What are maids for?

All these recent hullabaloo about the NSF making his maid carry his field pack has given the SAF plenty of bad press. Rightly so, I guess. It's something done only by small children who are firstly, weak, and secondly, carrying a hellish amount of books.

What the hell this guy was thinking, I don't know. He seems like the typical spoiled, rich brat. Maybe he has a shoulder injury, some people say. Bullshit, no amount of shoulder injury would prevent you from carrying your field pack. Like I said, he's just an shameless overgrown primary school kid.

Now, that issue has been beaten to death. And taken to new extremes. Today's The New Paper ran a front page article on how maids cleans NSF's uniform and boots. Err, isn't that what maids are for? Carrying a bag, and doing house work are completely different matters, I think. It's about being practical.

Why else would we hire maids, but to do the things that we don't really want to do, such as clean the house, and wash our clothes?

If the boy wants to clean his own clothes, then good for him. But if he doesn't, it's okay. He's forced to do his own shit in camp anyway. I don't see why he can't just chillax when he's at home.

TNP got it wrong by lumping different issues into one big snow ball. Maids cleaning an NSF's uniforms and boots is no issue, because that's they're job. An NSF making his maid carry his field pack IS an issue because it echoes a generation which lacks common sense, common decency and most of all, shame.

Talking about a second chance.

So you know how I posted on Saturday that I was going for a 24km run? Well, it turns out that running in the morning is a completely different mountain to climb. There's the heat, the fact that I'm basically running on little food and water having just woken up, and there was also the thing about me doing too much static exercises the night before.

My intention was to run the whole 24km, but in the end, I just stopped at the 20km mark and walked the rest of the way. I was quite peeved at first, but I grew to accept it, and even began to enjoy my walk.

There's this deserted path I walk through, and there I just sang. Rebecca Black's Friday has been stuck in my head, so I was singing what I imagine to be an acoustic version of it. I sang Justin Bieber too. They're not my most favourite songs in the world, but the lyrics are easy enough to remember. I was singing out loud. Once, a man cycled past me and gave me a look. I stopped singing for a while, but I couldn't control myself. I continued singing, but looked behind me once in a while to see whether anyone was coming.

So my initial attempt at 24km was not a total success. It's not something you beat yourself up over. Not many people run on Saturday mornings, and not many people run crazy distances.

It's a bit like life, in that when you go upon an undertaking, you don't always succeed. But you can take some pride in the fact that you tried doing something not many people dare to do so. I could move on, or try again. I decided to try again.

Yesterday, work ended late, so I only reached home about 7. I wolfed down my dinner, and then willed my body to digest the food as quickly as possible, so that I can leave for my run at 830. 1 and half hours is a really quick time, and when I finally began my jog, I had a bit of stitches, but it's alright.

So yeah, there I was, on a 24km run on a Tuesday evening at East Coast Park. I took it easier with the first 12km, then pushed myself running back. I upped my speed for 4 minutes, then jogged for 6, and did that cycle all the way home.

My body's still aching from the run up 'til now. I like it. Running's about putting your body to the test. Pushing it to it's limit, and all. I can't believe that such a small frame can cover such an enormous distance. I'm only 1.66m, yet I can cover 24km. There's something special about that, I think.

A Life-like Run

Here I am, up at 6:30 in the morning, getting ready to go for a run. It's going to be a 24km run today, so that will take me about 2 hours. Imagine that! 2 hours of plain old running! It's just me, and my two feet, moving in a metronome-like fashion, going from one place to the other and then back with no particular purpose.

In that way, running's like life. If you really really think about it, life doesn't have a true "meaning", or "purpose". We can go through life and never really achieve anything, or accomplish anything. We have to find our own meaning, even though there might be no such thing.

I run to train for a marathon. But what is a marathon other than a concoction, a concept, by humans to draw an arbitrary "goal" or "finish line", to give themselves a sense of accomplishment, after all that running? You see my point, right?

At the end of the day, I'm running simply because I want to. It's meaningless, but I enjoy it. I like ending up where I started and looking back and going "Holy shit, I can't believe I covered that distance," I love that I'm going at my own pace and that I'm going from place to place without really being there. It's like being a ghost.

Okay, I let my mind wander too much. Gonna do my customary bowel movements and then move out. Happy weekend, and do check out raymondangelove.tumblr.com for my hipster images. I think they're awesome.

