Went running last Tuesday with Ben. Tim was on the bike. I would love to write that I ran at such pace that neither of the boys could keep up. However I do realize that such fantasies are actually good for me! It somehow gives me the motivation to continue - the hope that my next run will be more or better.
Was I happy with that run? I was both disappointed and happy. Disappointed because I still cannot breach the 1 km mark. Happy because my knees are holding up. Disappointed because I have not lost any weight. Happy because I have an activity that I can sweat and at the same time retreat from the constant echo of uncompleted office assignments.
I also come to realize, after the last run, how clumsy I have become. Sitting in a car, doing mostly administrative work has lulled me into a sense of time freeze. I only remember myself as when I was much younger and more agile. That run brought reality back in.
I never used to be introspective over my physical being. When I was much younger, introspection was focused mainly on my failures - be it situational or emotional. Now I am very aware of my physical being. I am becoming like my mom - thick skin. I am no longer shy of what others think of me.
Aging is strange. It makes one feel old. Yet in this aging, I feel more aware of many things I never realize as important. I wonder what I will be saying in 5 years time.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
this Morning
Friday at last. In many ways this week was not one of the more pleasant ones. But that is life. After a lifetime of looking back, many times I forget to look ahead.
As usual, got to get up earlier and leave the house by 7 am so as not to get caught in the rush hour traffic for work as I had to drop Ben off at his school. Ben as usual struggled along. As I left the house, I realized that the sky was clear. Another hot day ahead. After dropping Ben off at the center, I prepared myself for the next portion of the journey that would take me about 45 mins at best.
Leaving Puchong Prima is often a stressful event. However as I was negotiating the traffic I was confronted with one of the most beautiful sights of the sky I have noticed in a while.
The rising sun, was hidden behind a blanket of high level clouds. The rest of the sky was a blue with dashes of "cotton" clouds spotted with grey clouds from the night before. The edges of these clouds was glowing with the reflection of the morning sun. Blue, with golden yellow hues dashed with while and grey.
I wound up on the slower lane. And I told myself that at least I have more time to enjoy this wonderful sight. I was about 7 minutes behind my schedule.
How I wished that I was on leave, with my D60 and a tripod.
Strange how a simple change in what we focus on can change our perspective at the start of the day. Instead of looking at the traffic jam and the other vehicles, a simple look up to the magnificient beauty of the morning totally replaced the stress with a peace and rest.
I wonder how is tomorrow morning .....
As usual, got to get up earlier and leave the house by 7 am so as not to get caught in the rush hour traffic for work as I had to drop Ben off at his school. Ben as usual struggled along. As I left the house, I realized that the sky was clear. Another hot day ahead. After dropping Ben off at the center, I prepared myself for the next portion of the journey that would take me about 45 mins at best.
Leaving Puchong Prima is often a stressful event. However as I was negotiating the traffic I was confronted with one of the most beautiful sights of the sky I have noticed in a while.
The rising sun, was hidden behind a blanket of high level clouds. The rest of the sky was a blue with dashes of "cotton" clouds spotted with grey clouds from the night before. The edges of these clouds was glowing with the reflection of the morning sun. Blue, with golden yellow hues dashed with while and grey.
I wound up on the slower lane. And I told myself that at least I have more time to enjoy this wonderful sight. I was about 7 minutes behind my schedule.
How I wished that I was on leave, with my D60 and a tripod.
Strange how a simple change in what we focus on can change our perspective at the start of the day. Instead of looking at the traffic jam and the other vehicles, a simple look up to the magnificient beauty of the morning totally replaced the stress with a peace and rest.
I wonder how is tomorrow morning .....
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Crazy over lenses
And so I return after a long break .......
Time seem to fly nowadays. As the global unease over the economic situation mounts, so too did work in the office. To find time after work is tough. More and more, the only break I find is the lunch break. By 5.30 in the afternoon, the mind is a blank and I am am only thinking of food - those nice sweetened and calorie rich fat inducing saliva stimulating desserts....
