b3 b0rn.. c0nf0rm, b3 si|3nt .. di3

was curious as to the inner workings of the magic-8-ball, so googled for it & found this link.

but if you’d rather your faith in that portable oracle intact - beware as there’s spoilers ahead!

it’s adam’s birthday this weekend. i’ve actually missed out buying gifts for the last 2 yrs - always ending up buying toys for kya instead :grin: - so i was quite determined to come out victorious in my quest for gifts when i headed to suria lunchtime yesterday.

my first idea was to get him an art supplies’ set for kids - since ayu’s been telling me that the two adam’s liked to do ‘art attacks’. already located one such set in parkson but decided to still scout at other stores - which brought me to isetan.

browsing thru the toys section (level 2), i discovered a mould + paint set for dinosaur shaped fridge magnets & badges. a few text msgs to ayu confirmed that it would be a good buy also so i mentally noted that as the gift to purchase.

 < << i turned around and i saw this instead.

and i thought, what a great gift for tinit and mie !! they're getting hitched on saturday & i hv yet to get them a wedding gift. now all i need to do is write a corny msg on a card and we're done (wedding gifts are the hardest to decide - i don't like to impose my taste on others - beddings, cutlery, home deco)

showed it to ASH, totally got her hooked on asking questions using the 8-ball. promised to buy another one just for fun. which i did after office hrs when i bought the mould+paint set for adam. this will aid us a lot whenever we're stumped for answers in project implementation

to those who'd rather not waste money on some dumb ball, Ask the Eight Ball questions online

nadd wrote about this old malay guy who begs for money at the traffic lights for jln ampang - tun razak junction on monday.

i was approached by the same guy the same nite after my gym session. same as nadd’s case, he said his car broke down and he needs money to take a cab home. the first request was for RM 50, then he reduced it to RM 20. the first thing that crossed my mind was not to trust this guy. i kept my car windows closed throughout the whole exchange - safety precaution as a lone lady driver.

but as i drove away, i started imagining him doing crazy things like jumping infront of a car to attract people’s attention instead once he gives up being rational and waiting for the red light before approaching their cars. my dad was in an accident enroute k. lipis from kl - the car rolled over the ledge after trying to avoid hitting a dog crossing the road - and he actually had to do that (jump infront of a cab) before anyone actually bothered to stop and help. apparently the sight of a man covered in bruises at the side of the karak highway at 6:30 am in the morning, does not bode well with most travellers.

anywho, after reading nadd’s post and the comments from her readers, i guess i acted right.

so for those who pass tun razak - ampang junction, keep an eye out for this character.

i love morning chats. that’s when ur creative juices are flowing the most. i don’t allude to being a great thinker but when left to its own devices, the mind can conjure wonderful things.

anywho, a topic that become the focus for the morning was what do you call the thing that you’ve been doing day in day out five (or five and a half days) a week.

for me, i know what i am doing is just a job - that gets me a paycheck at the end of the month. i don’t think i can make a career out of it - how could i? when i wake up thinking ‘oh here goes another workday’…. once i wake up bouncing to get on with that day - then that’ll be when i’ve found my calling.

came across this on the net. a section of an old article, way back in 1998 but still valid, methinks.

Timothy Butler: There are three words that tend to be used interchangeably-and shouldn’t be. They are “vocation,” “career,” and “job.”

Vocation is the most profound of the three, and it has to do with your calling. It’s what you’re doing in life that makes a difference for you, that builds meaning for you, that you can look back on in your later years to see the impact you’ve made on the world. A calling is something you have to listen for. You don’t hear it once and then immediately recognize it. You’ve got to attune yourself to the message.

Career is the term you hear most often today. A career is a line of work. You can say that your career is to be a lawyer or a securities analyst-but usually it’s not the same as your calling. You can have different careers at different points in your life.

A job is the most specific and immediate of the three terms. It has to do with who’s employing you at the moment and what your job description is for the next 6 months or so. These days, trying to describe what your job will be beyond 12 to 18 months from now is very dicey.

Waldroop: If you look at the derivations of the words “career” and “vocation,” you immediately get a feel for the difference between them.

Vocation comes from the Latin “vocare,” which means “to call.” It suggests that you are listening for something that calls out to you, something that comes to you and is particular to you.

“Career” comes originally from the Latin word for cart and later from the Middle French word for race track. In other words, you go around and around really fast for a long time-but you never get anywhere.

that’ll give me something to ponder on while i decide what to do for the next 5 years. the last five ain’t half bad - but definitely could’ve been better.

time for more reflection.

on thestar online today, an article touching on reforming the approach to our national education system postulated on the need to encourage personal development in our school-going kids.

 

Easing up on exams

PUTRAJAYA: Reducing the number of examination subjects and having a semester system are among the major changes being planned to make the education system more holistic and less focused on academic achievement. 

Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said these measures were in line with the Government’s aim to reform the country’s education system. 

“We do not intend to abolish public or school-level examinations totally, but we recognise that the present assessment system needs to be looked at,” he said. 

“We hope to change teachers’, parents’, schools’ and society’s perception of examinations so that they will look at the student’s overall development.” 

Among the measures proposed are: 

• REDUCING the number of subjects in public examinations and testing only certain subjects at school level; 
• INTRODUCING a semester system instead of the current term-based school system;  
• EMPHASISING skills and abilities rather than focusing on content and achievements; 
• ENCOURAGING personal development through subjects like Art and Physical Education; and 
• IMPROVING teaching-learning methods by encouraging more project-based assignments. 

To achieve this, the curriculum and syllabus as well as teacher training would also need to be overhauled, added Hishammuddin ….

Source: TheStar Online

i have personal preference for the point i highlighted as it suddenly brought back memories of being in the principal’s room trying to justify why i still want to take up art as a subject. the teaching faculty’s main concern with us ‘art students’ is whether we’d be able to handle more than 9 subjects for SPM and adversely affecting the school’s standing academically. it took the intervention of the school’s alumni to ensure that we still have the freedom to choose the subjects we want.

look at students now - each doing > 10 subjects for their examinations - to what cost. i see my brothers struggling with their syllabus, wondering myself how i managed to survive our education system and i worry for my own kid’s experience in the future.

i hope hishamuddin’s dream and aspirations do come true and this would augur well for my children and their children.