THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - HUMAN BEING

"Man is, at one and the same time, a solitary being and a social being. As a solitary being, he attempts to protect his own existence and that of those who are closest to him, to satisfy his personal desires, and to develop his innate abilities. As a social being, he seeks to gain the recognition and affection of his fellow human beings, to share in their pleasures, to comfort them in their sorrows, and to improve their conditions of life."



Albert Einstein

INTERPERSONAL ATTRACTION

Even though we may enjoy and need to be alone now and then, human beings are basically social animals who need the company and cooperation of other human beings. We need to make friends, to like and be liked, and to form loving relationships with at least a few people who are in some way special to us.

To like to love someone means that you enjoy that particular individual for certain unique qualities that fit with your own interests and needs. It means, too, that you have, not just an opinion, but a feeling about that person. Physical attractiveness is a factor in the initial decision to like another person.

MYTH - FACT - ALCOHOL CALORIE-FREE?

Myth

Alcohol has no calories.


Fact

A bottle of beer has approximately 150 calories,
which are without any nutritional value.

"drink to me only with thine eyes!"

TRIVIA - MIGRATORY LOCUST

Did you know that migratory locust is kept flying by a bundle of hairs on its head. When these hairs are stimulated by an air current coming from the front, they create a nerve stimulus that keeps the locust's wings beating. The beating, in turn, accelerates the air current; once the locust takes off, it continues to fly for extremely long distances.



Migratory locust

JOKE TIME - 6

A little boy, at a wedding looks at his mom and says,
"Mommy, why does the girl wear white?"

His mom replies, "The bride is in white because she's
happy and this is the happiest day of her life."

The boy thinks about this, and then says,
"Well then, why is the boy wearing black?"

A VIEW ON SATISFACTORY SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP

Sexuality has been the subject of much controversy over the years. It was not too long ago that marriage manuals described sexual behavior as "a dangerous evil which, unfortunately, is necessary for the perpetuation of the species." It is not difficult to imagine the psychological impact--the guilt, shame, and fear--of such repression.

"I love you, you love me,
we vowed our love eternally,
don't you know love, that
true love comes from
GOD!"

However, things have changed somewhat since then. In marriage today, sex is seen as a vital, fulfilling part of the loving bond formed by two people. There is less emphasis now on defining what is normal, socially acceptable, sexual behavior than on focusing on the positive aspects of a mutually satisfying sexual relationship between consenting, caring adults.

To promote a positive outlook on our own sexuality, we need to remember than sex is more than just a set of learned techniques, of pleasurable sensations. We need to accept our own body and the responsibility for someone else's. We must be willing to give and receive. But it is not enough to know what to do physically. For many, the most satisfactory sexual relationship takes place within a loving, caring relationship.

EDIBLE IVORY

The young man needs to be lectured on how to bargain sensibly.

Police are searching for a motorist who beat a 24-year old woman selling white asparagus because he was upset about her asking price for the coveted springtime vegetable. The prices for white asparagus, sometimes called "edible ivory", fluctuate wildly during the short springtime season. The man screamed at the woman that her asparagus was overpriced. He then punched her in the face and threatened to unleash his attack dog at her. She fled and called police. The motorist said her prices were totally over the top.

He didn't need to beat the woman. If he didn't like the price, he could always walk away. It's as simple as that!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - BARGAINING

"Sometimes one pays most
for the things one gets for nothing."



Albert Einstein

THE ART OF HAGGLING WITH PRICE!

Do you haggle with price? My friends always invite me to join them everytime they shop around. They know well how I handle price haggling. I make interesting price bargaining with friendly shop owners especially with certain big ticket items. It comes naturally to me.

Sellers will always try to get the most money possible for their goods, and customers who are not used to the art of bargaining will immediately pay for the items they like. The kicker though is that you can have some fun doing it. The most important thing is staying polite and keeping sense of humor while bargaining. Remember, it is supposed to be fun.

