Referee pulls out red card, then a gun
A Malaysian referee took out his gun and fired warning shots in the air after a local soccer match turned unruly following the suspension of a player, a newspaper said Tuesday.
(full article here)
Thursday, December 27, 2007
... news like this ...
.. makes me *so* proud of the people in my country of birth ...
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
second thoughts
1. ... about the "hot rod" photo
I suddenly remembered that joke about two dudes with tattooed dicks taking a piss next to each other, where one had his girlfriend's name tattooed on it, and asked whether the other person's "wendy" was *his* girlfriend, but no, it actually was all that showed in flaccid form of the greeting "welcome to jamaica have a nice day!" ... and so I got to wondering how "readable" "hot rod" actually was, and whether that doctor had, ummm, manhandled a sedated patient in order to get a good pic of the dick. Yikes!
2. ... about The Name of the Wind
I've been reading books with a more critical eye lately, probably the result of my intention of getting a novel out sometime in the next millennium :p I forgot to add in my gushing review of this book that I caught two errors that really shouldn't exist in a book that should have gone through numerous stages of editing. Can you believe the it's vs its mistake is in there??? Just once, but that's once to many!! And the other was something that sounds right in American, but is wrong if written, no matter what version of English you speak: there was one passage where the characters "made due with what they had" ... ummm, it's make DO, people!! gaarrrrhhhhh! Does finding errors like this annoy you?
... and on a totally different note - I am currently reading a book from Kosh's Asian Mythology class he'd taken way back when as an undergrad. So it's a "proper" book and all, published by a division of Simon&Schuster, but iccck, its quality is like that of a photo shop reproduction - only the cover gives it a published legitimacy. And I've discovered so many typos already, ugh! :p
But...
... trudging through the pages, I've had one eye-opening tidbit jump out at me: did you know that Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was an incarnation/avatar of Vishnu (according to Hindu beliefs)? And that Vishnu had reincarnated in this person in order to lead disbelievers of Hinduism into destruction? Yes, those who reject the caste system, the Hindu system of gods, etc, are on a path to destruction, courtesy of Vishnu.
There's something totally wrong about that.
... and on another note: I attended a function yesterday that involved exposure to some sanskrit and hindi... and was amused at a few more words I recognised from Malay, AND rituals I think were (are?) used to "worship" the Sultans/royalty... as much as today's politicians and narrow-minded religious people don't want to admit, Malays were Hindus well before they were Muslims, and the language (and culture!) shows this history. Recently, over the past 10 - 15 years, there's been a movement to use Arabic words because they are "Islamic". How short-sighted. Never any pride in history, only shame. What a shame.
Again, there's something very wrong with this.
It's the same mentality that had the centuries-old statues of Buddha in Afghanistan destroyed, ainnit?
*sigh!*
Anyways. So, I wanted to list some Malay words I recently rediscovered as being of sanskrit origin, unfortunately my memory is failing me right now, so all I can share is this:
gajah = elephant
I still think it's cool.
I suddenly remembered that joke about two dudes with tattooed dicks taking a piss next to each other, where one had his girlfriend's name tattooed on it, and asked whether the other person's "wendy" was *his* girlfriend, but no, it actually was all that showed in flaccid form of the greeting "welcome to jamaica have a nice day!" ... and so I got to wondering how "readable" "hot rod" actually was, and whether that doctor had, ummm, manhandled a sedated patient in order to get a good pic of the dick. Yikes!
2. ... about The Name of the Wind
I've been reading books with a more critical eye lately, probably the result of my intention of getting a novel out sometime in the next millennium :p I forgot to add in my gushing review of this book that I caught two errors that really shouldn't exist in a book that should have gone through numerous stages of editing. Can you believe the it's vs its mistake is in there??? Just once, but that's once to many!! And the other was something that sounds right in American, but is wrong if written, no matter what version of English you speak: there was one passage where the characters "made due with what they had" ... ummm, it's make DO, people!! gaarrrrhhhhh! Does finding errors like this annoy you?
... and on a totally different note - I am currently reading a book from Kosh's Asian Mythology class he'd taken way back when as an undergrad. So it's a "proper" book and all, published by a division of Simon&Schuster, but iccck, its quality is like that of a photo shop reproduction - only the cover gives it a published legitimacy. And I've discovered so many typos already, ugh! :p
But...
... trudging through the pages, I've had one eye-opening tidbit jump out at me: did you know that Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was an incarnation/avatar of Vishnu (according to Hindu beliefs)? And that Vishnu had reincarnated in this person in order to lead disbelievers of Hinduism into destruction? Yes, those who reject the caste system, the Hindu system of gods, etc, are on a path to destruction, courtesy of Vishnu.
There's something totally wrong about that.
... and on another note: I attended a function yesterday that involved exposure to some sanskrit and hindi... and was amused at a few more words I recognised from Malay, AND rituals I think were (are?) used to "worship" the Sultans/royalty... as much as today's politicians and narrow-minded religious people don't want to admit, Malays were Hindus well before they were Muslims, and the language (and culture!) shows this history. Recently, over the past 10 - 15 years, there's been a movement to use Arabic words because they are "Islamic". How short-sighted. Never any pride in history, only shame. What a shame.
Again, there's something very wrong with this.
It's the same mentality that had the centuries-old statues of Buddha in Afghanistan destroyed, ainnit?
*sigh!*
Anyways. So, I wanted to list some Malay words I recently rediscovered as being of sanskrit origin, unfortunately my memory is failing me right now, so all I can share is this:
I still think it's cool.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Last book of 2007?
During one of my very random blog surfing, somewhere somehow I stumbled upon a blog by author Patrick Rothfuss, admittedly an author I'd never heard of, but he seemed to have a sense of humor that leaked through in his posts that I liked, so I blogrolled the site and proceeded to drop by occasionally, lurking,,,
I delurked the other day, and that prompted me to hunt down his book in the library. (That's right, singular. His second book is due out April 2009 according to amazon.) It wasn't difficult to keep his name in mind, it's so close to my Chemistry advisor's name, Mr Sulphur himself :-)
aaanyways... so, back to Mr Rothfuss. Picked up The Name of the Wind. And was hooked.
I love it when a book does this to me!
I finished it in less than 36hrs.
On one hand it's a typical fantasy tale, but on the other hand, it's told in a slightly different style than usual. I love it when the tale is not told in one simple timeline, I love it when information is fed in bits and pieces then elaborated on a bit further along in the tale, I love starting the tale in last third of the story and getting the first part of the tale told while we get hints of what the "present" looks like, so that the anticipation of getting an explanation of why the world seems to have turned between "then" and "now" is slowly appeased, while the foundation for a final battle is being laid. And what's with the whole Kingkiller thing, that's not explained yet... :-)
Did you get all that?
Nevermind... just take it from me, if you're looking for a new fantasy novel to sink your teeth into, try this out. Of course, if you don't want to have to wait years for the next installment, then put this on your t-read list and look him up again in a few years' time :p
... ...
for those who celebrate - MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
and for the rest of us - HAVE A GREAT REST-OF-THE-YEAR!
I delurked the other day, and that prompted me to hunt down his book in the library. (That's right, singular. His second book is due out April 2009 according to amazon.) It wasn't difficult to keep his name in mind, it's so close to my Chemistry advisor's name, Mr Sulphur himself :-)
aaanyways... so, back to Mr Rothfuss. Picked up The Name of the Wind. And was hooked.
I love it when a book does this to me!
I finished it in less than 36hrs.
On one hand it's a typical fantasy tale, but on the other hand, it's told in a slightly different style than usual. I love it when the tale is not told in one simple timeline, I love it when information is fed in bits and pieces then elaborated on a bit further along in the tale, I love starting the tale in last third of the story and getting the first part of the tale told while we get hints of what the "present" looks like, so that the anticipation of getting an explanation of why the world seems to have turned between "then" and "now" is slowly appeased, while the foundation for a final battle is being laid. And what's with the whole Kingkiller thing, that's not explained yet... :-)
Did you get all that?
Nevermind... just take it from me, if you're looking for a new fantasy novel to sink your teeth into, try this out. Of course, if you don't want to have to wait years for the next installment, then put this on your t-read list and look him up again in a few years' time :p
... ...
for those who celebrate - MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
and for the rest of us - HAVE A GREAT REST-OF-THE-YEAR!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
"hot rod"
What would be worse than getting your dick tattooed with the words "Hot Rod"?
Nothing, you think?
Think again!
How about having a doctor take a photo of said body part and tattoo (while you're sedated for gallbladder surgery!), and circulating said photo for hospitalmates to see? (more of the tale here).
He's "planning to contact an attorney". I don't blame him! Talk about a breach of privacy!!
= = = = = = = = =
on a lighter note:
Nothing, you think?
Think again!
How about having a doctor take a photo of said body part and tattoo (while you're sedated for gallbladder surgery!), and circulating said photo for hospitalmates to see? (more of the tale here).
He's "planning to contact an attorney". I don't blame him! Talk about a breach of privacy!!
= = = = = = = = =
on a lighter note:
A blonde hurried into the emergency room late one night with the tip of her index finger shot off.
"How did this happen?" the emergency room doctor asked her.
"Well, I was trying to commit suicide," the blonde replied.
"What?" sputtered the doctor. "You tried to commit suicide by shooting off your finger?"
"No, Silly" the blonde said. "First I put the gun to my chest, and then I thought, 'I just paid $6,000.00 for these implants. I'm not shooting myself in the chest."
"So then?" asked the doctor.
"Then I put the gun in my mouth, and I thought, "I just paid $3,000.00 to get my teeth straightened I'm not shooting myself in the mouth."
"So then?"
"Then I put the gun to my ear, and I thought: "This is going to make a loud noise. So I put my finger in my other ear before I pulled the trigger.
(from Jumbo Joke)
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
musical accompaniment...?
it was a weird dream about having to get somewhere, but I was delayed because someonw wanted to make sure I had a certain piece of paper or something, so I was going through this pile of old letters over and over and over trying to determine whether or not I had it, and my train? was gong to be leaving soon I was slowly getting more and more agitated, and so I said something like "you know what, (mouthing the f-word) this, I've gotta go", and a fellow schoolmate SHUSHES me in response to the already self-censored swearing, and i just lose it. I start raising my voice at her, asking her "did you even stop to think about the fact that by the time someone reaches our age, we've already made some decisions about how we want to communicate, and what we want to say, so please DO NOT insult yourself and me by trying to shush me like a baby" and on and on I went, ,,, and while that was going on, a sound intruded in the background, which somehow complemented my diatribe quite well, but it got me wondering why I was having some musical accompaniment to my dream, and I slowly woke up in time to identify it : the cat was puking up a hairball.
Yum.
So, update on the health-front: definitely getting better - can you believe it's been over a week since I first got floored by this cold?? Kosh got hit much worse than me, but he's more recovered than I am at this point in time. I'm still downing those 12-hr sudafeds, although the volume of snot blown out of my nose has steadily reduced. Maybe in a few more days I really *will* be more human again...
One last note: I'm no longer addicted to facebook, but, I love it because I can play scrabble with pals all over the world! And recently some of my Swiss cousins joined, so I've added them to my friends list. Which triggered a hunt for some Malaysian cousins, also added to my list. Okay so one doesn't "really" keep in touch via FB, but what with my inability to send text messages, my lack of emails, and my irregular blog posts, I do sincerely think that buying a round of drinks via Booze Mail, or throwing sheep is as good a way of keeping in pseudo-touch as any!
Anyone wanna scrabble?
Yum.
So, update on the health-front: definitely getting better - can you believe it's been over a week since I first got floored by this cold?? Kosh got hit much worse than me, but he's more recovered than I am at this point in time. I'm still downing those 12-hr sudafeds, although the volume of snot blown out of my nose has steadily reduced. Maybe in a few more days I really *will* be more human again...
