madameblogalot

While doing my morning cycling during my stay in Singapore, I did not often enough have a camera with me. I know better than this based on past experiences! I did get a couple of shots to share. One morning I got a nice photo of the sun rise but I took it with a borrowed cell phone and don’t have it here. Next time I need to try to remember to get a shot of all the traffic that I am riding with. This is probably the scariest part for me! I did get a good work out each time I cycled as I am not used to the hilly terrain. And for an even better work out, my sister put me on a bike that needed servicing! Then she was kind enough to trade bikes with me on our return home! Here are some of the sights seen while cycling:

bikes loaded up to head to cycling path

the end of Yishun cycling path

looking across, I believe that is Malaysia across the sea in the background

don’t know what this tree is, just thought it was pretty

DON’T FEED THE MONKEYS

path at Admiralty Park

the monkeys

My daughter and I leave today for an extended trip overseas to visit my sister. The guys will be staying here holding down the home front. This is a first for our family. I am really torn. I am excited and looking forward to our trip, particularly the warm weather! At the same time, I am worried about the guys being “home alone”. I know it will be good, for all of us. I know it will be fun and something we will treasure always. So, in just a few hours, we’re off!

While watching Texas Country Reporter last night, we came across a great program taking place not too very far from us. It is called Tour de Hood . Dr. Veon McReynolds has in effect started an inner city cycling club. This cycling group is for all ages and abilities. He has collected an array of bicycles and allows folks to come out on Saturday mornings for a ride. The ride is at an easy pace for everyone to enjoy. At the halfway point, there is a break for fruit and water. Helmets, bikes, snacks, and even t shirts to wear are all provide to participants at no cost. All are invited to join. You can bring your own bike if you prefer. And if you have a bike that is not working, you are invited to come on Fridays and they will help you fix it! Dr. McReynolds is also wanting to get a few three wheeled bikes so that senior citizens who don’t feel comfortable on a bicycle will still be able to join in the fun of each week’s ride.

My dad called to tell me there is an upcoming Get Motivated seminar in our area. I had never heard of this before. So I checked out the website. Though it’s touted as business seminar, it seems to be a day of motivating speakers, learning how to get the best out of yourself and your daily interactions. It looks to be an eventful day filled with inspiring talks by Colin Powell, Sarah Palin, Lou Holtz, Zig Zigler and others. It sounds like they will really put on a show, utilizing pyrotechnics, live music and special effects. They say this is a seminar for everyone!

I just came across a video blurb for Raj Patel’s newest book The Value of Nothing. I have never read or heard anything put out by Patel, but I found the ideas presented in this new book to be very thought provoking.

Patel strives to bring out the ideas of over-consumption, something that I do believe most of us in modern America struggle with. I like how he juxtaposes the value we have placed on certain items, such as factories vs. forests and “value meals” vs. vegetables and fruits. Just from watching the video, I would be interested in the reading through the book to see what ideas he is really presenting. I don’t want to go to an extreme, say, where the trees or animals have more value than a human life, but I do think it’s time the pendulum gets balanced.

I think that it is time to re-evaluate where we all are in our lives, in history and what kind of legacy we want to leave those coming behind us. I don’t think that all of what has brought us here is evil, but I do think it’s important to see how we got where we are and how we can improve on areas that need improvement. I think that is part of learning. I tell my daughter that is exactly why we have to study history.

I know we will not be on this earth forever. I do believe it too will pass away. But as long as we are here I believe we are called to be the best stewards of it that we can be. I am going to check out the chance win a copy of this new book. It should at least provide some very interesting reading and some really good things to think about.

Today’s training called for a short swim, 21 minutes. I was glad for the “rest” since I was hurting after my hour on the elliptical machine last night. But I wanted to do something different. Usually I just swim a slow, steady pace lap after lap. I had talked to one lady who is now doing triathlons in her 60s! Her daughter had told her to increase her speed to swim four laps as fast as you can then rest. Well, I knew I couldn’t swim four laps fast, so I tried for two laps fast*, then a lap of breast stroke.

Wow! I was struggling after the first lap! But I did three sets of these. Then, I did on lap fast and a length breast stroke. I think I did four sets of those. After I was done I was glad. And if felt good to do something different. Since I had wanted to quit after that first set, I rewarded myself with five minutes in the hot tub after I finished!

*fast is a relative term. I just did my own version of “fast”. I am pretty sure it was faster than my regular stroke!

One silly thing I have missed with my Mac is the Spider Solitaire game. I have searched to add one to my desk top but none really seem available. At any rate, I did find an online version at the AARP website. It’s ok. I have yet to win the double suit game. It has corny music which I can luckily turn off. But the biggest thing is that the cards are small. It seems that a card game at the AARP site should be, um, LARGE PRINT, if you know what I mean! Not that I’m getting old or anything. It’s just that larger cards would be easier to see. And if your target audience really is older people, well, you’d think they’d make it easier on all us those older people who want to hang around their website playing card games!

Have you heard about the newest punctuation? It is a punctuation to show that you are clearly being sarcastic. It has been termed the “sarcmark”. It is evident that when communicating through electronic devices, words and meanings can often be misunderstood. Most of the time, we temper these kinds of comments with “emoticons”. But now, trendsetters have come up with this sarcmark to make sure your reader understands that you are being sarcastic. I wonder what someone like Jock Stewart would have to say about the sarcmark. I don’t think he would be interested in spending the $1.99 to download, though he would be able to get a lot of use from that one little punctuation mark! Many of us smart mouths would be using that sarcmark constantly. And teens, well….

My only thought is that if you have to use a mark to point out your sarcasm, isn’t it kind of lost anyway? Kind of like having to explain a punchline….I wondered too what Jonathan Swift would write about using such an icon.

I always find it funny to explain words to my kids and then hear them learn to use them. I told my daughter that something was “sappy” the other day. She’d not heard that one and asked what it meant. Like any good mom, I told her to look it up (which is really easy on the new computer!) Here is what she read out to me:

“sappy-oversentimental, mawkish”

I liked the description and told her that I did want to “mock” the thing I’d been talking about. She corrected me then and told me the word she’d read out was m-a-w-k-i-s-h. I didn’t know that one. So…we looked it up too. Here is what we found:

“mawkish-sentimental in a feeble or sickly way”

She loved it! She said she can’t wait to use it the next time she sees any PDA going on!!

I have a friend whose brother met his wife through a internet site. I find that very interesting. Especially since these two individuals are from different countries. I wonder just how that would work in a relationship. It seems that I am not the only who would wonder such a thing. I read a quick overview of a research review Oxford University Internet Institute conducted on meeting, dating and marriage in the digital age. It addresses the ins and outs of building intimate relationships based on online social networks. As the internet plays more and more role in our everyday life, I think studies like this will bring out some interesting finds.