Thursday, June 24, 2010
Yummy stuff ahead
*props chin to admire some more*
All pics swiped from Jet City Cakes.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Emo goth, moi?
Within Temptation's operatic goth/symphonic rock style is fabulous. They suffer comparisons to Evanescence, but I think that they have a wider repertoire to their American counterpart. It also helps that Sharon den Andel sounds really good live, which, unfortunately, cannot be said for Amy Lee.
Enjoy.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Feel guilty no more!
"It's in my genes."
Everyone knows if you have such genetic predispositions you are a victim and have no control over yourself.
So there.
*snerk*
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Word of the Day
An error in chronology, esp. the placing of an event later than its real date; error of this kind.
Everyone knows that Evelyne's claim about her real age is nothing but a parachronism.Monday, June 14, 2010
The universe is out to screw you when ...
Except for The Doctor.
It must be a tragedy but yet I am consumed by the desire to giggle madly.
And I'm not even a fan of the show.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Electrons going haywire
Electrons power the Internet. Yay!
As a reading addict, the Internet is both a boon and bane. The sheer amount of information anyone with a connection can access is almost unimaginable. Consider that a person of my stature fifty years ago would not even get to read a fraction of the stuff I could get my grubby paws on right now.
With all the gadgets that we have now; 3G cellphones (4G now?), iPads, netbooks, PDAs, we are connected 24/7. Services such as Twitter and Facebook keep us connected with people we wouldn't have thought about in years, much less care that they are alive. It gives us a false sense of popularity. Sometimes I see people with more than a thousand friends and I marvel at how they check their friends' status updates.
Maybe they don't bother.
E-mails used to be an exotic wonder when I was an undergraduate. Not many people have Internet access then (no kids, this was not the prehistoric times. It was a mere dozen years ago) so people keep in touch the old fashioned way.
Semaphores, wireless (no, not WiFi), smoke signals, talking drums, etc.
Just kidding.
The connectivity that we have now can be claustrophobic. Ask anyone whose bosses think nothing off ringing/texting/e-mailing them at all hours just because they can.
Some people think of it as a badge of honour to be hounded so; it makes them feel like a vital cog of the organisation. What it makes you is the go-to patsy. Not to mention that cogs can always be replaced. There are such things called spare parts.
This connectivity is also addictive. Studies have shown that little packets of dopamine rushes are the reason why you keep checking that little LCD screen for the newest status updates/comments/RSS feed/spam in the inbox to be relegated to the trash bin. We are addicted to information and the toys that gave us access to it. Texting messages mean more to us than making we sure we don't wrap our cars around the telephone pole.
Personally, I think that all this information availability at our fingertips is inducing ADHD in us. We learn a lot of things, but not in depth. Tony Schwartz puts it "our attention under siege". This is not good for someone who has the attention span of a gnat (i.e. moi).
Isn't it a good thing my finances don't allow me to get an iPhone?
*scurries off to check for new fanfics*
Sunday, June 6, 2010
You + me + baby makes 3
Again, in these times of gender equality, even fathers get post-partum depression.
Huh.
Wonder if all those concoctions would work on anxious, suicidal daddys too.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
For a sylph-like silhouette
Shape up, tuck in, define - that's what foundation garments are for. They can run anywhere from low down RM 45 to thousands.
My fav quote from the article?
“Spanx for Men is all good, until you meet a chick,” one skeptic warned on Twitter. “You gain 45 lbs when you get naked.”
Alas, there are some things that can never be hidden.
Surgical Word of the Day
Mary daydreamed about plunging a gouge in the cheatin', lyin' heart of her son-of-a-bitchin' boyfriend.
The beautiful painting is by Pino.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Geological Word of the Day
Joe was ignivomous after consuming the leftover vodka.
Oh, and the thing about exploding eggs in the microwave oven? It is not an urban legend. Please take note.
However, if you choose to ignore caution and do it anyway, please take a video and upload it on youtube. Your pain need not be in vain.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Not two-legged sloth
The four-legged ones are sooooo much cuter!!!
Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Go to his website for more dark hilarity.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Beard-ome and the science of aesthetics
Dude, people are doing research on it. Perhaps you just don't have the right genes for it.
*pats him in commiseration*
Who says science geeks aren't creative?
Monday, May 24, 2010
Too many cooks will spoil the broth
But "Whole eggs may be liquid or frozen and shall have been processed and labeled in accordance with the Regulations Governing the Inspection of Eggs and Egg Products (7 CFR Part 59)." ?
I think that is a bit much. Trust the military to complicate desserts.
But you gotta admit the precision of the instruction is truly a thing of beauty.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thank you for being that kind of girl ...
Delish.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Voice soft like summer rain ...
The theme of the song is something that I have never experienced first-hand. I cannot imagine loving someone who loves another in such a way; to humble one-self to ask for clemency from the third party.
I suppose this is the kind of love that drove a person to self-destruction because of its loss. I do like the idea of such an all encompassing love and passion, but the reality of it? Not so much.
Just like how I love my fictional men to be emotionally damaged, but if I met these guys in real life, I'll be running in the other direction so fast, you'd hear the Beep! Beep! of the Road Runner.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Till death do us part
Guys, if you want to keep your marriage, this is the tip ...
Help out with the house work.
This is the findings by Dr Wendy Sigle-Rushton of the London School of Economics. Yes, it was published in a reputable peer reviewed, ISI-indexed journal . You can believe it. It was the outcome of a scientific research. And yes, she works for the leading social science institution in the world.
*rolls eyes*
I mean, c'mon. Common sense, what? You have a household with both partners chipping into the kitty. Your woman also goes to work (just like you!), gets shit shovelled on her by her boss and colleagues (just like you!), gets stuck in commute/traffic (just like you!), is tired and stressed (just like you!), and gets paid less than her male peers (fuckin' unlike you!!!).
She goes home to the breakfast dishes still piled in the sink, the rugrat(s) squalling for her attention and you demanding dinner. So she rolls up her sleeves, starts on dinner and while it's bubbling on the stove, she washes the dishes. What do you do? Sit in front of the tv, beverage in hand ranting about how your favourite team was being ripped off by an unfair referee.
After dinner, you may desultorily play with said rugrat(s) while she cleans up the kitchen, do the laundry (not just dumping the wash in the machine, mind you; this includes folding the clean laundry, putting them away, ironing whatever for tomorrow), makes a grocery list (she just discovered that you put the empty milk/juice carton back in the fridge instead of tossing it into the recycleables bin), check the homework of older rugrats, tidies their toys away etc etc etc.
Once your rough-housing made said rugrat cry, you return him/her to your woman to calm him/her down while you go off for your shower, proud that you've been a fantastic daddy and spent quality time with your progeny. After that was the sacred hour with the boob tube, then you lock down the house in preparation of going to bed. Mean time, your woman has her own shower (after tucking in the kids, making sure their bags are all ready for school the next day, read the same Dr Seuss book for the gazillionth time for bedtime story without puking) and slides under the covers for a comfy 30 minute with the book she bought two months ago but hasn't had the time to finish.
When you come to bed, she'd already nodded off, but you were feeling frisky and wanted a little lovin'.
And then you wonder why she gets this way.
Tsk tsk.
Seriously guys. She's not asking for much. Put up the toilet seat. Toss your dirty clothes in the hamper. Stack stuff in the dishwasher. Mow the lawn. Do the grocery shopping. And if she gives you hell for not doing it the "right" way, it's because she's been doing it for a long time and knows how to do it well and efficiently. Be a little patient.
Besides, if she's not worn from doing too much, she's more welcoming to your amorous advances.
*grin*
This is not an advertisement
Go to myeg.com.my.
It's a portal that helps you with stuff from renewing your driving licence, checking for traffic violations to getting a new MyCard.
*lovingly caress my new driving licence that is good for another 5 years*
Oh, if you're interested, I applied for a new one just yesterday afternoon and today they've couriered it over. Really fast, hassle free.
Go on. Check it out.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
It's a quarter after one ...
