Aurgasmic

It's been a good while since I've gone out of my way to scour for new music. 'New' in a relative sense; as in, never have I heard of these particular artist or band before, and neither has the local radio station.

Some few years ago (give or take 5), I used to dedicate large portions of my snail-paced Internet time searching the deepest, most obscured corners of the World Wide Web for semi unheard-of bands or song releases of bands from my then gospel: Japanese rock. Actually most of those bands were not that alternative if one was really into the J-rock scene in those days - Dir en Grey, MUCC, Laruku, Miyavi, Shiina Ringo.


Hell yeah, you still rock my sexy socks Kaoru

But through the powers of mp3 rotation sites, I was able to discover and even help spread the word of what I'd like to think were lesser known bands - Alice Nine, Coaltar of the Deeper, Deathgaze, Baroque. I promise I'm not name-dropping for the sake of it; it's more of a tribute post to another time, and perhaps some former mp3 rotation peers would one day do a Google search and be brought here. And we can reminisce over the good times together - back when visual kei bands were original and wrote some killer stuff, and metal did not necessarily equate to mindless death screams from start till end.

Once I moved on from J-rock, I got into local indie rock bands. For a while, I was really into the burgeoning underground English music scene in KL; going to bars and dilapidated pubs to watch them perform. We even became quite chummy with a few of them, exchanging pleasantries at gigs, scouring free CDs and posters. Good times, good times. And I think the scene has grown quite a lot since then; at least new bands don't have to be subjected to the creaking floorboards and piss-stained stairs of Paul's Place anymore. ;)

Then I moved over here, lost touch of everything and everyone from that time, and pretty well just grew out of it, I guess. Most of us did, including the band guys themselves who suited up and got day jobs. And I think inadvertently, I became a grumpy old person who thinks that no music today comes close to being as good, let alone surpassing the music of yesterday (my days).

But thankfully, I'm with someone who shares my ideology of an ageing music grump. Despite his love for bad, synth-heavy 80's music, Mitch and I spend many collective hours in the car, bitching about the degradation of popular music these days. A simple comparison: Bieber vs BSB. Need I say more? Yes I do: BSB is not a 10 yr old lesbian boy trying to teach girls all over the world about love and heartbreak or whatever it is he sings about. At least Aaron Carter had the audacity to sing about candies and girls in sweaters when he was 10. And his brother was Nick Carter, so that's street cred times a billion in the late 90s.

Btw, it seems that The Biebs made a comment recently in the press about how he feels like he's the Kurt Cobain of this generation because he's "just as misunderstood by the masses". Well maybe he should put a gun to his head as well, because really nothing says teenage angst more than edgy bowl cuts and almost getting arrested for throwing water balloons at National Guards. Water fucking balloons.

And you know what angers me even more? His goddamn fans.



But I rest my case, because I am not a music snob and everyone has the right to pretend to like deceased grunge icons for the sake of being rad. Even emo mofos and Twilight fans.

Sigh, I think it's a sign that I'm growing old. I'm becoming one of the classic parent type who thinks that their kids' music is shit and that they don't make good songs anymore. And I very much agree - I do think the 60s-80s gave us some truly un-reproducable epics (mostly because power rock ballads unfortunately went out of fashion), but I also believe that the 90s gave some serious contenders in the form of alternative rock and early house music. Wallflowers, Soul Asylum, Chemical Brothers, Goo Goo Dolls, Foo Fighters, Fat Boy Slim, Counting Crows, Incubus, pre-solo-career Matchbox 20, Radiohead, STP, The Cranberries, Jamiroquai.

I digress, again. My train of thoughts never stay on track, I can't help myself. And then I can't bring myself to delete whole paragraphs of earnestly typed words. I wonder if I'm like that when I speak to people as well, hm.

ANYWAY! Back to my original intention of this post. I was meant to say that I've been uninspired by the popular music of today, which sent me backwards in time when searching for 'new old music'. I've forgotten how it feels like to discover a brand new sound, chance upon a singer or band who just absolutely blows my mind, one track at a time. And then spreading the word about said artist(s) to like-minded and like-tasted peers and watch their minds get blown away.

That is, until I came across this site.

Over the years I've stumbled upon similar sites, mostly forum-type things or web radio. And none of which really resonated with me up till now. I love the minute descriptions of each recommended artist and the varied hybrid-genres they feature. Most indie music sites stick to a fairly uniform set list of dreamy, lo-fi acoustic sounds, but Aurgasm branches out to jazz, big band, funk, soul, electro, and even hip-hop! (albeit, not your ordinary Jay-Z staple). And what's more, the guys also throw in a good mix of Scandinavian and European acts which we otherwise would not have heard of on this side of the planet.

Thanks to Paul Irish and his crew, I am now rocking some serious Dutch cabaret jazz, Swedish big band swing and a French soul man funking up Seven Nation Army.

I've been rejuvenated!

Schmism

Aaaand we're back to having grouchy-esque days.

