June 26 - The world lost a legend.
There are few people who did not listen to Michael Jackson's songs while growing up. Ben, ABC, I want you back, She's out of my life, Thriller, Black or White, Remember the time, The way you make me feel, the Earth Song, Heal the World, We are the world and so many other memorable songs that span close to 40 years of pure entertainment.
His songs have been covered by so many artistes, listened by so many people, his dance moved copied by kids 5 years of age to 50 year olds.
His name is a soy drink here and yesterday I heard on the radio that it was a type of bread the mamak sell at the stall as well.
On my drive home from work yesterday, traffic was slow, I noticed. I myself was barely doing 70 on the highway because I was listening and savouring MJ's music on the radio. It had been like that since morning, since news of his passing spread across the nation. All the radios did tributes to him, played his biggest hits, asked callers to call in and tell the station how MJ reminded them of their childhood.
Then, there are people who say things like the children of the world are safe once more and he pulled one crotch too many as a reason for his early demise. It is not nice to speak ill of the dead but I guess there are many non-fans out there who thought it cool to speak ill of MJ's death.
But in truth, he was pretty much the most spoken about person in the world yesterday - June 26th.
We've lost so much these recent few years. Sigh, Heath Ledger, Steve Irwin, David Carradine, now Michael Jackson. Either I'm growing older or people are dying younger nowadays. Seems like both is true.
Do you remember the time...
RIP Michael.
Jun 26, 2009
Jun 17, 2009
Korean Drama: Six Children (update)
Well, waddaya know. Look what I found in Ebay: Six Children the DVD. Best thing of all, there is a synopsis there. Yay!
But it's in Mandarin. Sigh.
For what it's worth, here is the DVD cover.
Korean Drama: Six Children
Ya I know, the mom is a babe. But she doesn't look like that throughout the whole show. She looks haggardly and as if she has a tortured soul but her actions speak the through language of motherly love. Oh come on, you gotta watch it now. Channel 301 on Astro.
Hmm... I wonder if 8TV will take it up after it finishes its run on Astro. *keeping fingers crossed*.
But it's in Mandarin. Sigh.
For what it's worth, here is the DVD cover.
Korean Drama: Six Children Ya I know, the mom is a babe. But she doesn't look like that throughout the whole show. She looks haggardly and as if she has a tortured soul but her actions speak the through language of motherly love. Oh come on, you gotta watch it now. Channel 301 on Astro.
Hmm... I wonder if 8TV will take it up after it finishes its run on Astro. *keeping fingers crossed*.
Jun 13, 2009
What is Plagiarism?
Not many of us know or understand what plagiarism means but most of us (and a really high percentage of most of us) practise it every day. We were already practising it when we were in school, copying homework and assignments from the brightest kid in class, all the way to university level. Believe me, I've been there and I know about the junior borrowing content and answers from seniors scenario.
This practice is so bad that so many young writers succumbed to it and many high-earning authors from bestseller lists are accused of it. Plagiarism gets worse when you enter cyberspace since there are no police watching over what we are writing in our respective blogs.
But, it's just repeated content without distortion, right? So how bad could it be to just repeat what has been said by someone else, in another form, listed under your name?
For one thing, there is the matter of copyright infringement. When something is published by a particular person, affiliation or company, then the copyright of the material belongs to the inventor of the thing published. To reuse the content without written permission by the owner of the material constitutes to infringement and the person who infringes the copyright can be sue and taken to court for legal action. Most of the time this does not happen, because... the person who infringes the copyright has to be caught doing it first.
I have been an editor of academic books for more than 3 years. It is my job to catch people doing plagiarism and submitting work that they did not produce themselves. I've gone through countless applications by wannabe writers and have rejected just as many applications because they do not know that they are conducting plagiarism and had the audacity to try to receive credit where credit is not due.
But you can't put the full blame on these writers alone.
One of the easiest book contents to write is the model test paper. You know, the one that are written based on past year papers and mirrors the level of real examination papers... blah blah blah. This, to me, is the easiest to write because of the 'mirroring' of the level. Change it too much and teachers would not be able to tell if it 'mirrors' the real examination paper. Keep it too close to the original question and you might as well just copy the whole thing over. It's a thin line between keeping it consistent and keeping it exactly the same. I cross the line a lot each day.
