EuCHO0.NET - (^(0o)^) The Pigatory

today is Blog Action Day.. the day to discuss the issues surrounding this huge topic on "Climate Change" and to spread the word on its significance..
to prepare for this day.. i did a lot of searching on the internet.. watching, listening, and reading about the climate change debate.. my personal conclusions are bleak.. the future is dark but my purpose here is not to put people down but to stir awareness..
i will not quote sources or give figures.. i will not speculate what may or may not happen in the future.. here i will only try to rouse one of our most primitive qualities.. our "common sense"..

some questions we need to ask ourselves first..
- is the Earth's climate changing? (who knows?)
- is the climate getting better or worse? (we can only imagine..)
- is the change caused by us humans? (if only i knew..)
- can we do anything significant enough to stop the change? (yes, no, maybe..)
- if we continue with our increasingly extravagant and wasteful lifestyles.. will climate change occur in the next 5 years? 50 years? 100 years?

what these questions have in common is that they really have no definite answers..

so the questions we really should be asking ourselves are..
- can we bear the consequences of climate changes?
- can we survive if the climate becomes unstable?
- can we tolerate the social-economic breakdown that results?
- will we have regrets due to our inaction against climate destabilization?
- can we afford to lose the life we are so comfortably living in now?
- and most important of all.. are we willing to risk it?

this is not a game play here.. this is not a stock market whereby all we stand to lose is money.. this is the future we are banking our life on.. and we may still be in it if and when it does occurs.. or our children/grandchildren could still be in it.. we really only have this one chance to play it right..

so perhaps nobody wants to lose all these stuff we treasure most.. but what can one do to make it better? what if we cannot stop the climate from becoming crazy? that does not mean we should simply give up and not do anything about it..
it is highly probable that climate change cannot be avoided.. but at the very least we may be able to push it back as far as we can.. at least until after our own lifetime.. or even our children's and grandchildren's lifetime..

i look at myself now blogging on the internet.. and think to myself that if one day climate change does destroy my home.. i may actually have to blog my thoughts by carving my entries on "How It All Ended" on some cave walls.. that is a very sad thought for me.. and if that is not depressing enough for you.. imagine the computers, handphones, televisions, playstations, cars, planes, beef burgers, cola, french fries, and so much more.. we could lose them all when we get caught by the climate storm..

what the human society needs now is for the people to do their own little part in trying to protect the balance which we are so happy with.. we just need to start out on the little things.. turn off the lights.. use less paper.. dim your TVs and monitors.. walk to the market.. take the stairs.. use less water.. eat less meat.. plant more greens.. reuse your stuff.. recycle stuff.. buy less.. take less.. use less.. waste less..

even if we gain nothing out of all these little conservation tactics.. at least we are left with a cleaner and greener environment to live in.. and if it does help in preventing climate change.. this little bit of self-sacrifice and conscientiousness would seem to be nothing as compared to the potential loss we face by incurring the force of nature..

simply ask oneself.. is it worth the risk by not attempting to curb climate change?

i attended a screening of "Meat The Truth".. which tells us about the detriments to Earth due to human's obsession with meat-eating.. this was the flyer given during the event..

this has come as a greater revelation to me because.. for more than a year now.. i have become a "free-willed vegetarian".. or "social meat-eater".. or "circumstantial carnivore" (whatever you may call it).. i had afore thought that energy and raw materials was the limiting factor to the prosperity of humankind on Earth.. now apparently the issue of food looks increasingly likely to bring upon our downfall..

compassion and cruelty of animals aside.. personal health concerns aside.. we must come to see that the production of meat is seriously taking its toll on our planet.. the rearing of livestock simply consumes unrealistically large amounts of resources, and generates so much pollution as compared to the cultivation of crops alone.. we may as well be drilling a hole through a century old oak tree just to extract a single toothpick from its core.. then leaving the oak to die..

the concept of food has evolved since the prehistoric era from "the need to eat" to "what to eat?".. so should we "eat to live" or "live to eat"?.. many people are even obsessed about food that lunch and dinner has become a permanent topic of debate..

therefore.. i weep for the future of mankind.. at least i know that if a famine does occur.. i wouldn't be the first to starve.. maybe i should start learning how to eat grass..

if anybody has any interest in "saving the planet" or going vegetarian.. please visit this website for a start..

