Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Meaning of Life II (III?)
People always asks "WHAT is the meaning of life?" Perhaps a better question is: "IS there a meaning of life?" Or better yet, "SHOULD there be a meaning of life?" After all, who ever promised that there is a reason for us to discover? Even all the great men (women?) before us who invented religion did not promise a meaning of life. Let's examine them:-
(1) Western religion (grossly represented by Bible-based religions of any variation). Whether you subscribe to the Christian branch of belief-without-seeing-and-you'll-go-to-Heaven or Catholic's be-a-nice-person-and-you'll-go-to-Heaven or the Islam (?) 27-virgins-await-in-Heaven philosophy, they invariably focuses on the afterlife. Nothing says anything about the meaning of this lifetime... other than working towards what you can reap after you die (hmmmmm).
(2) Buddhism did not address that question either, reincarnation and enlightenment again focus on life after death. Some argue that Buddhism is a philosophy, not a religion. Come to think about it, should Buddhism truly portrays the way the universe work, then it's just science. Science focuses on the mechanisms behind every process and cannot be further away from the meaning of life. (See my previos entry "The HOW versus the WHY".)
(3) Darwinism/natural selection. Definitely hardcore, no bullshit science. Reproduction might be the purpose of life, but definitely not the meaning. I can't relate to how great it is to have an offspring, and I definitely fail to see how that will make my life meaningful. Especially in this day and age when people just seem to be competing about who can leave a bigger carbon footprint and better drive this planet out of all higher life forms.
Perhaps all the quests for WHAT is the meaning of life is fruitless because there simply isn't one. It's like looking for that treasure that was never buried. Try as you might, you are not going to find anything because it was never there to begin with. I am starting to think that the "meaning" of life is all about distractions. It is about what kind of distractions you can find to keep your mind occupied so you don't the big void left by the lack of a meaning of life. If you think about it, everything is pretty much a distractions:- any kind of entertainment (TV, sports, gambling, shopping), power struggling, money that can buy you more distractions, vanity, and the best and most long term distraction of it all? Children.
Not having enough distractions can be detrimental -- see all the rich and famous that die from drug overdose or do a variety of stupid things that we won't even contemplate. Why do they still seek drugs when they are rich and famous, while the rest of us try to hard to get there? (Okay, don't care so much about the fame... definitely would love to be rich. ;) Because they weren't able to find enough distractions. They no longer need to keep a full time job and mingle with stupid people and deal with the stress that comes with a job everyday just to put roof over head and food on table. Thus proving my point that the "meaning" of life is all about how to fill your free time with various form of distractions.
That said, another good question will be:- Why do we have consciousness? It is obviously not essential for evolution. Brine shrimp reproduces just fine. Earth worms and cockroaches reproduce just fine. Perhaps the whole Eve-ate-the-apple incident marked the time when aliens came and modified us genetically and gave us this thing called consciousness!
(1) Western religion (grossly represented by Bible-based religions of any variation). Whether you subscribe to the Christian branch of belief-without-seeing-and-you'll-go-to-Heaven or Catholic's be-a-nice-person-and-you'll-go-to-Heaven or the Islam (?) 27-virgins-await-in-Heaven philosophy, they invariably focuses on the afterlife. Nothing says anything about the meaning of this lifetime... other than working towards what you can reap after you die (hmmmmm).
(2) Buddhism did not address that question either, reincarnation and enlightenment again focus on life after death. Some argue that Buddhism is a philosophy, not a religion. Come to think about it, should Buddhism truly portrays the way the universe work, then it's just science. Science focuses on the mechanisms behind every process and cannot be further away from the meaning of life. (See my previos entry "The HOW versus the WHY".)
(3) Darwinism/natural selection. Definitely hardcore, no bullshit science. Reproduction might be the purpose of life, but definitely not the meaning. I can't relate to how great it is to have an offspring, and I definitely fail to see how that will make my life meaningful. Especially in this day and age when people just seem to be competing about who can leave a bigger carbon footprint and better drive this planet out of all higher life forms.
Perhaps all the quests for WHAT is the meaning of life is fruitless because there simply isn't one. It's like looking for that treasure that was never buried. Try as you might, you are not going to find anything because it was never there to begin with. I am starting to think that the "meaning" of life is all about distractions. It is about what kind of distractions you can find to keep your mind occupied so you don't the big void left by the lack of a meaning of life. If you think about it, everything is pretty much a distractions:- any kind of entertainment (TV, sports, gambling, shopping), power struggling, money that can buy you more distractions, vanity, and the best and most long term distraction of it all? Children.
