Have taken a vow of silence to protest the plight of honey bees

Okay, not really. I'm in SLC this week for professional development and just barely got Internet access in my hotel room. (Am still waiting for the in-room massage therapist and the ice cream cart.) Will post soon, especially with stories of yesterday's visit to the Salt Lake City Library. I now want to marry it and have its babies and sleep on the floor of the stacks every night like Natalie Portman in Where the Heart Is (but not pregnant, obviously).

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Hilarious

Today in school, during one of the many breaks we have to wait through, my clique played an incredibly awesome questionnaire/storyline game. So awesome, I have to blog it here. =)

The game goes like this; We have to answer a series of ''meme-styled'' questions, compile them. Then someone will fit the meme-answers into a series of sentences so that it will sound like it's a complete story or at least, a PWP.

So what my story/PWP sounded something like this,
"I met Russell Brand at the Neoprint place."
Q:"Does he look ugly?"
"Definitely, you bet!"
Q: "How many times did you had sex with him? And where?"
"6, at the Neoprint place."
Q: "Wow, what did he give you in the end?"
"Anything girly."
Q: "And what did he say to you at the end?"
"Let's go to the neoprint place..."

Bah, it's hard to explain here. One has to be involved to enjoy it fully.

In other news, this is my team's entry for the Theory 11 CCC. Watch if you are visually-inclined. Thank you!


Can't wait for labour day holiday.

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Happy Friday

Neighbor kids killed my daffodils. I'm pretty sure. Also their parents appear to have run over what was left with their car. This means I must kill the entire family and possibly eat their flesh. Or just move, and start planting daffodils and crocuses and lavender and other honey-bee-attracting plants where demon monkey spawn won't kill them.

But speaking of honey bees, have y'all heard about the honey bees and how they're dying out and everyone is real worried? Because yeah. The honey bees are dying out and everyone is real worried. Turns out one-third of our food supply is dependent on honey bee pollination, so it's kind of a problem if there are no more bees.

Haagen-Dazs has created a website all about what we can do to help the honey bees. We can learn more about them, we can not kill them, we can buy more honey and support our local honey sellers, and we can plant flowers that honey bees like, such as lavender, strawberries, jasmine, rosemary, bluebells, and sunflowers.

Also, did you know that yellow jackets aren't bees? They're wasps. The honey bees mind their business in the flowers, all gentle and fuzzy. The yellow jackets go after your soda at picnics and buzz all around the trash cans at Disneyworld, which I feel is one more reason to hate Disneyworld (after the humidity and the heat and the part where you kind of wish that maybe one of the rides would break and injure you because the ambulance and hospital are probably air-conditioned).

So anyway. Save the honey bees!

Next week: The reveal of the bookshelf redesign. Prepare to receive the dews of heaven.

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Pleasant news

My suspicion as stated in my previous post is proved accurate! Those individuals in my course are indeed metalheads. *throws black coloured confetti and horns up* I am so happy to know like-minded people are within my vincity almost everyday now and that I finally feel normal for once. Haha!

Anyway, to have a short introduction of the 2 awesome people, we have Timothy who listens to old school metal and abit of black metal (at least that's what I know so far) and Anitha who listens to trash and power metal. Very extremely nifty. =) Now, I have a reason to dig out my (scant amount of) metal shirts and iron them. Haha! We might even go to gigs together next time! How nifty can things get? ^^

Can't wait to hang out with them more, inside school or outside. lol.

Looks like I won't be a retired metalhead any time soon with them around. Keep the spirit high, legions! XD

Hell, I don't even mind if my university applications aren't smooth now. The people at my poly course are nice enough, and I am studying something I definitely could enjoy and relate to. It's indeed not a bad option, afterall.

Then again, my dad dreamt I got into NTU. =/

Bah. *goes off to flourish*

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This morning's heart attack

. . . was brought to me by Cicada, with this picture:

My heart stopped for a full minute before I read the part about the glass separating the swimmers from the bears. Not that the bears aren't working on a plan as we speak. Because they are. And I hope Cicada's visit does NOT coincide with the day that they break through the wall and start feasting on little children.

I moved to Alaska during the days of Binky the Polar Bear, who was famous for mauling people who got too close to his cage at the Anchorage Zoo. It was my introduction to my new home state, if you will.

"Welcome to Alaska. Try not to get eaten."

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The Happy Working Song

This week I've made important strides towards becoming a responsible adult who will not die buried in a mountain of filth. My biggest accomplishments?

Hauled down the spring & summer clothes. Going through the winter clothes to see which ones I actually wore this year. And which ones actually looked okay while I wore them. The rest need to go. And then I'll have like 4 things left.

