Record My Mind: Banal Records of a Pedestrian Life

Moving Blog

2005-05-27T01:49:00.000+08:00

I've moved house and now I'm moving blog. New address is www.recordmymind.com/blogNo more new entries at this blog after this post.Adeline - send me email. I just realised I don't have your email address nor Perth contact information.Cheryl Lye - sorry I've been MIA. Will try to catch up with you over the next two weeks. The book is "Confessions of an Advertising Man" by David Ogilvy.Both Adeline

Moving

2005-04-27T18:39:00.000+08:00

I'm moving tomorrow morning. Took leave today. Here's a record of what I did today: Cleared the masterbed room of my stuff, which involved the following: moving my TV and DVD player from the Masterbed room to my mum's room moving the sofa down the stairs alone emptying the wardrobe of my clothes. Moved best friend's TV, DVD and VCD player from my mum's room to the

Dashing Boon

2005-04-22T22:15:00.000+08:00

In the name of "blog first, think later", I want to record down the 12 % or $217 discount I got from my electrician. From my mum's account, the work of the painter and electrician is quite good. I'll be verifying it tomorrow when I go to see the flat and pay the electrician. For those who don't know, I'm moving back to my humble Clementi HDB flat. I look forward to spending time there with my

Open Source Yoga?

2005-04-21T00:59:00.000+08:00

I never thought that yoga could be the subject of a copyright lawsuit.

Is Your Illness All In the Mind?

2005-04-20T23:26:00.000+08:00

Controversial and intriguing stuff via PsyBlog: Is Your Illness All In the Mind?Nonetheless, this mind-body link is something that I would like to believe in, having seen more than one case of how stress and negative mindsets can lead to irreversible physical illness.The HeartMath Report also seems interesting. It is "a journal devoted to developments in how thoughts and emotions affect our

My blogshares value

2005-04-16T01:19:00.000+08:00

Still don't really know what it means, but my blogshares value has risen, quite dramatically, to B$1,720.01.

Why I blog so little about my personal life

2005-04-16T00:39:00.000+08:00

I'm listening to Hysteria from Def Leppard's Hysteria album. I'm gonna go into hiding. Oh boy, I never realised how dangerous it can be to talk to a blogger. Hmmm, now a certain group of people I've never met before are gonna have views of me and my girlfriend that I may not be entirely comfortable with. And I'm like too lazy to do anything about it at this moment.Anyway, I met up with a good

Seneca on time management and death

2005-04-07T02:15:00.000+08:00

More stuff from Seneca that struck me:But putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune's control and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are

Seneca on Friendship

2005-03-29T00:45:00.000+08:00

No time. No time. No time to blog. Too much has passed and too little has been recorded and will soon be forgotten and lost.In a previous post I wrote that I almost bought Seneca's On The Shortness of Life. Well, I bought it today and have started reading it. Was reminded of Chris when I read this passage from On Tranquillity of Mind:But nothing delights the mind so much as fond and loyal

Which Obsolete Skill Are You?

2005-03-16T02:19:00.000+08:00

You are 'regularly metric verse'. This can takemany forms, including heroic couplets, blankverse, and other iambic pentameters, forexample. It has not been used much since thenineteenth century; modern poets tend to preferrhyme without meter, or even poetry withneither rhyme nor meter.You appreciate the beautiful things in life--thejoy of music, the color of leaves falling, therhythm of a

New Place In Town: Eski Bar

2005-03-15T23:51:00.000+08:00

Via email, Chris alerted me today to a new interesting-sounding nightspot in Singapore: Cold Bar Shiver as you drink at new ice-cold bar in steamy Singapore SINGAPORE (AP) Not only the drinks are ice cold at the Eski Bar, a new nightspot in tropical Singapore. The room temperature is so cold that staff wear heavy coats and ski caps, and patrons get a 10 percent discount if they show up

New Look!!!

2005-03-15T12:48:00.000+08:00

Via Blogger Templates, I found a template I liked here and just uploaded it for this site. I like the simple layout.

