Ode to Speed

I initially wrote this on March 13th, qualifying day of the Bahrain GP. Then I figured it was a personal thing and nobody would really care enough to read it and then my Celine rationalised that it's my fucking blog, and I should do whatever I wanted with it. And so, seriously delayed, here's my two cents about the upcoming (well, recently launched) F1 season.

Today marks the beginning of the 2010 Formula 1 Season (okay I'm lying, the official start was yesterday with the first practice session, but as usual I guess I'm late.) But today was the first qualifying session for the year, and for a sport so obsessed with time (much like any competitive sport I suppose, though not quite to the same degree), I felt it was owed a little recognition.

The 2010 season has been greatly anticipated by, well, me, for starters. An avid Ferrari fan, I was a little broken when I heard that our very own protege and legend, Schummi, was returning to the sport but no longer under the banner of the Cavallino Rampante, the iconic black prancing stallion, but rather quite enthusiastically choosing to race for the newly created Mercedes Benz GP (alternatively the recently acquired and re-branded 2009 constructor's champion Brawn-Mercedes GP.) In hindsight though, I really can't hold it against the German man for being excited about driving a German car for a German team, alongside compatriot Nico Rosberg. It just means that although Michael continues to get standing ovations from me, I will personally not be wearing his colours this year round.

Other changes to look forward too this year; among the above change in alliances, 9 drivers have changed teams, 5 new driver's will be seen on the track this year, while 5 more have exited the sport, including the second highest earning athlete after Tiger Woods, Kimi "Iceman" Raikkonen (estimated wage of $51 million per year!)

Given that I did procrastinate long enough that the above is obsolete (okay not really but the Bahrain GP is over, and the second race is actually only 5 days away, it has to be said that it's an incredible start to the season for Ferrari (little dance in my head) and I can only pray that the season picks up speed (no pun intended) and proves to be a truly memorable year for F1 racing.

Ps. For all of those who are going to slam me on behalf of Mother Earth...I conserve too! (Reuse, Reduce, Recycle) Just give me this one little sinful pleasure!

An Indecent Proposal

I don't know how much this has to do with D Time..
Actually I take that back - this has everything to do with time - the appropriate time.
A friend of mine was having some trouble with her upstairs neighbours' "extra-curricular" activities. So I guess one night she had too much and decided to take some action.

So if you woke up to such a pleasant email, what would your response be?

[Note: I'm changing names in the email as per the author's request. Everything else is as is.]

-----Original Message-----
From: myawesomefriend@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 2010 10:16:21
To: theunsuspectingneighbour@yahoo.com
Subject: From your downstairs neighbor at home

Hi (let's call her Kate),
Not sure how to put this delicately, but me bedroom is right below yours, and I don't think you realize how thin all the walls are. When your TV is on, we can hear it, when people talk, we can hear it; when the dog walks on the floor, we can hear it. And I especially can hear (and occasionally wake up to, like tonight) when you have a guy spending the night. Is there any way you can move the bed, or get extra support or take the frame off if that's what's making all the noise? Cause I hear repetitive squeaky bed noises that wake me up in the middle of the night, and especially for the next couple weeks, since I don't get a day off, would appreciate not being woken up at 2 or 3 am to ridiculous bed noises. Sorry if this seems indelicate, but I've woken up to it several times and something really needed to be said, as it also makes me a bit uncomfortable to feel so literally involved in your personal life and privacy.
Thanks.
(Let's call her Sara), your downstairs neighbor
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

What would you do if you won the lottery?

So maybe it's time for a little update about how my time management, or rather 'on-time' management has been going in the last 5 weeks or so. In a word - pointless. It seems the more I try to stay on track and the harder I work to be on-time, the more obstacles I have to face, the later I am and, undoubtedly, the more rolling eyes I am greeted by.

Not dissimilar to many things in life mind you. Life goals and ambitions paint a great picture of the future; some people actually physically paint this picture, road map, inspirational quote, what have you, and stick it on their mirror, wall, ceiling, as constant motivational oratory. Given the incredible power of human creativity, this practice undoubtedly lends itself to many interesting interior design concepts (a picture of hot girls kissing as a curtain is the latest and greatest I've heard - no judgment. To each his own.)

So you've made a lovely diagram, put it on the wall, written out a road map, done your internet research, hiked your socks up (only metaphorically I hope) and set the alarm to begin your new regimen bright and early the next day.
The next day you wake up to find the sky is falling. Good morning sunshine!

OK so usually the universe doesn't hate you so blatantly, but attaining a goal or a dream feels like a 50 mile jog on a treadmill - you've really done your part, but you're no closer to that picture on the wall than you were when you started.

Exasperation, frustration, anger ensues. Time and effort has been wasted to no avail. Right? Not necessarily. As cliche and redundant as it may sounds, the experience, regardless whether successful or futile, is essentially the biggest gift you can choose to take away from any situation, especially a failure. Although that treadmill really didn't take you anywhere, you now have a killer body and the stamina of an Olympic athlete.

More importantly, the most significant markers in life are the least expected ones. While you are on your trek towards attaining your mission, unexpected obstacles are blessings in disguise. How many people can attest to that truth? Every single one of us has been visited by an unaccounted for occurrence, whether it be an event which blind sighted us, or a person who nonchalantly strolled into our lives, unaware of the significance they are about to play.

I'm not saying humans should live as a creature of happenstance, embracing each day only in anticipation of what chaos will be dumped on their doorsteps today. Chasing chaos should not be the means through which you live (we call them Drama Queens), but rather by finding order in the chaos, you essentially find life; life experiences, life lessons, and once in a while, real life savers (no not the candy.)

Happiness finds you when you're not looking for it, so in the midst of all the chaos of me trying to make it somewhere on time, I predict I will stumble across the answer to all my prayers: a winning lottery ticket. After all, expect the unexpected.