*more* piles of pot ...

The pile has grown...


Some new pix have been added here.

More coming soon...

if boobs were zits ...

Rites of passage - rituals that mark a change in a person's social or sexual status - are often ceremonies surrounding events such as childbirth, menarche or other milestones within puberty, coming of age, marriage, weddings, and death.

So today I successfully navigated a modern rite of passage of sorts.

... if boobs were zits, mine would have spewed their juices all over the mammogram machine.

Yup, had my first ever mammogram today.

No, no, not to worry, there's no mysterious lump that needs a look-see; rather, my (suspect) OB/GYN is of the opinion that a mammogram should be done at age 35, and I'm not arguing, I'm all for establishing a baseline.

But maaaaan, my puppies got quite the smooshing! :p

... celebrated the successful navigation of this rite of passage with cookie dough :D

Cat Litter Cake

Stumbled across this in one of my email inboxes from 2005, and just *had* to share it :) Especially for readers with cats!!

CAT LITTER CAKE RECIPE

1 box spice or German chocolate cake mix
1 box of white cake mix
1 package white sandwich cookies
1 large package vanilla instant pudding mix
A few drops green food coloring
12 small Tootsie Rolls or equivalent


SERVING "DISHES AND UTENSILS"
1 NEW cat-litter box
1 NEW cat-litter box liner
1 NEW pooper scooper
[WHY??? you ask? Keep going... you'll see the end product soon enough....]


Prepare and bake cake mixes, according to directions, in any size pan...
Prepare pudding and chill.
Crumble cookies in small batches in blender or food processor.
Add a few drops of green food coloring to 1 cup of cookie crumbs.
Mix with a fork or shake in a jar.
Set aside.
When cakes are at room temperature, crumble them into a large bowl.
Toss with half of the remaining cookie crumbs and enough pudding to make the mixture moist but not soggy.
Place liner in litter box and pour in mixture.
Unwrap 3 Tootsie Rolls and heat in a microwave until soft and pliable.
Shape the blunt ends into slightly curved points.
Repeat with three more rolls. Bury the rolls decoratively in the cake mixture.
Sprinkle remaining white cookie crumbs over the mixture, then scatter green crumbs lightly over top.
Heat 5 more Tootsie Rolls until almost melted.
Scrape them on top of the cake and sprinkle with crumbs from the litter box.
Heat the remaining Tootsie Roll until pliable and hang it over the edge of the box.
Place box on a sheet of newspaper and serve with scooper.
Enjoy!

.... and here's how it looks ...

y.u.m.m.y.

If *anyone* is willing to try this, please blog about it and point me your way, I'd love to read about your victims' people's reactions :) :)

eye was floored

... so yesterday, Kosh and I went in for eye exams and glasses... I've only ever done a full eye exam once, like 10 years ago - I can fake it w/o glasses most of the time, since I've got just slight astigmatism and a mild case of rabun jauh which combine to poor vision usually at night when it's raining. And we went in for the exams and all to make use of the vision thingy Kosh had been paying for, which we'd not used/redeemed, via work.

Anyways.

here's the question:
... how many times was I lying down on the floor at the eye doc's place?

Why?, you ask?

Well, my body is made in such a way that when it feels it's being violated, it faints, or threatens to, anyway.

That is it a violation of my body to drain blood out of me is a well-known truth, and the reason why my donating blood is not practical.
My ONE childhood experience with a tampon was also deemed a violation, which is why I'll stick to sanitary pads, thank you very much.
Extreme claustrophobic conditions will also elicit a violation response, as discovered one night when checking out a new "in" club in KL and ending up cutting the trip short almost as it began with me needing to just sit in the cool night air, head between knees, and having my friends head off a guard who told us we couldn't lepak there (yes, it was the time when the no-lepaking laws had just come into effect).

And as of yesterday, it seems that dilation of my pupils is ALSO deemed a violation...image stolen from blogography - thanks Dave!!

