OfPeopleThingsAndPlaces

AEA 1 - Papa 0

2012-01-20T13:07:00.002+07:00

AEA dan bapaknya di meja makan di suatu pagi menjelang berangkat sekolah:

b: Nak, Tintin-nya ditaruh dulu lah, lekas selesaikan sarapanmu, bentar lagi mobil jemputan datang.

aea: *anteng ngunyah sarapan sambil tetep mantengin Tintin*

b: Kamu belum hafalkan perkalian yg disuruh ibu guru ya? Tsk! Nanti ada mencongak kan?

aea: *tetap diam sambil menatap bapaknya*

b: Kebiasaan deh, ditanya gak jawab!

aea: *tetep kalem. menatap bapaknya lekat2* ... Bulu hidungmu panjang.

b: *kalap tapi geli* Heh! Jangan senyum2 kamu! Ditegur orang tua malah senyum2!

Emaknya: terpingkel-pingkel di lantai

to hold, or not to hold, her hand

2010-10-29T14:17:00.006+07:00

I was waiting for my daughter, who was taking her after-school math and English lessons at Enopi (it's a South Korean after-school course provider franchise, you went to one of its outlets at ITC BSD), when I spotted a mother walking with her daughter. The daughter was probably 2 yo. What caught my attention was that the daughter leisurely walked by herself, tailing behind the mother.

I always hold my daughter's hand whenever and wherever we walk together. It's just my habit. And also part of my (first ever, and last) grand plan in life: to create as many good memories as possible for my only daughter to reminisce when she's older (and I'm no longer around). I think this is the only mission that I take seriously.

You see, I hardly have ambitions or set certain targets in my life. I tend to complicate things and be picky about, well, almost everything (it's true, go ask my hubby, and a friend (hdn), they'll confirm it). I love making plans, exploring tons of ideas [oh, I'm so full of ideas, I can be VERY creative], but rarely accomplish them due to, among other things, my excessive inclination to avoid all unnecessary risks.

Okay, let's go back to the mother-daughter scene before I completely lost track ad change subject [another one of my classic symptoms, my dear daughter. yes, you and I, unfortunately, share this tendency to get easily distracted].

Watching how the mother let her daughter walked by herself, but frequently looked over her shoulder to make sure the daughter remained at a close distance, suddenly made me wonder whether my habit of holding Amaris' hand is correct. I mean, will my holding her hand whenever and wherever we go has a negative impact on her character and personality development?

One may say that this habit of mine means I'm a tender-loving-care mother. But it may also shows that I'm actually an over-protective mother.

Tsk tsk tks... I need to find valid references on this, and write more about it next time.

So, to hold, or not to hold, my daughter's hand. For now, I decide to continue holding your little hand, my dearest little monster, until you let go of mine. I love you, my dear AEA.

Someone Like You - Van Morrison.wmv

2010-08-30T07:46:00.000+07:00

Baby Einstein DVDs

2010-03-05T14:54:00.002+07:00

I was surfing on the net today when I stumbled on this article on children educational DVDs published by Reuters, Baby Einstein DVD Fails to Boost Language. The article drew attention on results of a study by some university in the US, which suggests that all those educational DVDs did not have positive impact on children' speaking or language ability.

When AEA was still a toddler, I bought her lots of educational DVDs, Baby Einstein, Wordsworth, etc. AEA enjoyed watching those DVDs. She picked up quite a lot of vocab from the movies. While she seemed to absorb many things from the DVDs, the DVDs did not automatically encourage her to speak English, or help shaping her speaking ability during her early years for that matter. She started to talk a bit later, compared to many other toddlers. And she used Indonesian a lot, though she understand some basic English instruction.

I have to admit that those hours of DVD watching sessions may had been one of the factors contributing to her lack of attention to people surrounding her, difficulties to concentrate in class unless materials are presented in interactive manner or involved attractive visual presentation.

