tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-288289452024-02-28T16:28:37.279+08:00A not so examined life...This page is my attempt to understand life's paradox. It is a reflection, a life instrospection, an observation of our endeavor to suffering and pain, laughter and joy. In my own odd way, it is also an attempt to examine commonly accepted practices, ideas and beliefs.Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.comBlogger76125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-89135926865349188962013-11-07T23:54:00.000+08:002013-11-08T15:46:52.758+08:00The Right against Self IncriminationThe Bill of Rights (Article III, Section 17) reads that <i>"No person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself."</i><br />
<br />
So why would the senators be annoyed if Napoles keeps on invoking her right against self incrimination?<br />
<br />
The senate's problem is that it is acting like it has judicial powers, but in reality, they only have the power to investigate only for the purpose (in aid) of legislation. Their own rules indicate that <i>"the power to conduct investigation in aid of legislation by the Congress calls only the purpose of legitimate inquiry. Under the present Constitution, members of both Houses are prohibited to exercise an abuse of this conduct."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"The power of inquiry and investigation exists not only to enable Congress to discharge effectively its primarily legislative and law making functions. It likewise extends to hearing on other matter within its jurisdiction notably the power to impeach, to propose amendments, and take disciplinary action against its members."</i><br />
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<a href="http://images.gmanews.tv/v3/webpics/v3/2013/09/320_2013_09_24_17_22_25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://images.gmanews.tv/v3/webpics/v3/2013/09/320_2013_09_24_17_22_25.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_1034991563"></span><span id="goog_1034991564"></span>Napoles cannot be impeached since she is not a government official. The Blue Ribbon Committee cannot incarcerate witnesses and resource persons, except in cases of contempt of Congress. So I guess they will contempt Napoles for invoking her right against self incrimination. Shouldn't they take disciplinary action against their own members, Congressmen and Senators instead? They should start at their own backyard and let Napoles answer to the courts. A lot of the people who watched the investigation should not have wasted their time if only Sen. Guingona listened to Sec. De Lima and Ombudsman Carpio-Morales.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Ref.: <a href="http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=fMszAErMRKYC&pg=PA174&dq=blue+ribbon+committee+senate+philippines&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RLPGULGnOuiaiAeAtIGYCQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=blue%20ribbon%20committee%20senate%20philippines&f=false" target="_blank">Philippine Governance and the 1987 Constitution' 2006 Ed. Rex Bookstore. p. 175.</a></span><br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-43158946270156211752012-04-04T17:49:00.001+08:002012-04-04T17:51:43.270+08:00albedo 0.39I first read about the word albedo when i purchased a CD by Vangelis with the title Albedo 0.39. Albedo is defined as the reflective power of a surface, often a planet or celestial body, that does not shine by its own light. It is usually measured on a scale from 0 (or having no reflective power) to 1. The higher the albedo is, the more reflective power its surface has.<br />
<br />
I find it interesting that the earth we live in has a higher albedo than that of the moon. The earth has an average albedo of 0.39 while the moon has an average albedo of 0.12. This means that the earth is brighter than the moon since it reflects more of the sun's rays.<br />
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If you've been awed by the sight of a full moon on a cloudless night, imagine how awesome it must be to stand on the moon and see the earth beam!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/NASA-Apollo8-Dec24-Earthrise_Template.jpg/600px-NASA-Apollo8-Dec24-Earthrise_Template.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/NASA-Apollo8-Dec24-Earthrise_Template.jpg/600px-NASA-Apollo8-Dec24-Earthrise_Template.jpg" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Earthrise. a view of the earth from the moon.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photo source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NASA-Apollo8-Dec24-Earthrise_Template.jpg" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NASA-Apollo8-Dec24-Earthrise_Template.jpg</a></i></span></div>
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But if we are able to imagine this, the Bible says that we cannot imagine what God has prepared to those whom He loves.<br />
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<div style="color: #20124d;">
<b><i>"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived that God has prepared for those who love Him." -1 Corinthians 2:9</i></b></div>
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-2336894450791420892012-03-12T21:47:00.001+08:002012-03-12T21:47:16.666+08:00those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength<br />
Isaiah 40: 28-31<br />
Do you not know?<br />
Have you not heard?<br />
The LORD is the everlasting God,<br />
the Creator of the ends of the earth.<br />
He will not grow tired or weary,and his understanding no one can fathom.<br />
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.<br />
Even youths grow tired and weary,and young men stumble and fall;<br />
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.<br />
They will soar on wings like eagles;<br />
they will run and not grow weary,<br />
they will walk and not be faint.<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-14389023554633850722012-01-30T16:58:00.000+08:002012-01-30T16:58:12.256+08:00Leap YearThis year is a leap year. Which means that the month of February will have an extra day on the 29th.<br />
Generally, a leap year occurs in a year evenly divisible by 4, example is in 2008 and this year, 2012. But there is an exception for this rule. An exception is if the year is evenly divisible by 100, unless it is evenly divisible by 400. So the years 2100, 2200 and 2300 are not leap years but the year 2400 is a leap year.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_year">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_year</a></i></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-29422503249148339312011-09-20T18:00:00.000+08:002011-09-20T18:10:48.363+08:00X Marks the Spot<div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal>Last week, I read from a local newspaper about this news, and so I checked from the internet. I found a link on BBC’s website with the title <i><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14926598">New Australian passports allow third gender option</a></i>.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>The first two paragraphs of the news reads: <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.25in'>Australians have been given a third choice when describing their gender on passport applications, under new guidelines aimed at removing discrimination.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.25in'><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.25in'>Transgender people and those of ambiguous sex will be able to list their gender as indeterminate, which will be shown on passports as an X.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>In some websites related to this news, there was a comment praising Australia for this move and describing it as a “developed country.” This move is highly probable to become a trend in the future, but I believe that this is definitely not a mark of progress. Instead, it is a regress in terms of the way people think. Just because they can’t identify the gender of a person by the way they look, then they create a third sex tag.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>If its aim was to prevent discrimination, I think this will pave the way for a more identified discrimination towards homosexuals instead. They may now be branded as an outsider of the Male or Female gender, just as their passport is marked as X.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>I wonder what next people will think. Will there be a move to have a different Comfort Room for X genders? Will they mark people with the color of their skin next time?<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> </div> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-33375257100600783462011-04-17T18:46:00.000+08:002011-04-17T18:46:03.626+08:00Reopening old woundsA scar, once reopened is even more hurtful than when it was a fresh wound. That is what happens when a trauma is repeated.<br />
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Did you ever wonder why whenever we would go home to Abra, we would not even dare enter your house?<br />
If you should know your family history, I was in my grade years in elementary when your father, our dear old Uncle, Nesing, who along with some of his brothers, threatened our family, your relatives out of our house, the one the you are living in right now. I was still not in my teens at that time, and you are even older than i am, yet you already forget? It's either you have a case of selected amnesia, or is so calloused by your greed that you don't even remember anymore.<br />
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What rights were not trampled? Isn't humiliating someone not trampling one's right? And you do it for what? For a measly parcel of a square foot of room? You must be happy now. But do remember what was written, <em>"what profits a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his own soul?"</em><br />