One last note: I'm no longer addicted to facebook, but, I love it because I can play scrabble with pals all over the world! And recently some of my Swiss cousins joined, so I've added them to my friends list. Which triggered a hunt for some Malaysian cousins, also added to my list. Okay so one doesn't "really" keep in touch via FB, but what with my inability to send text messages, my lack of emails, and my irregular blog posts, I do sincerely think that buying a round of drinks via Booze Mail, or throwing sheep is as good a way of keeping in pseudo-touch as any!
Anyone wanna scrabble?
Monday, December 17, 2007
"I'm menstruating out of my nose"
That's a quote from Kosh.
Just to give you an idea of the state of our nasal passages.
Yum!
Just to give you an idea of the state of our nasal passages.
Yum!
Saturday, December 15, 2007
out of commission
sudafed
tylenol
liters and liters of hot tea - earl grey, ho yan hor, raspberry leaf
Kosh and I have a box of tissues to ourselves, one perched on either side of the bed at night, and on either side of the coffee table when out in the living room.
Not much of a guess that I'm feeling like crap.
So maybe check back middle of next week, maybe I'll be human again by then.
Oh, and for those (few) who text me on my mobile phone - having problems with the &#**&% service provider - looks like right now I can receive but can't send out messages. If I can't have my parents solve this problem on my behalf, I might just throw in the towel and just get rid of the friggin line. Maxis sucks.
Ciao!
tylenol
liters and liters of hot tea - earl grey, ho yan hor, raspberry leaf
Kosh and I have a box of tissues to ourselves, one perched on either side of the bed at night, and on either side of the coffee table when out in the living room.
Not much of a guess that I'm feeling like crap.
So maybe check back middle of next week, maybe I'll be human again by then.
Oh, and for those (few) who text me on my mobile phone - having problems with the &#**&% service provider - looks like right now I can receive but can't send out messages. If I can't have my parents solve this problem on my behalf, I might just throw in the towel and just get rid of the friggin line. Maxis sucks.
Ciao!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Food for thought!
Got this via e-mail, and found it just too good to keep to myself.
(Source unknown, and therefore unverified! But it provides food for thought!)
ONE WEEK'S FOOD FOR DIFFERENT CULTURES
Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07
United States: The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week: $341.98
Japan : The Ukita family of Kodaira City
Food expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25
Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11
Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09
Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27
Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyp tian Pounds or $68.53
Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55
Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03
Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23
... rather scary how few veggies are in the USA picture... and how sad it is to see how little some people subsist on, and how little it costs to help feed them, in places like Chad.
How much is YOUR weekly food cost, do you know? I don't.
(Source unknown, and therefore unverified! But it provides food for thought!)
ONE WEEK'S FOOD FOR DIFFERENT CULTURES
Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07
United States: The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week: $341.98
Japan : The Ukita family of Kodaira City
Food expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25
Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11
Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09
Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27
Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyp tian Pounds or $68.53
Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55
Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03
Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23
... rather scary how few veggies are in the USA picture... and how sad it is to see how little some people subsist on, and how little it costs to help feed them, in places like Chad.
How much is YOUR weekly food cost, do you know? I don't.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
we'd been just a little unwell...
...so for the past few weeks, Kosh and I have been passively fighting off some sort of bug, where you know you're not at 100% health, but it never really manifests itself beyond a very very low grade fever or just plain "feeling a bit under the weather".
Then this weekend we got together with the immediate family, including the nephews, two out of three with hacking phlegmy coughs.
Yesterday evening, I came back from class to find Kosh on the couch under three layers of blankets, totally febrile, complaining about not being able to get warm. The dude was running a 100F temperature! And me? I'd developed this little niggling scratch at the back of my throat about an hour before. Hmmmm, either we got what the kids had w/o cough, or exposure to them "released" the older bug to its full(er) potential!
Today, Kosh called in sick. First time ever. Hey, when you're on duty at a transplant section, dealing with patients who are immuno-suppressed, you certainly do NOT want to be bringing to them a bug like this one!
Funny thing is, I'm *not* running a fever; in fact, the thermometer has me at below normal temp. One of these days I should take my temperature when nothing is wrong, so that I know what my normal temp actually is! Anyways, so while Kosh is asleep (and still febrile, I just checked!), I have been awake since about 4am. Grrrrrr!
There's only so many mines I can sweep for in one sitting before I get bored.
Did I mention before that I've pretty much burned out on Sim City? I might just start up again today... ... ... although.... there's a new version that's just come out - Sim City Societies - that made me drool all over the electronics/games section of Target last week when I noticed it, because it's not so much a city-building simulator as it is a "social engineering" one. Am I sad or what?! :p
Ciao!
Then this weekend we got together with the immediate family, including the nephews, two out of three with hacking phlegmy coughs.
Yesterday evening, I came back from class to find Kosh on the couch under three layers of blankets, totally febrile, complaining about not being able to get warm. The dude was running a 100F temperature! And me? I'd developed this little niggling scratch at the back of my throat about an hour before. Hmmmm, either we got what the kids had w/o cough, or exposure to them "released" the older bug to its full(er) potential!
Today, Kosh called in sick. First time ever. Hey, when you're on duty at a transplant section, dealing with patients who are immuno-suppressed, you certainly do NOT want to be bringing to them a bug like this one!
Funny thing is, I'm *not* running a fever; in fact, the thermometer has me at below normal temp. One of these days I should take my temperature when nothing is wrong, so that I know what my normal temp actually is! Anyways, so while Kosh is asleep (and still febrile, I just checked!), I have been awake since about 4am. Grrrrrr!
There's only so many mines I can sweep for in one sitting before I get bored.
Did I mention before that I've pretty much burned out on Sim City? I might just start up again today... ... ... although.... there's a new version that's just come out - Sim City Societies - that made me drool all over the electronics/games section of Target last week when I noticed it, because it's not so much a city-building simulator as it is a "social engineering" one. Am I sad or what?! :p
Ciao!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Moan-day & Meme
Okay, first something to make you laugh on a Monday:
a clip from a Japanese game show, featuring a Human Tetris segment.
I LoL'ed quite a few times, careful! :-D
Next... another meme: this time I got tagged by Dawn, a fellow Leo-Virgo cusp straddler, with the birthday meme.
Now for the rules:
1.Mention the person who tagged you and create a link back to them. (done)
2.Copy-paste the traits for all the twelve months (go here).
3.Pick your month of birth. (August)
4.Highlight the traits that apply to you. (see below)
5.Tag 12 people and let them know by visiting their blogs and leaving a comment for them. (no friggin way!)
6.Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve done it! (okay)
had to leave *some* un-bolded, riiiight? LMAO :)
Have a good Moan-day everyone!
(p/s : here's another video, unrelated, for your monday madness. it starts out serious, then totally loses it, LMAO!)
a clip from a Japanese game show, featuring a Human Tetris segment.
I LoL'ed quite a few times, careful! :-D
Next... another meme: this time I got tagged by Dawn, a fellow Leo-Virgo cusp straddler, with the birthday meme.
Now for the rules:
1.Mention the person who tagged you and create a link back to them. (done)
2.Copy-paste the traits for all the twelve months (go here).
3.Pick your month of birth. (August)
4.Highlight the traits that apply to you. (see below)
5.Tag 12 people and let them know by visiting their blogs and leaving a comment for them. (no friggin way!)
6.Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve done it! (okay)
AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.
had to leave *some* un-bolded, riiiight? LMAO :)
Have a good Moan-day everyone!
(p/s : here's another video, unrelated, for your monday madness. it starts out serious, then totally loses it, LMAO!)
Thursday, December 06, 2007
kitchen eggventures!
Firstly, a big thank you to you-know-who-you-are for the hilarious season's greetings from across the pond - yes, it certainly got us laughing :-) here's a pic to share with y'all out there :-) Yes, that's Santa's butt :-)
And so, what's all these "eggventures", you ask?
Well, about a month ago, my occasional tennis mate brought up the topic of eggplants, and possible ways to prepare them. Sounded easy enough. And a few weeks later I found myself at a Whole Foods store, staring at a large pile of scrumptious-looking brinjals/eggplants/aubergines. Took two medium-sized ones for further experimentation.
The first: 
following the instructions from tennis pal, complemented by a similar recipe I found online, I poked a few holes into the thing and put it to broil in the oven. The plan was, once it gets all charred, to let it cool, cut in half, then scoop the flesh into a bowl and add some goodies and mix voila.
I think I didn't poke enough holes.
It went kablooey.
Here's how it looked in the oven.
It wasn't that bad of a clean-up job (the next day lah!)
It wasn't too too bad in terms of salvageability (sp?) either, managed to get a decent baba ganoush-like dish together,,, edible, but not that exciting....
Second try:
For this one I went the opposite way - processed the raw eggplant first, mixed it with a can of diced tomatoes, a cup of breadcrumbs and some other stuff, then put them all back into the halves, and had that into the oven for 30mins or so.
Turned out A LOT better than the first one.
Extremely filling tho.
And now we're all eggplanted out for a while.
Friday, November 30, 2007
tagged!
I have some eggventures to blog about, plus early season greetings from across the pond to share... maybe next post... right now, I got tagged the same meme by both Neome and MOmmykin, figured I'll address that now....
... the 38 things meme
... the 38 things meme
- Name one person who made you laugh last night.
Kosh and I had a good belly laugh last night, can't remember what the joke was tho - What were you doing at 0800?
since it's 0654 as I type this (what does the "o" stand for? o my gawd it's early!!! name that quote!), I'll answer for yesterday - ASLEEP, feeling like crap due to this pseudo cold I've been battling. - What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
unloading clean dishes from the dishwasher - What happened to you in 2006?
got married - What was the last thing you said out loud?
something along the lines of "buh bye", to Kosh, as he got out the car (I drove his late ass to work this morning) - How many beverages did you have today?
again, it's just the start of the day, but I've had maybe two mouthfuls of H2O and a mug of raspberry leaf tea. - What color is your hairbrush?
don't have a hairbrush. have a large-toothed comb thingy. it's green. - What was the last thing you paid for?
thai food two days ago. and paid for it again in the bathroom a few times yesterday, LoL! - Where were you last night?
a-chillin on the couch with the hubs - What color is your front door?
a dark green - Where do you keep your change?
I try to use credit card as much as possible to AVOID having change :p - What’s the weather like today?
according to the Google desktop widget thingy, it's currently 36F while today's high is 37F. Fun! - What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Ben & Jerry's DUBLIN MUDSLIDE, it's the shizznit! - What excites you?
That's what Kosh would like to know ;-) - Do you want to cut your hair?
absofragginlutely! might do that today, actually. - Are you over the age of 25?
yeah, by like a decade - Do you talk a lot?
it really depends on the company and environment, but usually no, I prefer to listen and observe - Do you watch the O.C.?
N.O. - Do you know anyone named Steven?
yes, one of the few sultans-of-con I worked with that seemed to fit the assignment - Do you make up your own words?
kinda. I've picked up Kosh's quirk of muttering gibberish, usually but not limited to when stretching. - Are you a jealous person?
definitely, but I've not been at its mercy for a long long time, thankfully - Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
aini ;-) - Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
krista ;-) - Who’s the first person on your received call list?
my insurance agent - What does the last text message you received say?
i won't share contents, but it's also from my insurance agent. we have some stuff to work out... - Do you chew on your straw?
nope. I think I might have had a phase a long long time ago tho - Do you have curly hair?
nope. straight/wavy - Where’s the next place you’re going to?
i'm going to pot!! got lots of clay to finish playing with before the last official day of class next week... - Who’s the rudest person in your life?
frankly, I stay away from emotionally draining people, and that includes rude folks, so I have to say "no one" - What was the last thing you ate?
a slice of Entenmann's Cheese Danish Twist (comfort food for the crappy fever/cold) - Will you get married in the future?
probably not, I do plan on sticking with Kosh :-) - What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
(goes to Netflix history to refresh memory) Ben-Hur, I suppose (felt totally gypped by the ending!). - Is there anyone you like right now?
