My beautiful space

http://www.thehappinessinstitute.com/

He suggested six key strategies based around the acronym 'CHOOSE'. The C stands for Clarity.

"Clarity of purpose and priorities, life direction and life goals," said Tim.

H stands for Healthy living.

"It's hard to be happy if you're sick and tired all the time."

The first O is for Optimism.

"Optimistic thinkers do see the positives in the world but they also face the cold hard realities of the day in a constructive way."

The second O is for Other People.

"Happiness is not a selfish endeavour. All about me, me, me. It's also about the other people in your life."

S stands for strengths.

"We know happy people spend more time building on and utilising their core attributes, strengths and abilities as opposed to trying to fix all their weaknesses."

The last letter E, is for Enjoy the moment.

"It's about living in and enjoying the moment," Tim said.

"There's only one point in time we can be truly happy and that's the here and now. If you want inner peace, if you want to feel something in life, to feel part of life, listen to the Cicadas - aren't they beautiful?"

A road trip to Queensland has truely increased my appreciation for the natural beauty;  for the small things like a grass or a shell, for big things like sea and long stretches of beaches; for mundane things like clouds floating in the sky; for rarely seen things like morning valley mist. Senses are just been so refreshed as if have taken pepermints and everything perceive through them have this extra intensity and clarity and makes you marvel and "wow" uncontrollably.  The color is more saturated, the shapes are more defined, everywhere is just so heavenly looking and picturesque. I wish. I am always in those pictures.

 

A post card.

From. A girl.

A picture.

Of. Sand dunes.

A voice.

From. Far away.

A life.

From. Hidden memory.

Keep me life size. 

For happiness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News Article: Mad Idol Disease or just escapism? | BACK |
posted by Inside Australian Idol on Tue 7 November 2006


Mad Idol Disease or just escapism?
By Michael Carr-Gregg
November 06, 2006 06:00am

BY now almost everyone in the US knows that the winner of American Idol 2006 was 30-year-old Taylor Hicks, a soul singer, songwriter and musician shrouded in obscurity for a decade before rising to prominence in the fifth season of American Idol.

Upon winning, he was immediately signed to Arista Records. His debut single, Do I Make You Proud?, opened at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the RIAA.

But the really interesting part of this story is that more people voted in the final of American Idol than voted in the US 2004 presidential election.

As if we needed any more proof that America, as a society, is obsessed by celebrities. But what you might not know is that psychologists are concerned that more and more of us are becoming overly preoccupied with celebrities and the fantasy images they evoke.

It all started with Dr James Houran, a psychologist with the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, whose team surveyed more than 600 people and identified a psychiatric condition.

It was dubbed Celebrity Worship Syndrome, or Celebrity Obsession Syndrome – or even Mad Icon Disease.

They all described an unhealthy obsession with the lives of the rich and famous. According to those who say they know, about a third of us have it to some degree.

To measure people's interest in celebrities, Houran's group devised the Celebrity Worship Scale. It has three levels.

The first is people who are mildly afflicted. Level ones have a passion for talking about their chosen celebrity. They will pursue an interest in one celebrity and denigrate competing stars: this is a bit more intense than casual stargazing and you will know you qualify if you have spent most of the weekend discussing Keith Urban's battle with the bottle and the impact on "our" Nicole.

The second level of CWS is known as moderate affliction. These people were found to have an intense personal relationship with their idol. You meet the criteria if you can admit to feeling a "special" connection with the star: have you ever heard yourself say "I consider Robbie Williams to be a soulmate"?

The third level is the hardcore CWS sufferer: deep down you believe your idol knows you personally and you are prepared to do almost anything for your idol, just short of sacrificing your life.

You convince yourself, that when Olivier Martinez reads the website you have set up for him, he will leave Kylie, fly to Melbourne and live happily ever after with you.

In a recent speech, Sarah Oates, editor of top-selling girls' magazine Girlfriend noted that for the first-timer, the most popular, powerful, media-hungry and poorly behaved celebrities in Hollywood are young women and teenage girls, notably Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.

The tales of their drunken and disorderly behaviour, alleged drug use and romantic disasters have driven the growth of magazines across the globe.