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Since you speak of rights, i have to assure you not to worry. We have no desire of claiming what was rightfully ours. If not for some dear family in Bangued, we won't even (not in our dreams) set foot in that place anymore. Seeing you, our own blood, only relieve bad memories. Somehow, we have already manage to forget that incident, and many more. Yet with what was done to our cousin, your cousin too, you are repeating history all over again. And that bad memory seem to turn again into nightmare. If we have had the chance to go there at once and defend our relative, also your cousin, we would have. But distance and time prevented us. My sister can only console her cousin, and unfortunately she opened an already healed wound and made us remember.<br />
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I wonder what joy you find in accumulating everything for yourself and in exchange pushing away your kin? It was always in Bangued, from my so-called relatives that i always heard the phrase <em>"blood is thicker than water."</em> But sadly, it's just semantics, a mere lip-service. Why do you push people away? Do you think that you will be loved the more if you show yourself as an agressor?<br />
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Do you realize that when Uncle Choi got sick, it was not difficult for us to take him in our home and somehow take care of him. But why is it that when his brother got sick that no one even bothered to ask how he is doing? It is because Uncle Choi showed love towards his nephews and nieces whereas his brother only showed intimidation and agression. Where Uncle Choi received loved, his brother sowed fear. Yes, people fear Uncle Nesing. But love? You have to ask people around and ask yourself why. Would you rather have people fear you than love you?<br />
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Another thing i can't seem to understand is that you proud yourself for the intelligence of your children and yet at the same time still live in ignorance. Do you still believe in sorcery? That is "kulam" in Tagalog and "gamod" in our local dialect else you still look for the meaning of the word. How can you profess intelligence and yet still believe in myths and legends that you were cursed by your cousin? There is a specialist called doctor and a process called consultation.<br />
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I hope you reflect on these things.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-41921149686601272032010-10-29T00:14:00.000+08:002010-10-29T00:14:38.353+08:00Farewell Uncle ChoiThis morning is the funeral of my uncle, Zoilo Bañez, or <i>Uncle Choi</i> to those dear to him. I would have wanted to be there during the funeral but i am unable to go home. I was there during the wake though. I’m also glad that we went home to our hometown in Abra to visit him, three weeks ago before his death.<br />
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Violence seems to haunt Abra. My family is a direct witness, if not a victim, of this. When i was ten, my father was shot by a gunman from outside the window of a store. He survived the shot but suffered a stroke, and died two years after he was shot. Two years ago, just days after Christmas, one of my uncle was shot in the middle of the day. Years before that, my cousin was shot by gunmen in a motorcycle while he was waiting for a ride outside their home.<br />
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I think <i>Uncle Choi</i> died the most "honorable" way, if i may say, among his kin just because he did not die under the bullet. Late November or early December of last year, he found out that he had cancer. But my memory of him is that of someone not in pain, but in genteel acceptance. While he was undergoing series of chemotherapies and radiations, i never heard him complain nor curse, nor exhibit anger about what happened to him. Neither did i see him wreathe in pain nor wallow in his agony. He would only sit by the sofa, quietly massaging his arm. Or he would be reading books or answering crossword puzzles. But he was never in despair.<br />
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Whenever we would be visiting him at the hospital, he was the one entertaining us with his stories as if he was not the patient. He would tell us such theories as when is the best time to gather honey because this kind of flowers from this or that part of Abra is in bloom at that time of the month. He is also very passionate when he would be telling stories about raising fighting cocks. I am amazed at the way he would be divulging his techniques about crossing different breeds, of what dominant feature each breed has, or of how he is able to tell which one would turn out to be a great fighter just by observing them. He was so passionate about it that he was making a joke that he would ask his doctor if he could raise a rooster outside the window of the room where he is confined. Listening to him tell stories seems like listening to a teacher making science real to his students.<br />
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When we went home to visit him early this October, he was already speaking in whisper and barely audible. But what I vividly remember is how he firmly grasped my hand and told me with all apologies how he would be unable to attend my wedding this December. I told him that there would still be enough time for him to recover. He would have been my <i>Godfather</i> or <i>“Ninong”</i> for my wedding in December.<br />
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But he will no longer be present for my wedding. And i will never hear his stories anymore. I still remember the stories, but i would no longer hear it the way <i>Uncle Choi</i> told them.<br />
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-89644921216054530242010-06-02T00:21:00.000+08:002010-06-02T00:21:51.541+08:00a fish out of waterIn a democracy, citizens have the right to choose their leaders by means of voting. One downside in a democracy is that leaders are chosen by the majority, inevitably because of popularity. That is why we had Estrada for a president. A corporation is not run like a democracy. Employees cannot choose their leaders. And this should not be so. Corporate leaders are not chosen because they are popular. They are not chosen by the majority. They are chosen because of their merits, skills and talents. So i am often amazed when corporate leaders start playing politics. I wonder why there is still the need to play politics when they have the skills and talents suited for their position? This play is observable when you look at the symptoms. You see it when people get into huddle and discuss items in a very hush manner like it is the crucial minutes of a basketball game, discloses it to almost everyone, getting buy-in from almost anyone but getting suggestions from just a few, saying one thing to one and another thing to the other, changing decisions as quick and as often as necessary, giving it the name "proactive" while advocating the mantra "open to change", encouraging people to participate, creating an image of "i am listening" and acting the attitude of "i don't care".<br />
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Office politics is a different kind of beast. It is more difficult to understand office politics than to observe office policies. It is tricky to entangle because once you involve yourself in it, you may end up trapped in its complexities. And you may end up saying "my hands are tied", to borrow a common phrase by my boss.<br />
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Employers should not wonder when there is a high attrition rate. They should not expect loyalty from their employees if loyalty is not given much value by them. Where companies require only the best from its employees, those who get the best from outside means two things. Either they were not able to train within, or they fear to risk what they have at hand. But it is difficult to have the best of both worlds, that of having low attrition and getting the best from outside. If you drag a bait in the lake, by chance you may get the rarest of rare among the fish. But don't forget to nurture your pond.<br />
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Is our company playing this kind of game? i hope not. This is not something easy to prove. For someone to say that he is definitely sure of it happening, he needs to to have enough, concrete and explicit examples to prove. i don't have, so i won't. At least not in this blog lest i be accused of nitpicking. Or else, i may end up eating my words, or being dismissed by what i write.<br />
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Lastly, i read from Philippians 2:14 to "do everything without complaining or arguing." I am just writing my observations, but if i appear to be griping or complaining, i hope to be told about it. In fact i am much thankful to God about a lot of things. When i see the crowd of applicants lining up in hours, waiting for their turn to be called for interview, i thank God for giving me work, for having a challenging job, and best of all, having the dearest of staff i have ever worked with, patiently riding along with my idiosyncracies. However, this doesn't guarantee that i will stay long. I currently love my job, not necessarily the company, but more so the people i'm supervising, and some of the employees i interact with. But when God nudges me to go, consider me a fish out of water.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-3416608897215191892010-05-22T22:01:00.002+08:002010-05-23T10:14:10.770+08:00My brain was spliced this morningPrior to my scheduled CT scan, a lot of ideas swelled my mind. I just hoped that it is merely ideas that are swelling my mind and not anything else swelling into my brain.<br />
