chez pim

self portraits of an

self portraits of an Alzheimers patient.
These paintings show the alteration of the artist's self image as the disease progresses.

Fascinating.

And here's a bit of

And here's a bit of what my friends had to say about my recent handy-woman accomplishments:

Valerie:
Pim, i am so happy for you! this is a whole new world opening up. Soon you will be doing your own plumbing! congratulations! ps. how the heck did you manage with just one plier? I usually need pliers.

Linda (after, of course, calling Valerie a meanie for picking on the plier/pliers thing):
pim, excellent handy man problem solving. now, practice a lot before nailing things down with the hammer. and stay away from the hot glue gun until your asbestos suit arrives.

Matthew:
Oh my GOD!
Did I miss something?
Did hell freeze over?
This is really big news... and I am happy for you. What's next grouting? Or caulking?

and, responding to Val wondering what a plier is, Matt said:
plier is typically used in the following: "I bought a couple drinks to ply her, but it didn't work"

I love my friends. :-)

I am so proud of

I am so proud of myself. I just finished installing a shower head in my bath tub and a new spray faucet thingy in my kitchen sink (to replace the one the maid broke a while back). Those of you who know me well would understand what a big accomplishment these two tasks are for me. I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought the supplies, and the other day Benjamin showed me what the heck a "plier" was, and how to use it.

I never knew household tasks could be so exhilirating!!

I am finally learning to take care of myself. No more waiting for anyone to do anything for me. I can so do it myself now.

Bob the Builder watch out, there's gonna be a Pim the Builder cartoon coming out soon.

"First They Killed My Father"

Read a book called "First They Killed My Father" yesterday. I picked it up sometimes late afternoon, and just couldn't put it down until I was done. I am in awe, what a life!, what courage! The book is an account of an atrocious war, from a point of view of the author who was a mere little girl when it all started.

Reading about what happened to Cambodia gave me a heavy heart. My own home, Thailand, barely escaped the same horrific faith. Had what happened to Cambodia made it to Thailand, my life would have taken a turn not so dissimilar to hers. Only that I doubt that I would be able to muster the same kind of strength to get me through.

Pondering this, I couldn't help but realize how incredibly blessed I have been my entire life. If only I could keep that perspective in mind always..

I am beat. Just finished

I am beat. Just finished a work "Strategic Offsite". Two excruciating days of collective patting of backs, hand holding singing Kum-ba-ya, interspersed with plotting to take over the world one quality process at a time.

Or, as Frank called it, a group root canal.

painful.

Saw Zhang Yi Mou's new

Saw Zhang Yi Mou's new film, The Road Home, this last weekend at the Clay. It was simply wonderful. Zhang Yi Mou is a genius. His Raise the Red Lanterns was stunningly beautiful yet haunting in its portrayal of women in Chinese society.

The Road Home may not be as visually exquisite, but it was still gorgeous. The story illustrates the beautiful simplicity that was life, if only we dare to look for it.

It must be wonderful to love and be loved with such abandon.

This made me think of what I read a while back in Le Petit Prince.
On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur, l'essential est invisible pour les yeux.
One can only see clearly with the heart. The essential things are invisible to the eyes.
How true.

I have never heard of

I have never heard of anything so absurd in my entire life. According to the BBC, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake of Sri Lanka is urging her people to breed for war.

She claimed that the success of the family planning program in Sri Lanka translated to fewer recruits for the army, thereby handicapping its fight against the Tamil Tiger rebels.

So instead of taking it as her responsibility to end this prolonged and bloody civil war that has plagued the tiny island country for decades, she urged her people to multiply so more of them could get killed in this senseless violence.

Well, if we are to count on history repeating itself, her honour the prime minister will probably get blown to bits in a not too far off future, as it had been the fate of many prime ministers before her. I just hope that she couldn't do much more damage till then.

showing Valerie how to blog.

showing Valerie how to blog.

Will there ever be peace

Will there ever be peace in Israel? Read this on BBC today Israeli split over peace talks

The recent violence in the middle east have served only to push people on both sides more and more to the extremes. No longer does reason rule, bigotry, hatred and vengence are the names of the game. What a tragic predicament they have found themselves in.

In the meantime, whenever one of my friends go off on their military duty, I fear that would be the last time I hear from them.

What has the world come to?
A village idiot in the whitehouse.
A war criminal running a country in one of the wolrd's most explosive region.
A Nobel "Peace" prize winner standing behind one of the bloodiest intafada in recent memory.
Where are we heading to now?

One more thing. Congratulations Lisa

One more thing. Congratulations Lisa on your impending motherhood. You are going to be such a cool mom to that little baby boy who probably can't wait to see the world.

I am so happy for Lisa. But I have to say---one of my friends'd better be having a girl soon. Every time I go shopping for Sasha (Linda/Benjamin's angle) I see all these cutest little outfits, and they are, of course, for girls. I do so want to buy them but I knew dressing Sasha up as a little girl might have an adverse effect on his mental health. Not to mention Benjamin would kill me.

Any taker?