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It was a gloomy morning, my head was spinning when I woke up with a bad headache. My body ached terribly when I turned in bed. “Should I go to work today?” I asked myself, I hesitated for a while. Then, glimpses of the school children’s faces flashed through my eyes. “All the young adorable ones are awaiting me.” With that thought, I managed to gather my strength, out of a sudden my body felt stronger and I finally rolled out of bed, got dressed and went to work.

Sometimes, in our daily life, we are likely to find ourselves questioning our values and purposes in life. One may refer to this pondering notion as the ‘mid life crisis’, especially if your work lies within a mundane routine. A mundane routine; allow me to describe this further in a teacher’s perspective. Teaching the same subject matter - day in, day out, month in, month out, year in, year out. In such regularity, one may question the challenge, the excitement, the reward a teacher may gain from this absolute ‘dullness’ profession. If you do have that in mind, may I invite you to venture on the wonders in the teaching world with the book “Chicken Soup for the Teacher’s Soul“.

From this book, you’ll find stories that open the hearts, touch the souls and enlighten a dampen spirit. Written by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen; the #1 New York Times and USA Today Best Selling authors of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

Even though this book spans up to 361 pages, please don’t get intimidated with its volume, as each story only takes up to an average of 6 - 8 pages. A good 40 odd stories to read, packed with funny illustration cartoon figures.

The stories are contributed by real, actual people. Every word, every situation you read from the book is real-life experience from people mainly in the United States. Having said that, I begin to wonder if all the selfless persons or teachers are located only in the States? The answer, of course not! Most probably the stories from Asia did not reach the writers of “Chicken Soup for the Soul Series”. If you have an interesting, heart enlightening story to share, the writers beckon for your kind contributions.

Besides inspiring stories from teachers, there are an abundance of stories contributed by students and parents sharing their appreciation of the teachers who touched their life. What I appreciate most from this book is the small phrases in the beginning of each story. It reminds me that life means so much more than your big house, your big pay check and your big car!

I left the book on my table one day, a friend dropped by and she finished 2 stories, while waiting for me to pack up. Her perspective on life changed after that 10 minutes. Need I say more?

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I stared blankly at my bookshelf. I was so amazed at the number of books stacked in the little shelf of mine. Then, I wondered, have I really ever finished reading all the books, good enough to give a sound review? I dug hard and long, I took out the books I actually finished reading. The stack was a handful. Good, I have something to write about. Now, the second part, which is the lucky one? After recently having written a review on Sex and the City TV Series, I was thinking, it’ll be nice if I write something about a guide on men, just to put the balance into place - an interesting review for guys and an insightful review for women. Men often trouble themselves with thoughts of women. “What does she want?” I heard that on countless occasions. As for women, “Why is he playing games with me?”

A book for women - to answer the above questions. Finally, the truth is revealed.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you, my first review on book, “He’s Just Not That Into You” from the writer and consultant of “Sex and the City” - Greg Behrend and Liz Tuccillo. This book is not of a bias view as its opinion comes from the equal side of the gender. You have a He-Say and a She-Say. Here’s the caption on the dedication corner, on its first page.

This book is dedicated to all the lovely ladies out there whose stories inspired us to write this book. May we never need to write another one.

Inspired? That’s a very nice word to use. Honestly, I bet the writers must be thinking when they wrote the above line, “OMG, there are actually 1,001 excuses men make and women actually believe in them!” From the 1,001 excuses, the writers were very kind, they only listed 11 of them in the book. Probably the remaining 990 for the second, third, fourth edition. I can imagine the caption on the dedication corner again - we never finished the first edition.

I take the liberty to run the table of contents with you on the 11 excuses. Yes, ladies, it’s time to face the cold hard truth about the snoring bugger.