My father has always blamed my daughter's lack of concentration and tendency to 'ignore' people on the DVDs. You let your daughter watch too much movies, now see what she has become, he said. Of course, I always have justifications ready, which I usually managed to make them sound scientific enough.

I have always believed that I made the right decision by letting my daughter watch educational DVDs from early on. I believe the DVDs, as well as those books, had helped introduce my daughter to the world. I agree that parents play the most important role in shaping children' early learning skills. I think properly-designed educational DVDs are good tools to help parents to maximize their efforts.

My daughter has developed into a sweet, witty, curious little person. I don't want to blame her difficulties to concentrate on the DVDs. Looking back, I had not done enough to help my daughter develop her attentiveness with some well-thought, better-constructed stimulants and encouragements.

aku anak rajin. aku suka Google

2009-11-12T11:49:00.001+07:00

Latest pics

2008-10-08T07:19:00.003+07:00

This photo was taken in August 2008 at the porch of our home in BSD

We were at Taman Kota 1 BSD.
The plastic bag you carried contained your sandy tools (plastic shovel, small bucket and all)

Some updates

2008-10-08T07:18:00.001+07:00

I haven’t updated this blog for several reasons: busy, lazy, and facebook!

Amaris, my dear, if you want to know what happened from March to September 2008 log on to mom’s facebook lah. I’ve been storing lots of our pics there for you to see.

Btw, some updates:

Amaris has completed the first quarter of her school year last week. I will meet her teacher, Ms Debbie, this Friday to collect the report and discuss her progress so far.
Aan and I quietly celebrated our sixth anniversary last June. No party lah. We only took Amaris and her mbaks (Yuni and Jey) to lunch.
The three of us have been enjoying our independent lives in our own home, a lot.
Amaris has grown into a beautiful little girl. She talks a lot, moves a lot, laugh a lot. She is now very bossy. Still the master of ‘people manipulation’. She chose taekwondo as her extra curricular activity at school. She has since embraced the habit of punching me or her dad whenever we try to disturb her during sleep time. She enjoys school very much and has been very discipline about going to school on time and doing her homeworks. She does her homeworks by herself loh! We’re very proud of her.
I’m still working as an editor at Maverick, and Aan is still working at Freedom Institute. Bisa juga kami bertahan lama ya…

What else ya…..

Oh, we still haven’t bought ourselves a descent kitchen set!
We also have yet to clean up the mess in Amaris’s future bedroom.
I no longer drive that green Escudo (we returned it to the owner, my Dad). Been driving an Avanza, courtesy of Freedom Institute, since last August.
I’m still the personal chauffeur to my hubby and daughter.
Still considering getting another job, but reluctant, if not too coward, to apply (I did look for opening opportunities!).
Been addicted to facebook in the past several months (met a handful of old friends from SMP, SMA and Uni on facebook).

Itu lah dulu. I’ll post some pics later on (if the internet connection allows…)

My daughter and her unfriendly friends - part 3

2008-03-19T15:18:00.002+07:00

I secretly wonder, however, if my cold response when those children visited our house the first time had contributed to their rather unfriendly treatment to my daughter.

I was a bit displeased at that moment because my daughter had invited them into our house without asking for my permission in the first place.

I did not say a thing to them, although I was particularly annoyed by two of them for their impolite manners. I just told Amaris to clean up afterward, and her nanny to ensure the children won’t fight over toys or books.

But, perhaps, they sensed my disagreement to Amaris inviting them over.

I guess I was just not used to have more than one child running around in my house, touching my properties, poking around the house, asking irksome questions like 'why you guys don't have a fish pond like the others?', or putting dirty feed on my sofa!!!

Well, expecting Amaris to ask for my permission was, at that time, a bit ridiculous, I must admit. She was still learning about manners, and besides, she was too excited to see new friends.

Amaris has made a lot of progress in terms of manners ever since. Asking for my or her dad’s permission before doing something, such as playing computer games, eating her favorite foods outside mealtime, or visiting our neighbors, has become a common practice for her.