I am gone.
Enjoy Lady Antebellum's Need You Now.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
More than plugging the leaks
No, they are not small dishes for food. Dengue patients often proclaim proudly how low their platelet count was and still they didn't die.
"Mine was only 9*, you know? I'm lucky to be alive!"
So what do platelets do?
They are tiny cell fragments that circulate in your blood and stop you from bleeding to death.
And apparently, they do more than that.
This is the reason why people should stop believing that just because something is a scientific fact, it is immutable. Science evolves, people. As we develop more new toys to look at tinier things, calculate bigger numbers, the more we learn how little we know.
* 9 X 109
The normal range for platelets is 150-400 x 109 per litre. (Wikipedia)
Sunday, May 2, 2010
We are all the heroes of our own story
Keep your feet grounded, sugar. Most of the time the shit that happens to you is not personal.
Peace.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Too much television will do this to you
I get this a lot from people who met me for the first time. No, I'd gently correct them, I am a local product. No, I have never lived overseas in English-speaking countries. Short tour visits do not count, dammit.
Today, an American commented that I sounded, well, like an American.
This is particularly hilarious considering how I could barely read, much less speak English till I was 11. It helped to have a sadistic sister who took away all of my Malay storybooks one school holiday and made me read Nancy Drew in English. When she got tired of telling what the words mean (which was every five words and everything more than 4 alphabets), she tossed a dictionary in the general direction of my head and went into hiding.
There were no shortcuts, no amazing linguistic talent, unlike said sadistic sister who learned English by watching Sesame Street. I would watch the same thing she did and anything that didn't have subtitles (e.g. Fawlty Towers) was of no interest to me. But force me to read she did and lo, and behold! After three books, I could hobble along well enough sans dictionary. I proceeded to devour every Carolyn Keen, Trixie Belden and Enid Blyton books in my school library, disdaining the translated version.
You may think; why would I slog through the Nancy Drew when I could just give it up? It was so hard (though nowhere near the pain of passing a gallstone). Truth is, I could give up reading the way a smoker/alcoholic/drug addict would foreswear their poison of choice. It is a compulsion, an addiction that has gotten me into trouble numerous times, but still, stop I cannot.
How badly am I hooked? The next time you're stuck in traffic in Klang Valley, if you see a demented woman in the next car who is angling her book to get maximum light for reading? That is probably me.
But I digress.
Sounding American? That is a first for me. A close pal, whose first encounter with me was watching me give my honours thesis presentation, once said that her first impression of me was that I was a Singaporean; she wondered what was this Singaporean girl doing studying in Malaysia. Another schoolmate actually inquired if I was from Thailand; she said that I did not sound like a Malaysian when I speak Malay.
I will, reluctantly, acknowledge that I do have an accent; and it varies depending on how nervous I am. I could sound like I went to public school in England or like a German newscaster (beautifully accentless). What not many people know, is that the more nervous I am, the more foreign I sound. So yeah, that pseudo-Oxford whatsit? Usually comes out during interviews. :p
Really, if you have a small talent at mimicry, imitating people on tv shows aren't that hard. Especially when you know how the words are spelt.
*grin*
Friday, April 23, 2010
Battle of the Bulge
Report of the the latest three weight loss drugs to hit the market seems to be on the ho hum side, irrespective of the so-called obesity epidemic. One drug makes you goofy and forgetful, while the other gives you a bad taste in the mouth. Literally.
Like as not, there are no shortcuts to weight loss.
Bummer.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
X & Y, sitting on a tree ... K-I-S-S-I-N-G ...
Her tranquil answer was, "You gotta have faith when it all feels right."
I marvel at her faith and courage to take such a risk. Marriage is a long-term contract; in Islam, the solemnisation affair 'aqd literally means that, a contract. How do you make sure that the person you chose to wake up next to for the rest of your life is the right person?
Is there a happily ever after promised after the ring is on the finger? No. There is no guarantee that you will be happy with that person for the rest of your life, but there is a promise to try and make things work with that person. Surely the fact that you said yes, that person is important to you; important enough that you are willing to take the risk of it all blowing up in your face.
