If you were born under the Chinese zodiac of Dragon, you can't get
married during the year of the Dragon (2012, in case you ask..). Why?
Because shit will happen if you do. If you're a Horse, you can't marry
a Chicken (i.e. born 3 years younger than you). Why? Shit will happen.
Two days before & two days after the Chinese new year, you can't clean
the house or throw out the trash. Why? More shit will happen.
The more we think, the more we realize how ancient mythology still
plays a large part in our modern lives: whether we succeed or fail,
whether we marry happily or shoot the crap out of each other like Mr.
& Mrs. Smith. We may be devoted to our religions: Moslem, Catholic,
Christianity, Buddhism, and so on. But it's funny how most of the
time, we rely on ancient beliefs instead of our one true God or Allah
or Buddha, to determine our fate.
Recently, a good friend (who shall remain anonymous) who has been
single for God-knows-how-long, met a girl who, according to his
account, might just be his soulmate. They have great chemistry, and
both have gone though the daunting task of meeting the parents. All
doors are wide open for them to hit the next step in their
relationship: a beautiful wedding. One problem: the girl is a Dragon,
so she can't get married next year (Dragon year is 2012). The
following year, 2013, is Snake year, so the guy can't get hitched. All
in all, they only have until January of next year to marry, or else
wait until 2014.
Can a wedding be arranged in 10 months? Sure, I've seen it done. Do
they both want to marry in such a rush? No idea. Do they believe
strongly in this myth? The guy sure does. Can their relationship
survive and wait 3 more years? Only time will tell. Ideally, they
ditch the myth and get married next year. But if shit does happen in
their marriage, they will second-guess their decision and wondered,
had they believed the myth and delayed the wedding to 2014, would they
have better luck? The argument will add fuel to the bonfire.
Another case that was brought up to me lately by a step-auntie, who is
known to have an "ability", is that of my third kid. She has this
strong premonition that, if me and my wife have a kid in the year of
the Dragon (2012. Yes this number keeps popping up like an apparition
from a Mayan calendar), then our fortune will soar sky high. I did not
ask her what will happen if we don't. We'll probably be just regular
John and Jane Doe's, living conventional lives.
We do not mind a third kid. The issue is timing. My wife is now
pregnant with our second, who is due in May of 2011. The Dragon year
ends around January of 2013, so if we want to have a Dragon kid, she
has to get pregnant again as late as May 2012. While this is not
biologically impossible, she will surely have a lot on her plate: the
new baby and the first son (Josh) growing up and probably starting
school. Can she handle another pregnancy THAT soon?
Of course, being a Catholic, I believe God determines my fate. The
zodiac of my third kid will have nothing to do with His will. What I
cannot handle, as in the first case of my friend above, is the
second-guessing. Say, for example, my third kid is born in 2014
(whatever year that is), and after its birth, my life takes a plunge
down the toilet bowl. People who knew about the premonition will start
blaming me, saying that, if I had had the kid during the Dragon year,
that shit would not have happened.
People who truly believe in God will not second-guess all of the
above, will they not? Everything happens according to God's will: the
failed marriage and the failed live, in the above cases. But we live
in an environment where ancient myth still plays a key role. People
still do second-guessing. Being an Indonesian-Chinese, my examples
revolve around Chinese mythologies, but for others, I'm sure other
mythologies produce similar effects.
What to do? Only to prove those myths wrong, and me and my wife are on
our way of doing so. See, me and her are separated by three years. I'm
a Horse, she's a Chicken. Chinese wisdom says that we can't marry,
or.. You guessed it. Shit will happen. But we've been married for
three years, have a decent life, with a cute and smart first son, a
second daughter on the way, a good business, families who love us,
great friends, and so on. All those, I believe, are God-given.
If I had followed the myth and marry the ideal damsel (a girl born under
the Dog zodiac, for those who wonder), who knows, maybe I would have
hit it big and become President of the United States. But that's
second-guessing and God will have none of that.
So my point is, respect your tradition and myth, but never let them
dictate your lives, because only God determines your fate. Nobody else
does. Do whatever makes you and those around you comfortable. You live
to satisfy them, not those fortune-tellers. And finally, never
second-guess whatever happens in life. It will drive you nuts.
