a Jar of Clay

denominators are powerful.

.paul — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:10:55 +0000

tried to make financial talk with a friend once, and limped in with the lame-o PE ratio talk on how i pick stocks. friend kindly pointed out that PE ratios are flawed, because 1) prices are generally inaccurate and 2) it really depends on what your denominator is. given that prices can never be right, the denominator then takes precedence in one’s assessment.

comes in friend number 2, who quoted “the denominator of our problems are usually our own selves” meaning to say that most of the problems that we face really come from who we are, and how we perceive things.

so today, i had some sort of an epiphany.

the denominator determining the impact of our situations is our character. was re-reading a book that held too many concepts within a chapter, and it reminded me of how i had prayed and asked for trouble to come my way (you can literally tell me in the face “you asked for it”). but i sincerely believed in James 1:2-4.

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

let me explain – many times we face situations and issues that might seem out of our control, and the first time that we face them, we can feel overwhelmed. but as we take these problems head on, we learn and grow – becoming more mature by the day. the more mature we are (or in other words – having more character), the lesser the impact of negative situations. our maturity helps us to re-frame problems and situations, and has the potential to act as a thrust towards the future.

have a big problem to handle today? enlarge your character and you will find that it isn’t as big as you think. denominators are powerful.

perceived reality. (part 1 of some)

.paul — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:09:35 +0000

been meaning to write this for some time, but just got stuck each time i reach 1/4 of the post. so i decided to break them down into parts. having undisciplined trains of thoughts these days, and it gets really hard to write coherently. i write 3 emails at the same time, alt tabbing through the windows as i wait for Inspiration to whisper the words that i should include.

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1. peek-a-boo

babies enjoy the game of peek-a-boo because it challenges their perceptions about the existence of the parent. at that young tender age, they are still learning about the presence of objects, things and persons. what they can see, they believe to be there. what they cannot see, they believe it to be absent. it is over time that the baby learns to understand that there are more ways of determining if his mum is in the room or not. he learns to perceive his reality, when to muster up his diaphragm for that loud wail to garner attention, or when to stop his crying because his wants are already fulfilled.

2. story telling

story telling is a profession that will never fade away; all that has changed is the medium through which it takes place. we see folklore that transpired down the generations, where parents recount what their parents told them. “never do this” a child is told, because something bad might happen. while it might just be a tall tale, the child learns to avoid those behaviors because he perceives it to be true. it is only much later on that he discovers the true moral of the story.

the man who has memorized the story by heart sits by the corner of the street. he weaves a tale of the spirits and their mischiefs, where human beings have been tormented by their misdeeds. the frustrations of the actors in the story lead to injustice rising within the hearer’s heart. as insurmountable problems accumulate, the protagonists enters into play, pummeling the evil-doers into the ground. “take that!” leaps the heart of the audience with joy. for a minute there, the listener lost himself in the world that the story teller has so cleverly constructed.

today, the story teller has been replaced by the television, internet, books, videos, radios, and whatever form of media you can think of. the news today, helps us to perceive what is really happening halfway around the world. the internet draws us to perceive the days of a blogger. books enable us to gain the perspective of the writer, on how he perceives reality to be like for him.

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don’t mean to leave you high and dry by writing halfway, but i got stuck on section 3. will be back soon.

plugged out.

.paul — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:08:09 +0000

can’t sleep due to the potent coffee from dr cafe. though it rocked my taste buds big time, it is screwing up my sleeping pattern.

_______________________

music numbs a long and boring journey. tempting it might have been, the urge to plug in was forlorn. the quiet bustle of the street called out in a tantalizing manner – cumulative whispers become audible before fading into the background. he strummed his guitar hard and sang his lungs out to a crowd that was thinning faster than the hair on his head, determined to strut as much as possible before being ushered off the platform. an alien stands in between statues created with frozen chains of carbon and hydrogen, while calling out to his comrade to aim the flash light towards him. song birds offered their voices up to the gods hoping that they would hear their plea, so that the upside down umbrella would be filled with pennies from heaven. the tinkling of a few dimes led to their outbursts of gratitude.

it felt like a tunnel coated with layer of birds – even dolby could not have recreated the dimensions of the chirping. ever so often, one would stare up wondering if a pepper of unfortunate blessings would rain down the next moment. groans of gears and pistons bounced off the buildings, their boundless energy held back by the calmness of a trickling river. an anomalous honk disrupted the calm belt, indicating impatience over the lack of movement. the cumulative whispers took front stage again, proclaiming the arrival of the tin can.

i boarded the bus, and plugged myself into mono, for the lush orchestra ended. my walk down orchard road wasn’t so long and boring after all.

fades in. fades out.

