the list

I am going to make a list; the "I am or I have" list.

I am (a) / I have:

• flat abs - no
• admirable body figure - no
• nice, smooth face - no
• smooth skin - no
• attractive - no
• sexy - no
• nice hair - no
• nice pair of eyes - no
• the 'D' factor - no
• the 'A' feature - no
• roomate - no
• smart - no
• hardworking - no
• knowledgable - no
• sanity - no
• bright - no
• doctor - no

Oh! no, I am not making a "No" list. Read on.

• stupid - yes
• frustrated - yes
• depressed - yes
• procrastinating - yes
• running out of time - yes
• eye bags - yes
• scars - yes
• assessments - yes
• exams - yes
• 4 walls - yes
• fat - yes
• skinny - yes
• mean - yes
• forgetful - yes
• careless - yes
• whiner - yes
• crappy - yes
• empty - yes

and to conclude the list; and the best and most comforting of all,

• God - YES

Hair loss- reasons & cure?

Quite a considerable amount of people are turning bald or experience 'hair thinning'. Alopecia is not really a favourable condition one would want to experience, especially at a young age or a not-so-old age. Who are prone to have this problem? Why does these people loose hair?

I came up with my own hypothetical 10 reasons:

1. If you have (more) testosterone. I noticed it is more common in men. It seems that dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a chemical produced by the male hormone testosterone is a cause to this problem.

Experts believe men with high levels of testosterone are more likely to lose their hair, especially if baldness already runs in the family.

2. If you have a stressful, easily frustrated job. eg.having 'writer's block' when reaching dateline to hand in the article. 'Hair-grabbing' action may occur.

3. When you read/ study a lot. Hands may feel too 'free' when reading. Perhaps then, fingers will run to the scalp, scratch, doing 'pick and pluck' actions or maybe run down a feel strands of hair and twist them up, or maybe start pulling hairs.

4. It is in your genes.

5. When you load too much of chemicals on your scalp/ hair.

6. When you 'over-treated' your hair. eg. hair rebonding, or maybe some 'hair growing' treatment, etc

7. When you are on some drug/ treatment that may give this side effect. eg. chemotherapy

8. Or maybe you have suddenly withdraw from drug like minoxidil

9. When you have some diseases that can give rise to alopecia. eg. vitiligo, lupus

10. When you have not been drinking 60 cups of coffee a day. (haha) Read on to find out why..

Coffee could hold the cure for baldness

(Daily Mail)


The new study, published in the International Journal of Dermatology, found that caffeine works by blocking the effects of a chemical known to damage hair follicles.

But drinking plenty of coffee may not be the best answer.

Scientists estimate up to 60 cups a day would be needed for significant amounts to reach follicles in the scalp.

Instead, German cosmetics firm Alpecin has developed a caffeine-rich solution that can be rubbed on the scalp.

read on @ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=430669&in_page_id=1774

...

dear diary,

I think I am NOW in a super PMS mood, creamed with frusty stress all over. And I **** ######

Trip to National Zoological Park

Last Sunday (week before), after the church service we went to the National Zoological Park, or the Zoo. It was few years back when I last been to this zoo. There sure is quite some changes like:

• The KFC in the zoo is no longer operating. It used to be so packed with (zoo) visitors.
• Some of the animals have sponsor(s). e.g. the 'harimau' (tiger) has Maybank as their sponsor.
• there are less Zebras (comparitively)
• there are even lesser penguins. You'll only get to see a few pity little penguins in the aquarium like tank
• there is a new baby hippo

My trips to the zoo are usually by 'rombongan sekolah' (school trip). Schools like to organize zoo trips, don't they. hehe.

Zoo Negara (14/01/2007)

me feeding the camel

me with Chockie the cutie

and the cutest picture of the trip, the blur kancil

wisdom teeth?

My lower right 3rd molar started growing last month. It was uncomfortable. It is still ok because back then I still have the left side to chew and grind my food. Now, my lower left 3rd molar is growing. Because of the thinning of the gum due stretching, ulceration happens more frequently when one's wisdom tooth starts sprouting out. And lucky me, I have ulcerations on my gum (left side). It is freaking painful. I can't even open my mouth too wide like when i'm yawning. Especially yesterday, the pain got pretty bad. I paid a visit to the dentist today since the ulcers and pain has been there for more than a week and it is not improving. If you ask me, am I feeling any wiser now? No. But i do feel more uncomfortable. I wonder why are the third molars called wisdom teeth? I don't see any good these teeth are bringing me.

