After a week of first aid course, the test was today. My hands hurt from doing the CPR on dummies. It doesn't help that the instructor thinks that I should press down harder.
Anyway I think we all passed except that I don't know if we will be up to standard in a real situation. I am so scared that in the event that we have to do a head-tilt-chin-lift for CPR, the casualty suffers from a fractured neck and I end up breaking his neck. *shudders
The family picked me up and we went for lunch. I contemplated going for orchestra but was too lazy and tired to. I ended up going home to sleep.
I woke up for dinner and then got a call from Nana who asked if I wanted to go play arcade games. We met at Marina Square. I did win something but ended up spending a lot of money in the process. Perhaps I should put it this way. I won something within forking out out 20 bucks to the machine. However I ended putting more to try again. *grrrr.
I got a Winnie-the-Pooh in hawaiian dress. I think he's gay because he is wearing a skirt..haha.
Nana was super annoyed that she didn't get anything and so we rushed to Plaza Sing to try over there. In the end she did get something; some weird Mickey Mouse pillow shirt.
We had supper (although we shouldn't) and chatted over ideas and other general conversation stuff. We also had to wait like freaking long for NR5. Yucks. We waited for almost an hour I think. When I got back, it was raining and so I also had to run in the rain at 3 a.m. *grrr
Ah well....once in a while doing crazy things like this keeps me sane.
After talking to Nana, I always feel like doing handicrafts again..hehe
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Obama as President of the United States
KY passed me a link: I Didn't Vote For Obama Today
In case you are too lazy to click on the link, here is the article.
I Didn't Vote For Obama Today
November 4, 2008, 9:37AM
I have a confession to make.
I did not vote for Barack Obama today.
I've openly supported Obama since March. But I didn't vote for him today.
I wanted to vote for Ronald Woods. He was my algebra teacher at Clark Junior High in East St. Louis, IL. He died 15 years ago when his truck skidded head-first into a utility pole. He spent many a day teaching us many things besides the Pythagorean Theorem. He taught us about Medgar Evers, Ralph Abernathy, John Lewis and many other civil rights figures who get lost in the shadow cast by Martin Luther King, Jr.
But I didn't vote for Mr. Woods.
I wanted to vote for Willie Mae Cross. She owned and operated Crossroads Preparatory Academy for almost 30 years, educating and empowering thousands of kids before her death in 2003. I was her first student. She gave me my first job, teaching chess and math concepts to kids in grades K-4 in her summer program. She was always there for advice, cheer and consolation. Ms. Cross, in her own way, taught me more about walking in faith than anyone else I ever knew.
But I didn't vote for Ms. Cross.
I wanted to vote for Arthur Mells Jackson, Sr. and Jr. Jackson Senior was a Latin professor. He has a gifted school named for him in my hometown. Jackson Junior was the pre-eminent physician in my hometown for over 30 years. He has a heliport named for him at a hospital in my hometown. They were my great-grandfather and great-uncle, respectively.
But I didn't vote for Prof. Jackson or Dr. Jackson.
I wanted to vote for A.B. Palmer. She was a leading civil rights figure in Shreveport, Louisiana, where my mother grew up and where I still have dozens of family members. She was a strong-willed woman who earned the grudging respect of the town's leaders because she never, ever backed down from anyone and always gave better than she got. She lived to the ripe old age of 99, and has a community center named for her in Shreveport.
But I didn't vote for Mrs. Palmer.
I wanted to vote for these people, who did not live to see a day where a Black man would appear on their ballots on a crisp November morning.
In the end, though, I realized that I could not vote for them any more than I could vote for Obama himself.
So who did I vote for?
No one.
I didn't vote. Not for President, anyway.
Oh, I went to the voting booth. I signed, was given my stub, and was walked over to a voting machine. I cast votes for statewide races and a state referendum on water and sewer improvements.
I stood there, and I thought about all of these people, who influenced my life so greatly. But I didn't vote for who would be the 44th President of the United States.
When my ballot was complete, except for the top line, I finally decided who I was going to vote for - and then decided to let him vote for me. I reached down, picked him up, and told him to find Obama's name on the screen and touch it.
And so it came to pass that Alexander Reed, age 5, read the voting screen, found the right candidate, touched his name, and actually cast a vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Oh, the vote will be recorded as mine. But I didn't cast it.
Then again, the person who actually pressed the Obama box and the red "vote" button was the person I was really voting for all along.
