Lever
Often when you step on the bathroom scale, what you have in mind is a figure about your size or a wish - oh, say - say ten pounds minus your usual size. Close your eyes, picture a magic figure and nine times out of ten it will be wrong when you look at the display.
Now think about the weighing scale with a lever that goes up and down like a seesaw. Though little known among young people on diet now, this scale was popular some thirty years ago. In case
Now think about the weighing scale with a lever that goes up and down like a seesaw. Though little known among young people on diet now, this scale was popular some thirty years ago. In case
Candy
As mentioned few days ago, I found Ian McEwan's Sweet Tooth a breezy and good read. If Candy Crush is enticing, Sweet Tooth is more entertaining. Oh, surely I exaggerate. But not much.
All right, I'm exaggerating because I never play Candy Crush .
It does seem an odd thing - it strikes me that this mobile game has been downloaded some 500 million times in the past year - that I have never spent one single minute on this popular gumdrop game. To be
All right, I'm exaggerating because I never play Candy Crush .
It does seem an odd thing - it strikes me that this mobile game has been downloaded some 500 million times in the past year - that I have never spent one single minute on this popular gumdrop game. To be
Paint-by-Number
After Ian McEwan's novel, I picked up a new book, NurtureShock .
To see how this book gets me hooked, consider the opening pages of its introduction. Po Bronson has a knack for writing stories to illustrate parenting. He talked about his nagging wish to dump the acrylic painting in his guest bedroom. What made him hate the painting was a sense of lacklustre copycat robot art that arises from a paint-by-numbers kit. He simply doesn't like how his wife's great-grandmother
To see how this book gets me hooked, consider the opening pages of its introduction. Po Bronson has a knack for writing stories to illustrate parenting. He talked about his nagging wish to dump the acrylic painting in his guest bedroom. What made him hate the painting was a sense of lacklustre copycat robot art that arises from a paint-by-numbers kit. He simply doesn't like how his wife's great-grandmother
List
It's customary, at the end of the year, to rate the top stories in the news. It's the time of the year when everyone looks back.
Time whizzes by really quick, and I didn't write too many blog entries this year. Now I count awash in shame. I didn't say it was logical, I said it happens. It's easier to invent reason not to write than come up with a topic to write - that I know.
But.
But
Time whizzes by really quick, and I didn't write too many blog entries this year. Now I count awash in shame. I didn't say it was logical, I said it happens. It's easier to invent reason not to write than come up with a topic to write - that I know.
But.
But
Hands-on
"Close your eyes, daddy," my daughter exclaimed once I went home last evening. "Close your eyes."
I did so, and when I opened my eyes it was a new house. Vast terra incognita of wit. There had been a lot going on when I went to work. That's the first Monday of Jasmine's term break. My wife took a day off, and I didn't. My child simply created a dream house. You have to try to guess what
I did so, and when I opened my eyes it was a new house. Vast terra incognita of wit. There had been a lot going on when I went to work. That's the first Monday of Jasmine's term break. My wife took a day off, and I didn't. My child simply created a dream house. You have to try to guess what
Face
For reasons I accept but will never fully understand, all the characters in the Thomas and Friends series won't look the same to toddlers. Ask a preschooler to get aboard the train Thomas, and he will never mistaken that for Bertie or Gordon. Of course, not everyone can do that. I can't.
It seems that there are both genetic and acquired elements in our ability to recognize faces. Oliver Sacks, the author of Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat , was born
It seems that there are both genetic and acquired elements in our ability to recognize faces. Oliver Sacks, the author of Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat , was born
U-Bend
I am writing these words one day after a meeting at my daughter's school. That's a meeting with the principal and school board to discuss the future structure of the kindergarten and primary school.
There have been efforts to expand the school. As parents, many of us say we want a secondary school for our children.
Reality check: There will be financial implication in building a new school, and it might not be easy to find a school which is closing down. Now that a secondary school is
There have been efforts to expand the school. As parents, many of us say we want a secondary school for our children.
Reality check: There will be financial implication in building a new school, and it might not be easy to find a school which is closing down. Now that a secondary school is
Camping
We tried something new this weekend with Jasmine. We decided to have a camping trip, a feat we had not accomplished since our daughter had been born.
It was great to be back in the wild and enjoy the addictive feeling of freedom that comes with camping. We were proud to see how quickly we put up the tent. The first day of camping experience had kept Jasmine occupied. With few toys and limited access to the mobile phone, my daughter learned to find fun in everything around. Sand, sea shells
It was great to be back in the wild and enjoy the addictive feeling of freedom that comes with camping. We were proud to see how quickly we put up the tent. The first day of camping experience had kept Jasmine occupied. With few toys and limited access to the mobile phone, my daughter learned to find fun in everything around. Sand, sea shells
Habit
Sure, people always fall prey to everyday habits and routines. Most of us (and I must confess I count myself among them) keep doing the same thing - like looking too much at the mobile phone. It's the first object I reach for in the morning and the last thing I look at before bed.
It all seems so natural. Thing is, if you've read Charles DuHigg's The Power of Habit , there's a good chance you'll understand how a habit -
It all seems so natural. Thing is, if you've read Charles DuHigg's The Power of Habit , there's a good chance you'll understand how a habit -
Volcano
Everyone can get angry. Eight till eighty. Get along with anyone long enough and you will come across a volcanic moment.
One of my exemplary colleagues never loses patience with his patients, and for heaven's sake, exploded few days ago at a wedding banquet. That's after the waitress poured the salad dish on his girlfriend's dress. You could cook a six-pack of eggs next to his burning face. Quite right so?
However, many of his friends find it unbelievable as if that