Can't say it hasn't been a good week so far, have just been feeling a bit disconnected from everything.

Think I need a breath of fresh air. In a literal, going outside or "opening the windows" sense.

Hate oversleeping-in, completely destroys my mood for the rest of the day. Have got stuff I need to do, but just feel like crawling back to bed and speeding up the process of tomorrow.

Mmmmmm or perhaps I shall take an extended hot shower to treatment and exfoliate the hell out of everything treatable and exfoliatable.

Then get a bit of goodness inside my system as well. Something like a salad maybe, but I only have tomatoes, zucchini and carrots in my fridge. And I hate raw carrots and zucchinis. Plus I need to save them for tonight's gratin.

Guess it's refined sugar and MSG for lunch then.

I shall then commence my weekend work, maybe by completing them I'll achieve a slight sense of fulfillment. Which could hopefully lead to motivation to edit my damn job resume. Come to think of it, I think it was the disappointing job search earlier that led to this onset of Sunday afternoon blues.

That, plus hunger, plus lethargy, plus the stinking heat, plus watching aliens getting shot on TV.

Sunday, bloody fucking Sunday.

Oktober(mind)fest

Someone wrote on FB today:

Happy 1st October! Only 3 more months to go before we usher in 2011! How much more things to you need to achieve before you bid 2010 adieu?

And it got me thinking - oh by golly, it's time for another self-indulgent, soul-searching entry!

I know pretty damn well what I still need to do before the year ends. It largely involves my career progression, or rather what's lack of it (half full half empty). But it's a lovely day today - bright and sunny, got a day off after a physically hectic few days at work. So instead of focusing on the lack of, let's have a round up of "what had" in the past 10 months.

2010 started a bit sketchy, what with the stress of moving out and house-hunting. Had a bit of a monetary tiff with the previous landlady, which unfortunately didn't quite work out to our benefits - but letting bygones be bygones, I'm happy to move on and never have to deal with her ever again.

Then came the stress of finding a new place within a short time span. That was partly our fault cos we didn't plan ahead, plus we were away for the holidays and got back just on time. This was the first time any of us had to really search for a place to live, considering that we had the convenience of the Student Village in our first year, and then a friend's shared house in the subsequent years. For me, it was the first time that I faced the possibility of not having a roof over my head - lessons in adult responsibility 101.

And we were lucky to have stumbled upon this unit. In fact the place sorta fell onto our laps; we've been looking at several places, none of which really materialized. It was either too expensive, too rundown (we viewed one unit which had a sunken ceiling and rotting bathroom fixtures; another one which was painted in depression and screamed suicidal), too shit of a location. And when we did find ones we really liked, our application was rejected. :(

So when we received a phone call from one of the real estate agencies, saying that a place we had "registered our interest for" had been made available once again, and whether we were interested to view it, we jumped on it immediately. I didn't even remember this place; I think we must have missed the initial viewing sesh or something. Probably due to work, which we couldn't afford to miss either since we had rent deposit to worry about.

As soon as we stepped in, I'd decided that we're ready to move in. It wasn't the biggest flashiest place (in fact it was quite the small), but it felt nice and homey. The rent was surprisingly good for the location that it was in (2 minutes drive from the city!), the view was superb - so all that was left to do now was to convince the agent that we were the perfect tenants.

And we were a bit luckier this time around. :)

After a superbly bad 2009, I was all that more grateful that we finally caught a break. Things were beginning to look up; and the optimism slowly grew over the year. Good things creep up to you unexpectedly, and sometimes unnoticeably as well. Looking back, 2010 has brought me a place of our own, total financial independence, my TR, my first cat, a proper savings account even goddammit.

In 2010, I have also started writing again, started volunteering with Oxfam, established new friendships and revisited old ones. I properly thought about the future and allowed myself to think about family, which you may have noticed in some of my previous entries. Just recently, I've even summed up the courage for forgiveness, as I realized how much and how hard he's tried to work things out with me.

If anything, being here and being with Mitch has taught me to view the dynamics of family ties a lot more differently. I think it's easy to be blinded by each others' faults; and to be fair, sometimes these faults outweigh everything else, so forgiveness isn't necessarily in place for all members. But. I happen to see some redeeming qualities, just a bit. So for now, I start by accepting phone calls, and talking to him. And from there, I'll see how things go. :)

Okok, back to less private stuff.

So now, every time I start moping or wallowing in self-pity, I remind myself that I've come a rather long way from the carefree days of living at home, and living off my parents' support, financially and otherwise. I broke out of my comfort circle and everything that I am so familiar with; and till now, I have yet to build a new one.

But what's living if life isn't a challenge, eh? :) Without realizing, I've crossed several milestones in the past 3 years, and it has taken me down a path I hadn't anticipated previously, which sometimes still shits me. It always make me question myself whether I'd made the right choices in life - but you know what, no such thing as right or wrong choice, just what you make out of it.