Not having enough distractions can be detrimental -- see all the rich and famous that die from drug overdose or do a variety of stupid things that we won't even contemplate. Why do they still seek drugs when they are rich and famous, while the rest of us try to hard to get there? (Okay, don't care so much about the fame... definitely would love to be rich. ;) Because they weren't able to find enough distractions. They no longer need to keep a full time job and mingle with stupid people and deal with the stress that comes with a job everyday just to put roof over head and food on table. Thus proving my point that the "meaning" of life is all about how to fill your free time with various form of distractions.
That said, another good question will be:- Why do we have consciousness? It is obviously not essential for evolution. Brine shrimp reproduces just fine. Earth worms and cockroaches reproduce just fine. Perhaps the whole Eve-ate-the-apple incident marked the time when aliens came and modified us genetically and gave us this thing called consciousness!
Disheartening
The Hubby did more rearranging of the furniture and we have more freebies to give away. As usual, I turned to the good ol' CL (Craigslist). While we are giving away the items for free because (1) most of them we really don't think will fetch any monetary amount and (2) just want to get them out of the house ASAP, I was still hoping that some real people who will actually use the items can benefit from them. All the stuff were gone within 10 minutes of the posting time, many of them ask for all of the items. Either the individual truly just move to the area and will take practically everything, or they are just scalpers trying to turn it around for cash. It was quite disheartening. Perhaps next time I'll spend a few more minutes to sort through the email and only give the item to those who seems like a "real person." *sighs*
Craigslist - Just When I Thought I've Seen It All
moving-take our unopened freezer food
criss cross frieshot pocket calzone thingys
pie crust
steamables broccoli
family size eggplant parmesan
pasta/shrimp meal for 2
boneless/skinless chicken breast
pork chops
Sounds very healthy. =D
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
WTF 2
All of my readership (all 3 of you that I know personally) should have a certain appreciation for the saying "WTF." So here's a couple WTF stories about my marriage.
Today I ran into this neighbor. I should precede my story by saying that this being the heart of Silicon Valley, the demographic of our apartment is 80% Indians, 18% other Asians, and 2% White, give or take. So this neighbor is Chinese, not that rare overall in Silicon Valley, relatively rare in our apartment. Regardless, I started chatting with him. I had seen him with a lady before (whom I assumed is his wife) and he had seen me with Hubby. So the conversation went something like this:
"Is that your wife the other day?" Really, just making conversation.
"No, that's my girlfriend. Is that your husband or boyfriend?"
"Husband. We've been married for almost 7 years."
"Did you meet him in the US?"
"No, I'm his mail-ordered bride."
Okay, the last one didn't happen, but WTF? Was he implying that (1) I'm a mail-ordered bride or (2) I married him for a green card?
Okay, maybe he was just making conversation, but the reason I was sensitive to that was because of a previous conversation that I had before, with another Chinese. (What's with Chinese peeps and their randomly offensive questions??)
This other person, upon finding out that (1) Hubby is White and (2) he was in the Navy, blurted out that, "Oh! I know! You met him when he was in port in Hong Kong!!"
WTF? If it's not bad enough that that's their first assumption, couldn't they at least keep their opinions to themselves? WTF?
Today I ran into this neighbor. I should precede my story by saying that this being the heart of Silicon Valley, the demographic of our apartment is 80% Indians, 18% other Asians, and 2% White, give or take. So this neighbor is Chinese, not that rare overall in Silicon Valley, relatively rare in our apartment. Regardless, I started chatting with him. I had seen him with a lady before (whom I assumed is his wife) and he had seen me with Hubby. So the conversation went something like this:
"Is that your wife the other day?" Really, just making conversation.
"No, that's my girlfriend. Is that your husband or boyfriend?"
"Husband. We've been married for almost 7 years."
"Did you meet him in the US?"
"No, I'm his mail-ordered bride."
Okay, the last one didn't happen, but WTF? Was he implying that (1) I'm a mail-ordered bride or (2) I married him for a green card?
Okay, maybe he was just making conversation, but the reason I was sensitive to that was because of a previous conversation that I had before, with another Chinese. (What's with Chinese peeps and their randomly offensive questions??)
