Work-Life Balance

I have not been blogging for awhile, no less thanks to my incredibly "exciting" work life. Let's see what I have been doing this week. Hhmm.. cooking seems to be the flavor of the week. I have been putting my culinary talent to the sword, whipping up an euphoric ensemble of charred sausages, acidic spaghetti and mummified scrambled eggs. Cuisines most definitely not for the weak-stomached. Then again, my moral yardstick would be hard pressed to serve even the most famished of gluttons.

Moving on to a more solemn issue, the moon is on its second world tour since I commenced my adventure into the corporate world. Lady luck has been kind to me, as I stand amongst the survivors in the battlefield against the clock. Ravaged, torn, dispirited but defiantly alive and kicking. Life on the brink leaves one with little time for musing as horror tales on the savagery of the ticking behemoth inexplicably finds its way even to the most wary of travelers. Determination is the sole defense in the battle of the mind, yet the impending apocalypse casts a shadow so despairing that even the most resolute of spirit seems to suffer from teetering doubts.

Dramatization aside, when you put everything into perspective, the sad truth is that the majority of our living existence is reduced to weekday slogging, weekend anticipation during weekday slogging, weekend, "wait, it's over?!" and then more weekday slogging. Work-life balance seems to be this elusive creature that everyone has heard of, yet nobody has encountered. Yes, like the Big-Foot. Or unicorns. Is this the life that you want?

Yet, your weekday slogging is essential for a robust economy and a robust economy is essential to a prosperous and safe society. You get your iPhone and no one robs your iPhone. Hence, the need to maximize economic output, which means more weekday slogging. The drive for economic progress has brought spectacular results; an exponential increase in material wealth. However, this has not come without consequences. Melting ice-caps, falling birth rates and the greatest economic crisis since the great depression, up-size?

So how can we as a society progress holistically? At a personal level, we can each temper our material cravings and/or temper our urge to compare at a superficial level. We should not work solely for the sake of money but rather work in a way that can best contribute to society. Translating this to the society point of view, we produce what we need instead of what we want. This helps to eliminate material excesses and decrease the strain we place on our environment.

At a global scale, we can complement traditional economic measures with non-economic measures. Traditional economic measures such as GDP accurately assesses society's material well-being, but its correlation with quality of life is shoddy at best. You get your Toyota but your Toyota is stuck in a traffic jam. If there is one thing we can learn from this crisis, it is to not focus solely on the bottom line. This is where I hope Sarkozy pulls through and other nations lends their support.

If he succeeds, I will have my french toast, upsized.

Red Remover Puzzle!

For those of you that luved World of Goo and is kiaokahing at home, try out Red Remover . Red Remover is a game that tests your physical orientation and reflexes. It's fairly simple, but if you have nothing better to do, try it!

P.S. I'm not paid to promote the website :)

if

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

John Locke

John Locke. The name of an English philosopher, whose theory of mind has been widely credited for originating the modern conceptions of identity and "the self".

The apple did not fall far from the tree for the John Locke of Lost. His famous prime-time utterance "Don't tell me what I can, or cannot do!" epitomizes the spirit of the 17th-century philospher. Unfortunately for our knife-welding protagonist, such self-belief flatters to deceive on more occasions than probabilistic theory would recommend. Being the subject of puppetry from our favorite villain, Benjamin Linus, John Locke of Lost sacrificed his life where others would not for less. However, credit must be given when credit is due, for his amazing foresight in choosing the mystical island as life-insurer over any bonus paying bailed-out insurer. Our eternal hero rises from his coffin, literally, to do his own thing for another day (until Ben reaches him).

Curiosity killed the cat, but it hasn't killed John Locke. Perhaps he is simply too big to fail. Or maybe somebody should tell him what he can, or cannot do, before another plane crashes.

응급실 - Izi

Nice song, but cant find the english lyrics.

후회 하고 있어요
huhoe hago issoyo
우리 다투던 그 날
uri tatuteon keu nal
괜한 자존심 때문에
kwaenhan chajunshim ttaemune
끝내자고 말을 해버린거야
kkeut na chago mareul hae peorin goya

금방 볼줄 알았어
keumbang pol chul arasseo
날 찾길 바랬어
nal chajgil paraesseo
허나 며칠이 지나도
heona myeochili chinado
아무소식 조차 없어
amu soshik chocha opso

항상내게 너무 잘해줘서
hangsang naege neomu chalhae cheoseo
쉽게 생각했나봐
swipge sanggakhaess na pwa
이젠 알아 내 고집때문에
ijen ara nae kochib taemune
힘들었던 너를
himteurossteon noreul

이 바보야 진짜아니야
I paboya chintcha aniya
아직도 나를 그렇게 몰라
ajikdo nareul keurohke molra
너를 가진 사랑 나밖에 없는데
noreul kajin sarang na pakke ops neunde
제발 나를 떠나가지마
chebal nareul tteona kachima

언제라도 내 편이되준너
onjerado nae pyeoni toejun neo
고마운줄 모르고
komaun chul moreugo
철없이나 멋대로 한거
cheol opsi na meosdaero hangeon
용서할수 없니
yongseo halsu ops ni

이 바보야 진짜아니야
I paboya chintcha aniya
아직도 나를 그렇게 몰라
ajikdo nareul keurohke molra
너를 가진 사랑 나 밖에 없는데
noreul kajin sarang na pakke ops neunde
제발 나를 떠나가지마
chebal nareul tteona kachima

너하나만 사랑하는데
neo hanaman sarangha neunde

이대로 나를 두고 가지마
idaero nareul tugo kachima
나를 버리지마 그냥 꼭 안아줘
nareul peorichima keunyang kkok anajwo
다시사랑 하게 돌아와..
tashi sarang hage torawa..

Funny

Patrice Evra crashes Park's interview and says something random!

What is the greatest sin?

In the book "The Kite Runner", Baba told the protagonist,There is only one sin. And that is theft".

When you give something to someone and then take it away, it is the most cruel sin of all.