30 : jun : 2007 Day 150 "It's about remembering a time when danger wasn't a dirty word. It's safer to put a boy in front of a PlayStation for a while, but not in the long run. The irony of making boys' lives too safe is that later they take worse risks on their own. You only have to push a baby boy hard on a swing and see his face light up. It's not learned behaviour - he's hardwired to enjoy a little risk. Ask any man for a good memory from childhood and he'll tell you about testing his courage or getting injured. No one wants to see a child get hurt, but we really did think the bumps and scratches were badges of honour, once . . . The dark side of masculinity may involve gangs and aggression, but there's another side - self-discipline, wry humour and quiet determination." ~ Conn Iggulden. "Boys will be boys, if only we let them be." The Straits Times. 30 June 2007. Review Section, Page S14. 29 : jun : 2007 Day 149 Say "Cheese!" 28 : jun : 2007 Day 148 Eyes. Tired. Sick. Falling. 27 : jun : 2007 Day 147 And before I collapse from exhaustion We are on The Hunt again. We had an interesting applicant who wrote that one of her strengths was that she was very hardworking and would not rest until the task at hand was completed. And then, like all savvy job applicants, she cleverly declared herself under weaknesses: a "workalcoholic". Oh yes, I can see how that would be a weakness - drinking on the job, tsk! tsk! Next! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ As I led The Master's Guest into the room to await his arrival, I enquired if they were expecting a long meeting. Oh no, he said almost sheepishly. He gestured to the few bottles of wine he had brought along (which I had not noticed before) and quickly added that it was just going to be one tonight. "Oh, again." I think he could actually hear my eyes rolling. And I remembered too late that this was The Master's Guest after all. Ah well . . . I think I'm turning into a prude. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Sometimes, after you've had to deal with one too many people's angst at work, you really don't feel like, nor think you should have to, deal with more from other people outside of work. Quota for the day exceeded. So there. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ But as the new and rather attractive distractions stepped through the doorway, she recovered quickly enough. It was like watching one of those amazing Photoshop touch-up videos - as first, the darkened eyes widened and grew bright; back straightened and arched to lean the body forward; pursed lips gave way to a curvaceous smile, thus lifting cheekbones and brows that caught the light; face turned slightly to the side and angled at the beckoning of a coy smile; and then laughter, loud, so easily now. 26 : jun : 2007 Day 146 Apple-ginger crumble with vanilla ice-cream. Mmmm. 25 : jun : 2007 Day 145 Or not. SIGH! The Boy Who Cried Wolf He wants to resign. He doesn't want to resign. He wants to resign. He doesn't want to resign. Bah. What a tease. Well, she's got a point about not gaming the system and threatening to quit just to get your way. It is most undignified - especially when you find yourself furiously back-pedalling, and suddenly all about loving what you are doing and apologising for earlier "misunderstandings", when you realise how eager the company is to accept your resignation. On Awakening I . . . no, we - the family - were in an old house. We were . . . curiously, house-hunting. It was a large house. There were many rooms . . . unfilled spaces, linked by other rooms, like passageways. And there were many mirrors on the walls . . . though there was only the opaque gleams of their still surfaces as I walked past - revealing nothing. I cannot remember the colour of the walls. Perhaps they were grey . . . grey in the way almost everything was in monochrome . . . just like the rooms were unfilled spaces in the same way. There was a simple garden at one end of the house - a pleasant spread of verdant green, unadorned . . . no trees . . . no flowers . . . not unlike the rooms. I remembered only . . . this feeling of calm. And I thought how wonderful it would be for the dogs. And around the corner, just beyond the house, a horizon of green and vague recollections of some kind of construction work, a few tall buildings and a strange silver-white and very tall and narrow mechanical contraption moving about . . . very sci-fi. And I made a note to watch that the dogs did not wander too far that way. There was blue somewhere . . . water . . . either a pool next to the garden or it was a canal by the construction site. So this was the house we were thinking about moving into (???) - an old and strange, very strange, house. I thought about distant footsteps and half-remembered voices . . . I thought about ghosts . . . but I felt none of these, nor fear or anxiety, as I wandered these unfilled spaces. I felt, instead, a measured anticipation, at the thought of moving into this 'new' place. I wonder what last night's dream means. 