In what way? - When was the last time you did the dishes?
you mean non-dishwasher style? A few days ago. - Are you currently depressed?
mayyyyyybe...... - Did you cry today?
nooooo... rarely do I do that anyway - Why did you answer and post this?
because I got tagged TWICE and I figured I might as well go for it - Tag 5 people who would do this survey.
hmmm... okay, let's see.... I don't usually tag, but...
- lion3ss
- elisette
- jeff a.k.a. Harmonica Man
- mithz (maybe this'll jolt him out of his lack-o-blogging!?)
- dawn
Thursday, November 29, 2007
language crossovers
So I'm slowly building up some Spanish vocabulary. In class we are going over things you usually find in a hotel room. Refrigerador. Cama doble o sencilla. Stuff like that. Many things I can relate to via logic and/or French connections. Some things are totally out of this world, like funda and silla for pillowcase and chair. But some! Some bring a smile to my face because I recognise them from Malay! Yes, Malay! They came into the language most probably through the influence of the Portuguese traders who had a small foothold in Malacca in the 1500's.
Sp = M = E
toalla = tuala = towel
jabón = sabun = soap
armario = almari = cupboard
and I've always speculated about the similarity of a very common hispanic female name and a general term for women in Malay:
juanita = wanita = woman
The only word I know of in the Malay language that has made its way into other language(s) is the one word that, strangely enough, seems to indicate that we have similar fighting abilities as the Norsemen.
They went beserk.
We ran amok. :-)
toalla = tuala = towel
jabón = sabun = soap
armario = almari = cupboard
and I've always speculated about the similarity of a very common hispanic female name and a general term for women in Malay:
The only word I know of in the Malay language that has made its way into other language(s) is the one word that, strangely enough, seems to indicate that we have similar fighting abilities as the Norsemen.
They went beserk.
We ran amok. :-)
Sunday, November 18, 2007
page 82
Something strange happened in the fourteenth century... it was an age of unprecedented catastrophe for western Europe: widespread famine due to climate change, economic collapse, uncontrollable heresies, social upheaval, endemic war, and, to compound the misery, the physical and psychological devastation of the Black Death. As a result, Europeans emerged from the fourteenth century profoundly - and frighteningly - changed. Medieval Europe had been an intensely spiritual society: the salvation of the soul was paramount. Post-fourteenth century Europe abandoned spirituality for secularism, materialism, and worldliness. Its peoples embraced technology and science, and developed the most aggressively invasive mentality of world history. Why this profound shift from the internal quest for spiritual salvation to a craving for world domination? Was it just the end result of over a hundred years of catastrophe... or was there another reason?
"The Crucible" presents an explanation couched in a medieval understanding of the world... Medieval Europe was a world of evil incarnate, a world where demons and angels walked the same fields as men and women, a world where the armies of God and of Satan arrayed themselves for the final battle... we now live in the aftermath of that battle, but are we sure who won?
This is an excerpt of the Author's Note at the beginning of Sara Douglass' "The Nameless Day", Book One of The Crucible series.
Her name is not unknown to me, although I had yet, until last night, read anything by her. But wow. This book has sucked me in. I've always liked the play between Good and Evil, especially when this is brought about by flawed characters, when it is proven time and time again that absolute black or white is no way to view the world, that we are all various shades of grey. This promises to be such a one.
And the reason I've reproduced part of the Author's Note? To highlight how a few simple sentences can help me understand one aspect of history so much better than a ton of history books. And how this in turn helps answer an question that's always been on my mind : who the f**k do/did the British/French/Spanish/insert other colonizing power) think they are/were to go around the world colonizing the world and shoving everyone under their rule with absolutely no thought for the peoples already living in places like the Malay peninsula, the Indian sub-continent, North and South America... how on earth did these people get so arrogant? Why? ... and so, with a few sentences, Sara Douglass has provided me with some food for thought, and a (small) wish to learn more about this period of world history.
So last night I started on the book, and was at page 82 when Sleep insisted I cater to her demands. When I turned to switch off the light, I realised it was 230am. I love it when a book does that to me! :-)
So my plans for today? Some NaNo-ing, then more of The Crucible!
====
a little addition: so much for my plan to support physical/local bookstores. So in September I placed an in-store pick-up order for a Dark Tower-related comic book oops I mean graphic novel, Stephen King commissioned and approved, covering Roland's early years. It was due out in October sometime, so I "iou"ed Kosh, b/c this was going to be our 1st year anniversary present from me to him. The bookstore was supposed to call me when the book arrived. A little later I checked back and saw the release date had been moved to November sometime. Fine. So now it's the second half of November, and I finally remember to check amazon.com for details, and whaddayaknow, it's been out since November 7th! And no, I got no phone call from the friggin bookstore. Too friggin' bad, dudes, I'll just go ahead and get it from amazon for almost $9 less than what I was willing to pay y'all.
/end bitching mode.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Ben-Hur
Courtesy of Netflix, we are in the process of watching Ben-Hur.
Wow.
I remember being totally swept away by the movie the one and only time I saw it, on the silver screen in Malaysia when I was, what, 8? 10? The chariot race in all its bloody glory. The oarsmen rubbing their legs raw trying to escape their chains as a barge approached at ramming speed. The horror of leprosy (I had no idea what it was but boy you knew it was certainly not something you wanted for yourself!). And that faceless young man with nice hair who gave Judah water as the procession of slaves headed for the galleys were marched through Nazareth... ;)
I remember not figuring out the lead's real name. I tacked "-ton" to the end of a name I did know, so ended up referring to him as Charleston Heston (hey, it, ummm, not alliterates, but same idea mah!), much to the amusement of a parent who would always laugh and say he's not the name of a dance, which of course didn't mean a thing to me, so it didn't help... heck, even at this day and age, I still by default think of him as Charleston, although at least now I (kinda) know what dance I am attributing his name to, LoL!
Anyways.... I've only seen Disc One so far today (ends where Ester has told Judah that his mother & sister were dead, while in reality they were off to the Valley of Lepers), but already I am reminded, not just of the scenes mentioned above, but of how engrossing the tale is, how you get sucked into the story, how you feel the injustice meted out by Mesalla, how you yourself rail against cruel fate that caused the falling of the tile that started it all...
But there's one thing that makes me wonder.... There are bits of this movie that seem utterly new to me. You know, maybe, all those scenes that relate to the secondary title of the film: "A Tale of the Christ"? (Another surprise to me, LoL, only ever knew it as Ben-Hur!). Okay, so I can attribute it to perhaps not understanding the allusions as a very ignorant 8/10-yo. After all, I don't think I'd have gotten that comment about "that crazy man John who goes about drowning people", for example. Then again, I wouldn't put it past the thought police to have censored as much as possible of the non-essential Jesus-related stuff, like the entire opening sequence including the Star of Bethlehem shining a spotlight down on the manger, and the three wise men visiting a newborn baby in aforementioned manger, for example, in fear of the masses somehow losing their faith after watching this (and so many others - their job, it seems, is never done). Their lack of faith in their own flock never ceases to amaze me.
Anyways. Ben-Hur. Good stuff. If you've been wanting a good movie to (re)watch, how 'bout this one? Yes it's long and has lots of dialogue, yet it's a totally gripping tale, and its Christian foundation shouldn't detract anyone from a magnificent 3+ hours :-)
Wow.
I remember being totally swept away by the movie the one and only time I saw it, on the silver screen in Malaysia when I was, what, 8? 10? The chariot race in all its bloody glory. The oarsmen rubbing their legs raw trying to escape their chains as a barge approached at ramming speed. The horror of leprosy (I had no idea what it was but boy you knew it was certainly not something you wanted for yourself!). And that faceless young man with nice hair who gave Judah water as the procession of slaves headed for the galleys were marched through Nazareth... ;)
I remember not figuring out the lead's real name. I tacked "-ton" to the end of a name I did know, so ended up referring to him as Charleston Heston (hey, it, ummm, not alliterates, but same idea mah!), much to the amusement of a parent who would always laugh and say he's not the name of a dance, which of course didn't mean a thing to me, so it didn't help... heck, even at this day and age, I still by default think of him as Charleston, although at least now I (kinda) know what dance I am attributing his name to, LoL!
Anyways.... I've only seen Disc One so far today (ends where Ester has told Judah that his mother & sister were dead, while in reality they were off to the Valley of Lepers), but already I am reminded, not just of the scenes mentioned above, but of how engrossing the tale is, how you get sucked into the story, how you feel the injustice meted out by Mesalla, how you yourself rail against cruel fate that caused the falling of the tile that started it all...
But there's one thing that makes me wonder.... There are bits of this movie that seem utterly new to me. You know, maybe, all those scenes that relate to the secondary title of the film: "A Tale of the Christ"? (Another surprise to me, LoL, only ever knew it as Ben-Hur!). Okay, so I can attribute it to perhaps not understanding the allusions as a very ignorant 8/10-yo. After all, I don't think I'd have gotten that comment about "that crazy man John who goes about drowning people", for example. Then again, I wouldn't put it past the thought police to have censored as much as possible of the non-essential Jesus-related stuff, like the entire opening sequence including the Star of Bethlehem shining a spotlight down on the manger, and the three wise men visiting a newborn baby in aforementioned manger, for example, in fear of the masses somehow losing their faith after watching this (and so many others - their job, it seems, is never done). Their lack of faith in their own flock never ceases to amaze me.
Anyways. Ben-Hur. Good stuff. If you've been wanting a good movie to (re)watch, how 'bout this one? Yes it's long and has lots of dialogue, yet it's a totally gripping tale, and its Christian foundation shouldn't detract anyone from a magnificent 3+ hours :-)
Thursday, November 15, 2007
just for the record
... yeahhhh... so here are some pix and a writeup on a march that took place in Kuala Lumpur, a march to show the rakyat's want for clean elections, a march that got nasty and was forcibly dispersed, or perhaps was forcibly disperse and therefore turned nasty? I'm not bothering to read up more to find the answer to that, probably will get totally opposing answers depending on whether I'm reading official government propaganda piece or an independent/opposition site. Gotta love all that crap. Oh, and for more, check out all the comments here.
And on another note... I'm already bummed out by the fact that even if I wanted to take one or two more writing classes at this one place I'd used before, even if I were willing to put up with the 1-hr commute during evening rush hour, I CAN'T! Because the L-stop right by the place is going to be closed for renovation for a friggin year.
Oh, and I'm working on my NaNo in spurts. It's a question of motivation (which shouldn't even be an issue...), not inspiration.
*sigh*
p/s> it's 2:30 am. and tell me what is wrong with this picture?
And on another note... I'm already bummed out by the fact that even if I wanted to take one or two more writing classes at this one place I'd used before, even if I were willing to put up with the 1-hr commute during evening rush hour, I CAN'T! Because the L-stop right by the place is going to be closed for renovation for a friggin year.
Oh, and I'm working on my NaNo in spurts. It's a question of motivation (which shouldn't even be an issue...), not inspiration.
*sigh*
p/s> it's 2:30 am. and tell me what is wrong with this picture?
Monday, November 12, 2007
quoth the raven...
it's been while since i've made any real (malaysian) social commentary here. it'll probably stay that way. why? because i don't have the heart for it. not anymore.
when I first started this blog, I made it a point to follow the goings-on in malaysia, and would share my thoughts on all sorts of stuff: the morality police, "safety last" attitude, the ridiculous handling of the Noritta Samsudin murder, even the seeming lack of one sen coins!
But over the years (this blog is slightly over 3 years old! w00t!), I let go of Malaysia, of keeping in touch with its goings-on. Partly because my life was in the U.S., and partly also because the news from "home" was just the same ol bleak picture of ridiculous politicians. I'd get my occasional update through Jeff Ooi, Maverick, Aisehman, but frankly, my visits have been few and far between because what they highlight is just so depressing I'd rather concentrate on other stuff, like my Sim City, or pottery, or my novel writing, or my book reading. On one hand, fluff, but on the other hand, it's stuff that appeals to me, and brings me *up*.