Life: A Quiet Crackle of Popping Pods

2005-03-14T01:26:00.000+08:00

Following the theme of death in my previous posts on Lin Yutang and Philip Larkin, Julian Barnes describes another haunting metaphor from Alphonso Daudet, another forgotten writer like Lin Yutang, on the transience of life: He had no illusions about immortality. He and Goncourt had discussed the matter in 1891. Goncourt outlined his own beliefs: that death means complete annihilation, that we are

A Cry of Defiance in the face of Death: Long Live Life!

2005-03-14T01:23:00.000+08:00

Alphonso Daudet had written:The clever way death cuts us down, but makes it look like just a thinning-out. Generations never fall with one blow - that would be too sad and too obvious. Death prefers to do it piecemeal. The meadow is attacked from several sides at the same time. One of us goes one day; another some time afterwards; you have to stand back and look around you to take in what's

The Art of Suffering

2005-03-14T01:20:00.000+08:00

Alphonso Daudet suffered from a form of syphilis that caused his back to waste away. (What's with writers and venereal disease? Maupassant had syphilis. Tolstoy was treated for venereal disease when he was 22. Hasty Generalization?)Julian Barnes writes: His response, both personal and literary, to his condition was admirable. "Courage... means not scaring others," Larkin wrote. Numerous

ADD and excessive ambition: Too many "To reads"

2005-03-12T04:52:00.000+08:00

No need to buy books liao.To read (in no order):Personal IdentityPragmatic arguments for believing in GodRevision theory of truthCorrespondance theory of truthCoherence theory of truthDeflationary theory of truthIdentity theory of truthThe Semantic Conception of Truth and the Foundations of Semantics (To read again. Forgot what it's about)Tarski on Truth: The Liar TParaconsistent LogicTarski's

Cold Feet

2005-03-10T08:17:00.000+08:00

I've taken down some posts today because I didn't feel comfortable about putting them online where people know my identity. But to continue indulging in my exhibitionistic tendencies, I'm going to start another blog where I'll be anonymous and can put up more personal stuff like potential personal scandals, nude photos and sordid accounts of my sex life. Haha. A truly frank, open, vulnerable

The Chinese Romantic Attitude to Mortality

2005-03-10T04:28:00.000+08:00

I wish I wrote these words instead of Lin Yutang: A sad, poetic touch is added to this intense love of life by the realization that this life we have is essentially mortal. Strange to say, this sad awareness of our mortality makes the Chinese scholar's enjoyment of life all the more keen and intense. For if this earthly existence is all we have, we must try the harder to enjoy it while it lasts..

3 Notebooks

2005-03-09T14:22:00.000+08:00

As part of my project of organizing my life and working towards resolutions 3 and 4, I bought a notebook to record down all the errands I need to run.Now, I have three notebooks that I always carry around. One notebook for writing down random ideas, observations, quotes and anything that catches my fancy. Another notebook for keeping track of my expenditure (and boy

An Afternoon with Sonny Lim

2005-03-08T22:11:00.000+08:00

Despite having slept only 1.5 hours today, I went to meet Sonny. I sent him a text message last night and wanted to bail out on him today because I felt too tired. When he replied that he cancelled two appointments so he could meet me, I could not but change my mind and turn up for our appointment today. In his words "Friendship comes first" and he had missed the first rehearsal and a photoshoot

To read: Richard Montague and Formal Semantics

2005-03-08T01:01:00.000+08:00

To read: Barbara Partee's personal account of the development of formal semantics; Her article on Montague Grammar; Her two page biography of Richard Montague; and In Memoriam by Furth, Chang and Church. Items 1 and 3 via Semantics archive.