24 : jun : 2007 Day 144 Another one bites the dust. Or not? 23 : jun : 2007 Day 143 22 : jun : 2007 Day 142 In which a Rocking Horse turns out to be a Unicorn, and a Charging Ram must needs become a Little Lamb. Mehhh!!! 21 : jun : 2007 Day 141 R.I.P. Sniff. 20 : jun : 2007 Day 140 Why are we waiting...... Am Not a Liar!!! Mutter... SCORPIO - The Addict EXTREMELY adorable. Intelligent. Loves to joke. Very Good sense of humour. Energetic. Predict future. GREAT kisser. Always get what they want. Attractive. Easy going. Loves being in long relationships. Talkative. Romantic. Caring. 4 years of bad luck if you do not forward. VIRGO - The One that Waits Dominant in relationships. Someone loves them right now. Always wants the last word. Caring. Smart. Loud. Loyal. Easy to talk to. Everything you ever wanted. Easy to please. The one and only. 7 years of bad luck if you do not forward. LIBRA - The Lame One Nice to everyone they meet. Their Love is one of a kind. Silly, fun and sweet. Have own unique appeal. Most caring person you will ever meet! However not the kind of person you wanna mess with... you might end up crying... 9 years of bad luck if you do not forward. ARIES - The Liar Outgoing. Lovable. Spontaneous. Not one to mess with. Funny. Excellent kisser. EXTREMELY adorable. Loves relationships. Addictive. Loud. 16 years of bad luck if you do not forward. AQUARIUS - Does It In The Water Trustworthy. Attractive. Great kisser. One of a kind. Loves being in long-term relationships. Extremely energetic. Unpredictable. Will exceed your expectations. Not a Fighter, but will knock your lights out. 2 years of bad luck if you do not forward. GEMINI - Irresistible Nice. Love is one of a kind. Great listeners. Very Good in the you know where... Lover not a fighter, but will still knock you out. Trustworthy. Always happy. Loud. Talkative. Outgoing. VERY FORGIVING. Loves to make out. Has a beautiful smile. Generous. Strong. THE MOST IRRESISTIBLE. 9 years of bad luck if you do not forward. LEO - The Lion Great talker. Attractive and passionate. Laid back. Knows how to have fun. Is really good at almost anything. Great kisser. Unpredictable. Outgoing. Down to earth. Addictive. Attractive. Loud. Loves being in long relationships. Talkative. Not one to mess with. Rare to find. Good when found. 7 years of bad luck if you do not forward. CANCER - The Cutie MOST AMAZING KISSER. Very high appeal. Love is one of a kind. Very romantic. Most caring person you will ever meet! Entirely creative. Extremely random and proud of it. Freak. Spontaneous. Great telling stories. Not a Fighter, but will Knock your lights out if it comes down to it. Someone you should hold on to. 12 years of bad luck if you do not forward. PISCES - The Partner for Life Caring and kind. Smart. Center of attention. High appeal. Has the last word. Good to find, hard to keep. Fun to be around.Extremely weird but in a good way. Good Sense of Humor!!! Thoughtful. Always gets what he or she wants. Loves to joke. Very popular. Silly, fun and sweet. 5 years of bad luck if you do not forward. CAPRICORN - The Passionate Lover Love to bust. Nice. Sassy. Intelligent. Sexy. Predict future. Irresistible. Loves being in long relationships. Great talker. Always gets what he or she wants. Cool. Loves to own Gemini's in sports. Extremely fun. Loves to joke. Smart. 24 years of bad luck if you do not forward. TAURUS - The Tramp Aggressive. Loves being in long relationships. Likes to give a good fight for what they want. Extremely outgoing. Loves to help people in times of need. Good kisser. Good personality. Stubborn. A caring person. One of a kind. Not one to mess with. Are the most attractive people on earth! 15 years of bad luck if you do not forward. SAGITTARIUS - The Promiscuous One Spontaneous. High appeal. Rare to find. Great when found. Loves being in long relationships. So much love to give. Not one to mess with. Very pretty. Very romantic. Nice to everyone they meet. Their Love is one of a kind. Silly, fun and sweet. Have own unique appeal. Most caring person you will ever meet! Amazing in the you know where!!! Not the kind of person you wanna mess with - you might end up crying. 4 years of bad luck if you do not forward. (Source: ???) 19 : jun : 2007 Day 139 Miss Fix-it* * AKA "What I Do When WoW Is Down For Its Weekly Maintenance" I put together two sets of Ikea PS Wardrobes tonight. One went to The Sister whose clothes have overfloweth from the main wardrobe and crawled to one corner of her room where they continue to grow in stature, and who also has a drawer of brassieres threatening to burst - like, how many boobs do you have??? The other was for the household, so Mum can sort the family's laundry more systematically and we can each re-sort if necessary at the main collection point instead of me having to keep bringing out the 2-cups-too-big-brassieres or 2-sizes-too-small-skirts from my room and redistributing them to their rightful bodies. And oh yeah, Xena The Dog was happy with the new purchase too ;-) ZOMG!!! Live manta birth!!! And the video here. In Retrospect "In the 4th lunar month from 19 May to 18 June, you must watch the health of loved ones, especially those born in the years of cow, sheep, dog and dragon. If they have any problems, they should see a doctor early. Avoid attending funerals or visiting the sick. Spend more time with families. Try to stay at home more. You should beware about being stubborn and not being flexible and missing opportunities. So be flexible and not seek perfection or it will cause you much worries." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Yeah, I've been staying home lots - to WoW. LOL. 18 : jun : 2007 Day 138 Elmo is 5 years old today :-D Big Bada Boom! And this is all there is because anymore and my - to their credit - astute readers would know a little too much about me. 17 : jun : 2007 Day 137 And you know you've had too much when you right-click your mouse in an attempt to tilt the camera angle while viewing a blog. 16 : jun : 2007 Day 136 15 : jun : 2007 Day 135 TGIF! 14 : jun : 2007 Day 134 So. Zzzoned. Evolving I am seriously thinking that The Master is definitely somewhere along the autism spectrum. Really. It's that almost childlike interest in people and events around him and how he takes everything in and...god knows what he does with all that in...outer space...because the next thing I know, the walls shift, the air shimmers ever so slightly, and I find myself in the midst of one of his monologues. Or like last evening, when he started to rant at me about work and before I could even let the verbal torrent make its usual exit from my other ear, he had just as suddenly wandered off to...I can't even remember now what it was - something else that he decided was more interesting. (And I thought my attention span was short.) And he was back again in a brownian breath, to ask me about the poems. How the...I don't even want to know why he was digging where he was - I'm too horrified by the thought that he had also seen the contraband I uncovered myself. ZOMG. But since he doesn't seem to have gone blind, maybe he didn't go far enough. Yet. I finally got hold of White Oleander. Stayed up past midnight for it. Michelle Pfeiffer is as luminous as ever. I still remember her from Ladyhawke. I remember thinking she was so perfectly otherworldly that it was almost unreal. Anyway, Oleander, good show. Go watch. I also really want to catch Ian McKellen in King Lear but only the $250, $300 and $400 tickets are left, and The Best Friend "won't spend 250 to watch old man be mean to daughter". Laugh! She's so funny. And CirCe wants me to hang out with her and the girls from work at The Arena Saturday night. But the guild's K2 team is really counting on some love Friday and Saturday nights at Karazhan. Ohhh, I dunno. Shall I stay home and spend the night with the boys grinding for really, really, cool gear? Or shall I spend it instead watching CirCe get chatted up by A Very Nice Man while his inevitably Boring Man-Friend (who's most probably thinking the exact same thing) and I stoically hold Fort Yawning. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions. Anyway, the morning's almost gone and I have to make my way to work now. I had a bite of the carrot last night and decided I quite like the taste of it enough to return for more. Very important note to self: To manage a jealous 'aunty', do not overperform or outshine her or she will be envious of you and cause you harm. Praise her. Do not criticise her. Spend more time with her and talk to her about mundane affairs and gain her favour. So spake Master Bok. In fact, better still, why not be an 'aunty' myself too? Hmmm. Runs off to LMD for lessons. Hehehe. You know, I haven't quite slept for the last 4 days. 13 : jun : 2007 Day 133 You like me. You really, really like me :-) Shedding It's no longer about whether I can do it. (Well, I guess anyone could do it if they stayed as long in one place.) It's no longer even about whether you think I can do it. (Because dammit, I CAN do it, and I know you know that.) It's about how badly you WANT me to do it. Ground zero... 12 : jun : 2007 Day 132 Itching Somewhat grouchy today - 'somewhat' only as opposed to 'seriously grouchy' considering that I have not bitten off anyone's head...yet. The appraisal for Miss Bodoh-wood has been postponed to Wednesday morning. Bad night's sleep - was kept awake the whole night scratching at mossie bites. While I was at it, also noticed my aching ankles. Aaarrrgh. And the run-down airconditioning unit didn't help. After tossing around for the umpteen time, dragged myself out of bed to spray myself with insect repellent and rubbed my ankles down with Tiger Balm. Have taken the afternoon off. Going to try out the new yoga studio in River Valley and then look at the Van Gogh collection of moleskines at Paragon. Maybe I'll pick up a standing fan on the way home. I need a good night's sleep - gonna be