In this disposable world, many seem to think that if a spouse didn't work out, you can always throw that person away and get another model. Just look in the gossip rags; the blushing bride of the magnificent wedding a few weeks/months/years ago is now the virago ex-wife demanding her rights (and share) in the court. The groom who once professed undying love and devotion is now coldly enumerating her faults and failings as a wife and/or mother.
Why does this happen? Do people change that much once they said "I do"? Could it be that people have unrealistic expectations of their partner even before they committed to matrimony? Could it be because during courtship showing one's true colour is considered de trop and you only found out that your beloved refuse to shower on weekends or cook the dishes your mommy used to make when it's too late?
Being realistic about the candidates for one's hand is a must. We all have dreams of our ideal partners, but what are the likelihood of meeting the perfect someone who reads Sartre, enjoy long walks on the beach and can make a mean espresso? Lori Gottlieb pointed out that if he/she has annoying habits at the cinema or is hopeless at choosing the wine, said person should still be a viable contender.
Should we settle? Or is that settling?
I had thought that the culture of having your spouse chosen for you by your family member takes a lot of stress out of the whole selection process. Not so according to my friends whose families still use traditional matchmakers. There are all the angst of viewing the possible groom/bride and finding that person is still not right/not fair enough/not funny enough and just simply ... not enough.
Huh.
I wonder if I would have the courage of Siti Khadijah and ask a man to marry me.
*grin*
Not mine, but sharing
Office Buzz Words and Phrases for the 21st Century
· BLAMESTORMING
Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
· SEAGULL MANAGER
A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.
· CHAINSAW CONSULTANT
An outside expert brought in to reduce the employee headcount, leaving the top brass with clean hands.
· CUBE FARM
An office filled with cubicles.
· MOUSE POTATO
The on-line, wired generation's answer to the couch potato.
· PRAIRIE DOGGING
When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on.
· SITCOMs
(Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage) What yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids.
· STARTER MARRIAGE
A short-lived first marriage that ends in divorce with no kids, no property and no regrets.
· STRESS PUPPY
A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.
· SWIPED OUT
An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because the magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.
· TOURISTS
People who take training classes just to get a vacation from their jobs. "We had three serious students in the class; the rest were just tourists."
· TREEWARE
Hacker slang for documentation or other printed material.
· XEROX SUBSIDY
Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one's workplace.
· CHIPS & SALSA
Chips = hardware, Salsa = software. "Well, first we gotta figure out if the problem's in your chips or your salsa."
· PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE
The fine art of whacking the heck out of an electronic device to get it to work again. (Try not to dent the case.)
· SALMON DAY
The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.
· CLM
(Career Limiting Move) Used among microserfs to describe ill- advised activity. Trashing your boss while he or she is within earshot is a serious CLM.
· ADMINISPHERE
The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve.
· DILBERTED
To be exploited and oppressed by your boss. Derived from the experiences of Dilbert, the geek-in-hell comic strip character.
"I've been Dilberted again. The old man revised the specs for the fourth time this week."
· 404
Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error message
"404 Not Found," meaning that the requested document could not be located. "Don't bother asking him ... he's 404, man."
All courtesy of my friend, The Traveller.
Wallowing in auditory bliss
Next: Rammstein!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Existential medicine
Apparently, hallucinogens can be good for you. However, there are caveats.
Whatever. Time to harvest my 'shrooms.
*pops a few acid before heading out*
Monday, April 12, 2010
Tick tock
Many people are surprised when I say that I don't hear my biological clock ticking. Just because I am a female above a certain age who is unmarried and obviously not going forth and multiplying. Does possession of mammary glands mean that one is destined to chase for motherhood at all cost?
Being married doesn't mean that one will be a parent. It can be a choice (yes, there are people who do not want children) or not. For the latter, well-meaning acquaintances (and family who should know better) often pour acid upon the gaping wound by asking (pointedly and otherwise), "When are you gonna have children?"