Filled my car with gas, even though it cost $50 to do so and when I saw the price I was sorely tempted to just start sucking on the end of the gasoline pump nozzle and end it all.

Got an oil change, which was about 3 months (or 1,000 miles) overdue. I sense that my car is happy with me now, and has temporarily shelved her secret plan to kill me in a blazing inferno. To further appease her I will purchase fuel injector cleaner for our next fill-up. And, as a big ol' bonus, the oil change people vacuumed her out and threw in a free car wash. Which is good, because with the freaky dry/hot/rain/snow/hail/laugh at the pitiful mortals weather we've been having my car now looks as though she was targeted by an extended seagull family.

Vacuumed my bedroom floor. Scared my roommate to death afterwards because she thought maybe someone had killed a badger and stuffed it in the vacuum.

But yes! This is progress!

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Content

I met Yvonne in school today before I was about to depart school for home, it's a great feeling to meet someone you know for years in school. It made my day easily. I hope she'll be free enough for us to meet for lunch sometime soon. =)

I received a deck of Absolute Vodkas from Morten who is from Norway, very nice gift indeed. The deck is significantly thinner and they handle well for cuts. This made my day too. Thanks, Morten! Nifty namecard you got there too. =)

I also received my Subway membership card this evening, now my wallet is getting abnormally thick. >_>

I realised my blog is getting scant and very uninteresting, my apologies. I am developing a thing where I have difficulties getting my thoughts out in complete coherent sentences, people call it "Writer's block" I believe. I have no idea, but I know I have nothing much to rant about, since my teenage angst is largely gone. I'm 19, hardly a teen now anyway. Lol. Speaking of teenage thingies, I have been relishing my earlier days recently, by listening to my old burned CDs of songs I used to listen to obsessively in my lower secondary days. It was a highly pleasurable experience, to remain in touch with your memories from time to time and to just let go of your "worries about the future" and be noslagtic.

Like for example, when I clicked on "How you remind me" by Nickelback. My inner core just went, "Awww" and I kept a smile listening to it. That song reminded me very heavily of NCHS' Secondary 1 trip to KL, Malaysia in June 2002, of which the above song was on frequent play in my discman. I was only 13 then, such an incredibly young age that I have difficulties relating to right now. I remember very vividly the long night-long bus ride to the Firefly attraction, to the seafood restuarant at the side of the barren highway, to Coral Hotel where we wrecked havco by playing Hotel-Hide-and-Seek all night... It was just incredible, surreal too. I could recall Kailing, SiPing and some others who started a Truth or Dare thing in the tour bus, when I got interrograted by the entourage, I spilled that I have a thing for Alden. Such silly things... =P Good memories though. It's not something you will get to fool around when you start to reach adulthood. I wonder how people can get so conceited, fake, unnecessarily complicated and hypocritical in such a short time during their teenage years. If only people carry some of their purity in their lives, everything will be much more pleasant, no more backstabbing, no more stupid rumours, no more unneeded gossipings, no more bad karma, no more politics, no more mindgames. Isn't that much appealing than feeling constricted with doubtful thoughts all day long? =)

Then again, my sister would rebuke me but stating, "Things are like that! Stop whining and just do your own shit." True, but it's not a very pleasant way to think of things. One must always have a hope...

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Enjoy life

So I know sometimes I snark on L**** for being a cow town (which it is) and not having a Target (which it doesn't). But it also has many good things, one which is Le Nonne Ristorante. I went there for dinner on Friday night with my friend AuD who is about to go become a world traveler and then move to Miami for a schmancy internship.


It's in a lovely converted Victorian house on a pretty street close to downtown. The other nice thing about the location is that if you turn up before 5:30pm, like we did, there are a couple of other nice houses across the street that have been converted into interesting shops like this one, which carries Fair Trade goods and crafts from all over the world. There is also a bike shop and a used bookstore/coffee shop. So you have places to putter while you wait.

I think my favorite thing at Le Nonne has to be their olive-caper tapenade, which was so good that I had to refrain from picking up the bowl and just drinking the stuff. The server says it's made with black olives, capers, garlic, crushed red pepper, and olive oil. I will find a way to perfect this or die trying. The only tricky bit is the "olives in your teeth" potential. Which I will just go ahead and risk in this case.

AuD got the Chicken Toscano, which I can tell you was very good. Also, his roasted rosemary potatoes looked fabulous.

