Wisdom Tooth

"When you get your wisdom tooth, it means you are very wise." We have always heard that but who said so? :p Hmmm, has the mythbuster looked into this? ;)

I still have no signs of getting any wisdom tooth. What does this mean? Does it mean I'm forever young and immature? Or is it just some case of nutrient deficiency?

One website mentioned that wisdom tooth is the four molars, two on the upper jaw and two on the lower jaw, that are the last teeth to emerge in the mouth. These teeth are associated with wisdom because they appear during the late teens or early twenties, when a person is physically mature. Often, the wisdom teeth may not rise above the gum line, but remain impacted in the jaw, causing inflammation. If this impaction occurs, or if they pose a threat to other teeth, the wisdom teeth may need to be removed.


My colleague just related to me his wisdom tooth story. Basically, the picture shows the condition of his tooth then. His wisdom tooth grew into his other molar creating pain and agony for him for a week!! He could only open his mouth big enough to suck porridge through a straw! (Wonder why he didn't go to the dentist immediately? He was waiting for his appointment at the government dental clinic which only cost him RM5 per visit!!) FYI, a normal extraction in a private dental clinic would cost minimum RM300.

Finally when my friend met the dentist, the dentist pried open his mouth like opening a durian! My friend can always remember that horrible pain. He told me he had to bend over from the pain and desperately requested painkillers. The painkillers were so effective that when he was riding his bike home, he could not even feel the wind blowing on his skin.

When all this ordeal was over, he remembered to extract his other wisdom tooth before it grew into the other molar as it was in the same conditions. A lesson to everyone who has wisdom tooth growing: please go to the dentist to check if there are any complications before it's too late!

In a way, when I hear all those extraction and pain stories plus the exorbitant expenses, I don't care if I have no wisdom teeth or the wise label. At least I'm pain-free!! :p

Twenty Questions to Ask Before You Get Married

Found this topic from Oprah's website. It touches the topics I was always thinking of discussing with my bf if only I could get him to sit still and long enough to discuss everything!!


Home
1. What percentage of our income are we prepared to spend to purchase and maintain our home on a monthly or annual basis?

2. Who is responsible for keeping our house and yard cared for and organized? Are we different in our needs for cleanliness and organization? Is one or both of us neat? Messy? A "pack rat?" An organizational wizard?

Money
3. How much money do we earn together? Now? In one year? In five years? Ten? Who is responsible for which portion? Now? In one year? Five? Ten?

4. What is our ultimate financial goal regarding annual income, and when do we anticipate achieving it? By what means, and through what efforts?

5. What are our categories of expense (rent, clothing, insurance, travel)? How much do we spend monthly, annually, in each category? How much do we want to be able to spend? Now? In one year? Five? Ten?

Work
6. How much time will each of us spend at work, and during what hours? Do we begin work early? Will we prefer to work into the evening?

7. If one of us doesn't want to work, under what circumstances, if any, would that be okay?

8. How ambitious are you? Are we comfortable with the other's level of ambition?

Sex
9. Am I comfortable giving and receiving love, sexually? In sex, does my partner feel my love for him or her?

10. Are we satisfied with the frequency of our lovemaking? How do we cope when our desire levels are unmatched? A little? A lot? For a night? A week? A month? A year? More?

Health and Food
11. Do we eat meals together? Which ones? Who is responsible for the food shopping? Who prepares the meals? Who cleans up afterward?

12. Is each of us happy with the other's approach to health? Does one have habits or tendencies that concern the other (e.g., smoking, excessive dieting, poor diet)?

Family
13. What place does the other's family play in our family life? How often do we visit or socialize together? If we have out-of-town relatives, will we ask them to visit us for extended periods? How often? For what length of time?

14. If we have children, what kind of relationship do we hope our parents will have to their grandchildren? How much time will they spend together?

Children
15. Will we have children? If so, when? How many? How important is having children to each of us?

16. How will having a child change the way we live now? Will we want or be able to take time off from work, or work a reduced schedule? For how long? In the months or years following the birth of our child, will we need to rethink who is responsible for housekeeping?