A Side-Project: Hipster Raymond Angelo

Hello! I've been working on this project for the past two days. It's nothing big, but I think it's something that's very me, you know what I mean? If a person does something, there are instances where you'd go "That's totally him,", and this is one of those instances.

I'm a big fan of this show called Community, and as such, I know most Community-related websites on the net. One day, I stumbled upon this particular site called Hipster Community (hipstercommunity.tumblr.com). Over there, they took memorable lines from the show and put them on ridiculously "hip" picture.

It's the juxtaposition of funny lines from the show I love and emo images which are awesome.

And as such, I've decided to follow suit! I take my tweets, and then using PhotoShop CS5, put them on awesome images I scour from the net. Visit me at raymondangelove.tumblr.com!

Below are some of the ones I've completed. I assure you, there'll be more to come. They're quite easy to make, and it gives me plenty of satisfaction. Sometimes, even I can't believe the things I tweet haha.

I feel like my street cred is going through the roof.

How To Choose A Wallpaper

So as some of you might know, I recently acquired a new laptop. It's awesome. I like the fact that now, the computer is in my own room and that I no longer have to share with my other two brothers. I also love that I can basically do whatever I want with it. It's nice to have something I can call mine.

On the old computer, I never really cared about my desktop. My wallpaper was some...Incredible Hulk rubbish, and when I download things, I usually put them on my desktop, so it was quite a mess. Now though, with my own laptop, I'm making an effort to make it presentable.

So I scoured the net for potential wallpapers. For me, I found them though my favourite internet forum, and they had a thread on awesome wallpapers. Alternatively, you can just use google search for specific subjects that you might be interested in, and I'm sure they'll have a wallpaper for that.

Below are some of the more interesting wallpapers I found. Pardon the lack of interesting shortcuts! I haven't had time to install anything significantly cool. I can't really decide which one to use, they're all too good.

Cute:

Hurhur:

Colorful Lights:

Nerd Cool:

Out there:

What-I-actually-wanna-put-but-won't-because-people-will-think-I'm-a-pervert:

Writing and Stuff

Tried my hand at a bit of writing. It's abit hodge-podge, but that's me, I guess.

Hands Clasped Together (Praying for the World to End)

They said that prayers don't work, and I couldn't help but believe that. I look around me and see the world crashing down. Prayers are wasted thoughts directed at vast nothingness. I mean, people are always wishing for good things to happen yet the ratio of good things to bad things is about fifty-fifty.

Actually, more bad things happen. It's not a choice between half empty, or half full, because the truth is, the glass is mostly empty.

Maybe life's supposed to suck.

-

I met the devil in the park one Sunday afternoon. I thought it was a strange place to meet him, or her, or whatever. It was my weekly long run. About 20km, give or take, running through the park by myself. The peace running gives me is amazing, I swear. Anyway, there he was, just sitting on the bench. He was beside a dustbin, for some reason, wearing a red cloak. His, or her, or whatever's face was hidden and the voice was like no voice I've heard before.

It was the voice of everyone, yet no one at the same time. There was suffering in that voice.

"I'm tired, man," he said.

I'm running 20km. I don't think he knows what he's talking about.

The park was strangely deserted. So it was just me, and him. The rest of the scenery faded into nothingness.

"From now on, I'm handing all my powers to you. There is no God, there's only me. And like I said, I'm tired,"

Wait, what?

"You can have it. All my powers. If you want, you can destroy the world. I don't know, after a while, you just get sick of everything. "

I thought I sensed a tears beneath the hood, but like I said, his face was shrouded in darkness and it was impossible to tell. "My powers can't just disappear, so I'm handing them over to you."

He disappeared, and I was alone in the park again, in the middle of my run. I suddenly feel my exhaustion catch up to me. The walk home was long and lonely.

-

I don't want this weekend to end.

I'm sure everybody's hear of Rebecca Black by now. When I first saw her trending on Twitter, I thought that she was some up and coming indie artist. Someone similar to Adele, or Sarah Bareilles. But she isn't. She's just some kid with dreams of making it big.

Kinda like Justin Bieber. But bad. She only has one song out right now, as far as I know. It's called Friday. It's a good idea, executed in the worst way possible. If she had pulled it off, we could have another anthem in our hands. She epic failed. The lyrics are off, and the video makes it worse.

"Kickin' in the back seat. Chillin' in the front seat. Gotta make up my mind. Which seat can I take?"