Always halve the first asking price and start from there, of course, with a smile and keep it throughout. The seller is much more likely to continue bargaining with a happy smiling face. Getting angry or upset will take you nowhere and rarely gets you the price you want. Be mindful that the initial price offered by the seller is usually marked up by at least 40% over the general price acceptable, or it can be up to even more. Do not say how much you want to pay for an item unless it is near the end of the process. Always try and drop the seller's offering price as much as possible before finally naming your price. If you don't get the price you want, humm the song line, "...walk away please go before you throw your money away..." ha ha! If you get called back, you know you are close to winning the price haggling battle ugghhh!!!

I repeat, bargaining is an art and if you are unfamiliar with it, start learning the process and have fun.

NOT A SMALL TIME THIEF!

My colleague has a story tell. He said, an expatriate employed as an Accountant in a big contracting company here in Al-Khobar, who just got back from a month vacation, has been arrested by the police authorities. He has been charged with stealing from the company safe.

He confessed to his crime, which went undetected for five years. He was able to build a two-storey house and a commercial building in his home country from the stolen money. "No wonder he was living lavishly and entertained extravagantly," blurted crisply by my friend.

Wow! he is not a small time thief after all.

WHAT IS LEFT?

A homeless man died after being set on fire on a street where he had lived for many years. He was drenched with what may have been gasoline and set ablaze. Scorch marks stained a wall on where the man was burned. The victim remained unidentified. It was reported that a young man in his 20s was seen running from the scene.

Whatever drove this young man to commit a heinous crime against a helpless beggar is unthinkable. It is without doubt an evil impulse, which stirred up the evil elements in his mind resulting to wicked action. It is a matter of the degree of wickedness one is capable of doing.

What did the beggar do to deserve this fate? How can life have meaning in the face of such torture and death?

If indeed the young man committed the crime, he deserves the harshest sentence available.

"... the beggar man and the mighty king
are only different in name, but they are
treated just the same by fate...!"

PHYSICS OF SOUND

If a deaf person understands the physics of sound, he or she can tune a lute, a viol, a spinet, or any stringed instrument. The sound made by a vibrating strings depends on its length, its mass, and how much it is stretched.

A very good pointer from a professional piano tuner.

LEARNING A NEW TRADE

I am learning an exciting new trade; piano tuning.

My regular piano tuner, Mang Joe, started giving me pointers on how to quickly learn piano tuning. He said, it is a simple process, but requires a lot of patience and years of practice to achieve perfection. First things first, I have to get my own set of tools: tuning hammer or wrench, tuning fork, rubber tuning wedges or mutes, and electronic tuner. These tools will probably cost me a lot, but it is worth it, knowing that I'll be doing my own piano tuning and won't spend anymore for tuning fees after some time.

I am so excited to get it going! Meanwhile, I am doing research to learn the basic mechanics of tuning and memorizing by heart the many intricate parts of the piano.

YOUR SUPEREGO

Mr. Sigmund Freud saw that a third dimension of consciousness was needed to hold the id and ego in check. He termed it "superego." Unlike the id and the ego, the superego is not present at birth. It develops as a child learns which actions are socially acceptable and which are not. The superego holds society's values and moral attitudes.

The superego includes what we mean by conscience. It tells us right from wrong. A growing child internalizes rules made by parents and other adults. Gradually, this right-wrong response enters a child's own system behavior, independent of its original source.

As Sigmund Freud saw it, the superego does more than distinguish right from wrong. It also compares the ego's view of itself with an ego ideal of perfection. This ego ideal is our view of the sort of person we feel we should strive to become. We base it on our own hopes and on the kind of person others think we should be. The superego combines conscience, that tells us right from wrong, with the ego ideal, that inspires us to make things better for all. Mr. Freud viewed that conflict between the id and the superego is inevitable. A person can deal with the conflict either by directly suppressing unacceptable urges, saying no to them or by hiding them deep inside. Hiding unacceptable urges means repressing full awareness of them by keeping them in the unconscious.

Well, I was just discussing the same ego ideal to a piano student last night, giving more emphasis on balancing factors in life.

Additional knowledge, Mr. Freud.
Wherever you are, many thanks!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - NATURE

"The next time it begins to rain... lie down
on your belly, nestle your chin into the grass,
and get a frog's-eye view of how raindrops fall... The
sight of hundreds of blades of grass bowing down
and popping back up like piano keys strikes me
as one of the merriest sights in the world."



Malcolm Margolin