Tag: Friendship

My left eye

A speck of dust hit my left eye.

It’s all red and feels painful.

Then I thought of my friend from Junior High.

He was drafted and went to war.

Just to come back with one eye left.

We have hung out at cafe, more than any other classmate since that time.

Just a few nights ago, I said goodbye to him before he went back States.

I can relate to his condition just now: he has seen and will continue see his world with only half his vision.

However, it’s he who has been in better spirits than I.

His memories serve him better than most people.

A black-belt in Tai Kwan Do, he manages to live independently for years before getting married  late in life.

Even after surviving a stroke, he still carries himself with full optimism.

I guess when you have less to see with, you filter less, hence see more.

In 11 years since we reconnected, I have heard not a self-pity word out of his mouth.

The funny thing is, those who have never been in the battle field bragged about it more.

Until they come face to face with his fake eye. Those with one mouth and two eyes decide to speak less and see more.

For me, one’s full body parts are irrelevant when it comes to friendship. Just shared time and shared memories.

We accept each other, taking turn at talking. Our group have music and movies lovers. We were not into power or the struggle for it. I wish for him safe passage and quick jet-lag recovery. Since he paid for our coffee last Monday, the next time it will be on me.

My left eye, although hurt, yet helps me appreciate  my friend more. Better than other days, when I got both eyes but saw less. (We can now fade in Lennon‘s Oh My Love…for the first time in my life, my eyes can see).

the acceleration of nearly everything

Time heals, slowly. It makes for better wine.

But it also shuts the window of opportunity.

The moment we leap (even before we look), we defy fate.

No regrets.

In “Blink”, the author presents a clear case for intuition and conclusion.

It’s the opposite of SWOT with no action =  slow-burn effect that kills the frog (paralysis of analysis).

Most life-altering decisions are made not by (analytical) choices, but in a “blink”: a parent who picked up an added burden (hence, less time to spend with the kids), the first televised Nixon-Kennedy debate whose viewers favored the telegenic over the “tricky”, a leader who was reluctant but refused to disengage from someone else’s war ( Hey, hey, LBJ) at the expenses of his beloved Great Society .

If history is of any guide, we will eventually relegate what is now known as the internet to its proper place as we have treated its counterparts (radio, TV, phone book, encyclopedia …)

We will know that it’s there, accessible at any time, any place. But the novelty will soon wear off, or co-opted by corporations or back to the government (ARPANET started there anyway). In fact, contrarian already felt that our privacy and freedom are in jeopardy.

Internet, like everything else, will face its own “valley of death” before being adopted by the Rest. I still remember how excited everyone was with Skype and Netflix 5 years ago.

Meanwhile, it has done its job: the classification and acceleration of nearly everything.

Someday, when Search is complete with behavioral targeting, we can do away with “I am feeling lucky”. For now, if you…

Want to know about s/t? Goolge it.

Want to view and hear s/t? Youtube it.

Want to call somebody (or group w/ them), Skype him.

Although It doesn’t bring neighbors closer together, it offers us a tool to “google” them, or “verify” his/her online brand.

Something just can’t be rushed: your pot roast, your wine, and the cheese.

Or reputation, trust and friendship.

My classmate was excited upon hearing about a long-lost friend. Who wouldn’t want to see ourselves as we were once seen!

Maybe social networking is here to stay.

It connects people like the tie that binds.

Friends know what we like (that’s why they are on our friending list in the first place).

In the foxhole, we stay and fight, not out of ideology or conviction, but out of camaraderie.

Viva friendship and its enduring legacy, which can’t be rushed up.

It’s an age of acceleration, but only of nearly everything. Not of everything. A time to dance, a time to reflect. A time to die, a time to live. Still, I don’t forget those first few seconds, of  people I met. And I know they mine. The blink moment that lasts a lifetime!