I got one of the night's specials, which was the hand-stuffed shrimp & ricotta ravioli in a creamy tomato sauce. I was a bit worried because you know how sometimes you order ravioli and then they set this plate down in front of you with like 5 little pastas and they act as though they've just served you art? But the server said this is one of her favorite things to order here so I went for it. And oh my, was it good. You hear about silky pasta but I think this was the first time I've ever eaten something that earns the name. It really was so fabulous.

We were both too full afterwards for dessert, but just hearing the menu made my eyes tear up a little bit. She said words to me like creme brulee, three-chocolate mousse, profiteroles, and tiramisu. Next time I will be sure to leave some room for that. Or I will order dessert first, as some wise people do.

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Being a force for social change can be exhausting, y'all

But I'm not a shirker. So I press forward.

I had to bawl out some neighbor kids for ripping up my roommate's flowers. Only I tried to do it in a nice way and refrained from setting anyone on fire with my eyes. They were still across the street when I realized what happened, one of them holding the victimized flowers in her hand, and they still tried to act like they had no idea what I was talking about. Anyway. I feel like I taught them a Very Important Lesson about why we don't rip up flowers that don't belong to us. They must have really taken it to heart, too, because the next day all my crocuses had been yanked up and ground into the sidewalk. Which, yes, I feel is justifiable grounds for beating people with a shovel.

And then I had to write a nice letter to D*seret Book informing them that they might want to look into getting a printer who uses actual glue on the binding of their soft-cover books rather than low-grade elephant snot. Because I do not appreciate the part where the pages of these books keep falling out in chunks, forcing me to spend even more of the collections budget on additional copies of (frequently abysmal) LDS fiction. And no, they don't get a pass here. I pay just as much for that stuff as I do for real literature, so by crap I shouldn't have to deal with missing pages--even if some of the books are actually improved by the omissions.

See why I'm so tired?

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Seven Guilty Pleasures

Only, to shake it up, I'm going to list 5 real ones and 2 fake ones. Let's see if you can guess which are lies.

Fritos--Because they have crack inside them. Salty, salty crack.

Regency romance novels--Because face it, sometimes you wish there had been more making out in Pride & Prejudice.

Kenny Chesney--Because pulling one over on that scrunch-faced Zellweger is kind of hot.

Not Exercising--Because sleep is so much better when it was almost exercise.

Anne Geddes--Because even though contorted naked babies shouldn't be cute, sometimes they are.

Television without Pity--Because sometimes it's more fun to have a really funny mean person just tell you what happened.

Movie theater popcorn--Because maybe a heart attack wouldn't be so bad if there were popcorn involved.

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Change

Well, it's been 3 days into the school term at my next studying destination - NYP. Not sure of what to say of it, but it's definitely a far far vast gap away from what I experienced back in JC, in terms of lecture-speed and the depth of the topic covered. For example, in anatomy and pysiology's cell structure portion, they only listed down the organelles and gave 1 liners for their functions with no detailed pictures accompanying the notes. It's, unfortunately, very brief. Sigh. But, I am slightly challenged for the Radiation Physics module, it's been more than 2 years since I thought in terms of physics, but, I see no problems so far. It's just formulae and subsituting values. =) The timetable is very staggered as well, with many breaks in between, and quite abit of early dismissals. Definitely very different from the hectic schedule I have undergone back in JC. I had sociology lecture today, the new perspective of looking at things is rather nifty, but I have to disagree on the part where people's actions are dependent on societal factors, you can't deny the fact that there are people who are strong-willed and has his own ideals. Ah wells.

Another thing that I am not used to is the sudden influx of metalheads around me in an academic environment. I used to be the isolated case study in both secondary school and JC, doing my own kvlt thing secretly. Now I see people walking around in metal shirts and boots, I feel normal suddenly, for once. Haha! I have witnessed 8 to 10 metalheads just today, one with a full gear of a Morbid Angel shirt, black pants and boots. I went, "Hmm! Nice sight!" Two people in my course are suspected metalheads because one wore an Iced Earth shirt, one wore a Megadeth shirt. I am not too sure if I want to confirm my conjecture or to expose my idenity yet. Who knows? They might just happen to own the shirts or they are posers. Thirdly, there might be a very high chance that I will be the most br00tal kvlt metalhead amongst them all... Haha!

Thou shalt not think I have conceded defeat to polytechnic, I remind you. I still very much yearn for a green light from the Universities.

Other side notes: I went to AMK Hub for lunch today, a group of American Mormons joined my table at Subway due the shortage of seats. When I saw their nametags, I went, "Oh my. Christians, and worse, Mormons!" then continued to eat. But we talked for awhile, lol.

Then I saw a dude with coins embedded in his ears. That was an ultimate David Lynch moment, I felt as though I was in the set of Blue Velvet or something. Haha. Burr weird.

