Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Upon returning home I would bounce into the house and empty the contents of my bag onto the table with much zeal. “Today shall be different”, I tell myself, congratulating myself on the positive change. The irony of this line soon presents itself to me as my enthusiasm starts sputtering and dying like a fluorescent tube nearing the end of its lifespan. The most important looking piece of assignment or worksheet is placed onto the center of the desk with ever growing reluctance, and then I pick up my pen with sluggish movements. I stare hard at the paper for a few seconds; scratch my head furiously, and attempts writing some things. With accuracy in timing unmatched by even Cesium atomic clocks, the bloody ballpoint pen runs out of ink after 3 words. I shake it and spin it around my fingers to no avail, and not long after I give up altogether in disgust. And so my typical afternoon begins with determination and ends with two extra lines on a piece of foolscap and a slightly longer exp bar on my revelation account.

Yet in a way today is indeed a different day worthy of some celebration, for I have been sufficiently inspired to blog here on 2klever, and that means doing something which has fallen out of my routine. Ah, how funny it is that man fears, abhors, needs and longs for change, all at the same time! But I shall leave that topic worthy of some discussion for another day, when my whims bring me back to blogging again.

Having recently read Frank Herbert’s science fiction masterpiece Dune, the issues that revolves around drinking is still pretty fresh in my mind. This primal need for drinking is a constant reminder of man’s mortality. Considering this and the plight of the Fremen of Arrakis in the book, I am very much thankful of the government’s efforts in securing water sources. In this aspect at least it has done an excellent job in maintaining the status of drinking as an action of want rather than of need. Of course, a large portion of this unexpected admiration comes from the reclamation of human waste for drinking—a process utilized by the Fremen to solve their shortage of the precious liquid, and a very bold idea considering the potential feelings of repulsion that it might cause in pampered citizens.

I agree that the drinks one consumes at different stages of his life can reveal much about his psychology and character. The first carbonated soft drink which I ever tasted was Sprite. It is one of the few memories which have remained in my mind after so many others have been washed away by the sands of time. I was only a toddler then and did not quite know what to make of the clear, foaming liquid that looked like water. I tasted it, and immediately came to the conclusion that I both liked it and disliked it. I liked it as it was sweet, and I disliked it caused the characteristic scalding sensation common to all fizzy drinks. Such was the simplicity of my instincts! There was neither sophisticated evaluation nor unnatural psychology at work. I liked and disliked based on what my nerve endings told me. In a way, such simplicity of perception is something I have lost and am attempting to rediscover, this time without any guilt of over-indulgence and under Hedonistic justifications.

The next soft drink of significance would be Cola; that delightful blackish substance which the red and blue brands hold a duopoly over, constantly battling for dominance through primarily non-price competition. It not only tasted good, but its medicinal properties also made it a nifty little potion. On separated occasions it has miraculously managed to alleviate backaches, colds, tardiness, and even sore throats; I am not sure if I should attribute these seemingly powerful effects to pure chance or science, but at least the trace amounts of caffeine inside have proved extremely useful to one unaccustomed to the bitter taste of coffee, such as me.

To me the rest of the fizzy drinks are all quite insignificant both in terms of taste and personal meaning, but two of them deserve an honorable mention. The first is an unnamed brand of carbonated mineral water which tastes ridiculously bad, but has a nice durable green bottle which I use as a water bottle upon emptying its contents into the toilet bowl. The second would be Mountain Dew, which was the only fizzy drink we could find in RI in the good old days. Perhaps it would be interesting to note a rumor regarding the drink; that it was removed because of its effect of reducing sperm count. A rather unlikely story for RI to care about its students’ manhood(s) after it has made them all gay from deprivation, but nevertheless interesting.

Speaking of the effects of drinks on the reproductive organs I find it impossible not to move on to the famed and highly popular soya bean milk. After hearing unsupported claims that it contains a generous amount of estrogen and then that it is somehow good for the prostate glands, my curiosity was very much aroused (in case the reader’s mind is in the gutter, I assure you nothing else inappropriate was). What would be its actual effects? I recall Shakespeare’s comment on beer (and similar alcoholic drinks in general) in Macbeth: It provokes the desire but it takes away the performance. Perhaps soya bean milk would work in the opposite manner, the positive effects on the prostate glands providing for great ability to perform but the estrogen destroying the urges. I wonder who is worse; willing but unable or unwilling but able?

If soya bean milk comes from the “cow without bones”, then equally important would be the nice white liquid (actually emulsion) that flows from the mammary glands of a cow with bones. Yet I have never ever liked this drink which is supposedly so wonderful for healthy growth. I absolutely detest calcium enriched milk for the bitter aftertaste; I hate skim or low fat milk because it doesn’t taste smooth; this was the same even for fresh, full cream sweetened milk that came in cartons I could only bear with for a few weeks before growing sick. To be fair it is probably due to my lack of appetite in the early morning and dislike for any liquid served above room temperature more than anything else, for I also disliked hot Milo and Horlicks in the morning. To a certain extent, this simply reflects my arrogance and great lack of regard for the nutritionists. I give little care to health concerns which are not immediate.

I should also briefly comment on the various drinks with solid or jelly like substances. These fulfill two basic needs at the same time, namely the need to eat and chew and the need to drink. A few years back I was introduced to the drink known as bubble tea. Though I was initially cynical of its popularity, when the general price level fell to below a dollar I soon developed a habit of grabbing a cup every day after school, sipping at it while I was engaged in mortal combats with other mages wielding powerful decks at the magic shop, which was strategically located next to not just one, but two bubble tea shops. With the recent inflation however, bubble tea has again become a “once in a while thing”. This just goes to show how consumers do indeed decide at the margin; a mere difference of about 20 cents is enough to change my decisions. For much of the last year I liked Chin Chow with nata de coco, but after realizing the fact that it is pretty much just sugar water I have lost most of the interest. That’s not to say that the original interest was born out of its nutritional value or anything, though. Its very name formed much of my motivation to drink it; it seemed only right for a xian (heavenly immortal) to drink xian cao shui. (heavenly grass water)

Having tasted so many flavored drinks, I find that the drink which is the most refreshing and which I am most used to is still water. My favorite drink was for much of the past, is now, and in the future should still be the plainest of all beverages. In many ways this is rather desirable, since it turns every second at the water cooler into quality time filled with much pleasure. It is indeed fortunate to be wealthy enough to afford expensive gourmet coffee, but isn’t it much better to like the very accessible tap water? I remember Dumbledore having told Harry Potter when the latter was looking into some magical mirror, “The happiest man in the world would be he who sees himself just as he is in the mirror” (or something along those lines). Wouldn’t a love for plain, tasteless water be a very real example of this ideal?