Community and Friends
17. Are we satisfied with the quality and quantity of friends we currently have? Would we like to be more involved socially? Are we overwhelmed socially, and do we need to cut back on such commitments?

18. What are my partner's needs for cultivating or maintaining friendships outside of our relationship? Is it easy for me to support those needs, or do they bother me in any way?

Spiritual Life
19. Do we share a religion? Do we belong to a church, synagogue, mosque or temple? More than one? If not, would our relationship benefit from such an affiliation?

20. Does one of us have an individual spiritual practice? Is the practice and the time devoted to it acceptable to the other? Does each partner understand and respect the other's choices?

Only You by Flying Pickets

I had the song of this lyrics stuck in my head for so long.. couldn't find the song till I decided to look for it again. :) RTM2 used to play it for movies shown for Mother's Day many years back. Somehow it stuck.. It's called Only You by a-capella group named Flying Pickets. Enjoy!

Monopoly

When I was young, visiting Toys'R Us was a big thing. The toys all lined up the shelves neatly and I was awed by the numerous choices there was. Now, I find the magic gone but somehow, certain toys still managed to capture my inner child.

Before computer became so common place, my friends and I played the board games. After our exams, we had free time and so out came all the board games from: typical snake and ladder, checkers, chess, cards, to the more sophisicated games: monopoly, cluedo and the ever popular uno! I wonder what kids these days play during their free time in school. PSP? Nintendo? We only had tetris then but board and card games were a whole lot more fun!

Looking through the shelves in Toys'R Us, I saw some of these games' attempt to diversify their products. For example, Uno card has Uno stacko or various versions. My favourite game, Monopoly now has a local version-Malaysia version, Disney version and Now-and-then version (with updates places and more recent cost of properties)! There's also a girl's Monopoly version in a pretty little pink clothed box with pink dainty cards.



I don't like playing the computer version of Monopoly. I can't feel the roll of dice, shuffling of money, anticipation of opening the cards and also feeling the characters you get to choose to represent you when you move them! I usually choose the terrier!! :) This reminds me... I still want a dog!!

Fancy a PSP?

When my bf got one.. I thought, "Good... that'll keep him occupied!!" (While he waits for me when I shop or do something.. hehe) Then my brother got one... I got to use it for 2 weeks before he came back to get it from me. I was hooked!!

There's the basic, classic black psp, the white psp, the light coloured ones, limited edition red psp and also the Simpsons yellow psp. Sorry, I'm more into the colours than the specs! For more details, just google.


Two cute games got me hooked within seconds!

Loco Roco
First is Loco Roco... their cute yellow ball characters hopping and singing away (I have their song as one of my ringing tone!) were irresistible!



Patapon
Second is Patapon! Infuriating as it gets when I am out of the beat and have to wait till I get fever again, I still play them!! ;) These blackish fighting figures dance to the beat to war!!



*note the similarities in these games and you'll realised I like simple games with simplified,cute characters!*

Alas, since I don't own a PSP, I have to be at the mercy of two "men" to lend me their psp for me to continue and finish any of these games!! No, I won't buy one because they'll get obsolete before I can enjoy and flaunt my new gadget! I'd rather be at the mercy of anyone who is feeling generous! :) (Or wait till they get a new gadget and pass on the old one to me.. haha)

Calvin and Hobbes...

Since I'm off today, I'd better blog all the topics I have been thinking of the past few weeks but I don't have the time to blog about.. :P


I was reminded of one of my favourite comics recently. A visit to MPH bookshop showed me a special C&H collection!! The Complete Calvin and Hobbes worth RM 599.95!! I was salivating but that's too much to pay from my puny pay!! Sighh... I can just dream about it.

I remember I googled about C&H a time back and thankfully, the website is still around. This is the summary of the characters (based on Bill Watterson's comments which I have excerpted from the website on the link in the right. Enjoy!


Calvin is named for a sixteenth-century theologian who believed in predestination. Most people assume that Calvin is based on a son of mine, or based on detailed memories of my own childhood. In fact, I don't have children, and I was a fairly quiet, obedient kid -- almost Calvin's opposite. One of the reasons that Calvin's character is fun to write is that I often don't agree with him. . . .