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Clutter on my mind

I've added a few new feeds to my Google Reader in the last week or so and one that I'm really liking is Unclutterer. I, myself, am a clutterer and a hoarder. I accept this and tell myself that it's endearing and sexy of me. I did a pretty good cull before moving to England, but that was almost three years ago. (Please excuse me while I lapse into a vegetative state for a moment at this most awful realization.)

Anyway. One Unclutterer post is called "Tough Questions for Your Things" and gives you questions to ask yourself when deciding whether to purchase (or keep) an item. I'm thinking this could be a very useful exercise for me. Another site, Zen Habits, has an article called 18 Five-Minute Decluttering Tips to Start Conquering Your Mess. So. Let's take this journey together, shall we?

Unclutterer's Questions for Items Already in My Home:

Do I have something else like this that fulfills the same purpose?

If this is a duplicate item, which of these items is in the best condition, of the best quality, and will last me the longest?

Is this item in disrepair and need to be replaced or fixed?

Does this item make my life easier/save me time/save me money/fulfill an essential need?

Why does this object live in my house and is this the best place for this object?

Do I need to do more research to know if this is the best object to fulfill its essential need?

If this is a perishable item, has its expiration date passed?

Does this item help me to develop the remarkable life that I want to live?

I'm thinking of other questions I could add to help me cull through my junk, and these are the ones I have so far:

Am I hanging on to this because of associated memories? If so, are the memories dependent on the item?

Does this reflect someone else's taste more than it does mine? Is there someone else who would love or use this more than I would? (This will be the part where my sister Jenny steps forward to claim all my cookbooks.)

Do I actually notice this item anymore or does it just blend in? Would this change if it were in a different place or used in a different way?

Am I only keeping this because I would feel guilty if I got rid of it? (Note: Regifting? No longer a crime. Now it is considered chic and green, as long as you don't get caught.)

Does this represent a hobby or interest that isn't really part of my life anymore?

If I saw this in the store today, would I buy it? How much would I pay for it?

How often do I use this item? If I haven't yet used it, will I? When? How often? Will I still want this exact item then?

I'm thinking this is a good start, but does anyone else have any wise filtering questions to add or any good de-cluttering tips?

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Behold the hair cut

So yeah, it's fun and I like it. And it takes like 10 minutes to do in the morning, which I am all for. Now I can spend the rest of the time on meditation. And bust-increasing exercises.


This weekend was all kinds of good, beginning with the part where L**** decided to give me a freaking break and stop with the snowing. The kiddies came up and we did Baby Animal Days and got to be all one with the baby pigs and lambs and horses and calves. And if anyone heard the part where I mistakenly told Savvy that a baby calf was, in fact, a baby llama, please just wipe that from your memory. Because I'm pretty sure you're on drugs and I didn't actually say that.

Something I did say, though, which almost caused the earth to stop spinning on its invisible axis, was this gem during lunch.

Me: "Uh oh, Baby Ethan's excaped."

A sudden hush falls.

Me: "Wait, what?? I mean, he's ES-scaped. Escaped. Oh my gosh, I don't even know what I'm saying!!!!"

Jenny: "Wow. And then my librarian sister lost her mind."

Yeah. That was the low point. Am starting the fish oil supplements right now. And the electroshock therapy.

Here's a pic of Savvy during Baby Animal Days. Because how is she even supposed to create art if the sun is in her eyes? Turns out she's more comfortable coloring pictures of baby frogs and turtles than she is with holding them. Closest we got was when I held a baby turtle and she touched it with one index finger before running away.

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LOL

I was really getting misanthropically bored out of my dear skull and then Vika sent me a thingy that cracked me up. Really pleasant intermission of my weekend-shunyata. ^_^

She sent me this link to this picture:HAHA! Then we went on to talk about printing sci-fi stories and porn on toilet paper. And saying that we could start a business by charging people by the minute in the toilet with the special toilet rolls. Lol.

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Organic Chemistry is love!

One very bored Saturday noon and I am watching this lecture on my own accord... Such a nerd I am. Reminds me so much of those crazy lectures back in JC. Yummy stuff.

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Ya das ist ein sexy head

So I got my hairs cut this morning and I am Loving. It. Don't have pictures yet to show, but will get some up soon. Here's a preview of what you'll get, though.

Picture 1: Aged hag with 2-month-old pony tail and 3-inch bat poop roots who hates hair and possibly self.

Picture 2: Smoking hotness.

To get more specific, do y'all remember my precious niece Savvy? Yeah. I got her haircut. So add some height, boobs, and crow's feet and you're there.


