What Baby Are You?

What baby are you? No, I am not talking about being hyper active or thin or fussy or cute..

Do you know what a baby boomer is? I always think a baby boomer is a person who is born after the WW2; around the 1940s and 50s. That should be my eldest abang, my elder sisters who are already retired. Who are somewhat "lost" occassionally. Who dont "get" things. Older. Reading glasses perched on their nose.. You know what I mean. I'd always poked fun at them - affectionately; of course.

Recently I found out that a baby boomer is actually those who are born anytime from 1946 - 1964. And then I went like; what!! - I am a baby boomer too?? It was a rather bitter pill to swallow in a way. I dont think I am like, lost. Or that old (look who's talking with that pair of glasses perched on her nose!)

Then someone told me ah dont you worry about it. After all, Barrack Obama is a baby boomer. He was born in 1961. Oh yeah? Hmm.. (there is hope for me yet after all!)

If you are born from 1964 - 1979 then you are the Generation X. And anytime from 1980 - mid 1990s would be the Generation Y.

(Coincidently while writing this I found out that some researchers think Generation X earliest birth dates are seen as 1961 to latest by 1981 - they might have Obama (me??) in mind after all..)

ps - I am supposed to practice some test questions; but I have somehow misplaced my id/password (uh, a baby boomer after all?) Now I am going to search for that vital info. Wish me luck for my exams tomorrow!

*****

The Lost World?

Came across this the other day.

This is about the places that could disappear from the face of the earth which is due to the temperature change, the melting of the glaciers, the rising of the water levels. Development (I call that the greed of man).

Among the places that appeared on this list include the beautiful Maldives islands in the Indian Ocean (80% of the islands are only a little more than 3 feet above sea level anyway) and the retreating Himalayan glaciers.

On top of that, Chicago could be flooded. The bears on Hudson Bay would be endangered because the ice in the lakes melt earlier due to the rising temperature. And the Amazon forest could be gone due to logging.

Wildlife in Serengeti would definitely feel the climate change. The ice on Kilimanjaro could be all be melted. And the reindeer herd in Norway endangered. And scientists fear summers in north pole could be ice free as early as 2013!

Rising temperature and ice meltdown could threaten the integrity of oil and gas pipelines, structures in Siberia and Alaska. Venice may be "a city on the water" no more - it has already sank 9 inches in the past century alone.

On home turf, the tropical forest in Borneo could be no more if logging (and replanting for palm oil) continues. And the lifestyle of the Bajau who are nomadic at sea would also be affected.

You can get this book on-line (but you will contribute to felling off a tree for the paper on which the book is printed..)

I urge you to reduce, reuse and recycle. For you. For us. For the future generation. For earth.

*****

"Evil"

There is a bunch of people I always associate the word evil with. No matter how I try to convince myself otherwise they remain evil to me.. Read on.

I had early lunch today because I missed the most important meal of the day. By two in the afternoon feeling hungry, I took out my kerepek ubi – the only food I have in the office and made a mug of kopi-o. The ubi was hard; dah masuk angin pun. But what the heck, takkan nak buang. So I ate it all the same. Wow - sungguh keras.

At some point I thought my tooth felt different. It sure felt different when I sent out my tongue to explore some more. I checked it in the mirror in the ladies and sure enough, the ubi keras had broke my teeth. The gigi already had a big crater in it in the first place anyway. Many moons ago I was advised to do a root canal, but ta-da-da-da..

So I left the office early & went to the dentist. He said he might have to do a small surgical procedure aka operation if the tooth would not surrender itself peacefully. After he had tested the gums are numb he took the forceps and grasped the culprit and moved it this way and that. And made the chair sit up straight and then move the forceps some more. Move the light a bit. Straighten the chair again. And then had a go with the tooth some more. Get the lights right again. Tug and pull the tooth some more. And more. And more. And all the while I was thinking, would I jump if it hurts?