Problem is, I'm hopeless with the whole concept of "contentment"; so despite which road I choose, even if it's paved with yellow fucking bricks, I am always gonna ask myself, "Is this right?". I think a certain Robert Frost spoke about this in the last century, if my memory serves me right.

So life lesson 101: Contentment is the key to happiness. If that fails, suck it up and stop whinging (sub lesson 101a: It's probably just hormonal).

Until then, just keep trying. Isn't that what everyone strives for anyway, to find the elusive key to happiness. Or meaning of life, depending on which school of thoughts you belong to. Thus for my remaining 90 days of the year, I vow to soldier on in my quest to forge some semblance of a career in order to fill my present void of discontentment. Cross the bridge when I come to it etc.

Here's to a spectacular rest-of-the-year for all of us! :)


xx
Hsin

Footie Finale

GRAAAAAND FINAAAAAL WEEKEEEEEEEND!!!

Just once I'll like to be in Melbourne during Grand Finals week, to be in the middle of all the festivity and excitement and alcoholic haze. I came close to it last year, when we flew into Victoria for Mitch's friend's wedding. Unfortunately, said wedding was on Grand Finals day itself - so instead of trapping myself in Federation Square (or any other large open spaces with live telecast cos let's be realistic - there was no way I could afford tickets), we were barricaded inside with no TV access, waiting for the groom and his men who were late because they had to stop by Maccas to grab lunch wtf.

We made it home just in time to see the Geelong boys kick the winning goal against Saints. Which was hardly a consolation since we missed the whole goddamn game, but at least we won.



And then this year we lost at the semis. T_T

So the first time in 3 years, I don't have a team to barrack for on finals, and I'm just a little bit at lost. Out of the two teams, one is the public enemy and the other is the team we beat last season. Macam mana, who better to root for?



I'm kidding, of course I know who. GO SAINTS! As much as I have a sinking feeling that Collingwood is going to win the premiership, I think I speak for all non-Pies fans that I hope the Red, Black and White will just sneak by with a 1 point win at the very last second. And it will be some epic goal by Goddard, because I said so.

Now where's my beer?

Yellow Fever

I have recently discovered a profound love for the colour yellow.

I think it all started with the episode of Glee where the girls had matching yellow frocks and sang to a Walking on Sunshine//Halo mash-up, all jacked up on Vitamin D. How have I not taken notice (and ownership) of this bright, happy hue before? How could I have gone through a good quarter of a century without racking every clothing shelf empty of their bananas and mustards and lemons? (Answer: it's because I always end up buying them in black instead).

And the deal was finally sealed when I bought these pair of shoes during my last trip home:


:: Only RM30! Suck on that, pricey and uninspired Aussie shoes ::

Actually maybe it went back as far as last Christmas when Mitch bought me the prettiest yellow dress ever; which unfortunately is still sitting in my cupboard with the tag on - but brightening up my otherwise boring wardrobe. Only because it's 3 whole sizes too big for me and I've never gotten around fixing it. And by fixing it, I mean asking my mum to help me fix it.

I still try it on from time to time, hoping that I've somehow filled out the bust area or that it wasn't as loose as I remembered it to me. No luck so far. :(

But modest chest sizes aside; I think there's no better time than here and now to fully embrace the lemon power - spring time in sunny Perth. :) Driving down to Albany, we passed fields after endless fields of dense yellow wildflowers just begging to be pranced upon. And I will, mark my words - I will. Just as soon as I get the perfect frock and wide-brimmed hat.

Until then, I'm spreading the yellow fever.


:: Jovani Prom Dress. It's yellow, it's ruffled and it's bubbled at the hem! ::


:: The yellow field flowers I would much rather have ::


:: Michael Kors Grommet Tote. Only $269. Only 13 hours of workslavery. ::


:: Something relatively more affordable - Weis Mango & Cream, the mother of all tubbed ice-creams. The mango sorbet is possibly more mango-riffic than most fruit mangoes. And it's paired with the creamiest, richest, smoothest vanilla cream ::


:: Mango panna cotta - recipe here ::


:: My current spritz of choice ::


:: A 1969 Ford Mustang ::


:: A dopey yellow lab puppy ::


:: You haven't had jelly beans till you've had Jelly Belly Buttered Popcorn beans ::


And last but not least:



A yellow polka dot bikini! :)


xx
Hsin

Workxcursion

Aaaand it's about time we have an update. I realized that for a while now, every time someone logs on to my blog, first thing they would see was my lament about my ringworm infection - with a picture to boot.

First off, a quick plug to my friend Mark (known in some circles as Quin's hubby-to-be) who's finally put together his long-overdue food blog. He's still brimming with the keenness and enthusiasm of a virgin blogger (4 entries in like less than 2 days); so head over and show some love - esp if you fancy an off-the-wall recipe that one may or may not afford to make.

...

I've been busy with work myself, which explains my absence lately. And after back-to-back 6-day (often double) shifts, we finally have the weekend off! (/^ ^)/ A long weekend at that, cos Monday's job was canceled ahohoho.

