Rudy Yuan’s Streak oF BluE

The headline seems cool, huh? …Mystical realm… Lol. actually, i’m just tryin to gather up any superstitious things i’ve encountered till today, linking it with reality, logic (or watever), n stories. since i’m raised in a chinese family, and that i live most of my life in Siantar (North Sumatra), i think i’ll mostly write bout things coming from those two environments. well, enjoy it… or spit at it
1. lifeline on the palms
well, this can make u feel discouraged, so dont read if u’r easily intimidated!
BACKGROUND: i was raised in a family full of ancient chinese beliefs. well, mine is not the most extreme type. i’ve seen worse. anyway, one of my family members liked seeing paranormal - usually chineses -  who could assumingly tell u ur fortune, ur future life, and usually ur past life (to convince u they know somethin other people dont).  several of them, i’m sure, were fake. but then my kin went to see a paranormal some day. this paranormal could tell just how much longer u’ll exist in this world by reading a lifeline on the palms!
WHAT IS THE MATTER?: so, if u look at ur palm, u’ll be able to find many lines. one of the lines, which extends most significant vertically at the leftmost part (if u look at ur left palm), is claimed to be a lifeline. it tells u ur average time living as human. some people have it extend to the most bottom part of their palms, comes near the wrist, some just stop right in the middle of the palm. well, the theory is the longer the line, the longer u’ll live. middle stop means u’ll live just about less than 40 years.
WHAT FACT?: well, i dont mean to scare u, but actually, i’v met some events reagarding this issue. here one: one of my family members, was having a middle stop line on his (left) palm. so one day, while no one expected anything bad, he just so suddenly passed away. he was quite healthy and young then, but then again….

2. using thread to cure eyes diseases
WHAT?: this is absolutely chinese superstitious. if u have any eyes diseases, u can easily and mystically cure it by wearing a BLACK thread ring. u just need to encircle ur fourth (some say middle) finger with a black thread so it resembles a ring. if u got problems in the left eyes, make the ring on the right hand side, and if it was in the right eyes, put it in the left hand. an enhanced version tells that u need to encircle ur finger seven times with a single thread.
FACT?: well, most of our family members have been practising this. the eyes get well, alright, but i can’t be sure it’s just the body’s antibody’s workin or it’s the thread.

3. sty is a punishment for peeking?
WHAT?: so, according to encarta reference library, sty is defined as an inflammation of one (or more) of the oil producing glands in the eyelids, USUALLY caused by bacterial…. well, shortly, sty is a swollen mass in ur eyelid. superstitious says that it is a (deserving) result for peeking other people nude.
FACT?: i’m havin a sty right now! n honestly, the last time i saw nude figures, they happened to be in the magazines! so, this is absolutely irrelevant superstitious.

