The Sociologist

Been away from blogging or much online activities recently. Guess that being away from Cyberjaya, I do have some distractions to keep me occupied, not to forget lots of old friends to catch up with. Hehe, throw in visiting some shopping malls and reading (yep, I discovered back my love for reading, heh) and I am sorta fully occupied.

I did mention here before that I like sitting in places to observe people. Nope, not as in who's the leng lui walking pass, but well, people in general. How they interact and react to each other, how and what's the social norms for different types of people. Heck, even how do families function. It's all really interesting, really, to sit somewhere and just observe (and not stare like your eyeball's gonna pop up, duh), and well, you'll learn too.

Talking about that, I bought a whole stack of books from the Times bookstore sale. I think around 36 novels at a price of rm 8 each. Most are about life, about how people handle adversities and all, and just 4 criminal/suspense novels and 2 in the SF category (SF = Science Fiction).

This has indeed been a big change compared to the time that the only books I bought were out of Salvation bookstore. Not to say I started that way (was a voracious novel reader from young. Hehe, devoured all the books in the library nearby plus the collection of books my dad has), but somehow, I went through a period of time where I was told I needed to be more Holy so that I could get along with the church ppl. Looking back, it was all crap, weak excuses from some jokers.

Hmm, so what so great about books that talk about life? No, I don't mean Confucious or some philosopher for that matter. Nope, not even Sigmund Freud. But most of the books do make you examine your life as you read about the life of the protagonist, about how they strive to overcome pain, loss and come out fine (erm, not all the time). There are happy, funny moments too, moments you wish you had gone through too.

But all in all, the examination of life, our goals, dreams and vision and how do we get along with people, all are important elements in growing up. I guess, if I hadn't done engineering, I most probably would have done psychology or sociology to learn more about the fabric of society, of how it works.

Oh yea, what triggered the reading frenzy? Hmm, it was Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, a book I had wanted to read but yet could not find time. And when I was done, I wished it was longer. And thus, when I chose books, I tried finding those with similar themes, those that makes you laugh and yet cry, those of hope, pain and love. Interesting, really, the examination of life.

Till next time,

God Bless