the roads are getting nearer
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Thursday, July 14, 2005
` Thursday, July 14, 2005
To be differentiated from stoning (i.e. in the days of yore, thieves risked getting stoned to death when caught). This is a uniquely Singaporean verb which can be used to describe a person staring blankly into space for an extended period of time, or when you realised that the person you were yakking with for the past 5 minutes had their attention span oscillating into space and beyond. The symptoms of "stone-ing" include spaced-out eyes, a much-delayed reaction to any physical contact (I meant nudging you dirty minded one) and an apologetic or zombified reaction that goes along the lines of "Huh?", "Sorry, you were saying something?".

I'm assuming that our brains do not function actively on a round-the-clock basis, that it probably needs some shuteye once in awhile. But when you get this hibernation process occuring in the midst of a boring business meeting, one can get into trouble.

This happened to me in the morning during a formal 25-seater (yawn-inducing) presentation. I was literally deep in the midst of the stone-ing process when an attendee posed an out-of-this-world question during the Q&A session. The organiser had diverted the question to me without any warning. It took 2 loud prompts on the microphone before I'd snap out of my vegetative state. It felt like I had been rudely awaken from sleepwalking. It was only after a few seconds of frenzied "Huh? Huh? You were saying?!?!" that I realised 24 pairs of eyes were fixated at the mock trauma I was undergoing.

I am guilty of stone-ing at any time of the day and it gets worse in the afternoon after lunch, where the brain stages a staunch mutiny against utilisation until way past the working hours, which is when I'm at my most productive. I've found a good remedy to minimise the occurrence of this: blogging.

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I've Been..

Satisfying the wanderlust fascination.
Slacking.
Sleeping.
Shopping (wayyyyyyyyyyy too much).
Reading NW, Famous and 8 Days voraciously.
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