Sometimes, life's coincidences just slap me in the face. Most other times I am the most dense person to see a coincidence until the moment is gone. Just yesterday night, I was chatting with Wei May and the subject of Death came up. I told her I haven't had much death in my family -thank God for that and touch wood for anything else - hence my inability to completely grasp the meaning of "being alive and healthy is more than enough". See, I want a lot of things so I work and plan my way to getting them. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail. When failure comes, the disappointment which hit me can be quite soul-breaking and.... okok back to topic. Don't digress.

So this morning when I woke up (which was like an hour ago), my itchy fingers decided to switch the laptop on before the lazy legs dragged me to the toilet. Clickety clicks away and suddenly...


I thought it was a prank initially since I first read the news in PerezHilton.com. But a few searches later, the truth sets in. The King of Pop is dead.  How can??? While I don't normally profess my adulation and adoration for MJ, he remained an icon to me. His music, his voice, and his dance moves are not surpassable. Smooth Criminal remains to date my most favourite music video. The paedophile rumours did him no damage in my opinion because my mind was set at 9 years old that MJ is a good man; when I watched the Earth Song music clip (another favourite) and saw my seniors performed Heal The World. How many other superstars are willing to spend so much energy and money to make a video about the Earth? So, tell me now he's a plastic surgery freak or a wacko and I'll nod my head along; but sayhe's a child molester and I'll shake my head adamantly because I. do. not. believe. that. He is the King of Pop and the King can be as eccentric as he wants, but he is NOT a paedophile. Period.

Farrah Fawcett died on the same day too but I wasn't as surprised because her fight with cancer has been reported for a while. I was, however, shocked when her cancer news came up. If you're wondering why I know Farrah Fawcett, what with her not being the Charlie's Angel of my generation, it's because my mother is a fan. I remember watching a movie by Farrah Fawcett and my mom was telling me what an icon FF was in her times and I turned around saying "Eh ma, why aren't you as pretty as her?" with all my childish innocence. Hahahahahaha, somebody hand my mom a cane.

Honestly, I am still reeling in shock about the MJ news. Thus far, I have only had the same reaction during the death of Princess Diana and Heath Ledger. They were too young to die! People in their prime who had their lives suddenly robbed away. It is at these times when I, for a fleeting period, am thankful for just being alive. Who cares about weight? Who cares if I'm not the best? Who cares if I'm misunderstood? Today I say screw you all I'm just glad I'm breathing healthily!!

With this said, I'm going to satisfy my tummy later with an All-You-Can-Eat Chinese Buffet. Lastly, RIP, Michael Jackson. You were and always will be legendary.

My mother used to forbid my mixing with people who hang out late at night, don't study properly, like to play truant, etc - the type of students who teachers secretly loathe. Her logic is this: We're judged by the company we keep. At that time, I thought she was a little too harsh towards my friends. See, I have friends from different classes. The graduating batch of 2003 in my school had 4 classes. I had friends from the first 3 classes. I had to stop there though because the girls from the last class were in a totally different universe from me. Their language, their attitude, their appearance... wah cannot accept. Anyway, back to my mother. She frowned upon my choice of friends from the C class. To her, C class means bad behaviour. Sometimes when I met a friend in the mall with my mother, she would complain that their outfit was too skimpy, they did not look like a (proper) student, blah blah blah. If I hanged out too late with friends, she would automatically think I was hanging out with the naughtier kids, never mind if I was actually with my classmates.

I thought she was really unreasonable then. So what if my friends are from the 3rd class? Does that make them less good or less worthy? So what if they dress skimpily? That's their body, not mine! I am me. An own individual. You want to judge me, you better get to know me personally. Don't look left right front back instead of looking right at me! This is my theory. Hence, many times when my mother nagged, I would either walk away or argue with her and then walk away. Ridiculous and stuck up, that's what I thought.

"You go and ask XXX (a classmate). Surely her mom thinks this way. You go ask Mrs Chong (my form teacher), she'll agree with me too. All mothers think like this. You hang out with ah lians, people will think you're one too even when you're not."

"You're just twisted. I don't believe you. Aunty Heidi always say 'see human, speak human talk. see ghost, speak ghost talk' (direct Mandarin translation meaning to 'speak the language of whom you're with'). We need to be flexible la, mommy. Ah, you won't understand one la. Don't want to talk already." And I walked off.

But since the last couple of years, I have begun to see her point. I browse the profiles of friends and I see photos of them with shady characters and I wonder if they too have gone astray. On the other hand, some acquaintances behave very Lindsay Lohan-ish and I'll shake my head in disgust while silently give thanks that they are merely acquaintances. Do I want to be associated with them? I don't think so. It's fine to say, "oh yeah, I know her" but it is a different thing altogether to say "oh yeah, she's my friend". Guess I do turn into my mother in the end, although I must clarify that my filter system only filters out ugly behaviour, not people who are less academically-inclined.

The irony is my mother is now more relaxed with the company I keep. Or those my siblings keep. She's okay with my brothers' friends who are from the back classes (maybe because my bros are from back classes too >_<) and my youngest sister's friends who dress a bit too mature for a 16 year old. Perhaps she has finally seen the logic of my arguments? At a time when I finally understand her theory, nevertheless.

Oh well, mothers and daughters will have their differences. One just cannot be like the other. But one thing is true: Mothers know best.