After much resistance the tooth gave in and lost the battle. It broke into two but came out intact in two big pieces. The dentist said relax, it is all done. He said I look like I needed antibiotics and definitely some pain killer. I personally thought I needed some strong drugs to calm my nerves.

It wasn’t so bad actually come to think of it. It didn’t hurt. Maybe I’ve conquered some of the evil living in the dentists’ world after all..? (and yes, yes I know - lagi teruk dari budak kecik!)

*****

Books, Books And More Books Part 22

And I have officially finished my third book for the year (yeayyy..) These days that is an accomplishment as my zest for reading have somewhat deserted me. Or maybe I should rephrase that - I've grown up (finally!) and now am reading a bit more serious stuff. And I will also share ALL books that I read, including those I was too shy to show previously too (haha; me, shy? Dont you believe it!) I came to realize that doing good is actually contagious (and I had meant to write a post on this title for quite some time too. I surely hope I will seriously do it quickly because yeah, doing good is actually contagious).

Anyway. I finished this when I got tired of being sick. Too drained to read anything that's on the border of seriousness, I decided to read this. I have picked out the correct book this time as this turned out to be an age-appropriate book for me. With the relevant subject too (yes, you may go like, a gap year an appropriate book for you..?) And yes, I understand your disbelief - but I stand by my claim that it is a good book for me.

It tells me not to be too hard headed. You cant think you've got to do what you've got to do without looking deeply how your actions might impact the people around you. It tells me not to be impetuous. Being responsible is hard. And regrets are even more so. After that, saying sorry would be almost impossible. Curiosity can definitely kill the cat after all.

And here's my take - if you are in that instance in life when you think you are all wrung out and drained; needing to get away from it all, need a change of scenery - call me. I'll let you borrow this book and let it give you a wake up call you (moi..?) seriously need (I will go haha here - laughing at myself, actually). The book is pretty intense in that way.

And also at this time I am currently reading two books. One is on tamaddun Islam (I love that) and the other on Umrah & Hajj (reading that would make us so soulful). I'll share these too once I am done. But who knows when because I might just pick up another book (or two) to be in my in-progress list!

It had occurred to me we will never live to read all the books we want / should read. Dont you agree?

*****

Books, Books & More Books Part 21

And I FINALLY finished this last week. I’ve been reading it ever so slowly; a couple of pages or so a day. I think I should have read it in a big bang way. You know, all intense about it in a few days. That way the impact would be more dramatic.

The way that I read it makes me nod my head in agreement over some of the things written here and there and in the end the impact on me was very much normalized by other things that happen in my everyday life.

Nevertheless, it is a good book to read to get you motivated about (cough, cough..) money. Maybe I'll share some of the good things I read in here with you in some of my posts.

If you want to know about painting, you’d go to an art gallery. Read a lot about it. Or get to know some real artists. So if you want to know about money, investing, make (more) money you’d--? Fill in the blanks here in your own words..

Unfortunately, the book does not tell you WHAT you should be involved in to make more money. That you have to figure out yourself. We are suppose to figure out what we like, good at, blend in some passion and money-knowledge into that and voila, you MAY be on your way towards your first million.

Ps - Yeap, and they didn’t mention achieving that was easy either.

*****

Do Wishes Come True?

At times I wish I were a man. I figure I wouldnt be so expressive, indecisive. And bound to the feelings of the moment; not forgetting the mood swings. I am perfectly happy to be me at other times.

I wish I were filthy rich at other times. I dream of an unbelievable magical house, an array of posh cars. Contented at the same time. Happy. And contribute for the good of Islam. But who'd know who / what I'd turned out to be if I were truly rich.

Of course I had wished I were pretty - like every other day of my life.

And I wish I were smarter than I am. The things smart people do achieve is definitely something I envy at times.

And as far as I can remember throughout my adult life I have always wished I was handed a vocation on a silver platter the day I was born. I will forge ahead and never look back again to anything. My destiny awaits me.

(what a gloomy Fri evening this is)

*****