I was jolted out of my apathy earlier this year by the Lina Joy case, and wrote a scathing piece, which unfortunately rests in draft form, probably never to see the light of your screen. Why? Call me paranoid, but I don't trust that it won't come back and bite me in the ass. Politicians are calling Malaysian bloggers enemies of the state, for heavens' sake! Utter morons, they are. And unfortunately, some local bloggers have already suffered from the scrutiny of folks over at the ironically-named Hill of Peace (Bukit Aman laa). No worries, I have no delusions of grandeur. I am small fry, I merely intend to stay that way.
I recently did do the rounds of the Malaysian political / observation blogs. Same old story. There was this big hoo-hah about the first Malaysian astronaut, when all he was was a space tourist, really. I don't know how much money was thrown at the Russians to bring the dude up into space with them. They threw in some experiments to make the trip legit (at least they scrapped activities like spinning the gasing, or making teh tarik!), but the bottom line is, he was just a space tourist. It is not an indication of the technological achievement of the country. How different it would be if half the crew had been Malaysian, or even half the ground crew, y'know? Awww heck, there I've gone an hopped on my soapbox. Grrrr. *hops back down* But I did find out recently that Anwar Ibrahim has a blog now. I added to my blogroll if you want to visit. Like Uncle Kit's site, however, it's on my blogroll but rarely, if ever visited. Like I said, I've no heart lah anymore.
But what triggered this post? Having Pak Lah equated with Hitler, what's what. Disturbing, to say the least.
Very very very disturbing, on so many levels, I can't even begin to describe how I feel at this sight.
A sign that things are really on a downward slide over at Bolehland, don't ya think?
Which reinforces my avoidance of all news Malaysian.
And on that downer note...
Ciao!
when I first started this blog, I made it a point to follow the goings-on in malaysia, and would share my thoughts on all sorts of stuff: the morality police, "safety last" attitude, the ridiculous handling of the Noritta Samsudin murder, even the seeming lack of one sen coins!
But over the years (this blog is slightly over 3 years old! w00t!), I let go of Malaysia, of keeping in touch with its goings-on. Partly because my life was in the U.S., and partly also because the news from "home" was just the same ol bleak picture of ridiculous politicians. I'd get my occasional update through Jeff Ooi, Maverick, Aisehman, but frankly, my visits have been few and far between because what they highlight is just so depressing I'd rather concentrate on other stuff, like my Sim City, or pottery, or my novel writing, or my book reading. On one hand, fluff, but on the other hand, it's stuff that appeals to me, and brings me *up*.
I was jolted out of my apathy earlier this year by the Lina Joy case, and wrote a scathing piece, which unfortunately rests in draft form, probably never to see the light of your screen. Why? Call me paranoid, but I don't trust that it won't come back and bite me in the ass. Politicians are calling Malaysian bloggers enemies of the state, for heavens' sake! Utter morons, they are. And unfortunately, some local bloggers have already suffered from the scrutiny of folks over at the ironically-named Hill of Peace (Bukit Aman laa). No worries, I have no delusions of grandeur. I am small fry, I merely intend to stay that way.
I recently did do the rounds of the Malaysian political / observation blogs. Same old story. There was this big hoo-hah about the first Malaysian astronaut, when all he was was a space tourist, really. I don't know how much money was thrown at the Russians to bring the dude up into space with them. They threw in some experiments to make the trip legit (at least they scrapped activities like spinning the gasing, or making teh tarik!), but the bottom line is, he was just a space tourist. It is not an indication of the technological achievement of the country. How different it would be if half the crew had been Malaysian, or even half the ground crew, y'know? Awww heck, there I've gone an hopped on my soapbox. Grrrr. *hops back down* But I did find out recently that Anwar Ibrahim has a blog now. I added to my blogroll if you want to visit. Like Uncle Kit's site, however, it's on my blogroll but rarely, if ever visited. Like I said, I've no heart lah anymore.
But what triggered this post? Having Pak Lah equated with Hitler, what's what. Disturbing, to say the least.
Very very very disturbing, on so many levels, I can't even begin to describe how I feel at this sight.A sign that things are really on a downward slide over at Bolehland, don't ya think?
Which reinforces my avoidance of all news Malaysian.
And on that downer note...
Ciao!
Thursday, November 08, 2007
I'll be Bach!
You be Beethoven!
:-)
So it seems there was this survey on most commonly quoted movie lines - Terminator's "I'll be back" came out on top. Heehehehee :-) I can understand why. I mean, I remember watching the movie for the first time, and when Arnie uttered those words, I *knew* he was going to be back with a vengeance! It was just a delicious feeling, y'know?
Anyways, for the Top 10 list, here's the Yahoo!News article.
And the whole "Beam me up, Scotty" misquote? That's #3 :-) Now, while I knew that phrase never was said on the TV show, I thought I'd read somewhere that it *had* been said in one of the movies. But the articles says no to that either. So, once and for all, I decided to look it up. Gotta love wikipedia for this :-) So, it turns out that what I was thinking of occurred in Star Trek IV where Kirk says "Scotty, beam me up." Not quite the same thing :-) Mystery solved. Until I forget again lah :-)
.... other news... I've been skipping more French lessons than I've attended this session. What to do, it's so friggin boring. One does NOT absorb new vocabulary by just talking through a long list of phrases, then having a token exercise of putting 5 of those phrases into a dialogue. No no no no no no no no no no! Not me, anyway! So, wasted $$ this time around. Next session/year, if I sign up, I'll look for "regular" classes, maybe even with the instructor I'd had for all my previous sessions prior to this. I'm willing to give him more slack with his unreliability & tardiness, knowing now how effective he is as an instructor, when he *is* actually in class, that is! :p
I'll save y'all a pottery photo update till next week. My attempt at the wheel this time around actually produced stuff! To keep! Still plenty of opportunity to ruin them tho, because I need to "finish" the pieces (turn them upside down and process the bottoms) at the next class. ... ... Oh, and by a great coincidence, I've gotten two separate independent requests for fruit bowls. LoL! I've found a "bat" I can use, they'll be formed with coils, it might take more than I'm capable at this point to create such a thing on the wheel :P
... and I can't remember much of it, but last night/this morning I was having some weird dreams. I know a bulk of it was about me doing pottery. But there was also something about updating my blog, and the contents were to the point, the writing outstanding, essentially I was producing my best post ever! Of course I have no recollection of the contents in the dream. Bummer! So you'll have to make so with this ramblage instead :-)
... and finally the weather - b.l.a.h. it's cold. It's 4C/39F! Oh, and guess what? This morning there was NO HOT WATER (just another surprise in this friggin apartment building!) so poor Kosh tried, but couldn't, take a shower this morning. He was frozen before even leaving the apartment! Once I woke up and tried the water, it was back on, phew! I don't do cold too well. Better him than me, eh? ;-)
Oh, one more thing - I've just finished book #40 for this year. Considering last year I consumed over 80 books, I'm really going slow this year, eh? But hey, an average of 7 book s a month is still not bad, right?
:-)
So it seems there was this survey on most commonly quoted movie lines - Terminator's "I'll be back" came out on top. Heehehehee :-) I can understand why. I mean, I remember watching the movie for the first time, and when Arnie uttered those words, I *knew* he was going to be back with a vengeance! It was just a delicious feeling, y'know?
Anyways, for the Top 10 list, here's the Yahoo!News article.
And the whole "Beam me up, Scotty" misquote? That's #3 :-) Now, while I knew that phrase never was said on the TV show, I thought I'd read somewhere that it *had* been said in one of the movies. But the articles says no to that either. So, once and for all, I decided to look it up. Gotta love wikipedia for this :-) So, it turns out that what I was thinking of occurred in Star Trek IV where Kirk says "Scotty, beam me up." Not quite the same thing :-) Mystery solved. Until I forget again lah :-)
.... other news... I've been skipping more French lessons than I've attended this session. What to do, it's so friggin boring. One does NOT absorb new vocabulary by just talking through a long list of phrases, then having a token exercise of putting 5 of those phrases into a dialogue. No no no no no no no no no no! Not me, anyway! So, wasted $$ this time around. Next session/year, if I sign up, I'll look for "regular" classes, maybe even with the instructor I'd had for all my previous sessions prior to this. I'm willing to give him more slack with his unreliability & tardiness, knowing now how effective he is as an instructor, when he *is* actually in class, that is! :p
I'll save y'all a pottery photo update till next week. My attempt at the wheel this time around actually produced stuff! To keep! Still plenty of opportunity to ruin them tho, because I need to "finish" the pieces (turn them upside down and process the bottoms) at the next class. ... ... Oh, and by a great coincidence, I've gotten two separate independent requests for fruit bowls. LoL! I've found a "bat" I can use, they'll be formed with coils, it might take more than I'm capable at this point to create such a thing on the wheel :P
... and I can't remember much of it, but last night/this morning I was having some weird dreams. I know a bulk of it was about me doing pottery. But there was also something about updating my blog, and the contents were to the point, the writing outstanding, essentially I was producing my best post ever! Of course I have no recollection of the contents in the dream. Bummer! So you'll have to make so with this ramblage instead :-)
... and finally the weather - b.l.a.h. it's cold. It's 4C/39F! Oh, and guess what? This morning there was NO HOT WATER (just another surprise in this friggin apartment building!) so poor Kosh tried, but couldn't, take a shower this morning. He was frozen before even leaving the apartment! Once I woke up and tried the water, it was back on, phew! I don't do cold too well. Better him than me, eh? ;-)
Oh, one more thing - I've just finished book #40 for this year. Considering last year I consumed over 80 books, I'm really going slow this year, eh? But hey, an average of 7 book s a month is still not bad, right?
Friday, November 02, 2007
Pothead News
Got your attention, didn't I? So what if it's false advertising! :p
As promised, here's some more pottery pix.
Last week, I showed you this, promising that despite the yellow substance covering this thing, it was going to come out a delicate shade of green.
So, here it is:
I can't seem to make my phone focus on close objects, sorry for the fuzzy picture.
I'd textured this quite a bit, you only get a hint of that in the pic. Oh well. Also, this glaze doesn't really highlight texture - unlike some others that really change color (green to black, or black to blue, or grey to red...), I'll experiment with another similarly-textured piece next week, maybe there'll be a better effect then?
And what, you ask, is this piece for? Like I said, I didn't create it with anything in mind, but it turns out it's the perfect size for a tea light :-) Here's a totally set-up shot of the cat checking it out with candle within.
And remember that coiled bowl with the mini coils around the edge? Holy cow that took forever to glaze because I wanted to do so much with it, but the holes along the rim made for glaze leaking where I didn't plan on, and I had to figure out the order in which to do the glazing, and everything went pretty much awry... so much so I didn't even bother getting a pic of it before its final firing. We'll just see it in its full splendour? horror? next week :p
So, that was a major learning experience all by itself.
Then add to that my first time using the wheel.
I'll spare you the details.
Here are the results -->
What, they don't look like anything you'd expect?
Well, I was doing all my wheel work after the official class time, so I didn't have the instructor around for help and advice, and I was kinda working from the memory of his demonstration earlier in the day (which then got overwritten by the whole glazing-the-bowl endeavour!), remembering more things as I went along, but still, messing up every time.
So these bridges? That's what we were told to do with things that didn't go well - can't immediately reuse the clay because it's way too wet, so making them into this bridge thingy helps the clay get to a uniform dryness.
Four bridges, four tries.
ONE came out semi-decent. Or rather, one actually took shape, LoL!
I debated whether to keep it or not, you know, "my first wheel product" but decided I was going to have plenty of dust gatherers already, let's not add yet another. So squish squish squish and into a bridge it turned :-)
I'm confident that based on all that went wrong this week, I'll have a much better feel for the wheel next time. More updates then.
Ciao!
As promised, here's some more pottery pix.