They are generally thought to be called wisdom teeth because they appear so late—much later than the other teeth, at an age where people are supposedly wiser than as a child, when the other teeth erupt. The English wisdom tooth is derived from Latin dens sapientiae. Dutch also share the same root, verstandskies. There exists an interesting Dutch folk etymology that the Dutch word verstandskies is derived from "far-standing molar", and that mistranslations of the Dutch word (in which verstand translates to wisdom) are the root for corresponding words in other European languages.

ref. source: Wikipedia

Alrite, so that is why it happens to be called wisdom teeth. I am still finding it hard to agree. I can hardly consume hard edible stuffs now. There are two ulcerations found on my gum (left side). One of the crater is almost reaching 1cm big!!! Imagine a 1cm ulcer along your gum and another one near where the new molar is trying to poke its head out. It is pain + uncomfortness + troublesome. I see no wisdom in it. Calling them stupid teeth somehow seems more appropriate.

I have a new roomate

Being in the hostel for 2 years, I now have my third roomate. My third roomate is a friendly, young, pretty girl from Chongqing(重庆), China. The moment I open my door when I got back to the hostel yesterday, she was there sitting on her bed. We stare at each other under the awkward icy silence for a microsecond. The ice was however quickly broken. I did not manage to do anything yesterday because she was practically talking to me almost every second since I step into the room, arranging my stuffs, books, till I cover myself in the blanket and finally sleep. We talked, and talked, and talked vast variety of topics yesterday. I guess she hasn't been talking much to anyone these few days (she arrived last Fri). haha. Although i was feeling rather tired but she was so enthusiastically talking and sharing yesterday and we ended up sleeping around 2 something in the morning. She is cute and interesting though. Well, that is my new roomate, Takki =)

Peter Pan treatment

Is 'Peter Pan' treatment right?

Jan. 5: A severely disabled girl in Seattle suffering from a rare brain condition known as static encephalopathy can't walk, talk or eat. So the parents of the 9-year-old have decided to keep her small.

Following a request from her parents, doctors there surgically removed her uterus and newly-forming breasts and began treating her with high doses of estrogen to ensure that Ashley would forever remain a child. Why would Ashley’s parents and doctors decide to have their daughter, like Peter Pan, never grow up? And why would doctors agree to use their surgical skills and drugs to stunt a child’s normal development?


The doctors said:
If she remains small then her parents can move her easily from place to place. By remaining small she can interact more with the rest of the family who can take her around the home and to outside events. She won’t have to deal with monthly periods. She may have a lower risk of getting raped and pregnant. She will not have breasts that might make it uncomfortable for her to lie in one place for long periods of time.


Ashley's parents said:
By keeping Ashley small, they can bathe her, move her about in a stroller and help her avoid developing bed sores. With no breasts she may be a less tempting target for any future male caregivers. And she obviously will not face the risk of breast cancer. The key point the parents make is that they decided to keep their child permanently as a child for her own good.


Bioethicist, Arthur Caplan said:
I believe it is true that it is easier to move Ashley about if she is the size of a 6-year-old. But I also believe that a decent society should be able to provide appropriately sized wheelchairs and bathtubs and home-health assistance to families like this one. Keeping Ashley small is a pharmacological solution for a social failure — the fact that American society does not do what it should to help severely disabled children and their families.

The problems Ashley and her parents face are terribly real. But permanently freezing a person into childhood is not the solution. Families like Ashley’s need more help, more resources, more breaks from the relentless pressure of providing care and some hope that their daughter can be somewhere safe and caring after they are gone.

America has not yet made that promise to Ashley or her parents or the many other parents and kids that face severely disabling mental illness and impairment. We should.



Who is right? Who is wrong? Everyone has their own say, their own points. It is always difficult to judge on ethical issues and especially when it is concerning one's health; one's life. Ethics to me is always an endless debate. "Peter Pan treatment", it is the first time I am hearing this. The more advanced we are, the more alternatives and discoveries we make. How are people accepting the "new"? It depends. It is all subjective and debatable. How far am I accepting this? It is new to me and I'm neither accepting nor rejecting. I've just saw another part of the 'world' and still digesting.