to jump the shark

When I was young and still glued to the 7pm and 9pm MediaCorp Chinese drama serials (which are getting worse with the years), I used to be baffled by the multitude of events can enfold during the course of a 20 to 30-parter serial - stuff like how friends become bitter foes, the tons of tragedies that befell the protagonist early on, and other crazy deux ex machinas to resolve the plot. It was apparent to me back then that people probably watch them because they provide the sensationalism that will never happen in our normal mundane lives.

Until I realised with the passing of time that it is probably due to how close they relate to some of our own experiences - the preposterous things I see on TV e.g. breakdown in relationships, the downward spiral of friends and families and even sudden deaths are starkly close to reality.

Personally, it's been a bad 2010 so far - the passing of my dad probably the most tumultuous. It's these kind of life-changing events that forces you to reflect on your pass, present and future - people always mention about learning from other people's mistakes but sometimes you only learn when you are given a real jolt. During those bad days the thoughts of "what ifs" and "if onlys" can sometimes be really paralyzing.

But in the end you realised that things can go wrong even if you had done all the things right. So while physicists are coming up with tales of eleven dimensions time right now, time is probably the only thing we should be focusing on. Let us all try to live it right, and hopefully not end up like a bad plot device.

I can only hope for a better second half to 2010.