Why Does Time Go By Faster Every Year?

I read something last night that I think makes a lot of sense.

'...Michel Siffre, a French chronobiologist (he studies the relationship between time and living organisms) who conducted one of the most extraordinary acts of self-experimentation in the history of science. In 1962, Siffre spent two months living in total isolation in a subterranean cave, without access to clock, calender or sun. Sleeping and eating only when his body told him to, he sought to discover how the natural rhythms of human life would be affected by living "beyond time."


Very quickly Siffre's memory deteriorated. In the dreary darkness, his days melded into one another and became one continuous, indistinguishable blob. Since there was nobody to talk to, and not much to do, there was nothing novel to impress itself upon his memory. There were no chronological landmarks by which he could measure the passage of time. At some point he stopped being able to remember what happened even the day before...As time began to blur, he became effectively amnesic. Soon, his sleep patterns disintegrated. Some days he'd stay awake for 36 straight hours, other days for eight - without being able to tell the difference. When the support team on the surface finally called down to him on September 14, the day his experiment was scheduled to wrap up, it was only August 20 in his journal. He thought only a month had gone by. His experience of time's passage had compressed by a factor of two.'

Sounds familiar? The feeling that an event has sort of snuck up on you when in fact it's always been the same date every year? (What? Chinese New Year over already??? or that sort of thing) It is interesting how Siffre's results have implications for us. The above passage is an excerpt from Joshua Foer's 'Moonwalking with Einstein : The Art and Science of  Remembering Everything.' I first came across Joshua Foer's article in the NY Times Magazine last year regarding his attempts at training his memory for competition. The book is a more in-depth account of that experience. He does a lot of research not just on the art of memorizing but on how the brain functions and this is one of those detours.

He goes on to say 'Monotony collapses time; novelty unfold it...If you spend your life sitting in a cubicle and passing papers, one day is bound to blend unmemorably into the next - and disappear. That's why it's important to change routines regularly, and take vacations to exotic locales (agreed!) and have as many new experiences as possible. Creating new memories stretches out psychological time, and lengthens our perception of our lives.'

My wife has always laughed at my penchant for choosing the same option repeatedly - if I really like a certain dish (say curry chicken chop kon lau mee), I can eat the same dish everyday for 5 days in a week, 2 or 3 weeks in a row. She, on the other hand, will seek to add in as much variety to everyday choices. I remember before we got married, we would always eat out once a week on Sunday and what vexed me most at times was the rule that we must go to a new place every single week. I'll always suggest KFC, and say that we've tried all the restaurants in KK already and she will always suggest some obscure place I've never heard of. But she's right. She's on to something.

I've not thought of a resolution to aim for this year, but if anything, this will be it. To experience life from another perspective and as differently as I possibly can. To try anything and everything (within legal means) at least once.

Oh and to answer that question - why does time go by faster every year? It doesn't. 

'Life seems to speed up as we get older because life gets less memorable as we get older.'

Seeing In Squares

Medium format photography is something that has been on my mind for quite a long time. The digital ones are ridiculously expensive but thank God I'm into film!

It's a bit of a challenge to frame my photos differently, with the looking at the camera like 'checking if my fly is open stance' instead of bringing the camera up to my eye, but I enjoy the experience.

One for the family album

The only downside is that it's really heavy but hey, I'm thinking of it as practice for carrying a new family member.

Work/Play?

Home cooked meals are usually prepared by the lady of the house, until late last year when the thought of food made her retch. So I had to step up to the plate, literally, and have been the household chef for half a year.

My second office

The last time I did any sort of regular cooking was during uni days in Scotland and even then, we were more like line cooks putting out dishes from a small deli with a very limited menu. Every evening my housemates and I will all take our places in the kitchen/pantry and automatically carry out our roles - there will be a fella to chop the garlic, onions and sausages (we put sausages in a lot of things), peel the potatoes (if necessary), prepare the chicken (toughest job I think, because its always frozen) or cook the rice (hmm...I don't remember ever doing this). For one year, we ate more or less the same thing over and over. I didn't mind.