Anyway, back to the unfriendly friends issue.

I learned that I must always act properly in front of guests, that I must try to keep my emotion to myself (a huge challenge, I admit).

As to my daughter, I told her that it was OK and normal to feel upset, sad, disappointed or angry about something or someone sometimes.

I told her not to worry much about not being liked by her peer. We can’t expect everyone to like us, or treat us nicely all the time. Some probably won’t like us forever. And that’s just life.

I told her that her friends did not hate her, they excluded her from their games because they thought she was not ready yet to play the games or do things the way they do. This means she needs to take turn, follow the ‘rules’ set for the games, learn to play in group, etc.

She's used to play alone, or with adults companions (grandparents, nanny, maids, parents). She'll find out it's not so easy to adjust to new situations. But I'm sure she'll be fine.

I assured her she would find real friends someday, somehow. Ok, that’s probably too cliché.

Well, I just told her that she would have more friends to play with at school (she’ll start her TK-A at Stella Maris in July) “Really, Mom?” she asked. “Sure, honey. You’ll meet many children there and some of them will be your friends,” I replied.

Don’t you worry, my dear child. Some people may not like you, but your daddy and I will love you forever. We’ll try our best to be your best friend, take you as you are and be there for you whenever you need us.

Remember, Amaris, we love very much!

My daughter and her unfriendly friends - part 2

2008-03-19T15:17:00.001+07:00

Whenever I heard my daughter received unfriendly treatments from her friends I got very angry. I feel like calling them names. I fell calling their parents names, too!

But I must not let my daughter see me angry at her friends, especially in the cases of subjective like dislike relationship.

I must teach her to keep her head cool, not to launch an offensive, frontal attack on anybody except in a critical, emergency, do or die situation…

Anyway, sigh…

The nanny said only two particular kids in the group who have been showing strong resistant to my daughter. These two girls are notorious for their bossy behaviors, the nanny said. The other members of the group have indeed been getting along well with my daughter just doing nothing when the two girls were not around, she added.

Well, okay. I suppose I’d better keep my opinion on these two girls to myself (just in case their parents read my blog :) )

My daughter and her unfriendly friends - part 1

2008-03-19T15:10:00.001+07:00

My daughter has been irked by unfriendly behaviors of some of her new ‘friends’. There is one particular group of children of my daughter’s age in our neighborhood that apparently do not welcome her.

“Teman-teman usir aku,” she said one day. “Teman-teman gak boleh aku ikut main”, she told me the other day. She said the rejection made her angry and sad. Her reports made me sad and angry, too.

Her nanny told me that this group of children was initially excited to welcome her as their new friend. Later on, however, they began to exclude her from their group activities. The nanny said the group considered my daughter too ‘young’ to play with them.

Curious, I observed, from a distance, while my daughter approached the group, which was doing their games, on one sunny afternoon. I discovered that Amaris tended not to follow the rule of the games agreed among the children that she ended up interrupting the games. For example, she often failed to take turn or follow her friends’ moves but in different or wrong ways.

I did not see her friends pushing her aside, calling her names or anything. Although they did tell her: “Amarisss, gantian, dong” or “yang betul, doong”.

I came to conclusion that this group (well, actually there other children in our neighborhood who do not join this group, and they, according to my daughter’s nanny, are much nicer kids) has been reluctant to include my daughter in their activities largely because my daughter could not follow their games.

They probably also found my daughter ‘different’ because she often speak English. She, for instance, would instantly yell “it’s not funny!” whenever anyone laugh at her or other people (including movie characters!!!!) when she or other people/characters were in unpleasant situations like fell of the bike or something like that.

We encourage Amaris to learn to speak English. Well, my English is just average lah… to offset my lack of language skills I’ve been exposing my daughter with lots of English-written books and English-language education games. I want her to be able to speak English better than her parents.

My daughter’s nanny said the children also found my daughter self-invented habit of introducing herself to the crowd “hallo, saya Amaris” a bit weird…. The nanny said some of these children had once mocked her, saying “hallooooo, saya Amarisssss…” when she approached the group.

