Oops. It's almost 3 months since my last post. To say that I was too busy with schoolwork would be a poor excuse, considering that I am always logged in on MSN and facebook. Thus, I shall not account for the absence of updates.
So what got me back to update today? Well I had been wondering why this blog was created... I planned for the birth of this blog to be on my ORD day. I even had the template ready before that fateful day, the day I became a full-time civilian again... So, actually I wanted to post entries, 1 by 1, of my ORD journal. No, the journal is not meant to depict the 2 year story of my soldiering life. Instead, it was a 41-day countdown to ORD. Amazing. Why 41? Well, I started that diary on the night I left Sinagpore for Brunei, and the first entry was written on the plane.
Did I post all the entries in the journal online? No, I did not manage to. Prolly got bored of it...
There was however another goal of the blog. It is to promote my photography works. I bought very own DSLR on my ord day, and started to take better pics ever since.
However, it led me to update my blog only when I have photos to share.
Now, I do have photos to share, but I am just too lazy to do it... Lol.
The year is coming to an end... I must say it's been a fast year. I used to tell myself that this year was going to be a fantastic year. 2009, the year I ORD, the year I pass driving, the year I enter university, the year I turn 21...
No matter what happens, it is definitely better than 2007 and 2008. Those 2 years were lost years of my life. In fact, my 19th birthday is most likely the worst birthday I ever had. A most depressing one in fact... In case you are wondering why, a short answer is army. My 20th birthday was probably ok...
Now... why am I talking about birthdays? My birthday is in one month, and its my 21st! What does it really mean?
You see, this year I witness the most birthday celebrations and having friends attending birthday parties now and then was a very common thing to hear. It's because the 88-dragon-babies are turning 21 this year. Yea, most people I know celebrates 21. Seriously, is it that special?
Initially, I never really wanted to celebrate my 21st this year because I'm lazy to and it falls in the exam period.
Now, my decision still stands, with a different reason. Being a GEK1506 (Heavenly Mathematics: Cultural Astronomy) student, dates no longer seem as unique/special as they used to be to me.
Here's what I think. You survived 21 years, do you actually know how many days are there in that? How many times have you celebrated your birthday on the wrong day without you knowing it (and you probably still don't know now) because of the inaccuracy of the calendar? Ok, that's probably a bit controversial, but let us think about it. Lets say you are born today at 12 noon. Your 'true' birthday next year (2010) would be a bit before 6pm next year on the same date. Ok so what does it really mean? Imagine you were born at 9pm on 25oct2009, then damn, you should celebrate your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd birthday on 26oct, not 25th..
Go by chinese calendars and you should probably ask yourself how many leap months you have lived through. Go by muslim calendars and another interesting point comes into mind. You want to celebrate your 21st year alive on this miserable planet. By the gregorian calendar you may be 21, but don't punch me when I come to your party and tell you that you are much older than you are because more than 21 and a half muslim years have passed.
Am I against birthday celebrations because I'm getting old? But there are still adults who celebrate their birthdays right? Probably just a guess, but I think young people, especially very young people, love to celebrate their birthdays, and also the old people. Families tend to celebrate the old people's birthdays more often than middle-aged people.
You strongly believe your 21st birthday is special. Think of every reason why it is so, and you probably can rule out that your 22nd should be even more special for the same reasons. After all, you are celebrating your 1,2,3,...,20,21 years of survival/experience/achievement on this planet too when you decide to celebrate 22. It's inclusive. You can't say "I'm celebrating my 16th birthday because I'm finally 16th, but hey, I'm not giving credit to my 1st 15 years"
Think about it, will your 34th birthday mean anything to you? Will your 45th birthday be special? Any plans for your 48th birthday?
Will you be rejoicing, or complaining that you are getting old? Either way it doesn't really matter.