Issue # 22

Prayers for Singles

A wonderful women gave me a tiny booklet entitled Prayers for Singles.  At first I thought it would be filled with prayers asking for someone else to fill the supposed void in our (the single person's) life.  Had that been the case, I would not be sharing this with you.  Instead, what I read was that the author, Father William Rabior, was not "lacking understanding of what single people experience.  As a priest, I too, am single."  That was enough to get me to turn to the next page, and then to the next.

I am going to share the entire first prayer verbatim - it is entitled Lord, Bless Us Singles:

    Lord Jesus, we are such a diverse group, we singles.  We come from all walks of life both by choice and by chance.  Some of us have never married; some are divorced, separated, or widowed.  We live alone; we live with people dependent upon us for their care. 
     We are career people with exciting jobs, people  with very ordinary jobs, unemployed.  Our educational levels and our interests are as varied as we are.  And yet, we all have one thing in common: we are alone - alone with our responsibilities in times of decision making, in crisis situations, in special times.
     In a world of "twos" we are "ones".
     It's so easy to feel like a half and not a whole.  It's so easy to feel left out and over-looked.
     Sometimes, Lord, it seems that even our religion hardly bothers or acknowledge or affirm us.
     Yet, in our singleness there lies a strength which should not be overlooked.  In our lack of "two-ness" can come a sense of "one-ness" from our union with you.  We can focus on you, Lord, because our life makes you so accessible.  You understand us and our needs so very well since you, too, were a single person here on earth.
     Lord Jesus, I ask your blessing now not just on myself but on all single people everywhere.  Most of them are unknown to me, but they are my brothers and sisters.  We share a common bond.
     May we learn to focus upon the good we can do.  May we come to realize a fullness of life - a sense of well-being, self-love, and inner peace.
     Thank you, Lord, for being aware of me just as I am- a single person.  And thank you so much for the great love you have for me. Amen.

Issue #21

So What is Wrong with Biofuels?

13 April 2013

 

Yesterday, I saw a sign at a bank.  It had a picture of an ear of corn and read, “Soon corn will be as good an investment as cotton” or something in that vein.  Next to that, on the same sign, was a picture of the wing and jet engine of an airplane. The text stated, “One day we will all fly organically”.  I realized that the sign was making reference to biofuels and I was aware that there was controversy around this renewable replacement for fossil fuels because it is using land that should be growing food.

 

I know that cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, rubber, and sisal have been a reality since at least colonial times and maybe longer.  I remember studying the impact on third world economies of growing things that people could not eat, so that the resulting produce could be sold to developed countries.  I wondered how are biofuels different from other cash crops and why are they causing this controversy.  So at dinner I brought up the topic; this is what I learned.

 

There are too many people.  The problem is one of overpopulation.  “The world’s population is now more than 7 billion and continues to grow by 82 million people per year.” http://www.populationmedia.org/issues/population/?gclid=CLCrhNL5yLYCFUuG6wodZRwAMg . What had seemed to me to be a brilliant solution, use renewable organic material as fuel, is actually short-sighted.  It requires land which is not renewable and is quickly becoming a scarce commodity. A better solution is required. 

 

In 2006, The Children of Men, a futuristic film, explored the idea of a society where the population had stopped growing.  The film begins 18 years after the last child on Earth was born.  Schools and playgrounds are abandoned.  There is generally a lack of hope.  Without future generations, it would seem, arts and sciences are futile.  For whom are we creating? 

If human beings do not find a way to curb the population explosion, Mother Earth will.  Through disease, famine, drought, and natural disasters, she will shake us off, like fleas off a dog’s back.

Issue #20

24 March 2013

Last month we completed a 30-Day Challenge at Curves and I was asked, along with others of the participants, to write something inspirational. I have been extremely remiss in writing the AFB but I hope you, my esteemed readers, will accept this humble offering.

