Hand-Eye-Non-Conformation

See that red scratch on my freakishly fair thigh? It doesn't look much, and it sure didn't feel much; until I went into the shower and it stung.

Now, two thoughts have formed while I succumbed to the mind-blowing sting, followed by crouching at the corner of the shower and asking, "Why me?!".

1) The intensity of the sting surprised me. I didn't realise it was such a bad scratch (keeping in mind the word "bad" is relative to the situation here because, yes, I know, that's a minor issue but I didn't expect it to be an "issue" in the first place).

But is it really a bad scratch? Or is it because I'm in my thirties?! Has my "healing factor" finally slowed down now that I'm in my thirties because the scratch was from more than 6 hours ago? Or is it because my tolerance for pain has decreased? Or both?

2) And let me start off number 2 by telling the story of how I got this scratch.

I haven't been sleeping well for the past month. I'm waking up a few times in the middle of the night, sometimes to sneeze and sometimes to pee. Of course, sometimes it's both. So naturally, when this happened, the quality of slumber was compromised. And with that, throughout the day I wouldn't be functioning anywhere close to my best.

But, this particular day, which was two days ago, the lethargy hit me bad. I was yawning the whole morning and my eye lids felt like how Tom in "Tom & Jerry" had those 50kg weights attached to them.

And sometime in that morning, I had to go to the toilet for a number 2 (how ironic this is also number 2). I usually like to read during this type of transaction but this was at the office and my book was at home (I'm currently reading Left Hand Of God - very interesting but I digress). So I took out my ever-reliable, entertainment-filled Nexus One and started on Angry Bird.

Just as I was done, somehow, my left thumb with average-length finger nail (what's average? Err, few days without trimming?) lost its coordination. The distance with which I thought it was apart from my freakishly fair thigh was miss-judged. Somehow, I scratched myself while trying to put my Nexus One back into my pants' pocket that's wrapping around my ankles.

I don't recall ever having this kind of "accident" when I was in my twenties, but then again my mind isn't what it used to be too - but that's another can of worms that I don't want to open now.

Suffice to say, I better be more aware now or I'll be more accident-prone. Accidents occurring outside of my control, that's understandable and forgivable; but accidents inflicted on myself unnecessarily, that's just silly and sad.

My Ode To Steve Jobs

Artwork by @Frank Lv Guo Hui

I wrote this on Facebook Notes yesterday, the day Steve Jobs passed, and thought I'd post it here as well:
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Until now my Facebook Wall and Twitter still have some commemorative messages of Steve Jobs. A pure testament of how much lives he has touched and changed throughout this earth.

It's not just the legacy that he has left behind, nor just how great an inventive mind he has; but it was the way he lived.

He has been battling pancreatic cancer for more than a decade now, he knows what it's like to be facing death everyday. But instead of calling it quits, he lived everyday like it was his last. And he only did things that he had passion for.

Those who know me know that I'm somewhat against Apple products (OK fine, I'm totally against). I don't own a single Apple item, and I refuse to instal i-Tunes even if I would need it to purchase songs off the internet or listen to pod casts. So naturally, I don't bother with any news of him or Apple. But seeing today how much the world loves him, it's clear that he's more than just an inventor, more than just a trend changer, more than just the Superman of Silicon Valley.

I found many of his quotes and his life stories all over the internet that showed why he is who he is. And I watched a fifteen-minute video of a speech he gave during a graduation ceremony in Stamford back in 2005, titled How To Live Before You Die.

His wisdom shone and he inspires because he walked the talk. He set his mind early on to do what he loved because he knew life is short. His vision is clear and he changed the world through and through because he was the embodiment of both courage and foolishness. Above all else, he had heart.

Even though Steve Jobs is not my hero in the world of technology (though I have to admit I am affected through the secondhand smoker syndrome), but he is my new hero in the way of life.

I know not all of us are lucky enough to be able to do what we love or what we have passion for. But perhaps this could be a wake-up call for you to reflect on your own life. Steve looked at himself everyday in the mirror and asked if he was doing what he wanted to do. If the answer was a "no" a few days in a row, he knew it was time for a change.

Don't be afraid if you need to change. Change, in this whole world, is the only constant. Be more afraid of stagnation. Be more afraid of your comfort zone. Be more afraid if you have stopped learning. For we are all moving to the same final destination - take it from Steve for he knew this intimately - we are all moving towards death.

But question is, how will you get there? That's most important. For Steve, he changed the movie industry, the music industry and the computer industry. He changed the lives of millions by adding colours into our world and made sure we had the best. What about you, what have you done today? Wake up!