Cheat Work Thursday

These past few weeks were exam result weeks. One of my nieces received her PMR's, and another UPSR's. Both got all As except for one B. We are ok with that. I think. But getting a lot of (if not straight) As has always been our family's growing up... priority (?) At least it feels that way because it's in the conversation a lot. Some won't admit it, but I think that's how it goes in many homes as well, especially these days. I don't think it's a bad goal at all. When I was younger, more As meant an opportunity for a better future and to change our lives. To me, getting straight As could also mean that you are focused and hardworking and smart about your priority. It could be a proof of your I-can-do-anything attitude. I've always believed that formal education is important. Going to school and getting a degree are important. If you can afford it and have the opportunity, go get them. They are part of life's learning process. What you do with ...

chal·lenge n . 4. A test of one's abilities or resources in a demanding but stimulating undertaking. ~ Thefreedictionary . Lately, I've developed a new talent. No, not the talent to use past tense and present tense correctly (not yet), but the talent to think that things will turn out worse than they actually are. (Thank God,) usually, these things that I put so much worry on don't turn out to be even bad in the end. Example: I found a nice pair of shoes. They were on 10% sale. Ten. Full. Percent. Nice, cheap shoes just warm my heart. But they didn't have my size anymore at the store. My hands turned cold waiting for the sales rep to check for my size in their other outlets*. God I didn't smile at my neighbour this morning. That was bad. There's no way the shop is going to have my size now. Oh dear God, I am so sorry. Please make them have my size. Please, please... Oh no, the person on the other line is taking way too long to check just a pair of s...

I spent Saturday helping my sister shop. We took 11 hours and went to four malls. I rarely go shopping on weekends. It was a good sisters-bonding time but standing in long queues, pushing getting pushed by the crowd and touching shoulders with the commoners, ugh... _____ Every time I bump into a shopper lugging four Gucci and ten MANGO shopping bags, wearing a 300-year-old cutoff denim shorts with half of midriff spilling out, I cry a little inside. No, I'm not saying she can't wear that. I have no right to deny her the happiness she felt by wearing the shorts. Especially when clearly extra effort has been made to create that look (to cut those jeans). I'm just thinking how I could rock all her MANGOs better (looking at the cutoff jeans, I'm veeery sure of this), sell all her Guccis (I don't need them), then buy and rock some more MANGOs. (Unless... there are more cutoff shorts in those bags! *shudders*)

Photo by Jose Alonso on Unsplash , altered. When I'm either done or bored solving my own problems, I like to think about others', especially when I'm a little sick like today, which means I have more time to do just that. _____ I was busy all day Friday. I'd already thought about sitting at my desk, going on the internet for many useless things that night, since 10 in the morning. I reached home that evening, kicked off my bag and shoes with the hugest satisfaction, showered and went to scan Twitter. That was when I, and probably millions others around the world, learned about what was happening in S**dy Hook. I turned on the news and watched as the horrible event unfolded (a tiny detail each time, the rest was either a repeat / an assumption / a question: typical CNN). The news named a suspect, and people hunted for his Facebook and Twitter accounts. (OMG common sense, people! It's just possible that more than one person has the same name.) It turned out to...

If it's up to me, I have no need to go to Pavilion ever. It has exactly the same list of shops as KLCC, and it's easier to access the latter. Suria KLCC has a good size and layout too -- you can see almost every shop (that you don't need and/or can't afford) by just standing in the middle of the concourse. But the love I have for my friends. I'm meeting Jones this evening at Pavilion ie I'll be walking from KLCC to do that. I welcome walking these days. It's an exercise. In a pair of heels, however, it is not. I think I'll wear a selipar , with my heels in my handbag that I'll change into once I reach Pavilion. I also love my feet. _____ Update, 10PM: Ok, lesson learned. KLCC to Pavilion is far. The bridge looked short from the street. When did they build the other 30km of this? It wasn't there yesterday. But because I'm such an overachiever, I ran in selipar with heels in hand and managed to get to the movie before it started...