This dish turned out messier than I expected...

Now that's something my wife finds hard to accept. She yearns for variety in her meals and it shows in her cooking, she has never cooked the same dish in the same way twice if she can help it ... and its a good thing I can eat almost anything. So I felt the need to reciprocate and tingle her taste buds.

Initially it was hard for me. The focus of my cooking was 'I hope it is edible'. Or 'God, let there not be food poisoning'. After a while, I started getting better at organizing the workflow and deciding how I'm going to attack the ingredients and transform it into a nice meal. Only then did I think about other things like trying out new ingredients and giving thought to the presentation.

I didn't expect to say it but I enjoy cooking. I was thinking of handing the portfolio back to my wife after the delivery and all, but I'm thinking otherwise now, maybe we'll take turns. I love planning the meals for the upcoming week, looking for new recipes to try and especially seeing the finished product, whether it succeeds or fails.

I've been thinking about why this is so. Maybe its because I work in the service industry, where you clock in at a certain time and then use a few liters of your saliva throughout the day. Then close, recuperate and repeat the next day. For all the efforts put in, the results are intangible and usually only a figure on a piece of paper at the day's closing report. Also the amount of saliva used is NOT PROPORTIONAL to that final figure.

It's different when doing the things I enjoy - lets say photography.
1) The result is tangible. It can end up as a printed photo in a frame or photobook.
2) The result is proportional to the creative input. It also inspires more intrinsic learning and researching to improve that result.
3) I have complete autonomy over the whole process...this last one being one of the most important.
Sounds very much like cooking then.

That's not to say making money from your saliva is a bad thing, but I do realize that I'm subconsciously seeking a balance. And its not about one being work and the other play, photography and cooking can be either work or play. It's all about the mindset then. Bon Appétit!

Turning 28

I celebrated my 28th birthday last week in a very quiet manner. Not that I mind. For the better part of this decade, I feared birthdays. Birthdays usually involved lots of lies and deception...along with plenty of flour, eggs and water. There were always 2 birthday cakes - one for the guests and one for your face. More time was spent in the planning of the 'sabo' and the cleaning up than the actual celebration itself. And that's why I know I'll be safe at home where my cleanliness obsessed wife will never pull off such a thing. My wife did give me something else though.

I really appreciated the gesture and thought it was very sweet of her. It did leave me thinking... who did I have to beat to be the Best Hubby of the Year? Who were the other contestants?

"The people in this house" she said. "That means you, you and you!"

"So who won?"

"You lor!"

Heh. Ask a stupid question get a stupid answer huh. Its a good thing she didn't do this in an elimination style voting, kinda like the World Cup venue picks. I'd be pretty suspicious if I (either you or you) had been eliminated in the first round like England. Also retaining the title will be pretty much a cinch. I've (you, you or you) got this title in the bag for many many years to come.

Sobering Up

It was quite late in the evening when this man approached the counter. You can smell him from quite a distance away... he had been drinking quite heavily. Either that or he had been soaking in a jacuzzi full of beer.

Uncle : 'Gi-gi-give me this...er....what is it...you know...the one for flu? Wh-wh-white colour one, quite big tablet, not sleepy wan.'

I showed him Clarinase.

Me : ' This one? Clarinase?'

Uncle : 'No-no-no. Not this one. This is Clarityne. I don't want Cl-cl-clarityne. I want the other one for flu. The bi-big round one.'

Me : 'You sure its not this one? This is not Clarityne, its Clar-'

Uncle : 'Yea yea, not this one. I'm ve-very sure. Hang on let me ca-call... call my wife.'

I left the Clarinase with the box on the counter and attended to another customer while he made the call.

Uncle : '(After the call) Yea my wife said its the big, white round tablet...'

Me : '(Pointing to the box of Clarinase that was still on the counter) Is this the one? Clarinase?'

Uncle: 'Yes! This is the one! Clarinase!'

So... two facts.

