The last day

The desk is cleared, the stuff packed and the goodbyes said.

It's time.

See you at another paper, another universe.

Too much shit to deal with at work

Just too much shit

We're all tired (?)

After a long week 09.05

Listening to: Dido's Life For Rent

I'm exhausted just by looking at these pictures.

Don't get me wrong; I always have fun with these folks.

Maybe I'm just exhausted from...well...trying too hard to be agreeable and mild...in other words, someone I am not.

I'm just tired.

A relationship deal breaker

What's yours?

I love week days off

Took Mom's Matrix - just under a month old! - for a spin last night and must say I'm going to be one of them reckless drivers who curse at other reckless drivers. Ha.

Life is such a rush...

...it's a blur.

I passed! I passed!

Look, ma! No hands!

New driver on the road! Stay out of the way!

It's not so bad turning 29

My booty from The Boyfriend 09.05

See? I said it.

I am officially 29 - yesterday, actually - and it feels pretty damn good, the truth be told.

No more pretending to be someone else. No more trying to prove anything to anybody. No more giving a damn about people who don't matter.

This is about me and the people I love. And that is the way it should be.

I got more booty from friends, including lunch/coffee/cake treats, books, clothes and best of all, lotsa well wishes coming in through text messages through the day.

I got the speakers for my iPod. Woooohoooo! (Once a geek, always a geek). And I don't wear jewelry - he knows it - but I'd wear this. Forever.

Will I be posting a note on feeling good about turning 2-10 in a year's time? I'm not sure but I think so.

In the meantime, here's to youth, beauty and wisdom. (uh, private joke. Heh)

Celebrations

Many more years 09.05

"Regret...

“...for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.”
- Sydney J.Harris

We are suckers

Currrent lust item 09.05

Ok, this thing has been causing a wave of excitement among the (mostly) male population in my universe. Chai has ordered one, Ken is drooling and so is the Boyfriend. Yes, it's bloody cute but to shell out more than $400 for essentially what is the iPod - which I already have - but smaller, and smaller capacity! - is just not the wisest purchasing move, I reckon. So I am going to sit tight and check out the Boyfriend's when he buys his.

Monday off

Yum 09.05

Highlights: catching up with Lynn; la mian, xiao long bao @ Din Tai Fung @ Paragon; scooping up a 100% silk shirt @ Tangs for $21; watching Must Love Dogs - all on a Monday afternoon

I think too much

Ok, here's the deal. I think I'm rather efficient at work. I managed to write three stories today.

I also happen to think that I'm rather efficient at creating a private hell for myself. I tend to over-analyse things, pick up on people's little remarks, gestures and looks and read too much into them.

And on the rare occasions I do voice my concerns, insecurities and fears, I end up thinking I was really silly to have felt or thought that way coz most of the time, I end up being wrong. There may be some hideous people out there, but most people are ok.

So what do I do? I hug my pillow real tightly and I sleep.

More such days, please

Rain 09.05

It has started raining and there's nothing I wanna do more than to stay in bed and read.

It's been a really tough two weeks at work since we got back from KL. People have been leaving at a rate that's too quick to replace (quite a few of them are interns, without whom we would die coz there were 4 of them and the 4 of them do a lot of work) and the rest of us have no choice but to pick up the slack. I've also taken over some court stories which I have not been following very closely, so that has been making me more stressed-out too. Been missing some story angles (and an entire story once), so not goooooood.

So the late nights and the stress have taken a toll and I've spent the past two Saturdays - I worked last Sunday and I gotta work later today- being sick and doing nothing. I figure I could fight it and go ahead with my plans or listen to my body and get some rest. And I did the latter. So it's been all work and no fun for me.

Yesterday was quite a wonderful day of nothing doing though. After having dinner with Jac at The Soul Kitchen on Friday, we went home to be homebodies and slept all the way to 10am. (Baby has had a tough week too.) Then we had nasi lemak and soya bean drink in bed while taking our time with the papers, lolled around and watched half of a terrible documentary on TV and put on Ocean's 12.

Then we went for coffee and cake at Siglap's Coffee Club and read, took a walk in the neighbourhood he grew up in, went home for a chicken-rice dinner his mom cooked and went to Breeze at Scarlet Hotel where we drank shots and wine with friends till 2am.

I want to have more such days of doing nothing.

And so does he.

200 Things to Do...

...before you die?

This is a long list...be warned.

Some of them I definitely wanna do...but the rest, no thanks.

