|
hkty
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Terence
Gender: Male
Interests: Indulging myself in music
Expertise: too little
Occupation: Engineering
Industry: Engineering
Message: message me
Member Since:
10/26/2003
|
|
| Otters Holding HandsI've gotta say that this is one of the most adorable things to watch.
The otters let go of each other and then held hands again!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3T2Kfno
| | |
| Gift ExchangeThere seems to be some conversion about this game of gift exchange after our Christmas party. The following is my take on it.
What
I'm about to say is not specifically directed towards any individual.
If anyone feels offended as a result of reading my post, that is not my
intention. If you do find the content offensive, send me a note and let
me know if I have made any invalid points.
I
think the idea of the gift exchange game is really more about the fun
and expecting the unexpected (gifts, slight pun intended). It is
absolutely fun to see someone "steal" another person's gift, only to
see a second "stealer" taking final possession of the gift once and for
all. What I think this game is NOT about, is to come in and hope you'll
leave with the hottest and coolest gift of all. If you expect too much,
you are just setting yourself up for disappointment.
One thing
that really disappointed me and ticked me off was people's display of
attitudes upon realizing that the gifts they received were not of their
liking. Is it because the gift doesn't look expensive
enough? Or was it really just a gift that really did not suit their
needs, resulting in their need to express their dissatisfaction?
Most,
if not all, of us are extremely busy, having higher priorities in life
than stressing out to find a $15-20 gift for a potential stranger.
Personally, I wouldn't sweat a bit myself if I had bust out a gift
certificate in the last minute, because as of December 25, 2006, I
still haven't bought my mom a Christmas present! (muwhahahaha, I'll
admit that's my own fault, but that's not the subject of this post)
I
would be really happy if I could tell that the person who bought the
gift had given some thoughts about it (regardless of monetary value),
even if it's something that I don't need at all!!
The bottomline is
that I think we should all be grateful for we are among those that can
even spend the money for a gift! And the reality is that a gift may
appeal to certain individuals, but
could never accomplish the one-size-fits-all goal. This is especially
true in a gift exchange environment!
(After a slight diversion from the main intent of this post...)
It
is just statistics and probability that at times we will see or receive
a gift that we absolutely do not need, absolutely do not like, and
absolutely cannot wait to give away to someone else. Then what do we do?
The last thing I would do is to make any direct or indirect negative
comments about the gift (which would include repeatedly asking someone
to "steal" my gift). It may serve as a funny joke as most of us already
know what gifts are "cool" and what the "not-so-hot-ones" are. (Yes, I
firmly believe that our intellectual development in the past 20+ years
allowed us to distinguish between the two.)
What those 20+ years
didn't seem to teach us is that the repeated, blatant display of
dislike of the gift, ultimately becomes an embarrassment and a direct
insult to the buyer of such gift.
I would like to ask the following question:
To
those that weren't happy with their gift (or any of the gifts), and
expressed some sort of negative gestures/comments (perhaps just a tiny
little bit), what was the primary objective in those actions and what
was the result? The objective may merely be a sarcastic joke intended
for entertainment purposes. In Nim's case, his concern was to keep this
game alive year after year, and try to keep all of us happy as gift
recipients. I would suspect that some people might just bitch about it
just for bitching purposes, too!
What were the results of such actions? Did it really achieve what we wanted to achieve?
I
think I know at least part of this answer quite well, and from my
reminiscence, it's a big fat NO. Certain gestures/opinions/comments
about the gift, repeatedly,
like I said, is clearly extremely insensitive, offensive, rude, hurtful
and is a display of embarrassment to the buyer of the gift. Just try put yourself in
that person's shoes. What would you feel if someone repeatedly labeled your gift as crappy,
useless, cheap, etc? It
would have been so much worse too if you spent a decent amount of time
picking out the gift!!
Even though this gift exchange is anonymous
by nature, it
surely would require little effort to find out exactly who bought what
gifts since we know just about everyone else at the party!
I am sure that probably none of us intentionally wanted
that sort of outcome. But the truth is that it does happen and it
probably did happen, not just this year, but in previous year(s) as
well.