While there is no doubt a small minority of people do become obsessed with their heroes, seeing them as part of an extended social network or even a friend, it is unlikely that all of us stargazers suffer from this syndrome.

At the risk of committing psychological heresy, could it be that what Dr James Houran calls a syndrome may just be good old-fashioned escapism?

As our latest Australian Idol reaches its conclusion and we gird our loins for the next round of instant celebrities, there would be nothing wrong with taking a closer look at such people and whether they actually are deserving of our worship.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg is an Adolescent Psychologist

mc-g@bigpond.net.au

www.michaelcarr-gregg.com.au

Source: Hearld Sun

 

Never the less, love damien Leith! Hope he win the idol!

Notes: To kill an eel, grip the neck firmly (you might want to hold on with a towel) and whack it against a tabletop or kitchen counter; you may also want to hit the eel on the head with something blunt and heavy, like a mallet. The eel is going to continue moving throughout the process; have no fear, it's dead. To skin the eel, make a shallow cut into the skin at the base of the neck. Pull back the skin all the way around the circumference. Using a towel, grip this bit of skin and pull; the skin should slide off the meat in one piece. To gut the eel, make a shallow cut at the base of the head all the way down to the tail and remove the vicera. Fillet, butterfly or section as you like

 

excerpt from internet

 

 

 

I hope it had a big rain last night when I was asleep. Although when i wake up this morning, the ground is only sparsey wet.

 

Read in paper yesterday, Sydney dam water level is at a dangerously low level due to consistently dry weather and there is no back up in our water supply. Underground water project still hasnt take off yet. Even it does complete in the future 3 or 4 years time, it is still not a permenant solution to our water problem. The capacity of under gound water is so limited compare to our huge appetite. Since we consume about 10 billion liter of water per week, it means under ground water only can sustain us for about 3 weeks time!

 

So please save water every one!!

 

I will make sure i switch off the water tap tightly after I wash my hands, so avoid water wasted from useless dripping. What about you?

I appreciate the evenings I can go home,

Looking forward to enjoy mum's cooking and happy chattes or surfing internet to chase away the relaxing nights;

I appreciate the low stress level associate with working on assignment way before deadline;

Googling at your wish, writing at your own pace, let the mind wonder any where, any time

I apprecaite the time I dont have to drink V to keep myself awake;

My body is energetic, mind is alert. I can function without feeling so artificial.

I appreciate the hours when everyone is online

The night wasnt loney, the chatter was fun, the stress and the realisation of that " this damn thing is due in few hours" is not zooming in yet.

I appreciate the good old time

When word "procrastination" wasnt know to me, neither did I have such problem.

I appreciate math

Where copying down of the others's answer isnt considered as plagarism nor do you have to pay attention to referencing

I appreciate groupwork

Where you are never solely responsible for producing such long piece of writing and Sririn always chelp to fix up my problems

I appreciate anything other than writing essay

Reading other people's blog, checking out new offers from StrawberryNet... anything could lessen the pain of writing essay

I appreciate 6 hours before due time than 2 hours before due time

At least I still have the choice between writing or keep on researching then

I appreciate when word count hits 1800

Only 200 more words to go and editing

I appreciate the moment I print out my essay

The moment where all the stresses comes to an end, no more editing, no more changing, no more time spend on this piece of shit

I appreciate the moment my head touches the pillow

The appreciation only last a split of second, as I fall deadly into sleep.

 

 

 

 跟妹妹去parramatta逛街，逛得逛到忘我的境态时候就把自己原来的东西也给忘掉了。到要坐火车回家时才发现，因为火车周票也一起跟着丢了。再买一张ticket? 我真的不甘心。妹妹花了45块钱买的yellow pass, 还没有用2天就掉了，现在还要她花4,5块才能回家，太不爽了！我抱着侥幸的心理跑到火车站工作人员那儿去诉苦，希望他可以同情一下，让我们进去。其实只要在火车上没有遇到那些穿灰制服的查票官，过了查票门就大事告成了， 因为咱auburn 不要查票, 哈哈! 