About 5 minutes after getting the drops in and being shooed out into the waiting area so that the eye doc could see (haha) other patients while waiting for the pupils to get fully dilated, I was already feeling all cold-sweaty, blood-drained and ears a-ringing. I kinda mumbled to Kosh "ummm, are there like side effects to eye-dilation? Because, ummm, I'm going to faint if I don't lie down like *now*". Poor Kosh, never having seen me this vulnerable, wasn't quite sure what to make of it all, and it's not like the place had somewhere for me to lie down properly so I just lay down in the waiting area.

Was fine soon enough, and was fine all throughout the rigmarole of choosing a pair glasses and all, but then Kosh asked me to see how dilated *his* eyes were, and the process of focusing on his eyes made me all pale again,,,, by that time there were more people so I went to the quietest corner I could find for another lie-down.

By the time I was okay the doc could see us, so in we went into the examination room again so the doc could look at the retina better... and of course, all that "look left" "look right", etc etc with that friggin bright light left me again ready to pass out. Staggered out and lay down for a minute before being helped up and into the initial eye examination room - it was already the end of the day so the room was all mine.

So, answer? Four times.

Fun.

... in limbo ...

.. so to distract from that condition, let me share this little tidbit: to my great amusement, I realise my new niece is called doodoo! Well, not really lah, but the translation of her names into American English sounds like "doodoo", I kid you not!!

... hmmmm... maybe for purposes of this blog I'll call her Lil' Doodoo?

Nah, too cruel... I'll think of something... :p

p/s: did I mention? I've been told she looks like me. The poor thing!! LMAO :)

The ABCs of Me Myself and I

Karl seems to be my source for memes nowadays :) Here's the second in as many weeks (with a third in the works!). It's not like I have nothing to post... I just end up using the path of least resistance :) bluetoothing images of the crazy cat hiding under a blanket or perched on the commode to the computer is such a bother *rolls eye* lmao :) :)

Here goes:

Accent: I don't know what "accent" you'd say I have. I speak differently than everyone else. In Malaysia I sound foreign. In the US I also sound foreign. So long I can be understood, I'll be happy with that. Because here in Chicago? I could barely communicate with a library staff that the copier room was locked: finally she understood it "Oh, the Kaaaaaa-pee-yer!" Then in Malaysia, I'm accused of being "too American", "please lose the slang/twang", "don't show off lah". Can't win.

Breakfast or No Breakfast: I can go without breakfast, no problem. But since I am trying to eat healthier, and that means 6 small balanced meals spread throughout the day, I've been making it a point to have *something* in the mornings. It could just be a glass of fiber with another glass of water as chaser. Or a zone bar, or two. Or my cottage cheese & cereal combo.

Chore I don’t care for: Cleaning in general. The apartment tends to get properly cleaned only when visitors are expected. Otherwise I'll swiffer it every once in a while and that's that :)

Dog or Cat: Used to have dogs growing up, and they are fun and all, desperate for your attention, pretty much delirious for any bit of attention you give them,,, but I prefer cats. I like their self-reliance. When a cat deigns to give you its attention, or *gasp!* wants to sit on your lap - it's a compliment that certainly makes me feel special :)

Essential Electronics: my 'puter. to a much lesser extent, my Sony Ericsson P800, and the tv. I'm no longer a slave to these things :)

Favorite Cologne: No longer too much into them, but my first love was Calvin Klein's Eternity For Men (yes, FOR MEN!! so sue me!!). Recently, I got a hold of the "summer" version of this scent - pretty nice, I spray that stuff on me once in a while.

Gold or Silver: Silver. Like Karl, I think (yellow) gold is tacky. White gold is fine. I think the "white" metals fit me better, anyway.

Handbag I carry most often: I don't use a handbag / purse. I do have a leather knapsack-style bag for essentials (which I need to whine about - maybe in one of my next few posts).

Insomnia: rarely.

Job Title: Jobless Bum and Wannabe Writer.

Kids: Not even a twinkle in Kosh's of my eyes yet (despite speculation to the contrary by certain parties, *ahem!*)

Living Arrangements: 1-br apartment in Chicago - for one more month, at least. Ah, uncertainty, so away!