If I am doing my job right, I'd accept writers who know what they are doing and write what they are good in. The problem is, many people do not know what they are doing, and yet, they comment and criticize my decision, saying I don't know what I am missing out on. Ya, the job sucks in this way.
Combatting plagiarism isn't easy. But it is for a good and very important cause.
Plagiarism will, on the long, cause a decrease in the level of creativity the general writing population has. We must by all means prevent this from happening. Everyone can write, but not everyone can give you what you want, and not everyone can write well. It is a simple and sad fact and if no one is taking this matter seriously, in the end we would have so many brilliant instrumentalists, but no composers to write new songs for them to play.
No field would be able to advance, no technology will be able to improve. We would all be living like mindless, cracker-loving parrots... which surprisingly is fine for some people, but I hope not for you.
This practice is so bad that so many young writers succumbed to it and many high-earning authors from bestseller lists are accused of it. Plagiarism gets worse when you enter cyberspace since there are no police watching over what we are writing in our respective blogs.
But, it's just repeated content without distortion, right? So how bad could it be to just repeat what has been said by someone else, in another form, listed under your name?
For one thing, there is the matter of copyright infringement. When something is published by a particular person, affiliation or company, then the copyright of the material belongs to the inventor of the thing published. To reuse the content without written permission by the owner of the material constitutes to infringement and the person who infringes the copyright can be sue and taken to court for legal action. Most of the time this does not happen, because... the person who infringes the copyright has to be caught doing it first.
I have been an editor of academic books for more than 3 years. It is my job to catch people doing plagiarism and submitting work that they did not produce themselves. I've gone through countless applications by wannabe writers and have rejected just as many applications because they do not know that they are conducting plagiarism and had the audacity to try to receive credit where credit is not due.
But you can't put the full blame on these writers alone.
One of the easiest book contents to write is the model test paper. You know, the one that are written based on past year papers and mirrors the level of real examination papers... blah blah blah. This, to me, is the easiest to write because of the 'mirroring' of the level. Change it too much and teachers would not be able to tell if it 'mirrors' the real examination paper. Keep it too close to the original question and you might as well just copy the whole thing over. It's a thin line between keeping it consistent and keeping it exactly the same. I cross the line a lot each day.
If I am doing my job right, I'd accept writers who know what they are doing and write what they are good in. The problem is, many people do not know what they are doing, and yet, they comment and criticize my decision, saying I don't know what I am missing out on. Ya, the job sucks in this way.
Combatting plagiarism isn't easy. But it is for a good and very important cause.
Plagiarism will, on the long, cause a decrease in the level of creativity the general writing population has. We must by all means prevent this from happening. Everyone can write, but not everyone can give you what you want, and not everyone can write well. It is a simple and sad fact and if no one is taking this matter seriously, in the end we would have so many brilliant instrumentalists, but no composers to write new songs for them to play.
No field would be able to advance, no technology will be able to improve. We would all be living like mindless, cracker-loving parrots... which surprisingly is fine for some people, but I hope not for you.
Jun 11, 2009
Sigh.. here we go again.
All it takes is for someone to pose a question and the media and the public are went into a frenzy. Latest topic to graze the news arena in Education is:
----
The Star Online > Tuesday June 9, 2009
So what is the problem? I think it boils down to whether we want to do it or not. As heard from a TV show I watched the other day, it is like going to the moon, we have to want to do it. Otherwise, let's just close all discussion and condemn the future generations to certain doom... I mean, forget about it.
----
The Star Online > Tuesday June 9, 2009
DPM: English not a ‘must pass’ for SPM?
KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is surprised to learn that English is not a “must pass” subject for SPM and wants public feedback on the matter.
The Education Minister said it was a revelation to him as he had always thought that it was a prerequisite since students had to learn English in school.He was also shocked to learn that national schools no longer taught English grammar.
“I don’t know how you can learn English without knowing grammar,” he told newsmen after launching the Kirkby College alumni association.Muhyiddin said students were now merely learning communicative English.“This means they are picking up the language for communication purposes only,” he said, adding that almost 70% of students who take English pass the subject.
The minister said he would seek public view on the matter.“We may deliberate on it at the ministry level but as Education Minister, I want to give the public a chance to share their views,” he said. (A pass in English has never been compulsory for SPM. Since 2000, a pass in Bahasa Malaysia was sufficient to get the SPM certificate. Previously, a credit was a must.)
