end of one week of hols

woah. One week of June hols gone like this! at least it has been productive (to a significant degree). Got down to the gym, pools, running etc. Did my readings too (ongoing process). Amazing how slow reading can be (not to mention painful, literally). I need to get one of those ergonomically-designed tables. The guy who invented tables centuries ago certainly didn't realise that people of the future actually need to be desk-bound for hours on end.

Checked lots of my NUS stuff too. How frightening. But what an interesting time that 4/5 years shall be, I'm sure.

More readings!

addiction

Some rough plans in mind for the June Hols:

readings...



NUS admin...

keeping fit...

***

"You have no life". Haunting, but true enough. I think I'm suffering from withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms from having not to work. It feels strange. Yes, I have stuff planned to be done during my twice-weekly trips back to school in preparation of Term 3. But still, I can't help but feel odd. It's almost sinful to be spending time on myself. (Ok, that sounds wrong) Rather, its this lack of something for my life to be obsessed about. No more lecture-due-tomorrow-morning-so-I-better-churn-something-out-tonight. No marking to be done etc etc. I think I'm just trying to get used to it. hmmm.

And of course, I'm getting the childish-fears of returning back to school. As a student. Geez. Exams, tests, tutorials. Karma@work.

***

Ok, but now I'm hooked onto Karen Armstrong's "The Battle for God". Cool introduction. i think i need to dig out some of her earlier works. On the bright side, some of the stuff she mentioned, I do have some vague hazy ideas due to my really peculiar early-childhood readings (rmb, I don't have a childhood, as some might say). It's cool how she draws the links. Wow. And its just the introduction.

Now, back to "The Battle for God".



... Do not disturb...

30 days and half-an-hr

What would you do if you had 30 days and half-an-hr to yourself?
This is a question I shall have to answer - because its the June Hols! (I'm more excited about it as a teacher than a student. *grimaces*)

Ok, I think it's too major an issue to consider prior to sleeping hours. I shall leave that for Monday to think about it. For now, its just sleep, watch tv, stock up on books, and stoning around. And yes, reading my NUS freshman guide which has finally arrived, instead of more prestigious invitations to join the NUS alumnus.

Watch this spot!

update

Just went for a History Seminar organised by IJC on ASEAN. Was never really interested in SEA History, but lets just say that I'm pretty... psyched up, yes, that's the word... about SEA History now! Bought some books recently. Hopefully that gives me something to do during the June Hols, not Work. Well, it's not like I hate my present job or something. In fact, I quite enjoy it (no, love is too strong a word) But, let's just say... i need a life, to quote someone(s) introspective view.

***



In any case, it's Hillary all the way after the almost 2-1 victory in West Virginia!

-

Let's just say I'm a lil' disappointed with what I've just seen and heard.
Perhaps the laws of life don't really change; we've just got to live with it.

What happens when life gets monodimensional?

What happens when life gets mono-dimensional?

There has been particular emphasis on living a well-balanced life and meaningful life etc in recent times. What comes to mind naturally is that one should not be obsessed with any one aspect of his or her life, be it work, career, family, friends hobbies whatsoever.

But I truly wonder how wise such an advice truly is. Or rather, is it really wrong when one focuses too intensely on something? That Michelangelo took years to finish his Sistine Chapel paintings is perhaps proof that marvelous works that come with focus and passion. That Leonardo da Vinci would be best remembered as a painter, not as a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, architect, botanist, musician or writer tells us something about how "peaks of excellence" can perhaps be (humanely?) achieved in one field or so for any one individual.

If anything, Albert Einstein was undoubtedly an impressive physicist (not anything else), with his achievements shadowing that of his predecessors and contemporaries such as Galileo, Newton and Charles Darwin. It should not be surprising that the latter group of personalities presented an equally dazzling array of professions: naturalists, geologists, physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, but would perhaps become scientific legends for their contributions to astronomy, physics and the theory of evolution respectively. Copernicus, who would perhaps be best remembered for his work in challenging the age-old teachings on the workings of the Celestial realm, was a mathematician, physician, classical scholar, translator, Catholic cleric, jurist, governor, military leader, diplomat, economist and astronomer. That he should make his mark in his "hobby" - astronomy - is telling that when passion mixes with interests, maybe it doesn't really matter if one knows nothing else much.