"Yesterday was Thursday. Today i-is Friday."

"Tomorrow is Saturday. And Sunday comes after...wards!"

And that video! Holy shit. Teenagers are...driving cars and partying? Is that what's really going on? What a scary thought. In the video, when they show Rebecca Black dancing at the back of the car, I always watch the girl to her right, because she's damn awkward, it's hilarious.

But you have to give her props. What's she's done is something most people won't dare to do. I'm sure she's not a horrible person. What I criticize is the song and the video. From the bottom of my heart, I truly wish her success in her future endeavors. She's still young, who knows how things will unfold?

This video was produced by this company called ARK Music Factory. Basically, what they do is they help people produce their songs and music videos. You pay them, and they'll help you develop whatever song/music video idea you have. It's quite cool, actually. And I visited their channel on YouTube, and found that they actually have videos which are far better than Black's Friday.

Like this little gem by Alane Lee, called Butterflies! It's autotuned to hell, but it's catchy and the girl's quite pretty and the lyrics are touching. Check her out! Wait, not in the perverted way.

How To Play In-Between

This afternoon, I went to my one of my secondary school friend's place to play poker. We've been doing this for about a year now. Once every few weeks, we'll get together and just hang around for a whole afternoon and play poker.

All we have is a table, cards, chips, tidbits, the television playing in the background and each other's company. Hours will pass by in a blink! And we never really talk about anything meaningful, or profound. I think it's a very guy thing to be able to hang out without talking about "feelings" and shit like that. I like it.

Anyway, our buy-in for poker is usually $20. It's not too much, but it's not too little either. Just enough for there to be some excitement, yet not too much such that you feel guilty for paying. I like to think of it as watching a movie on a weekend and then going out for coffee after that and then a meal. I spend about the same amount of money.

And if you consider the fact that me losing $20 is the worst-case-scenario, it's actually quite worth it. There's potential for me to earn some money! And it's fun.

Anyway, I had a bunch of bad hands, or wasn't really into it, or am just lousy at poker in general...such that after awhile, I was down $10, half my buy-in. I won some back, lost some again, and yeah...pretty bad. And then we switched to in-between!

One round of in-between is played like this:

1) Each player puts a certain amount of money into the pot, for example, $0.10.

2) Each player is dealt two cards. He then has to make a decision to get another card, or just give up his hand.

3) The main goal of the game is to be dealt a card which is in-between your first two cards. Like I said, if you have two cards which are very close to each other, you can fold. If you have something like a...2 and a King, then it's quite obvious you should play on.

4) To play on, you bet a certain amount of money, no larger than the size of the pot. If the card dealt to you is in-between, you get the money you bet. If it's more or less, the money you bet goes into the pot. If the card dealt is the same as either cards in your hand, you have lose double the original money you bet.

5) Order of play is decided based on who has the lowest probability of winning. For example, a player with 3 and 9 will go before a player with 2 and 10.

It's freaking brainless, and the thing is, if you have insanely good luck, like me, you can stand to win a lot of money. I kept getting 2s and Kings or Queens. I just kept taking money from the pot, and I soon, I had won over $5. The thing about in-between is that unlike poker, it's not so much based on calculation, and it's not as confrontational.

So yeah, that's in-between!

The Anti-Tattoo Propaganda

In Singapore, when the government wants to promote something, they do a campaign on it. Things like the Singa The Lion and the Dimsum Dollies on the trains are classic examples of a truly Singaporean attempt at inculcating positive values into it's societies. Once a campaign has begun, you won't hear the end of it. There'll be a song, commercials, competitions and who knows what else.

How about less "desirable" developments in society? Such as tattoos, and poker? What's done is a complete and total shutdown of these elements from the arms of the media that the government can control.

Let's talk about tattoos for instance.

There was once a time when I can simply walk into a bookstore and browse through a book on tattoos. They're very visual books, so the browsing doesn't take too long. I just grab it off it's shelf and flip around for designs I like, and might get. That was before. Now, you'll be hard pressed to find a book on tattoos in regular bookstores. In the more reputable stores, of course they carry them, but they're hidden in a corner, wrapped in plastic. So no more browsing.

Same applies to the library. I love the library because it's free books, but why is there no books on tattoos? There's books on baking, stamp collecting, diving, travelling to freaking Mongolia, yet, nothing on tattoos. I did a simple search on the library's computers and found out that all the books on tattoos are for reference only. Hmm, clearly there's some censorship being pulled here.

