coming together at their most raw level.

Late-night conversations are my favourites because it's when people are at their most honest, everything tends to come out unfiltered - for some people this might mean no change at all, for others they'll find words they never knew they had in them.

What this means is that everybody is on the same, base plane of discussion. And the spark generated on this level playing field is always fascinating.

I believe in a great many things:
- I believe that all moral arguments can be argued backwards to a common point of insignificance.
- I believe that the point is not whether both parties can agree on each other's points, it's whether they can agree on where the line can be drawn.
- I believe that in the end, the line is unimportant.
- I believe that after given a valid amount of thought, to have no standing either way on a topic, is a valid opinion in itself.
- I believe that it's not always necessary to stand on one side of the line or the other. Coz; What line?
- I believe that all self-aware humans are fundamentally selfish.
- I believe that this is not a mutually negative or positive thing.
- I believe that while the appalling and horrific things that people have done for selfish reasons are kinda obvious. People have also achieved incredible acts of kindness, charity and social marvels for selfish reasons.
- I believe Selfish -> Self-Serving -> Self-Preservation -> Zoom Out -> Foundation Of Society.
- I understand that people need to hold strongly to their beliefs. Just like how I hold strongly to mine.
- I don't believe that you need to agree with how I believe.
- I don't believe that I need to agree with how you believe.

- I believe that I'm pretty bad at verbalising my thoughts.
- I believe that all these beliefs make me a pretty bad late-night conversationalist.
- I believe that's probably why I try not to open my mouth too much.
- I believe it's also possible that I don't know what I'm talking about.

=)

#55: ToDo Lists

How is it that, for someone who once procrastinated an entire year away - I now find myself coming outta my ears with things that I wanna do?

Even weirder is that I know I'm gonna achieve everything that I say I'm gonna do - impossible has vacated the lexicon people, it's all just a matter of time. Get outta my way! I have places to be goddammit.

#7: The Full Spectrum

Just like how it's impossible to fully grasp the true meaning of the word "relief" until you've experienced the end of a 20hr flight, that has had blocked toilets. And so - especially today - you never realise just how lucky we are to be freely breathing outta both nostrils, until you have had to go through a workday with a bipolar nose, one that can't decide whether it wants to be blocked or runny.

*sniffles*




*snorrrrrrrrt*

Aint It Just The Way.

(A quick NB: If you know me at all, then you'll know that the following subject is an entire world apart from the one I live in. But sometimes, Shit Happens.)

After living for 2yrs with the restrained civility of Japan and not seeing a single fist raised in anger...

Its a lil bemusing to acknowledge that I've been here just over 2months and have already witnessed as many machismo-hissyfits in as many months. Both times over the most stupidest of reasons - [And ain't that just always the case]. And both times started by complete surprise as the first swing always comes outta nowhere while everyone else was just chatting happy.

While it does take a special kinda stupidity to start a ruck over an accidental [and unknowingly!] spilt drink - I did find myself thinking afterwards that maybe men in general probably need this kinda testorative display of territorial grunty outburst every now and then. Maybe even more so in Asian guys.

One thing I did notice about Japan, was that although society values over there in general is extremely well structured and definitely designed to benefit all. The cracks tend to show up with the crimes, when they do happen, leaning more to the bizarre and twisted side. Over here it just comes down to good old fashioned slappy violence.

The other thing is that it really does allow you to find out where your most base tendencies truly lie:
Fight or Flight?

I've found that I fall in the category that sticks around and steps in between, making sure no harm comes to friends, while staying as invisible as possible until that inevitable announcement of;

"You guys get outta here, he's calling his friends out!"

Ahh, that never gets old. Bloody hell. (=.=)

So Fight or Flight...? Whichever one that Protect What Matters And Then Flee Together Like Crazy falls under.

I'm so damn happy that thats how I am. Coz I'm too pretty to be hit. (^^)v

Universal Constants: Missed Demographics & Poo Humour Transcends Translation

What was already established in Japan has now to be turned out to be also the case in Taiwan:

I'm befafflingly popular with kids under 10, and middle-aged housewives. Yet it's just that bit in the middle where it all goes eeeehh..... (O.-)

Hehe I'd be set if I was into older women... and adultery... or was just a pedo...


..Wait wha...? (O.O)

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In other news, met a kindergarden teacher the other day with easily the best.kiddies.book.ever...

Three things:
- 1. Those are dung beetles.
- 2. There's a page that features a sloth with constipation.
- 3. There's a page that features a lion with the runs.

Everything is illustrated. In full colour. With different shades and everything.

Taiwan kids get a much fuller education than a person might expect... (^_^)

It's quite simple really...

For some reason, the question I get asked most by people back home is whether I've found a girlfriend out here yet. And for some reason, they're always surprised when I tell them I haven't. After all, everyone else who comes out here seems to have no trouble at all in finding a partner (or two).