 

那cityrail的工作人员是个40多岁的看上去像从印度来的大伯，听了我的一番解释后，善解人意的点点头同意让我们进去，并且建议我们明天给shopping centre 的中央管理部门打个电话问一下又没有人找到。我喜出望外地谢谢他，自庆此人好说话，便拖着妹妹进了车站。

 

什么叫冤家路窄呢？　怕什么就来什么。　发现站台上有３名灰衣查票员，杀气腾腾的站在那里，等我们等的那班车。我暗道不妙，要是被他们查到了，那１００％的是罚钱的，是没有耍嘴皮的余地的。还是先避一避好。于是我带着妹妹跑到另外一个站台上去ｌａｄｙ＇ｓｒｏｏｍ上厕所躲避一下。途中，又遇到那位好心的印度大伯和另外一位帅帅的工作人员。我友好的向他们打个招呼，他们也友好地向我挥挥手。我情不自禁的觉得ｐａｒｒａｍｍａｔｔａ　火车站的人真是友好＝）

 

等我用完厕所后，换站台时。又碰到了印度大伯。其实这次不是碰到，是他来找我们。他手中拿着一张火车票，跟我们说；ｔａｋｅ　ｉｔ．他告诉我们，这张票明天就过期了，但是今晚还是有效的。我真的是非常喜出望外地接过那张票，觉得说非常感谢都不可以表达我的感激。他指了指刚才跟他一起那位帅帅的工作人员说，这张票是他找到的。他听说了我们的情况后就叫印度大伯把那票给我们，免得我们被灰衣查票员不幸抓到后难以解释。我们谢了又谢，不敢相信世界上还有这么好的人。大叔说要是我们被查到，他会感到有负罪感的。因为虽然他可依然我们进出火车站，可是他没有权利也没有能力去跟那些查票的警官为我们辩护。他说你们看上去都还是学生，都没有什么钱。掉了张周票是损失挺大的。他都不想我们花冤枉钱。我真的好感动。世界上真的有这样的好人，而且就在离我这么近的地方。

 

深深的觉得，感受人性的善良是多么美好的感觉。世界似乎充满了爱心，善解人意的心灵。觉得人都那么真诚，诚恳。呼吸着他人的热忱，空气中洋溢着感激，活在这个环境中真是幸福！　

 

To argue everyday about the most trivial thing?

To feel upset instantly at his comment?

To have obligation of reporting my daily schedule?

To not have enough sleep?

To have to justify and explain what previously was part of my personality?

To accomondate, to compromise, to sacrifice

in exchange of anger, frustration and unappreciativeness?

 

Stupid GAL @ hot mail. com

 

Reminiscence of the past,

Intrusion to the present,

Destined or random,

You came into my life.

An unknown identity;

with a familiar sense of connection.

Ambiguous attraction fuelled by self full filling prophecy,  

You become more than a name and a number.

 

Laughter, smile, hugs & kisses

Mirage of ever lasting happiness and hope;

Frequently punctured by reality of life,

by our past and future;

Undercurrent of insecurity and pressure,

Flows in the river of love

 

Why don’t you trust me? You asked.

My faith has already died,

It is merely the wish to be happy keeps me alive.

 

Vague sense of confidence,

Fuzzy feeling of happiness;

Belong and defined again.

All seemed well

But is this real?

 

It is a vulnerable place you are exploring.

What can I do if there is no one help me?

......

Absolutely Nothing.

 

 

Today's self esteem level: 0 /10

Today's luck level: 10/ 10

 