congrats.. to myself.. pat myself on my back..
passed my PhD QE uneventfully this morning.. and i do not feel any way excited nor happier than before.. it definitely felt like a load off the shoulders for a while.. but at the back of my mind i just know that some other load will be piling on again soon..
i used to ask myself why am i pursuing this degree.. and now i have to instead ask myself why should i not be.. the answer is nevertheless the same.. it is because there is probably nothing else i feel worth pursuing..
many times i imagine i just want to lead a simple, vagrant life.. but it seems not possible in our modern society.. in which we are trapped in the comforts of our urban homes.. the city has provided much luxury.. but it has taken away so much away from life as well..
so i ask again why am i pursuing this degree.. there is no reason..

my second new year blog.. perhaps it's a good time to reflect on my previous year's "New Year Resolution".

first.. regarding my vegetarian diet.. i am proud to say that i have maintained it pretty well.. nearly 90% non-meat diet for the whole of last year i presume.. of course i still insist on being a social meat-eater.. with my friends and colleagues who some way or another orders meat to share.. i also hate to waste so i'll probably gobble up any meat (or if i may say hogwash) that other people willingly discard.. on the whole i presume this resolution to be successfully carried out thus far..

second.. to keep fit.. a summary of what i did last year.. i played soccer approximately 1-2 times a week.. went running at least once a week.. achieved my IPPT gold second year running.. finishing in Army Half Marathon and Standard Chartered Marathon.. i think that is already more than i would have imagined doing at the beginning of last year.. so i am rather proud of it.

glad am i to be able to keep to last new year's resolution.. not much of new year's resolution this year except to keep true to last year's resolution.. what i would hope this year is to do well in my research and that my PhD course goes smoothly and uphill for the rest of this year.. it was a great year running.. could not have been better.. wish all my friends good health and keep fit together..

bonne année!

zzz.. it has been almost 2 months since my last post.. it wasn't particularly uneventful.. but i guess i lost some heart in updating this blog.. don't think i would be completing my Cameronian Tour of last December any time soon.. or may be not ever.. not so busy yet not so free.. i sometimes wonder what happened to all my time.. seems like i have reached a point of life akin to being in the center of a huge lake.. it does not matter which direction i go.. it just seems such a long a tedious route to complete.. i could either dig in and swim myself all the way across the lake to the finishing line.. or just simply lay back, take a deep breath and let the currents drift me along wherever it wishes to take me.. i guess i am the second type right now.. but anyways i should just give a simple summary of what had happened in my life since the last post..

firstly.. i completed the 21km SBR & AHM run soon after my ICT.. did not get a good timing.. but still it was a slight improvement in the previous year.. so now time to look forward to the Standard Chartered Marathon (42km!!!) in December.. which would be the longest run i have ever participated..

before the marathon.. of course is to tackle my IPPT.. which i hope to repeat my gold exploit of the previous year.. somehow i am feeling confident.. and more fit than i was when i was younger..

as for my studies.. i have successfully passed the first part of my PhD QE as well as recently performed the departmental seminar speech.. the longest presentation i have ever given.. a full half an hour.. and i think i did a rather good job about it

so now i am only left with the last stage of the PhD QE which i hope will not be a problem too..

haiz.. must work hard and complete my PhD in the next 3 years!

ok.. it's Vesak Day.. the day for the faithful Buddhists to pay homage to Buddha and to bring happiness to the needy and less fortunate.. but the question for me is.. why am i working in my lab on a public holiday? the answer is simply because i do not celebrate this holy day as i am not quite a "holy" person myself (do you see plasma fluid leaking out of excess cavities on my body)

still i think it appropriate to give myself some time off.. sit back and relax a while to reflect on the sins that i have been committing since my eyes first opened to this world we call Earth..

There are basically eight Precepts to Buddhism (is it just me or does the number eight happen to be a lucky number for the chinese )

1. Not to kill
   

   i pray to the deaths of all the roaches, mosquitoes, ants and any other bugs that i have squished wittingly or unwittingly.. nah forget about the roaches and mosquitoes.. i have no regrets for these two critters..

2. Not to steal
   

   i regret to say that i have stolen several intellectual properties and media for my own benefit.. but this is the world of IT.. there is simply not enough new ideas to go around.. so let us not be stingy with our stuff..

3. Not to engage in improper sexual activity
   

   if anything is holy in this world.. it must be this.. so i promise not to go around raping young girls for no point and purpose..

4. Not to indulge in wrong speech
   

   i hardly like to talk so i guess this is not too much of a problem for me.. if any of my words had caused emotional hurt or discrimination towards anyone, or contains any form of foul language.. please forgive me..

5. Not to take intoxicating drinks and drugs
   

   i do not particularly like alcohol.. and the heck with drugs.. i do not even bother to take medication for common illnesses.. in the case of alcohol.. they are too expensive for excessive consumption anyways.. though i believe a little bit of beer or wine now and then does no harm to the body and it may actually have health benefits.. just don't get the brain dead-drunk and do stupid things.. i believe alcohol taken sparingly does not count as "intoxicating"..

