Cheat Work Thursday

I hope your day has been good. I had a half-good, half-strange day today. So I'm going to try to forget the latter by getting in bed in five and reading one of these two. Will update as I finish them. THE LOVELY BONES I thought the book was 100% a thriller, especially after seeing Stanley Tucci's character in the movie trailer, but it's not really. This part-moving, part-chilling story is narrated by 14-year-old Susie, who was raped and murdered by her neighbour. It's her perspective from heaven, watching the lives of people that she left behind: how her death affects her family and friends, and how she wishes she, too, could grow up, fall in love and do a lot of the things her siblings and friends do. It's a haunting read but also, in kind of a strange way, told in a hopeful point of view. FORD COUNTY The book is a collection of seven short stories set in Ford County, Mississippi, the same fictional town used in Grisham's first book, A Time to K...

The Hurt Locker — Kathryn Bigelow knows how to make a nail-biting, gripping war movie. The movie is tense and gritty, and you could almost feel the heat yourself, watching those men in the heavy suits. I'm also a new Jeremy Renner's fan now. The Time Traveler's Wife — The ending was unfair. I want these two to meet again and live a normal life. Why can't they? This guy time travels, right? Why can't his older self come back every day? Although, I have to say, a grown man appearing only in a blanket in front of a six-year-old girl alone in the meadow is creepy. Inglourious Basterds — I had no idea the movie was that gory. Pisau Cukur — This is from the people who made Gol & Gincu; it's light, funny and neat. 4bia — It's a Thai horror movie. Generally, I don't watch horror movies, but this is the kind of movie that is perfect for movie nights with your family, where 15 people from the ages of 10 to 40 screaming and laughing and hugging e...

We were having coffee and waffles at a stop on our way back to KL when I was telling my siblings how traumatized I was by my Form 3 Bahasa Melayu teacher that I have this obsession with wrapping my books and making sure the windows are open with panes set at the same level -- until today. Of course, I was kidding. About the traumatized part... I'm perfectly sane. You know that. The said teacher, a male, besides wanting the windows opened and exercise books wrapped in a specific way, also pinched our cheeks if we forgot our dictionary or homework. Yes. Pinch. Cheeks. Imagine the harassment charges he'd face if he did that today. Thank God he never got to do that to me. That's infuriating, being relieved about avoiding something that shouldn't have happened in the first place. But it was a small victory for us when one of our friends pushed his hand hard in front of the class one day. I used to have this colleague -- he would describe himself as "Oh-I'm-S...

I tweeted how I feel like seven when a client calls at 8AM on the day I sleep in, and obviously I know better than to pick up a call half awake, let alone from a client. When I return their call an hour later with excuses ranging from driving to... it's usually just driving because I'm a responsible driver and I really go out that early... they sound like they sort of know that I was still asleep at 8. Of course, they don't say it, but the polite apology for calling me very early makes me cringe. I’m always soclose to ending the chat with a long explanation of how I usually take calls as early as 5AM, how dedicated I am towards my work, nothing could stop me from delivering the best service, and they shouldn't worry about calling me at any time they like. Something like that. My second sister manages a lot of things: three kids and a husband, her house, her demanding job, her netball games and swimming, her cooking, her studies, and hundreds of other things in her s...

Sometimes when I feel like doing something that brings little joy, I'd go read some work-related materials -- books, blogs, magazines -- just like what I've been doing for the last couple of weeks. Several things scary about reading work-related materials: 1) Realizing how little you know. (I did realize this much earlier, of course, but it was more convenient to ignore it.) 2) Realizing that there are so many other things that you don't know yet, that you haven't read, that you must read... 3) Point No 2 doesn't sound like a lot of fun. It's a vicious cycle. Also, I'm helping to organize a non-profit event that is going to be held one week from now. The interesting thing about the event is, I'll be dealing with one group of people that I can honestly say I like as well as another group that I don't. I'll be in charge of logistics, gifts and probably attending to guests. Will try my best not to poison anyone.