I Lost My Thoughts on the Internet
Apple iPhone 3G Swallowed My Twitter Posts

I posted a few times on Twitter yesterday but my tweets were lost while being transported in a whale that was carried by eight orange birds who were undecided on the direction of travel. LOL.

Well, actually Twitter buckled during the announcement of Apple iPhone 3G at the WWDC. Earlier this morning I’d cleared my cache after doing a transaction, leaving me with no trace of what I’d been surfing for yesterday so now I have totally forgotten what I posted yesterday. It might have something to do with the France vs. Romania Euro match that was on the same time yesterday or a disease that afflicts older cats or it might be a reply to one of your tweets.

I sometimes use a notepad application first before posting, something I clearly didn’t do yesterday! Have you ever experience the fear of losing your writing in the middle of posting it?

Running Can Be Fun
Psyching Myself Into Running Regularly

I started running last week. I couldn’t sleep the night after the first run because my knees were in terrible pain. I need better shoes. I need to do this more than twice a week. I want to achieve a healthy, toned body worthy of a Nike ad.

No I do not enjoy running. I love strolling, yes, but not running. When I run, I don’t have time to take in the scenery, smell a flower, or notice a ladybird, nope, no time for that, I have to run. But running is free and an activity I can jump into without much planning – I don’t have to book a tennis court, check whether its a good time to drop by the public pool or find someone to play with. It’s also something I can do without worrying too much about how my bum would look like to the person behind me in aerobics class or accidentally letting out a loud one in the middle of a halasana.

I will not wait for my muscles to atrophy to realise the importance of regular exercise. I do not need an unpleasant wake-up call to shake me into a healthy routine. I do not want to be in a position where I’d say “I should have exercised regularly then”. Until I find a more enjoyable way to keep fit, I will stick to running. No excuses. Health is not something I’d take for granted. It’s something I have to constantly work on because I am solely responsible for my body. I will not run away from my responsibility. Because of that I will simply RUN.

I just checked out The Fit Shack and coincidentally, my latest post is an exercise of the suggestions in JoLynn’s latest post. ;)

Looking Forward

My weekend was a turbulent one, complete with all the elements of a soap opera– health scare! money issues! soured relations! mental torture!

I had a few moments of clarity as the events unfold over the weekend:

1. I needed all the experiences, good and bad, to help shape the person I am today. This one is for tomorrow.
2. At least I still have my great sense of humour. And by great I mean weird! LOL!
3. Some situations are beyond my control, but as experience tells me, it will all make sense in the future. If not, it will serve as the much needed Drama! to my biography.
4. When you’re down the only other way to go is up. :)

Thank God I made it through. I’ve never been so glad to start a new week!

Be Careful What You Wish For!
Of Losing Weight and Wishing Well

Dear Secret Law of the Universe,

When I weighed myself this morning I found that I’m nearly 3 pounds more what I weighed in January. What happened? Was it the mindless snacking? Not enough of exercise? Water retention? All the above? I was mildly shocked but instead of planning to exercise more I decided that the best method to lose that extra weight was… to wish for the extra pounds to melt away. Not only that, I asked the powers of the secret law of the universe to reduce my weight by tonight.

At about 6pm, I had a funny feeling in my stomach and at 8pm I started having a bout of explosive diarrhoea that lasted for nearly 3 hours.

While groaning in pain in the the bathroom, I actually made time to appreciate your wicked sense of humour. Yes, I asked for this, yes, you granted my wish, and yes, you did it before the end of the day. When I weighed myself again just before the stroke of midnight, I was indeed 3 pounds lesser than I was in the morning. Very well done.

If you don’t mind, please automatically include the following addendum to all the wishes I’ve made and will make in the future:

1. No one is hurt — physically, mentally, spiritually or any other means possible– in the process of granting the wishes (and that includes me!);
2. The wishes are granted through means that are legally-, morally-, environmentally-, ethically-correct;

In return, I will do my best to:

1. remember to be grateful for all the wishes granted (lest I forget, I’d appreciate it if I’m reminded gently) and
2. have patience for the wishes that will be granted — I’m sure you’ve not forgotten my Macbook Air wish in January ;)

For that, I’d like to thank you for today’s lesson: be careful what you wish for — it might get your bum burned.