4. afterlife and reincarnation
BACKGROUND: again, this superstitious comes from my chinese families. they happen to encounter many supernatural things, related to afterlife… and ghosts.
WHAT?: so, buddha believers believe that human, by the time he’s dying, a death messenger, with the face of a cow and a body of human, is sent to take his soul. the man then will be sent to the judgement hall somewhere in the other realm to be judged according to his behaves. if he sins much enough with no good deeds to overbalance, he will be sent to the purgatory. well, i’v seen the illustrations of the seven (i forget the exacat number) levels of purgatory torture put in a temple in my city. after that, they will be reincarnated through complicated mechanism which includes the brainwashing (by drinking a kind of magical tea at the end of purgatory) to make the soul forget everything he’s just passing through. this soul is then sent to be reincarnated as human’s child (most fortunate) or animals. on the other hand, the ones that escape the purgatory will be sent directly to heaven, and acknowledged as buddha (the enlightened). anyway, there are some that can escape the death messenger during their death, or probably “on the run” in the death realm, or probably the judge is giving certain amount of time for the soul to wander through the realm. anyway, u can imagine that these kinds of souls were then known as ghosts.
WHAT HAPPENED?: remember the family member that i told on no.1? well, shortly, he died. one midnight, my grandpa is receiving a phone call. (for noting: my grandpa still lives today, very sane and strong. besides, it happened almost ten years ago). it happened that the caller was in a hurry looking for my aunt (the dead one’s wife). he kept repeating the maiden name of my aunt which was used back when she was still very young, and not used again that time. and my grandpa quickly recognized the sound as my aunt’s dead husband, looking for his wife. he sounded desperate, but then hung up.
well, it’s not over. years went by, but the family of my aunt can always feel the presence of their beloved father. one day, my cousin was in a fight with her brother. she was so raged that she went upstair to her bedroom and cried. she sobbed in her bed, lying. and then she could feel that the bed’s spring was pressed down as a result of sustaining more weigh. someone was goin up with her in the bed. she didnt care, thinking it might be her sister. then there’s a pat on her head and a comforting advice. the sound was so familiar, but she couldnt realize it quick enough. by the time she turned around to look at the person, there was noone….
another one? it happens recently. still the same family. the other cousin had had a sprained ankle. and so one night, something strange happened. my cousin always slept together with her mother and an aunt. that night, they still slept together. some time during the night, my cousin could feel the blanket on her feet was raised. she could surely tell it since she could feel the cold wind of the air conditioner hitting her feet. she thought it was her mother, checking her sprained ankle. and so she ignored. the next day, she was asking her mother why she had awaken during the night. but my auntie said that she had never awaken that night. and so, the realization dawned…
ANOTHER MANIFESTATION? chineses in north sumatra had a beliefs that they could talk to the death by the means of a living body. by certain ritual, a priest can invite a soul to posses his body and then communicate with the living. some people come to speak with their relatives, some to ask for their fortune. the eerie part is that the priest is no longer talks in his own voice, but it’s often the sound of the dead one, regardless the sex of the dead. i’ve never been in one before, but i’ve heard much
REINCARNATION? well, if u live today, the buddhists believe that u must have been reincarnated from ur previous life. many believe that the hardship u encounter today is a kind of karma of your deeds in your previous life. a friend of my father once saw a fortune teller in a temple. he had just gone into another bankruptcy, which had happened twice! this man had come to ask his fortune on the next business he was goin to try. the priest had only been asked about it, with no story of the twice bankruptcy. the priest then told him that no matter how many times the man tried to make business, it would come to glory for a few moments before it went downfall again. he would never enjoy long lasting success. and so my father’s friend startled to hear it and asked how could he know it. the priest had answered it was a karma. in the previous life, the man had persuaded a devout to drink wine (which is forbidden for the sake of meditation of the devout), and failed the devout’s years of meditation. and so in today life, karma will fail his success just like he had failed other people’s purpose.

fyuhh, i’ve typed quite a lot. i still have many to tell, but it’s enough for now, i think. i’ll post a second thread for this sequence. hehe

Shoot! this is goin to be my first blog. it makes me feel rather worry. hahaha, unrelated! anyway, iTb’s miner students’ is holding a basketball championship this few days, which they call “Miner’s Cup”. they r suprisingly not only inviting the inner community of the campus, but also students from several campuses in bandoEng, like iteNas, Unpar, and uPi (actually, that’s all i know. hehehe). but the spectators r not as many as i thought it might be. mostly are itB’s, which is not suprising. and students tend to watch (and encourage) only if their fellow students from the same association r playing. anyway, it’s not bad for a championship though.

firstly, i’d like to comment on the shortage of facility in this championship. though the rings and the court are new, but the games still lack in the ligthing and scoring boards availability. audiences often have to pay great attention on the current scores spoken by the commentator (who doesn’t speak much, as to say his job is to comment), coz they can’t get  a nice view of the (one and only) scoringboard. and when it gets dark (say 6 o’clock), audiences get hard to keep in touch of what is happening in the match. or even worse, i fear the players will also confront the same viewing problem (hey u need a clear watch to pass over a ball, don’t u?)

but to say it’s bad is not what i want to say here. on the contrary, i think, despite the shortage, it’s quite a nice championship afterall. it gives me tensing excitement almost during the entire games. it also contains several funny, sometimes furying, and nasty watch of a match. well, u will b able to hear the harsh and sinister shouting from the audiences, trying to discourage their teams’ rival. sometimes, the shouting is so harsh it makes u laugh for its absurdity. sometimes the supporters act in strange ways in supporting their teams; every one of them according to their own unique style. but besides all of it, u can also have a nice watch from the match itself. u will be able to spot some nice shoot (also some three point shoots), occasional nice teamworks (like i see one today), nice defense, nice tactics (well, some with the use of fouling and violation), and nice stamina of several players also (who keep figthing despite the tension and the yelling and the hard defense and the improbability to win, and anything u might think). and the spirit of the match can give u some sort of excitement boiling up ur adrenaline  (huh, i  dont know if it metaphores right)

hey, if u dont like basketball, at least u can come to watch the yelling! or sort the handsome and pretty out.  or mayb just to kill ur time (i myself kill my class for this match. hahaha).  anyway, just beware not to sit on the wrong side of audiences if u plan to support a team. or maybe some eyes will look u through mercilessly (hahaha), or mayb it’s not their eyes, but their hands…. anyway, i myself wish it will come out just great in the end!

Oh yeah, one last revelation, i’m not a basketball freak, nor am i an expert. but…. u know, it’s first blog afterall… hahahaha