It made the months of donating, phonebanking, canvassing, door hanger distributing, sign posting, blogging, arguing and persuading so much sweeter.
So, no, I didn't vote for Barack Obama. I voted for a boy who now has every reason to believe he, too, can grow up to be anything he wants...even President.
I was profoundly moved. It reminded me of the days where I really did believe that a child can grow up to become anything he wants to be.
Don't ask me what do I believe now. I don't quite know. All I know is deep down in my heart, it is my most fervent wish that a child CAN grow up to become anything he wants to be.
I am happy that Obama won. Perhaps he will usher in a new era of change. After all he is going down in history as the first African American president.
One who overcame all odds to be president.
A child who did grow up to be the President of the United States.
In case you are too lazy to click on the link, here is the article.
I Didn't Vote For Obama Today
November 4, 2008, 9:37AM
I have a confession to make.
I did not vote for Barack Obama today.
I've openly supported Obama since March. But I didn't vote for him today.
I wanted to vote for Ronald Woods. He was my algebra teacher at Clark Junior High in East St. Louis, IL. He died 15 years ago when his truck skidded head-first into a utility pole. He spent many a day teaching us many things besides the Pythagorean Theorem. He taught us about Medgar Evers, Ralph Abernathy, John Lewis and many other civil rights figures who get lost in the shadow cast by Martin Luther King, Jr.
But I didn't vote for Mr. Woods.
I wanted to vote for Willie Mae Cross. She owned and operated Crossroads Preparatory Academy for almost 30 years, educating and empowering thousands of kids before her death in 2003. I was her first student. She gave me my first job, teaching chess and math concepts to kids in grades K-4 in her summer program. She was always there for advice, cheer and consolation. Ms. Cross, in her own way, taught me more about walking in faith than anyone else I ever knew.
But I didn't vote for Ms. Cross.
I wanted to vote for Arthur Mells Jackson, Sr. and Jr. Jackson Senior was a Latin professor. He has a gifted school named for him in my hometown. Jackson Junior was the pre-eminent physician in my hometown for over 30 years. He has a heliport named for him at a hospital in my hometown. They were my great-grandfather and great-uncle, respectively.
But I didn't vote for Prof. Jackson or Dr. Jackson.
I wanted to vote for A.B. Palmer. She was a leading civil rights figure in Shreveport, Louisiana, where my mother grew up and where I still have dozens of family members. She was a strong-willed woman who earned the grudging respect of the town's leaders because she never, ever backed down from anyone and always gave better than she got. She lived to the ripe old age of 99, and has a community center named for her in Shreveport.
But I didn't vote for Mrs. Palmer.
I wanted to vote for these people, who did not live to see a day where a Black man would appear on their ballots on a crisp November morning.
In the end, though, I realized that I could not vote for them any more than I could vote for Obama himself.
So who did I vote for?
No one.
I didn't vote. Not for President, anyway.
Oh, I went to the voting booth. I signed, was given my stub, and was walked over to a voting machine. I cast votes for statewide races and a state referendum on water and sewer improvements.
I stood there, and I thought about all of these people, who influenced my life so greatly. But I didn't vote for who would be the 44th President of the United States.
When my ballot was complete, except for the top line, I finally decided who I was going to vote for - and then decided to let him vote for me. I reached down, picked him up, and told him to find Obama's name on the screen and touch it.
And so it came to pass that Alexander Reed, age 5, read the voting screen, found the right candidate, touched his name, and actually cast a vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Oh, the vote will be recorded as mine. But I didn't cast it.
Then again, the person who actually pressed the Obama box and the red "vote" button was the person I was really voting for all along.
It made the months of donating, phonebanking, canvassing, door hanger distributing, sign posting, blogging, arguing and persuading so much sweeter.
So, no, I didn't vote for Barack Obama. I voted for a boy who now has every reason to believe he, too, can grow up to be anything he wants...even President.
I was profoundly moved. It reminded me of the days where I really did believe that a child can grow up to become anything he wants to be.
Don't ask me what do I believe now. I don't quite know. All I know is deep down in my heart, it is my most fervent wish that a child CAN grow up to become anything he wants to be.
I am happy that Obama won. Perhaps he will usher in a new era of change. After all he is going down in history as the first African American president.
One who overcame all odds to be president.
A child who did grow up to be the President of the United States.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Trying out the arcade machine.
I met up with Branded today and we had a long chat over dinner. I had coffee which wasn't a good idea. I will be awake till late tonight.