On TLC (Travel and Living Channel), I was a big fan of this show called Miami Ink. I was a fan of the spin-off show, LA Ink too. Basically it's about a tattoo shop, and the clientelle they get, and that tattoos requested from them and story behind the tattoo. It puts a positive spin on the whole getting a tattoo thing. It's not just a form of rebellion; there's many reasons why people do what they do, and in this show, they explore them, that's how I feel.

Before, I was able to catch it at least once a week. I think they cut down the show times here such that it will only show after midnight or something. I haven't been able to catch an episode for awhile.

So you see what somebody's doing here? It's a complete media shutdown man.

And a few weeks back there was an article carried on the New Paper which featured the local artiste Maia Lee (i think that's her name). She's not in any show, or whatever. The whole article was just her complaining about the tattoos she got! I'm serious! She was on the front page and everything, but the whole focus of the article was solely her anti-tattoo -sentiments.

Okay, long rant, with short conclusion: I got a tattoo. Not many people will be reading this, so let's just keep this between us, kay? Don't tell Facebook, don't tell twitter. I got it at a place nobody will really see it, so as far as we're concerned, it's not there, kay?

Ommmmmmmm. :)

How To Turn 21

I turn 21 today. Imagine that. 21 years ago, I didn't exist! There was no such person as "me". Life is a miracle. Actually, ALL of life is a miracle, so when people started making such a big deal about me turning 21, I got really uncomfortable. I mean, it's just an age. It's just a milestone, but it's not real in the sense that it's inevitable. Whether I do anything or not, my birthday will come and go.

Am I a different person from yesterday? In fact, am I different person from a few months ago? I might be, or I might not be. The sense of measured time is something that doesn't really click with me.

Anyway, in the end, I turned 21, whether I liked it or not. My friends organized a nice dinner for me yesterday. I really appreciate the effort. I'm happy not because I'm 21, but because I have friends like them. And at work too, my colleagues and bosses threw together a small something for me, and that was nice. And then I come home, and my dad orders in my favourite food, and we have a nice dinner. Like I said, it's not me turning 21 that makes me happy, it's the people.

But why can't people be like this everyday? I don't know, I guess we as a society just need to set aside some days for people...so that they can be appreciated.

I'm the centre of attention sometimes, but I WORK HARD to be the centre of that attention. So when just because I turn 21, people start paying attention to me, I feel weird as shit.

So what to do? Hmm, I'm gonna pull a stunt. Will get back to you when I actually do it. For now, I'm 21, it was inevitable, I'm happy for all the well-wishes, and that's about it!

How To Get A Laptop

I finally got my own laptop! It's an X42J, by ASUS. Okay, I won't pretend as if I know a single thing about laptops. The desktop I have been using at home has not been upgraded since 4 years' ago, and it suited me just fine. A desktop that old...compared to the laptops/desktops of today, probably has archaic specs.

I did what I know how to best: leverage on the knowledge of other people. You know the saying: If you stand on the shoulders of giants, you're not that short, or something like that.

I went with one of my friends to FUNAN first and he gave me a rundown on the basics of laptop specs. Basically, RAM determines how work your computer can handle. The processor determines it's speed. Hmm, that's about all I remember haha.

Next, I went to the IT fair. It was horribly crowded. (You can play the "penis" game, if you want) but the thing is, it really is cheaper over there. Also, they throw in plenty of freebies your way, and if you talk to the sales person nicely enough, they can slice the price down even further. I went there on Saturday and brought home a bunch of flyers.

Then finally, I discussed with my Dad, who was buying the laptop for me about our budget, and what are the best laptops we can get with the budget. And then, we went together to the IT fair on Sunday and looked around. After heading over to the DELL booth, the ACER booth, and the ASUS booth, we finally settled on an ASUS.

And yeah, just like that, I finally got a laptop. I'm freaking thankful for it. I'm watching TV and using the computer. How cool is that? My birthday is coming, and that's why I got this laptop. I don't just get laptops randomly, hahaha.

Okay, that's it for me. Happy Monday.

How To Donate To Charity

Hello all. The recent earthquake that shook Japan really really affected me.

It's partly because I have a soft spot for Japan. I love most things Japanese. Their food is tasty, their mangas are good, their games are tops, their woman are beautiful, and their culture is profound and deep. They seem like a genuinely nice bunch of people. They may have been fuckers back in the 1940s, but now, they're alright.