Age is Not a Number; it’s an Attitude

This year Madonna and I will be 55 years old.  She isn’t showing any signs of slowing down and neither am I.  Madonna has a team of people to help her look that good and be that fit.  I do too – the Curves team!

By having fun challenges like the 30-Day Challenge, Curves keeps things interesting.  My goal this year was to get back to where I was last February.  At the end of the challenge I had lost a ½ kilo and 5.5 centimetres.  My percentage of body fat is, finally, back to being under 30.  This is all great news and very encouraging.

I was changing after my workout when I remembered that when we were little kids, my younger sister commented that she wished we had parents who played with us. Our parents were too old and too tired to play active, children’s games.  They were about 54 and 52.  They were old because they believed they were old and the society we live in supported that belief.

I am grateful to the Curves team for supporting me in my goals to stay young and active.

 

 

Issue #19

Happy Holidays and all the Best in 2013!
Bob Armstrong, the owner of the Curves gym where I work out, asked some of the ladies to write something inspirational as a 'gift' to the other members. My story is a 'Christmas' story of sorts so I decided to share it with you, my readers.

          ______              How Curves Saved Sasha’s Life                                      

My name is Andrea Brandle and I started working out at Curves Marine Parade in September 2010. At that time, I weighed 98 kilos and was so out of shape that I would get short of breath walking up the stairs to our 3^rd floor apartment. Luckily for me, Bob was offering a special promotion. If I worked out 18 times in the first 6 weeks, the registration fee would be waived. This got me in the habit of going to Curves 3 times a week.

In late November 2010 my cousin’s acquaintance brought his tiny, frail, old cat to stay with us while he went back to England for the holidays. Her name was Sasha. On her first morning in our apartment she fell or jumped out of the window and was on the bracket that holds the air conditioner. My cousin isn’t very tall and couldn’t reach her so she woke me up. I am tall but the only way that I could reach Sasha was by leaning very far out of the window and stretching my arms down as far as I could. Once I grabbed hold of her I had to use my abdominal muscles to bring us both up and into the window because I couldn’t us my hands; they were both firmly holding Sasha. I think I must have pulled a muscle because I was in pain for a few weeks afterwards but I realized that if I had not been going to Curves regularly, I would not have been physically able to rescue her.

I do not feel that I have had to overcome any major obstacles on my path to fitness. I have learned that if I don’t attend regularly (3 times a week), I gain weight but I enjoy going to Curves so it is not a hardship. My advice to all the members is to think about exercise, a healthy diet, drinking plenty of water, and getting enough sleep as part of the good care that you deserve. And remember to smile and dance like nobody is watching!

Issue #18

An Apology and a Eulogy
27 Oct 2012

 I must apologize to my devoted readers. I do not know what possessed me not to write since April.

Today I went on-line to search for an old friend only to discover that he died eight years ago. I am aghast. So I have returned to tell you about this special man. His name was Gernot Lachner but to all who loved him he was Geri. I met him when I was a bartender in Botswana and he was a guide who frequented my bar at the Okavango River Lodge.

In the early days of my acquaintance with Geri, he offered me a tip. Tipping is not common in Botswana, and I don't know if it is in South Africa. He pulled from his pockets all of his loose change. Among the coins were a couple of washers, those metal rings that are used as part of a bolt. I told him I wanted them so that I could make them into earrings which I did.

Another time, after returning from guiding a group of tourists into the Delta, he brought me back a bracelet braided from the tail hairs of a water buffalo. I looked forward to his visits to the lodge because I had come to think of him as a good friend. When he went to Johannesburg, where his family lived, he called me and asked what I wanted him to bring back for me. He knew as well as anyone who lived in Maun that there were things that were difficult to obtain. I asked for music.

When I returned to Canada, with a broken heart, he would call me when he was drunk. It was the autumn of 1989 and the internet was not available to everyone but Geri had started to communicate with the world via bulletin boards and chat rooms . He would catstigate me for not being more technologically up-to-date. He would also offer to marry me.

