RACONTEUR-ESQUE SCRIBBLINGS

And I feel fine... Yeah, 2010 - good bye. I'm doing my annual review of the year a tad bit earlier this year, what with this platform being more of a pressurising chore instead of a hobby that was once well loved. Maybe a few days break of not having that nagging feeling to post a post might help me in this front. We'll see in the next year. If I were to describe 2010 in one word, I'd use the word INCONSEQUENTIAL, because, really - it didn't seem to have any significance at all. It was there, always in the background challenging you to keep up with it. Sometimes you ran to catch up, and sometimes you just threw your hands in the air and went and slept. It was that kind of year. Stuff That Made 2010 (Things that happened, stuff I learned, stuff I did, etc) 1. This was the year of vacations, with friends and family, overseas and local. While the vacation itself was good, coming back and facing the realities of life was tough. 2. Made a total of four (4!) new friends ...

The afternoon was scattered with thunder and lightning and rain - not too heavy, but continuous. Our very trusty weather forecaster, the local satellite TV extraordinaire dotted it's screens with messages of service not available (although I'm sure most Malaysians who subscribe to said satellite TV provider will agree that they should also state that the reason why service is not available is due to the rain) I also switched off the modem, because well, I really couldn't handle another drama fraught incident with my internet provider in case the modem got fried. Therefore, with the afternoon off, and the usual form of entertainment while at home (the internet) being unavailable, I tackled the last bit of organizing my music in an orderly fashion - alphabetically ordered folders, and in cases where there were more than 3 songs for a particular artist, they get their own folder too! I must say it was a task that was strangely calming, and the mild (but annoying!) headache th...

Over a year ago, comic fans all over the world were furious to discover that Disney was buying over Marvel Comics and reacted in a somewhat extreme manner (or so I thought), which I found utterly confusing until a friend explained the reason behind the Marvel Comics fans reactions. Original post here   - and if you were as confused as I was over the reaction of comic fans, pay attention to the explanation in the comments by Cyberfish.  I found myself with perhaps about 10 other people in a cold and darkened room while pursuing my 3D movie quest before the year closes yesterday evening. I had a choice between the latest Narnia movie, Tangled, and Tron, but decided to pick Tangled as it had less risk of being over crowded (which was true as there were only about 10 to 12 people there - awesome, I tell you) First of all, I did dig the 3D effects, although I believe I would have looked like a moron in those 3D glasses, and seriously doubted their cleanliness. I did wipe the...

While replying to an e-mail thread to the last few *surviving old friends I have this evening, I came up with the conclusion that December doesn't really exist in the working world. In fact, it's the month which we use to prepare for the next year - drafting KPIs and whatnots and in some cases, to complete stuff that ends the year - accounts, for instance. Towards the end of last month, I before the "December does not exist" epiphany hit me, I was forced to admit that I might need a list to get some stuff done before the year ends. I do it at work, so I didn't see why I couldn't use a list to get personal things done as well. That particular night, I wanted to call it my **year end resolutions and post it up on Facebook, for two very clear reasons - it's the end of the year as we know it, and if  I don't do the items I listed, I can kick myself as we usher in the new year, but then I procrastinated (nothing new there), and the next thing I know, I hav...

Third time's a charm? Probably not... I spent Sunday night worrying endlessly about a relatively simple procedure that involves the removal of a wayward wisdom tooth which was scheduled for Monday afternoon. I had taken the afternoon off, and spent most of the morning trying my best to cram up as much work as I possibly could. However, something was nagging me to call and reconfirm my appointment with the dentist, which I finally did about 11-ish. A soft voice greets me across the phone, and she says, "Sorry, but the dentist is on emergency leave today. Can you come on Wednesday?"  Seriously? Emergency leave? Noting that this is the third time an attempt to remove the wisdom tooth has failed, I'm beginning to think that the Universe is dead set against me removing my wisdom tooth. Why is it so, I can't explain, but seriously, once or twice is acceptable, but the third time? I'm not sure if I want to go ahead and remove it anymore...

A word of unsolicited advice: If you want to watch a movie based on a book, never ever read the book right before going to the movie. The sister and I decided to spend the morning watching the latest Harry Potter movie, based on the seventh and final book in the series. I usually have an aversion towards movies made from books, especially if I had had my hands on the books first. A total opposite when compared to my view on movies based on books if I had watched the movie first instead. The day started strangely enough, while we were in the line buying our tickets (sadly, e-ticketing is a bit of a pain in the ass for both the sister and I) One of the staff was surveying the line and asked if I was of a certain ethnicity, to which I said yes. He asked me to fill up a customer satisfaction form, and in return, I got a complimentary pass to the movie I wanted to watch! Not bad, eh? PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!! As the books suggest, the plot gets darker as we head towards the end of it all. ...

A few days ago, I received a surprise tag from an old friend on facebook - surprise because I thought tagging on Notes ended when 2009 drew it's last curtain. However, I decided to take on the task of doing the tag, but with a little bit of Secret Agent Woman twist... modified rules! The original Rules are as follows: The Rules - Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen authors, poets included, who've influenced you and will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag a few friends, including me, because I am interested in seeing what authors you choose. To do so, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your fifteen picks, and tag people in the note. I ended up taking a little more than 15 minutes to come up with the list, because I thought I'd explain how each author played a role in my life and how they influenced me and such. 1. Enid Blyton 2. Carolyn Keene  3. Fr...

When you add an 'e' as a prefix to a word, it automatically moves up the ladder of 'high-techness'. Take e-mails for instance, where we bid adieu to stamps, long lines, and late deliveries as well as properly constructed sentences in the process. The other day, my workplace announced that we'll be embracing a new technology known as the e-leave application which will be replacing our old tried and tested, environmentally detrimental and often misused green leave cards as we welcome 2011, and wanted to run a company-wide trial run to iron out any issues beforehand. I think the idea is an excellent one, after all, technology should be embraced, but only to the extent of how much it allows you to embrace it (People who know me well enough know that technology and I have some unresolved issues. My laptop is electrocuting me as we speak) However, the way I see it, this new method to apply leave has a few downsides to it, especially to those people who work in the depar...

I gave iTunes on my laptop the liberty to surprise me with it's choice of a playlist, a feature I never knew it had, which it did with as much enthusiasm as a computer application is apt to. The result was pleasantly surprising, as it seems to have picked up songs which I might have picked myself, had I been dilligent enough. I must admit though, that it's enthusiasm in including a large number of Queen,  R.E.M, Oasis and Thin Lizzy songs was as surprising as the fact that it had decided to (almost) completely ignore the female artists in my music folder! On another note, I watched the movie 500 Days of Summer over the weekend and fell in love all over again with Regina Spektor's music... here's one of her songs which was used in the movie. PS: Please excuse the rather lame topics chosen and passed off as blog posts... the mojo has turned rusty due to lack of use!