.paul — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:20:26 +0000

*beep* goes the fan as i turned it on.

a mighty surge of energy rushes to the blades, compelling them to move. as each one slices through the stagnant air, they cause movements proportionate to the effects of genocides. the disarray is met with extreme resistances, loud voices are heard throughout the streets. “revolution! revolution!” they shout along the pebbled roads. but waves after waves of violence are poured upon them, sweeping their injustice away like a mighty river. hopes are lost, righteousness devolved from morality to survival. pain is numbed, purposes dulled. they no longer move according to their own desires, but are moved by what is dictated. over time, what once was an inhumane atrocity, is now a modus operandi.

and my ears got dulled to the sound of the wind, fading into the background.

wired.

.paul — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:31:03 +0000

so this article from reader digest was suggesting that the world is going wireless.

true – we started with mobile phones, then to wifi, then now we have mobile internet and stuff.

so i thought hard about it.

really hard.

and i thought to myself – we can never really go totally wireless.

as long as you don’t have the extension wire or power cable – you can’t even turn on your wireless devices. =)

required but not requited

.paul — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:12:27 +0000

so we spent the night talking about our friends’ complicated situations. of how love is seen to be required but not requited by the other side. naturally that set the mood for more talks on relationships. what makes one work? numerous theories, numerous propositions, but never a conclusive answer to the world’s need for a solution.

it started from toast box, to sushi tei, to bala. people all around were talking about relationships too. it seemed as though the whole world decided that the conversation topic of the day was relationships – broken, dissatisfied, dysfunctional, unfulfilling. getting home, it didn’t seem that the conversation would even let up.

“this era of globalization will not be spear-headed by countries or companies – it will be spear-headed by individuals” – Thomas Friedman

if we put one and one together, that might explain the success of facebook, twitter and every other social internet function. we started with feeling empowered by friends “poking” us on facebook, that we are worth his or her time, logging on, and clicking on that “poke” link. we now feel empowered by the number of people who are following our tweets – that we are in direct influence over their information needs. their “wall posts”, “pokes” and “fan-ship” gives us a sense of being requited for our efforts. now doesn’t that beat being in a relationship where love isn’t requited?

so i say, social media is here to stay until this era of globalization evolves, compressing the world on top of flattening it.

the proposal expert

.paul — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:52:36 +0000

Dear Future-Wife-Whose-Name-Is-Not-Yet-Known,

If ever one day i should propose to you in the most unromantic manner, please give me a tight slap across the cheeks without giving a warning. When i do press for a specific reason, please tell me that i blogged about this.

With love, Me.

i have been writing proposals so frequently that i am running out of inspiring words to use in them. the worse thing is that they are for the same client. i love proposals.

not that i’m a great photog..but here goes.

.paul — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:45:02 +0000

some photos that i took during my solo travel in hong kong earlier this year.

1. the ever classic shot in hong kong – look left / look right

2. reds vs yellows

3. perhaps…just perhaps..success is not totally self made in hong kong

4. the dating scene in singapore in the 1950s

5. bringing outdoor marketing to a new height

6. hauling in the fishies

7. and the staple shot of the fruit store owner

customer relationship management

.paul — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:39:17 +0000

love this comic strip – after being massacring the staff, the company decides to hold a staff satisfaction survey.

two thumbs up for a slice of life.

by Stephan Pastis @ http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/

locked in..

.paul — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:39:53 +0000

so here, i’m blogging again at the request of Janiro (with a capital J) =)

so the other night (which was really tuesday night), i started jogging again after my two week hiatus due to my badly burnt legs.

so while jogging past some of my neighbors, one of them called out to me from their second level window. surprised as i was, i took off my earphones and it seemed like they were locked in their own homes! the door keys were hanging on the door, but they can’t seem to open it from inside. so i started to sing the mighty mouse song “here i come to save the day, mighty mouse is on his wayyyy….” (less the flying superman pose)

so i unlocked the door and surprise! there were more than 3 people waiting behind the door! (false sense of surprise yeah?)

but i left the incident with this thought ringing in my head – how many times have we locked ourselves in within our heart, hoping that someone or something or some opportunity would come along to unlock it and set us free? why do we even need to restrict ourselves in this manner? or why are we even locking ourselves in?

maybe it is time to open your heart and not bottle yourself in anymore.