We are all sensible and responsible adults. So we should
try our best to realize all the consequences of our action and/or
comments, before we commit them. Words and actions are not something
that we can always easily take back. Unlike retail stores, there are no
gift receipts, exchanges, or returns for them. I don't know if it's
worth damaging (potentially) lifelong friendships because of this game
of gift exchange that happens once a year.
I am still looking forward to next year's exchange 
P.S. I cheated and my gift only costs $10 + tax and not one, but TWO people "stole" the gift 
(Okay I got lucky, it was like 30+ dollar and it went on sale.)
P.P.S. Attach a gift receipt just in case  .
| | |
| Merry Christmas!I think this is the first time in a while where I can try to get myself rested over Christmas Break (minus the days to catch up on work).
Getting ready for a new year, which means clean up and clean up!!
Gosh, I just vacuumed and then washed my carpet. The carpet washing machine picked up more dirt that I expected............................
| | |
| Morrie's PrideTuesdays with Morrie will remain on my bookshelf for many years to come.
Lessons taught by a dying professor, changed the life of the author and brought tears to a 30-year-old friend.
Perhaps everytime I pick up this book again in the future, I will taste a little bit more of the colors of reality. Colors that seem to blossom more vibrantly as you trail down your path of life.
Ted Koppel asked what Morrie would "dread the most about his slow, insidious decay."
"Well Ted," he answered, "one day soon, someone's gonna have to wipe my ass."
A seemingly lighthearted comment at first (and more like a dude-that's-common-sense answer from a 25-year-old's point of view), until I hear about a surprisingly similar response about the very same subject from someone close to me.
I'm surprised not because "it's the ultimate sign of dependency," as Morrie put it, but because this is the first time that the real reality grazed my very own eyes and ears.
It's a relatively short read, so go for it.
| | |
| Current NewsI believe one of the first (if not the first) school shootings by a student was the Columbine incident. The high media publicity of this disturbing event did little to prevent them from happening again. I don't recall much being said about efforts, ranging from the media to the States and to the US government, to be made, to educate people so these incidents do not happen again... Go to cnn.com and you will see yet another school shooting (this time at an Amish school).
Last week I think it was a rapist killing some school girl(s). I think the killer even left a letter of apology prior to committing the heinous act. Woooooo. how thoughtful! Then some other teens are spotted with guns, which prompted a lock-down of a school. I remember murder rates were compared between USA and Canada at one time and USA obviously turned out to have the higher number. Two main factors arguably play a big role in this, one of which directly ties in with the media: 1. Gun Control: Canada is known for having more stringent gun control rules than the States. Stringent/Lenient are relative terms. The bottom line: how and where in the wretched hell do kids get to pick up guns so easily? Did I just miss a QFC bi-annual contraband sale? When the frequency of school shootings surpasses a certain threshold (in my opinion, this theshold has long been exceeded), it really means that the fundamental rules that govern sales and ownership of guns are flawed, or incomplete to say the least. (This applies not only to teens and school shootings, but really to the whole United States in general!) 2. Media Coverage: My sister and I talked about this briefly and a friend mentioned it as well. One of the differences between Canada's news reports and USA's is that Canada's have a propensity of focusing on the positives of the news whereas in the case of the States', well... GOP scandals, the Iraq war, terrorism, girl died from her dentist visit, more people slaughtered, more soldiers killing civilians, more war, bin Ladin, more shootings, (okay fine, there's also the one about Americans winning the Novel Medicine prize). I am not saying that we should stop reporting those incidents. They deserve some visibility. But some 80% of the news is full of negativity. Many news agencies (such as CNN) are owned by businesses (i.e. TimeWarner). Businesses deliver products that the customers desire. Could this oversimplified logic indicate that we, as human beings and customers of those news agencies, are subconsciously and inherently 80% evil? Then there's always this political influence involved.
When are news really news about the truth and facts when powerful politicians and businessmen get to decide what goes on the frontpage and what doesn't? Reading from different sources definitely helps. But then now "news" may no longer be associated with the word "truth". Far from the truth. Since day 1. We are once again (or always are) blind men touching different parts of the elephant. | | |
|
