Sunscreen

Here's one post I had to make. It made me think, realise and appreciate.. I hope it has the same effect on all those who give it a read...

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97... wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be IT.

The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.

You are NOT as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance. Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

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(Mary Schmich - Chicago Tribune. Later converted into a song called "Sunscreen" by Baz Luhrmann.)

Life's Playlist...

You know when a song defines you - that minute, that very moment - and you smile and say to yourself, "This is it.. This is that song!" When your life seems like a song, you can sing along. You can see things happen. If it's a good thing, it keeps you smiling.. If it's a bad thing, you know the lyrics, try and figure out if you want it to end like the song, or do something yourself..

But not all people have some songs that actually define them; who they are, at that point in their life..

What I do now, is I list the songs that I feel have made an impact on my mind, since I was a little child, to the current definition of now -

The Sound Of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel (KG)
Blue - Mom (I)
Country Roads - John Denver (II)
Child In Time - Deep Purple (II/III)
July Morning - Uriah Heep (II/III)
Stayin Alive - Bee Gees (III)
Give It Away - RHCP (III)
Let's Get Rocked - Def Leppard (III/IV)
Garden Of Eden - GNR (IV)
Keep The Faith - Bon Jovi (V)
The Cult Of Snap - SNAP (V/VI)
Livin On A Prayer - Bon Jovi (VI)
The Fly - U2 (VI/VII)
Sad But True - Metallica (VII)
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - Bon Jovi (VII)
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me - U2 (VII/VIII)
Ride The Lightning - Metallica (VIII)
These Days - Bon Jovi (VIII/IX)
Larger Than Life - Backstreet Boys (X)
You're Still The One - Shania Twain (XI)
From This Moment On - Shania Twain (XI/XII)
I'd Love You To Want Me - Lobo (XII)
Everyday - Bon Jovi (XII)
In The End - Linkin Park (XII/FY)
American Badass - Kid Rock (FY/SY)
Scorched Earth Erotica - Cradle Of Filth (SY)
St.Anger - Metallica (SY/TY)
Hammer Smashed Face - Cannibal Corpse (TY)
Vermilion II - Slipknot (TY-05)
An Enemy Led The Tempest - Cradle Of Filth (04-06)
Wonderwall - Oasis (06-07)
Yellow - Coldplay (07-08)
The Glass Prison - Dream Theater (08-09)
The Four Horsemen - Metallica (09)
Jigsaw Falling Into Place - Radiohead (09-10)
Speed Of Sound (May-Aug 10)
Hey Ya - Obadiah Parker (Sep 10)
Wicked Game - HIM (Oct 10-Nov 10)
and then began the trance.. (Dec 10)

Wake up.

No. No. I want not. I don't need people telling me that I have to do something, when they are well aware that it would only lead to more complications. Reckless abandon notwithstanding, here I are.

Why is the system more important than the purpose?

Why is the destination more important than the journey?

Why can't those who teach, learn themselves?

Why must we endure from others what they wouldn't want from us?

Why is belief solely dependent on the senses?

Nightmares are the reason we wake up screaming..
Dreams are the reason we wake up every morning.

More

God made all things, they say..
Well-crafted in his own way..
But there's always scope for improvement,
by far..
God made the skyline..
Nissan, the GT-R!

And by the prayer..

He was killed. The world didn't accept Him. Amongst others who proclaim themselves greater; and to some others, maybe truly are. But futile not is He.

Like the prayer goes, He died, and was buried. But He will rise again. Greater than ever. His glory will set free this forsaken world. When the world itself seems like it will collapse within the rot it has generated over recent times. A savior shall come. Once again.

It is known, GM have retained rights for all versions of the HUMMER brand.

Make. Believe..

You make me laugh..
You make me cry..
You make me smile
and wonder why..

I'm happy to see you,
yet sad to know,
just minutes from now
you'll have to go..

And when you leave
I shall be sad..
Then thoughts of again
shall make me glad..

Yet, how long, I ask,
must this I endure?
And my mind fills with thoughts
and then images are conjured..

Questions will always
just keep coming by..
I wonder how in this ocean,
can life seem so dry..

What we see as an ocean
is merely a lake.
For in the eyes of the maker
it's just one more take..

More people will enter,
and yet more will leave..
But this is no audition. This is life
and it is what you believe..

P.S. Thank you Sony, for the great title.

Lessons

It happens at times. You walk as you have for many years. You see the same things everyday. You wish they were different. They change with you. Over the years. Like the kid seeing the caterpillars everyday, and then a little older seeing butterflies.

Sometimes you wish you had stayed in touch. To watch the caterpillar grow, then get caught up in itself. Then break free. Sometimes, you wonder how and why you didn't bother to step closer, and just stay there. Things change rapidly at times, while at times the transition is unbearable. But the better is always out there, and that makes the bad seem good. Which is what this is all about. Making the best of what we have, in this moment, and we find what grieves us, or then again, realise if it was just a notification, telling us that something great has just happened, or is going to happen. We all realise it at some point, it's just that some do it a tad too late. What is important is that we realise what that is, and what we are supposed to be aware of as we grow, transitioning from little worms that we all are, then going into the cocoon, and finally breaking free.