@ Molly_Kats Since it's safe to conclude that I pretty much have nothing to write these days, let's check things that I just found this week -- via internet, of course, because where else do we find new things these days? Libraries? Space conferences? Deep and meaningful discussions with friends? Whenever I need a quick laugh, I'd often go to Ellen's YouTube. From funny monologues, auto-correct blunders and Twitter roundups to kids' videos and hilarious interviews -- they are all handy to suck us into an internet (almost guaranteed, downward) spiral. From Ellen's kids' videos, I'd go to Jimmy Kimmel's (because who stops at just 20?). Then I found Kimmel's White House Correspondents' Dinner monologue, which led me to Seth Meyers' . OMG I love Seth Meyers! Unfortunately, there are not that many videos of his on YouTube except for a number of his SNL work and ESPY monologues: here's 2010 and 2011 . I do think the Trump joke wa...

@ vinnawinna I almost don't want to sleep on weekend nights (I've mentioned this, of course, it's just important that I tell it often). I feel like there are so many things I can do or complete on those nights. Or ideas I can develop. I usually can't specify what those are exactly... but just the thought of it, 'having ideas to develop', expands my lungs. So, weekend nights' insomnia is good. Being up after midnight is often making me hungry, though. So I made a bowl of cucur bawang + ikan bilis tonight and just discovered that having it with Thousand Island makes it an even more delicious snack. Forget that cucur absorbs oil like a sponge and Thousand Island carries 400 over calories per 100g; I lost 15% of weight in the past one year. I hope it's because I eat a lil' better this year. I really need to rethink about what I just wrote in this paragraph. Speaking of food and hunger, I think one of the most horrible things a person could do i...

Hi, all (three of you), It's 2AM here on my bed. I'm in the midst of writing a six-paragraph e-mail for my sister, which she needs tomorrow (today!). Thought I should blog something, reporting what depressing movie I watched this week 🎉🎊. But before that, let's talk about the internet. Last year, I read a lot of travel blogs. They were all exhilarating, making your pulse race reading each page. And this year, I've been reading a lot of art and creative blogs. They are very inspiring* and very kind to the soul too. (*As in it makes me believe that I can be at least half that creative but does not necessarily make me do the actual creating-thing, you know, because that requires effort.) A must-read is oliviaraejames.com. Wherever Charleston is, I want to live there too. I've listed a few of the blogs on my sidebar, but it's not fully updated yet, as there are so many great blogs out there and I'm still exploring. For every one art blog you find, you...

Do I hear a collective sigh from adults around the world, now it's time of the week again? Lucky you people in LA, it's still 9AM Sunday at your place... Wait, there are people out there who would love to have our jobs, or any job actually. We are the lucky ones here. (But seriously, why are we doing this to ourselves?) It's 1AM. I wish my Sunday nights were filled with laughter that makes me roll on the floor. Sometimes they are; other times like tonight -- not really. Because Sunday nights also mean watching Homeland and The Walking Dead. Really, why is the latter getting more gory by each episode? (Also, give these guys a break please, they need a shower.) And Homeland is just being Homeland: depressing, no character to root for, gives you breath-holding suspense, superb acting and, worst, is addictive. I can't wait to watch Argo. I feel fresh now, though. I think I've recovered all the lost sleep from my reading bootcamp . So I'm currently thinking ...

I woke up this morning with the biggest gratitude that it was still weekend. I spent the whole of Friday night to early Sunday morning with a total of six hours of sleep in between, speed-reading and trying to finish a material. No one forced me to squeeze in that much reading, but I had to do it and finish it quickly. Even if it meant sleep reading for a few seconds here and there. A few times, I looked at a sentence three times, still not understanding what was going on with it, and I had to mentally whip my brain to just get up and get it done. I finished the last ones this morning. My body aches, but it was satisfying. Right now, I'm closing all the windows and drawing half of the curtains, staying away from noise and harsh lights, and allowing only kind music playing in the background. (Ok, I don't know if 'kind' is the best word to describe Cough Syrup by Young the Giant. In fact, it's actually kind of dark and sad. But at least no one screams or abuse...