Random record

2005-03-05T17:25:00.000+08:00

Can't believe the weekend is here. Slept till 3 p.m. today. Been so tired it's affecting my libido (That normally indicates to me how fatigued or depressed I am). Going out daily for the past two weeks. No time to do my shit at home. I was planning to go for a swim and get a tan but since I have so much undone stuff at home, I'm gonna stay home and pack. Will be moving out of Dunearn Road

Wah lau eh

2005-03-02T23:20:00.000+08:00

Just got home from my bike lesson at Ubi. Wah lau eh, I still haven't cleared my first practical bike lesson after going for it three times. Instructor Aziz said I need to improve my cornering and speed control. I was doing the figure of 8 too slowly. At least I'm getting better.Today, I've learnt these things: Release the throttle before changing gear or slowing down. When braking at high

Comparing navel gazing notes over Tony Cafe's Chicken Rice and Peninsula Shopping Centre's Teh Halia

2005-03-02T15:01:00.000+08:00

Had lunch with Chris today. Two INTPs talking.He took 3 days to digest the fact that I'm ready to commit to someone again instead of staunchly embracing depravity and selfish, irrepressibly irresponsible free-spirited singlehood. While discussing casual, non-committal open (CNCO) relationships, he brought up the distinction between involvement and commitment. Lack of commitment does not entail

Lessons from Uganda

2005-02-25T01:56:00.000+08:00

Like Uganda, Singapore adopts the A (Abstinence), B (Being faithful), C (Condom) approach in dealing with AIDS. The futility of emphasizing A in this three-pronged approach is apparent in these two news article here (registration required) and here.I believe the emphasis should be on C since those who are most likely to spread the epidemic are those least likely to abstain from sex. That group

Chuang Tzu, Seneca and Yu Xuanji

2005-02-24T02:41:00.000+08:00

Just visited MPH at Raffles City. Felt dismayed and agitated that there are more interesting books out there than I could possibly read. As Chuang Tzu said, "Human life is limited, but knowledge is limitless. To drive the limited in pursuit of the limitless is fatal; and to presume that one really knows is fatal indeed!". Fatal futility: that sums up my exasperation whenever I enter a bookstore

The idle philosopher on the importance of taking a good dump

2005-02-16T23:46:00.000+08:00

While browsing in a Chinese bookstore at Bras Brasah yesterday afternoon, I bought Lin Yutang's Mingliaotse's Travels.This is the picture of the author who "avoids having his pictures published because he says he doesn't want to spoil his readers' illusion of him as a grand old wise man of the East, with a flowing beard".Besides his sense of humour, I also enjoyed Lin Yutang's writing style. He

Promises to myself

2005-02-15T15:33:00.000+08:00

In 2005, I resolve to:1 Understand myself better. Figure out the aim of my life. Be more objective and rationalize less. Be more self-aware and observant. Apply all the critical faculties at my disposal to study, analyze and examine my behavior, impulses and thoughts. Be clear about my objectives before I do anything. Be more confident of my needs and assert them where necessary.

The Tanner Lectures on Human Values

2005-02-11T00:52:00.000+08:00

Excellent stuff: The Tanner Lectures on Human Values and the Reith lectures. Confession: I've only read one of the Reith lectures and none of the Tanner lectures.But I intend to read the Tanner lectures here by Nagel (The Limits of Objectivity), Passmore (The Representative Arts as a Source of Truth), and Prigogine (Only an Illusion)....

Aubade

2005-02-09T02:30:00.000+08:00

My favourite poem is by Philip Larkin:Aubade I work all day, and get half-drunk at night. Waking at four to soundless dark, I stare. In time the curtain-edges will grow light. Till then I see what's really always there: Unresting death, a whole day nearer now, Making all thought impossible but how And where and when I shall myself die. Arid interrogation: yet the

Heaps of Happy-Face Solutions

2005-02-08T20:20:00.001+08:00

My immediate thought after reading this review of Liars and Heaps: New Essays On Paradox a few nights ago was to co-author a paper on the Sorites paradox with Mark, a thought that has occurred to me before. It's also something that I brought up to him in the past. He was my supervisor when I wrote my Honours thesis on this topic and approached it from an angle he developed. One of my examiners

Is the problem external or internal?