Hey! What’s wrong with introducing yourself to a new group of people?! Those children clearly haven’t learned from Barney and his smart peer on manners!!

Updates (btw, Happy Valentine’s Day)

2008-02-14T13:13:00.001+07:00

It’s been more than seven months since my last posting. Some major changes had taken place, here are few of them:

Aan and I finally had the courage to buy ourselves a house (on KPR, of course) in BSD last November, and moved into the house just four days after Christmas.
I turned 38 last month.
Amaris had completed her playgroup sessions at Tumble Tots and is now applying for a seat on the TK A level in a nearby school (we still have to choose between Stella Maris and Santa Ursula).

New house means new debt, new furniture and house appliances, new life, new neighbors, new commuting routes, new shopping and dining destinations…

It also means more expenses, more challenges, more responsibilities, more fun, more peace…

We now spend our weekend morning rummaging in Pasar Modern and do some gardening in the afternoon.

We bade farewell to the Express fleet and embraced the stress-free and cheaper trips onboard the TransBSD fleet.

Amaris had not found any problem with settling in the new house, which we call “Amaris’ house”. After all, it will be hers. Finding new friends came easy for her since all of neighbors are young families with toddlers.

She'd probably missed the company of her grandma, grandpa and Om Rio and mbak Mita in during the first several days after I returned to work. But she adjusted to the change swiftly. She’s now happily spending her morning and afternoon time playing with mbak Yuni and mbak Jay.

I was recently offered a position at a TV station. No, it’s not the newsroom, no thanks. I still could not decide on whether to take the job, albeit having undergone the preliminary interview and tests. If I take the job, there will be other major changes, and some consequences, too. Not only this job is intellectually more challenging, it is also time- and energy-wise more demanding. Well, we’ll see…

To my husband on our 5th anniversary

2007-06-22T10:29:00.000+07:00

Dear Aan,

You know it's not like me to be mushy but I wanted to tell you on this -- our 5th anniversary -- how much you mean to me.

You are always there for me, like a beacon for a ship. The captain can only see the light during the night, when it's needed. During the day it's not visible. But that doesn't mean it's not there.

That's how I think of your love. I know it's always there and when I need it, it shines forth to guide me. Without you, I would be half a world.

I love working things out together and growing together as a couple.

I know that I am not always easy to live with. And that I sometimes lose my temper and say things to you that I regret.

I know you often get overlooked because I am so busy with our daughter, my job, and myself. I know I take you for granted. And I'm sorry.

But I want you to know that I love sharing a family with you.

I want to thank you for caring about our daughter as much as or even more than I do and being there for her no matter what. Unlike most men, you truly put in the hours. I love parenting with you and loving Amaris together.

I want to thank you for always making me feel that our love is the most important thing to you and that your commitment to me and our marriage and our family is stronger than anything. I have never had to question your priorities.

I want to thank you for always making me feel beautiful even through three surgeries, and a pregnancy – and despite all my physical flaws.

Thank you for shouldering so much of the financial stress of the family. I know it's hard.

Thank you for working so hard for us. I know you do. I know you're tired too.

Thank you for doing a lot of the things I'm not good at: the shelves, the writing, dealing with the electricity, dealing more patiently with our daughter, etc.

I want to thank you for all you have taught me. You always see through to the truth of things. I appreciate your commitment to a spiritual life no matter how hard it gets. For your ability to make sacrifices to live the way you think is right, your risk taking, your sense of adventure, and your humility.

I have never had more than a moment of boredom with you. Your desire to always grow and change allows me to grow and change.

You have taught me to stay put. I have learned that I don't have to run away or after things to find fulfillment because it's all here with you.

I knew I wanted to marry somebody I could really know. Somebody I could comfortably grow old together with

And here you are.

I love you more than I did when we started.

Happy Anniversary.

