link > Feel good, spend some money on postage. Or something. If you send your old greeting cards to St Jude's Ranch for Children in Nevada at 100 Saint Jude's Street, Boulder City, NV 89006, they will cut out the front covers to make and re-sell these cards, and the leftover cuttings are sent to a chipboard company.

To buy the recycled cards, send your order to Saint Jude's Ranch for Children, P.O. Box 60100, Boulder City, NV 89006. I got the information from Shagmail.

link > Yet more good news: I'm going to be an aunt. Hearty congratulations to my cousin and his lovely wife!

link > The Others is one fucking cool film.

Happy holidays, everyone.

link > New blogger Justin Slotman points out that left-handers (yes, this again) are more likely to suffer from... er... disorders. I bet this is a cunning plan ("You wouldn't recognise a cunning plan if it painted itself purple and danced naked on a harpsichord singing, 'Cunning plans are here again.'") by right-handers to make us lefty-non-members-of-Mensa feel inadequate. Bah humbug.

Mark leaves to join Kristen on Christmas holidays tonight. Oh, what shall I do, I shall be left completely to my own devices? *cunning plan* *cackle* Er, so to speak.

link > Currently non-life-threatening health issue: stiff neck and back from spending all day (and evening) peering at computers
Temporary fix: a Certain Friend Kristen, who is really good at massage therapy
Long-term solution: better posture and less time spent in front of said computers
Likelihood of successful self-implementation of long-term solution: zip

link > Not too much to say at the moment, the caffeine hasn't quite kicked in yet, and I'm not sure if it will.

Only two things:
* The Economist's Technology Quarterly is now free on the Web (I get full access on my work computer, so I can't verify this). Yowser.
* Everyone is fallible (sometimes we're just plain silly). Chill.

Question: do you save? Do you have a savings plan? Does a bank (or something similar) take care of it?

Not that I'm really expecting answers from anyone, but I was just thinking about it. I was brought up fairly privileged, and am a bit of a spendthrift. Trying to plan my life (for the next six months, anyway) has brought that into sharp focus: I can't faff around, I need savings to live reasonably comfortably.

This whole 'adult-responsibility' thing is a bit of a nose-wrinkler.

link > Simple pleasures:
* hugs
* hugs while sleeping
* hot showers
* a plaid doona
* Bovril (yeah, I know)
* my teevee and DVD-VHS player
* laptop
* a book
* a comfy couch

What are yours?

link > Training courses now available for men (I'm just as guilty, hence the 'I must be part bloke' admission, my misdemeanours are in bold)
1. Introduction to Common Household Objects I: The Mop
2. Introduction to Common Household Objects II: The Sponge
3. Dressing Up: Beyond the Wedding and the Funeral
4. Refrigerator Forensics: Identifying and Removing the Dead
5. Design Pattern or Splatter Stain on the Linoleum? - You CAN Tell the Difference!
6. Accepting Loss I: If It's Empty, You Can Throw It Away
7. Accepting Loss II: If the Milk Expired Three Weeks Ago, Keeping It In the Refrigerator Won't Bring It Back
8. Going to the Supermarket - It's Not Just for Women Anymore!
9. Recycling Skills I: Boxes that the Electronics Came In
10. Recycling Skills II: Styrofoam that Came in the Boxes that the Electronics Came In
11. Bathroom Etiquette I: How to Remove Beard Clippings from the Sink
12. Bathroom Etiquette II: Let's Wash Those Towels!
13. Bathroom Etiquette III: Five Easy Ways to Tell When You're About to Run Out of Toilet Paper!
14. Giving Back to the Community: How to Donate 15-Year-Old Levis to the Goodwill
15. Retro, Or Just Hideous?: Re-examining Your '70s Polyester Shirts (I'm not guilty of this, but I can think of a few mates)
16. Knowing the Limitations of Your Kitchenware: No, The Dishes Won't Wash Themselves
17. Romance: More Than a Cable Channel!
18. Strange But True!: She Really May NOT Care What "Fourth Down and Ten" Means
19. Going Out to Dinner: Beyond McDonald's
20. Expand Your Entertainment Options: Renting Movies That Don't Fall Under the "Action/Adventure" Category

I got the list from Shagmail.

link > A conversation with Norman Finkelstein: how to lose friends and alienate people. Since this is the first I've heard of the man, I don't wish to comment, but I'd be glad to hear opinions (especially since his mentor is everyone's favourite lefty, Noam Chomsky). Does seem like an interesting bloke, I must admit.