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I was advised to undergo a CT scan because I complained of continuous headache, a headache that would not dissipate for days. Even if I slept for long hours, I would still wake up with the same intensity of pain in my eyes, brows and head. The doctor diagnosed it could have been just an ordinary migraine. I later found out that there is a kind of migraine which is accompanied or preceded by aura. They call it migraine with aura. When I asked the doctor what it means, she said that some people experience seeing flashing lights before a migraine occurs. I never saw any flashes though. I wish I had that aura so that I would know when the pain would attack before it does.<br />
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Alvi, the laboratory technician kept on flicking the back of my left hand, searching for veins to which she will inject the dye needed for the scan. The dye (or contrast) is needed to highlight certain parts of the image. I read that the contrast could be ingested by drinking, injected through a vein, inserted through the rectum or inhaled in a gas form. Mine would be injected through a vein.<br />
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And so, going back to my left hand, Alvi kept on rubbing the alcohol-soaked cottons but is still having difficulty making the veins appear. Not being able to make the vein obey her desire, she then turns to strap a rubber in my right arm and flicks the back of my right hand. She rubs an alcohol-soaked cotton on my hand. Not working. Throws the cotton and picks a new one. She rubs. This time she rubs harder. I wonder if I either have a thick layered epidermis or I just have thin veins. How I wish I could do anything to help Alvi in searching for those stubborn veins. If I only have the power to command them to come out, and if only they have the ability to listen to me. Finally, she found a good one, and when she did, I think the anticipation made me too excited that my blood pressure soared. They had to reschedule the scan until they had a good reading of my blood pressure.<br />
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I am amazed at the ever improving technology. I am fascinated by the syringe that Alvi used. After she injected the needle and placed bandage over the skin and the tip of syringe, she slowly pulled it away, pulling the needle and leaving a very thin rubbery or plastic-like tube inserted inside my skin. The needle is gone and I don’t have to worry of having any metal instrument break inside my body. But although very important in its function, its ingenuity is just small compared to the massive structure that was about to scan my brain. The CT scan, or CAT scan (Computed Axial Tomography) is a huge apparatus that takes cross-sectional pictures of the body. Imagine having thinly sliced portions of your body photographed or x-rayed. I also read that scanners have weight limit of about 300 pounds because too much weight can damage the scanner. I think I still have a long way too reach that limit. And so I have to remind myself to eat more fruits and vegetables and exercise, exercise, exercise.<br />
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This process made me realize three things.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbvufaHEL3PYTbjBqHsTPVfR5Num2j5UvwN_aMpsMrtMPTIFMuVHVa1D1sp3kQSJs_12j_uWDDkY2Rmg066d8Gx8xPQFqjHEQsjA0-aRANsgpXULX7cN77BNJPao6f1QvbFqwbg/s1600/homerbrain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbvufaHEL3PYTbjBqHsTPVfR5Num2j5UvwN_aMpsMrtMPTIFMuVHVa1D1sp3kQSJs_12j_uWDDkY2Rmg066d8Gx8xPQFqjHEQsjA0-aRANsgpXULX7cN77BNJPao6f1QvbFqwbg/s1600/homerbrain.jpg" /></a>While I lay in the machine table, Alvi asked if I am relaxed. I said yes. First, I realized that by undergoing a procedure that I do not know anything of makes me research, read and ask a lot. So I asked her a question which I think is valid. “Do I need to smile?” She smiled back and said “just close your eyes.” And so I did close my eyes. I wanted to see what was happening though but I fear the rays may damage my eyes if I open them. I wonder how my brain would look?</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>As I lay in the table and feel the machine moving inch by inch, I was reminded of one friend telling me that she hopes everything will turn out well and that nothing will be found. I wanted to let her know that I disagree but I did not. Second, I realized that there is sometimes that dread or fear to find out something is wrong in our body. Deep within, I am hoping that something will be found. That is why I agreed to be scanned in the first place. I want to find out what is the culprit that is causing the pain in my head, eyes and brows. I want to know its name and find out how it can be flushed out. I want to know what it looks like and what area of my body it has already occupied.<br />
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Third, I realized that when I am put in a place or position where I neither have any control nor knowledge of the outcome, I become more prayerful. I know that this should not be a good motivator to pray but sometimes sickness, fear, worry and pain can become a means to seek God. In his book “The Problem of Pain”, C. S. Lewis said that “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Ephesians 5:17-18 says that we should pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for us in Christ Jesus.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-43842844547815580462010-04-03T12:39:00.000+08:002010-04-03T12:39:19.531+08:00If you don't write it, it won't happenThere are times when we need to pause and to reflect on our lives, our accomplishments, failures, joys and pains. I think celebrating birthdays do just that. And so does new years. While new years make us think of resolutions, birthdays do more than that.<br />
<br />
Today makes me think of blessings. These are things i acknowledge God has done in my life, in which i know fully well that some of them i don't deserve. i am blessed with a family that loves and supports the good decisions i make. i am blessed with a relationship with my girlfriend, and i am excited to move on to a level of relationship with her that involves commitment, for a lifetime. i am blessed with good friends and acquaintances. Friends i consider a treasure and so i am sometimes selective of association.<br />
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It also makes me think of failures. These are results of things i have done and decisions i have made, some not necessarily wrong while some not necessarily right either <em>(This does not mean that i don't believe in absolute right and wrong, i do)</em>. Some of this decisions and actions, the result i know i deserve. But some i firmly believe i don't. But these are things i know i don't have full control of, and so i consider them lessons to learn and improve on.<br />
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What i realized is that i lack vision. i lack the ability to visuarlize what i want to achieve in the future. I generally know what i want in life, like a comfortable life, a good family, my own domain. But i lack vision in the specifics. What specifically are my goals? Someone who has a lofty position (incidentally, lofty means that you are prone to fall, eventually) in our organization told me that i should write what i want. That if i <em>"don't write it, it won't happen."</em> That statement was a rude awakening for me. Suddenly, with a single statement (of course coupled with subsequent events that may have magnified it), my whole view of an organization changed. i usually hear people talk of paradigm shift. That was a one hundred eighty degree (by the way, a three hundred sixty degree turn leads you to the same direction you were originally facing) shift in my paradigm.<br />
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All of a sudden, i realized i am living in a Jurassic period while the herd i am in is quickly moving towards the age of technology, devoid of the human psyche. And i cannot follow in the same pace. Whatever happened to values like hardwork, work ethics, perseverance? <em>"If you don't write it, it won't happen."</em> I can only exclaim <em>"Wow!!!"</em> It is as if i am drowsed with a bucket of ice cold water. I felt numb. All the years come to nothing because i didn't put into words the things i wanted. That was specifically my dilemna. i believe i am quite verbose, but i didn't know what i wanted specifically, so i cannot even draw them out of ink to paper.<br />
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What i know is this, that i should no lonber be where i am right now. I think it is time to move on. i am again at a crossroads in my life <em>(or that should be in my career, to be more specific)</em>. This time i should know what or where i want to be. And i should put it in writing!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4IA9dDbQ88v3oLaN_S6YcIdJAp3Q7gBIs0aXUmrucahXPW9JCl4MrlEQbQ6Zlo79nh5CsK7MzbFkRR4XdOnDcPt4FWjToSwzlGM2tBfVn0c1WEsJ-JKCk5gkF36r6DxJSWoNGA/s1600-h/thank-you-letter-writing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4IA9dDbQ88v3oLaN_S6YcIdJAp3Q7gBIs0aXUmrucahXPW9JCl4MrlEQbQ6Zlo79nh5CsK7MzbFkRR4XdOnDcPt4FWjToSwzlGM2tBfVn0c1WEsJ-JKCk5gkF36r6DxJSWoNGA/s320/thank-you-letter-writing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-11126360896338997512010-03-07T12:02:00.000+08:002010-03-07T12:02:32.580+08:00Control your anger, or it controls you"You are moody." I was told.<br />
<br />