2005-02-08T01:01:00.000+08:00

Read this story from the winter 2003 issue of Buddhadharma: Years ago, when he was a wandering monk, living on his own on a mountainside above a village, he kept a strict meditation schedule. In Thailand they love outdoor, nightlong film shows because the nights are cool compared to the very hot days. Whenever there was a party, it tended to go on all night. About fify years ago, public

How to fall into a woman's arms without falling into her hands

2005-02-07T01:05:00.000+08:00

Found Georges Bataille Electronic Library while googling "Georges Bataille". I clicked on PervScan, and chanced upon an article by Sebastian Horsley on his love for prostitutes, an article I had read earlier from Arts & Letters (a highly recommended site) . Here are some controversial excerpts: The great thing about sex with whores is the excitement and variety. If you say you're enjoying sex

Updated Wish List

2005-02-06T04:54:00.000+08:00

I've updated my Amazon wishlist. If you are feeling generous or would like to buy me a present for any occasion, you won't go wrong with the books here. It may also be cheaper to go through ResearchBooks Asia if you are in Singapore rather than ordering directly from Amazon.

Maxims of Blog

2005-02-06T01:10:00.000+08:00

I came across an old but brilliant post on Language Log. Needless to say, I don't follow any of the maxims of blog here. Nonetheless, the tongue-in-cheek post made me laugh. Here is an excerpt that simultaneously explains and demonstrates the maxim of digression: Maxim of Digression: Digress. (Especially (auto)biographically. Note that Gorky was born Aleksey Maksimovich Peshkov, and "Maxim"

1000 year old lost city found in Johor?

2005-02-05T01:29:00.000+08:00

Interesting news: Kota Gelanggi or Perbendaharaan Permata (Treasury of Jewels), believed by researchers to be the first trade centre of the Srivijaya empire may have been found in Johor by Raimy Che-Ross. If verified, this discovery would mean that Johor would replace Malacca as the city where modern Malay history started. Raided by a Chola conqueror in 1025 A.D., the ruins of Kota Gelanngi,

Psychics Debunked: The Art of Cold Reading

2005-02-04T01:30:00.000+08:00

James Randi, the famous magician, debunks psychic readers here. For those who, like me, are rather interested in fortune telling, remind yourself that this debunking applies equally well to fortune tellers.

To read: Pragmatics and other stuff

2005-02-03T23:55:00.000+08:00

Chanced upon this site. I've always wanted to learn about Pragmatics. I'm being ADD as usual. Besides that, today I also read a bit of Deng Xiaoping's biography here and printed out the first chapter of this Chinese Swordfighting novel by Jin Yong. It doesn't help that I'm also trying to learn how to recognise the most commonly used traditional Chinese characters here while reading my Gandhi

I'm back

2005-02-03T21:12:00.000+08:00

I'm back to blogging even though I had decided to stop and simplify my life (New Year resolution). Another reason is also because I've started a notebook to record my life (another New Year resolution) and I saw no need in spending extra time to censor and put stuff up on the net. However, the stuff out there on the net is just too exciting for me not to give my two cents worth or share it. But

R.I.P. Blackie

2005-01-19T18:30:00.000+08:00

Blackie is dead. She passed away at 5:10 p.m. today. The Mahs decided to put her down today. I took urgent leave after they informed me at eleven plus in the morning. She was in too much pain, at times collapsing after standing up. The Mahs wanted to end her suffering as quickly as possible. Their decision this morning surprised everyone. They came back only last night. It was not obvious to A

How Love Should Be

2005-01-16T02:41:00.000+08:00

Life is strange. It takes someone like FF to make me realise how falling and being in love should be. It should be like this: Conversation is effortless, i.e. not a chore. Courtship is effortless, i.e. not a chore.Both persons' spontaneous behaviour is mutually enjoyable. I resolve to refuse relationships with a girl that does not make me feel this way, like how FF made me feel tonight.

Quirky Thought

2005-01-13T13:21:00.000+08:00

A quirky thought occurred to me today as I entered a shop selling plastic flowers. I would buy a plastic plant and play a little joke on myself and my colleagues everyday. Every morning, I would water the plastic plant at the pantry. Being idiosyncratic, that quirky thought made me laugh.

Blackie...