1. He’s Just Not That Into You If He’s Not Asking You Out
2. He’s Just Not That Into You If He’s Not Calling You
3. He’s Just Not That Into You If He’s Not Dating You
4. He’s Just Not That Into You If He’s Not Having Sex with You
5. He’s Just Not That Into You If He’s He’s Having Sex with Someone Else
6. He’s Just Not That Into You If He Only Wants to See You When He’s Drunk
7. He’s Just Not That Into You If He’s Doesn’t Want to Marry You
8. He’s Just Not That Into You If He’s Breaking Up With You
9. He’s Just Not That Into You If He’s Disappeared on You
10. He’s Just Not That Into You If He’s Married (and Other Insane Variations of Being Unavailable)
11. He’s Just Not That Into You If He’s a Selfish Jerk, a Bully, or a Really Big Freak

As a matter of fact, there is a lot of humor in this book, although some may get very defensive on its contents. There are actual letters from the “lovely ladies”. Again, I’m thinking it must be a typo error on the dedication corner, it should have been “lonely ladies”. Anyway, as you read the letters and the opinions from Greg and Liz, one cannot deny that every single word is indeed the truth. For instance, I like this best myself - Item 2. He’s Just Not That Into You If He’s Not Calling You.

Most, OK, I rephrase, ALL my girlfriends complain after the first date, “Why Isn’t He Calling Me? We had a good time”. This drives women crazy, when men don’t call. Guess what, “MEN KNOW HOW TO USE THE PHONE!” Simple truth, isn’t it? It never hit me and I bet neither did you !

I won’t delve any further in the book, as it would spoil the fun and the humor of the entire book. Go get one yourself. Dare not face the truth? Fine by me, ladies, you can sit and pout and live in your own fantasy land but you can’t deny the fact that “He’s Just Not That Into You“.

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Melinda Gordon (Grace Fulton, Melinda as a young girl) sat on the church bench. She looked right and next to her was an old man. “Melinda, come here,” her grandmother (June Squibb) called her. Melinda stood up and walked to the front. At the front, was a brown, long rectangle box. It was a coffin.

Melinda looked inside the coffin and saw the same old man, who sat next to her earlier. She gasped for her breath. She’s puzzled. She turned around and the old man walked to her.

Old Man: You and your grandmother are the only ones who can see me. Will you help me? That’s my wife there. We’ve been together for 26 years and I had to go. I had to go so fast, I didn’t have time to say goodbye to her. Will you give her a message for me?

Melinda: How would she know it’s from you?

Old Man: Tell her I want her to keep on having a glass of champagne every Friday night. I want her to light the fire like we always did and make her secret toast to the moon, like we always did…

A snapshot of the Pilot of Ghost Whisperer. If you want a scary tv series, this is not for you. Starring Jenniffer Love Hewitt as the adult Melinda, who grows up listening to the dead. A very similar context of “I see dead people” from “The Sixth Sense”. The difference? Jennifer Love Hewitt is much hotter than “The Sixth Sense” young boy.

Basically there are 3 types of ghosts in the series; incomplete souls, lost souls and spiteful spirits. Incomplete souls are those who seek fulfillment in undone tasks. These wandering spirits are the harmless ones who merely ask Melinda for help to find lost belongings or to pass a message to their loved ones. Lost souls are the funniest as these ghosts themselves do not realise that they are dead. Melinda helps them realise the ugly fact that they no longer walk the face of earth as living beings. Some of the journeys and experience in accepting death can be very touching. Spiteful ones are the ones who come back with a vengence. They literally mess around, throw things everywhere, play with lights and doors to gather attention.

I believe in ghosts and wandering souls. Every person, dead or alive has a personal wish to fulfill. If you’re lucky, you complete your wish before you head six feet under, else you bug someone else to fulfill it for you. In this case, Melinda is the lucky one, though one may call her unlucky, to be pestered by restless souls. Melinda lives a very challenging life, trying to balance her marriage, work and helping the floating ones cross to the other side.