I'm not moody. I think moody is someone that changes or have unpredictable moods. And my mood is consistently low.<br />
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I think it may have been recklessly uttered because I am often mistaken to be angry. I am not at all angry. I just happened to have been born with a very somber facade. In short, a serious expression. And I have to admit that I rarely smile. I read that it takes fewer muscles to smile than it is to frown. I guess I burn more calories than most people who are lazy enough not to develop their frowning muscles. However, the number of muscles it takes to frown or smile is still unverified even at this age. Besides, someone else's smile may be another one's smirk or another one's grin. The Joker from Batman, and the Grinch from Dr. Seuss' book both have grin from ear to ear. Yet I am not so comfortable by their supposed smile. Something suggests that I should neither trust any of them. It is quite alarming.<br />
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The ancient philosopher Seneca said " Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it." So it's better to control anger. But how to? That is the question.<br />
<br />
If we can't control our anger, can I suggest the following techniques? Yes, I think there's an effective way to control anger. I just have not proven its effectiveness yet. I think that the best thing to do is to schedule your anger. Read that as the Brits would pronounce it, "shed-yool." It's much more classy the way the Brits say it than the Americans do. You may make it a habit to get angry every nine-o-clock in the morning. Scheduling (again, "shed-yooling") your anger makes you more consistent and predictable. People will know when or when not to approach you. This may also be an effective technique if you have a lot of things to finish and don't want to be disturbed, then feign anger. Even if you woke happy and had a good dream the night before, make it appear that you are angry. People will hesitate to approach you. I think nine-o-clock in the morning may be the best time to schedule it. Right after you finished drinking coffee and others who are late would still be tinkering with their computer, or reading the emails that were sent the previous day. Being angry late in the day is quite exhausting. Besides, you don't want to be exhausted and angry going home, seated on a bus besides angry and exhausted people who may just be looking for a reason to unleash their energy. Being angry and exhausted at noon is a bad combination.<br />
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To make this effective, I suggest you keep a daily log, or a journal if you must. Learning is the key and consistency it's brother.<br />
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There is also another variation for this technique. You may opt to direct your anger towards only one person. This is useful if you want to get along with everyone else. Blaming someone else is the method commonly followed by psychologist. This method known as Pyschological projection was first developed by Sigmund Freud. It is the act of denial of one's own attribute, thoughts and emotions, and ascribe it to something external such as weather, government or even other people. It is also popularly known as Freudian projection because psychologists who followed Freud's theory eventually realized there are some shortcomings for this theory, and so blamed Freud for it. It is also a practice to direct one's anger towards inanimate objects. But in our case, let's try to do it towards the animate, meaning live person. It is much more fun this way because you can observe how that object of your experiment would react.<br />
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Be careful however that if you direct your anger towards one person who does not know how to implements the techniques I have mentioned, he may not be able to control his anger like you do, and so react in a manner you may not expect. This is of course expected. But you may share this technique to him and hope that he will be enlightened to control his anger. Just like you do.<br />
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Now, I have to caution you though that it takes much effort to do it. I admit there are instances that I forget to be angry and not be consistent about it. Yes, it takes effort. But with the right attitude and perspective, it can be done.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-18505644424261918002010-02-15T22:58:00.000+08:002010-02-15T22:58:51.324+08:00An anecdote on prayerI find this anecdote amusing, and interesting. I read it from the book <em>The Grand Weaver, by Ravi Zacharias</em>, on a topic on prayer.<br />
<blockquote>In our understanding of prayer, I fear we take one finger of it and think we have the whole fist. Years ago, I heard a story about the well-known Indian Christian mystic Bakht Singh. As he and his associate walked many miles to a conference where he was to speak, a Hindu stopped Bakht Singh and challenged him. "We are in a drought, and you say that God answers prayer. If your God really exists, why don't you ask him right now to send us rain?" Bakht Singh is said to have responded, "If I pray for rain and God answers, will you become a follower or Jesus?" The man took on the dare and said that he would. As Bakht Singh was about to kneel down in the dust, his assistant placed his hand on his shoulder and said, "Do you really think you should be praying now, when we still have miles to walk and didn't bring our umbrellas with us? Why don't you wait until we reach our destination?</blockquote><br />
Read the book by Ravi Zacharias, <em>The Grand Weaver: How God Shapes Us through the Events in Our Lives</em><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><img border="0" ct="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_chJ_xmVlUk1wrRqzwWp2umH2xmN-1sdks6iMHrSCO344IzETJUHDdh-EISoxvAfOHIgyAB213RLeIX10SgFbNQFPMHZlIlbC6r0N9ijHQQb1_sAuy0OiRmJsF5fcFL6w2_rKtQ/s1600/grandweaver.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Learn more about Ravi Zacharias and his ministries at <a href="http://www.rzim.org/">http://www.rzim.org/</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-85911941002788113992010-01-26T22:52:00.001+08:002010-01-26T23:04:02.573+08:00If one wishes to be a steward in God's house, he must first be prepared to serve as a scullion in the kitchen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcEhKw1lUrTYxEKEDWAV93C6ooea208uh72MqVOVPGmSqBe9sqhiqX9O3fUfvC_QH_cNltOcPCBXcyOLH4j3rmA6PgSwaT8dQ5t-_K88g5ogEA5padSghIdAALlPuR6SJ9f02ffw/s1600-h/spurgeon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" mt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcEhKw1lUrTYxEKEDWAV93C6ooea208uh72MqVOVPGmSqBe9sqhiqX9O3fUfvC_QH_cNltOcPCBXcyOLH4j3rmA6PgSwaT8dQ5t-_K88g5ogEA5padSghIdAALlPuR6SJ9f02ffw/s1600/spurgeon.jpg" /></a>Do not think of waiting until you can do some great thing for God; do little things, and then the Master will bid you go higher. Eleven years ago, I was a addressing Sunday-school children, and these alone. Ten,-nine years ago, I was preaching in little insignificant rooms here and there, generally going out and coming back on foot, and occasionally getting a lift in a cart. It has often happened that, when I have been going out to certain villages, the brooks would be so swollen that they could not be crossed in the usual way, so I would pull off my shoes and stockings, wade through up to my knees, then try to make myself tidy again as I best could, and go on to the little chapel to preach, and return home in the same way. Now, I am perfectly sure that, if I had not been willing to preach to those small gatherings of people in obscure country places, I should never have had the privilege of preaching to thousands of men and women in large buildings all over the land. If one wishes to be a steward in God's house, he must first be prepared to serve as a scullion in the kitchen, and be content to wash out the pots and clean the boots. Remember our Lord's rule, "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."'<br />
</div><br />
This is a thought provoking quote from Charles H. Spurgeon, a 19th century evangelist prominent for his lectures and sermons. These are some things i gather from reading the quote: <br />
1. Do not wait for opportunities to do great things for God. <br />
2. Big opportunities begin from even the most menial tasks. <br />
3. Be humble. <br />
4. God exalts those who humble themselves. <br />
