Ultimate Question to *Starry

The ultimate Question and Answer (think Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide) to the *Starry Question:

(drums roll)

There are 2 versions of the *Ultimate Question - the general & the specific:

Specific (Note: Question courtesy of *Ms Evil):

How would you justify your existence?

[PS: this question emerged only after some prolonged discussions with premises and conditions set by yours truly's pals aka that the *oh-so-eligible-guys (we are gender neutral but personally, heterosexual-inclined) are absolutely honest and genuine with their answers (by the way, this excludes the eligible guy who is genuinely untruthful), that they are the most eligible and acceptable to each of us personally, etc, etc. As usual, my pals wanted to close up all the loopholes and create the perfect *state of nature (think John Locke's Social Contract)]

Yours truly's HIM can only answer in 2 ways:

HE: "Justify yours to me and I will justify mine to you" - *tongue in cheek & with absolute self-assurance

Or

HE: "I don't have to justify it. I live it" - *with quiet self-confidence

Hmm...and if there happen to be more than 1 guy who answers the right way? Well, according to *Ms Evil, that's fine, since she wants a harem. (I wonder where in the world is polygamy legal?)

(pause 3 seconds for the scandalous looks & gasp of breath by readers)

But moi, moi would only say, it all hinges on the way HE said it.

:::

To the General Question:

What is your absolute favorite book in the world?

Yours truly have no preferred answer. But lots of immediate "you are out!" answers.

This is obviously an elimination question.

For instance, I have read Harry Potter and I like the series. But if a guy tells me he thinks Harry Potter is the absolute best book in the world to him, he's not my guy, thank you very much.

In the same way, if a guy picks any self-help book ~ as *snappish puts it "you mean you can't help yourself?" ~ in other words, you are out!

Me and my pals says NO to guys who picks self-help books, thriller, mysteries and even, business books (most types anyway).

Oh by the way, as *eccentric says, if a guy says "my fav book in the world is American Pyscho" ~ we will definitely be very disturbed. And of course, NO WAY!

Again, when *Ms Evil says "how about a guy who says Mein Kampf?" *cough. I think it was agreed that he is OUT too.

A guy who picks a philosophy book (depends on who and which school of thought) will get to my *waiting list ~ let's wait and compare all answers first.

A guy who picks for instance, *Beyond Good and Evil, *cough - you will be an interesting friend but I am really not sure if you are the one for me.

A guy who says he doesn't read, please, you won't even be in the room.

In other words, yours truly knows what book a guy picks as his favorite is enough to eliminate him. But not what book makes him my guy.

*Eccentric says if the guy picks "The Moon & Six Pence" ~ HE is the one for her. *grin*

This was actually quite fun. I had lotsa *nonsense questions. Like "are you going to die and live me filthy rich" - *deary deary me

But all in all, the 2 questions above are most acceptable to yours truly and probably the answers would be most telling to me.

In any case, it is not likely that there is ever going to be a room of eligible men (who are going to answer my question truthfully) for moi to pick from, so this is just a great topic to talk about and perhaps, to think about.

At the very least, it did tell me what is really important to me. And it seems that self-reflection & books are and have always been, important to me.

A guy who does not reflect on the *meaning of life or who does not read - OMG.

NO WAY.

sheer

The *Starry's Question

*drums roll (this is a solemn moment, so pay attention!)

Imagine that you walk into a room full of eligible people (gender your choice) and you only get to ask ONE question to all of these eligible people AND you damn well be serious about your one and only question because (punchline coming!) ... you have to marry the person who gave you your desired (or failing which, the most perfect answer among all).

So tell me, what is THE question you will ask?

And yours truly being inquisitive, what is your most desired answer?

Think about it.

I wanna know.

Yes, yes, yours truly is aware that it is near impossible to pick a husband/wife/long-time partner/long term lover/short time bedwarmer, etc, etc, with a single question. But hey, I didn't set the rules, so complain to *Starry if you must. But if we suspend all logical process of boy-meet-gal or gal-meet-gal or boy-meet-boy, etc, (yours truly is gender and relationship neutral), if you only had that one-oh-so-important question to match the one-oh-so-important answer, what is your question to net your dream lover?

Do you know?

Let's hear it.

*sheer

Something to be grateful for

One would have thought that something so momentous like the first time yours truly have resigned would be worth a moment of celebrating, the wild-I-wanna-shout-out to the world, but no.

Strangely enough, there is just a sense of calmness. Yours truly has finally, officially, tendered my resignation on 17 June 2006. I thought I would be really delighted or on a high or something. But no. Just a certain calmness has set in.

I wonder whether it is because yours truly have *agonized for months on whether to quit. Or because my brain has already decided ages ago, neglecting to inform me. Or just because it is an anticlimax from all the consideration and of cos, it is probably just a symptom of my *quarter life crisis.

