Being Well Read

I was having a conversation with Weijun this morning. He is another morning person i know. We were in the topic of reading books. I always feel that wj is much of a thinker. We were talking bout how important reading is and it really adds value to a person. But read and PRACTICE.

I am reading a book "Audacity of HOPE" by Barack Obama, first African American to become President of US. I am not that sort of person who is interested in politics. But after reading his book, my mindset changed. What stir me to buy this book is because my dad has a copy and my intention was to have a good conversation and a common topic. It was difficult reading his book coz the language he used is a bit chim but i learnt a few new words... what i called the "politics lingo". Ha! Can talk to my dad.

The conversation i have with my dad.. 3 things: 1) Family 2) Business 3) Politics. He will chat with me late into the nights about people, gossips and the actual stories which are always different from what the newspapers said. And i do miss him. Pretty interesting though!

I am on the chapter "VALUE".
- It becomes tempting to assume that those who disagree with you have fundamentally different values - indeed, they are motivated by bad faith, and perhaps are bad people.
- It is that language of values that people use to map their world.
- Values should be the heart of politics, the cornerstone of any meaningful debate about budgets and projects, regulations and policies.
- Change the values in people if we really want the kind of society we want.
- Values of hard work and delayed gratification?
- A sense of empathy - a value. A call to stand in somebody else's shoes and see through their eyes. Obama's mother always get him to ask himself this " How do you think that would make you feel?"

"If we aren't willing to pay a price for our values, if we aren't willing to make sacrifices in order to realize them, then we should ask ourselves whether we TRULY believe in them at all. We hang on to our values, even if they seem at times tarnished and worn; even if, as a nation and in our own lives, we have betrayed them more often than we care to remember. Those values are our INHERITANCE, what makes us who we are as a people. we recognized that they are subjected to challenge, can be poked and prodded and debunked and turned inside out by intellectuals and cultural critics, they have proven to be both surprisingly durable and surprisingly constant across classes. and races, and faiths, and generations." Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama.

I don't get to spend a lot of time with my dad as a child. But one value that he taught me was the value of hard work and delayed gratification. Which stands till today.

In my busy schedule, i will remember my CORGI... heh... I really think she's overweight. I went jogging the other night and i saw this corgi. It looks really smart.. But my JW corgi looks a bit clumsy... lie down everywhere. But i heart my corgi!

The very piggy look of hers. See her fatss...

Corgi looking out for friends who were in for their grooming sessions...

First time corgi has strength to lift up her ears.. Look at her legs.. short and cute.

This was cute. Coz she was attempting to make friend with this poodle but the poodle was dragge away for her grooming session.... and the ear fell... haha

Corgi corgi...