My friend Rob got me 'on-line' by setting up an email account for me and he communicated with Geri but somehow we lost track of him. I have thought about him often but never managed to reconnect. I miss him.  http://www.jenniferjo.com/gernot_lachner.htm

Issue #17

From the Ridiculous to the Divine
14 April 2012

 A couple of weekends ago I went downtown to Funan DigitaLife Mall, billed as "Asia's leading IT shopping mall", for the first time. I had to pick something up at John 3:16 Photo Supplies. Yes, that is the actual name of the shop but more about that later. The store was crammed with people so I decided to go have a cup of coffee and wait for the crowd to subside. I ended up in Cawaii Koohii Maid Cafe. For those of my readers who do not know Japanese, cawaii means cute and koohii is coffee. The waitstaff are all young women dressed in little french maid costumes. Photography is not allowed but it is possible to pay to have a picture taken with the 'maids'. I have attached a photo from their website.

When I finished my coffee, I went back to John 3:16 Photo Supplies. It was still packed with people but there was an available chair against the wall next to someone else who looked like she was waiting. For those of my readers unfamiliar with the New Testament of the Bible, chapter 3, verse 16 of the Gospel of John is, according to Wikipedia "one of the most widely quoted verses from the Christian Bible and has been called the most famous Bible verse." Mixing business with religion has not hurt this enterprise one bit. In fact, the photography shop across the aisle from John 3:16 was empty. When I commented to Samuel Gan that they must be doing something right, he just smiled and said "Praise the lord!" www.john316photo.com

Issue #16

Chinese New Year 2012

18 February 2012

 

If I had a car, I would get a bumper sticker which read, "My readers are the best!" One third of the people to whom I send my newsletter responded as I requested in The AFB - Issue #15 and the vast majority of them wrote very supportive comments. Thank you, muchas gracias, arrigato gosaimasu!

This issue is about interesting cultural activities that I attended last Saturday and the Saturday before. On February 4th, Monica and I went to Sam's house and after dinner we went across the street to the small park. A stage had been erected and the performers were preparing in the area behind the stage. Sam pointed out to me that the structure was made in the the traditional way with bamboo lashed together. An aluminum step ladder was lashed to the front of the stage and throughout the opera stagehands would walk out on stage and climb down the ladder. This activity did not disturb the actors; according to Sam it is part of the show. The performance was an opera performed in Hokkien. Like many spoken languages in Singapore, Hokkien is influenced by other languages and it has borrowed many words from Malay and English including the name for this type of performance. Wayang, according to The Coxford Singlish Dictionary, was "originally a Malay word meaning 'theatre performance', it now means an act of pretence."

"Eh, we all saw you take his wallet. Don't come and wayang, okay?"http://www.talkingcock.com/html/lexec.php?op=LexLink&lexicon=lexicon&keyword=WAYANG

On February 11th we went to a Lunar New Year celebration at Kampong Ubi Community Centre. Now an industrial estate within our neighbourhood, Kampong (village in Malay) Ubi (tapioca in Malay) used to be a rural area. Tickets for the dinner were $2 SGD (that is not a typo) and included lots of yummy food from the different cultures that live in our area. We also got gifts of hats, pens and cup covers and I won a $10 voucher from the FairPrice supermarket. The highlight of the evening was the museum. Items that were used in the kampong homes were displayed and there were old photographs which captured images of life in the 'good old days'.

Last night was Sam's birthday party and one of his guests asked me when he was going to get his autographed copy of Memoirs of a Cat Named Dog. Steve has been waiting patiently for a year. I told him he was at the top of the list as soon as it is published. That was when he suggested that I should get the names of all of the people who want to buy my book to assist in convincing an agent to represent me. Monica suggested that I should offer a sample to the people on the list. Please write to me if you would like a sample of Memoirs of a Cat Named Dog and you will buy a copy when it is published.