Special thanks to : Dad, Karming, Frank, Linda and Paul

Today I was at La Perous. Busting again, I walked into a fish and chips shops looked for place to release. The moment I stepped into the shop the waiter noticed me and was coming my way to greet me. Knowing I am not going to buy any thing, I decided to save him say all those greeting lines and asked him straight away “Can I use your toilet please?” He looked at me and responded not so enthusiastically but positive enough “Yes”. He turned around and I followed him into the “Staff Only” part of the shop. There was only one toilet, outside was a little room with a wash basin and a mirror. He went into the toilet and seemed to be fixing up something on the toilet. I waited outside, expecting him to quickly finish and let me go in. I watched him lowered the toilet seat from its original up position and took out 2 sheets of tissue paper from the tissue box. Then he headed outside to the basin, wet the tissue and went back into the toilet again. He bent down his upper body as he was quite a tall and lean person and started to wipe the toilet seat with the wet tissue. It just hit me then that what was he doing.  He was cleaning the toilet seat for me! My jaw just dropped open and watched him unbelievably as he continue to clean the toilet seat in such serious and dedicated manner. He came out again to wet another 2 tissue paper and keep on wiping the toilet seat vigorously. Finally he finished off by wipe the water off with dry clean tissues and gestured to me, please use the toilet.

I am just so over whelmed! I have seen luxurious toilets in QVB where there is a lady standby to give you hand towels, I have seen high tech toilet where toilet seat cover rotates automatically, but nothing moves me as much as this toilet. The amount of respect that I felt from this toilet trip is just unparallel to any kind of high paying service can give. And the thing is, I am not even a customer! I am just some poor random who is busting to find a toilet. Yet he still treat me like I am a valued customer and most important of all, a lady who deserve respect.

I just want to say thank you so much, even though I have already said so before I leave. If you ever happened to be an msn space person too and land on my site one day. I just want to let you know you are the greatest waiter I have ever met. You showed me what it means by Service at its best and how powerful that is. Thank you.

Always thought my little bro is a baby, after all, he just turned 4 years old last month.

 

Occasionally, he has conflicts with other kids, about toys, food and various things. It is totally normal and end result is always expected. A bit of push and pull then one kid wins and other one cries.

 

However, I really did not expect to find him in a verbal quarrel with another person. In particular, the defamatory type of quarrel.  After all, he has been living in a very innocent world that we carefully created for him. What things he could possibly say to attack another person?

 

I found that I have really underestimated my little bro.

 

In the waiting room of doctors, he and other boy started a fierce verbal quarrel that got the whole room listening. And their classic attacking line was:

 

“ Marry a girl YOU!!!”

Always have been modest, but ~~~

will be gloating today =)

 

So proud of myself! both in term of cooking and photography.

 

It looks like been a waitress for posh functions does has its benifit. U can learn about a lot of gourmet food and how to present them so they look like a million dollars.

 

and about the pictures, i think i can show to the pro louis even hehe. If a tourist camera can take picture like this, why spend thousand of dollars to buy canon 10D and all those thousand dollar gadget. Having said that, if I ever get rich, the first thing I buy is canon 10D and all those cool macro lense he got.

 

Today, was waitressing a bunch of of people who drank alcohol non stop for more than 3 hours. They kept on coming back to the bar and asking for more.Then they would go back there and consume it. One findings from the Physiological class just kept on poping up in my head:" Rats tend to engage in more self adminstration of drugs when under stress."  I guess working in the bank is qpretty stressful stuff....

There is a great Christmas theme window display at the city David Jones store( next to the Hyde Park), it's for children, but i think you will like them too, because those Christmas characters are little cute rats.

 

Severing bonds produce a preditable sequence of agitated preoccupation with the lost partner, followed by deep sadness and , eventually, the beginning of emotional detachment and a return to normal living.

 

Detaching is a process, not an event.

 

 

 

Passionate love is in many ways an altered state of consciousness... In many states today, there are lawsa that a person must not be in an intoxicated condition when marrying... but passionate love is a kind of intoxication.

 

 

 

 

Couples who expect their passion to last forever, or  their intimacy to remain unchallenged, are in for disappointment... We must constantly work at understanding, building, and rebuilding our loving relationship. Relationships are construction, and they decay over time if they are not maintianed and imporoved. We cannot expect a relationship simply to take care of iteself, any more than we can expect that of a building. Rather, we must take responsiblity for making our relatinships the best they can be.

 

 

 

Love makes time pass, time makes love pass.

 

 

This is soooo true! stupid associative mechanism, killed all the cognition and reasoning.

Today is an extremely special day blessed by all those little dopamine~~~~ they killed all the glucocoticoid in my body and makes me very haaaaaaapy!

I only had a little red wine to drink at dinner, so i am not drunk!