But I won't bore you with the details. Instead, let me walk you through a series of photos summarizing my last couple of weeks; featuring 2 travel jobs, several fooding hunts, and one epicly drunken night. Or maybe not that last bit.

First off, CEXP Northern Run! (babelfish says: Coles Express gas stations across Kimberly region of WA i.e. Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek and Kunnunura in that order). As most of these are already up on Facebook, I'm just going to select a few worthy for a re-post.


:: Such as this! ::

They say the third time's the charm, and it can't ring any truer for this trip. I may have complained about it to some of you prior to departure, but much to my relief there were NO IRRADIATED MAN-EATING BUGS WAITING TO BITE MY FACE OFF T____T Then we had a good troop ensuring much fun and food flexibility (that means being able to split 50/50 booze-chow fund); and I supposed more importantly, we had relevant biggies from the client's side to make sure there's no mucking about on the store manager's side. So the jobs went relatively smoothly.


:: The vast expanse of flat, empty plains and bright skies ::


:: As we had long hours of drive from one town to another, usually with little to no towns in between, public toilets were sparse and often unimpressive - such as the above ::


:: ... WHICH HOUSES THIS! A BLOODY HOLE IN THE GROUND! Mind you, it's a disabled-friendly hole in the ground::


:: And small, cramped, dodgy looking rooms where we had to share in twos. I'd imagine Mitch and Paul got a bit cozy that night, since the bed was just about right for Felicia and myself ::


:: But we weren't short on good, hearty food though. :) Pictured here, falling-off-bone tender lamb shank, on a bed of creamy mash from Fitzroy River Lodge ::

And then in Kununnura, we had the pleasure of revisiting the Pumphouse Restaurant & Bar
which was quite literally a foodie oasis in the middle of a dry, relic nowhere. It is situated along the Ord River, and has one of the most spectacular sunset views I've seen.

Unfortunately, we missed it this time around. Partly because it's still winter I supposed, so the sun set a lot earlier; and we were feeling lazy from the drive.

Also last time we were there, it was Woodfire Pizza Tuesday* which was kinda what we were going for this visit (because it amounted to quite a cheap bill). But we were there on a Friday, and there were no specials apart from their perpetually $5 Crown Lager wooooaaaahhhh I'd forgotten about that up till then.

But it was a blessing in disguise, as we soon discovered.


:: Which all 3 of them ordered cos they're unadventurous like that. I didn't try the pork as I was busy scoffing down my dinner, but they raved about how spectacular it was, grilled to absolute perfection. I stole a mushroom however; and it (mushroom + sauce) was divine ::


:: But I much prefer my perfectly grilled, succulent, tender-in-the-middle tuna steak. And it was paired superbly with ratatouille and a delicate white port reduction. And the potato gnocchi made up for good starch since it wasn't the biggest meal. But never have I had Such. Perfectly. Cooked. Fish. I would go back to Kununnura just for another piece of this ::


:: And really, that's just too cute ::

For the rest of the night, I think the pictures speak for themselves.


:: Because it was on special. And also cos it wasn't half bad ::


:: Shang Tsung watches you ::








:: Whilst stumbling our way to the BP across the road to get midnight munchies. Thank goodness for 24-hour servos serving hot chicken chips that were wicked yum ::


:: A tribute to our boss man, whom we're always thinking of no matter where we are. Loved, much? ::




:: Goodnight, folks. ::

...

Part 2: CEXP Albany

Which really was just an overnight job for Mitch and myself. The drive took 5 hours plus each way, so we had little time for anything else apart from a decent dinner and of course, work in the morning.

Nothing out of the ordinary occurred throughout the 2 days, except maybe for the lady at the reception who appeared to not know what a debit card is wtf. She asked us to show the credit card that the room was booked under, which we couldn't because our boss did the booking online and usually (i.e. every other time), they never ask for it. So then she said, any credit cards, just for security deposit purposes; and Mitch asked her if his debit card was okay, and she asked, "Does it have credit on it?"

Wtf? Did she mean whether he had money in his account? Cos really it just sounded like she had no idea that a debit Mastercard, as the ads claim, does everything a Mastercard can do, but with one's own money.

Meh. So in the end, we had to fork out a $250 cash deposit up front, which of course, had to be withdrawn from a petrol station across the road cos they didn't bloody have an ATM on the premise. Bodohs. -_- Got charged $4 bank fees sommore, wth. Shame on you, Banksia Gardens. Call yourself a fancy schmancy place.

...

But at least their food was decent, although Mitch's prawns from his Surf n Turf were suspected of being the cause of a bit of tummy rumble over the night.

And mine was just stupidly small.


:: Even though I had an entree, which I had to admit was pretty damn good. Could have done with more cheese though, it looked like it was just dotted with mozzarella. And perhaps a bit more seasoning as well to fully bring out the flavour of the Portobello ::


:: On the other hand, well-seasoned baby squid, perhaps could have done with a few extra seconds on the grill, and tossed over a crisp Greek salad. But goddammit this doesn't pass off as a main! ::

I left that night, feeling half-empty and half-disappointed. Fortunately the possibly-undercooked squid didn't backfire on me. I was bracing for stomach bug at best, salmonella at worst, but really I was just ... hungry, for the rest of the night.