Am pretty sure that, if nothing else, this move will cement my Favorite Auntie status. Plus I'm taking her tomorrow to pet baby piglets. Which are her brand of crack, much as baby lambs are mine.

I can't lose.

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Death and some servings of melancholy.

Death because I woke up to a piece of news that someone living 2 floors above me committed suicide at my apartment block in the wee hours of this morning. He [rumours from the market says he's a father of a 10 year old boy and a sole breadwinner] landed near the rubbish chute area, not a very nice landing spot if you ask me. Anyway, it's not something you see often here in Singapore, so it caused quite a stir amongst the neighbours. I just think it's a nice detail to take note because you can tell tales of it to new tenants in the future and start a new horror craze or something. Lol. Geez, I better stop elaborating or commenting on this incident because I feel unnatural cold breezes around me suddenly. I just wish the guy will be delivered from that wrathful experience and let the soul rest well henceforth. Om mani padme hum. =)

Melancholy because I was viewing biology animations at Youtube and I felt so depressed out of a sudden. Devoted readers would know I screwed up for my favourite subject - Biology at the final crucial moment at A Levels, so it's impossible for me to pursue any higher learning in that subject in University. So I was viewing the animations and feeling very much messed up inside. It's like meeting someone you love but you can't talk to him... Something along that line. It's really quite bad. I was still very much impressed at the majestic quality of those biological processes that I learnt back in JC and to be truthful, I am still swooning in love with every bit of that subject. Then, I said to myself, "Ack, this is not the end of my journey with Biology. I will get back to it eventually at some point of my life."

Just view the below video and experience biology's beauty for yourself:


Sigh... How fucking beautiful is that?

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Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!

One of the most interesting aspects of my job is the so-called "reference interview." When people come to me with a question I have this small window to make sure that I understand exactly what they're looking for. The way I do this is by asking questions of my own--questions which are meant to narrow down the focus of their inquiry. I try to make it quick and simple so that I don't overwhelm them or make them sorry that they walked up to my desk to be grilled.

Only here's the thing, and it happens all the time. People don't want to answer my questions! They get all cagey and try to be as vague as possible about what they're looking for. As though I'm the one who tracked them down and started trying to pry all their secrets.

It reminds me of the bit on The King and I where the hot king Yul Brynner has a problem, but can't ask a woman for advice. So when Anna asks how he's going to solve this problem, he gets this crafty look on his face and announces, "You guess," thereby saving face when he claims her suggestion as his own already-decided-upon solution.

Yeah. This only worked because it was Yul.

I mean, look at him. That guy could pretty much get away with anything.


Your average person? Not Yul. I can just imagine people trying that someplace like a doctor's office. "So, what seems to be the trouble today?" "You guess." That'll go well. Kind of like how well it goes when they try it with me.

And I promise I'm not out to embarass anyone or invade their privacy. I'm not going to sit there and be like, "Yeah, but are you the one experiencing the burning and itching on your private parts? It's imperative that I know this." But yes, if you are looking for a street map of a very specific intersection in a very specific town and state, then it might be helpful to tell me some of that rather than repeating, "Street maps. I just need street maps." over and over again. That might get us there faster and keep me from ripping my own ears off.

Just a thought.

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And the Schrute Bucks go to . . .

First off, I can't believe people actually took the time yesterday to write poetry about the fluid-filled sacs accumulating on my body. You are true friends. Secondly, I couldn't believe how dang clever my true friends are. Or how good they are at memorizing the work of Shel Silverstein.

This was a hard, hard choice. But I must declare a tie for first place between Mad Hadder and Before. Mad Hadder secured my love forever with "To assist with your fist /Seek a right wing with grist." And Before managed, with perfect meter, to tap into not one but two of my secret anti-feminist fantasies. Well done to both of you!

Note: This was posted before I read Cicada's brand-new contribution and started hyperventilating at my desk. Even if she did call me a whore.

So now it's a three-way tie, yipeee!

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Of boredom and mental struggle

I did the impossible today. I took up the initiative and went for a jog this evening, which wasn't too much of a success truthfully. I was in the mindset I could at least do a continous jog for 15 minutes or something, so I used a rather quick pace and went for a steady run. Shit, I, then, realised my body wasn't in the right mode for it, plus the after-effects of my week long illness made my body really incapable of such cardiac activity. Adding into account that I have not attempted any form of cardio exercise since the end of my NAPFA test back in JC2, I felt incredibly unfit at the end of the run walk. But the sweating part is pretty awesome to feel. =) Ah wells!

That's the part about boredom, because 2008 feels like one big shunyata if you ask me. Nothing is really happening...