5. It is God who exalts, not us.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-48699824288009430162009-11-18T18:08:00.000+08:002009-11-18T18:10:54.249+08:00Eggplant has nicotine, there is water on the moon and googol is a very large number<div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal>Just some random and trivial items I discovered.<br> Eggplant belongs to the same family as that of tomato and potato. It is botanically classified as a berry. It is a distant relative of tobacco and contains insignificant amount of nicotine that it would take 9 kilos of eggplant to equal the nicotine content of a standard sized cigarette. This seems a good excuse for me for not eating eggplants.<br> Very recently, on November 13 2009, NASA announced the discovery of water on the moon. NASA Spacecraft LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) discovered beds of water ice when it impacted the moon on October 9, 2009. According to <a href="http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/">NASA LCROSS Project Site</a>, <i>“The Mission Objectives of LCROSS include confirming the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the Moon’s South Pole.”</i> It also mentioned that <i>“the identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the Moon.”</i> I suppose there is a hope that in the very near future, astronauts will be able to take a good shower in the moon.<br> The name <i>"Google"</i> originated from a misspelling of <i>"googol,"</i> which refers to the number represented by a 1 followed by one-hundred zeros. In mathematical terms, one googol can either be represented either as <i>10<sup>100</sup></i> or <i>10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000</i>.<br> Due to its popularity, the company name Google became widely used as a verb that it was officially added to both the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and Oxford English Dictionary. Merriam-Webster Online defines Google as <i>“to use the Google search engine to obtain information about (as a person) on the World Wide Web.”</i> Of course, I was able to get this information by googling it.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> </div> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-16490461974783949042009-11-16T12:09:00.000+08:002009-11-16T12:16:23.440+08:00Monday blues<div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal>What is it with Mondays that it always seems difficult to wake up early? Time seems to slow and I can’t wait to get out of work. The chocolate in my cup is cold and almost half empty. Or half full if one wants to imply a positive outlook by means of measuring the liquid contents of a glass, or cup for this matter. I need another cup.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>The task I’m doing at the moment seems to be taking time. I have done this before, the same day and time as last week. But it seems that the more I do the same activity, the more it becomes boring. Perhaps I should be drinking coffee instead.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> </div> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-33993724298295384992008-11-18T23:33:00.002+08:002008-11-23T00:10:06.399+08:00an undivided heart<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>"Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name." Psalm 86:11</em></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When Mariane sent me this verse throught a text message, it struck me. I realized that i should offer to God an undivided heart.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When i reflect on how the Lord has blessed us individually, i am reminded that it is only proper for us to give to Him a totally, undivided heart. To do so would be to put God first in everything, first in our thoughts, and in all things we do, bearing in mind His love, goodness, mercy and grace. I should not even attempt to compete with God's love for her. Even the idea itself is unthinkable. God wants our undivided attention.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because we know <em>"... that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." - Romans 8:28</em></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<blockquote><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>"...for in Him we live, and move and have our being." - Acts 17:28</em></span></blockquote><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I remember what i wrote, quite a long time ago, that <a href="http://enigmatix.blogspot.com/2002/12/do-we-desire-to-know-god-gen.html">"God does require so much."</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<blockquote><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>"I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing" - 2 Samuel 24:24</em></span></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-22186107903250717022008-11-03T23:03:00.000+08:002008-11-03T23:10:12.613+08:00God is good all the time<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whenever i hear people in church say “God is good,” i hear a common response “all the time.” I believe it was influenced by one of Don Moen’s popular song. I get to hear it often. And almost always, when a response is said automatically without thought or hesitation, it somehow losses its meaning. When we say “God is good all the time” do we really believe it? Or do we just say it lackadaisically out of a whim? What does good really mean? And what does the phrase “God is good” mean?</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The term good in itself is a very ambiguous one. Dictionaries offer different and wide definition of the term good from being morally excellent or virtuous, to having admirable, pleasing or superior qualities. Good, given in this context would be an adjective describing someone, in this case, God. Good in this instance would refer to God’s character.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most often, i associate the goodness of God based on how much material things i have or how happy i am at that time. I know it’s not the right attitude but there is a natural tendency to thank God more when good things come. I admit that recent events in my life make me aware of how good He is towards me. I feel blessed and it makes me humble. In response, i am grateful to know that He granted me something i have desired even though i knew i deserved less. But in all these things, i do believe that the goodness of God doesn’t change. God is good even if things around us seem to dispel that fact.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If “God is good all the time, ” would it still hold true when sickness or trouble come my way? I dread for that event and i would pray that it would not come to pass. But even so, yes, i would still declare that God is good. He has many promises to us that are overwhelming, that if we only take time to read and understand, would surely amaze us. One of the most quoted is His promise in the book of Jeremiah which reads</span><br />
<blockquote><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”</em></span></blockquote><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I believe that more than the “prosperity” promise, one that we should be thankful the most is His promise of “listening” to us and allowing us to “find” Him when we seek Him with all of our heart.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If we have a measure or test of goodness, God would be the standard. Everything else that doesn’t meet His standard would fail. In fact, because God is a Holy God and we have a sinful nature, we already failed to meet God’s standard. The apostle Paul mentioned in Romans that all of us have sinned and fell short of God’s glory.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But the goodness of God is still evident in that He is even the one who gave us a rescue plan. If the US government today would pay billions of dollars as a bailout plan for its failing economy, it fails in comparison to the rescue plan God has provided through the death of Jesus Christ, His Son. In this, I will forever be grateful!</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The goodness of God surpasses time. It doesn’t change even if our society’s standard does change. The world would still need Jesus even if society says otherwise. God would still be God, and God would still be good, all the time, no matter what.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-11691173613136845872008-10-08T13:21:00.008+08:002008-10-10T09:53:09.345+08:00Guarding her heartIt has been more than eight months since I first asked Mariane if she would consider praying for the possibility of having a relationship with her. We have been acquaintances for almost two years before that, in a small group in our church. We were never really close but we were occasionally exchanging emails and sending text messages. She said she would consider.<br />
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And between those months, we never so much went out together. We have agreed to get to know each other better by going out on group dates.<br />
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She mentioned about the principle of “guarding her heart.” That is why she never even allowed me to accompany her home. It was a good thing that I understood the principle. For me, it meant that I would have to respect a lot of things about her. I would have to respect her time which meant I would have to be conscious about limiting my calls during office hours, or sometimes not calling at all. I would have to respect her emotion that is why I never even told her how I felt for her. If we wanted to get to know each other better, we had to avoid developing too much emotional attachment. It would not be fair for both of us if during the “getting to know” stage, we end up realizing we are not meant for each other and yet have already developed emotional bond with each other. That would be very tragic.<br />
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A lot of my friends and officemates can’t understand the concept. I was not easy and there were a lot of times I desired to have spent more time with her. But I believe it worked well for me because my life never revolved around her. And I believe it worked well for her too. We both had our individual life, focused on serving God through church ministry, secular work and even our family, while getting to know each other.<br />
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Some of my friends were even mocking me because our courtship, if it may be called courtship, is not the traditional way. I didn’t mind the ridicule at all. It mattered less for me that friends would understand. What mattered most was that she understood my intention. When I asked her to pray for it, I never asked for her response afterwards. When she said she would consider praying for it, I trusted her enough to tell me her response, and God’s answer, at the right time, whatever her answer would be.<br />
<br />