So when the earthquake struck them, I couldn't help but think that..."They don't deserve to be struck by an earthquake, man," But then again, that's life for you. Life happens, sometimes, without explanations. It's like how we can't stop the rain from falling, or the sun from shining. Sometimes, things just happen.

There's been an outpouring of grief and sympathy online, on facebook, on twitter, and all. It's good, but I doubt it's enough. Japan's not gonna rebuild itself on words, prayers, thoughts. Don't get me wrong; your sentiments are appreciated. I'm sure if I'm in Japan right now, it'll touch my heart that the whole world is on our side. But if you really want to help, you can make a monetary donation at: www.ifrc.org.

IFRC, or the International Federation for Red Cross and Crescent Societies for long, is the international umbrella under which all Red Cross and Crescent arms fall under. They accept international credit cards. Spare Japan some money! Consider all the free manga, porn, games that you have "ripped" from Japan...a small sum isn't too much to ask for. Billions of dollars in damages man. Check out this pictures:






Yeah, it's pretty bad. I'm gonna go on a rant here for awhile, about two things: #prayforjapan, and priorities.

I'm getting sick of this #prayforjapan thing. I'm not religious at all, and I'm happy I'm not. I don't force myself upon other people, but sometimes, I can't get behind their thought process at all. So you want to #prayforjapan...but isn't it HIS fault in the first place? I'm sure in Japan, there's a fucking shitload of people praying everyday that they will be safe and that they will see tomorrow, and that there WON'T be an earthquake. But did HE listen? No.

So really, at the end of the day, what's the point of praying? As far as I'm concerned, praying is the same thing as wishing. The only difference is that there is no lamp and there is no genie and there is no magic carpet.

Now let me let off some steam about another subject. Priorities. I posted the IFRC link on Facebook yesterday morning. But nobody 'liked' it (but for one person, she's the best). Nobody even 'commented' on it. I first posted it yesterday morning, but I reposted it yesterday evening when more people were online. Still, no reaction. WTF.

The other day, I posted this up: Facebook asks me what's on my mind and what I'm planning, knows who all my friends are, and asks me to check in from time to time. Facebook is my girlfriend.

That got 15 'likes'. My post about how to help Japan? Nothing. Fuck. What's wrong with this world. Does nobody care much? Or is it that...people pray, and they think that that's enough?

I don't have any answers. #hopeforjapan

How To Be Thrifty

I spent...a shit load of money today.

For lunch, my boss and my other colleague went for a jog around the City Hall area. From our Admin Building, we headed over to City Hall, past the Memorial Park and finally Esplanade. It's not that far a distance. For anyone. Especially for me. But my boss doesn't exercise that much, though the run was her idea.

So they cut their run short, and got lunch, while I ran around a bit more, reaching Marina Bay Sands. I asked my boss to just get me whatever she's getting, which wasn't such a smart choice.

She got a $7.50 SALAD. And it was take-away. Sigh. I try not to spent more than $5 for lunch nowadays. $7.50...especially when I don't even get to enjoy the pleasures of the restaurant feels kinds much.

And then I had dinner with two friends from my army days. One of them is working for his dad, and he was in a splurging mood, so I felt obliged to spend along with him. It's not like I'm NOT earning money. Actually, I am. But I currently have this...scarcity mindset. I can enjoy myself no matter what, so why not enjoy myself on the cheap?

Spent almost $20 for dinner at this restaurant at Marina Square. It's called...Hippopotamus Restaurant Grill. It's not bad...their main courses range from $18-$30, and they have set meals for about $21, which includes a main course, and three delicious sides. I had this Blue Cheese Hippo Burger, which wasn't too good, but that might be because I had the Blue Cheese.

That's dinner...and then I had to buy black dress pants and a belt for something I'm going for tomorrow. I already bought the cheapest one there is at the market. Went to G2000, and just got a standard belt and standard pants, and that adds up to almost $90. What the.

Spending your own money hurts. I haven't asked money from my parents since I enlisted into the army. And I don't intend to start doing so soon.

This day was an exception. Most days, I eat a cheap lunch, and try not to eat an expensive dinner. I treat myself once in a while, but...I realize now that that's not the most important thing in life. If you're not sure about whether to get something or not...DON'T.