Muhyiddin said he wondered if rural students would be at the losing end if a pass in English was required in SPM.He also said he did not know if not having to pass English meant the standard of the language had gone down
A retired lecturer and teacher trainer said the teaching of grammar was integrated into four main language skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing in English lessons for students.
----
And so the debate on whether or not to make English a must pass subject in SPM commences.
And whilst even Dr M is on the side who is pro on the move, on June 10th, this report came around:
Many object to making English a ‘must pass’ SPM subject
PETALING JAYA: Most of the 500 views received by the Education Ministry as at the end of office hours yesterday are against any move to make English compulsory in order to obtain the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) certificate.
A ministry official said those who contacted the ministry wanted the status quo to remain.
“We started receiving telephone calls from 10am until 5.30pm yesterday,” she said.
From today, she said people could telephone the ministry’s hunting line at 
03-7723-7070
with their views from 8am to 5.30pm. “There are 27 lines and we have enough people manning them,” she said.People can also e-mail their views to kpkpm@moe.gov.my or send a fax to 03-7710-8880.
On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had said he was surprised to learn that English was not a “must pass” subject for SPM and wanted public feedback on the matter.
The Education Minister said it was a revelation to him as he had always thought that it was a prerequisite since students had to learn English in school.
A pass in English has never been compulsory for SPM. Since 2000, a pass in Bahasa Malaysia was sufficient to get the SPM certificate. Previously, a credit was a must.
---
When I read the report, immediately my 'siren' went off. One, the title is very misleading. 500 (callers) is not exactly a significant amount. We have hundreds of thousands of students taking SPM every year, all of them have parents. Yet, only 500 called the Education Ministry, most to object to the idea. Now, if you sit back and think about it... would you even call the Ministry if you want to support the idea? Well, I supported it and I didn't think to call the Ministry to say that I do. The conversation would be so weird...
Anyways, amongst all the reports in the news, I found the stupidest opinion presented in the following form....Do you support the notion?
..Yes.
...Then why are you calling?
O_o
“If a student obtained As in all subjects except English, this means he failed his SPM. He would become a victim of the English Language colonisation,” he said.Makes sense, and patriotic but ... how often does a student with all As in all subjects fail English? SPM English isn't exactly tough. I know a person who got a 3B in SPM English but the person can't even write a proper email to a client. Now, that's Sad. By the way, Person said has 8 As to its name and yes, her English sucks but it's still a 3B (a strong credit) by current standards. So this statement seemingly makes sense but it actually doesn't,
So what is the problem? I think it boils down to whether we want to do it or not. As heard from a TV show I watched the other day, it is like going to the moon, we have to want to do it. Otherwise, let's just close all discussion and condemn the future generations to certain doom... I mean, forget about it.
Jun 7, 2009
Mr Robert Raymer, writer
I really love writing. Once an idea or a concept attaches to my mind, the words flow out of my fingers without forethought and the story or write-up shapes itself into its final form in front of my eyes. Add editing skills to that and I am set for life.
So what would be the coolest thing to happen to a would-be writer, a lowly humble scribbler like me?
The answer: To be shot down and brought back to reality by a real writer.
Best thing to have ever happen in my life.
---
Lovers and Strangers and Lovers and Strangers, Revisited (see below) were written by a Mr Robert Raymer, father of three, established and prolific writer, published author (it's redundant but I still need to say it) and former Creative Writing lecturer in USM, which was where I had the privilege to study under him.
Lovers and Strangers, Revisited by Robert Raymer
This reminds me, I gotta go get myself a copy. Damn you, procrastinating side of self.
---
I was lucky that during my 3 years in university, the nation had ourselves our first and only low-cost airline (Thanks tony) which allowed me to fly home without burning holes in my ragged, torn pockets. In one of these flights, I happen to chance upon an article written by a Raymer fella, who claims to teach Creative Writing in USM, in one of the in-flight magazines. Out of curiousity, I ventured into unknown territory (I was in Technology and Sciences and he was teaching in Languages) and got myself enrolled in his class during my final year.
First day in class, whoa, he doesn't look like he's from around here. And once he opens his mouth, Yup, he's not from around here.
He tells our class of 17 that he has had complaints from previous batches of students that they don't understand the words that are coming out of his mouth. He says tough luck, he can't change his accent. Deal with it or drop out.