Then again, when am I ever not hungry, eh? As we speak I'm sipping on Frozen Coke Float, which I reckon is one of the most ingenious McD's "Pairing of Two Things to become a New Item!" since Orange McFizz. Shame they took that off the menu back home. :(


xx
Hsin

Just shoot me

Holy shit, ringworm is infectious!



You are looking at what I initially thought was a scab from a bump; but as all early diagnoses of bruise-spawned-scabs go, I am once again incorrect. And proven wrong by none other than the ringworm fungus once more, which seems to have taken up permanent residence in our home.

Where the fuck do ringworm fungi come from anyway? The cat was fine until we brought her home; we were fine until after we got the cat. Maybe it's some chemical reaction between cat, human and dust that somehow equates to infectious spores?

Ughhhhhh and as we speak another one appears to be developing on my knee:



Is it the cat's fault? Absolutely. She probably picked it up from licking the shower drain, the ferrel little thing. Why would such an obsessive-compulsively clean animal be attracted to the dark moldy depths of the shower drain is beyond me; but it's the only explanation that I've come up with so far and I'm sticking with it.

Need To Bleach Shower Cubicle.

Also, there's this little factoid:

Conditions such as heat, moisture and dirty, crowded living conditions increase the risk of fungi spreading.

Given that I'll be flying up north for jobs (again) next week (despite swearing never ever to return, again), where the climate is significantly hotter and where the level of hygiene leaves plenty to be desired, I am almost certain that I will have a flare-up of epic proportions, and be left scratching myself to death. All that while busy swatting away crickets, grasshoppers, spiders and other bugs the size of my face. I am not exaggerating, and this time I will take photos to prove it.

Because guess who's got a new caaamerraaah! :D :D :D



Yeh it's an IXUS. Only an IXUS, one might add. But guess what, this IXUS set my finances back about $500 and that's like over half of my fortnightly pay. -.- Although I'm looking at it as 10% of my tax returns, which sounds a lot more comforting. Because tax returns is everybody's pat-on-the-back for a year of hard work, and we all deserve to splurge a little! :)

The remains will be carefully distributed between savings and "Jill & Hsin & Shaun's Epic Adventures 2011". The latter warrants a whole entry to itself because a) I'm crazy excited about it; and b) it is THE trip we've been promising ourselves since our high school years. And you know what, it has been 8 years. And we've all been friends for over 10. It's worth at least two weeks of wicked debauchery, eh? ;)

Just kidding Yang, I promise I'll be good.

But I'll save that for another day. Because for now, my background movie is finishing and I'm actually half interested now even though I know what's gonna happen next. Plus, the next movie is a horror so wahey, cue for me to go to bed.

Till next entry, with better pictures. :)


xx
Hsin

Sympathy pain

Just a quick update.

The cat scab has been diagnosed as a mere ringworm lesion! Which sounds a lot worse than what it actually is: a fungal infection that requires little to no treatment. In fact the vet said we could just leave it and allow it to run its course over time, but we opted for anti-fungal tablets instead to speed up the process. Well, depending on whether she's willing to take them or not.


Pictured here after she dived nose first into the shower while Mitch was showering -.-

So yay, one less thing (that I shouldn't have) to worry about. :) Now we're just gonna need to clean up the house to rid of "fungal spores", and any other bacterias and plankton that could be lurking around the bathroom. They must have heard my anti-bacterial soap comment from the last entry. -.-

Death to evil microorganisms!


Damn straight that's an eye infection.


xx
Lazy-eyed Hsin

Crank up the Cranium

**Disclaimer: Long and wordy post up ahead.

I have a lot on my plate at the moment. Mostly little things, some even negligible, but all crammed up in a tiny corner at the back of my head. I think that's the Stress/Anxiety side of the brain, lodged in between the Rational Left and Creative Right. Or was it the other way round?

First off, my cat is ill. Well not exactly ill, but she has this scabby patch above her eye which appears to be getting worse by the day. Initially we just thought that she bumped her head and had a bruise (that was what it looked like at the start). But the scabbing got worse, either because she's been scratching, or it's something a lot more serious that warrants treatment. We've been waiting for our appointment with the vet this coming Monday (she has a sterilization due), but over the last few days the scab seems to be deteriorating rapidly. And so are my wits.


:: Ashamed of her scarred face :(

Mitch said not to worry since the cat doesn't appear to be too concerned about it, apart from her occasional scratching and pawing at it. But given that this is my first ever cat friend, and my tendency to leap into borderline-schizo paranoia, I am imploding with anxiety and worry.

What if it's serious? What if it's untreatable? What if she needs surgery? How am I gonna afford any vet services?? Well I can, but it's just so damn expensive holy shietz.