Fact No. 1 Alcohol messes up with the brain's cognitive abilities and renders it ineffectual. Its like a train that pulls up a few metres short of the station - no one can get on or off to make use of it.

Fact No. 2 Nothing sobers a man more (and/or faster) than a conversation with his wife.

It's Been A Year

A year has passed since I've gotten married. Sharing your life with someone means a life of compromise, a need to embrace new responsibilities and shed some old habits.

One of those habits that immediately got axed was my unhealthy snacks. Within minutes of officially moving into our home after our wedding, my wife did a stock check of the supplies in the kitchen. She found some packets of instant noodles, (bought by my family members who stayed over at my place for the duration of the wedding in Kota Kinabalu) said 'Don't eat this stuff - its not good for your health' as she placed it into a black plastic bag that was destined for the dustbin.

I wouldn't say I really love to eat instant noodles. It falls under what you call the 'comfort food' category - easy satisfaction and cheap thrills. I do however like to eat my mi goreng in a very specific way.

-----Ted's Mi Goreng Special(TMGS)-----

1) Mi-Goreng - 3 packets

Indomie/Ibumie/ Mi Sedaap all ok- but not Cintan, somehow the taste doesn't go well with the third ingredient in this list.

2) Eggs - 2 of them

When the noodles are almost done, crack two eggs in and just let the egg whites cook quickly. I like to leave the yolks runny, so later when you drain the noodles, you break the yolks and let it run all over the noodles.

3) Cheese - 3 slices

Then you add the cheese slices into the still hot noodles (with the runny yolk) and let it melt thoroughly. Ohhh~ *salivating*

---------------------

That's like what... 1300+ kcals there? I usually like to have the TMGS a few times a week, and mostly as supper after work late at night. This is one of the reasons why I ballooned to 85kg at one point.

Its been a year since I've last had the TMGS, but I can still remember exactly how it tastes like. While shopping for groceries last weekend on our anniversary, I did suggest we get a packet of instant noodles...for old times sake. My wife gave me a look that would have re-frozen all the polar ice caps. *shudders*

Maybe next year la...

Happily Ever After?

Recently I read an interesting article in 'In The Black' magazine (formerly the Australian CPA magazine) when I was at my in-laws place for dinner. They had this write up by Thea O' Connor regarding health of couples in and out of marriages. (Online version of the article HERE)

Some interesting points that the article mentions -
- Men derive more health gains from marriage than women. One US study, for example, showed that while non-married men have 250 per cent greater mortality than married men.

- Non-married women have a 50 per cent greater mortality than married women.

- Married women score higher on mental health measures such as optimism, happiness and coping and higher in general physical health than single women or women in defacto relationships

-The stress of conflict within a marriage is also hazardous, as it turns your primary support into your primary stress.

-Professor Janice Kiecolt-Glaser of Ohio State University has researched how marital arguments change our physiology. In her study of 90 newly wed couples, Kiecolt-Glaser and colleagues found that those couples who used sarcasm, put-downs, overt nastiness and dismissals during discussions showed a measurable weakening of their immune system compared to other couples who behaved more positively.

I could not agree more with what was written. Personally after marriage, I don't remember a time where I've felt more in the pink than I have now. My wife has really taken care of my health with her cooking and I've not taken any junk food for quite a while now.

There are times when I do work night shifts and when I do, she will always make sure that I get something nutritious to eat too after I get back. Used to be I will stop by a nearby KFC... -.-"

Nice warm dinner and novel, what else can I ask for? (Cold beer maybe...)

As an appreciation for the hard work that my wife has put in over the month in the kitchen, I decided to let her take a day off and do the cooking for her recently.

Mussels with honey and mustard

Grilled salmon with cauliflowers

So how does it feel to be married? We just celebrated one month of married life last night and it may not be much but its a start. It has not been without conflicts, but thanks to the marital advice of many married friends who have been through more than we have, we have been able to solve many. Its very much a learning process for us and we always have to remind ourselves to have a positive outlook. To all married people out there, remember to treat your spouse with respect always yea.