And I've been using an Expense Manager App on my Android phone, which has been of great help to me. I can basically keep track of all my spending so long as I remember to key it in my phone. To those who don't have that app, download it, it's free!

Kay, I'm going off. Happy Friday!

How To Heal A Broken Heart

My heart literally hurts. And when I mean 'literally', I do mean 'literally'. Recently, I've been having some form of chest pain. It's not something that I feel only when I exercise, but in my day to day activities too. It's starting to worry me. It got so bad that during my run today, I stopped half-way and just walked home.

I don't know what's going on, and it kind of scares me. Maybe it's my eating habits. I'll try working on that and then maybe this pain will go away. Or maybe it's because of a lack of conditioning. We'll see how it works out.

Without my satisfying run, I reached home in a foul mood. I tried to do pull-ups too, but out of the three pull-up bars I passed by on the way home, one was under construction and two were already occupied. I did some static exercises at home instead, maybe that'll help.

My mum called while I was exercising. She's in the United Kingdoms right now. It's a long story! Anyway, she called and she apologized over the phone about how she won't be home for my birthday.

Originally, this wouldn't bother me. But she was so damn apologetic about it, that after some time, it did bother me, and it sucked. I don't think much of birthday. I don't think much of "occasions" in general. Too much expectations...sometimes, it turns out to be just another day and you're left wanting after that.

I have ZERO expectations. But it's OTHER PEOPLE who have expectations, and it's some sort of peer expectation thing which influences me into having SOME expectations, and ultimately, some disappointments.

At the end of the day, I don't really feel much of celebrating my birthday this year. I'm still the same person. I haven't really changed. And what's more, I'm happy with my life as it is. My whole life is a fucking celebration, damn it.

Hmm, yeah, I'm sour over the bad run haha. Kay, I'm gonna shower.

Do what the fuck you want.

I had a look at my old blog yesterday, and I really liked what I read. I was so young back then, and I didn't have a clue what was going on but somehow, I made something nice. I guess that's life! You keep at something long enough, consistently enough, and something, whatever that is, will come out of it. And if it's something you like, your passion will show.

I felt a lot of passion from my old blog.

I'm going to abandon the How-To concept of this blog. It'll be How To from time to time, but not all the time. Sometimes, you just want to type away into a keyboard.

It's magical isn't it? You have a lot of thoughts in your head, but when you actually pen them down, or type them out, they become something more than thoughts. They begin to EXIST. And if you keep at it, your accumulated thought becomes who you are and what people think of you.

I once titled a blog post this: "I like how you don't know anything about me except for the things I choose to show you," I still believe it to this day. Nobody knows what kind of person we are if we do not take action which would reflect the kind of person we are. But before we take action, we first must think, and if we think hard about it enough, we can perceive how people will take us, as a result of that action.

You are who you want to be, is what I always say. When "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga came out, I hated it. It's a catchy song, true enough, but the message just grates me. Okay, so I understand that some people are born gay, born special, born with a fetish, whatever. What about stupid people, and irritating people, and fucked up people? Are you just gonna say that they were "born that way", and leave it at that?

No, people can change, and that's why if I had an anthem it would be called "Do what the fuck you want." and it'll be amazing.

That went off track very fast, but my thoughts just kept coming, and now we have this. It's not special, but it's something. Eventually, it'll be something special. Here's hoping.

How To Train for a Marathon: A Prologue of Sorts

I'm gonna be doing a How To Train for a Marathon post, seeing how I'm actually training for one at the moment. I'm short of time this evening however, so I'll just leave you with this piece from Haruki Murakami:

"But really as I run, I don't think much of anything worth mentioning.

I just run. I run in a void. Or maybe I should put it the other way: I run in order to acquire a void. But as you might expect, an occasional thought will slip into the void. People's minds can't be a complete blank. Human beings' emotions are not strong or consistent enough to sustain a vacuum. What I mean is, the kinds of thoughts and ideas that invade my emotions as I run remain subordinate to that void. Lacking content, they are just thoughts that gather around that central void.

The thoughts that occur to me while I'm running are like clouds in the sky. Clouds of all different sizes. They come and they go, while the sky remains the same sky as always. The clouds are mere guests in the sky that pass away and vanish, leaving behind the sky. The sky both exists and doesn't exist. It has substance and at the same time doesn't. And we merely accept that vast expanse and drink it in."

From his book, "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running".