Good Tidings – Coffee Time

Good Tidings.

It’s coffee time.

I was a tea drinker ten years ago.

Today I am a coffee drinker by day and tea drinker by night.

All the caffeine.  No wonder my insomnia is getting from bad to worse.

Before talking about life’s challenges, rewards or fun things, perhaps since this conversation takes place in a cafe or a trendy coffee shop, first I have to give a word of advise on our drinking habits.  I am ten whole years ahead of you so the advise is if you wish to maintain your beauty sleep, caffeine is a ‘no no’.  Go for fruit juices instead for better skin complexion.

Now the most challenging thing I had thought of long and hard, at least over ten years is LOVE.  We were always told we must love one another, our family and our friends but very seldom do we hear of reminders to love ourself.  The challenge is in the midst of loving others, you must care and love yourself even before you can love someone else. This sounded self centered but if the source is not cared and nurtured well, she cannot bloom and share her love with all around.

The most rewarding thing is when dining with loved ones and everyone was eyeing the last piece of crayfish and all the younger ones, out of respect will try to pick up that piece of crayfish with their chopsticks and place it in your bowl even though you are still chewing on your third piece.  That’s respect you had earned been the senior.  Good upbringing earns respect and equals family harmony.

With challenges and rewards come fun.  Any good things coming together is like a double blessing, satisfaction and fulfilling.  A lifetime desire is to live life to the full and to be able to reflect and reminisce the good old days.  Memories live forever.

That was food for thought of a ten years stage of life. Young Me, you have many more of those ten years to go while I had used a chapter more than you.  Life is good.  Stay healthy, drink fresh fruit juices but in some days, there is nothing wrong having a cup of fresh brewed coffee or tea reflecting back the years with a smile.

Let’s get ready for home.  Where are you Young Me?

Present-day you meets 10-years-ago you for coffee. Share with your younger self the most challenging thing, the most rewarding thing, and the most fun thing they have to look forward to.

via Good Tidings.

Verbal Confirmation

To be

To have

To think

To move

To hold

To love

To care

 

Someone has to be there

to do all these things.

It takes one to start

to make things happen.

Smile and pass it on

what a beautiful world

this is the place to be.

 

Image credit Pugster Jewelry

To be, to have, to think, to move — which of these verbs is the one you feel most connected to? Or is there another verb that characterizes you better?

via Verbal Confirmation.

Uncanned Laughter – funny as!

New Zealand has always been a nation with an eclectic mix of people and nationalities, and this mixing pot of cultures has led to the country developing its own particular way of speaking.

Kiwis say funny stuff like

‘sex‘ instead of ‘six‘

‘fish and chips‘ becoming ‘fush en chups‘.

If you are told to bring a plate, be sure it has food on it to share.

If you are angry, remember to say you are “pissed off” (not just pissed).

If it’s pissing down, bring an umbrella.

When they tell you to put your woolies on, it refers to any warm layers.

Eh?  Used at the end of a sentence when you’re not really asking a question, more providing a statement that you want confirmation for such as “this post is really cool, eh”

If you stay in a country long enough, no matter where you are from, you will start picking up their phrases.  That’s ‘sweet as‘.  This is the most famous Kiwi phrase, any adjective can be followed by the word “as”  for example funny as, hard as, cold as, hot as, cool as, anything as!

We all know that Kiwis pronounce ‘egg‘ as if it was ‘igg‘.

Here’s some egg jokes.

At a party, a magician was producing egg after egg from a little boy’s ear.
“There!” he said proudly. “I bet your Mum can’t produce eggs without hens, can she?”
“Oh yes, she can,” said the boy. “She keeps ducks.”

How can you drop an egg six feet without breaking it?
By dropping it seven feet – it won’t break for the first six.

What happens if you play table tennis with a bad egg?
It goes ping, then it goes pong.

What do you call an egg that goes on safari?
An eggs-plorer!

What happens when you tell an egg a joke?
It cracks up!

What day of the week do chickens hate the most?
Fry-day

Why did the chicken cross the playground?
To get to the other slide!

Why did the chicken cross the internet?
To get to the other site!

 

Did I make you laugh?  Or Smile or Grin?  Funny as!

 

 

Image credit http://www.bhmpics.com/view-funny_egg_eating-other.html

 

A misused word, a misremembered song lyric, a cream pie that just happened to be there: tell us about a time you (or someone else) said or did something unintentionally funny.

via Uncanned Laughter.

Edge of the Frame – The cyclo driver

A rickshaw is called a “cyclo” in Vietnam.  This poor cyclo driver (actually may not be this particular cyclo in the photo nor its driver) when the cyclo that we rode on broke just as we arrived at the hotel in Hanoi after a night out.

