Queens Street

 Today, I went down to Queens Street Mall to look for a book recommended to me. I will discuss about that book after I take the time to sit down and read it.

While there are shopping centres (I may have missed one or two as I walked around), most of the shops are located on the street level. It covers a large area and includes cafes, supermarkets, electronic stores and bargain shops. The picture above is a public performance by different school bands taking turns playing their chosen pieces.

As I walked around, I found a gem of a shop.

Archives Fine Books

From the outside, it looks real plain, with a green banner and a simple Archives above the doorway. However, once you step inside it is a different world altogether. This is a second-hand bookshop that sells every kind of books. As you can see, they are packed all the way to the roof.

Many people argue that the age of the written texts is over, that the digital forms far outclasses the printed works. In my years as a student, I have argued for such a stand as well, with reasoning including the need to be environmentally friendly, convenience etc.

However, the physical book is, to me, like fine wine. Preserved well, as it ages, it develops character. The creases in its spine are unique to it, the slight comforting musty smell as you ease it out of the book shelf and open it. The comfort of lying back and reading a novel, the joy where you flip page after page and despair as you reach the back cover. 

These are elements that cannot be explained, 

only felt.

The book does not, should not end with you as well. As you finish one, you may pass it on to a friend or even sell it to a secondhand bookstore. Your scribblings inside, the thoughts you have invested as you read and pen down the ideas on the side gets passed along. You become a guide that leads the next reader onwards, deeper into the book. Within these secondhand books are the ideas of people that become as real as the characters in the book, apparitions held in stasis, a hiatus till the book gets opened again.

Alright, emotional, deep thinking session aside, here are the two additions to my room. Two companions that will accompany as I sail the academic waters, brave the currents of tutorials and slay the serpent that is the finals. Meet my two new Wombat Plush Toys or Plushies as I call them.

~Look in to their eyes, You will spread the word about this blog and praise it and its author.

-ARP

Turn Check Up Check

"A SALUTE TO OUR SOLDIERS"

I see you standing among them all
Standing so strong ,proud and tall
The world looks at you, but does not see
Everything you sacrifice to keep us free

I'm here to say, to let you know
That you are loved, even if it doesn't show
You fight for our hopes, dreams, and liberty
You fight for our freedom...... A hero to be

We want you to know, your never alone
For we are waiting, for you to come home
But the hardest thing for a person to be
Is you.. A SOLDIER, fighting
To keep us free

Poem Taken from

www.scrapbook.com

Poem by Trish Z

The Paratrooper's Prayer

There is another aspect of religion that I feel is not touched enough upon. The prayers that bring hope, the prayers that strengthen, to not change others but better oneself. 

Aspirant(LT) André Louis Arthur Zirnheld,

The Paratrooper’s Prayer

 

I’m asking You God, to give me what You have left.
Give me those things that others never ask of You.
I don’t ask You for rest, or tranquillity.
Not that of the spirit, the body, or the mind.
I don’t ask You for wealth, or success, or even health.
All those things are asked of You so much Lord,
that you can’t have any left to give.
Give me instead Lord what You have left.
Give me what others don’t want.
I want uncertainty and doubt.
I want torment and battle.
And I ask that You give them to me now and forever Lord,
so I can be sure to always have them,
because I won’t always have the strength to ask again.
But give me also the courage, the energy,
and the spirit to face them.
I ask You these things Lord, because I can’t ask them of myself.

 This is the translated version, the original being in French.

 I am an Atheist, how you feel is up to you, but this is my 5 cents worth. While it is named as a prayer, I see it as a call as well, a reminder to hold fast on one’s own values, of discipline, of will to carry on. While I do not believe in any God, I still have my own values, my own Ethnical system that I use to judge my actions and guide my life. 

My primary creed goes like this.

Take, not the easy way but the right way. Everytime.

There are others but I shall not dwell on those here.

Of course, there is the question of what is right, what is wrong, an argument that can be debated till the Sun goes out and still go on. However, to be able to judge for yourself what is right and what is wrong is a clear sign of independence and maturity. After all, you cannot have your parents or your priest standing beside you as you make your choices everyday.

Not just that, an act of kindness, whether it originates from your Christian background or just plain old morals make no difference in my opinion, it is still an act of kindness.

I detract. 

As I read this prayer, I feel a connection to the author. When the situation becomes dire, what I believe I need to do is not to look around for help, be it divine intervention or buddy assistance. Instead, you should stand up and get yourself out of the situation. Only when facing conflict and uncertainty will one be able to grow and better oneself! Of course not everything is to the extreme as in the case of Lt Zirnheld. Day to day decisions count as well. (Although they are far less dramatic)

-ARP

Some of you may have noticed the post changed. I do my best to iron out any grammatical/spelling errors as I check my blog on a regular basis, and take note of all your comments. Comments that I will heed and use them to improve myself and this blog, so Keep them Coming!