Most Admirable Trait: Heh. The ability to see the trees *and* the forest? That was in my past life in the corporate world anyway, kinda out of practice now.

Naughtiest Childhood Behavior: Hmmm.... using a (white) candle (i.e. wax) to "write" on the walls, since I'd been forbidden to mark the walls with crayons/pens/pencils. I don't remember if I got found out. I only remember doing it once, dragging the candle at my waist level as I walked down the hallway.... I was maybe 7 years old?

Overnight hospital stays: Hospitalised almost a week due to Hepatitis A.

Phobias: Ummm, I have concerns, but nothing of "phobia" level, as far as I know...

Quote: "Be the change you want to see in the world" - Mahatma Gandhi

Reason to smile: Me - where I am now, compared to where I was - physically, spiritually, mentally, family...

Siblings: one older brother

Time I wake up: it really varies, recently I've been driving Kosh to work (be there by 6am) so it's been early. But starting tomorrow, well, I suppose I'll say between 8am & 12 noon :p

Unusual Talent or Skill: I can list one eyebrow. The right one. Just that one eyebrow tho. I'd also like to think I am above average at Boggle (or Scramble as it's known in facebook)

Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: Brussel Sprouts. dis.gus.ting!

Worst Habit: nail-biting. self-flagellation.

X-rays: I've had a few taken, yeah. mainly for proof of no TB: US visa requirements!

Yummy Stuff: Ben&Jerry's Dublin Mudslide! Nasi lemak with loads of sambal!! A gook "kau kau" teh tarik!!!

Zoo Animal I Like Most: When was the last time I've *been* to the zoo???? Elephants, perhaps?

Okay, there you have it ... steal at will :)

btw - if you're that kind of anal, here are my responses to a similar A-Z meme back in March 2006 :)

cry-worthy tomes

If you've been reading me long enough, you know I consume loads of books. Sometimes I really really really get into a book or series, or author. Rarely does a book move me to tears, though. As much as I can get caught up in the tale, as much as I may occasionally relate all too well with one character or another, with the whole situation, all that jazz, I don't usually cry.

There are, of course, exceptions, that prove the rule:

I do remember blinking back tears reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (I think it was stuff around the burial scene that did it). Okay so if I hadn't been in LAX - or was it on the plane somewhere between LAX and KUL? - I probably would have bawled my eyes out :p

And I quote myself from here when writing about the final (haha) book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series: "I actually stopped reading about halfway thru – FORCED myself to stop, in fact, ... because I was starting to cry my eyes out at what was happening to the characters."

Heck I'm pretty sure I cried at Black Beauty and The Outsiders too, now that I think about it :-)

There might be one or two more ... :)

... but a book that totally moved me, to the point that just thinking about the book tugs at my heart and chokes up my throat, is that of people of a land banished from existence, whose name had been deleted, no one outside the area even remembered that it once had a name, while those few remaining who were born/alive prior to the "deletion" were unable to utter its name... and how a small band of such folk strove to reverse the curse, so that TIGANA could once more be said, be remembered, be honored.

If you read only one Guy Gavriel Kay book in your life, please read this one.

You can come back and tell me if you liked it or not.
I have a feeling you'll be deeply affected by it.
As was I.

As I am being affected again, now, by Ysabel. I'm only halfway through it, although I only started reading it this evening, and I'll probably be done with it before sleeping tonight (read; I won't sleep till I'm done reading!). I'm not moved to tears, it's not that kind of tale, but I am totally hooked by all that I've read in the 230pgs I've consumed so far. A juxtaposition of our modern world with that of ancient Celts and Romans, and the playing out of 2500 year old love triangle of sorts. I'm rooting for a modern resolution to this recurring pattern. We'll see....

... so ... do *you* have any tear-worthy or otherwise extremely impactful tomes to recommend? I'd love to hear about 'em whether via comments or as a full post in yr own blog (with a comment here pointing me there lah, of course) :)

(p/s this is my first try at blogger's scheduled publishing thingamajig - writing this at 10:20pm but will set it to publish at 12:05mn)