I Don't Want to Live on the Moon

I love songs from preschool tv programmes like Barney and Sesame Street! A lot of them are nice melodies and the lyrics are cool and rhyming. The unique voices of the various characters enliven the song too. Think Kermit the frog, I always thought he sang well. And of course here is my favourite Ernie with a really wonderful song!

I Don't Want to Live on the Moon

Written by Jeff Moss
1978 Festival Attractions, Inc. (ASCAP)
Sung by Ernie (Jim Henson)

Well, I'd like to visit the moon
On a rocket ship high in the air
Yes, I'd like to visit the moon
But I don't think I'd like to live there
Though I'd like to look down at the earth from above
I would miss all the places and people I love
So although I might like it for one afternoon
I don't want to live on the moon

I'd like to travel under the sea
I could meet all the fish everywhere
Yes, I'd travel under the sea
But I don't think I'd like to live there
I might stay for a day there if I had my wish
But there's not much to do when your friends are all fish
And an oyster and clam aren't real family
So I don't want to live in the sea

I'd like to visit the jungle, hear the lions roar
Go back in time and meet a dinosaur
There's so many strange places I'd like to be
But none of them permanently

So if I should visit the moon
Well, I'll dance on a moonbeam and then
I will make a wish on a star
And I'll wish I was home once again
Though I'd like to look down at the earth from above
I would miss all the places and people I love
So although I may go I'll be coming home soon
'Cause I don't want to live on the moon
No, I don't want to live on the moon

An Anniversary

It was a year ago when I decided to take a step out into a new world. A world where I hoped for a glimpse of hope and happiness. A world where I hoped for comfort and solace. There was a little. Nothing more than a fleeting moment, all too short-lived and superficial.

Substantial incidents have occured since then. Memories that I treasure and deeds that I regret. It is a harsh world that I can never fully comprehend.

I discovered I am not prepared yet. But if not now then when? I will have to work harder to prepare myself then, be it an excuse or a necessary stage. Or perhaps I expected to find something so extraordinary that I missed all the simplistically beautiful.

There is still ample to explore and plenty to hope for. It might be exhausting to run in circles but you never know what you find when you run back again.

Happy Anniversary. A miracle might just happen.

First Step

Declan walked today!

Happy New Tutor

Tuition starts again today after the new year break. Seriously, it got pretty dry teaching the siblings after these few months. It was quite exhausting to teach for four hours straight too. The elder sis is progressing well but the younger brother is just not serious with his work and has a weak foundation accumulated from last year.

There is a lesson in psychology that proposed a correlation between a teacher's expectations of a student and their subsequent improvement in grades. When some teachers were made to believe that some random students were going to 'blossom', these students indeed improved more substantially than other students.

This could be due to the change in perception of the teacher, who will call on the selected students more frequently, expect answers of a higher standard, give more feedback and encouragement and criticise less in contrast with the other students.

It seems I am already biased with my two students, considering I only give homework to the boy. But it's all for his good, ya? I already have the perception innate and it is very difficult to avoid it even if I do make a conscious effort. It is like you say you are not racist but you will still walk away and avoid a group of malay boys...

Come to think of it, the boy must really hate me. For two hours a week he is stuck with a skinny and geeky teacher who speaks boring math in a high pitched voice whom he can easily crush to death with his own weight. (The siblings are a little to the plump side.)

As with the new year tradition, I expected their mother to give me an angbao and she really did. I was opening it in the bus home and was expecting something like $4. And what a pleasant surprise I got! I discovered a few red notes inside.. all five of them crisp and new. The auntie gave me a $50 angbao!

Guess it does urge me to teach harder. Must help them improve their grades and be a happy new tutor!

To be an Independent Variable

I discover that my feelings can be easily influenced by other people. Anyone including complete strangers and anything that they say or do can have an effect on my mood.

I became so dependent on the attitudes of other people to determine my mood that happiness became so unpredictable and beyond control.

Is there someone whom I can derive happiness from? An endless, stable source that I can leech on to feed my melancholy.

But how can I let someone determine my happiness? It might even be better to rely my happiness on a piece of bak kwa.

It is too risky and too dangerous. Happiness should come from within oneself to be real and reliable.