But some friends understood. And I am very much thankful for their counsel and their prayers. More than ever, I believe in the power of God revealed through prayer.<br />
<br />
It has been more than two weeks since she said “yes.” During those two weeks, I have witnessed that it was God who orchestrated events in our (me and Marian’s) lives. I felt humbled, amazed, awed and grateful. I felt all these things because I knew I never deserved her love, and I never deserved His grace. I realized I am blessed beyond I can imagine, and for that I am very much thankful to God!<br />
<br />
Today, we are still getting to know each other better. Each day, we are becoming the best of friends. We have agreed to put God in the center of our relationship. Another principle we have agreed is in limiting our physical contact. It means I can hold her hand, and occasionally put an arm over her shoulder, but nothing beyond that. No kiss. Not even a goodbye kiss. Not even on the cheeks. And so looking back, I realize more and more that it is my heart she has been guarding, and not the opposite. And because of that, I admire her even more.<br />
<br />
In being a friend to her, I recall something I wrote before:<br />
<blockquote><i>For friendship to develop, the virtue of patience must be at play. Friendship can never be rushed, nor can it run roughshod through course of time. It should take its time in season, like a seed unable to do anything but just wait for its time to bloom.</i></blockquote>And in putting God at the center of our relationship, I will quote again a concept God impressed to me more than five years ago:<br />
<blockquote><i>If I, fully human, am capable of loving a person with so much intensity, how much more intense could the love of God be for me? Then, it is not also right that I love God more intensely than I love that person?</i></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-17122107489612122762008-09-10T22:40:00.013+08:002008-09-12T00:48:17.154+08:00When the socks in my shoes got wet<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxWvn53n35g"></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 85%;">For the past two days, I've been soaked wet going home. As if by an appointed time, and twice in a row at that, just when I was about to disembark from the bus I was riding at, that the rains begin to pour. And for the past two days, it was a tremendous downpour. I feel as if the heaven's are having fun, like splashing bucketloads of water into people. Ahh, but on a different light, I can see people rhythmically throtting and going in the same direction for a cover. As if choreographed, people would open their umbrellas in a coordinated beat. But if Gene Kelly is a Filipino, would he be caught waddling the flooded streets of Manila in his tuxedo, singing in the rain?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 85%;">Apparently, there's a typhoon, and his (or is it her) name is MARCE. I wonder how they name typhoon names. I think that in the 1990's PAGASA asked the public for suggestions because prior to it, all typhoon names are female names. And baroque names at that, like those of Bebeng, Undang and Bising. </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 85%;">It's really archaic.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 85%;">I just love the way meteorologists would describe movements and status of the weather. Here’s one example of the latest weather report about Typhoon Marce: </span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<blockquote><span style="color: black; font-size: 85%;">Issued At: 5:00 p.m., 10 September 2008<br />
</span><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="color: black;">Synopsis : At 2:00 p.m. today, Typhoon "MARCE" was located based on radar, satellite<br />
and surface data at 230 kms East of Basco, Batanes (20.3°N 124.2°E) with<br />
maximum sustained winds of 150 kph near the center and gustiness of up to<br />
185 kph. It is forecast to move North Northwest at 07 kph. </span><br />
</span></blockquote><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 85%;">It said Marce was “located” as if at one time or another, the typhoon get lost and again found. Like a game of hide and seek? I love the word “gustiness” too. It gives personality to the typhoon. Gusty!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 85%;">In PAGASA's site, they have an archive of typhoon tracks (or directions) in jpeg format from year 2001 to 2005. On an average for those period, we had 19 typhoons per year. There is also a link for the "Most Destructive Tropical Cyclones" from 1948 to 2000, categorized monthly, with at least two or three of the most destructive typhoons per month. From that period, Typhoon Nitang (31 Aug to 04 Sep. 1984) had the most casualties with 1,492 while Typhoon Ruping (10 to 14 Nov. 1990) did the most damage in the amount of Php 10,276.5M, followed by Typhoon Rosing (30 Oct. - 04 Nov. 1995) at Php 9,330.4M. But I think Milenyo in 2006 was the most violent typhoon I have ever witnessed. Never before have I seen so many trees uprooted and billboards tumbled. I saw a billboard in Magallanes toppled on top of a bus, and even the large “S” sign in SM’s Mall of Asia went down.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 85%;">Still, I prefer rainy days than the searing heat and the humid air summer brings.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><span style="color: black;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: black;"></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-73302186776571868512008-09-09T19:22:00.003+08:002008-09-10T00:09:48.420+08:00Burgers, fries... and buckets of urine?<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">As we were waiting before a scheduled meeting inside a client's office in Makati, I grabbed a magazine in their rack nearby. It could be a good time to keep updated about current events. Recently, I have been fascinated with the hoopla surrounding the US presidential nominations. McCain's selection of a female nominee for vice president, who was virtually unknown, aroused different reactions. So I thought it might be interesting to read some news about it. I picked <em>The Economist</em> <em>September 6 Issue</em> and was reading about news and views about the Republican National Convention. I found the following news amusing:</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><em><blockquote><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><em>Outside the Republican convention, largely peaceful protesters were marred by a few thugs who smashed windows. More violent disruptions were avoided, however, because police informants infiltrated a gang of anarchists who were allegedly planning them. Police seized weapons and buckets of urine, apparently intended for throwing at people.</em></span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><em>Lawyers for some of those arrested demanded the return of their possessions. "Who should we return the urine to?" asked the judge, according to the Star Tribune, a local paper.</em></span><br /></p></blockquote></em></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">I wonder where the world is going to.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">On a lighter note, after we had<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvGDzaPhxZZfsngOYRcw61AlolNX5uI_KP1JbBPbiOSnB0mvVOqANqCqQZ1N4U6y_0LBh_Sk_9eazTskLgxv-3GwlIFCDYPgr1sBr2L26Lgnn7mAo92q_BXpoX75uNFkncieEKZg/s1600-h/Image019.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243980700959744514" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" height="204" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvGDzaPhxZZfsngOYRcw61AlolNX5uI_KP1JbBPbiOSnB0mvVOqANqCqQZ1N4U6y_0LBh_Sk_9eazTskLgxv-3GwlIFCDYPgr1sBr2L26Lgnn7mAo92q_BXpoX75uNFkncieEKZg/s320/Image019.jpg" width="187" border="0" /></a> a training in Eastwood this afternoon, I and my officemate Claude went to a popular burger chain for a snack. Her treat. Burgers, fries and soda. As we were chatting, she dissected the burger, separated one halfbun from another, arranged and piled one fry in a column on top of the patty, poured catchup on top of the fries, and put the sandwhich back together again.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Curioused and at the same time amused, i thought i might as well give it a try. Interestingly, except for the crisp whenever i would bite, i could never tell the taste of the french fries apart from the burger.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">It made me remember when i was a kid and i didn't like what was prepared on the dining table, I would pour either condensed milk, sugar or powdered chocolate drink (Milo), or whatever sweet is available over hot cooked rice. Somehow, I still do something similar whenever I would eat a bar of chocolate. I get a spoonful of rice to somehow dispel the "oversweetness" of the chocolate. Call it quirky? Claude revealed that she used to put rice in coffee in a bowl.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-41164014902294089702008-09-04T22:12:00.006+08:002008-09-04T22:54:06.623+08:00My VisionThis is not something about my future plans. But it's related to my vision. I woke up early and saw heavy deposits of mucus on the lower right side of my right eyelid. On my way to work, i thought it was getting worse so I had to immediately go to our clinic when I arrived. The nurse did not give me any medication. I guess she was hesitant to give me anything she isn't sure of. I was instead advised to have a check up with an opthalmologist. I know she is not a doctor but I wonder what is good of a nurse in a clinic if she can't even recommend anything than that of pointing me to go to a doctor anyway? CPR i guess? Speaking of vision, the nurse is a pretty sight to behold. Perhaps I'd go there again next time.