But see what I mean though, the excessive worrying. Probably explains why I'm the only person I know of my age who got hospitalized for anxiety attacks. -.-

Sigh, what does this say about me. I have every making of becoming a painfully over-protective mother in the future, and that's the last thing I want to be. Having grown up in what I deem to be a 'too-sheltered' household, and watching the younger generation in my family being subjected to even more protectiveness, I made a promise to myself to allow my kids grow by their own terms, and to live and play and learn at the expense of scraped knees, dirty clothes and perhaps even a fractured bone.

That's not to say that my family did a bad job raising me. If anything, my mother has always been and still is 100% supportive of my actions and decisions the past 25 years. I think that everyone just got too caught up with the bad things that are happening around them - disease outbreaks, natural disasters, the global obsession with germs (I stand by my belief that anti-bacterial soap will kill us all in the end), the neighbourhood crime, terrorism and warfare, 2012. A culmination of all these events eventually leads to a paranoid society, which trickles down to communities and family units, and inevitably, to individuals like myself.

I'm trying to move away from all that, and I honestly think there's progress. I mean first step in solving any problem is recognizing it, right? Hopefully in a few years' time I'll get a lot better, and I won't end up as a mother who sterilize her children every morning and send them to school in a kid-size bubble wrap.


:: Haha although apparently, someone's already beaten me to it.


Ok I digress. Moving on to bigger, more current things.

A possible job prospect. In the Eastern states. I know nothing about it to date, except that the CEO/owner is a friend of my dad's, and I'm given a name and a number to call in a couple of weeks' time (that's when he returns to Melbourne). I hope I'm not jinxing it by talking about it so soon, but I need to pen out my thoughts to make sense of them.

So what's not to consider about my treasured first, proper employment opportunity? Relocation, for one - since my lease for this place in Perth doesn't end till next February. I guess that can be sorted out if I'm employed full-time, although paying two rents a month will still be quite painful. -.- But I'll be leaving behind a boyfriend and a cat, and that will be a lot more difficult.

Second of all, and perhaps a bit more complicated for me, is the fact that this person is my father's contact. As you maybe know, my relationship with my dad is kinda... strained over the years. And ever since I could, I've stopped accepting any favours or help from him - simply because I don't want to owe him anything, and so I'll feel less horrible and ungrateful as a person. It's an issue that's taken up permanent residence in Anxiety Hind Side of Brain, but that's a story for another day.

So, if things do work out with this prospect, I'll be going against everything I've worked so hard to avoid. =/ It'll be silly to give up such a good opportunity over principles though - but I most likely won't, because I'm not the strongest of principle-keepers, and because I really really want a full-time job in my industry. And I have a deadline hanging over my head.

Maybe I'm just making excuses for myself. I'm afraid of being disappointed yet again, and this time it will be a major blow since it's the big connection/recommendation that's supposed to be an employment guarantee. Although truth be told, it will not be the first time that he broke my heart. =/ However if this doesn't work, I would have come close to exhausting my resources plus I'll have to deal with the shame of breaking principle. -.-

So how now, brown brown cow? How to impress a potential employer if I'm clouded with all these personal conflicts and doubts? How to convince him that I am, in fact, a worthy addition to his company while secretly bracing for disappointment? That while I may be a little messed up and throw lady tantrums in my head sometimes, I am pretty smart and have all the skills that meet the job description and more?

I think all these explain the throbbing headaches I've been having. I'm never one to get bad headaches, not even when I'm massively hungover. I think Hind Brain must be overworked overtime, and only getting paid $19 an hour. ;)


xx
Hsin

Cat Lady

Everyone, meet the latest addition to our family:


Hello I am Basil. My owner gave me a boy's name because she's silly like that sometimes.

Okay she looks a bit fierce in that photo, but I assure you that she's all hugs and cuddles most of the time. That is, when she's not busy being a cat in every other ways.

I have long since established my impression of the feline: needy, lazy, disloyal, think they are superior to men, temperamental, and harbouring a secret desire of killing me in my sleep.

And my few encounters with them so far haven't exactly done much to prove me wrong either; the strays back home enjoys pissing on my shoes, my neighbour's cat always turned away whenever I try to pat him, and Diana's cat used to hiss at me whenever I even try looking at it. -.- Although to be fair, Diana's cat used to hate people in general.

But look, I finally found a cat which actually likes me!


Forces her way into a cuddle usually when I'm on the laptop. As we speak, I've had to already put my comp away twice. -.-

We picked her up from Cat Haven, this cat shelter in Shenton Park which is only about 5 minutes away from our place. Initially we wanted to get a smaller kitten, something between 8-12 weeks old perhaps.

But as soon as we walked into the place, our kitten pretty well decided that she wanted us to take her home, and she was rather vocal about it too. Out of the 20 odd cats present, she was the only one meowing out to us with all her might, even falling over a couple of times in her desperate plea to get our attention.