In any case, yours truly is looking forward to finishing up this month at work and to take a nice long break at home to relaxing before plunging into job searching seriously.

On this note, it is really nice to have *supportive parents. Yours truly could not have resigned with such equanimity without knowing that my parents would be able and willing to lend me money to pay my bond and be able to support me while I find my bearings.

Yes, I concede that I am somewhat *lost. I have yet to find a new job and I am not entirely sure of what I wanna do as of now. But I am grateful for small blessings. Thank evilness that yours truly does not have to support a family or have any heavy financial commitment. It is basically, me and how to support myself.

That is, or rather, my parents are really something to be grateful for.

I am.

Are you?

My Life

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

~Robert Frost

:::

A crossroad is in front
Shrouded in mist

do you proceed
do you turn

left

or
right

or

stay
put

I see a crossroad

Many winding
paths

Do I want to turn
Left

Or right

Or not

Uncertainty besiege

Should I take the plunge

Take a chance and
Turn left

Or right

Or not

No answer

No one
Have any answers

But

I know

Definitely
I will not

Would not

Cannot not

Do not want to

Stay put

Because I am
Me

Moving

Forward

Perhaps foolhardily

But

That's me

That's how
I am

You can live
How you
Want

Allow me
The same
courtesy

It is my
right

Not yours
To choose

My life.

Kel. 15 May 2006.

"Life is rarely as we would like it to be rather it is exactly as it is."

"You are a nation of cheats" according to the Japanese colleague of *doormat who is teaching ENGLISH in Japan. How nice. I didn't realise my-oh-so-dear-homeland has such character or had it in her to be a cheat. Such an achievement. *deadpan*

It is so prosiac and mundane to just declare that I like Japan because it is not true. Perhaps I do like certain parts of it, but not all and certainly, Japan is too complex to be concluded so simply. What I suppose I like is the nuances I sense in the society and culture. Look at it this way, while most Japanese has the habit of giving up their seats to the elderly, they have no qualms in not apologisng or acknowledging when they knock into someone. How strange. Likewise, while there are friendly Japanese who go out of the way to offer help to *confused lost tourists like us, there is a Japanese who offered help and then had the gall to help himself to 200Y from our change when we bought the tixs for the subway as compensation for his help, when we didn't even ask for help. *roll eyes*

In case you didn't know, yours truly went to visit *doormat in Japan with *snappish, *witchy and *private for a glorious 14 days. We stayed at *doormat's place for a few days and travelled to Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Mount Aso, Kyoto and Tokyo. The water festival at Togawa shi was particularly interesting. I managed to catch 2 great art exhibitions (using up a lot of the memory card of *snappish's camera) and of cos, Kyoto's really worth a visit. Their shrines and temples are majestic. Even the trees have character despite being well-pruned and manicured. Perhaps we should admire the gardeners for their diligence and artist abilities? Or is this merely a case of the foreign lands are always better sydrome? I think not.

The temperature was btw a comfortable range of 20 to 24 degrees, so no trouble there. Even though it was rainy for a few days. Interestingly, when we went tea leaves picking with *doormat's school in the mountains, the sun was shinning so bad, yours truly came back with a tan, from Japan, in Spring?! *arched my brows*

Oh yeah, we stayed in a comfortable and CLEAN hostel in Kyoto - K HOUSE. I highly recommend it to all who wants to visit Japan. If there's a K House hostel in the area you are visiting, please, do yourself a favor and stay with them. The hostel I stayed at in Tokyo left a lot to be desired. Truly, it was quite uncomfortable with very thin walls (ceilings that didn't even reach the top between the rooms) and obviously, the owners were not too fastidious about hygience. *grimace*

All in all, yours truly thought the trip was comfortable. It was nice to catch up with *doormat, who in her current state, I like better. This is not to say that she wasn't likeable previously, but age, as you know, or as I hear, add maturity to our characters, and *doormat, i am please to note has very nicely matured. But it's probably just me and me being sensitive or probably over-thinking. No matter. At least it is happy that yours truly find people to appreciate more when its usually the other way. If only age really adds maturity to everyone. But alas, observations tell one that most people just merely age without acquiring the useful grace of maturity. So at least, *doormat was favored by dear evilness. *grin*

On that note, yours truly shld end my crap. If i can find time, i will show off some great pictures from the art exhibtion. but only if the moon is shinning and more importantly, i am in an amendable mood.

Oh yeah, by the way, I have finally typed my resignation letter. Now it remains for me to actually submit the letter. yikes. i hate the prolonged sessions with my bosses to discuss my resignation. Such a dreary thought.

oh well. shrug.

what will come will come.

C'est la Vie