An eventful ride indeed.  All of a sudden we felt we were falling over as our whole weight fell back and ended up with our legs in the air.  Luckily we remained intact on the seat but the poor cyclo driver fell off his.  A blessing no one was hurt and strangers from the street came and pushed our seat upright so we could get off!  I honestly cannot recall whether or not I took a photo of this poor driver before the incident.  Grin.

 

We often capture strangers in photos we take in public. Open your photo library, and stop at the first picture that features a person you don’t know. Now tell the story of that person.
via Edge of the Frame.

Frame of Mind

As the saying goes, you are what you make of yourself.  You can control your own destiny.

Whether you believe it or not, indeed it’s all in the state of mind.  When you feel lousy, you feel down and you feel sick.  In good times, when you are high spirit, you feel good and you smile and the world smiles with you.

If you could paint your current mood onto a canvas, what would that painting look like? What would it depict?

via DP Frame of Mind.

Here where I am at this moment, the weather is cold, windy and my four legged friend can’t even ‘go on the grass’. Often times when he cannot hold it in the middle of the night, I have to drag myself up to find the house keys and let him out.  I have a terrible cough and my whole body aches.  Negatives, negatives and more negatives.

This is what my mood is like…………. but

a little voice told me, the weather may be cold, wet and wild but I have a roof above my head and the heater to keep me warm and something inside me glows.  Feeling thankful, in darkness, I see…….

In life I remind myself daily, in good times, I rejoice.  In bad times, I console myself knowing there are others out there worst off than me.  Living in thankfulness, I create a balance, hard as it may be sometimes but ………

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass.
It’s about dancing in the rain.
Life is what you make it.

This is a canvas of my current mood, it may be brighter or darker some days but I will never allow the light to go out.

Create a balance and keep the glow.

When you are not in the right frame of mind, the world appears blur

An Odd Trio

Once upon a time there was a cat named Sugar
whose favourite food were bowls of soup of any kind
fishy, sweet corn or pumpkin all licking good.

Her master was a young teenage boy named Ragus
who had a little row boat and often took Sugar with him down the river
carried her tightly wrapped in a beach towel.

What an Odd Trio
A Cat, A bowl of Soup, A beach Towel
Time for a boat ride, said Ragus to Sugar.

S U G A R   or   R A G U S

 –   A story of sweet nothings, meow –

 

Today, you can write about whatever you what — but your post must include, in whatever role you see fit, a cat, a bowl of soup, and a beach towel.

via An Odd Trio.

Sleepy Time

Another night of late dinner
with a full stomach
retired to my room with my mac on my lap
reading your story and writing mine.

As I was about to shut down my mac
Daily post popped up on my screen
yet another night
with a topic too tempting to ignore.

Another twenty minutes or more
before l switch off the light
lay down my head
and one hand reaching out.

As always there is one last thing I must do
immediately after shutting down my mac
next to my bed my iphone
found its way on my palm one finger pressing WP yet again.

Another same routine night after night
going to bed late or sleep procrastination
Night in, night out, making my eyes like
an owl at night and a panda in the day.

 

 

More and more of us go to bed too late because of sleep procrastination. What are the nighttime rituals that keep you up before finally dozing off?

via Sleepy Time.

Antique Antics – Someone is taking a break

Oldest thing I own?

This little photo I created.  It’s an oldie but a goodie.

It can be recycled, again and again, same message.

Whenever I am about to take a break, I will post it on WordPress.

 

What’s the oldest thing you own? (Toys, clothing, twinkies, Grecian urns: anything’s fair game.) Recount its history — from the object’s point of view.

via Antique Antics.

Terminal Time – At long last I can finish reading my book

I do not know if it is the norm
as I grow older but not sure if wiser
I find it harder to concentrate
or stay motivated to complete a simple task.

 

Other than blogging
or having to earn my living
seven and a half hours of work
five days a week.

 

I cannot concentrate long enough
to finish reading a book
or sit through a two hours movie
in the comfort of my lounge.

 

I used to be ever so energetic
my routine of an hour at the gym
followed by a swim like a fish up and down
at least ten lapse of olympic pool length.

 

I will soon be off for a break
packed with two books
terminal time, hoping to put my feet up
I hope to get my concentration back.

 

You’re at the airport
your flight is delayed for six more hours
and none of your electronic devices is working
How do you pass the time?

via Terminal Time.

 

Living Art – My Mother’s Day Treat

“Happy Mother’s Day” – Tickets to Shadowland from my kids.

An ENTHRALLING experience of wonderment for the entire family. This is an amazing spectacle of inventiveness.

For the first time In New Zealand, the international theatre sensation Pilobolus Dance Theatre company presents Shadowland direct from the USA, an enchanting tale of illusion and dance.  Bodies become imagery, one image merges into another, poetically, inexplicably.

Thanks to my kids we were entranced by the stunning choreography, pulsating music and shape-shifting illusions of Shadowland.

Living Art – One day, your favorite piece of art — a famous painting or sculpture, the graffiti next door — comes to life. What happens next?

via Living Art.