The fact that he, er, 'fought' with Daniel Jonah Goldhagen is reason enough for me to want to pick up a book (or two).

link > I've got sweet F.A. to do at work over the next three days. If I wasn't the paranoid, anal retentive, kiasi Singaporean I am, I would just take off and start my holidays a few days early.

Watch this space. Take a gander at the newly-updated 'further reading' links over here on the right.

link > These dudes are... brave. I've bitched about the same thing (using English English when writing, especially on the Internet), but there is no way in hell I'd start a web ring devoted to it. Incurs too much wrath, really.

link > The product of an overactive imagination: what if Osama bin Laden is, in reality, a puppet leader, used to fool everyone into focusing on finding him and him only (Mullah Omar notwithstanding), while the real leader's up and left Afghanistan ages ago? That would be quite the conspiracy theory, wouldn't it?

link > It's a public (bank) holiday today, the day off we're given for Hari Raya (the end of Ramadan). I only have four days of work to go before I go on vacation. My vacation involves doing bugger all. Sitting at home, watching the teevee, playing with my computer, reading, and hanging with my sister. Kind of like my activities today. w00t!

Did I mention that Quidditch is the coolest sport ever?

Saturday December 15 2001

link > I've been given a taste of the journalistic standards of some US publications, courtesy of a friend based in California. Among others, he's mailed me issues of Weekly World News ('Hitler's nose cloned... and it's growing a moustache!'), The National Enquirer ('Iraq did it! '), and Sun ('Nostradamus terrorism prophecies'). Thanks, Jeff (I think)!

link > Do you believe in the paranormal?

Do you believe in checks and balances? I got this link from rebecca's pocket.

Do you believe in the razor conspiracy? For that matter, do you believe in conspiracy theories?

link > I'm having problems with this concept called... being awake. I must be alert for 9pm, though, I'm off to see that film about that young boy who's a wizard and gets locked in a cupboard under the stairs. Ahem. With my mum and aunt, no less.

I haven't even read the book.

Speaking of reading (pfft!), I'd like to point your atention to the 'reading' link above. It's 'Lost Horizon', by James Hilton. I bought this book some months ago. My mum had a really old copy of the paperback when I was a mere rugrat. I never read the entire story, but I remember picking it up every so often, just to read the last bit, when the protagonist leaves Shangri-La. I'm not sure why I had this odd habit.

Around this time, my mum also had an old copy of Once is Not Enough, by Jacqueline Susann. My parents are rather conservative, so I dare say this was how I learned about sex and drugs. I used to dog ear the saucier narratives to re-read, over and over again. I didn't even have to do this covertly, which is kind of strange.

What I did have to sneak around, however, was the kidnapping of my father's porn mags. I had no idea what they were when I discovered them, but my mother's reaction (to my asking) told me they were forbidden, thus I must have them. I used to sneak them out of the (locked) cupboard and read the comics (the lady with the pink hair in those old copies of Penthouse entertained me to no end) and gawk at the naked women. And it wasn't just me, my older sister participated in these great moral crimes, too. Heh.

link > In the spirit of bobupndown.com's penny drive for charity, which is an ultra-super-cool idea (but I'm too poor to contribute), here is a (short) list of my favourite Singapore-based charities:

* Cat Welfare Society
* Community Chest
* Singapore Red Cross Society
* SPCA
* Youth Challenge

I hope other web authors who live here will try to spread the word. A complete list of registered charities can be downloaded in M$ Word format at the IRAS Charities page. List your favourite charities, tell your friends.

(Please note that I'm a complete dope, and not in that sleepy, good-feeling kind of way. I messed up the comments link tag the moment I started using this design, and didn't realise it until today. It's all fixed now, though.)

link > Apparently, we needed scientists to tell us this:

Scientists have found a simple solution to the problem of having to wrestle the lids off jam jars - don't screw lids on so tightly in the first place.

