Overheard in an Autism conference:

Cats are autistic dogs.

I don't know about you. But this really cracks me up.
If you really think about it. Cats really do show some classic symptoms of autism.

For example,
aloof
solidary
do things on own agenda
doesn't like to maintain eye contact
affectionate in their own terms
special interest/fascination (for my cat it would be his pet esso tiger)
probably sensory issues (need to bite especially when aroused)

so on and so forth...

I know it is not too nice to make fun of a disorder. After all being "socially challenged" in our "neurotypical" (aka normal) society is not easy (and that is an understatement). But then... what would life be if we can't even laugh a little?

Realization no 30:

Sometimes it is like trying not to think of the pink elephant.

A bite.
A happy cat.

School holidays now. Been sick for a while... and time seem to pass by doubly quick.
Quick recap on what did i do for the past two weeks...

1) graduation day for the students moving to other external agencies. will miss my kids that are leaving.
2) screening for new students. meeting new parents can be a learning experience all by itself. ranging from bo chup to those in denial to over protective.
3) sibling camp. wonderful experience. everyone had fun but yet the kids definitely learnt a lesson somewhere. only wished that i wasn't so weak and sick... kids can really sap up your energy but my group were a bunch of decent sensible kids. Go tweeties go.
4) sick sick sick
5) cleaning toys, room, desk, materials, house-keeping matters... i do get a certain satisfaction of doing mundane things like this in preparation for a new year.
6) WeCAN conference on Autism. good speakers (esp dr tony attwood) and interesting topics though most of the time information was not new. More suited for parents but as professionals, i wish that there were more depth to the topics covered but that would have alienated the parents/mainstream teachers/others non-direct personels in the conference.

Things seemed to have changed in the last two weeks.
I wonder what.

My cat sits still.
Staring at the door.

I spent the day lazing around at home, reading and watching tamil movies on central. I admit i have this thing for watching foreign movies with subtitles. I enjoy listening to languages that i do not understand while trying to concentrate both on the moving subtitles and the movie.

The only pity when watching tamil movies is that they usually do not have any subtitles for the tamil songs during the movies. I would love to find out what they are singing about wearing skimpy outfits while gyrating to pounding music in the midst of rapidly changing backdrops.

My brother flew home to wish me happy deepavali.
What a pleasant surprise to end the day.

I can feel myself slowly vegetating.
My brain shutting down
as i go through the routine of life
and more
life.

I cease to wonder
least it causes ripples in my
stagnant pond of living
and propels me
nowhere.

Realization no 29:

People are attracted to complexity.

I want to be able to say what i want exactly when i want to say it.

A hypothetical situation:

If A loves B but is attached to C. While B is in love with D who unfortunately prefers to stay with E. And C and E are really ex-lovers who are still good friends. And D and A are really first cousins who are also good friends.

So should ABCDE join the SDU 7-minute speed dating for a chance of a functional love life?

I like to ruffle my cat's fur
after it has finished grooming itself.

Realization no. 28:

I missed Halloween.

I truly felt like i was Alice in Wonderland, right out of Lewis Carroll's book when i awaken on my bed in a sea of tears.
Metaphorically.

Literally, the storm the other night created a mini flood in my bed room. It was almost surreal to wake up and step right into a pond. Sort of.
I was woken up by my cat who was busy burrowing into my blankets due to the thunder storm outside when i felt that its fur was wet. Thinking that it might have been a lil "accident" (loosen bladder due to fright?), i immediately got up to check. When i put my foot on the floor, i thought it might have been the "accident" spot, until i walked a few more steps to the light switch and realized that something has gone horribly wrong. I was actually walking in at least 1cm deep of water. When i switched on the lights, i found that my room was covered in a layer of rainwater from the balcony door to my bedroom door and even to the bathroom through my walk-in closet.

Frankly i was more amazed than frantic in the beginning because this sort of thing is hardly something i ever envisaged. Upon recollection, i was rather foolishly negligent. To be honest, this is a "disaster" waiting to happen. After all, between the balcony and my bedroom, there is only a door separating the two floors which are almost level (perhaps with my bedroom floor about 5mm above the balcony). With the raging storm and wind blowing the rain right into my door and windows, it is almost inevitable that water will seep through to my room while i was asleep. It just never happened before. I guess the night of the 29th, everything was in favour of my room being flooded.

Damage was considerable since my bedroom floor is entirely covered by parquet and my walk-in closet (whose partition takes up considerable space) is made of wood. And with the unrelenting monsoon coming and tropical humidity, i have great cause for worry. By the time i got everything dried, by sweeping out the water at 6am in the morning after the rain stop (i had been waiting in bed the whole time waiting for the rain to relent), i could see that my floor is probably going to be a goner. The seams of each piece is stained and oozing water whenever i walked on it. And even after that had dried, i could feel the surface has gone rough ( i could feel the edges when i walked) and there is a slight expansion around the edges.

Something must be done. Someone called in to survey the damage and provide some solution. I also need to get the door fix to become leakage-proof. Perhaps get a better drainage opening at the end of the balcony. On top of all that, i have to consider the cost, the time needed for repairs and the possible extent of the repairs. Quite daunting when i think about it now. I am tempted to say i am damn unlucky this year (especially in light of the events these last 2 months) but i am holding my breath till year 2002 comes along before i give my final verdict. Perhaps the odds would be even out by some of the better memories for this year.

In anycase, i must say that this is another interest experience (geez, how many people can wake up to their room being flooded in Singapore?) and looks like i am in line for another lesson in life. After car insurance 101, i looked bound to sit for home furnishing 101 cum home maintenence refresher course or perhaps even the all-you-need-to-know-about-parquet introductory lesson.

Who knows. Might be fun. :)