I became a fan for life.
---
Throughout the semester, I found out that he had backpacked in over 30 countries, that his family had frantically called Red Crescent to ask if they found his body amongst the people who drowned due to the tsunami that occurred in Sri Lanka on Boxing Day 2004, which also hit Penang (where my university was and where he resides with his wife), that he was a workaholic, that he pushes his students a lot and that surprisingly brings out the best of them, and that he has a lot of ex-students who are proud to call him their teacher (google his name), that he views things differently and appreciates things that we Malaysians take for granted, that he is a doting father and that he is one of the pushing forces, an advocate, a voice for people who want to write in Malaysia. Imagine that, a foreigner helping locals to learn to be a writer. Please do not resent that last statement, I'm just saying it as it is.
He also has an exceptional memory. Either that or he refers to his journals a lot and so remembers most of his ex-students. And you can be sure that most of his ex-students remember him.
---
His class was very trying and if you are not in love with... no no no, if you are not obsessed with writing, you wouldn't have survived it. He gives you assignments throughout the whole semester, each assignment taking up merely 10% of your final grade.
If your writing sucks, do over.
If you missed what he asked for, do over.
If you do not deliver what he believes you can deliver, yup, do over. Hey, how did he know how far you can go? Good question, Mr Question out of nowhere... I believe that he sizes you up from the first assignment he gives you.
I can almost remember the way he delivered that first assignment.
Mr. Raymer: Write... an autobiography of yourself.
Clueless students: Wow, that was boring / easy / predictable / second grade...
Mr. Raymer: ...on a piece of A4 paper, 12 pt Times, double spacing.
Clueless students: I thought he finished talking / Did we hear him right? / How does one summarizes one's life on a single piece of paper? / What's double spacing?
Mr. Raymer: Use only the front side of the paper.
Clueless students: Ok, now I think he is loco / Omg, he looks serious. / Is it too late to drop this paper? / What's double spacing?
Mr. Raymer: This will take up 10% of your final grade. Once you've picked your jaw off the floor, figure it out and come to me for help, if you need it.
Clueless students: (all) Where's your office?!
Ok, maybe it didn't go exactly like that but the calmness from him and shock from us was pretty much as portrayed. I killed so many trees with that assignment. But I managed to pull through. And got him to remember my name, I think. Either that, or he read from the roster.
In between there were plenty of other assignments but our last one... yup, our last assignment was freestyle. The only catch was we had to write it in the first person and if possible in present tense. We were supposed to write about something we really know inside out, and that for me would be... the twist ending.
From the beginning I knew what I wanted to write and so I got to it.
After we had submitted our first drafts, my idea, among many others, was picked out and discussed in class. It was part of the exercise. Everyone knows what everyone is writing and once it is out in the open, your storyline is up for attacks from 'critics'. That is how it is in real life, and so he subjects our work, and us, to it early on. Only difference here is after the attack, the whole class has to work together to 'fix' the attacked storyline. Then the battered survivor takes their piece home and reworks it.
My idea... well, Mr Raymer liked my idea... but he massacred the way I delivered it. He asked so many questions that I couldn't answer. That I've never even thought of. So many questions that the rest of the class couldn't answer either. It was like I caught myself in a checkmate in a chess fight with myself. And nobody in class or in the whole university can help me.
Instead of being upset by the confrontation, I actually found reason in what he said. I pondered over his questions, met with him a couple more times, thought about his questions some more, probed my mind for the answers, the viewpoints... I almost went mad.
And then... I did what he told us to do.
I threw away my draft and started afresh, bearing in mind all the different ways he taught me on how one can massacre a story and what I should be doing to avoid the second massacre.
My labour of love, a story about a crossdresser finding love in a most unexpected way, got me an A. I don't believe I've worked harder on any other assignment in university throughout those three years.
---
Last I heard from him, he was teaching in Unimas, a university in Kuching, Sarawak, is a judge in the MPH-Alliance Story Writing Competition and has three blogs to his name. I'm not sure which ones are still active but there are plenty of things that you can read up on in all three blogs.
Borneo Expat Writer and its counterpart as well as this interesting blog, The story behind the story.
