2011/02/14

The Best Way You Can Do As Parents

I just stumbled to a very thoughtful post online. I think everyone should read it.

I think that the best you can do as parents is to instill CORE values like being respectful, compassionate, truthful, curious, empathic, etc and hope that NO MATTER WHAT decisions they make for themselves that you don't agree with, they will exhibit those values within their new belief framework.

I believe that this shall applies to everyone no matter what religions, beliefs, social economic status, or education level you have! If you want to make the world a better place, start within your family and children.

Read more of the original post here.

2011/02/11

Dreaming A Dream

So I was having a dinner in a fancy apartment with some very nice people. There were five of us and we were sitting on the big glass table, enjoying very good wine. I sat next to my wife. I didn't know the other three persons.

The friendly lady, who looked in her mid forties, was the host of the dinner. The apartment was hers. Very clean one I must say, something you might see in those interior design magazines. Every thing in that apartment looked shiny and too fragile to be touched.

Living single, childless, and having a top-paying job made all these possible. It's not so hard for her to pampered the guests. It was probably safe to assumed that hosting dinner and making her guests impressed were among a few things in the world that kept her entertained. She dressed herself very well, too. And behind her make-up, you can see a face that once bloomed in her younger years.

The other two persons were a couple. They're younger than the lady host. Both of them were the quite type and mostly shy, but several times in the evening the man broke the ice with some jokes. Maybe they were like me, overwhelmed by the place, the food, the drink or just about everything in the dinner. Most of the time we let the lady host did the talking.

Then suddenly it struck me. I remember the couple! They were on my dream on the previous night. Now, how that possible? I never seen them before the dinner!

So for the first time in the evening, I let myself loose. I started to tell everyone about the dream, thus setting the table attention to me. I began with so much enthusiasm. Because for me, the dream was so fun and absurd that I must share it.

I tried to explain them the dream's context. It was a hard task because I usually never remember my dreams. I recalled a cold winter day. It was on a place that seemed like an exterior of a huge TV studio. I was waiting for an acquittance, who was inside working.

After probably half an hour, he came out from the building to see me. He wasn't alone, he came with someone else. A girl. A girl that looked extremely familiar. The second I finally recognized her, I tried so hard to contained my excitement. But hey, I'm no actor and probably did a terrible job hiding it. The girl was no other than Tina Maze. Who?

This Tina Maze

Surprisingly, I had no problem explaining to them why Tina Maze was on my dream. Maybe unconsciously I'm a big fan and just realized it on my dream. She WAS a great alpine skier anyway, no doubt about that. She was an Olympic medalist, and beloved by the country. Plus, she was often on TV and commercials.

The guy introduced me to Tina Maze, who turned out to be a very nice person. We were talking a bit and then decided to go skiing. No surprise.

A few hours later, me, my wife, Tina and that guy were already in the mountain. There were some small ski resorts with their own ski slopes. The weather was remarkably nice, a few clouds here and there, but mostly sunny and the ground was all covered with snow. I tried skiing first, but after an hour, I decided to go hiking instead. The others continued skiing.

After sunset, we spent the evening at a cabin. We were sitting together near the fireplace, talking about the day. I couldn't remember much at this point, but I was aware that the same couple, who were in the dinner, were there with us in the cabin! That was insane! I didn't remember how they came there at the first place. I haven't never see them before and they were already in my dream!

The dream quickly ended as my baby boy's cry woke me up. That also concluded my story. The couple looked somewhat baffled, yet not so fascinated in figuring out why they were in my dream. They just accepted that these kind of things just happened. Inexplainable. We continued the dinner by opening another bottle of wine.

But suddenly something more absurd happened...


I heard my baby boy crying and I woke up! It took me a few seconds to realized that everything was just a dream! The dinner was a dream! The couple, the lady host, the fancy apartment; Everything was in a dream! And... Tina Maze was a dream WITHIN a dream!!




There was another weird thing. I could swear that in my dream's dream, I felt one whole day was gone. From the meeting with Tina Maze, until the evening at the cabin. Even tough I couldn't recall every single thing and a lot of things were blurred, I could somewhat grasped the length of the time; it felt like one-day long! But when I looked at the clock next to my bed, I only slept no more than one hour and a half.

I thanked Inception for helping to realize that my dream was.. interesting.


DISCLAIMER: Based on true event. However, many details were recreated since I couldn't recall every single thing in my dream.

Pardon The Wait

Sorry for the long pause. I haven't update for a while now. It's not like I'm busy, but between watching Egypt protests and taking care of my son, I've been mostly lazy. No other excuse needed!

Actually, I did write some drafts, which were quite long. However, I didn't managed to finished or published any. Also, the weather has been so nice. So, I rather be outside with my kid. Yes, this is so unlike me. In other words, the weather is THAT nice! Wait a minute, I'm writing another excuse! Nevermind that. And for the meantime, enjoy a joke stolen from the Internet.


----

THE PERFECT HUSBAND


Several men are in the locker room of a golf club when a cellular phone on a bench rings and a man engages the hands-free speaker function and begins to talk. Everyone else in the room stops to listen.

MAN: "Hello!"

WOMAN: "Hi Honey, it's me. Are you at the club?"

MAN: "Yes."

WOMAN: "I'm at the shops now and found this beautiful leather coat. It's only $2,000; is it OK if I buy it?"

MAN: "Sure, go ahead if you like it that much."

WOMAN: "I also stopped by the Lexus dealership and saw the new models. I saw one I really liked."

MAN: "How much?"

WOMAN: "$90,000."

MAN: "OK, but for that price I want it with all the options."

WOMAN: "Great! Oh, and one more thing. I was just talking to Janie and found out that the house I wanted last year is back on the market. They're asking $980,000 for it."

MAN: "Well, then go ahead and make an offer of $900,000. They'll probably take it. If not, we can go the extra eighty-thousand if it's what you really want."

WOMAN: "OK. I'll see you later! I love you so much!"

MAN: "Bye! I love you, too."

The man hangs up. The other men in the locker room are staring at him in astonishment, mouths wide open.

He turns and asks, "Anyone know whose phone this is?"