Last week, I showed you this, promising that despite the yellow substance covering this thing, it was going to come out a delicate shade of green. So, here it is:
I can't seem to make my phone focus on close objects, sorry for the fuzzy picture. I'd textured this quite a bit, you only get a hint of that in the pic. Oh well. Also, this glaze doesn't really highlight texture - unlike some others that really change color (green to black, or black to blue, or grey to red...), I'll experiment with another similarly-textured piece next week, maybe there'll be a better effect then?
And what, you ask, is this piece for? Like I said, I didn't create it with anything in mind, but it turns out it's the perfect size for a tea light :-) Here's a totally set-up shot of the cat checking it out with candle within.
And remember that coiled bowl with the mini coils around the edge? Holy cow that took forever to glaze because I wanted to do so much with it, but the holes along the rim made for glaze leaking where I didn't plan on, and I had to figure out the order in which to do the glazing, and everything went pretty much awry... so much so I didn't even bother getting a pic of it before its final firing. We'll just see it in its full splendour? horror? next week :p
So, that was a major learning experience all by itself.
Then add to that my first time using the wheel. I'll spare you the details.
Here are the results -->
What, they don't look like anything you'd expect?
Well, I was doing all my wheel work after the official class time, so I didn't have the instructor around for help and advice, and I was kinda working from the memory of his demonstration earlier in the day (which then got overwritten by the whole glazing-the-bowl endeavour!), remembering more things as I went along, but still, messing up every time.
So these bridges? That's what we were told to do with things that didn't go well - can't immediately reuse the clay because it's way too wet, so making them into this bridge thingy helps the clay get to a uniform dryness.
Four bridges, four tries.
ONE came out semi-decent. Or rather, one actually took shape, LoL! I debated whether to keep it or not, you know, "my first wheel product" but decided I was going to have plenty of dust gatherers already, let's not add yet another. So squish squish squish and into a bridge it turned :-)
I'm confident that based on all that went wrong this week, I'll have a much better feel for the wheel next time. More updates then.
Ciao!
Monday, October 29, 2007
postcard recap!
yeah yeah, basi (stale) already right? But I still want to just state this for the record, because otherwise I'll probably forget details, LoL!
To recap, I pledged to send a postcard from Malaysia and/or Switzerland to whoever who emailed me their addresses, with the catch that they then provide me with one link per postcard. Ummm, frankly, I'm not sure if everyone complied with the condition, but what the heck, you live, you learn, and that karma will come back and bite ya some other way, it's out of my hands :D [ADD: and for those who *did* link as requested, I thank you very much!]
So, here are the people who received postcards:
from Malaysia:
> Kim
> Dave2
> Kevin
from Switzerland:
> Kim
> Dave
> Kevin
> Moomykin
> Rima
> Nin
> Mrs J
> Ummi
Did I miss anyone?
Y'know, I did like the fact that I was engaging some people beyond just the blog page, and I really liked how some (Kim!) loved the postcards I'd chosen for them. I look forward to doing a similar exercise next year, if I make it to Malaysia again, so if you missed out, or of you want another round of postcards, stay tuned, k? :-)
To recap, I pledged to send a postcard from Malaysia and/or Switzerland to whoever who emailed me their addresses, with the catch that they then provide me with one link per postcard. Ummm, frankly, I'm not sure if everyone complied with the condition, but what the heck, you live, you learn, and that karma will come back and bite ya some other way, it's out of my hands :D [ADD: and for those who *did* link as requested, I thank you very much!]
So, here are the people who received postcards:
from Malaysia:
> Kim
> Dave2
> Kevin
from Switzerland:
> Kim
> Dave
> Kevin
> Moomykin
> Rima
> Nin
> Mrs J
> Ummi
Did I miss anyone?
Y'know, I did like the fact that I was engaging some people beyond just the blog page, and I really liked how some (Kim!) loved the postcards I'd chosen for them. I look forward to doing a similar exercise next year, if I make it to Malaysia again, so if you missed out, or of you want another round of postcards, stay tuned, k? :-)
Thursday, October 25, 2007
pinched, bisqued, glazed...
A quick rundown of how my pottery class has been.
Week 1: intro to very basic handbuilding, getting the feel for three different types of clay (porcelain, grey clay, brown clay). We produced about 3 little things per clay, as initial test pieces. They needed to dry for about a week, before getting fired, so on our shelves they stayed.
Week 2: transferred the now dry pieces onto the rack for bisque firing (that's the first of two firings the pieces go through). Learned the "coiling" technique. Created another piece or two. Placed one *in* instead of *under* a plastic bag, so instead of drying slowly, at Week 3, discovered it didn't even dry, LoL!
Week 3: intro to glazing. now THIS was fun! plunging most your arm into these buckets of creamy liquid, with colors that do NOT indicate the final color of the glaze. One of these days I'll need to remember to bring an apron, because it can get rather splashy and messy! Glazed pieces left on appropriate rack for the final firing.
Week 4: FINALLY get to see our finished pieces. Most came out pretty much as expected, one or two with a slight twist, overall cool and a good learning experience on color combinations and glaze behaviour. Also learned the "slab" technique. Kinda went wild with that!
Next week, "throwing", or, THE WHEEL!!! Whoohooo!
And now, some pix.
I wasn't kidding when I said I went kinda nuts - here's what I produced this week, all but one from "slabs".
The large pic is a textured slab (can you see that level of detail?), which should end up being a slightly curved serving dish.
Those coils you see on the bottom are just to prop the slab up so that it gets and keeps the curved shape while drying.
The clay looks rather dark because it's wet.
Week 1: intro to very basic handbuilding, getting the feel for three different types of clay (porcelain, grey clay, brown clay). We produced about 3 little things per clay, as initial test pieces. They needed to dry for about a week, before getting fired, so on our shelves they stayed.
Week 2: transferred the now dry pieces onto the rack for bisque firing (that's the first of two firings the pieces go through). Learned the "coiling" technique. Created another piece or two. Placed one *in* instead of *under* a plastic bag, so instead of drying slowly, at Week 3, discovered it didn't even dry, LoL!
Week 3: intro to glazing. now THIS was fun! plunging most your arm into these buckets of creamy liquid, with colors that do NOT indicate the final color of the glaze. One of these days I'll need to remember to bring an apron, because it can get rather splashy and messy! Glazed pieces left on appropriate rack for the final firing.
Week 4: FINALLY get to see our finished pieces. Most came out pretty much as expected, one or two with a slight twist, overall cool and a good learning experience on color combinations and glaze behaviour. Also learned the "slab" technique. Kinda went wild with that!
Next week, "throwing", or, THE WHEEL!!! Whoohooo!
And now, some pix.
I wasn't kidding when I said I went kinda nuts - here's what I produced this week, all but one from "slabs". The large pic is a textured slab (can you see that level of detail?), which should end up being a slightly curved serving dish.
Those coils you see on the bottom are just to prop the slab up so that it gets and keeps the curved shape while drying.
The clay looks rather dark because it's wet.
Here's how the clay looks a week later.
Fyi, this is my first attempt at anything big - Kosh had asked "when are you going to make somehthing we can throw our spare change into?" - hmmm, ya think this'll do? ;)
I built it up in Week 3 using coils, using a "bat" (a mold, essentially) that sat slightly lopsided, so, whaddaya know, this is lopsided too, LoL! In this pic, it's dry and awaiting its first (bisque) firing.
Still haven't decided how to color it. Matte vs glossy. Blue? Green? Mixed? Speckled? Decisions, decisions.
Here's an indication of the deceptiveness that is glaze.
This is my second coil attempt from Week 2. No idea what it is, really, so don't ask. As you can see, it's covered in something yellow. Not going to come out yellow tho. It should be a delicate light green.
I'll give you "after" pics another time, once it's ready.
And finally, here you have the assortment of test pieces made from the first class, now all glazed.
A motley crew of sizes and shapes, eh? Nothing really practical, I guess they'll all be dust-gatherers :p
Oh wait, the gift-giving season is coming up soon... maybe.... handmade gifts... hmmmmm.... ;-)
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Musicology
Stole this from Kevin. Mildly unsatisfying answers, because I'm kinda out of touch with the music scene, and "my" stuff is still in Malaysia, but hey, I wanted to answer anyway. :p
Musicology:
Aaaaaand the answers:
1. First that I OWNED? Tough one! I'm going to guess ABBA - probably one of them pirated compilation cassettes. The earliest/first that I remember BUYING, maybe Paul McCartney's Tug of War (that blue & red messy looking cover, with Wanderlust on it)?
2. I'd need to look at my CD collection (which was at its prime in the 90's, LoL!) to be sure, but I think it might be a tie between Randy Travis (*cringe!) and The Beatles. With GnR and Meat Loaf in the running.
3. Cassette. Vinyl. CD. mpeg. Four.
4. My parents' random vinyl collection helped shape my initial taste for clean simple "old" music (The Beatles, Bee Gees, ABBA) so much so that despite growing up with Duran Duran, Rick Astley and the like, The Beatles were my fave band for the longest time. However, the band that got me on the road to "heavy" stuff? DEF LEPPARD! Hey, hysteria was such a fundamental shift for me, Ms Goody Two Shoes, from quiet meek to quiet rebel :-) GnR followed soon after, although I couldn't fully stomach them till much later.
5. Heh. I really don't like those little thingies in my ear/on my head, so while I do have pseudo ownership of our 1st gen iPod Shuffle which I usually use to accompany me at the gym, I'd rather play the CD - whether in the computer's drive or in the radio/CD player, doesn't matter. But frankly, I haven't been listening to music in a looong time - I catch it in the car the few times we're in it. I do miss it, tho. Music has been such a big partof my life for so long, it's weird to step back and realise I'm not listening to it anymore.
6. I don't really have an answer for this. I have a Hall & Oates guitar pick, from when my friends and I, giddy teenagers, managed to get John Oates' autograph (Daryl Hall just brushed us off - a**hole!). Unlike his partner, Mr Oates was friendly and happy to give us some time, and guitar picks. Heck, I think we were the only people waiting for them and their autographs anyway, LoL! So, for the lesson of "just because someone looks good (I was so into blond hair blue eyes at that time) doesn't mean he's a nice person" embedded in that guitar pick, I suppose that'll do as a barrel-scraping answer. (omg I just remembered - I made a friendship bracelet with Daryl's name on it, gave it to a stage hand to put on his keyboard during half-time, if I remember correctly at the second half he noticed and laughed at it :p)
7. Nope. Don't see myself ever doing that either! Is this common?
8. "Completely obsessed" nooooooooo.... I was the type who'd get all in a tizzy but would. never. DO. anything. about it. (All a factor of upbringing and repression, long story). The worst I ever did was try to get autographs, I suppose. (see "omg" at end of #6 - does that count as obsessed? LoL!) The more recent phenomenon would be me, Kosh & Meat Loaf, but just because we drove from Urbana to Cleveland to see him perform, and that Kosh proposed after the concert, that doesn't mean i/we are obsessed with Mr Loaf,,,, riiiiiiight? LoL!
9. Hmmm, I suppose I inadvertently answered this at the end of #8?
10. See here for a list of those I *have* seen in concert. All one-timers. Not sure if I'd want to see any of them again, heck most of them don't exist anymore, or are waaaay past their prime. There's (slight) hope for Meat Loaf tho, maybe, if really feel like it and if I'm able to then convince Kosh, LMAO!
Whoohooo! Done! If you liked these questions, feel free to answer them on your site. Ciao!
Musicology:
- What is the first music album you remember owning? If not the same, what is the first music album you purchased for yourself?
- What artist currently occupies the most space either in terms of shelf space or megabytes on your hard drive?
- How many different types of music media (vinyl, cassette, CD, etc) have you owned in your lifetime?
- Who or what has had the biggest effect on your music taste?
- How do you currently prefer to listen to music?
- In terms of music memorabilia, what is your most prized possession?
- Have you ever "swapped headsets" with a complete stranger (meaning have you ever unplugged the earphones from your listening device and plugged them into someone else's player and had them do the same)? If yes, what did they play for you?