Many of Calvin's struggles are metaphors for my own. I suspect that most of us get old without growing up, and that inside every adult (sometimes not very far inside) is a bratty kid who wants everything his own way. I use Calvin as an outlet for my immaturity, as a way to keep myself curious about the natural world, as a way to ridicule my own obsessions, and as a way to comment on human nature. I wouldn't want Calvin in my house, but on paper, he helps me sort through my life and understand it.


Hobbes. Named after a seventeenth-century philosopher with a dim view of human nature, Hobbes has the patient dignity and common sense of most animals I've met. Hobbes was very much inspired by one of our cats, a gray tabby named Sprite. Sprite not only provided the long body and facial characteristics for Hobbes, she also was the model for his personality. She was good-natured, intelligent, friendly, and enthusiastic in a sneaking-up-and-pouncing sort of way. Sprite suggested the idea of Hobbes greeting Calvin at the door in midair at high velocity.

The so-called "gimmick" of my strip -- the two versions of Hobbes -- is sometimes misunderstood. I don't think of Hobbes as a doll that miraculously comes to life when Calvin's around. Neither do I think of Hobbes as the product of Calvin's imagination. . . . Calvin sees Hobbes one way, and everyone else sees Hobbes another way. I show two versions of reality, and each makes complete sense to the participant who sees it. I think that's how life works. None of us sees the world exactly the same way, and I just draw that literally in the strip.


Calvin's Parents. I've never given Calvin's parents names, because as far as the strip is concerned, they are important only as Calvin's mom and dad. Calvin's dad has been rumored to be a self-portrait. All my characters are half me, so it's true in some ways, but Calvin's dad is also partly a satire of my own father. Any strip about how suffering "builds character" is usually a verbatim transcript of my dad's explanations for why we were all freezing, exhausted, hungry and lost on camping trips. These things are a lot funnier after 25 years have passed.

Calvin's mom is the daily disciplinarian, a job that taxes her sanity, so I think we get to see her at her best. I regret that the strip mostly shows her impatient side, but I try to hint at other aspects of her personality and her interests by what she's doing when Calvin barges in. . . .

. . . As secondary characters, I've tried to keep Calvin's parents realistic, with a reasonable sense of humor about having a kid like Calvin. I think they do a better job than I would.


Susie is earnest, serious and smart. . . . I suspect that Calvin has a mild crush on her that he expresses by trying to annoy her, but Susie is a bit unnerved and put off by Calvin's weirdness. This encourages Calvin to be even weirder, so it's a good dynamic. Neither of them quite understands what's going on, which is probably true of most relationships.


Miss Wormwood. As a few readers guessed, Miss Wormwood is named after the apprentice devil in C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters." I have a lot of sympathy for Miss Wormwood. We see hints that she's waiting to retire, that she smokes too much, and that she takes a lot of medication. I think she seriously believes in the value of education, so needless to say, she's an unhappy person.


Rosalyn. Probably the only person Calvin fears is his baby-sitter. I put her in a Sunday strip early on, never thinking of her as a regular character, but her intimidation of Calvin surprised me, so she's made a few appearances since. Rosalyn even seems to daunt Calvin's parents, using their desperation to get out of the house to demand advances and raises. Rosalyn's relationship with Calvin is pretty one-dimensional, so baby-sitter stories get harder and harder to write, but for a later addition to the strip, she's worked pretty well.


Moe is every jerk I've ever known. He's big, dumb, ugly and cruel. I remember school being full of idiots like Moe. I think they spawn on damp locker room floors.

Cloud obsession

I started focusing on clouds because of this pre-conceived image in my mind... Lazing under the sky. Most of the time when I am stuck in a traffic jam, I take this opportunity to stare at the sky. The most interesting time I get is in the evenings during sunset. Every evening is a different scenery. A different hue and tone every second of that moment. I'm amazed of the painter of our sky. :)

Anyway, ever wondered or even remembered the names of the type of clouds? Basically they are divided according to the different level. See some of the attached images I found online.