Now about the part about mental struggle. Actually, it's not too much of a struggle as in coming of a definitive conclusion/decision. It's just a situation that I found myself to be stuck in of which I really disliked. Well, I applied at 2 polytechnics in sync with the university applications, as a backup plan in case my university applications weren't smooth. You'd know. My A Level grades aren't good enough for an ensured smooth transition to varsity. So yeah, I got offered a place at Nanyang Polytechnic, at their Diagnostic Radiography course. It's only meant for A Level holders, but any sane being won't want to be wasting additional time at an insitution to get a diploma when he could head elsewhere to get a degree. People around me are telling me to abandon the Poly route, denouncing it, and rather advise me to retake my A Levels or head to a privatised university like SIM or something. I really have no idea. I won't want to live on the wild side and risk withdrawing from polytechnic because at least it's a path I could undertake and do something with, albeit not much. People also told me it's a path [polytechnic's] which won't lead me anywhere far. However, I don't wish to dangle around in case my university applications failed and go self-study for another try at the A Levels, which will be a challenging task as studying alone without structure is insane. Fuck. So fucked. I am so messed up inside, you can't even draw a mindmap out of my mind...

Polytechnic orientation this coming Friday. I guess I should carry a serious mindset when I go there, who knows? I might really end up there for my next 3 years. My eyes are tainted with bleakness.

Ironically, a few nights ago, in one of my dreams in my sleep, something amazing occured. A bodhisattva - Guan Yin/Avaloeskitesvara/Chenrezig/Goddess of Mercy appeared in my dream. Well, she/he just walked peacefully beside me, and I walked peacefully beside him/her. He/she was really ivory white and really majestic in composure, with a strange yet compelling and gentle quality of light emitting from him/her in all directions. Fantastic sensation to behold.

Then, I thought, "Hell, I hope he/she is taking care of my next academic path! Make it smooth, bodhisattva!" I thought again, "Meh, that's bullshit wishful thinking!"

See? What a mental mess I am entrenched in.

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I'm sure Shel Silverstein would have a field day with this

There's a cyst on my wrist.

A ganglion cyst.

It can now join my eye twitch, scaly skin, and fast approaching seasonal allergies as Reasons to Flee in Terror. I expect to have aliens bursting from my abdomen any day now.

According to the Interwebs, this thing is also called a "bible bump" because the folk remedy used to involve smashing it with a heavy book. The current medical wisdom now counsels against smashing body parts with heavy items, as that may actually cause further injury.

Who knew?

Anyone who can write the best Shel Silverstein-like poem (or limerick) about my nasty wrist gets 100 Schrutebucks.



(image from answers.com)

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Meme time!

Since there has been alot of negativity (I have gotten well, anyway) around this place recently, I shall inject some mindless crap now. I yoinked this meme from Valie, if you want to know. So, decant your grey matter and let me type chunks of information that will be largely irrevelant to many of your lives! Yay.
----------------------
1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?
You said it. That person is a lover, love knows no boundaries. Forgive but remain aware of his/her misgivings. Then again, I have severely limited experience in this field of expertise, who am I to pass comments?

2.What will you do if you do not share the same feelings as the person who likes you?
It depends entirely on the context, dear interrogator. If it involves some trivial details like food or what not, are you going to be so anal? If not, it would show that we are not completely complementary thus incompatible.

3. What will your dream wedding be like?
One complete with the absence of the conventional, good food, invitation of a live (good) metal band, my yet-to-appear lover in His full glorious regalia. Dress code: black and nothing else. Ending with a night of the "warm and fuzzy"/debauchery with my yet-to-appear lover in the fashion of The Lifestyle. Oh, dear future-lover, appear yourself already...

4. Are you confused as to what lies ahead of you?
My academic path. I do not wish to be stuck in a polytechnic. Nuff said.

5. What's your ideal lover like?
Someone whose gestures, speech, expressions will bring me to dazzling temperatures and/or freezing depths. Someone with the innate ability to pierce my soul and observe me from afar, like a gazing vulture. Someone cruel and intense. Someone who could carry an intelligent and sustainable conversation. Someone eloquent. Someone nihilistic and somewhat bitter. Someone who dwells in His shadows, never hasty in revealing His Identity. Someone who speaks with strength. Someone who is able to love wholeheartenly, yet is sparing in offering Himself. Someone perfect. Someone unobtainable.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone else?
Loving someone, in all directions. It is always better to see someone being loved and cared for.

7. If the person you like does not accept you, would you continue to wait for them to change their feelings?
As much as my rational mind opposes me, I, very sentimentally, would wait. Yes, I will be a very tortured person.