<br /><br />So I took a leave. But of course I first had to tell my boss of the nurse's diagnosis and recommendation. It's funny how she reacted when I mentioned that the nurse suspects it must be "sore eyes". Specially when I mentioned that it's not necessary that I touch anything in order to infect, because if it's viral infecting could be airborne. She looked at me as if to say "Don't go near me! Get out of here! Right now! I mean it!" Incidentally, I learned that the term sore eyes is most common in the Philippines. In other countries, they call it red eye or pink eye. Medically, it's called conjunctivitis. I didn't learn that from the nurse.<br /><br />At the hospital, I was surprised to see a lot of patients lined up in the opthalmology. Most of them are already in their past sixties. Perhaps weakening of the eyesight is one of the earliest indicator of ageing. I thought it was hair loss. But of course hair loss is more visible, and sometimes affect even those who are not aged yet. It must be the genes.<br /><br />As I'm waiting for my name to be called, I thought of those people who are diagnosed to be terminally ill, and are given specific timeline. It made me think, what would I do if I am given months, or days to live? How would I react? Of course it would be a far fetched idea for someone to have a sore in the eye and be diagnosed terminally ill. Or is it? What could be worse? Say, the loss of eyesight in one of the eyes? Well, I haven't given it much thought. Even worse would be to go totally blind. But which could be more difficult, someone born blind or someone who experienced sight and eventually became blind?<br /><br />More than that, my actual worry is of how much the prescription would cost this time. I'm not worried about the doctor's professional fee. My HMO card would cover that, but the medicine won't be. I wonder if he would prescribe a patch in the eye ala-Jack Sparrow, that would be cool. Still, how much would that patch cost? My fear was right, when I went out of the doctor's room, her nurse read the prescription and mentioned that it may not be available in the local drug stores. So where could I possibly buy one? Well, you're guess is as good as mine. And of course, i had to shell out Manuel Roxas and his two siblings. But then again, I won't trade them for an eye.<br /><br />Speaking of the eyes, I think I might as well research on the difference between an opthalmologist and an optometrist. Basically, i think when you consult each one of them, the former would recommend surgery and the latter would recommend a pair of eyeglasses.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-65320767024903780402008-05-15T23:46:00.008+08:002008-05-17T00:09:23.216+08:00House MD<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrKToWfUMs1cTE06j-Ngww-fE4s_AukVwH15rIkz95oX9do64l115FVeOcOFv7od1F-sLRAlrtWCxFVH4OkX24XJThIc6PiCyTTL5ogjWCTuLQZ4Y1lkGwTheVIPiNruz6nr3fQ/s1600-h/HouseMD.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200638337699004018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrKToWfUMs1cTE06j-Ngww-fE4s_AukVwH15rIkz95oX9do64l115FVeOcOFv7od1F-sLRAlrtWCxFVH4OkX24XJThIc6PiCyTTL5ogjWCTuLQZ4Y1lkGwTheVIPiNruz6nr3fQ/s200/HouseMD.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div>I was able to watch at least two consecutive episodes of the TV series House MD. And so far, I am fascinated by its lead character and its plot. Its lead character, Dr. Gregory House is played by Hugh Laurie, a British actor doing an American role. Dr. House is a (I hope I got this right) diagnostician who leads a team of doctor using the Socratic (or dialectic) method in asking (and answering) series of questions, eliminating the impossible, and ultimately arriving to a diagnosis.<br /><br />What I find interesting in the program is that it somehow touches on philosophy, basically on questions of ethics and morality, in relation to medicine and biology.<br /><br />In the first episode of its second season, titled “Acceptance”, Clarence, a death-row inmate suddenly suffers an attack where his heart beats so fast and pumps out air instead of blood. Dr. House initially diagnosed it as hypoxia (shortage of oxygen in the body, I got this from Wikipedia) with fluid in his lungs and told the warden that Clarence would die in about an hour, and should call an ambulance. The warden told House that he is sentenced to die anyway but House told the warden that the state is specific in the manner in which he is going to die.<br /><br />It also touches on the question whether it was worth it to save the life of a deathrow inmate. Personally, it made me ask what is the value of a person’s life? Would one person’s life be more valuable than another? Would a convicted murderer’s life be less valuable than, say a philanthropist, for example?<br /><br />In the latter part of the episode, Clarence was diagnosed to be having a pheochromocytoma, a small, adrenaline-secreting tumor that causes rage or panic attacks. Dr. Foreman, one of the doctor in House’s team, believed that the tumor caused random shots of adrenaline, which led to rage attacks, that made Clarence become a murderer in the first place. When foreman said that he would testify for Clarence’s appeal, House responded that to give Clarence a “free-pass” would insult (my word) those who suffered the same malady but was able to control their adrenaline rush such as race car drivers, etc. He said that removing the tumor “puts a stop to those random shots adrenaline, but it doesn't absolve him."<br /><br />Would it really be possible that our emotions are affected by our biology? This is an almost similar question I asked in the second episode “Autopsy” where Andie, a nine year old girl terminal cancer patient is suffering from hallucinations. The medical staff admires her for her “bravery” but House is unimpressed. House believes that her “lack of fear” is a symptom that a clot is affecting the fear center in her brain, wherever that maybe. Could it really be possible that our body dictates our emotion? Personally, I would sometimes feel “ill tempered” when my head aches. Would that be a similar symptom to Andie’s? I don’t know, but my guess is as good as yours.<br /><br />Other interesting sidelights of the show is in the first episode when Dr. Cameron, a female doctor had a patient who appeared to be anemic, but x-rays indicate she has lung cancer. Cameron refuses to believe it, and referred to Dr. House for other possible diagnosis. When she referred the case to House, he wrote on the board the words “Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance” and then crossed a line in the word “Denial.” Cameron identified these set of words to be the “five stages of dying.” In a scene after that, when House refused, Cameron became angry and again afterwards pleaded him for other possible diagnosis, House responded “You just made a completely seamless jump from anger to bargaining.” House crossed the lines on both the words “Anger” and “Bargaining.” Apparently, the words House wrote on the board referred to Cameron’s response to her patient’s condition.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWttiinjeZu9ehSSOhf4EWOI9cqNPsjZRzq3vIzJifPc7MhJ1zKZtU8_7WBAZiqTGh-bOIitJx1B5AxteljpwZj9ltWL_SGsQSZUJLvT27oXUV40m0mLqHAeMk0xUjWDCm1yIg-g/s1600-h/house2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200639308361612930" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWttiinjeZu9ehSSOhf4EWOI9cqNPsjZRzq3vIzJifPc7MhJ1zKZtU8_7WBAZiqTGh-bOIitJx1B5AxteljpwZj9ltWL_SGsQSZUJLvT27oXUV40m0mLqHAeMk0xUjWDCm1yIg-g/s320/house2.jpg" border="0" /></a>Two of the scenes I found amusing was when Dr. House was eating some chips, placed on top of a patient and Dr. Wilson was shocked to see him doing such. Apparently, the patient is in coma, and House told Dr. Wilson that he (House) asked the patient’s permission. House was also wondering why the television was turned on inside the patient’s room. Wilson said that some people believe that patients’ in coma can still hear. House asked why not turn on a radio instead? Another amusing scene was when Dr. House brought alcohol (I’m not sure if it’s whiskey, a gin or wine, I couldn’t tell the difference anyway) inside the patient Clarence’s room and they both had several shots. It turned out that the alcohol was apparently a cure for Clarence, which House assumed to have tried to commit suicide by previously drinking copier fluids which contains methanol, a poisonous substance.<br /><br />Watch House MD every Tuesday night at 9pm on 2nd Avenue cable channel. </div></div><div><div><br /></div><div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-74271802952970017872008-05-15T07:59:00.003+08:002008-05-15T12:04:08.480+08:00Terms of VeneryThe study of (and playing with) words is quite fun, if one would consider it. I remember in particular, one game I had fun playing was called Balderdash. The fun part of the game is in inventing phony definitions of almost unknown but real words and bluffing other players into taking that definition to be true.<br /><br />One particular area I have been interested in is in the English terms for different groups of animals. The term used to define groups of objects is called a collective noun. But when collective noun is referred specifically to groups of animals, it is called terms of venery. Venery is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the art, act, or practice of hunting.”<br /><br />Venery comes from the Latin venari, where I would guess we got the word venison. Interestingly enough, the word venereal, which comes from the Latin from Latin venereus means something differently. I don’t know if the word vino which means wine would have any relation to its word origin as well. So there must be a possibility that in one way or another, the venison you eat, the wine that you drink and the disease you may acquire after much intoxication seems plausibly related in origin. But that is a different story altogether.