I close this post with a kind wish, that my friends in case #1 above
will find it in their hearts to *sort of* ignore the ancient myths,
and instead focus on what you have in hand, and that is each other's
love. Give time for love to grow in your relationship. No need to rush
into marriage to have it before 2012, and no need to wait until 2014,
because that's too darn long. God always gives what is best for His
children. Have faith in this. Not in man-made myths.
As for my Dragon kid.. Well, let's just say it's still up in the air..
Stay tuned.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Have BlackBerry but Can't Do BBM
Despite being considered by many as a developing country with roughly 50% of its people still living under poverty line, Indonesia also happens to be a haven for tech companies to introduce their newest gadgets. Nokia & RIM have been known to launch their latest handsets in Indonesia, even before they come out in their respective home countries.
This trend can be partially attributed to the "trendsetter" mentality of Indonesians, or to put it correctly, some of its richest people. They equalize having the latest gadgets as achieving high social status. Spotting a BlackBerry (BB) Torch when all your friends are still using Onyxes will give you bragging rights. Pulling out an iPad from your duffel bag to take notes in class will guarantee astonished looks from the cutest girls in campus. A good start to get you laid in no time.
That is all true and good. But how many of those gadgets have veered from their original intended use when they fall to the hands of Indonesians? BBs, which was initially designed to facilitate secure communication & data transfer between military personnels (and eventually, consultants and investment bankers), are now being used by middle-aged housewives to gossip, lonely husbands to cheat, and teenagers to chit-chat. iPads, designed more to surf the web, read e-books, watch videos, and listen to music, are now being manhandled by toddlers & kids playing Angry Birds.
The misuse does not end there. Probably the most blatant and utterly-unimaginable failure is where people (yes, I am still talking about our fellow Indonesians..) use BB handsets but never activate their BB service! They only use it to make calls, send text messages, and occasionally take snapshots. WoW. I have always believed that the only power BB has over the rest of the handset world is its BB Messenger (BBM) service. The rest of its features, other handsets can do much, much better. Nokia reigns in its ease of use. Apple & the Android phones beat the crap out of BB in terms of multimedia & range of applications. Personally, if those other brands can do BBM.... I would never want to use BB handsets due to their inferior features.
So back to the real issue. Why would these people use BB handsets but do not activate their BB service, which renders the handset useless, in my opinion? It's like shooting blank semen with no sperm in it. I can think of several reasons:
1. They received the handsets as gifts, did not know how to use them, and ended up using them as conventional cell phones,
2. They are too cheap to activate the BB service,
3. Not too many people in their friends network use BBM.
4. They fear the complexity of using BBM, and resort to use the handsets conventionally.
I have known 2 people with such condition, and I am confident there are more out there. They both belong to the above-50 age group, so maybe reasons #2 and 4 apply. All in all, they seem happy with their pattern of use.
Whatever the reason, we can confirm one thing: BB handsets in Indonesia is as much a status symbol as they are communication tools. As long as you hold a BB handset in your hand, activated or not, you can walk with more swagger, head up, chin up. And that girl on the next table is just a smile away from noticing you. And your brand new, shiny, luscious red BB Torch you bought on Valentine"s day.
This trend can be partially attributed to the "trendsetter" mentality of Indonesians, or to put it correctly, some of its richest people. They equalize having the latest gadgets as achieving high social status. Spotting a BlackBerry (BB) Torch when all your friends are still using Onyxes will give you bragging rights. Pulling out an iPad from your duffel bag to take notes in class will guarantee astonished looks from the cutest girls in campus. A good start to get you laid in no time.
That is all true and good. But how many of those gadgets have veered from their original intended use when they fall to the hands of Indonesians? BBs, which was initially designed to facilitate secure communication & data transfer between military personnels (and eventually, consultants and investment bankers), are now being used by middle-aged housewives to gossip, lonely husbands to cheat, and teenagers to chit-chat. iPads, designed more to surf the web, read e-books, watch videos, and listen to music, are now being manhandled by toddlers & kids playing Angry Birds.