This other person, upon finding out that (1) Hubby is White and (2) he was in the Navy, blurted out that, "Oh! I know! You met him when he was in port in Hong Kong!!"
WTF? If it's not bad enough that that's their first assumption, couldn't they at least keep their opinions to themselves? WTF?
WTF
Okay, I can't take credit for this. I've read this on Craigslist many years ago -- the posting is from 2005. Can't really give credit where credit is due (not like any one post on CL with their real name), so all I can say it, it's from CL, posting #67762042.
OK, so I've immersed myself in the fresh hell that is online dating. So far, I've gotten a lot of responses. But one thing I don't understand is the number of guys who use the interjection LOL in their responses to me.
Now, as I understand it, LOL means "laughing out loud." So I try to imagine these guys laughing out loud during their messages to me, and it makes them sound like idiots.
"Hi, my name is Jim. LOL"
"Nice pic, is it recent? LOL"
"I like to cuddle on the couch with my special someone LOL"
I mean, are any of these statements remotely amusing, even in an ironic sense? It would make more sense to randomly throw in the phrase WTF, which is often what I feel about online dating and my life in general.
"How cute that you named your twin daughters Tiffany and Brittany. What exactly does "separated but flexible" mean? WTF."
"Sorry, I'm not attracted to fat, cross-eyed men twenty years my senior. WTF."
Don't get me started on the substitution of "u" for "you." I could see it if I had 11 year old boys texting me, but not 40 year olds. I mean, WTF.
OK, so I've immersed myself in the fresh hell that is online dating. So far, I've gotten a lot of responses. But one thing I don't understand is the number of guys who use the interjection LOL in their responses to me.
Now, as I understand it, LOL means "laughing out loud." So I try to imagine these guys laughing out loud during their messages to me, and it makes them sound like idiots.
"Hi, my name is Jim. LOL"
"Nice pic, is it recent? LOL"
"I like to cuddle on the couch with my special someone LOL"
I mean, are any of these statements remotely amusing, even in an ironic sense? It would make more sense to randomly throw in the phrase WTF, which is often what I feel about online dating and my life in general.
"How cute that you named your twin daughters Tiffany and Brittany. What exactly does "separated but flexible" mean? WTF."
"Sorry, I'm not attracted to fat, cross-eyed men twenty years my senior. WTF."
Don't get me started on the substitution of "u" for "you." I could see it if I had 11 year old boys texting me, but not 40 year olds. I mean, WTF.
Monday, June 22, 2009
One Big Pawn Shop of Goodies!!
The big pawn shop of goodies call America is just getting better and better. Went shopping with a girlfriend on Saturday, bought 7 (seven) articles of clothes for, get this, under $200. And I didn't shop at Target or Walmart either, not even the outlet, but name brand stores like Ann Taylor and Banana Republic. Granted, we only rummaged through the sales rack. J Jill's catalog feature an "online section" with article of clothing at the low, low price of $19.99, rivaling that of Targets.
Hubby said he wanted to look for a place that offers 12 months no interest payment to purchase our couch from. Guess what we saw on TV yesterday? Couches with no payment till, wait for it, 2013!!! Holy crap! I hope this recession never ends. That is, of course, under the assumption that I'll continue to be gainfully employed. Hopefully by the next recession I'll be equally gainfully employed and a proud owner of a house so we can do all our home improvements. =D
Hubby said he wanted to look for a place that offers 12 months no interest payment to purchase our couch from. Guess what we saw on TV yesterday? Couches with no payment till, wait for it, 2013!!! Holy crap! I hope this recession never ends. That is, of course, under the assumption that I'll continue to be gainfully employed. Hopefully by the next recession I'll be equally gainfully employed and a proud owner of a house so we can do all our home improvements. =D
Include Your Facebook Password with that Job Application...Thanks. - The World Newser
Include Your Facebook Password with that Job Application...Thanks. - The World Newser
Evidently some butthead decided that it's a good idea to ask applicants to hand over their social network passwords while applying for a job! Yes, the passwords! Not the URLs! Sure, it's shot down so fast it's not even funny, but who even thought that was a good idea to begin with???
This is even funnier in combination with this picture below:
Evidently some butthead decided that it's a good idea to ask applicants to hand over their social network passwords while applying for a job! Yes, the passwords! Not the URLs! Sure, it's shot down so fast it's not even funny, but who even thought that was a good idea to begin with???
This is even funnier in combination with this picture below:
Saturday, June 20, 2009
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