Anyway after coffee I wanted to try out an arcade trick that Nana taught. I tried it out at one of the machines that allows for the capture of plush toys. I changed 10 bucks, if it didn't work, then that was that.
I chose a machine that was filled with cute hamsters. I wasted one dollar making sense of the machine. I haven't tried it in years and when I tried it in my primary school days, I always thought it was a scam because it seemed like the only way one could out win the machine was to shake it and nobody was allowed to do that.
Irritatingly, a crowd of people gathered and I was nervous. I ended up pushing the hamster to an even more unlikely position to be captured. Miffed, I moved away and was contemplating whether or not to try again. In the end Branded was saying there wasn't any harm since I've already changed the money. Yeah, I was prepared to the lose ten bucks anyway.
I tried again at another machine. It took me 3 tries and I got the plush toy !!! I am too lazy to post up a picture of it. I googled the company name and subsequently managed to ID the soft toy but I couldn't get the exact picture. Here is a variation of the toy:
Anyway after coffee I wanted to try out an arcade trick that Nana taught. I tried it out at one of the machines that allows for the capture of plush toys. I changed 10 bucks, if it didn't work, then that was that.
I chose a machine that was filled with cute hamsters. I wasted one dollar making sense of the machine. I haven't tried it in years and when I tried it in my primary school days, I always thought it was a scam because it seemed like the only way one could out win the machine was to shake it and nobody was allowed to do that.
Irritatingly, a crowd of people gathered and I was nervous. I ended up pushing the hamster to an even more unlikely position to be captured. Miffed, I moved away and was contemplating whether or not to try again. In the end Branded was saying there wasn't any harm since I've already changed the money. Yeah, I was prepared to the lose ten bucks anyway.
I tried again at another machine. It took me 3 tries and I got the plush toy !!! I am too lazy to post up a picture of it. I googled the company name and subsequently managed to ID the soft toy but I couldn't get the exact picture. Here is a variation of the toy:
It is a Banpresto 'Chopper'. Banpresto was a sub-contractor of Sega and is now partially owned by Bandai. It now focuses on prize machines.
Now about Chopper, as I do not follow Japanese entertainment stuff much, I had to really look it up. Chopper was an ostracised reindeer due to the blue nose. It ate a magic fruit and then attained cognitive processes. I think the character is either from an animation or a game. Not much information is available from the 15 minutes spent researching on the character.
Nana was mentioning that plush toys in the arcades can be limited editions, not available elsewhere. She intends to wrap things up and sell them in the future. Maybe I should start doing the same.
I spent 8 bucks, out of which 3 bucks was at the machine of 'Chopper'.
I am vastly amused, not to mention happy and imbued with a sense of achievement. Haha.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Wherein I try to reassure myself of responsibility
Does irresponsibility stem from selfishness?
When is it not right to place your rights and happiness above duty? When it stops being fair? When it inconveniences others?
But then it raises the question of what is fair? Inherent in the question is what exactly is good?
If work is distributed do you fulfill your committment no matter what or do you shirk it the minute you can?
Sometimes I think my most fundamentals is to 'never take the easy way out'. Yet I feel that I compromise myself because although I try not to inconvenience others, I sometimes end up as a solution for others.
It's times like this where I once again lament the use of morals.
But I guess we all do what we can and hope that recognition comes. If it doesn't, we just have to hope that what we have is enough.
When is it not right to place your rights and happiness above duty? When it stops being fair? When it inconveniences others?
But then it raises the question of what is fair? Inherent in the question is what exactly is good?
If work is distributed do you fulfill your committment no matter what or do you shirk it the minute you can?
Sometimes I think my most fundamentals is to 'never take the easy way out'. Yet I feel that I compromise myself because although I try not to inconvenience others, I sometimes end up as a solution for others.
It's times like this where I once again lament the use of morals.
But I guess we all do what we can and hope that recognition comes. If it doesn't, we just have to hope that what we have is enough.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
A short review on moisturisers
I recently indulged in hand lotions and hand creams. $106 for L'Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream (150 mL) and Shea Butter Extra Gentle Lotion for Hands & Body - Milk (300 mL)
You can probably tell that it is the cheaper lotion on application. For one, the scent is thinner and has less depth to it. The texture is light, fast-absorbing, definitely a water-based moisturiser. However the penetration is there. In fact I vary my moisturisers a lot based on mood and stocks at hand. In my compulsive-obsessive nights when I was studying for my Uni. exams, I would actually apply the Cyclax Aloe Vera moisturisers before applying a heavier lotion or cream.