The misuse does not end there. Probably the most blatant and utterly-unimaginable failure is where people (yes, I am still talking about our fellow Indonesians..) use BB handsets but never activate their BB service! They only use it to make calls, send text messages, and occasionally take snapshots. WoW. I have always believed that the only power BB has over the rest of the handset world is its BB Messenger (BBM) service. The rest of its features, other handsets can do much, much better. Nokia reigns in its ease of use. Apple & the Android phones beat the crap out of BB in terms of multimedia & range of applications. Personally, if those other brands can do BBM.... I would never want to use BB handsets due to their inferior features.
So back to the real issue. Why would these people use BB handsets but do not activate their BB service, which renders the handset useless, in my opinion? It's like shooting blank semen with no sperm in it. I can think of several reasons:
1. They received the handsets as gifts, did not know how to use them, and ended up using them as conventional cell phones,
2. They are too cheap to activate the BB service,
3. Not too many people in their friends network use BBM.
4. They fear the complexity of using BBM, and resort to use the handsets conventionally.
I have known 2 people with such condition, and I am confident there are more out there. They both belong to the above-50 age group, so maybe reasons #2 and 4 apply. All in all, they seem happy with their pattern of use.
Whatever the reason, we can confirm one thing: BB handsets in Indonesia is as much a status symbol as they are communication tools. As long as you hold a BB handset in your hand, activated or not, you can walk with more swagger, head up, chin up. And that girl on the next table is just a smile away from noticing you. And your brand new, shiny, luscious red BB Torch you bought on Valentine"s day.
Why a Blog (and Why the Choice of Address)
First post ever.... This alone is cause for a dinner celebration.... =D
Why a blog? Because sometimes Facebook (425 characters) and Twitter (140 characters) posts cannot accommodate what I want to convey to the world.
Some of you may wonder why I decide on the address "Gold Pegasus" for this blog. The Saint Seiya mythology (of which I am a devout believer) depicts the Pegasus (horse) saint as the strongest of all; the leader of the pack, if you will. His power multiplies to infinity once he acquired the Gold Sagittarius cloth, hence the term Gold Pegasus. I was born under the Chinese zodiac sign of Horse, and the astrological sign of Sagittarius. I believe it is this God-given, sacred combination, that has protected and guided my life thus far. And as humble as it may have been, life has been good to me and I do not want to ask for more.
As for the welcome banner, if you cherish the early 90's like I do, there is this TV series called "Time Trax" where the lead character, police captain Darien Lambert (played by Dale Midkiff) travels through time to bust up bad guys, with his trusted sidekick, a hologram representation of an old lady, named Selma, who always starts every episode with the sentence, "Welcome to the journal of Darien Lambert, Captain". The verse has been stuck in my head ever since.
So there you go. If you have other Why's in your mind, feel free to comment and ask. Ask and thou shalt receive!
Why a blog? Because sometimes Facebook (425 characters) and Twitter (140 characters) posts cannot accommodate what I want to convey to the world.
Some of you may wonder why I decide on the address "Gold Pegasus" for this blog. The Saint Seiya mythology (of which I am a devout believer) depicts the Pegasus (horse) saint as the strongest of all; the leader of the pack, if you will. His power multiplies to infinity once he acquired the Gold Sagittarius cloth, hence the term Gold Pegasus. I was born under the Chinese zodiac sign of Horse, and the astrological sign of Sagittarius. I believe it is this God-given, sacred combination, that has protected and guided my life thus far. And as humble as it may have been, life has been good to me and I do not want to ask for more.
As for the welcome banner, if you cherish the early 90's like I do, there is this TV series called "Time Trax" where the lead character, police captain Darien Lambert (played by Dale Midkiff) travels through time to bust up bad guys, with his trusted sidekick, a hologram representation of an old lady, named Selma, who always starts every episode with the sentence, "Welcome to the journal of Darien Lambert, Captain". The verse has been stuck in my head ever since.
So there you go. If you have other Why's in your mind, feel free to comment and ask. Ask and thou shalt receive!
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