A cozy tv series to watch I would say. It makes you ponder for a while after each episode why the dead asks for help. What I enjoy most from the series is the message behind each episode. A good Sunday passing time TV series to watch. Nothing too intense or mind probbing. You will surely be thankful the next morning, that you need no one to fulfill your wish. I know, I do.

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Live your day as if it’s your last day on earth. Say “I Love You” to those that matter to you, or you will never get a chance to do so. Those were my exact thoughts when I saw Premonition (2007), directed by Mennan Yapo. Sandra Bullock has done it again, her panting chase, chasing around the unknown. Chasing time. She’s always in a rush.

The plot of the story is pretty straightforward. Stop your husband from getting killed in a car accident. How? Live your worst fear in reality; losing a loved one in one day and getting him back the next day. The plot evolves itself in a week’s time, jumping back and forth in between the days. The beginning of the story gets rather confusing as you kinda lose track of time. However, once you get the jest of the events, you practically hope for something bad to happen to kick the excitement one notch up.

A very peculiar scene I couldn’t help but wonder its significant value in the movie - Linda Hanson (Bullock) in the shower. Probably fans of Sandra Bullock may appreciate that piece of naked shoulders.

If Sandra Bullock is not your liking, you prefer a sexier figure, fear not, famous star from Nip/Tuck, Julian McMohan may get your temperature rising. Playing the “almost” cheating husband throws in some ethical dillemma for Linda (Bullock); to save him or let the cheating husband die.

After watching the movie and trying to put the pieces in order, one may probably realise that the death scene does not really coincide with each other. Supposingly the husband dies in the car crash, where the car exploded itself. Somehow, during the funeral scene, confused Linda (Bullock) frantically requests to see the body and the coffin by accident falls off and it opens itself. The husband’s head rolls off on the ground. While you watch that scene, nothing strange at all! Then, you start to ponder as the car accident scene reveals how the unfortunate death occurs.

Did he die in the end? Well, catch the movie and the deleted scenes, you’ll surely get a good laugh!

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Imagine this. A guide book in understanding women’s thoughts. I bet many men would flock to the bookstore to get a copy. If you are a male and often struggle in keeping a cool head with women, I would recommend watching “Sex and the City” the series. Why? Well, it is basically all you need to know about women in a nutshell. To be precise, the nutshell spans of 6 seasons, with each season average out to 12 episodes. Season 1 sets the background for the 4 main casts being Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), a journalist who writes for a sex column. Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) who has a strong opinion of her own sexual desires. A too good to be true womanly figure, Charlotte York (Kristin Davis). Evidently her only cons is her compulsive buying for shoes. Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), a successful lawyer who fails to find a competent partner in life.

With four casts in the series, the focus span on each character is fairly minimal and their life story progresses like a snail. You really need to build the patience to gather fully how each character unfolds their life in each episode. First lesson in understanding women - patience. Men need patience to comprehend a woman.

Personally, by the 3rd season, I could hardly recall how and when the characters became who they were. Thus, following the series faithfully isn’t really critical if your intention is to discover the facts, the gossips, the troubles, the mindful thoughts of a woman. In this case, 4 women. While doing that, you can probably mindfully compare the characteristic of the characters with your own female partner, companion, spouse or friend. Just make sure she doesn’t find out, or you’ll be toasted alive !

Allow me to recap some interesting titles that stay fresh in my mind. In random order, the list is as below:

1. Why women compare oneself with others, particularly with someone with better physical appearance?
2. Why sometimes women don’t introduce their boyfriends to their friends?
3. How women handle break ups?
4. Do you have to play games to make a relationship work? Some women actually believe in that.
5. Not all women need to be rescued, however it’s nice to receive offers. When to offer and when to sit back ?

If any of the titles strikes an interest to you or rather feeds your curiosity about women’s behavior, it’s about time to hit the store and get yourself some Sex. Oops .. I mean “Sex and the City” DVDs. Be warned though, only strong men can handle the truth.

Alternatively, you can wait for “Sex and the City“, the movie next year.

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