Fresh Micro$oft IE badness:

... Security experts have found a flaw in Microsoft Internet Explorer that allows a malicious website to spoof file extensions in the download dialog to make an executable program file look like a text, image, audio, or any other file. If the user chooses to open the file from its current location, the executable program will be run, circumventing Security Warning dialogs, and the attacker could gain control over the user's system... Microsoft was contacted on November 19th. The company doesn't currently consider this is a vulnerability; they say that the trust decision should be based on the file source and not type. The origin of the file, ie. the web server's hostname can't be spoofed with this flaw. It's not known whether a patch is going to be produced. Microsoft is currently investigating the issue.

link > Do you have a web cam? Do you want to have a web cam? Why do / don't you want to have a web cam?

I have a web cam, it's safely tucked away in a drawer. I bought this cheap camera in 1999 to videoconference with a friend in Australia (I think the last time we chatted was the time he stuck the camera down the front of his trousers). I've thought about firing it up again, especially for web logging purposes, but... no.

Does anyone want an old web cam?

link > It's definitely on its way, people are writing their memories of Christmases past. I should, too.

Food. Turkey, honey-glazed ham, roast beef, roast potatoes, pasta, salads, chocolate fondue. All in one sitting. TV. Random kids asking me about my tattoos and piercings. Nap. I look forward to more of the same this year.

Pre-Christmas parties at my parents' friends' houses: piano-playing (not me) and carol singing (sometimes me). I remember being involved in a carolling group, too, I must have been about eight years old at the time.

Presents. I don't actually remember past presents. I remember giving presents; I bought my cousin a summer dress one time, and her boyfriend (now husband) wouldn't let her wear it (ever) because it was 'too skimpy' (no, it wasn't. I don't buy skimpy).

My mum nagged my sister and I to go to my other cousin's mate's Christmas party, to 'meet young (male, heterosexual) doctors'. This was in 1995. I put on a t-shirt and blue jeans and was ready to go. Mum was horrified. Too casual, I must dress more formally, so I put on a men's shirt instead (haw!). My cousin came to pick us up, dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, so I changed back. My sister met the man she would go with on the Worst Date of Her Life^TM. I made a new friend, and I call him Uncle Kev. A resounding success!

link > Heh. Conclusive proof that if you say the right thing (and not even porn), you get visits. I linked to an AlterNet story on Noam Chomsky, and Glenn (of InstaPundit fame. Yes, fame) made mention of it. Ergo, my hits go up. I think Noam Chomsky is interesting, though not necessarily right a lot of the time. I admit I find reading lefty-authored stuff more interesting, it's quite diverse. It forces me to think about things in different ways. Or something like that.

Update: I wonder if linking to 3,500 Civilians Killed in Afghanistan by U.S. Bombs by Marc Herold will get me more traffic (doubtful).

Update: Ed Graham sent me a comment, saying that I should read this article as a counterpoint to the civilian body count story. The more cynical among us might think it is the typical product of a propaganda war (show your people how dictator-ly the enemy was, and all that). I think they're both probably true, to a certain extent. I am the mistress of sitting on the fence, I prefer to read everything for balance.

A man after my own heart (and glasses), Gary Frost is author / owner of BookNews, or futureofthebook.com, "Preservation and persistence of the changing book." *swoon*

I also think that linking to Graceland's web cam says a lot about me. It's ready for Christmas!

link > A deluge of reading from AlterNet:
The war for public opinion - "Therein lies the rub. Public opinion is a fickle thing, sometimes turning on as little as one horrific image or triumphant speech. A few well placed media messages can cause sea changes in national opinion... The Bush administration knows this media truism all too well. They also know its corollary -- that with the right pressure, public opinion can be manipulated. And so, as bombs began to fall on Kabul, the administration launched an equally aggressive front here at home: the war for America's approval of war."
Pentagon denials and civilian deaths in Afghanistan - "If we can't count the dead in New York, how can you expect us to know anything about civilian casualties in Afghanistan? He portrayed it as an impossible task, and he suggested that claims of civilian casualties were only coming from Taliban scumbags. Of course, you can't believe them."
Noam Chomsky, wartime media hero - "The rich and powerful have no quarrel with his work as the world's most significant linguist. But as a political analyst, he's pretty much persona non grata at big U.S. networks and influential dailies."

Discuss.

link > Why is it that I'm the one who broke up with him a week ago, and I'm nowhere close to feeling better? Why am I the one who cries about it at night? Why do I think about it so much? Why, when I know my life will be less complicated and painful now? This whole grieving thing bites the big one.

