Cinnamon Zone: Thoughts

Don't you wanna get married?

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:24:00 GMT

Is it only me or does this question sound awkward? I mean, is it something you decide? You know one fine morning you wake up and say to yourself: “What a lovely day to get married!” Then you call a friend and ask her if she would spare some time to go groom-shopping with you… Why do you always have to decide that you want to marry then find the person? Can't you just come across someone that makes you actually want to tie the knot?

I also don’t understand why some people refuse to believe or just marvel at the thought of having to be “mentally prepared” for getting married. I thought I was out of question, an unspoken perquisite… I mean hello! If you’re not going to be mentally prepared for sharing your life with someone then when else are you going to do some serious introspection?

No wonder divorce rates are hitting the roof. Some people call this irony.

Just a quick thought. Still have much to say about this, with bonus tips on how to stop spam questions... Stay tuned

Tom or Jerry?

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 10:38:00 GMT

From time to time, I try to spare sometime to restore my Bandicoot powers by playing some video games. You know, Family Game back in my day was much more fun that Play Station now. Really, I love Crash Team Racing but not as much as I was fond of Super Mario, I could never get enough of that. I think there must be a reason, it just doesn't make sense.

So, my brothers told me that they've got a new Tom & Jerry game. They said it was very fun, so I decided to try it. I told my little brother to put the CD for me and do all the necessary stuff, for when it comes to playing video games I like to grab the joy stick and get on with the game, I pretend I don't know how to do the wiring, and I prefer not to bother with as much as putting the CD in the driver. I think it's obvious since I suppose I'm not even using the right terms.

Anyway, the game started with a selection. You have to choose either Tom or Jerry to be your player. I don’t remember how I made the choice, but I went with Tom. As I started the game, my little brother who's always an eager-beaver whenever one of us shows interests in his video games, asks me this:

"Ola, who do you like better, Tom or Jerry?"

I must say it wasn't an easy question to answer. That's the way it is with my little brother. He asks you this question expecting a straight-forward answer but in fact he leaves you puzzled because you can't give him one. Just like the time he was asking me about the Gulf War. What answers can you give a little boy for questions like: How could an Arab country invade another Arab country? Tayyeb who won, Iraq or Kuwait?

So, his question about Tom & Jerry wasn't any less puzzling for me. It got me thinking: Really, why is Jerry the good guy by default? Why does he always win? Let's try to set the record straight here:

Jerry is a mouse. A rodent. A parasite carrier. He spreads germs and digs holes in the walls. He steals food. Tom, on the other hand, is a cat. A pet. A domestic animal. He's supposed to catch Jerry. Now, why would we think of him as evil just because he tries to do his job? And how come Jerry always gets away with everything he does? And why would he steal Tom's sweetheart if he's a mouse and she's a cat?!

On a higher, more general level, it got me thinking: Why do we try to judge each of them as "good" or "bad. Worse yet, why do we insist that if one of them is good, then the other should be bad. In fact, when I thought of it, none of them came out as bad. So it made me think that maybe it's the same way we judge people. People don't have to be good or bad. People can always have a good side and a not-very-good or even bad one. Many times one side overshadows the other. The difference is that when the good overshadows the bad, you don't have to look for the bad, just focus on the apparent good side. Sadly though, sometimes we tend to do the opposite. While when the good is overshadowed by the bad, we claim it's not our responsibility to exert any effort in seeking the good side, and that we only deal with what is shown to us.

Maybe I'm being very philosophical here, but go ahead, ask yourself the question: Tom or Jerry? As for me, I don't think I have to make up my mind about that. All I know is that when I was playing that game, it felt SO GOOD mashing Jerry's skull.

Hollow?

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 01:25:00 GMT

O: I don’t get it! How come that 2 people can be best friends, too close to each other, together all the time, yet one day something happens that they stop talking to each other, or even end hating each other!

M: That means they were close friends for real

O: I don’t think so. In fact, I think they probably were friends for the wrong reasons.

M: What makes you say that?

O: Nothing…

H

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 11:05:00 GMT

You know when your life begins to suck?

There's an old story, which dates back to the beginning of creation, and that will be told to generations ages and ages hence. It talks about something we all love, we all cling to, something that it born with us, that dwells within us and even haunts us. Through out history, many attempts to abolish it went in vain. No matter how people tried to tear it out, it always crawled its way back. That's right, it has become an inseparable part of every human being, and for many centuries, H has always been for Hope.

You don't kill hope, not because you don't want to, but simply because you can't. You are too powerless to strangle it. All you can do is losing faith in yourself, in the people around you, or in the Creator. That when your life seems like a living hell, and death becomes a distant dream... but somewhere deep inside, there will always be something, crying out vividly wanting to get out of that dark hole you dug with desperation to convince yourself there was no way out.

There's no escaping hope. A bittersweet fact you need to learn to live with. It pushes too hard, against your better judgment and against all your fears. It what pushes you not to settle for things, but rather to look forward to the best you can get. It's what tells you you are someone, it's your sense of self-worth, your passion and momentum, your way out.

Your only way out.

Conclusion

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 23:40:00 GMT

If you do something and people laugh at you, know that you are standing out: being different. If nobody laughs, nobody criticizes, nobody gives you sideway glances, nobody wonders, nobody questions, nobody objects, then it's more likely than not that you're perfectly main-stream.