From little angel to little cutie monster

2007-06-08T14:47:00.000+07:00

My daughter turned three recently… err it was last month actually, but i've just find the time to write about it today… (bad mommy! bad mommy!)

We threw a small birthday party, which she seemed to enjoy to the last bit. She enjoyed being the center of attention. I can see it in her face that she really enjoyed the attentions, extra-nice treatments, and, of course, gifts given to her that day. (photos from the party are available at her own blog http://amarisallegra.blogspot.com )

Oh my, time does flies so fast.

She has grown from a tiny little baby into a big little girl. At 105cm-22kg, she’s taller, and bigger, than the average toddlers of her age. She wears sizes 8-10 (children size, of course).

My husband and I have always been amazed to see her wonderful transformation. We witness her developing new skills and attitudes time after time.

She can now involve herself in a conversation with us. She curiously asks so many questions, and gives damn smart answers to your questions.

Early this year, she started to talk a bit more than she used to last Christmas. Now, look at her… she’s become a very very VERY BAWEL toddler. Not only she talks a lot, she also sings, hums, and mutters a lot.

She has also become very proficient in trying to get people to give whatever she wants.

She’ll courteously beg you, pleading “Amaris mau abc xyz dong, pleeeeaaassseeee”, sporting her trademark, irresistible sweeter-than-sugar-or-honey smile, while stroking her tummy (instead of her chest) to make a ‘please’ sign language. She’ll even go the extra mile by kissing your cheek, if you ask her nicely…

At other times, she’ll just put a very heartbreaking look on her face, complete with sorrowfully teary eyes. And when she does this sad-face stunt, hardly none has the heart to say no to her demand (except for me, her ‘serem’ mommy…)

And she definitely does not take ‘no’ for an answer! So, we’ll have to modify the answer to something like this: “Sure, darling. After you/do this or that…” Just to make her think that we agree to her request.

Of course, she’ll often just scream out her demand over and over and over and over again until the most fragile among us will eventually fall into her cleverly planned psychological trick.

One thing remains the same, though. She still adores my flabby tummy more than any other tummy in the world. My sweet little cutie monster LOVES to doze off on my softy bouncy tummy. And it is also my tummy that she looks for the minute she opens her eyes in the morning. Sometimes I wonder is she loves my tummy more than she loves me…

24 January 2007

2007-01-24T12:15:00.000+07:00

Today is my 37th birthday. Umph… since I’m too lazy to express my birthday reflection, I’ll just post some birthday quotes in the internet that I found interesting. Here you go:

A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip. ~Author Unknown

Middle age is having a choice between two temptations and choosing the one that'll get you home earlier. ~Dan Bennett

Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle. ~Bob Hope

Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life. ~Herbert Asquith

Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest. ~Larry Lorenzoni

Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician. ~Author Unknown

Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened. ~Jennifer Yane

Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself. ~Tom Wilson

With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come. ~ William Shakespeare

Whatever with the past has gone, the best is always yet to come. ~ Lucy Larcom

To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living. ~ Henri Frederic Amiel

To think, when one is no longer young, when one is not yet old, that one is no longer young, that one is not yet old, that is perhaps something. ~ Samuel Beckett

Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me. ~ Carl Sandburg

You grow up the day you have your first real laugh yourself. ~ Ethel Barrymore

Why is a birthday cake the only food you can blow on and spit on and everybody rushes to get a piece? ~ Bobby Kelton

On female circumcision

2006-11-01T12:38:00.000+07:00

The government through the Health Ministry issued an ‘announcement’ in April that ordered doctors, nurses and midwifes to stop performing female circumcision on the grounds that these acts – hurting, damaging, incising or cutting the clitoris – violate the reproductive rights of girls and women, not to mention harm their organs.

That’s good news! I fully support the ban on three reasons.

Firstly, in terms of medical or health, unlike male circumcision, female circumcision gives girls and women no benefits.