So this is what happens - the girls I've met out here generally tend to fall into one or more of the following areas:

- I'm attracted to them in that way, but they're not attracted to me in that way.
- They're attracted to me in that way, but I'm not attracted to them in that way.
- I'm attracted to them in that way, but I cannot talk to them either literally or figuratively or both.
- I can talk to them either literally or figuratively or both, but I'm not attracted to them in that way.
- I can talk to them either literally or figuratively or both, but they're attracted to someone else in that way.

(There's overlap there, but Meh, I don't care =P )

It's been commented a bunch of times that my approach to life is pretty flippant and free-spirited. Actually, I see it more as a direct result of the fact that its hard to take anything seriously when you're dealt a deck as brimming with juicy ironicness as the above. Comes with a wicked sense of humour too!

See - and so it's not so surprising after all is it? o(^-^)o

There's No Rush.

I have an occasional student, he's nearing his sixties in age, wears good suits, charismatic and owns something like 10 different companies in various industries. So he's a pretty successful businessman. One of the topics we often talk about is the subject of his friends passing the retirement age - finally being able to put their work down and spend the rest of their years playing golf, going travelling and all rest of that good stuff we hope to reach one day.

Most of them died within the first two years of retiring...

He tells me that his friends were hardworking, successful people who suddenly found themselves with all this free time to do their own thing, no burdens, no worries. Only without a job or real purposeful target to focus on, their minds become lax and their bodies eventually won over. I guess there's only so much golf you can play before it loses its meaning. Thats why the man doesnt want to retire, he plans to stay busy with his businesses even after he hands the reigns over to his sons. I enjoy his lessons coz I can relate - both my grandparents on my mum's side still get up at 6am everyday to goto work... and they past 70 many many moons ago now...

Its weird that when we're working, we look forward to the holidays... but when we have just a lil too much holiday, we tend to end up wishing that we had something worthwhile to do - something with a bit of meaning. Life is partly about distracting ourselves from the boredom sometimes.

Hence my greedy approach to life, I wanna be able to experience everything. But I definitely don't want to have achieved everything I wanna achieve before I'm 30. I know people who are well on their way to doing so, and its definitely great that they can - I both admire them for their dedication to be able to get to where they are in life and naturally jealous. Coz they're usually richer than me, and my mum likes to use these people as examples as to why I should hurry up and get back and get a Real Job... (0.o)

I don't wanna get to where I'm going too fast coz I'm having too much fun getting there in the first place. The buzz comes from the transitions between two points, it's about the journey and all that. Humans define the world by contrast; we see objects by finding the edges, we hear melodies by hearing the different notes. And we only truly appreciate something when we have knowledge about just how far its opposite is. Or in other words, to use my fav analogy:

You don't know the true meaning of relief until that point where you go pee. After having to hold it in for a week.

[And swinging back from that tangent...] Now I can definitely understand why people wanna marry young, why they'd feel like they wanna settle down and start a family. Its not a bad dream; getting the job, having the family, growing old in the safe haven that you've created yourself. Maybe just 20yrs ago, this ideal would have been pretty clear - people saw the world around them and it wasn't difficult to see how they could make their own place within it. It's an ideal that has been built upon generations of familial structure and eons of primeval instinct. However, the world back then was a lot bigger than the world we live in today.

Today we have global travel available on a whim, ideas and information spreads worldwide in minutes and hours, a more prevalant attitude in people to become more aware of the things that happen beyond what they can just see and hear about. I don't think we're any less curious than our parents and grandparents. I think we have more opportunities available to us in this generation than at any other time before us. If my grandparents could visit as many places as we can now when they were young, I have no doubt that they would have.

I do wanna get settled down one day, marry my hot 19yr old wife, have my eight kids, build my army, etc. But dammit there's too much before I wanna do before then. Soooooo many experiences to err... experience.

Besides, my wife hasn't been born yet.

Some of my students sometimes tell me that while they agree with the mentality, they're afraid that they'll leave it too late and then get too old to play with their kids like a young family should. I then tell them about my grandad who went paragliding at 60...

No such thing as too old. (^_^)v

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Dammit if I was a better at crafting the ponderings I have when I'm in the shower into words - this coulda been one of the sexiest essays ever (=.=)

Its about motivation really...

Ya know... I didn't really start picking up any Japanese until I realised that the type of girls I was interested in... for some reason also tended to be the ones who cannot speak any English... (O_o)

Its the beauty in its symmetry...

Where my passion for all things ironic-alicious comes back to bite me in the ass...

The fact that the girls that like me, I don't like back... and the girls I like, don't like me back.

I love it. I hate it. (^_-)

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...for Valentines Day today one of my students gave me a gigantic bag of chocolate and cream filled donuts... she's 5 years old.

So young yet so smart already - This girl is gonna make some guy in the future extreeeeemely happy... (^_^)