2005-01-13T02:07:00.000+08:00

Came home and found that Blackie had shitted in the study. The stench was overwhelming. I wanted to puke as I was cleaning up her shit. It's probably because I'm not used to doing this. Under any other circumstances, I would have been angry with Blackie. But because she's very ill and would not have normally shitted in the house, I didn't get angry at all; though I was very dismayed that I had

Grim options

2005-01-11T18:15:00.000+08:00

I was holding back tears. Just called CC to inform him of what Dr. Boon told me. The ultrasound scan revealed a mass found between Blackie's right kidney and liver. The mass is likely be a tumour that is causing her weight loss. Her right kidney's structure has changed so greatly that it is no longer recognisable. Her left kidney looks normal. She is likely to be suffering from a terminal

Leaving for the vet

2005-01-11T06:50:00.000+08:00

Just spoke to CC a short while ago. I'm leaving for the vet now. It's ridiculous, I went to bed at 1 a.m. and it's 7 a.m. now and I haven't been able to catch a wink. When we left the vet last evening, Desmond remarked that Blackie still looked quite happy as she managed to wag her tail on some occasions. Her temperament is indeed exceptional for a dog. I hope if and when I am faced with a

Sleepless

2005-01-11T04:30:00.000+08:00

I can't sleep. Too much mental chatter. Might as well record down what happened today. I blogged an entry at 1:25 a.m. yesterday after a conversation with Chris. However, due to some cock-up, I must have deleted the post. Will re-post when I have the time. I met FF at 3 plus in the morning yesterday and slept only at 7 the same morning. I must have been awake for about 48 hours at that point.

Home

2005-01-09T23:45:00.000+08:00

I got home safely but only after a nett delay of 3 hours and 40 minutes. The plane was scheduled to take off on 8 Jan 05 at 12 p.m. from Amsterdam. But it only took off at 6 p.m. and only after we were made to stay in the plane till 2 p.m. Engine number 3 of our Malaysian Airline (MAS) plane could not start due to a problem in the starter. We landed in K.L. on 09 Jan 05 at 12 p.m. and missed

Anne Frank House

2005-01-02T19:15:00.000+08:00

I'm doing the hardcore tourist circuit (and feeling slightly ridiculous) with a group of seven other people. We went to the Anne Frank House today. It's a museum worth visiting. The footage taken by the British Army after the liberation makes compelling viewing. I keep telling myself for the longest time that I must read the diary of Anne Frank. After this trip, I'll find myself a Chinese

New Year's Eve at Nieurmarkt

2005-01-01T20:30:00.000+08:00

I just came back from the second canal boat tour of this trip. The first time was alone. The second time was with the group. I will be posting the pictures when I return to Singapore. And before I forget (perhaps this should be the description for my blog), I am blogging this down: I spent New Year's eve at Nieurmarkt. It was awesome! The Dutch really know how to party. This is the first New

The Doorway

2005-01-01T20:10:00.000+08:00

Poignant moments appear at the strangest places. At the doorway, I heard something that made me want to tear. A sad bubble surfaced from the heart to the mouth of the person before me. One simple sentence was uttered and we could only stare at each other as we both, from our different situations and perspectives, felt the poignancy of that moment well up in our eyes. I twisted the doorknob and

Tales of A Recovering Amnesiac

2004-12-30T21:50:00.000+08:00

I spent most of today alone. It was wonderful. I needed a break from the group and some personal space and time. I went to the Albert Cuyp market today. Things there are much cheaper than in the touristy area I was staying in. I was tempted to buy a winter jacket for 10 euros. But it didn't make sense to add weight to my luggage and have it take up space when I don't use it anymore in Singapore

Snowing, Andre's arrival and Dinner at Christophe

2004-12-28T02:30:00.000+08:00

It started snowing today. I have a throat infection. Andre arrived this morning with Jane. Despite our last unpleasant exchange, we put things behind us and behaved as if nothing bad had happened, which is good and to our credit. Guys shouldn't behave any other way over small quarrels. He was very nice to me; he picked up my camera battery charger for me and gave me some "expired" antibiotics

Museum visit

2004-12-27T20:39:00.000+08:00

We bought the Amsterdam Pass yesterday from the Tourist Office near Central Station. 51 euros for a 3 day pass. This is a good deal as it includes unlimited travel on the trams, metro and buses and museum visits. We spent 5 hours at the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. I'm totally exhausted now.