- Have you ever been completely obsessed with a particular artist? Who and to what level did your fandom go?
- What is the farthest you've ever traveled for a concert?
- Who have you seen in concert the most?
Aaaaaand the answers:
1. First that I OWNED? Tough one! I'm going to guess ABBA - probably one of them pirated compilation cassettes. The earliest/first that I remember BUYING, maybe Paul McCartney's Tug of War (that blue & red messy looking cover, with Wanderlust on it)?
2. I'd need to look at my CD collection (which was at its prime in the 90's, LoL!) to be sure, but I think it might be a tie between Randy Travis (*cringe!) and The Beatles. With GnR and Meat Loaf in the running.
3. Cassette. Vinyl. CD. mpeg. Four.
4. My parents' random vinyl collection helped shape my initial taste for clean simple "old" music (The Beatles, Bee Gees, ABBA) so much so that despite growing up with Duran Duran, Rick Astley and the like, The Beatles were my fave band for the longest time. However, the band that got me on the road to "heavy" stuff? DEF LEPPARD! Hey, hysteria was such a fundamental shift for me, Ms Goody Two Shoes, from quiet meek to quiet rebel :-) GnR followed soon after, although I couldn't fully stomach them till much later.
5. Heh. I really don't like those little thingies in my ear/on my head, so while I do have pseudo ownership of our 1st gen iPod Shuffle which I usually use to accompany me at the gym, I'd rather play the CD - whether in the computer's drive or in the radio/CD player, doesn't matter. But frankly, I haven't been listening to music in a looong time - I catch it in the car the few times we're in it. I do miss it, tho. Music has been such a big partof my life for so long, it's weird to step back and realise I'm not listening to it anymore.
6. I don't really have an answer for this. I have a Hall & Oates guitar pick, from when my friends and I, giddy teenagers, managed to get John Oates' autograph (Daryl Hall just brushed us off - a**hole!). Unlike his partner, Mr Oates was friendly and happy to give us some time, and guitar picks. Heck, I think we were the only people waiting for them and their autographs anyway, LoL! So, for the lesson of "just because someone looks good (I was so into blond hair blue eyes at that time) doesn't mean he's a nice person" embedded in that guitar pick, I suppose that'll do as a barrel-scraping answer. (omg I just remembered - I made a friendship bracelet with Daryl's name on it, gave it to a stage hand to put on his keyboard during half-time, if I remember correctly at the second half he noticed and laughed at it :p)
7. Nope. Don't see myself ever doing that either! Is this common?
8. "Completely obsessed" nooooooooo.... I was the type who'd get all in a tizzy but would. never. DO. anything. about it. (All a factor of upbringing and repression, long story). The worst I ever did was try to get autographs, I suppose. (see "omg" at end of #6 - does that count as obsessed? LoL!) The more recent phenomenon would be me, Kosh & Meat Loaf, but just because we drove from Urbana to Cleveland to see him perform, and that Kosh proposed after the concert, that doesn't mean i/we are obsessed with Mr Loaf,,,, riiiiiiight? LoL!
9. Hmmm, I suppose I inadvertently answered this at the end of #8?
10. See here for a list of those I *have* seen in concert. All one-timers. Not sure if I'd want to see any of them again, heck most of them don't exist anymore, or are waaaay past their prime. There's (slight) hope for Meat Loaf tho, maybe, if really feel like it and if I'm able to then convince Kosh, LMAO!
Whoohooo! Done! If you liked these questions, feel free to answer them on your site. Ciao!
Monday, October 22, 2007
blinking back tears
Sunday, October 21, 2007
more than you ever wanted to know about bathroom habits
So apart from that cold snap about 2 weeks ago, the weather's been pretty fine, for October. There've been one or two utterly dreary rainy days, but apart from these, it's been sunny, clear blue skies, cool. Nice. That 45F snap is but a memory now. :-)
I see myself slowing down on my Sim City (took over a month!!), although the time I put in is quite focused now. Like I said, upon finding a tract of land with 11 (actually now 12) connections, I've been thinking even more "big picture" and am developing the entire region, not just a row of three cities. Or at least establishing "main connections" that might end up becoming highways once the region matures and I've got high density zones everywhere.
Bored yet?
Well here's something to change the pace a little. Saw this over at Jeff's place and figured what the hell... here goes!
The Bathroom Meme (with some changes a la lynnenaranek)
1. First body part washed in shower?
I take soap in right hand, and work on left arm from fingers to pit before switching hands/arms.
2. Conditioner y/n? Yes, but I figured double application of stuff on my head means double the hair breakage every day, so I recently decided to switch to Pert (or Rejoice 2-in-1, to my Malaysian readers) once the current bottle of conditioner is finished.
3. Razor - manual, electric?
Disposable manual, for legs & armpits. I'm currently using a free sample of "Intuition" which essentially has a bar of soap surrounding the razor itself - pretty nifty!
4. Shaving cream - foam, gel?
El cheapo goes for lather from the bath soap.
5. Toothbrush - regular or electric?
Regular. Should be electric, I had one, but didn't wanna bother bringing it with me from Malaysia to the U.S. back in '04.
6. Toothpaste - regular or gel, whitening etc?
GEL GEL GEL! I dunno what it is about me, but when I first stumbled upon gel toothpaste (I remember it was back in my teenage years, in Switzerland) I totally fell in love with it, and have pretty much turned my back on all non-gels.
7. Floss - y/n, flavored, thick/thin, waxed?
Yes, although used nowhere near as often/regularly as it should. I use waxed minted dental TAPE (kills my gums less than actual floss).
8. Mouthwash - y/n, brand?
Was never brought up to use this, and have yet to pick up the habit on my own.
9. Toilet paper - over or under?
I prefer over, that's the "natural" setting, isn't it? But Kosh remains convinced that having it "under" will somehow help reduce the chances of the cat ruining an entire roll if/when she gets into her head to mangle/claw/play with the roll while on the bathroom sink (see end of this post). Hmmmm.
10. Magazines?
We've got a reading table in the bathroom all right. Or maybe activity table? My main item is a book of crosswords, tho I also have two magazines I'm slowly going through. Kosh has the intention of catching up on medical-related reading while on the throne so there are some medical magazines/reading material there, but instead he's been going through the Harry Potter books (he's now on Book 4).
11. Hair dryer or towel dry?
Air-dry. But mainly because I don't have a hair dryer. And even if I did have one, I really really really am clueless as to how to use it properly. And I usually couldn't be bothered to put that extra effort for myself anyways. So yeah, air dry.
12. Hair "products" - moose, gel, hairspray, etc?
I have some sort of "curl protector" I used regularly when I had my body wave, tho now there's maybe a quarter left in the tube and I couldn't be bothered to salvage the remnants of the curls, so apart from that anomaly, no, no products in hair.
13. Cologne perfume, etc - y/n, brand?
Not any more. Used to have a small collection of fragrances (all unisex or men's perfumes, can't stand women's, waaay too strong & flowery usually!), but I so dropped out of the habit maybe 5 years ago. I might have started up again except that that marvelous Calvin Klein Eternity Summer for Men I came across in the Zurich airport, which Kosh was willing to get for me but I said naaah I had no idea if it was a good price or not (duty free does not always mean cheap!), besides we could probably get it back in the U.S., you know, that one? Haven't found it yet. Once/If I do, then I'll start again :-)
14. Deodorant - Spray, roll-on, stick (gel or white), scented etc?
GEL GEL GEL! And for the longest time, the only gel anti-perspirant I could find on the shelves in Malaysia was Gilette brand, for men, so there I was with men's toiletries all the time, people certainly didn't know what to make of me, LoL! Right now I'm experimenting with other types/brands, to see which "little black dress approved" type claim actually works, seeing as I wear black most of the time and do NOT appreciate the streak of white I get on the shirt as I put it on...
15. Sink and shower soap - liquid, bar, bodywash, etc?
Sink> liquid
Shower> bar, although for quite a while I was going for liquid bodywash - the reason I've acquiesced to to bars like Kosh likes is because the one or two body washes I've tried here just don't seem to lather the way I like, or leave this iccky moisturizing layer behind that's supposed to be good for me but irritates me instead :p
16. Sink cup - disposable Dixie type, regular?
Was never brought up to use this, and have yet to pick up the habit on my own. There's something so much more satisfying about getting rinsing water from your cupped hand...
... bored yet? Okay you can go away now. Bye! :-)
I see myself slowing down on my Sim City (took over a month!!), although the time I put in is quite focused now. Like I said, upon finding a tract of land with 11 (actually now 12) connections, I've been thinking even more "big picture" and am developing the entire region, not just a row of three cities. Or at least establishing "main connections" that might end up becoming highways once the region matures and I've got high density zones everywhere.
Bored yet?
Well here's something to change the pace a little. Saw this over at Jeff's place and figured what the hell... here goes!
The Bathroom Meme (with some changes a la lynnenaranek)
1. First body part washed in shower?
I take soap in right hand, and work on left arm from fingers to pit before switching hands/arms.
2. Conditioner y/n? Yes, but I figured double application of stuff on my head means double the hair breakage every day, so I recently decided to switch to Pert (or Rejoice 2-in-1, to my Malaysian readers) once the current bottle of conditioner is finished.
3. Razor - manual, electric?
Disposable manual, for legs & armpits. I'm currently using a free sample of "Intuition" which essentially has a bar of soap surrounding the razor itself - pretty nifty!
4. Shaving cream - foam, gel?
El cheapo goes for lather from the bath soap.
5. Toothbrush - regular or electric?
Regular. Should be electric, I had one, but didn't wanna bother bringing it with me from Malaysia to the U.S. back in '04.
6. Toothpaste - regular or gel, whitening etc?
GEL GEL GEL! I dunno what it is about me, but when I first stumbled upon gel toothpaste (I remember it was back in my teenage years, in Switzerland) I totally fell in love with it, and have pretty much turned my back on all non-gels.
7. Floss - y/n, flavored, thick/thin, waxed?
Yes, although used nowhere near as often/regularly as it should. I use waxed minted dental TAPE (kills my gums less than actual floss).
8. Mouthwash - y/n, brand?
Was never brought up to use this, and have yet to pick up the habit on my own.
9. Toilet paper - over or under?
I prefer over, that's the "natural" setting, isn't it? But Kosh remains convinced that having it "under" will somehow help reduce the chances of the cat ruining an entire roll if/when she gets into her head to mangle/claw/play with the roll while on the bathroom sink (see end of this post). Hmmmm.
10. Magazines?
We've got a reading table in the bathroom all right. Or maybe activity table? My main item is a book of crosswords, tho I also have two magazines I'm slowly going through. Kosh has the intention of catching up on medical-related reading while on the throne so there are some medical magazines/reading material there, but instead he's been going through the Harry Potter books (he's now on Book 4).
11. Hair dryer or towel dry?
Air-dry. But mainly because I don't have a hair dryer. And even if I did have one, I really really really am clueless as to how to use it properly. And I usually couldn't be bothered to put that extra effort for myself anyways. So yeah, air dry.
12. Hair "products" - moose, gel, hairspray, etc?
I have some sort of "curl protector" I used regularly when I had my body wave, tho now there's maybe a quarter left in the tube and I couldn't be bothered to salvage the remnants of the curls, so apart from that anomaly, no, no products in hair.
13. Cologne perfume, etc - y/n, brand?
Not any more. Used to have a small collection of fragrances (all unisex or men's perfumes, can't stand women's, waaay too strong & flowery usually!), but I so dropped out of the habit maybe 5 years ago. I might have started up again except that that marvelous Calvin Klein Eternity Summer for Men I came across in the Zurich airport, which Kosh was willing to get for me but I said naaah I had no idea if it was a good price or not (duty free does not always mean cheap!), besides we could probably get it back in the U.S., you know, that one? Haven't found it yet. Once/If I do, then I'll start again :-)
14. Deodorant - Spray, roll-on, stick (gel or white), scented etc?
GEL GEL GEL! And for the longest time, the only gel anti-perspirant I could find on the shelves in Malaysia was Gilette brand, for men, so there I was with men's toiletries all the time, people certainly didn't know what to make of me, LoL! Right now I'm experimenting with other types/brands, to see which "little black dress approved" type claim actually works, seeing as I wear black most of the time and do NOT appreciate the streak of white I get on the shirt as I put it on...