Circumcision on boys and men helps them to maintain the cleanliness of their penises, which thus make their penises healthier. On the contrary, there are no medical or health reasons whatsoever for female circumcision – regardless the degree or extent of the cutting. The vagina and outer part of female’s genitalia can be kept clean and healthy without having to cut any inch of them! Studies found plenty cases where female circumcision have instead resulted in bleeding, infection, severe pelvis pain, trauma, menstruation pain, etc.

Secondly, while circumcision on boys and men is believed to benefit them sexually – something that can be elucidated medically - female circumcision is impossibly a secret to women’s sex ecstasy. How a woman could expect to have a modest, if not satisfying, sex if her clitoris – which is her key to sexual pleasure – no longer intact, or even worse: no longer exist??????

Thirdly, it is, to me, certainly not fair and cruel to force others to go through such a painful and disadvantageous ritual. It doesn’t need a human rights expert or supporter to realize that female circumcision violates the girls and women’s rights. Anyway, female circumcision has been condemned by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics and the World Health Organization, while the Vienna Declaration of the World Conference on Human Rights called it a violation of human rights.

What about the religious perspective of female circumcision?

Can’t say much, really. I’m not a very religious person and have only basic knowledge of my own religion. My religion does not say anything about female circumcision. I’m glad. Thank you, Father, You truly are very kind, understanding and merciful indeed.

Some people in Indonesia impose female circumcision on their daughters for religious reason. Several of my girlfriends, for instance, said their parents told them they were circumcised when they were still babies. They personally are not sure about the extent of the cutting. Admittedly, I was rather shocked to hear that my friends were circumcised. I mean, I couldn’t imagine the pain they, as little gilrs, had gone through. But then, it’s their personal businesses.

Now, back to the ban. I don’t think it will be an effective measure to eradicate the practice of cutting female genitalia firstly because it is not a law and therefore carries no punishment or sanction for any breaches whatsoever.

Moreover, female circumcision is not an issue in Indonesia. I mean, it’s not a controversial topic. There has been no public discussion or debate on the matter. The government ban, which I thought was very enlightening and relieving, was picked up by just a few publications, including Koran Tempo, Reuters and Detikcom, in early October.

I’m not an ardent supporter of feminism, though I strongly support gender equality and adopt as much of the concept as I think fit in my personal life.

I just cannot imagine the agony I would feel if I have to impose circumcision on you, AEA. I dare not imagine you crying out loud in severe pain and going through traumatic days, or years, all because I let the doctor cut the supremely healthy and functioning genitalia of yours.

BTW. Nahid Toubia, M.D., a physician from Sudan and assistant clinical professor in CSPH's Center for Population and Family Health, estimated female circumcision affects more than two million women and girls each year. It is practices among a few groups in Asia and among some African immigrants in North and South America, Australia and Europe. “Female circumcision is the physical marking of the marriage-ability of women, because it symbolizes social control of their sexual pleasure-- clitoridectomy--and their reproduction--infibulation," said Toubia. Infibulation is the removal of the labia. FGM may cause numerous physical complications

Why don't we give to street kids?

2006-08-23T14:37:00.000+07:00

The picture of two kids sleeping on the pedestrian off a busy junction displayed on Kompas’ front page today really touches me.

The picture shows a shirtless little girl (she’s probably only three year old) who slept on her brother’s chest.

It reminds me of my daughter. She sleep on my chest until she’s nearly two years old. Today, she still often sleep on my chest, if not my tummy.

I thought, my daughter could have been the little girl on the picture.

The little girl and her brother are both barefeet and skinny. They must have been very tired, and hungry, that they just slept on while thousands of people walk and drive by.

Looking at the picture made me feel guilty. I feel guilty not because I am in a much better situation than they are but because I do not help to ease their burden. They’re just little children. At their age, they suppose to have their basic needs provided.

Once in a while I give some rupiahs to street children. But, most often not.

We are always told not to give to beggars, including street children, because it is not ‘educating’, counterproductive, can lead to dependency and will only drag them further into the devious poverty trap.