6. To abstain from taking food at unreasonable times
   

   this bores down to the simple case of self-discipline.. having taken up a semi-vegetarian diet since this new year.. i believe there are food that your body can do without.. and with the proper mentality.. the lust for food actually calms away.. though i must admit i do love to gorge down any food that i foresee will end up in the rubbish chute.. gluttony is a sin.. but wasting food is an evil..

7. To refrain from sensual pleasures such as dancing, singing and self-adornment
   

   these are crimes?!? if that is the case.. i guess the modern society will never attain enlightenment with all the nightclubs, karaokes and beauty centres sprouting up in town.. for me.. i guess the occasional squeezing of pimples and shaving of my facial hair are the only forms self-adornment..

8. To refrain from using high and luxurious seats in order to practice humility.
   

   i do not quite understand this precept.. but is this urging all Presidents and Emperors to step down from their seats and thrones? i believe there must be positions of strength and power.. leadership is such an important trait for an overpopulated species such as us.. the key is to practice humility even if you are holding a high position.. i guess since i'm a nobody at the moment.. this does not quite apply to me..

another 2 months have passed since i begun my semi-vegetarian diet.. "semi" because i still do not completely reject meat.. for instances when my mother cook up a meal for me.. and eating out with some friends.. or when my Prof. gives a dinner treat : p.. so probably still have 2 or 3 meat items per week..

anyway.. so far the conclusion is that a low-meat diet has apparently not affected my stamina.. gone for a couple of jogs around campus without any signs of fatigue.. in fact i do think my fitness level has become more consistent.. though i think my muscle strain recovery rate has decreased.. perhaps i am getting old..

more importantly.. i believe my appetite has never been better.. yet i no longer lust for cheeseburger or such.. any healthy snack that can fill my stomach is good enough.. that is mental discipline which i had always believed is the most important part of being vegetarianism..

still i do not strongly encourage just anyone to adopt vegetarianism because it does require a good selection of well-balanced meals to maintain a strong immune system..

here i come again to babble about nothing..

just to make up space i guess. have not posted in 3 weeks.. i guess i really kept myself busy with school work..

back to the matter of my semi-vegetarian diet.. still keeping to my word.. i have not consciously chosen a piece of meat for my personal consumption.. so basically a 85% vegetarian now.. real difficult to keep to a pure vegetarian diet in campus.. there is hardly any greens left by dinner time.. so i have adopted a fruit salad dinner diet in school.. and of course for LK's barbeque session which i agreed to attend in the previous year.. before i made my resolution.. so i figured this rule does not yet apply and i finished up most of the meat.. never one to waste food anyways.. i would have helped to eat the meat even if i did not give this silly argument.. of course there are the times when my mum or granny prepared meals for me.. did not have the heart yet to tell them i am abstaining from meat.. so some meat there as well..

went for a run today to check on my fitness.. starting to slack in terms of this so must start to buck up again and be more conscientious in my running.. stamina was okay but felt a bit tired in the muscles.. wondered if it was because of the vegetarian diet or is it because i have not been running for a few weeks.. time flies so fast.. it is nearly half a year since i achieved my IPPT gold.. so only left half a year more to my next test.. hope i can still maintain my drive for this coming August..

will be back again to update my personal observations of the effect of vegetarian diet on general health and fitness.. perhaps in a month's time.. must keep a record of my findings.. that is what scientists do isn't it..

i cross a 7 storey high ridge every morning to my laboratory.. it has been more than a year since i started doing this regularly.. which has come to make me ponder about the phrase "Mind over body"..

even now as i traverse the long line of stairs.. i still feel the strain on my thigh and calf muscles.. i believe i grow stronger each time i cross the hill and i grow more confident and comfortable with each passing climb.. but the pain is always there with each new climb and even after a dozen hundred attempts.. the body never fails to heat up in complaint then perspires to cool down.. muscles tense and relax harmonically as the feet scale the steps.. one cannot deny the pain and fatigue.. but one can learn to live with it.. to grow accustomed to it.. so that if ever we meet another hill or physical barrier we need to surpass.. many more years down the road when the body grows older and weaker.. we still hold the belief that we can overcome it.. and overcome it we will.. because the body grows old but the mind can only become stronger..

oh well.. registered today at the university as a student again..
yes yes.. a student once again.. still feel like a kid in a man's body?

nearly lost my student card in the matric fair.. whew..
hope things only get better..

i lent my jacket to LS today and it smells nice.. at least for today..
it was worth the freeze..