15. Sink and shower soap - liquid, bar, bodywash, etc?
Sink> liquid
Shower> bar, although for quite a while I was going for liquid bodywash - the reason I've acquiesced to to bars like Kosh likes is because the one or two body washes I've tried here just don't seem to lather the way I like, or leave this iccky moisturizing layer behind that's supposed to be good for me but irritates me instead :p
16. Sink cup - disposable Dixie type, regular?
Was never brought up to use this, and have yet to pick up the habit on my own. There's something so much more satisfying about getting rinsing water from your cupped hand...
... bored yet? Okay you can go away now. Bye! :-)
Monday, October 15, 2007
still hooked
I played Sim City till almost 5 this morning. Woke up at 1030am, and am now finding other things to achieve before I head back to my cities, I'm all hooked because I realised depending on the random region generator, you can find cities set up with MANY neighbors - I found one with ELEVEN?!! So now I'm building up to that large square, developing its surroundings first... aarrgghhhhhhh! Helllllllllp!! :P
And on to other news: I found out recently I'd been tagged over a month ago, ooooops! My apologies to Neome, and here's yet another 5 Things meme:
5 Things In My Bag
5 Things That Are In My Wallet
5 Favourite Things In My Bedroom
5 Things I Wish To Do (in my lifetime, I assume?)
5 Things That I Am Doing Now
5 People I Would Like To Tag
okay, now back to my cities! Until Kosh gets back from work lah.. Ciao!
And on to other news: I found out recently I'd been tagged over a month ago, ooooops! My apologies to Neome, and here's yet another 5 Things meme:
5 Things In My Bag
- Snack-sized Zone bars
- A pen
- A half-empty pack of tissue
- A. S. Byatt's The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye, a book to read for my Fairy Tales class
- A bowder blue spiral bound notebook to jot my notes for all my classes
5 Things That Are In My Wallet
- money (of "there" and "hidden" varieties)
- credit cards
- Wallet-sized reference card of Covey's 7 Habits (not that I need it, but I like knowing it's there)
- driver's license
- library card
5 Favourite Things In My Bedroom
- the bedside tables (matching with #2)
- the folding screen (matching with #1)
- the southwestern motifed bedcovers
- the drawer of "my stuff", where I keep everything from hair thingies to bracelets to necklaces
- the fully-mirrored closet doors
5 Things I Wish To Do (in my lifetime, I assume?)
- Write and publish memoirs and novels
- Visit
GreenlandIceland (I can't believe I typed the wrong country!!!) - Get a Masters in something: creative writing, maybe?
- Achieve true inner peace, inner balance
- Lose a substantial amount of body fat
5 Things That I Am Doing Now
- errr, typing?
- breathing?
- sitting?
- scratching my arm?
- playing with my hair
5 People I Would Like To Tag
- so rarely do I tag people, not gonna bother with it this time either... if you want to continue this, just go ahead and post yr entry in the comments or point me to your site, k?
okay, now back to my cities! Until Kosh gets back from work lah.. Ciao!
Friday, October 12, 2007
~cold~
Blah! It's COLD! I mourn the final tremor of summer's tendrils, the grip of the sun's rays loosened, nay, dislodged by the cruel cold. Though they say it will be warm again in a day or two, the damage is done, true golden warmth is likely beyond us until, ummm, April? Bah!
Until then, I can look forward to ice-cold toes that evoke shrieks from Kosh, toes that never seem to get warm even with socks or fuzzy slippers to protect them from the cold floor. I can look forward to getting boiled alive in the hallway of the apartment building, only to walk into a wall of cold when I step outside. I can look forward to uncontrolled eye leakages making it seem like I'm bawling my eyes out while walking to/from the train station when in fact I'm just reacting to the wind and cold. I can look forward to getting zapped by just about anything, from the car door to the cat to the hubby. I can look forward to snakelike scaly skin as I get dehydrated while I forget to lotionize elbows, shins, hands.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate autumn/winter. I just so much prefer spring & summer. I *am* a Leo, after all! :-)
Until then, I can look forward to ice-cold toes that evoke shrieks from Kosh, toes that never seem to get warm even with socks or fuzzy slippers to protect them from the cold floor. I can look forward to getting boiled alive in the hallway of the apartment building, only to walk into a wall of cold when I step outside. I can look forward to uncontrolled eye leakages making it seem like I'm bawling my eyes out while walking to/from the train station when in fact I'm just reacting to the wind and cold. I can look forward to getting zapped by just about anything, from the car door to the cat to the hubby. I can look forward to snakelike scaly skin as I get dehydrated while I forget to lotionize elbows, shins, hands.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate autumn/winter. I just so much prefer spring & summer. I *am* a Leo, after all! :-)
Saturday, October 06, 2007
~painful~
So recently we had some real gawdawful movies come at us via Netflix:
Eragon: Always been curious about the books, but not curious to pick 'em up for a read, figured what the heck let's just watch the movie instead. Wow. It was SO bad. I was antsy 30 mins into the thing, already irritated by plot holes and crappy storytelling. About the only thing that enabled Kosh and I to sit through it was to treat it almost like the Rocky Horror Picture Show, with call-outs to ease the pain. And to make comparisons to Star Wars "Oh, he's playing the role of Ben Kenobi - he's obviously going to have to die halfway through the film! She's Leia! Hey, is that Han Solo? So who's Chewie??" and LOTR "She's just a Liv Tyler knockoff! Oh look, Rivendell!". Do not, I repeat do NOT watch this movie!
Legally Blonde 2: Something we dreaded doing to ourselves, but we kinda had to. After all, TBS has shown Legally Blonde so often over the past few years, and we've caught enough bits and pieces of it to have watched it in toto many times over in addition to the twice that I've seen it complete. But where the original was silly and a lot of fun, its sequel crosses over into the realm of the absurd and painful. Don't bother.
The Break-Up: I didn't want this on the queue, Kosh put it there. Although ~he~ says it wasn't him. Either way... o.m.g.... I don't care if they "discovered" each other while filming this, but Jen Aniston and Vince Vaughn have absolutely NO chemistry onscreen. The story was stupid and so contrived, I had to walk away from it less than 30mins into the movie (a few days later we made it through the rest of the way)! The amusement of seeing Justin Long (Galaxy Quest, Dodgeball) as an Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers) lookalike can only take it so far, and that was a distracting character anyway, not needed for the plot at all. Heck, there was no point to the entire movie!! Again, don't bother.
Eragon: Always been curious about the books, but not curious to pick 'em up for a read, figured what the heck let's just watch the movie instead. Wow. It was SO bad. I was antsy 30 mins into the thing, already irritated by plot holes and crappy storytelling. About the only thing that enabled Kosh and I to sit through it was to treat it almost like the Rocky Horror Picture Show, with call-outs to ease the pain. And to make comparisons to Star Wars "Oh, he's playing the role of Ben Kenobi - he's obviously going to have to die halfway through the film! She's Leia! Hey, is that Han Solo? So who's Chewie??" and LOTR "She's just a Liv Tyler knockoff! Oh look, Rivendell!". Do not, I repeat do NOT watch this movie!
Legally Blonde 2: Something we dreaded doing to ourselves, but we kinda had to. After all, TBS has shown Legally Blonde so often over the past few years, and we've caught enough bits and pieces of it to have watched it in toto many times over in addition to the twice that I've seen it complete. But where the original was silly and a lot of fun, its sequel crosses over into the realm of the absurd and painful. Don't bother.
The Break-Up: I didn't want this on the queue, Kosh put it there. Although ~he~ says it wasn't him. Either way... o.m.g.... I don't care if they "discovered" each other while filming this, but Jen Aniston and Vince Vaughn have absolutely NO chemistry onscreen. The story was stupid and so contrived, I had to walk away from it less than 30mins into the movie (a few days later we made it through the rest of the way)! The amusement of seeing Justin Long (Galaxy Quest, Dodgeball) as an Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers) lookalike can only take it so far, and that was a distracting character anyway, not needed for the plot at all. Heck, there was no point to the entire movie!! Again, don't bother.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
i'm alive!
I am, really!
I've just been totally caught up in playing god.
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I started playing Sim City - I think it was the Sim City 2000 version. I enjoyed the idea, but for some reason I just couldn't get all that into it - it was frustrating not being able to do much in terms of city building without resorting to the "iamweak" cheat code (which added simoleons to my very dry mayoral account)... and besides, the focus was rather too broad, I wondered if there was a similar game out there that zoomed in on one neighborhood instead of a city, and allowed me to control individuals...
... and I soon discovered The Sims, and oh. my. gawd. it was exactly what I was looking for! I'd play for hours and hours on end at the expense of sleep and work, and had all the expansion packs too, although the "Making Magic" one was bought but never loaded (no worries, they were all pirated versions, costing only about RM5 per disc, LoL!). My absolute fave was the Superstar expansion - how sad is it that I worked more diligently on getting my Sim up to be a major superstar and got more out of that achievement than from work? :-)
Aaaanyways... so for the longest time I've not been Simming - for many reasons I won't get into. However, all that changed recently. We got our PC, finally. And I'd already warned Kosh that if/when we get it, I'm getting back into my Sims. It was decision I had to make a few weeks ago - get sucked back into The Sims 2 (gotta move with the times lah) and deal with all those expansion packs, or go back to the beginning.
I chose the beginning.
Of course, Sim City 4 Deluxe edition is a very very very old game, out since 2003 or so, but hey, I know me, and I'm better off taking it easy mah!
Anyhow... so, well, you kinda pretty much know what's coming next... after all, the neglect of the blog shows how much time I've NOT been online these past few weeks, LoL! Shall I go into how many cities and regions I created and destroyed as I got the feel again for the game? Or how I've been naming my regions after Animaniacs lingo (anyone who doesn't think Anvyllania is not a cool name should, well, go watch Animaniacs, and "let the anvils ring", LoL!)? Or how my cities have improved enough that I'll probably keep this current one and slowly improve on planning and layout on a city by city basis? Or how I love the new features that among other things allow me to move in some individual Sims into neighborhoods and see what they have to say about my Cities? And how this helps reduce the cravings I have for actually meddling in their lives the way I could in The Sims? Naaah, I won't tell ya about it. :)
What ELSE has been happening? Well, I ~have~ filled my weekly schedule up pretty well. French. Spanish. Fairy Tales. Figurations. Skipped my first Aquatic Exercise class last week, but that's in there too. And my ceramics/pottery class starts today. ... ... and yes, I'm STILL immersing myself in my Sim City despite the time crunch.
Ah, priorities...
I've just been totally caught up in playing god.
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I started playing Sim City - I think it was the Sim City 2000 version. I enjoyed the idea, but for some reason I just couldn't get all that into it - it was frustrating not being able to do much in terms of city building without resorting to the "iamweak" cheat code (which added simoleons to my very dry mayoral account)... and besides, the focus was rather too broad, I wondered if there was a similar game out there that zoomed in on one neighborhood instead of a city, and allowed me to control individuals...
... and I soon discovered The Sims, and oh. my. gawd. it was exactly what I was looking for! I'd play for hours and hours on end at the expense of sleep and work, and had all the expansion packs too, although the "Making Magic" one was bought but never loaded (no worries, they were all pirated versions, costing only about RM5 per disc, LoL!). My absolute fave was the Superstar expansion - how sad is it that I worked more diligently on getting my Sim up to be a major superstar and got more out of that achievement than from work? :-)
Aaaanyways... so for the longest time I've not been Simming - for many reasons I won't get into. However, all that changed recently. We got our PC, finally. And I'd already warned Kosh that if/when we get it, I'm getting back into my Sims. It was decision I had to make a few weeks ago - get sucked back into The Sims 2 (gotta move with the times lah) and deal with all those expansion packs, or go back to the beginning.