<br /><br />In terms of venery, a group of dogs is not just simply termed so, but is called either a kennel of dogs or a pack of dogs. Although pack is more popularly referred to a group of wolves. Amusingly, a group of baboons (or of old white men) is called a congress. A group of ants is called either an army or colony, perhaps because most of them are either soldiers or workers? The most popular are terms such as school of fish, flock of pigeons, pride of lions. But what i found most interesting are terms such as bloat of hippopotami, convocation of eagles, murder of crows, parliament of owls, crash of rhinoceri.<br /><br />For a longer list of terms of venery, check out the site Fun with Words at <a href="http://rinkworks.com/words/collective.shtml">http://rinkworks.com/words/collective.shtml</a> or Ojohaven's Collective Noun page at <a href="http://www.ojohaven.com/collectives/">http://www.ojohaven.com/collectives/</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-4285753852004190092008-04-22T23:48:00.003+08:002008-04-23T00:03:35.707+08:00All too humanIt was in late December when a friend was rushed to a hospital because of an infection in her spinal cord. After learning of her condition, I immediately searched the internet of the symptoms and causes. I felt crushed to read that for some, recovery is generally poor. Some patients even show no signs of recovery at all.<br /><br />As humans, we are not exempt from sickness or diseases. This oftentimes jolts us back to the reality that we, after all, are mere mortals and are subject to decay. But for some, this realization comes so sudden and unexpected.<br /><br />I visited her in early January. In the wall of her room are posted routine exercises which are very easy and even negligible for us to perform, but for her was crucial in order to regain mobility. She was given doses of steroids that were perhaps beyond the normal dosages. But behind all the medicines and therapy, I saw someone determined to overcome her ailment. Not dismissing the miracle which God bestows to His people, and the prayers of her friends, I felt it was also her determination that made her survive the worst of her condition.<br /><br />It must be this kind of determination which Viktor Frankl meant when he quoted Friedrich Nietzsche’s words <em>“He who has a will to live for can bear with almost any how.”</em> In Frankl’s book <em>Man’s Search for Meaning</em>, he told of prisoners in the holocaust who, when all hope or faith in the future is lost, would eventually lead to their doom.<br /><br /><blockquote>“The prisoner who had lost faith in the future - his future - was doomed. With his loss of belief in the future, he also lost his spiritual hold; he let himself decline and became subject to mental and physical decay. Usually this happened quite suddenly, in the form of a crisis, the symptoms of which were familiar to the experienced camp inmate. We all feared this moment - not for ourselves, which would have been pointless, but for our friends. Usually it began with the prisoner refusing one morning to get dressed and wash or to go out on the parade grounds. No entreaties, no blows, no threats had any effect. He just lay there, hardly moving. If this crisis was brought about by an illness, he refused to be taken to the sick-bay or to do anything to help himself. He simply gave up. There he remained, lying in his own excreta, and nothing bothered him any more.”<br /></blockquote><br />Last Sunday, I was surprised to meet her along with some friends over lunch. Although I could not muster to tell her how ecstatic I felt to see her again, even with surgical mask in tow, sharing with us her story and laughing at our own stories as well.<br /><br />In the same lunch however, another female friend shared to us a medical condition that she herself would have to undergo. A lump in her breast was found and she is pondering on the option of having the lump surgically removed through excision, or of going through mastectomy. The latter would involve a partial or complete removal of the breast while the former would have it conserved. In the first option however, a hefty financial amount may be necessary. As we bid farewell to one another, the glint in her eyes cannot hide her fear. I am not a woman, obviously, but I can feel her fear, albeit masked in her smile, as it must be in every woman who would be in her shoes. At the same time, I can also sense her stillness in such a daunting situation. We prayed for her before we left. In the end, who else do we turn to for help but God?<br /><br />Both of them are dear friends. I have known them for so many years that I treat them like real sisters, blood-sisters. And as such, I admire their courage and strength. More than that, I admire their faith. If I, God forbid, would undergo a similar or even less trial, I hope that I would be as courageous, as strong and as faithful as they are. I can only turn to God for help.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28828945.post-84981970071839649202008-03-10T18:11:00.000+08:002008-03-10T22:33:21.230+08:00Why You Can Have Confidence in the Bible<P><SPAN class=insertedphoto><A href="http://www.confidenceinthebible.com/"><IMG class=alignleft style="WIDTH: 106px; HEIGHT: 138px" height=190 src="http://images.agp0402.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/300x300/R9VFLgoKCtYAABjXC6M1/confidence-in-the-bible_cover-c.jpg?et=PVCOrs8SagNtuJZxI1UIKw&nmid=" width=137 border=0></A></SPAN>As i was reading the discussions between Dr. Harold Sala and Mark Ellis in <A href="http://www.guidelines.org/"><EM>Guidelines</EM></A> commentary on March 7, 2008, i can't help but share the story read by Dr. Sala from his soon-to-be-released book, <EM><A href="http://www.confidenceinthebible.com/">Why You Can Have Confidence in the Bible</A></EM>. He read the story of Gaylord Kambarami, the General Secretary of the Bible Society, who tried to sell a <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1205156440_2 style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">New Testament</SPAN> to a man in <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1205156440_3 style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">Zimbabwe</SPAN>i. Here's the script:</P> <P> </P> <BLOCKQUOTE> <P>Few people ever struck a stranger deal than did Gaylord Kambarami, the General Secretary of the Bible Society, who tried to sell a <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1205156440_2 style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">New Testament</SPAN> to a man in <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1205156440_3 style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">Zimbabwe</SPAN>. As Gaylord talked with the man, he could see he was interested. The stranger, however, was not interested in the content of <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1205156440_4 style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">New Testament</SPAN> but was eyeing the size of the pages and the texture of the paper. It was just the right size to make cigarettes. In fact, he told Gaylord he wouldn’t buy it, but if he gave it to him, he would take it and use the pages for cigarette paper.</P> <P>“I understand,” Gaylord replied. “I will make a deal with you. I will give you this book if you promise to read every page before you smoke it.” Pleased with himself that he indeed had the better end of the bargain, the man agreed to do so. Gaylord gave him the <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1205156440_5 style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">New Testament</SPAN> and the man walked away.</P> <P>Years passed. Then one day Gaylord was attending a convention in <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1205156440_6 style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">Zimbabwe</SPAN>, when the speaker on the platform recognized him in the audience. Pointing to him excitedly, he said, “This man doesn’t remember me, but I remember him.” He explained, “About 15 years ago he tried to sell me a <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1205156440_7 style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">New Testament</SPAN>. When I refused to buy it he gave it to me, even though I told him I would use the pages to roll cigarettes.” He continued this strange testimony saying, “I smoked Matthew. I smoked Mark. Then I smoked Luke. But when I got to John 3:16, I couldn’t smoke anymore. My life was changed from that moment!”</P> <P>Now the former smoker is a full-time church evangelist devoting his life to showing others the way of salvation he found in this little book which has just the right size pages to roll cigarettes. And Mark, I have eleven stories like that, rather thrilling ones, of the lives of people that have been transformed by this book.</P></BLOCKQUOTE> <P>If you want to read some excerpts from Dr. Sala's new book, go to <A href="http://www.confidenceinthebible.com/">http://www.confidenceinthebible.com/</A></P> <P>I asked Guidelines' permission for us to post it in our local newsletter <FONT color=#cc0000><EM><STRONG><A href="http://prisms.110mb.com/">PRISMS Online</A></STRONG></EM></FONT>. If you want to read the newsletter, go to <A href="http://prisms.110mb.com/">http://prisms.110mb.com</A>. If you are encouraged by the articles, please let us know by signing the Guestbook and pass the link to your friends.</P><!-- multiply:no_crosspost --><p class='multiply:no_crosspost'></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ANotSoExaminedLife" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png">Subscribe to A not so examined life...</a></p></div>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16953542976253936596noreply@blogger.com0