I've also used The Body Shop Body Butter. Now, that is extremely moisturising, probably good for overseas where the humidity is way lower. In Singapore, the Body Butter can be a bit overpowering and uncomfortable if you do not sleep in an air-conditioned room or not used to moisturisers.
The rest of the moisturisers that I have used like Vaseline, Jergens, Nivea and Johnson & Johnson are too way back for me to give a fair and adequate review. Jergens was pretty good. Nivea and Johnson & Johnson had pleasant scents though I remembered the latter as being too manufactured for my taste. However I would like to try possibly the Nivea one as I remembered the scent as being extremely pleasant.
After the long entry, I guess it is now time to go and re-apply my moisturisers. Toodles.
I like the scent of nice-smelling hands. That is also why I hate washing dishes and chopping garlic. After mincing garlic, the smell lingers for days and unlike the fresh zesty smell it changes into an unpleasant almost disgusting smell so much so that I cannot bear to even have my hands in front of me.
If I do have so much lotions and creams oh why pray tell do I need to spend $106 on 2 extra tube and bottles? That's because hand lotions and creams are a niche area. They are my sinful indulgence and I always have to have something everywhere and I cannot bear to see one finishing and not buy another to replace it.
I am finishing this soon.
The Honey and Lemon Hand Cream from L'Occitane really does smell of lemons and honey. It was ok for application but I wouldn't get that again as there are hand creams with scents that appeals more to me.
I have also tried most of the hand creams from Crabtree and Evelyn.
My favourite scent will be the Nantucket Briar which reminds me of the clean scent of British soap. It used to be La Source which follows the scent of most sea-related ocean scent but it got to be too cliche for me. Lavender always reminded me of washing detergents although I got it for a friend because she said that that scent calms her. I still have a 100 mL of Rosewater. The scent is quite similar to the Rose Velvet from L'Occitane except that I think upon application, the Rose Velvet somehow diffuses faster. I am guessing that is because the water content is higher.
I was recently asked if expensive hand creams do make a difference. Frankly, they may not. What makes a good hand cream or lotion is in its ability to penetrate the skin as well as prevent moisture loss. That will mean the lotion or cream should contain a good ratio of water as well as oil content for it to work. You may recall that the human cell have hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts to it. Anyway I digressed. The effectiveness of hand creams and lotions may vary for individual because some of our hands are drier than others.
I have dry skin. Some cheaper drugstore brands do work perfectly fine for me whereas some do not and cover my skin like some oily gook. Granted that it contains the preventing moisture loss part, it is still simply too icky for me to bear.
L'occitane hand creams and lotions experienced so far tend to be more absorbing and less greasy compared to Crabtree and Evelyn. However I suspect that Crabtree and Evelyn lasts longer for me.
Other cheaper brands that I've found to work perfectly includes Cyclax. My personal favourite is the Cyclax Aloe Vera moisturiser (I couldn't find a better picture). The company was granted the Royal Warrant by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1961. Supposedly Royal Warrants are a mark of recognition to people or companies who have regularly supplied goods or services to certain members of the Royal Family. It used to be available at most John Little outlets but I haven't checked if they still carry it. You can get a fair bit for less than 10 bucks if there is a sale.
You can probably tell that it is the cheaper lotion on application. For one, the scent is thinner and has less depth to it. The texture is light, fast-absorbing, definitely a water-based moisturiser. However the penetration is there. In fact I vary my moisturisers a lot based on mood and stocks at hand. In my compulsive-obsessive nights when I was studying for my Uni. exams, I would actually apply the Cyclax Aloe Vera moisturisers before applying a heavier lotion or cream.I've also used The Body Shop Body Butter. Now, that is extremely moisturising, probably good for overseas where the humidity is way lower. In Singapore, the Body Butter can be a bit overpowering and uncomfortable if you do not sleep in an air-conditioned room or not used to moisturisers.
The rest of the moisturisers that I have used like Vaseline, Jergens, Nivea and Johnson & Johnson are too way back for me to give a fair and adequate review. Jergens was pretty good. Nivea and Johnson & Johnson had pleasant scents though I remembered the latter as being too manufactured for my taste. However I would like to try possibly the Nivea one as I remembered the scent as being extremely pleasant.
After the long entry, I guess it is now time to go and re-apply my moisturisers. Toodles.
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