I have decided to never ask a married person that question; having known some couples who try so hard and still not blessed with rugrats. Having snide comments about your fertility and queries of family planning (what business is it of yours, seriously?) is very painful and embarrassing. So if you fall into the nosy and tactless category, please, rethink what you want to say and when you want to say it.
It seems easy to say adoption should be the way to go for those not blessed, but not very many people are willing and/or able to love children who is not their flesh and blood. It can boil down to an evolutionary imperative, but sometimes you just don't have that kind of love. It's not a bad thing, but we should be honest because adoption isn't like the mail; there is no return to sender.
A little non-sequitur, but ...
Why not adopt an embryo instead?
(Okay, fine ... I can't figure out a better segue, so sue me)
You can track down the family history of your child and even have an extended family for him/her if you want (Canada practices open adoption). Of course, it will open a whole can of worms later on (what if the adoptive parent(s) die? Must the biological parents take up responsibility?) but I think it can be a logical solution. The mother and father can bond over the child during the pregnancy and it is very clear that the child is not theirs genetically but can be theirs in every other way possible.
It is definitely a logical solution for unmarried Muslim women who wants to have children and also experience being pregnant. They can't go for the turkey baster method as it is haram (forbidden) to have children with men with whom they are not married (i.e. the sperm donor). However, here is a chance for you to adopt a child and enjoy the pregnancy experience to boot.
So, what are you waiting for?
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
OCD, much?
Religious rituals like prayer often follow a set of procedures, usually clearly proscribed. For Muslims, ablutions, clean clothing is a must and the prayers follow a certain timeline daily. As a child, I was taught that there are many rules governing the prayer rituals and missing/screwing any will mean that I have to start from scratch.
It made me very anxious about prayers as a child; and I am sure there are many who had similar experience. For some, this anxiety spills over into adulthood, or rather, become transmogrified into obsessive compulsive disorder. OCD affects people across the board, regardless of faith (or lack of them) but I do wonder if emphasis on formalities and ritualistic behaviour has anything to do with the development of OCD.
You have people who wash their hands multiple times or wipe their feet or jiggle all doorknobs three times before entering and so on and so forth. If you ask them to reflect on when these behaviour pattern start to dominate their life, could they pinpoint it? Is it related to certain admonishments (wash your hands or you'll be eating germs!) or traumatic events (the passing of a loved one) or both?
For those who find difficulty in coping with a life bound by such compulsions, help is available. Counselling and help is offered by psychologists and psychiatrists. There is nothing to be ashamed of; we all have our quirks and escapes from the bell curve of normality.
For those who always find their thoughts dominted by was was or syak or uncertainty during prayer, do read what the lovely Dr Asri has to say about this. This is definitely one of the reasons he is my favourite religious scholar of this generation.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
In praise of unfaithfulness
In friendships, at least. *grin*
I am blessed that I have a friend for every activity I enjoy. I have my movie kaki, my TV geek kaki, my foodie kaki and so on. My friends are a wonderful and diverse bunch, very much a smorgasbord. As delightful as they are, they can't all share all of my interest so I have a special pal for every occasion. Aren't I lucky?
So here's to friends: long may they enrich your life!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Give the mike to me!
I am fortunate to live in a Muslim country where a Muslim woman can get an education, go out to work, get married to whom she wants and wear pretty much what she wants. Reading some of the work by the sublime Fatima Mernissi and the experiences of Muslim women in other countries (particularly west of 101 degrees East) made me truly appreciate how wonderful my country can be.
Not saying that all is hunky dory here for the Muslim ladies; divorce still tend to favour men and the Syariah court is hideously slow and toothless when it comes to child support and ta'liq (conditional divorce; the man swears before witnesses during the wedding solemnisation ceremony that his wife can apply for divorce if he deserts her and/or did not provide material support and/or did not provide sexual relations and/or abuses her. The theory is that in such cases, the wife may bring supporting material to support desertion/abuse claim and the Syariah Court is to grant her a near automatic divorce.).
But surely the first religion to allow women to inherit, obtain divorce and choose her husband can not be all bad, right?