Here in Amsterdam

2004-12-26T13:15:00.000+08:00

I have arrived safely in Amsterdam as scheduled. It's not as cold as I expected. Stuff is really expensive here, one can of Redbull costs 2.50 euros. A bottle of water costs the same. If I keep converting back to SGD, I'll never buy anything here. I also managed to get in touch with some people I met in Amsterdam in 2000. I hope to meet both of them next week. Im looking forward to meeting

Balancing my brain

2004-12-22T23:30:00.000+08:00

Did I tell anyone that according to an online personality test (link to be uploaded if and when I can find the site again), I was diagnosed with Adult Attention Deficit Disorder (Adult ADD)? And surprisingly, I have a friend who had the same online diagnosis too. What's more, we have been scoring almost identical for the online personality tests that we did not score identically! One friend says

Papadams from Amsterdam

2004-12-21T23:45:00.000+08:00

I'm so excited! I'm going to Amsterdam. Listening to the yearning rock ballads from the album Soundshake by the Thai rock band Clash (I don't understand Thai but they sound like ballads of yearning) and reading an email from my best friend really sets the mood. I was finding it such a drag to frantically run errands, schedule appointments and plan for the trip that any feelings of excitement

Relationships need to be more than constant conjoining

2004-12-20T01:00:00.000+08:00

Philosophers' break-up lines is quite funny. But you need some Philosophy background to appreciate the jokes. The Humean break-up line v 2.0 "Relationships need to be more than constant conjoining" made me laugh and reminded me of Joey's honours thesis on backwards causation.

Paul Edwards is dead

2004-12-19T05:30:00.000+08:00

Read from Brian Leiter's blog that Paul Edwards, the editor of The Encyclopedia of Philosophy is dead. The New York Times obituary is here. Yes, I know the Encyclopedia set looks impressive. Unfortunately, that's all I have done since I bought Paul Edward's Encyclopedia: take a picture of it.

Blackie's visit to the vet

2004-12-19T01:24:00.000+08:00

I brought Blackie to the vet again today. The last visit was 9 days ago. She's been feeling very lethargic lately, sleeping a lot. Her eyes are still red, the left eye doesn't open fully and she doesn't always finish her food. The vet said that her legs look better than the last time and after examining her abdomen, recommended an X-ray, which was not taken the last time. The X-ray revealed

At Phuture

2004-12-18T03:02:00.000+08:00

At Phuture, I was feeling really dowdy and unhappening and too old. But I'm glad these pictures with Cheryl turned out nicely. Cheryl's blog is found here. It's always an honour to take a picture with a cute girl. Heh. It's obvious I need a haircut too. The photos were taken by Chris using my Ricoh Caplio G4. I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality of the pictures. I must get Chris to teach

Best Blogs in Asia

2004-12-17T15:16:00.000+08:00

I'm always a bit slow on the uptake. Took an interest in this contest only recently and only because I wanted to vote for Daryl's blog; recently got into all this blogging business; and wanted to read more Singapore blogs. I really like the stuff Daryl links to and if anyone reads this, I urge you to go and vote for him here. Voting closes on 31 Dec 04. Shit, I need to get some work done. Got

Too fast

2004-12-17T10:30:00.000+08:00

Life passes by too quickly for me to blog. And I find myself constantly backdating all my entries. But let me try nonetheless to make current records of my life and mind. I just wrote and sent some thank you cards after buying some gifts last night. I always find shopping and sending such cards a chore. And I always feel that I don't devote enough time to doing these things. Still, I'm always

Old content and other stuff

2004-12-13T10:45:00.000+08:00

I'll be importing some journal entries from my old website. These entries are all dated before 01 Dec 04. So, don't be confused when you read that my virgin post was dated 01 Dec 04. And in my typically honest fashion, I must confess that I backdate many of my posts.

Clapton is God!

2004-12-13T01:32:00.000+08:00

I'm learning how to play All Your Love from this album. I never knew Eric Clapton sounded so happening in his early days and I've never been turned on by his playing until I heard this album. As Chris said, Clapton now and Clapton in his Bluesbreakers days are essentially two different players. And I prefer the earlier Clapton! The solo to All Your Love is damn steam!