Like I said before, we learn something everyday. We just need to realise what that lesson is. Then again, some days, we learn a lot in one go, and try to hold onto as much as humanly possible. Each lesson learned is important. Everytime I think about something that bothered me ages ago, my thoughts aren't the same, and neither my reactions. I'm happy to pick and choose lessons, apart from also realising there are things I've learned that I should've learned a long time ago, but then again, better late than never.

Today, I made a new friend. An old friend I should've had a long time ago.

And I pray... again..

Our Hummer
who art in GM
Hallowed be thy name
thy terrain come
thy will be done
on road as it is in GM
Give us this day
our daily torque
and forgive us our wheelspins
as we forgive those drift against us
and lead us not into sand bogging
but deliver us from powerloss
Amen.

And I pray...

I believe in God,
the Hummer almighty,
creator of power and torque.
I believe in the H1 Alpha,
his only son by far..
He was conceived by the power of AM General
and born of General Motors.
He suffered under unclean petrol,
was discontinued, dead, but not forgotten.
He descended into the records.
On the third day, he rose again,
he ascended into GM and
is seated at the right hand of a V8
He will come again
to judge the petrolheads and the diesel buffs.
I believe in diesel,
the 6.6 TDi V8,
the 300 brake horse power,
the 71kgm of torque,
the 37" tires,
and life everlasting..
Amen.

Climbing Clouds

Who are you? I reach out. Her silhouette against the bright, near full moon is all I can see.. Long hair, flowing gown and eerie look apart, I try hard to catch a glimpse of her face.

There was a time this was so easy. Firstly, it wasn't night, there was no moon wreaking havoc with my powers of identification and certainly no silhouette to deal with. It had happened before. But now, from all the faces I've seen, and people I've longed for, there is this one silhouetted figure against the moon. On my darkest night, this scenario has been my only source of light. Even as she turns, her face I see not, though the glint in her eyes says all I need to hear. I know not her voice. I see not her face. It haunts me, again. I long. I crave. I imagine, but I fear as I do. That which I desire the most I will seek out, and may or may not end up disappointed. But disappointment is the least of my worries now.

I know not patience as a close friend. Only in times of comfort do we toast. Yet in jest we try, have our own little test. I lose, badly, every time. I laugh, every time. Because then, every second longer I dare, and am capable of holding on, I pride myself knowing that I did. I can. I just don't want to. And when I realise that. It pains me. Why? Why must I wait again? The answer is in my head, my mind is okay. My brain is okay. Yet this screech from within, as my heart claws up the nerve to my brain, etching marks, like nails on a blackboard, I can't help but hear, divert thoughts, and cringe with the pain I hear and the sound I feel..

"Walk", I say. And then I look around. The cloud has disappeared. I get up, and walk. Look ahead, with my eyes, and not my mind. It's easier that way, even if it's only for a few seconds, and then I'm walking in my clouds again. Lost as ever.

Under the bridge.

Some bridges are built over vast waterbodies and take several years and efforts. But then again, there are some bridges that are built on dry land; and one day, water just begins to flow from underneath.

Someone once said, "Build bridges, not walls.." It's the way to go. Connect. Explore. Share.

The Sound Of Hope

Again. This wooden shed. On the edge of the cliff. Relentlessly bashed by the waves, over, over and over again. Yet, so strong, it holds it's ground, or whatever it is it's standing on. The wood looks weak, and worn, maybe that's cos it is. But yet, not a single wave manages to knock it off, or better yet, break it apart entirely, soaking all that is contained within with it's intense torrent. Yet, with every single wave, a slight spray, nay, a drop manages to cling on to the wood. And then, seeping through, it manages to pass it's wooden wall, finding it's way through, and then dripping onto the parchness that remains confined in this shed. Eagerly absorbing every nearly satisfying drop, from every other wave that manages to knock on the walls hard enough.

Drop by drop, no, there's no bucket here, and even if there was, there's not just one place the drops fall from. It's dark. Too dark to see...anything. Where the drop will fall next is impossible to tell. At times, vague spots of daylight manage to filter through, but the waves block it out almost immediately.

Parched, shriveling and yearning for a drop more, this shed stays strong. Not displaying the occupant it holds so silently within. With no knowledge of how to speak, the urge to scream is unfathomable, yet, remains supressed for want of a vent. Somehow, somewhere, someone will hear this faint wisp of pure, unadulterated desperation for belonging. Maybe just outside. Maybe just feel the water. Get struck once by a wave so strong. Feel the intensity of what it has to offer. Not fall off the cliff and struggle to swim. Not drown. Not anything. Just one wave. Strong enough to knock over the shed. Shatter the wood. Set the bereaved occupant free. Just one wave. One wave. One.