But, if we do not give, how will the children get food to eat? How will they survive?
It is true that their fates is on the hand of their Creator and that the Merciful Creator will never forsake His own. But, it is not our obligation as human being to help others in need?

If my daughter was the little girl in the picture, I know she’ll really appreciate strangers giving food to fill her empty stomach, a cup of water she can share with other children, little sum of money to give to mother so she could cook a decent food for the family or clothes to keep her body warm.

Have a heart and (try to) behave

2006-08-11T14:05:00.000+07:00

What is the secret to a successfull and enjoyable life?

The secret, according to George Washington Carver, lies on how well you behave, especially in treating your fellow human beings.

He once said, "How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these."

To treat others well is not always an easy neither enjoyable task. Even treating others, especially people you don't like, just accordingly can be a painful effort.

I've failed to treat my father accordingly. I've been trying to do so for years. I told myself, and others who know us, that I've made peace with my younger-days anger, and hatred, towards him. But, the fact that I'm today remain a no-better-loving-and-caring daughter only shows that I'm still angry at him. I have to try harder to treat him properly, and to love him.

My husband says I'm definitely not a stupid-bad-super selfish daughter. "You've just hurt badly," he says. He says that I, actually, have a good heart and have behaved properly as a daughter. (Thanks, my dear. Your love has helped rekindled the good heart in me).

My dearest AEA, I hope I will never give you any reason to be angry with me, and hate me.

** In case anyone wonder who on earth is George Washington Carver... He was a respected African American scientiest, educator and humanitarian, who was born in Missouri in 1864, near the end of the Civil War. He was probably best known as the inventor of Peanut Butter products. He discovered about 300 uses for peanuts and hundreds more uses for soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes in various products, including chili sauce, adhesives, buttermilk, instant coffee, mayonnaise, metal polish, paper, plastic, meat tenderizer, talcum powder and synthetic rubber.

A love as big as the Milky Way

2006-08-10T13:45:00.000+07:00

Dear AEA, my daughter,

If you ask me one day how much I love your mom, I'll say to you THIS MUCH, reaching to the farthest extent possible of both my arms ... But how much that love is is, honestly, unexpressable in words, not just in the words alone at least. The feeling inside (me) is just the feeling, expressable only in best of love songs written by artists, poets (this is serious I should tell you) ... I am sure you will know this feeling one day, one day when, somebody, some time, some where, looks you in the eyes, closes his eyes, puts your hands against his heart asking you to hear how it strangely beats faster, and says, I LOVE YOU, VERY VERY MUCH. For your dad, it's just a wondeful feeling, to love (and be loved by your mom) ... Everybody may feel this particular feeling differently, I can tell you this. I am also sure that you will have your own expression(s) to describe such feeling (in which case, you must be an artist, my dear). As for me, I would describe it to you this way: ... it's the feeling of longing to hug, to kiss, to smell (your mom of course), to keep telling her how much your dad loves her. This love we share, we make sure we pour as much as possible, on you and on you alone. It's a good feeling, a so-wonderful feeling, The Happiness we believe it is, that we feel every time we watch you play (you're soooo vivacious), every time you sleep (yes, drooling is what you are, almost all of the times), every time you cry (we even want to make you cry even more, you know) ... every time you look in our eyes, give us your big hugs, and give each of us your trademark smooch (finished with YUCKS!) ... yes my daughter, that's THE love we share as a family, your dad's love for you, my love for your mom. It's a love as vast as the Milky Way.

My happiness

2006-08-10T12:40:00.000+07:00

My greatest goal in life is to be happy.

I have found happiness hard to find, however, especially when I look for it at the wrong places. Most often I failed to feel happy also because I tend to measure happiness against my circumstances.

Famous American writer Dale Carnegie says happiness doesn't depend upon who we are or what we have; it depends solely on what we think. I can see his point.

Nonetheless, my dearest child, YOU, and your wonderful Dad, are my absolute source of happiness and my reason to be happy, and to be grateful.

I hope I, too, can give you reasons to be happy.