Recommended: Pirates Choice

2004-12-12T19:20:00.001+08:00

Bought this double-cd album last month. Very laid back and groovy. Consistently good songs on both cds. Wish I had seen them when they came to Singapore.

Setting Mathematical Proofs to Music

2004-12-10T21:15:00.000+08:00

Ever wondered how a mathematical proof sounds like? Find out here and listen to how Russell's Paradox, the Schroder-Bernstein Theorem and Zermelo's Well Ordering Theorem sound like when set to music.

Record My Mind

2004-12-05T20:10:00.000+08:00

In case anyone is wondering, I got the title of this blog from a comment on another blog. And the description is from a quote by Plotinus: "Mankind is poised midway between the gods and the beasts." I've always felt torn between two directions: upwards and downwards.

The appeal of Zen Buddhism

2004-12-04T01:14:00.000+08:00

During another lunch with Chris, I told him about a funny passage I read in another book. The passage describes the routine hardships Zen monks undergo. Because it is so funny, I'll quote it at length: "Living a life of such physical deprivation, sleepiness is like a chronic illness, and the stomach is hungry year-round. Even the person of considerable desires undergoes a simplification: his

Play The Man, Not The Hand

2004-12-03T20:20:00.000+08:00

During lunch many weeks back, Chris lamented how his bimbotic colleague would always get her way with the boss and have all her lousy stories published in the paper while he would be having a hard time with his boss over his proposed stories. A line from a book I read came to mind and I told him about "Play the man, not the hand". Not everyone is persuaded by reason and the best way for you to

Some History

2004-12-02T20:25:00.000+08:00

Daryl turned me on to blogs in a big way and Chris encouraged me to blog all my random thoughts down so that the world will not be a poorer place. Yeah right! But I procrastinated and took the longest time to actually start posting. Three weeks ago, I signed up with Typepad and spent most of the free 30 day trial period designing my Typepad blog and not even publishing a single post! Being

Virgin Post

2004-12-01T01:12:00.000+08:00

I've lost my virginity. It wasn't what I expected. But this is it - my first post.

Letting Go at the Right Time

2004-06-24T21:04:00.000+08:00

I've been meaning to record and write about so many things but I just didn't have enough motivation. Finally, sufficient motivation came tonight after reading this passage from Thich Nhat Hanh's Thundering Silence: Sutra on Knowing the Better Way To Catch a Snake: "Bhikus, I have told you many times the importance of knowing when it is time to let go of a raft and not hold onto it unnecessarily.

Feeling High And Terrified

2004-05-22T23:40:00.000+08:00

Life is both wonderful and terrifying. Wonderful because it is a gift. Terrifying because I don't know what to do with it. It's all very mysterious.

Great Doubt, Great Enlightenment. Little Doubt, Little Enlightenment. No doubt, No Enlightenment.

2004-05-16T22:47:00.000+08:00

To some, agnosticism amounts to an indecisive sitting on the fence deserving of contempt. To me, it was always the most rational, open-minded and tenable position. It reflected an honest acknowledgment of ignorance, i.e. one can't decide not because one is wish-washy but because one has no basis to conclude either way. Hence, I was very thrilled last night to read about this description of

Starting on Undecidability

2004-02-21T21:41:00.000+08:00

I am reading the first section of Enderton's "Chapter 3: Undecidability" and trying to finish Homework Assignment 10. While attempting to answer a question* in the assignment, I searched the web for the definition of "descending chain" (I was hoping to understand the term better) and came upon a file which contained a solution to the question I was trying to solve! From the address of the file, I

Models of Theories

2004-02-02T21:35:00.000+08:00

I have just read Section 2.6 (Models of Theories) of Enderton's book. I skipped the last two theorems in this section because it makes references to parts of mathematics that I do not understand, e.g. algebraically closed fields. According to my tutor (I managed to get a logician from the Mathematics Department at NUS to teach me mathematical logic for free!) YY, I can go on to Enderton's chapter