Gratefully yours.

Tomorrow, I’m going for a 2km run! :)

Sleepy Tales
Lucid Dreams and Segmented Polyphasic Sleep

“It’s possible to dream what you want to dream!”

I’ve been sleeping an average of 5 hours a night the past few weeks with an nap at in the afternoon and sometimes if I’m still sleepy, another nap early evening. I see this continuing for at least another month (especially with the Euro 2008 matches to watch in June!).

My dreams are more vivid now, and now more than ever, I’m aware of the fact that I’m dreaming and can control my dreams. I recently found the term for this:

Lucid Dream

“A lucid dream, also known as a conscious dream, is a dream in which the person is aware that he or she is dreaming while the dream is in progress. A lucid dream can begin in one of two ways. A dream-initiated lucid dream (DILD) starts as a normal dream, and the dreamer eventually concludes that he or she is dreaming, while a wake-initiated lucid dream (WILD) occurs when the dreamer goes from a normal waking state directly into a dream state with no apparent lapse in consciousness.” Wikipedia

Apparently, you can learn how to achieve lucid dreams. So it’s possible to dream what you want to dream!

Segmented Sleep

I’ve not experienced any adverse effects from the reduced number of sleeping hours apart from feeling very sleepy after lunch (then again, I’ve always been sleepy after lunch with or without enough sleep), and this is relieved by taking a nap.

I was slightly worried about the effects it would have on my body but the article What is a natural sleep pattern? on Scienceblogs is reassuring to a degree:

“In a natural state, humans do not sleep a long consecutive bout throughout the night. The natural condition is bimodal – two bouts of sleep interrupted by a short episode of waking in the middle of the night.”

Steve Pavlina took segmented sleep a step further by experimenting with Uberman or Polyphasic sleep, dividing his sleep into 6 half-hour segments and sleeping a total of 3 hours a day for nearly half a year. Yikes!

Given a choice, I think I’d still prefer to sleep 7-hour straight at night but at least I can rest in relative comfort now. :)

Wouldn’t It Be Great If…
Your Haircut Came with The Internet?

I go to the hair salon every 6 months. I like getting my hair fixed but I do not enjoy the amount of time it takes to get the job done. Usually the process would take at least an hour and much, much longer if I decide to go with a totally different look.

Wouldn’t it be great if one could do work or surf the internet while getting your hair done instead of just reading the magazines provided? I believe a few high-end salons are providing free wi-fi access stations but I’m talking about having the option to surf in my seat while the hairstylist do my hair.

Some points of contention

“You mean you want the Internets to rule your hairdressing salons too? Hello? Unplug, much?”

It’s purely optional. You can choose to surf or work on your laptop or you could stick to your magazines or bitching with your hairdresser.

“It’s expensive to implement.”

The salon may probably need a small investment but think of the benefit in customer experience. Instead of flipping through hair catalogues to select a style, a customer can superimpose his or her photos through a virtual hair makeover application like this one

“What’s the big deal about waiting a few minutes to get your haircut? Ever heard of patience?”

Have you ever taken 5 hours to get your hair done? I have (a botched colouring job). If there’s an opportunity to make fuller use of your time, why not?

Perhaps it’s really the comfort level that I’m having a problem with. You know the feeling of having to bend your neck for more than 15 minutes trying to read a heavy magazine that’s resting on your lap? Probably the most practical solution is to just provide a table of comfortable size and height (like a writing or tablet arm chair) preferably the type that swings out of the way when not in use.

Wouldn’t It Be Awesome If…?

I keep a list of ideas that starts with the line “Wouldn’t It Be Great If…” a habit inspired by a presentation by Jake and Jeff of SkinnyCorp which I watched early last year:

In this list, no idea is too fantastic, too difficult or un-noteworthy, they are just waiting for the right time to fully blossom. Needless to say, I have a lot of pet projects just waiting to be executed! B noted that some of my ideas have no direct relation to my interest or skill set. In my opinion, some of these ideas just need the right person to take on, which is why I’m sharing one of my latest entries above. If you run a hair boutique and just happen to read this, please take note — you could be pioneering a new standard in customer care! ;D

Have a great weekend!