---
And if you are wondering, I wrote about a male crossdresser who is preparing for his wedding to a man his workaholic and control freak sister introduced him to. His two other sisters are helping him, I mean her, into her wedding dress and making last minute arrangements to her wedding. She contemplates telling her future bridegroom about her true self and about the plans of future sacrifices (surgeries) that she would make to ensure that she becomes the woman in her fiance's life. But a part of her feels that she must know if her groom can accept the person that she really is before they walk down the aisle. It would also be a fright for him to find out who she really is on their wedding night without prior warning.
Once she has a minute to herself, she sneaks out of her dressing room to meet up with her future husband. She finds him on his way out of his room. The man remarks that it is bad luck to see the bride before the wedding but he has something important to tell her. She demands to go first and tells him the reason that she has not slept with him before getting married despite it being the 21st century and all is because she has a secret to hide: she is a male crossdresser. She lunges into a tirade of self explanation and divulges her plans to save up for surgeries that would make her the bride of his dreams.
She finds him in a state of shock and deep down inside she feels that all is lost and that she has made the wrong call whereas he will be calling off the wedding. He leaves her side. She drops and starts crying. He comes back and sits down next to her and shows her, in his hand, a picture of a little girl. She composes herself and making small talk, says that the girl is lovely and somewhat familiar.
The guy confesses that he is that little girl. The thing he wanted to tell her before the wedding was that he is a female crossdresser. His shocked look was not of her cover up but more of the irony of the situation. They both start laughing and they hug. They decide for the wedding to continue as planned as love should transcend all boundaries, including the sexes of the bride- and groom-to-be.
The bride also takes a minute to reexamine his control freak sister's love for him and wonders, since the two of them were introduced to each other through her, if she had planned this happy ending all along.
---
So what would be the coolest thing to happen to a would-be writer, a lowly humble scribbler like me?
The answer: To be shot down and brought back to reality by a real writer.
Best thing to have ever happen in my life.
---
Lovers and Strangers and Lovers and Strangers, Revisited (see below) were written by a Mr Robert Raymer, father of three, established and prolific writer, published author (it's redundant but I still need to say it) and former Creative Writing lecturer in USM, which was where I had the privilege to study under him.
Lovers and Strangers, Revisited by Robert RaymerThis reminds me, I gotta go get myself a copy. Damn you, procrastinating side of self.
---
I was lucky that during my 3 years in university, the nation had ourselves our first and only low-cost airline (Thanks tony) which allowed me to fly home without burning holes in my ragged, torn pockets. In one of these flights, I happen to chance upon an article written by a Raymer fella, who claims to teach Creative Writing in USM, in one of the in-flight magazines. Out of curiousity, I ventured into unknown territory (I was in Technology and Sciences and he was teaching in Languages) and got myself enrolled in his class during my final year.
First day in class, whoa, he doesn't look like he's from around here. And once he opens his mouth, Yup, he's not from around here.
He tells our class of 17 that he has had complaints from previous batches of students that they don't understand the words that are coming out of his mouth. He says tough luck, he can't change his accent. Deal with it or drop out.
I became a fan for life.
---
Throughout the semester, I found out that he had backpacked in over 30 countries, that his family had frantically called Red Crescent to ask if they found his body amongst the people who drowned due to the tsunami that occurred in Sri Lanka on Boxing Day 2004, which also hit Penang (where my university was and where he resides with his wife), that he was a workaholic, that he pushes his students a lot and that surprisingly brings out the best of them, and that he has a lot of ex-students who are proud to call him their teacher (google his name), that he views things differently and appreciates things that we Malaysians take for granted, that he is a doting father and that he is one of the pushing forces, an advocate, a voice for people who want to write in Malaysia. Imagine that, a foreigner helping locals to learn to be a writer. Please do not resent that last statement, I'm just saying it as it is.
He also has an exceptional memory. Either that or he refers to his journals a lot and so remembers most of his ex-students. And you can be sure that most of his ex-students remember him.
---
His class was very trying and if you are not in love with... no no no, if you are not obsessed with writing, you wouldn't have survived it. He gives you assignments throughout the whole semester, each assignment taking up merely 10% of your final grade.
If your writing sucks, do over.
If you missed what he asked for, do over.
If you do not deliver what he believes you can deliver, yup, do over. Hey, how did he know how far you can go? Good question, Mr Question out of nowhere... I believe that he sizes you up from the first assignment he gives you.
I can almost remember the way he delivered that first assignment.
Mr. Raymer: Write... an autobiography of yourself.