8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
Just continue to secretly appreciate his existence. It should be good enough.

9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy recently?
My stupid new pair of shoes. My Achilles' area is blistered. Otherwise, the prospect of polytechnic. Fuck no.

10. What do you want most in life?
To be happy and live life my way. No holds barred. Other than that, bountiful amounts of knowledge and to cultivate wisdom. I shall not state materialistic wants here, how very shameful is it to express that in a public domain?

11. Is being tagged fun?
I want to sleep, actually.

12. If you find out that your best friend is going out with your boyfriend/girlfriend, how would you react?
Alright this question eh? Next!

13. Who is currently the most important person to you?
Nobody. Sad, yes.

14. What kind of person do you think I am?
Valie is a great friend to have, our shared passion in Channel 8 9pm dramas have furthur deepened our friendship, can I say that? Lol.

15. What is the most unforgettable thing/event in your life?
Everything is relative, I can't decide.

16. If the person you secretly like cannot recognise you, what would you do/how would you react?
You said it, it's secretly. You are invisible to that party if you do it secretly.

17. Would you give your all in a relationship?
What a retarded question, of course I would. It's part and parcel of The Lifestyle.

18. If you fall in love with two persons simultaneously, who would you pick?
The one with more shared interests or with more ticks against my (excessively high) expectations as stated above.

19. What type of friends do you like?
Funny, whacked-out-of-their-minds, easygoing, able to hold a decent interesting conversation ( a diminishing quality, I observed). Would be a bonus if they share any common interest.

20.If you played a prank on someone, and he/she fell for the trick, what would you do?
Prank? Grow up.
----------------------

I now yoink this meme to the victims as stated below!
- Vika
- Lenodyas Matyn Scarpia Whatever Mythical Names He Bestows Himself With or DRasula.
- Sin Yi My Dear Hookee and a monthly victim of Womb Pain
- Alden
.... I have no idea who's next.

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It can't love you back, people

I went to the temple this morning and when I got to the front desk the sweet elderly temple worker asked my roommate and I if we had cell phones with us. I smiled and said, "No."I refrained from adding, ". . . because I was raised by humans." Even though that's what I think every single time. You already know I have strong feelings on this issue.

But seriously, in the temple? My mom volunteers in the Anchorage Temple and they've had problems with people's cell phones ringing inside their lockers, over and over and over again. I told mom that she should use her master key to unlock the locker, take the cell phone out, and leave a note on the outside of the locker which reads, "Your cell phone had to be removed because it was causing a disturbance. It is being held for you in the temple president's office. Feel the shame."

Only it gets better. Now before we go in for a session, after we've already changed into pretty white dresses, a temple worker announces that if anyone has a cell phone with them then they need to shut it off and go put it back in their locker. When they say this I always look around in disbelief, wondering why anyone would get changed, leave all their other stuff in their locker, but then slip a cell phone into the pocket of their temple dress. I mean, are they thinking they're going to pop out and make a call if things get boring? Are they expecting a call--a call which they feel they're going to be able to answer in the middle of a session? Because really, there's actually no opportunity for that.

I mentioned this to my friend Crow (he of the merit badges fame) and he said he actually saw that happen. He was at the temple and heard a cell phone go off in the middle of the session. Then he saw a woman reach into her pocket, take the phone out, check it, and then put it back in her pocket. And this was after two requests to please ditch the phones.

FOR. THE. LOVE.

I think my brain would have ruptured if I'd been there. I actually had a mild seizure when I heard the story. Crow doesn't think any of the temple workers noticed. Because if they do, I believe they're supposed to stop the session and wait until the cell phone owner gets up to take the phone out. Since he is a kinder person than I am, he was trying to think of a reason why one might legitimately need to have their phone with them. I told him there isn't a reason, so he should feel free to judge that person. And maybe throw stuff at her if he ever sees her again.

Because really, if there is a 2-hour unit of time in which you seriously cannot shut your phone off without dire consequences then you just don't go to the temple during that time. Or to church. Or to a wedding. Or a movie. Or a play. You just don't. Also? Quit texting during church. That is just trashy and it makes me want to find some large cell-phone-shaped pacifier and cram it in your mouth or perhaps call your mother up and ask what warped weaning methods she used on you because clearly you do not know how to detach. Which is when Crow told me this gem:

The members of his bishopric sit up there on the stand on Sunday and send texts to members of the congregation.

Yeah. They DO that. One Sunday his bishop came up to him and was all, "Hey [Crow], you never answered my text. I sent it during sacrament meeting." Crow responded with, "Well, I don't bring my phone to church with me. Aaaaaand it's kind of embarrassing that we're even having this conversation." Only maybe that last part was in his head.

