I Have Moved...

I've got my own domain now... see you guys there!

www.yetanotherdecade.com

Best of Yet Another Decade

I've had this blog now for over two years now, and it occurred to me.  Not all my readers have been with me all this time... some may have just started reading it last year... some may have just read the last post...

I'll tell you a secret... when I stumble upon something new to read, I'll read the last couple of articles... I won't read everything that has been written over the years... So, I shouldn't expect you guys to do the same thing (though it would be great if you did).

You know how when a singer has been around a few years, they'll come up with a 'best of' album... all their hits in one album... for those who haven't bought the older stuff... Sooooo... that's what I wanted to do.... The Best of Yet Another Decade.

I'll pick out some of my favourite posts and list them here for your reading pleasure.

Here's another secret I have... I never read what I write... I'll write, I publish, and I put the link up on twitter and facebook... that's why sometimes you'll find grammar and spelling errors... I just don't check.  So to come up with this list, I've actually got to read my own stuff... This stuff is quite good, if I say so myself...

So here's my top 8 favourite posts, in no particular order:

1. Listen to Me
2. Between Boxes and Sock Drawers
3. Doormat
4. Real Men Wear White
5. Great Powers
6. Investments
7. Settling
8. I Am What I Am

Darling, you're killing the romance...

I was listening to the radio yesterday on my way to work.  It was the 29th of February, so the topic of the morning show was obviously the leap year.  They mentioned that the 29th of February is also known as 'Bachelor's Day'.  I didn't bother to verify this fact since I believe everything I hear on radio...

Anyway, on Bachelor's Day, women are allowed to propose to their boyfriend.  If they reject the proposal, they have to compensate the girl.  So, the guys on the show (by the way, this was Pagi Rock Crew on FlyFm) asked the only girl of the trio, Nadia, how she would actually propose to a guy... see how romantic she could be.  Nadia's answer was that she would just ask him 'so you want to marry me, or not' (or something like that... let's just assume that I'm just going to paraphrase from now on).

Her rationale was that guys aren't romantic... so why bother being romantic when proposing to them.  Of course after that, there were a few women who called in to say the same thing... either all men are not romantic, or only bitter and disappointed women like to call in to the morning show.

Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

For argument's sake, let's assume that women in general feel that the majority of men out there are incredibly un-romantic (is that even a word?).  Let's also assume that most men believe the same thing... it's what their partners have been telling them all this while, so it's got to be true.

So let's look at what being romantic is... textbook definition is 'inclined toward or suggestive of the feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love'.  What the heck does that mean!?

It means you do something that makes the person feel loved, lah... simple, right?  No.

You see, different people have different ideas on what makes them feel loved... let's take a look at this hypothetical conversation between a loving couple:

Girl : Sugar-Pie-Honey-Bunch... I WUUUVVVVV You!!!

Boy : Err... I love you too...

Girl : You're not saying it right...  I WUUUVVVVV You!!!

Boy : I love you too...

Girl : WUV WUV WUV!!!!!!!!

Boy : Are you okay?  By the way, I've had a look at your tax returns and made some adjustments... you'll be getting a much higher amount back from the government.

Girl : You're not romantic!!!!!! I hate you!!!!!

Boy : I'm in trouble, aren't I?

What went wrong?  The problem we have here is a failure to understand each other's needs and concept of romance.  In this (totally made up... not all women are like that... don't hate me) example, the girl wanted to be all mushy when it comes to expressing her love... that is what she's expecting in return.  The guy on the other hand wanted to express his love for her by doing her tax return for her and making her some extra cash.  They both love each other, but are not on the same page.

Lets go back to the definition of romance... the layman one that I gave... to be 'romantic', you have to make the other person feel loved by your actions.  There are no hard rules pertaining to what actions work... you have to get to know your partner and learn how to pull on their heart strings...

A couple of days ago, a friend posted on Facebook that he just booked a vacation to a place that he's gone to several times and he finds boring.  The only reason he's going there is because his wife loves the place.  Minus the fact that he told everybody this on a social network, he was being very romantic.  He was willing to make the sacrifice so that his wife will be happy.  That's romance...

I know of women who cook the same boring set of dishes every day even though they cannot swallow another bite of it... the reason is the husband loves those dishes... again, true romance.

Romance isn't defined by the products that are provided by the gift and flower industries... it's defined by how well you know your partner, and how far you're willing to go to make that person feel and know how much love you have for them.

Now let's try that conversation again:

Girl : I got you a bouquet... of tickets to Old Trafford (or Anfield, or whatever....)

Boy : Oh my darling sweetheart... my reason for living... Thank you soooooooo much!!! I WUUUVVVVV You soooooooooooo much!!! muah muah muah muah.... and one more for good luck... mmmmmmuuuuuaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!

Girl : I love you too... now let's work on our tax returns together...

Happy New Year?

This is the first post for me for the year 2012...

Not to worry... my new year's resolution for this year was to procrastinate as much as possible...  I think I've done a good job.

To tell you the truth, I have been busy these past couple of months... and whatever time I have, I spend it in an almost comatose state... I have overstretched my mind and body.  I look at my face in the mirror and it looks like I haven't slept in a week.  I certainly do feel like it.

So how's 2012 been treating me?  Feels exactly the same as 2011.  (That was anti-climactic)

My life has been full though... my son started primary school.  Now that's an entire blog post, right there.  So I won't spend time writing about it here.

I did go on a vacation. Went to Hat Yai with my family ++.  Note that there's a "++" there... total there was almost 40 people that went... I don't talk about vacations here... this is not a travel blog (I wonder if I would get more readers if I did do travel reviews?).

Other than that it has been work, traffic jams, sleep, tv, eating...

Not much for the first post of the year, right?

If you've actually been following this blog, you would know that I always have this short type of post whenever I've been absent for a long time... it's my 'excuse for not writing' post...

Now on to the new stories...