My Sister's Keeper

The movie, adapted from Jodi Picoult's bestseller with the same title, is about a family living with a cancer-stricken daughter, Kate. To keep Kate alive, her parents decided to conceive a 3rd child (Anna) through IVF to be a blood and bone marrow donor for her. Story begins when Anna, at the age of 11, decides to sue her parents for "medical emancipation" - legal rights to decisions about her own body.

Apart from the storyline, what I liked most is the way the story is told through a series of flashbacks and narrations. It allows viewers a glimpse into the character's thoughts and see the world through their perspectives. I thought the director's extensive close-up shots and eye-level focus on the characters worked well to draw viewers into the family's life.

For a poignant movie that is sure to pull at one's heartstrings, this one has equal doses of happy moments which kept me engaged through to the end. Overall, I loved the cast, the storyline and the filming - easily one of my favourite movies this year.

Note: Who would have guessed that Cameron Diaz, whose resume includes "The Sweetest Thing" and "Charlie's Angels", could play a convincing role as a dedicated loving mother of three?

Learned a new word today

Parasol n. (par-uh-sawl)
A lightweight umbrella used, esp. by women, as a sunshade.

- from dictionary.com

I never knew there exist a word especially for these umbrellas. Parasols will not sell itself in the place I grew up and live in where people actually want to get a tan from the scorching sun.

Evan Almighty

"Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?"

I must have subconsciously prayed for wisdom and intelligence lately, or else I wouldn't be having these "opportunities" sent down from the Big Guy in the form of torrential issues at work.

The road to wisdom...I'm half way there, my friend.

Advice from The Universe

"Great big, ear-to-ear, open mouth smiles, sluggishslacker, are responsible for far more sizzling romances, salary increases, life extensions, and calorie burning than your dentists, doctors, and financial planners will ever comprehend."

Show us your tonsils,
The Universe

Coincidentally, I was asked by a colleague a couple of weeks ago on why I sounded happy eventhough we had a big work problem on hand. And so, I explained my "Theory of happiness" to her, which is quite simple, really.

There are only two reasons for my happiness -
#1: Either because I'm genuinely happy; or
#2: Because I don't know what else to feel, and to be happy is easier than to sulk.

Some say a smile is a by-product of happiness, while another school of thought says that smiling could lead to one's happiness. My personal view is, it works both ways.

Henceforth, rain or shine, I shall smile to the world. And be happy. Always.

Random musings

You know the feeling when you slip against your bathroom tiles, and fall on your butt, almost breaking your finger along the way?

If you don't, it's the same feeling as stepping back in time onto the curb as the speeding car barely missed hitting you by an inch.

Your life has been spared.
It's some kind of great feeling that one should be thankful for.

The power of hindsight

The power of hindsight enable us to learn from our mistakes;
The power of foresight prevent us from repeating those mistakes.

Moments that take your breath away

Date: 2-Apr-2009
Time: 7:15pm
Location: Overhead bridge, Boon Lay Way


You had to be there to appreciate the view of the sunset - my Sony Ericsson camera-phone simply does no justice to it.

The Last Lecture

Hypothetically if you had one final lecture to deliver before dying, what would you speak on? That's the idea behind the "last lecture" series, a tradition in Carnegie Mellon University, meant to provide the speaker a moment to reflect on what truly matters in life. Randy Pausch, a computer science professor who was actually dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his lecture on "Achieving your Childhood Dreams", which was later published as a book.

In this book, Pausch shared his childhood stories and dreams, his principles, and lessons he's learned in an inspirational, touching and humorous way. Despite living out his last 3-6 months at the time the book was written, you could still sense his optimism and zest for life - and he does point out that he is not in a state of denial. Rather, I think it's a state of acceptance that enabled Pausch to truly live out everyday to the fullest and not let a single second go to waste worrying on things that cannot be changed.

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."

What I liked about the book is the way the stories are told, in an entertaining and not excessively sentimental way. You may have stumbled upon some of his philosophies elsewhere, but Pausch's sincerity in sharing his insights is evident in his delivery that you won't be bored re-discovering it again.

The Peter Principle

The Peter Principle states that every employee in a corporate hierarchy tends to rise to a plateau of incompetency. In this book, Dr. Laurence Peter takes the reader through the inadequacy of organizations as a result of promoting the competent employee to a higher position. It reveals employees' unhappiness due to feeling incompetent in their promoted position, and the harsh fact that organizations are kept functional by the many competent employees who have not crossed the threshold to be promoted, yet.

The basic assumption behind this principle is that employees are promoted based on their competency in their current position, and not based on the capability to take on higher responsibilities that comes along with a promotion. The Peter Principle is weaken the moment this assumption is removed. Hence, although this book provides a different insight into the evolution of hierarchies, we should not be particularly concern over this if we are able to work around it.

Nihon-ei ikimas!

I finally entangled myself from the procrastination web and made plans to go to Japan. A plan remains a plan until you make the first move. And I'm already one step ahead of that - the air ticket has been purchased. I'm now fully committed to the plan.

Siem Reap, however, has been put on hold. But all is good.

Now, I just need to brush up on my Nihongo, at an insane speed, so that I can say "wakarimas" more than "wakarimasen" when I attempt to speak to the locals in Japan.