I'm hoping to start self-defence classes and volunteer for a youth organisation (if they'll have my sort around kids) to focus my life on... well, me.

How lame am I?

link > What's wrong with being left-handed...? From the New Scientist:

... Kieler found that of the men born between 1976 and 1978 who had ultrasonic scans in the womb, 32 per cent more than expected were left-handed. In an average population, around nine per cent of men are left-handed.

...

The results suggest that some men who genetically would have been expected to be born right-handed had actually grown up to be left-handed. Kieler says this could be due to a disruption of their brain development in the womb: 'It's commonly known among neuropsychiatrists that right-handed people can become left-handed by slight damage to the brain.'"

Criticisms of the US 'economic stimulus' package can be read here, here, and here.

New York City and Los Angeles. Live vicariously.

link > Nothing like a little video footage to make a dead hero less heroic. Sigh.

I wrote a little rant (only sort of) about John Ashcroft: "All I know about John Ashcroft is what I've been reading in the news. So far, I'm not a fan. His heavy-handedness really concerns me; my immediate reaction to the things he says and legislation he stands for is, "Aaauugghh! Dictator alert! Dictator alert!" He seems too quick to condemn people who criticise him, reminding me of some governments I know, and they aren't the most open, fair, and free ones."

Update: I thought I'd add what I found on a mailing list:
Any power that can be abused will be abused.
— Tyranny Law #1
Abuse always expands to fill the limits of resistance to it.
— Tyranny Law #2
If people don't resist the abuses to others, they will have no one to resist the abuses to themselves, and tyranny will prevail.
— Tyranny Law #3

An online Jack the Ripper case book. I love the Internet. I got the Ripper link from Mefi.

Slash fiction is about odd celebrity pairings, kind of like fan fiction, but just a little odder. My top slash fiction couple, if I were to write any, would be that tattooed guy from the Backstreet Boys and Justin Timberlake (Mr Britney Spears). Or Shannen Doherty and Melissa Joan Hart. Ooh, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jessica Alba. James Marsters and Anthony Stewart Head. I could go on, but then even I'd worry about me. What celebrity 'couple' would you like to read / write about?

link > What would you do if you wanted to park in a space that was a little narrow? And the reason for the narrowness was the car in the next space?

Would you:
a) find another space
b) park there but grumble
c) park there, then use your keys to damage the other car's paint job

To the fucker who scratched my mother's car: she was only parked that way because the car next to her was parked way over the line. You have no culture. You have no class. You need to get a life.

The big news in our household. I think I actually fell over when they told me. It's exciting, and I'm incredibly happy for them. In my current state of mind, though, I feel envious I haven't been able to have the sort of relationship they have. It's fantastic stuff, regardless of any lameass feelings I have.

In other news, I've sort of been spoiling myself. There's something therapeutic about shopping when I'm in a foul, sorry-for-myself mood.

link > Norman Cook (y'know, Fatboy Slim) - fat, balding, geeky, fantastic deejay. The bloke on before him was amazing, too. Richard Marshall really got the crowd going before Norman Cook came on.

I don't even like dance music all that much. Break beat is the only thing I'd dance to. As the first concert I've been to in almost three years, I'd say it lived up to my expectations.

My feet are killing me.

My mum: very cool. She's just bought my Christmas and birthday presents (my birthday's in January), she wanted to make sure what I wanted was available (and subject to Christmas discounts). She doesn't quite get why I think these electronics are uber-F.A.B., though.

link > Thank God for backups. Just in case you didn't know, this here weblog file somehow got emptied while I was editing it remotely. As in, the file size mysteriously shrunk to 0 bytes.

Here are some interesting sites I found / read today, no time for commentary, I'm off to the Fatboy Slim concert tonight. There's a great mini-cemetary at the venue. You can believe me, or not.

Muslim pundit (link from InstaPundit), Pipe dreams by Seth Stevenson, a (loosely) planned international protest against the war, and something I heard on the BBC World Service this morning.

link > Is this for real? Flight 587 Eyewitnesses Insist Explosion Came Before Tail Broke Off. If it is, whoa. I got the link from v-nv-mobilise.

First it was high-tech and IT, now it's biotech. Ireland and Singapore seem to have a lot in common.