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This reader's advisory stuff is getting easier

It's nicest when people ask for books and it turns out that we have the exact same taste. Because I can just tell them about all my favorites and they think I'm this brilliant mind-reader. And usually we become best friends and I invite them to join our book club.

Sometimes people come in who are interested in something completely cool, like the elderly gentleman who read The Kite Runner and became fascinated with Afghanistan. So it was always fun to have something waiting for when he'd come in. By the time we'd gone through everything in the collection (and some things that I ordered especially for him) he could probably have taught a university class on the subject. Those are the fun days.

The less fun days are when people come in who hate everything good (read: everything that I love). Because what can I even recommend for them? One patron returned a DVD and was really irritated because not ONLY had the characters been speaking some strange tongue but they'd written the English words on the bottom of the screen. Written! To be read! In a movie! My efforts to defend the foreign language film collection (which could not be more my baby than if I'd given actual physical birth to it) fell upon deaf and hostile ears.

I've figured out how to work with this, though. I think of the books and movies that I love and esteem and would protect with my life. Then I take their exact opposites and hand them over.

"Here's The Ultimate Gift. You'll love it."

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It is possible that I am a genius

So remember how last week we were talking about the singles scene (aka suckfest)? Well I have possibly come up with a brilliant new idea. I got an email from a lovely Stake Relief Society President who was very interested in our discussion. In her stake she works with the Young Single Adult and the Single Adult committees. They're worried because the single folk are dropping out like flies and they aren't sure how to best meet their needs and keep them involved.

So her question is this: "What would work? I'm curious what your readership would say about what activities they would be interested in. Any clues?"

I responded that this is a tricky, tricky thing. First of all, you're frequently looking at a group made up of diverse ages, interests, and life situation. It's hard to plan something that will appeal to everyone. And I think sometimes the emphasis becomes wrapped up in getting people to support the programs rather than using programs to support people. We usually measure success by numbers, so if something is well-attended then that must mean it's successful, but if it's not then it isn't. I don't know that this is necessarily true. It might be better to have 20 people who really got something out of an activity than 100 people who feel like they just wasted an evening.

Which is where I had my brain wave. I think it would be smart to look at the new Home, Family & Personal Enrichment program as a useful model for singles activities.

(For those who just went, "The what now?" this is a program within the women's organization in the church. They used to have monthly activities based on the idea of "enrichment" but a couple of years ago they revamped it. They scrapped the monthly activities in favor of quarterly activities to free up people's time, and asked the ward Relief Societies to plan activities based on shared interest and actual needs of the sister. This seems, to me, to work best when the Relief Society leadership let the sisters decide what groups they want to form. So if there are ladies who would like to have a book group? Great, do that. Dinner groups? Great. Women who want to go to the temple together or exercise together or learn how to bow-hunt together? Fabulous. Figure it out, decide who the contact person will be, and we'll announce it on Sunday.)

Why couldn't we do something like that as singles, on either a ward or stake level? That way not everyone has to go to everything, but if there are interests that several people share then they could get something together and publicize it. You'd be doing the kinds of things you would do anyway, but this way you could open it up to others who are interested. And it would be a good way to explore new interests and learn new skills.The shy folk might be more willing to come out if it's going to be a smaller, less intimidating group. You'd get to know people better in smaller groups that get together on a regular basis. It wouldn't be too difficult to manage and publicize, possibly through email lists, phone texts, or a wiki. It wouldn't require administration or funding.

So. What do you think about something like that? And/Or, to answer my friend's question, what are the sorts of activities that you would show up for?

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Triumph!

Several weeks ago I made a professional goal--namely, that I would make friends with the surly 12-yr-old who tried to call me a f****** b**** when I told him his time was up on the computer.

This is not because I have some compulsive need to have everyone like me. Because I don't. Much. But I happen to like 12-yr-old boys, and I've always had a soft spot for the punk ones. This soft spot was strongest when I was about 10-14 years of age and was always falling for the Bad Jr. High Boys. Now it is more of a benevolent, legal sort of interest. Plus I know that their lives can be pretty crappy and they need safe(ish) places where they feel welcomed. I'm absolutely fine with banning adults who make my life hard, but I don't want to do that to a kid. Kids have enough problems.

Anyway. I'd like to think I've been making progress. We haven't started having tea parties at my desk or anything, but there has been no more attitude. And yesterday when he walked by my desk he waved hello. I nodded my head and answered, "Hey."

Inside, though? Inside I was doing Snoopy dances.

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