Then, almost as fate would have it, the other smaller kittens were unavailable due to this rule they have about 'taking the last kitten together with its sibling/mother', and yeah we don't have the space for two cats. Sides, they didn't like us as much as Basil does. :)

She still displays all the usual cat-racteristics: scratching the furniture, perching on window sills, spending the bulk of her days sleeping and her nights keeping her owners awake. She eats moderately, but poos a heck lot for such a small kitteh. -.-

She also has her little quirks which may or may not be common in most cats (I wouldn't know better, and I'm only basing them on what Mitch tells me). For one, she does the "turns around on the spot before sitting down" thing like a pup. ^^ And most times she's pretty happy to be patted and cuddled, which is a nice change from cats who run away from me. T.T


I also like bags.

I've never had a pet my whole life. I've always wanted one, especially a puppy, but my mum had always said no. Which I thought was a little unfair since she had a dog previously, whom sadly passed away when I was still very little. :( I think the family wanted to spare me the misery of a dying pup; and spare themselves the misery at the same time probably.

And I don't resent them for that. I would have loved to grow up with a dog, but I don't think I had the best environment to raise one.

Things are different now though. Living where I am, with someone who's had dogs his whole life, in a city where I don't have to fear walking my pup in the park by myself when I eventually get one. Only after we've bought our own house though, considering pets are not allowed on most rented properties (shhhh..).

But for now, Basil's perfect for us. :)


xx
Hsin

All Gleeked Over

All my shows have ended!

With the exception of a couple more episodes of 30 rock, we've finally gone through all our supplies of TV shows for the rest of this season. :(

Having said that, I have a bone to pick with the producers/writers/creative-director of Glee.

*spoilers ahead***

Take a lesson from one of your earlier (better) episodes 'Hairography', and note that flashy costumes and dance sequences do not make up for lack of substance. Seriously, I think we've all had enough of:

a) Schuester's pained look and epic whinging
b) Schuester being a man whore
c) Rachel and Finn's on-again, off-again, on-again love
d) Finn's inner conflict
e) April Rhodes drama

What we don't get enough of:

a) Puck and Quin solos
b) Britney's one-liners
c) Finn's half smile (oh stop it)
d) Schuester being the charm-my-pants-off, all singing, all dancing lovely that he was.
e) Sue Sylvester

We get it! The kids are talented, they need to express themselves, and Glee club is the only place where they can truly shine and be themselves. WE GET IT. It is not necessary to verbally reiterate the point week after week after week. -___-


More dancing, less talking.

As for the songs and performances - granted, the vocal lessons for some of the cast members have come through pretty well (especially Finn), and I love how everyone else is getting more dialogue and singing time. Maybe next season we'll even have Asian guy and black guy do a little duet? :D If there is a second season, that is.

Actually I'm not sure if I want another season, especially since everything in this second chapter seem repetitive and stale compared to the first part. =/ Even the Schuester-Emma kiss in the first finale was a lot more gripping and squeal-worthy compared to the recent one. Or maybe I'm just over Mr Schuester because he's been such a bitch this whole 2nd chapter.



YOU DISAPPOINT ME, WILL SCHUESTER. ANOTHER HOOK UP WITH ANYONE BUT EMMA AND YOU ARE OFF MY BOOKS COMPLETELY.

But! All's not lost, I mean there were a few memorable moments in this half. 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' almost single-handedly salvaged the anti-climax muck that was the first couple of episodes. And I say that because, really, after such a spectacular build up to the previous finale, suddenly it seems that everything came crashing and we're back to square one - the relationships, the New Directions mojo: GONE.

Then there was the Madonna tribute, which I still think it's a tad bit overrated but what's not to love about Sue Sylvester doing the Vogue. :) And speaking of tribute episodes, Gaga week could have been so much more if it wasn't for the nagging 'Feel Free to Express Yourself' message being drilled into our faces every 5 minutes, graaarghhh!

But totally redeemed by the Idina Menzel-Rachel Berry duet of a reimagined 'Poker Face'.

xxx

Having said that, I'm not sure if they should do too many of these artist-themed episodes though. I heard talks about 'Britney week' and 'J-Lo week', oh please God no don't go there. Now that will be an overkill of an otherwise brilliant concept. Especially J-Lo - I mean come on, I'm sorry but she has never elevated to batshit insanity to deserve a tribute week on Glee.


Or has she?

But I do have to admit. Every time they launch into the family issues with the kids, whether it's Kurt and his dad or Rachel and her mum, I'm reduced to a tears-and-tissues wreck. I am such a sucker, AND I HATE IT. STOP MAKING ME CRY, GLEE! I was in it for the songs and laughter!

At the very least, make me weep through your songs - as you may have with the 'Don't Stop Believin' encore. *circles foot on ground


Other worthy mentions

1) Neil Patrick Harris and Will Schuester Aerosmith duet.
2) Idina Menzel in her entirety.
3) Finn finally loving Rachel (for now, before the producers crush it for me at the start of next season)
4) Hot bods in spandex @ Physical remake
5) Puck doing Sinatra, oh yes oh yes oh yes!
6) ND doing U2
7) Artie's dancing skillz! I supposed he has years of boyband experience to credit for.
8) Principal Figgins


Till next season!


xx
Hsin

The Julia Factor

Australia has its first female Prime Minister, and the public opinions are split down the middle.