I chose the beginning.
Of course, Sim City 4 Deluxe edition is a very very very old game, out since 2003 or so, but hey, I know me, and I'm better off taking it easy mah!
Anyhow... so, well, you kinda pretty much know what's coming next... after all, the neglect of the blog shows how much time I've NOT been online these past few weeks, LoL! Shall I go into how many cities and regions I created and destroyed as I got the feel again for the game? Or how I've been naming my regions after Animaniacs lingo (anyone who doesn't think Anvyllania is not a cool name should, well, go watch Animaniacs, and "let the anvils ring", LoL!)? Or how my cities have improved enough that I'll probably keep this current one and slowly improve on planning and layout on a city by city basis? Or how I love the new features that among other things allow me to move in some individual Sims into neighborhoods and see what they have to say about my Cities? And how this helps reduce the cravings I have for actually meddling in their lives the way I could in The Sims? Naaah, I won't tell ya about it. :)
What ELSE has been happening? Well, I ~have~ filled my weekly schedule up pretty well. French. Spanish. Fairy Tales. Figurations. Skipped my first Aquatic Exercise class last week, but that's in there too. And my ceramics/pottery class starts today. ... ... and yes, I'm STILL immersing myself in my Sim City despite the time crunch.
Ah, priorities...
Friday, September 21, 2007
Catching up : KL 2007
A short recap of my 3 weeks in KL: I arrived; hit by fever; brother's wedding. Met up some ex-colleagues & friends; ran some errands. Hit by fever again; cancel all appointments. Final week - back-to-back-to-back multiple "dates" with friends, up until the the night before my flight! Fly off with those flowers.
What do I have to show for all that?
1. Me playing pool (w/ Rail, Neome & Lina)
What do I have to show for all that?
1. Me playing pool (w/ Rail, Neome & Lina)
2. Me & Kin and her kids 
3. One of the two kooky gifts from Spiderjane (the other was a furry photo frame, LMAO!)
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Friggin Facebook!
Facebook is an insidious timesuck. And yes I caved in and created an account, aarrrgghh. But I'm bitching about it today because for some reason I can't upload photos from my Firefox browser, I need to do it via IE instead. Seeing as I'm newly playing around on my new PC, maybe I need to download some plugin thingy for Firefox, who knows.
Oh, and if you haven't already, today is the last day to migrate your Yahoo!Photos elsewhere, otherwise they'll all go *poof!*
aaaaaanyway..... moving on:
Can you guess which is my favourite??
A cat listening to House Music?
A cat listening to Stevie Wonder?
A cat listening to Gangsta Rap?
Cats listening to HeavyMetal?
A cat listening to Hip Hop?
A cat listening to Techno *and* high on ecstasy?
[NOTE: images taken from an email, assumed to be fine to post them here what with the source being stated on every image and all... if it's not okay, copyright owner please email me and I'll remove these images, k?]
Oh, and if you haven't already, today is the last day to migrate your Yahoo!Photos elsewhere, otherwise they'll all go *poof!*
aaaaaanyway..... moving on:
Can you guess which is my favourite??
A cat listening to House Music?
A cat listening to Stevie Wonder?
A cat listening to Gangsta Rap?
Cats listening to HeavyMetal?
A cat listening to Hip Hop?
A cat listening to Techno *and* high on ecstasy?
[NOTE: images taken from an email, assumed to be fine to post them here what with the source being stated on every image and all... if it's not okay, copyright owner please email me and I'll remove these images, k?]
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
when I turned 35 ...
(yes, that was a few weeks ago)
... it was my first birthday as a married woman (ugh, that sounds so.... old!)
it was certainly not the first time I didn't bother to mark it in any way
... it was the first time I "had" my birthday in an airplane (I was enroute to Switzerland)
no biggie... except that I was lugging huge bouquet of flowers around KUL, courtesy of the airline in cahoots with my parents.
I was very uncomfortable with the attention I was getting with that thing in my arms: heck, someone just walked up, put his nose right in there and inhaled deeply, it was all I could do to not leave my mouth hanging open in disbelief!
In the airplane itself (thank goodness it was a direct flight), I managed to stuff the flowers into a mini overhead luggage bin that was a perfect fit and situated right by my seat too - thank you, Universe!
I *had* turned the bouquet upside down in the KUL bathroom to drain the surprisingly large amount of water inside, but I suppose it wasn't enough, because, ummm, it still leaked out big time.... so unfortunately for the next person who used that space, there was probably a pool of stinky flower water at the bottom of the bin - ooops!
Anyways, so I made it safely to Zurich, where I was greeted by the newlyweds, my bro and s-i-l, who it turns out had been a bit late arriving because ...
... they had been putting finishing touches to this radioactive birthday cake! Looks are deceiving: it wasn't radioactive, and in fact was quite delish! Yummy, and sugar high on my first day in Switzerland, whoohooo!
(this is the first in a series of overdue recaps & pix from my recent vaykay to KL & Switzerland)
... it was my first birthday as a married woman (ugh, that sounds so.... old!)
it was certainly not the first time I didn't bother to mark it in any way
... it was the first time I "had" my birthday in an airplane (I was enroute to Switzerland)
no biggie... except that I was lugging huge bouquet of flowers around KUL, courtesy of the airline in cahoots with my parents.
I was very uncomfortable with the attention I was getting with that thing in my arms: heck, someone just walked up, put his nose right in there and inhaled deeply, it was all I could do to not leave my mouth hanging open in disbelief!
In the airplane itself (thank goodness it was a direct flight), I managed to stuff the flowers into a mini overhead luggage bin that was a perfect fit and situated right by my seat too - thank you, Universe!
I *had* turned the bouquet upside down in the KUL bathroom to drain the surprisingly large amount of water inside, but I suppose it wasn't enough, because, ummm, it still leaked out big time.... so unfortunately for the next person who used that space, there was probably a pool of stinky flower water at the bottom of the bin - ooops!
Anyways, so I made it safely to Zurich, where I was greeted by the newlyweds, my bro and s-i-l, who it turns out had been a bit late arriving because ...... they had been putting finishing touches to this radioactive birthday cake! Looks are deceiving: it wasn't radioactive, and in fact was quite delish! Yummy, and sugar high on my first day in Switzerland, whoohooo!
(this is the first in a series of overdue recaps & pix from my recent vaykay to KL & Switzerland)
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
so, how was it?
(What is "it"?)
A W E S O M E!
Apart from the stress of getting to the theater at 6:30pm for a 7pm show and being greeted by a whole mass of people who, like us, had to pick up tickets from the Box Office. ... We finally made it in and I wanted to go straight up to our seats, bypassing the drinks and merchandise, figuring no need to fill up the bladder and we'd check out the merchandise after the show. ... And were then subject to the inane conversation of three teenagers sitting right behind us who were just talking out of their asses, soooo frikkin irritating,,, but they shut up once the show actually started (or was it me who totally drowned them out with my shrieks of laughter?)
Seth Green is sooo cute in person :-)
And it's amazing to see/hear Peter, Brian, Quagmire *and* Stewie all emerging from the same man: Seth MacFarlane.
So they did a "table reading" of the episode "Whistle while your wife works" which was intertwined with a sub-plot from an as-yet unaired new season episode. And last night this episode was on tv, and wow it was even funnier than ever because we now had the "double vision" of them on stage reading to complement the already silly plot on the screen.
Ah yes, I proudly embrace the label of "freak!" :-)
Oh, and the sneak peek at that Star Wars episode to be aired next week? Certainly had cute moments, hopefully they've managed to up the quality of their writing? Consistently? We'll just have to see, eh?
Anyways, so at the end Kosh was surprised I wasn't rushing down to get Oz's autograph,,, the thing is, HE was kinda wanting it too, LoL! :-) Yes, we are two of a kind :-)
I felt like a member of a herd of cows as we slowly made our way downstairs, ugh so many people! We were almost herded right out of the theater before we realised it, managed to make our way to the merchandise booth and got ourselves a t-shirt, exclusive one you know!!! :p We got an XL because the Robot Chicken one I got for Kosh online is just that touch too tight... but this one, omg, it goes to my mid-thigh! Anyone wanna help shorten a t-shirt for me?? :p
Overall, it was a great show, and if ever they perform something like this where you are, do go see it (warning, don't bring small kids, k? The language is very "adult"!), it's certainly an unusual and fun experience.
And for those in Chicagoland who didn't go? I say to you "nya nya nya nya nyaaaa nya" :D
A W E S O M E!
Apart from the stress of getting to the theater at 6:30pm for a 7pm show and being greeted by a whole mass of people who, like us, had to pick up tickets from the Box Office. ... We finally made it in and I wanted to go straight up to our seats, bypassing the drinks and merchandise, figuring no need to fill up the bladder and we'd check out the merchandise after the show. ... And were then subject to the inane conversation of three teenagers sitting right behind us who were just talking out of their asses, soooo frikkin irritating,,, but they shut up once the show actually started (or was it me who totally drowned them out with my shrieks of laughter?)
Seth Green is sooo cute in person :-)
And it's amazing to see/hear Peter, Brian, Quagmire *and* Stewie all emerging from the same man: Seth MacFarlane.
So they did a "table reading" of the episode "Whistle while your wife works" which was intertwined with a sub-plot from an as-yet unaired new season episode. And last night this episode was on tv, and wow it was even funnier than ever because we now had the "double vision" of them on stage reading to complement the already silly plot on the screen.
Ah yes, I proudly embrace the label of "freak!" :-)
Oh, and the sneak peek at that Star Wars episode to be aired next week? Certainly had cute moments, hopefully they've managed to up the quality of their writing? Consistently? We'll just have to see, eh?
Anyways, so at the end Kosh was surprised I wasn't rushing down to get Oz's autograph,,, the thing is, HE was kinda wanting it too, LoL! :-) Yes, we are two of a kind :-)
I felt like a member of a herd of cows as we slowly made our way downstairs, ugh so many people! We were almost herded right out of the theater before we realised it, managed to make our way to the merchandise booth and got ourselves a t-shirt, exclusive one you know!!! :p We got an XL because the Robot Chicken one I got for Kosh online is just that touch too tight... but this one, omg, it goes to my mid-thigh! Anyone wanna help shorten a t-shirt for me?? :p
Overall, it was a great show, and if ever they perform something like this where you are, do go see it (warning, don't bring small kids, k? The language is very "adult"!), it's certainly an unusual and fun experience.
And for those in Chicagoland who didn't go? I say to you "nya nya nya nya nyaaaa nya" :D
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
paper anniversary month
The first wedding anniversary traditional gift is usually paper.
In our case, we've got paper all right. In the form of tickets. To...
... Family Guy Live!! Are we freaks or what? ;-)
Some info on the event here, which is also the source of the image used.
p/s> BONUS!! "FAMILY GUY LIVE will also feature an exclusive sneak peak of the eagerly anticipated one hour “STAR WARS”- themed season premiere episode set to premiere Sunday, September 23 on FOX"
p/s #2> for newbies to this blog, a recap of last year's nuptials can be found here.
In our case, we've got paper all right. In the form of tickets. To...
... Family Guy Live!! Are we freaks or what? ;-)
Some info on the event here, which is also the source of the image used.
p/s> BONUS!! "FAMILY GUY LIVE will also feature an exclusive sneak peak of the eagerly anticipated one hour “STAR WARS”- themed season premiere episode set to premiere Sunday, September 23 on FOX"
p/s #2> for newbies to this blog, a recap of last year's nuptials can be found here.
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about two months later...
... hi again. This return to blogging is really not working out, is it? Actually, I am writing, three pages of mind vomit and affirmations ...