Clueless students: Wow, that was boring / easy / predictable / second grade...
Mr. Raymer: ...on a piece of A4 paper, 12 pt Times, double spacing.
Clueless students: I thought he finished talking / Did we hear him right? / How does one summarizes one's life on a single piece of paper? / What's double spacing?
Mr. Raymer: Use only the front side of the paper.
Clueless students: Ok, now I think he is loco / Omg, he looks serious. / Is it too late to drop this paper? / What's double spacing?
Mr. Raymer: This will take up 10% of your final grade. Once you've picked your jaw off the floor, figure it out and come to me for help, if you need it.
Clueless students: (all) Where's your office?!
Ok, maybe it didn't go exactly like that but the calmness from him and shock from us was pretty much as portrayed. I killed so many trees with that assignment. But I managed to pull through. And got him to remember my name, I think. Either that, or he read from the roster.
In between there were plenty of other assignments but our last one... yup, our last assignment was freestyle. The only catch was we had to write it in the first person and if possible in present tense. We were supposed to write about something we really know inside out, and that for me would be... the twist ending.
From the beginning I knew what I wanted to write and so I got to it.
After we had submitted our first drafts, my idea, among many others, was picked out and discussed in class. It was part of the exercise. Everyone knows what everyone is writing and once it is out in the open, your storyline is up for attacks from 'critics'. That is how it is in real life, and so he subjects our work, and us, to it early on. Only difference here is after the attack, the whole class has to work together to 'fix' the attacked storyline. Then the battered survivor takes their piece home and reworks it.
My idea... well, Mr Raymer liked my idea... but he massacred the way I delivered it. He asked so many questions that I couldn't answer. That I've never even thought of. So many questions that the rest of the class couldn't answer either. It was like I caught myself in a checkmate in a chess fight with myself. And nobody in class or in the whole university can help me.
Instead of being upset by the confrontation, I actually found reason in what he said. I pondered over his questions, met with him a couple more times, thought about his questions some more, probed my mind for the answers, the viewpoints... I almost went mad.
And then... I did what he told us to do.
I threw away my draft and started afresh, bearing in mind all the different ways he taught me on how one can massacre a story and what I should be doing to avoid the second massacre.
My labour of love, a story about a crossdresser finding love in a most unexpected way, got me an A. I don't believe I've worked harder on any other assignment in university throughout those three years.
---
Last I heard from him, he was teaching in Unimas, a university in Kuching, Sarawak, is a judge in the MPH-Alliance Story Writing Competition and has three blogs to his name. I'm not sure which ones are still active but there are plenty of things that you can read up on in all three blogs.
Borneo Expat Writer and its counterpart as well as this interesting blog, The story behind the story.
---
And if you are wondering, I wrote about a male crossdresser who is preparing for his wedding to a man his workaholic and control freak sister introduced him to. His two other sisters are helping him, I mean her, into her wedding dress and making last minute arrangements to her wedding. She contemplates telling her future bridegroom about her true self and about the plans of future sacrifices (surgeries) that she would make to ensure that she becomes the woman in her fiance's life. But a part of her feels that she must know if her groom can accept the person that she really is before they walk down the aisle. It would also be a fright for him to find out who she really is on their wedding night without prior warning.
Once she has a minute to herself, she sneaks out of her dressing room to meet up with her future husband. She finds him on his way out of his room. The man remarks that it is bad luck to see the bride before the wedding but he has something important to tell her. She demands to go first and tells him the reason that she has not slept with him before getting married despite it being the 21st century and all is because she has a secret to hide: she is a male crossdresser. She lunges into a tirade of self explanation and divulges her plans to save up for surgeries that would make her the bride of his dreams.
She finds him in a state of shock and deep down inside she feels that all is lost and that she has made the wrong call whereas he will be calling off the wedding. He leaves her side. She drops and starts crying. He comes back and sits down next to her and shows her, in his hand, a picture of a little girl. She composes herself and making small talk, says that the girl is lovely and somewhat familiar.
The guy confesses that he is that little girl. The thing he wanted to tell her before the wedding was that he is a female crossdresser. His shocked look was not of her cover up but more of the irony of the situation. They both start laughing and they hug. They decide for the wedding to continue as planned as love should transcend all boundaries, including the sexes of the bride- and groom-to-be.