I finally bought the 18-200mm nikkor lens for my D60 today. I have been eyeing that lens for more than a year. Recently I had the chance to try out the Sigma 18-200mm. I liked the feel and the pictures. BUT the focusing ring sits just at edge of your palm. So when you take a shot, you will find that ring turning against your palm - yikes. Also the zoom ring is located right at the base. I find it hard to sit the lens on my palm. In fact I was quite dissapointed with the design.
I tried the Nikkor. Ergonomics won. Even though it was much more expensive than the Sigma
the lens just sits into your palm and you just focus and shoot. I was surprise that Tim told me that it felt good - given that the lens is heavier than the 18-55mm we are used to.
My wife had been urging me to buy that lens for over 2 months now. She was even willing to pay for half the lens! The truth, I believe is so that I would just stop pinning about the 18-200mm. Strange that I am actually quite a whiner. Now I understand proverbs where it said that it is better to sleep on the roof than in the same room of a nagging wife.
Am I happy with the lens? Well I only manage to get about 10 shots - about 20 minutes shooting time. The rest was taken up by both Ben and Tim. I like the results - but I am no pro.
I was actually quite apprehensive after spending a significant portion of savings to get the lens. But to see both the boys enjoying the lens put things in perspective and gave me some respite from my conscience. My family enjoys this too! I find it a great blessing to share common ground with the boys and wife. We all enjoy good well taken pictures. We all also enjoy taking pictures. We talk about taking good pictures - we are no pros... just "juara kampung"
I recall the time when I was entering my teens when I woke up one day and realised that I had drifted apart from my dad. After that we only shared "polite" conversations over superficial topics. We seldom had heart to heart communication. Even when dad was dying in hospital, the daily visits was good - but we could never touch heart to heart. I wanted so much to hug him and tell him how grateful I was for all his sacrifices. We did not have common ground. It was too late to find common ground.
Time seem to fly nowadays. As the global unease over the economic situation mounts, so too did work in the office. To find time after work is tough. More and more, the only break I find is the lunch break. By 5.30 in the afternoon, the mind is a blank and I am am only thinking of food - those nice sweetened and calorie rich fat inducing saliva stimulating desserts....
I finally bought the 18-200mm nikkor lens for my D60 today. I have been eyeing that lens for more than a year. Recently I had the chance to try out the Sigma 18-200mm. I liked the feel and the pictures. BUT the focusing ring sits just at edge of your palm. So when you take a shot, you will find that ring turning against your palm - yikes. Also the zoom ring is located right at the base. I find it hard to sit the lens on my palm. In fact I was quite dissapointed with the design.
I tried the Nikkor. Ergonomics won. Even though it was much more expensive than the Sigma
the lens just sits into your palm and you just focus and shoot. I was surprise that Tim told me that it felt good - given that the lens is heavier than the 18-55mm we are used to.
My wife had been urging me to buy that lens for over 2 months now. She was even willing to pay for half the lens! The truth, I believe is so that I would just stop pinning about the 18-200mm. Strange that I am actually quite a whiner. Now I understand proverbs where it said that it is better to sleep on the roof than in the same room of a nagging wife.
Am I happy with the lens? Well I only manage to get about 10 shots - about 20 minutes shooting time. The rest was taken up by both Ben and Tim. I like the results - but I am no pro.
I was actually quite apprehensive after spending a significant portion of savings to get the lens. But to see both the boys enjoying the lens put things in perspective and gave me some respite from my conscience. My family enjoys this too! I find it a great blessing to share common ground with the boys and wife. We all enjoy good well taken pictures. We all also enjoy taking pictures. We talk about taking good pictures - we are no pros... just "juara kampung"
I recall the time when I was entering my teens when I woke up one day and realised that I had drifted apart from my dad. After that we only shared "polite" conversations over superficial topics. We seldom had heart to heart communication. Even when dad was dying in hospital, the daily visits was good - but we could never touch heart to heart. I wanted so much to hug him and tell him how grateful I was for all his sacrifices. We did not have common ground. It was too late to find common ground.
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