Trade bills whose terms are negotiated by one person or one small group of vested interests should not be allowed. I don't think so, anyway. I don't have enough faith in people to trust them, especially in the world of politics.

Links on Fast Track (Trade Promotion Authority):
Back on Track by John J. Miller and Ramesh Ponnuru
Fast Track, it's back by AFL-CIO.

link > The office's servers are down, and will remain down all day. Great.

To get the day going, I've read The WTO's hidden agenda by Greg Palast, Seizing tomorrow (an interview with Richard Slaughter), Terror coverage boosts news media's image by The Pew Research Centre, Stop the presses by Alan Pittman, and Newsflash! US is not centre of the world!! by Norman Solomon (tee hee). I'm really good at cheering myself up. Aren't I.

My browser of choice.

link > Orwell Today - "Comparing the world George Orwell described in 1984 with the world we are living in today, 2001."

Let's play connect-the-dots with the novel and items in the news today...

More on novels: one of my favourite authors, the late, great Douglas Adams, will have his final (incomplete) novel published next year.

link > I want to thank people for their kind thoughts regarding my little heartbreak period of stupidity, but I don't know how to do it without it reading stupid (or something).

As expected, he doesn't think it's over, he's told me so on SMS and IM. He always called me a 'keeper'; he hasn't done a very good job trying to keep me. I hope he understands that love does not mean the recipient gets to be constantly selfish, no matter how hard life is. This is painful, but anyway.

Update: he knows it's over now, he read this, then spoke to me on IM.

In June of last year, I went on vacation. I visited Chicago on a whim, and met a young man named Daniel. We swopped e-mail addresses and have been friendly ever since (even though his political beliefs give me hives). Visit Daniel's homepage to read his London holiday travelogue.

link > Visit the Internet Licence Place Gallery today for geeky fresh easily amused joy cleverness.

In the 'Things that can really suck' category, topic: private health care. My mother is a registered General Practitioner, so I've never really had to spend much time at any doctor's office. I avoid it, really. I'm not a big fan of paying consultation fees for a doctor to tell me what I already know, as well as over-prescribe unnecessary medication.

Private clinics are mostly open 9-5; it seems to serve those who want / need a day off work, and can afford to go during office hours. Private medical practitioners seem to be much freer with handing out Medical Certificates (the company needs proof you're sick because they trust you that much, another topic for another day), along with copious amounts of antibiotics. As far as I'm aware, they tend to run their own pharmacies, so the more medication they prescribe, the more money they make. Government-run clinics will only give you an MC if you're horribly ill (I'm not sure how you could make it to the doctor's in that case), and they aren't as free with prescriptions.

There are standards, no doubt about that. Doctors have to be registered by the Singapore Medical Association. Too bad there aren't any obvious requirements to be registered at CASE.

link > I've just ended a rather painful and difficult relationship. I'd been in denial for a long time about how it's hurt me. I haven't been able to function normally, I was too worried about him: whether he could pay his bills, whether he'd be mad at me for getting upset that he hardly ever showed me any consideration or thoughtfulness, whether I was making him happy enough.

In the end it came down to my need to have a reason to go on making him a part of my life, and he wouldn't give me one.

I have bruises on the knuckles of both hands from punching the walls in frustration. I'm glad I have people like my flatmate and sister (thousands of miles away in New York) to talk to. They've both said basically the same thing: he's not nice (actually, I think my sister called him a fuckhead).

The funny thing is, he alienated and hurt me for such a long time that I don't feel any different today.

Update: my sister just rang me to tell me about the astrological aspects to my fucked up relationship. Tee hee. According to her mate, who does a lot of work in astrology, Aquarius (me) and Taurus (him): bad bad combination. Aquarians are more critical (not too constructive, either) and pessimistic, Taureans are perfectionists who hate being criticised. More proof here! This is great stuff. Chortle.

link > link & think for World AIDS Day

AIDS in Singapore remains a hugely taboo subject.
Action For AIDS is an official volunteer organisation for people with HIV/AIDS.
On the teevee tonight, a documentary, 48 on AIDS.
Riding for Life, the "Singapore AIDS Ride".
Paddy Chew, the first person to come out publicly about his illness, in a most unself-conscious fashion.
Singapore held its first conference on AIDS in 1998.
Asian AIDS resources.

I've never known anyone with HIV/AIDS. My only knowledge on the subject comes from school science projects and the media.