a long day AND night tomorrow. On second - and more sober - thought, maybe the prickly skin is a reaction to the alcohol consumed over the last few days. Sigh. But I did so enjoyed the lychee martini last night at Highlander. And of course, there was that most interestingly uninhibited conversation last night with The Water Girls. I learnt that it doesn't matter how good-looking he is if he's got a broken bendy - unless you would be happy with just cuddling. So girls, if you happen to meet a certain gorgeous Latin, he's probably too good to be true. Before I forget - Nectarie's lavender and honey ice-cream. Exquisite, almost. Anyway, one more day... 11 : jun : 2007 Day 131 Today, like every other day, I looked forward to my dog's welcome-home frenzy. 10 : jun : 2007 Day 130 What do you look forward to as you make your way home every night? 09 : jun : 2007 Day 129 08 : jun : 2007 Day 128 Better late than never, I suppose - though I've got a feeling everyone's going to be reporting on time next week. Heh. Pretty Things And while you're visiting, a few of you might remember this old-timer from MUD :-) 07 : jun : 2007 Day 127 Absolut Heaven: 7-Up 'Bite' and Absolut Pears. Revenge of the Salmon Anyone knows where a decent but not-indecently priced (read: will not require me to make an indecent proposal to a man to buy me dinner) kaiseki can be had? And certainly nothing in the region of US$500 per head - but the Vanity Fair article is a fascinating read anyhow. I am in need of some "revenge sashimi" after the icky salmon sashimi at Aji Tei Kyoto Sabo (Bugis Junction 01-88-09, Tel: 6333 9880) last night - the texture was all wrong and the flesh didn't hold together. ICK. But that being said, I think the place warrants a return because I liked everything else we had for dinner - pork ribs (succulent and FATTY! heh), nagoya chicken wings (yummilicious), lotus root chips (very addictive), soft bone chicken (interesting), grilled salmon head (it wasn't icky like the salmon sashimi), Peach Ball souchu cocktail (hic! 'nuff said) and Strawberry Parfait (sweet - but not for the lactose intolerant). I just won't be having the old-woman-salmon-sashimi. ICK. 06 : jun : 2007 Day 126 For WoW Fans Now you know where they got their moves from. Don't you wish it was Peanut Butter Jelly Time now? Too damn corny. Heh. 05 : jun : 2007 Day 125 Post-yoga fruit beer. One high after another. Niceee. 04 : jun : 2007 Day 124 Moody Monday. Like, fuck lor So The Boss tells Crazy to see to the completion of a simple task because, well, The Boss says so, right? The Boss adds that Crazy should get the go-ahead from me because she is on leave today, which means I'm holding the fort, and well, The Boss says so, right? So Crazy gets me to help with proofreading, and then gives ME the go-ahead to deliver the completed task to its destination. Like, fuck YOU lor. Where got a low level try to own a ??? level one? You never play WoW before izit? So after I had taken many, many deep breaths to clear the crimson miasma that was obstructing my sight at that moment, I returned the vetted work to Crazy and gave her the go-ahead because, well, The Boss said so, right? Then, another clown informs me that he had come in on Sunday to clear the bottomless pit of backlog (which mysteriously grows a new and deeper bottom everytime we manage to help him clear the old bottom), and by the way, could I sign his leave form? Like, fuck lor. So you have been giving up your weekend R&R to work overtime, in exchange for two full days' worth of time-off during the work week. No wonder the backlog never gets cleared and only seems to grow bigger. Not surprisingly, Miss Bodoh-wood is still busy dancing around trees in Lalaland, and all that head-spinning must be catching because I'm beginning to see stars just vetting her work, which continues to be riddled with all sorts of bloodcurdling mistakes, in spite and despite the detailed instructions and ad nauseam times she made me repeat them. And just as suddenly, her head stopped spinning long enough for her to spot this and forward it to me. Like fuck lor. How about you give me your pay so I can go buy some blood to replace the pints I've vomitted? To wrap up my Monday nicely, I deleted (don't ask) some five or six work folders from my Eudora mailbox, which though not critical, contained rather important information I would have very much liked not to have deleted. Like, fuck liao lor. And yeah, don't ask. So, how was your Monday? 03 : jun : 2007 Day 123 Shrek!* (Also sound made by CirCe - ok, maybe more like "HRRREEKKK!!!" when she finds out that the reason why we didn't get to watch it sooner on Saturday was because I ignored her SMS and call so I could grind for these sweet babies. Heh.) 02 : jun : 2007 Day 122 01 : jun : 2007 Day 121 Lick My Face Heh. Heh. Heh. Not that my face would taste anything like ice-cream... dog drool is more like it, I think. So, anyone remembers the pink one with the brown face? It was really quite yummy, as I recall.