The bride also takes a minute to reexamine his control freak sister's love for him and wonders, since the two of them were introduced to each other through her, if she had planned this happy ending all along.
---
Some help from the Internet: DrGreene.com
The Internet being such a huge pot of useful and useless information, sometimes and surprisingly reveals relevant information that would actually help make your life easier. Before you go thinking that I've found the answer to life itself, no, I found the next best thing for new parents!
Drgreene.com is a website that focuses on the upbringing and handling of children from the prenatal stage to their teens.
I'm currently interested in the Newborn section but you are welcome to look through everywhere else for probable answers to questions, regarding children, that have been bugging you.
As an example, it is in this site where I found the differences between a normal pacifier and an orthodontist pacifier.
I also found out that a newborn's coughing is actually a dangerous sign that parents need to look out for. Gave me a scare because Eva had been coughing (at first I thought she was just vying for attention) or mimicking the cough sound ever since we gave her the pacifier.
And I have overcome my fear of the baby's soft spot (up there on the head, above the forehead, the pulsing region, yeah, that one)... let's just say that the baby will not suffer a concussion if she falls on her head even though the soft spots (yes, there are more than one. Actually there are six. You have to go to DrGreene.com) have not toughened up.
Now, excuse me while I go view videos on bathing babies.
Drgreene.com is a website that focuses on the upbringing and handling of children from the prenatal stage to their teens.
I'm currently interested in the Newborn section but you are welcome to look through everywhere else for probable answers to questions, regarding children, that have been bugging you.
As an example, it is in this site where I found the differences between a normal pacifier and an orthodontist pacifier.
I also found out that a newborn's coughing is actually a dangerous sign that parents need to look out for. Gave me a scare because Eva had been coughing (at first I thought she was just vying for attention) or mimicking the cough sound ever since we gave her the pacifier.
And I have overcome my fear of the baby's soft spot (up there on the head, above the forehead, the pulsing region, yeah, that one)... let's just say that the baby will not suffer a concussion if she falls on her head even though the soft spots (yes, there are more than one. Actually there are six. You have to go to DrGreene.com) have not toughened up.
Now, excuse me while I go view videos on bathing babies.
Jun 5, 2009
BusSongs.com
Around 5 to 6 weeks, Eva is starting to recognize people and fear people she has not seen before, which is a good thing in case someone kidnaps her... hehe. Some babies may experience this earlier, some later. However, the degree of recognization is quite limited.
For example, Eva recognizes me as one of her parents/'slaves'/caretaker and her father as the other parents/'slaves'/caretaker and while she has no problem recognizing her father, she sometimes sees me and cries for no reason. Let me rephrase that, she cries for reasons unknown to me until I figured out that how I have my hair (up or down, or just all over the place especially when it is in the middle of the night) and whether or not I'm wearing my glasses makes a difference everytime she sees me holding her.
It's a good thing then that she recognizes my voice, or at least the humming frequency of my voice.
So much so that sometimes she ngi-ngi-ngoh-ngoh because she wants me to carry her and hum her lullabies or nursery rhymes. Puts her to sleep, and me out of breath, everytime.
Not very efficient.
And so, I look for alternatives.
And I found BusSongs.com, a wonderful website with lyrics to songs that places you back to your childhood in an instant. The greatest thing about it, you can download midi of the songs to your computer and play them to your child! Wish I found this earlier, like when Eva doesn't have a name yet earlier.
For example, Eva recognizes me as one of her parents/'slaves'/caretaker and her father as the other parents/'slaves'/caretaker and while she has no problem recognizing her father, she sometimes sees me and cries for no reason. Let me rephrase that, she cries for reasons unknown to me until I figured out that how I have my hair (up or down, or just all over the place especially when it is in the middle of the night) and whether or not I'm wearing my glasses makes a difference everytime she sees me holding her.
It's a good thing then that she recognizes my voice, or at least the humming frequency of my voice.
So much so that sometimes she ngi-ngi-ngoh-ngoh because she wants me to carry her and hum her lullabies or nursery rhymes. Puts her to sleep, and me out of breath, everytime.
Not very efficient.
And so, I look for alternatives.
And I found BusSongs.com, a wonderful website with lyrics to songs that places you back to your childhood in an instant. The greatest thing about it, you can download midi of the songs to your computer and play them to your child! Wish I found this earlier, like when Eva doesn't have a name yet earlier.
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