1. Bought everyone in the pub a drink
2. Swam with wild dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said "I love you" and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Done a striptease
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long, and watch the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Touched an iceberg
20. Slept under the stars
21. Changed a baby's diaper
22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
23. Watched a meteor shower
24. Gotten drunk on champagne
25. Given more than you can afford to charity
26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Had a food fight
29. Bet on a winning horse
30. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
31. Asked out a stranger
32. Had a snowball fight
33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
35. Held a lamb
36. Enacted a favorite fantasy
37. Taken a midnight skinny dip
38. Taken an ice cold bath
39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
40. Seen a total eclipse
41. Ridden a roller coaster
42. Hit a home run
43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
48. Had two hard drives for your computer
49. Visited all 50 states
50. Loved your job for all accounts
51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
53. Had amazing friends
54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
55. Watched wild whales
56. Stolen a sign
57. Backpacked in Europe
58. Taken a road-trip
59. Rock climbing
60. Lied to foreign government's official in that country to avoid notice
61. Midnight walk on the beach
62. Sky diving
63. Visited Ireland
64. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
66. Visited Japan
67. Benchpressed your own weight
68. Milked a cow
69. Alphabetized your records
70. Pretended to be a superhero
71. Sung karaoke
72. Lounged around in bed all day
73. Posed nude in front of strangers
74. Scuba diving
75. Got it on to "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
76. Kissed in the rain
77. Played in the mud
78. Played in the rain
79. Gone to a drive-in theater
80. Done something you should regret, but don't regret it
81. Visited the Great Wall of China
82. Discovered that someone who's not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog
83. Dropped Windows in favour of something better
84. Started a business
85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
86. Toured ancient sites
87. Taken a martial arts class
88. Swordfought for the honour of a woman
89. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
90. Gotten married
91. Been in a movie
92. Crashed a party
93. Loved someone you shouldn't have
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
95. Gotten divorced
96. Had sex at the office
97. Gone without food for 5 days
98. Made cookies from scratch
99. Won first prize in a costume contest
100. Ridden a gondola in Venice
101. Gotten a tattoo
102. Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on
103. Rafted the Snake River
104. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
105. Got flowers for no reason
106. Masturbated in a public place
107. Got so drunk you don't remember anything
108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug
109. Performed on stage
110. Been to Las Vegas
111. Recorded music
112. Eaten shark
113. Had a one-night stand
114. Gone to Thailand
115. Seen Siouxsie live
116. Bought a house
117. Been in a combat zone
118. Buried one/both of your parents
119. Shaved or waxed your pubic hair off
120. Been on a cruise ship
121. Spoken more than one language fluently
122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
123. Bounced a check
124. Performed in Rocky Horror
125. Read - and understood - your credit report
126. Raised children
127. Recently bought and played with a favourite childhood toy
128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
129. Created and named your own constellation of stars
130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
132. Called or written your Congress person
133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
134. ... more than once? - More than thrice?
135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
137. Had an abortion or your female partner did
138. Had plastic surgery
139. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
140. Wrote articles for a large publication
141. Lost over 100 pounds
142. Held someone while they were having a seizure
143. Piloted an airplane
144. Petted a stingray
145. Broken someone's heart
146. Helped an animal give birth
147. Been fired or laid off from a job
148. Won money on a T.V. game show
149. Broken a bone
150. Killed a human being
151. Gone on an African photo safari
152. Ridden a motorcycle
153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100mph
154. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
157. Ridden a horse
158. Had major surgery
159. Had sex on a moving train
160. Had a snake as a pet
161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
164. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
165. Visited all 7 continents
166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
167. Eaten kangaroo meat
168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground
169. Been a sperm or egg donor
170. Eaten sushi
171. Had your picture in the newspaper
172. Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime
173. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
174. Gotten someone fired for their actions
175. Gone back to school
176. Parasailed
177. Changed your name
178. Petted a cockroach
179. Eaten fried green tomatoes
180. Read The Iliad
181. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
182. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because your apartment needed them
183. ... and gotten 86’ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you
184. Taught yourself an art from scratch
185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
187. Skipped all your school reunions
188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
189. Been elected to public office
190. Written your own computer language
191. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
193. Built your own PC from parts
194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
195. Had a booth at a street fair
196: Dyed your hair
197: Been a DJ
198: Found out someone was going to dump you via LiveJournal
199: Written your own role playing game
200: Been arrested