On the surface, it appears that Australian politics has crossed a milestone by inducting a woman into the top position. But many believe that such an important event should have taken place through a proper democratic process, rather than installation by default.

By the end of the day, these opinions have evolved into somewhat of a distrust and uneasiness towards Julia Gillard, saying that she basically betrayed Kevin Rudd and took advantage of his sinking popularity to step up to the job herself. And while that may represent a certain amount of truth, it certainly does not represent the larger picture of the situation.

I don't claim to know much about Australian politics (or any politics for that matter, that does not involve bitching about UMNO), but here's what I gather from these 2 days of media madcap:

1) Former PM Kevin Rudd loses popularity among the people.
2) Thus, former PM Kevin Rudd, loses popularity among party members.
3) Former PM Kevin Rudd resigned, and Julia Gillard as deputy PM, rightfully replaced him.
4) Socceroos is out of the World Cup, but went with a glorified win against Serbia.


In full glory, indeed.

Mitch raised a very good point when he said that the public should be voting for which government they want to represent them, rather than who their leaders are. Because ultimately, the bulk of the socio-economic decisions will be made by the members of the parties, so we ought to be thinking about whether we want a Labor or Liberal governance, not whether we want our First Lady Julia or a Speedos-loving Abbott.


Aussie pride.

Yet, there's always the issue of public relations - both at home and on international grounds. Politics is something like 30% policies and 70% media relations, so it does warrant some consideration into who we want to be the leader, and therefore the face of Australia, right?

Julia Gillard has more charm and charisma than Rudd and Abbott put together, twice-fold. She is intelligent and articulate, and exudes the sort of level-headed confidence which I personally believe, are important qualities of a great leader. The fact that she is female should be secondary to our opinions, but it isn't. Because we still live in a world where a female Prime Minister is a novelty, and everyone is waiting to play the gender card on every step or misstep that she makes.

Like now, for instance. Overnight, she went from becoming everyone's favourite female politician, to a "bitchy backstabber", who pulled the rug from under Ruddy's feet while he was down. The media and public abused her for taking advantage of poor Ruddy, even though they were the very same people who dismissed Rudd's administration in the first place.

I wonder if the media and people would be as unforgiving if it was a male deputy PM instead. At the very least, 'bitchy' won't be used to describe him. -.-

..


I've always liked Julia Gillard too. To me, she's the only person keeping Rudd and the Labor party on their toes, even though I don't necessarily agree with the policies and decisions that they've made over the past couple of years.

While others think that what she's done was sneaky and uncalled for, I believe that the woman is smart and gutsy enough to make an informed and calculated decision, knowing full well that she's to expect a massive public backlash and risking her reputation as the 'media darling' of the Labor party.



And, maybe that's just what Australia needs right now. You've had Rudd who's been so busy trying to please everyone and their mums that he's repeatedly change his mind over the same issues time and time again, rather than taking a stand on what he (or at least his party) believes in. A politician or leader shouldn't strive to be liked; he/she should strive to be respected, which I think is the biggest problem in politics everywhere these days. Clearly the people has voted you into power, therefore, start using them. Command authority as you see fit, and if the people are unsatisfied with the results then they can always vote for somebody else.

What Julia did was grabbed the popularity contest by its balls and went ahead with what she feels is to the best interest for both for herself and her party. It's just like everything else - survival of the fittest. The best person for the job. Sentiments and politeness have no place in politics.

xx

To be fair, being a democratic country and society, such issues require proper procedures and protocols in place, lest we descent into anarchy*. And we all respect that process; but really, the core of the matter is that Rudd was made to resign because he was incompetent, and the decision was clearly a calculated one because the next in line was everything that Rudd failed to deliver and some more.

*I love that phrase, I've been itching to use it in a sentence ever since Sheldon Cooper brought it to light in reference to ignoring phone calls and voice messages.

She may or may not have a hand in speeding up the process, we'll never know. But really what's the big loss here? They've replaced one bad Labor leader with a much better one. If anything, it's probably one of the best decisions that the party has made over the past 4 years, if they want to see a glimmer of hope in winning the next election.

And that's just it - politics are about people with power, seeking to be in power. Along the way they make promises to the people to improve their lives, some worthy and some unfortunately empty, but more often that not, it keeps the country running and the people contented. At least, contented enough to not descent into anarchy.


And Sheldon wouldn't have it otherwise.

So balls up everybody. At least your government isn't buying secondhand submarines that can't submerge, or spending billions of taxpayers money on aged armored vehicles under the impression that they are military tanks. Such are the prodigious minds that we call our leaders in dear ol' Malaysia.


xx
Hsin