Opps, forgot to save the original link. Anyhow, the ones we normally see is the fat,roundish,fluffy-like cumulus clouds, which you wish you could hug! :) Then when you're on the plane above this cumulus clouds, you get to see the cirrus or cirrocumulus clouds!

When I think of clouds, I will always think of this favourite scene of mine from Hercules where King Zeus creates a little Pegasus for baby Hercules!! :)

Classic Movies

I grew up watching RTM2. I remember that I could even know when they play reruns. Those days, we were fed by classic movies by Shirley Temple, Elizabeth Taylor and many more. Somehow, through this, I grew fond of those classic black-and-white movies and even musicals.

I also remember watching these 3 funny men (Curly, Moe and Larry) poking away at each other eyes and doing funny antics!! The three stooges . Not to forget another black-and-white comedy classic is Charlie Chaplin.

I was utterly delighted when my parents finally subscribed Astro (even though I wasn't living at home) but I could always come back and watch it! There was this channel called Turner Classic Movies which showed all these classic movies. Alas, not long after, the channel was removed. I was sooo sadd...

Nowadays, thankfully, I can find such movies being sold in the market (even though now it's more towards VCD). I'll wait for the DVD version sold at affordable prices later on. Here are some of my favourite movies, without any preference in their arrangement:

1. Breakfast in Tiffany's
Audrey Hepburn's most well-known role is that of Holly Golightly in this film. She plays a complicated, eccentric New York party girl who has her sights set on marrying a millionaire. George Peppard plays her neighbor, Paul "Fred" Varjak, a writer who is "taken care of" by a wealthy woman played by Patricia Neal. Based on the novel by Truman Capote, this film is brilliantly directed by Blake Edwards. Peppard's and Hepburn's characters are meant to be together, but it takes time for the insecure Holly to reach that conclusion.

The highlight of the movie is when she goes out, in the rain, looking for the kitten she threw out earlier. She looks so forlorn and sad. Not to mentioned the memorable song, Moon River, makes this movie one of the best so far! :)

2. Gone with The Wind
This film, based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell, is a story told from the Southern point view during and after the Civil War. Directed by Victor Fleming, it stars Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara, Clark Gable as Rhett Butler, Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes, and Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton. Scarlett, the spoiled, self-centered, rich girl is in love with Ashley, the upstanding, honorable young man. Ashley is engaged, then married to Melanie, a sweeter-than-humanly-possible young woman. Rhett is tough and arrogant, and he mistakenly thinks that he can win Scarlett's heart. He realizes too late that she will never truly love anyone but Ashley.

What stands out to me, is despite how spoiled Scarlett is, Rhett still loves her. She finally learns to be independent through all the hardship. When she realised her mistake of not loving Rhett, it's the momentous scene where Rhett says, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

I-ma-gi-na-ti-on!

When I'm upset or down, I always use a little imagination...
To daydream my worries or sadness away!! ;)

Actually, I just stare at lovely sceneries and wish I was somewhere else. As if I can run away from all these worldly nonsense and rat-race...

Basically, I have this little mantra. I say "I wish I was a beautiful butterfly and then I can fly up up and away!" Sigh, too much of Disney and Pixar movies.

I caught that phrase from Bug's Life when the fat caterpillar wished he had wings to fly. That scene is the best. When he finally emerges from his cocoon, he has this cute little wings which obviously cannot sustain his weight to fly! But no harm, dreaming! :)

Something to ponder about...

Looking outside my own life... I looked at the country I live in and wonder...

Malaysia's Timeline

Malaysia's 50 years anniversary

Chinese?

In face, I just saw a book on the shelves recently entitled, "The Different Chinese" which compares chinese world wide from China Chinese to Malaysian Chinese. Still thinking of getting it to have a nice laugh at how it summarised and generalises certain behaviours of Chinese of different countries.

Anyway, those are something I can read and ponder about but many people do not want to face the reality of this. Some gave up and ran. Some stayed on and pray. What will I do? Will see how my plans go...