memories of London

As promised, here are the long awaited photos from my London trip. It's a really lovely place, and I would like to visit it again sometime. Haven't had that much time for sightseeing this time, which explains why I didn't take that many photos. :P

Click to view more photos from my London trip!

"The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express." ~ Francis Beacon, Sr.

Time Filler

Artwork by =andaria

A girlfriend of mine asked me today: "What do you make of a guy who messages you every day, calls you up to chat every night, but never ask you out?"

"He's bored at that point in time, and is probably taking a break from whatever has been taking up his time before he called/messaged. In other words, I think you are his time filler." I rationalised.

So how do you tell when you someone is taking you as his time filler? Here are some tell tale signs...


1/ He calls you at his convenience - even it that means in the middle of the night.

2/ He is more caught up with updating you about his life than asking about yours.

3/ He hardly asks you out, but when he finally does, it's out of the blue when he's got nothing else on to distract him.

4/ When he's with you, he's only got one thing on his mind and it starts with S and ends with X.

5/ He wants you to understand when he is busy, but he kicks up a big fuss when you have no time for him.

6/ He wants to know who else you are seeing; but he keeps his dates a secret

7/ He says he misses you whenever he calls - but his calls are so infrequent you wonder if that was true.

8/ He calls you to chat when he is drunk.

The list goes on - but these are the ones I always hear about.


So ladies - if you don't wish to be taken as a time filler, recognise these signs and purge these men out of your life. They are toxic and detrimental to your emotional well-being.


You definitely deserve better.

My Resolutions for 2008

Artwork by ~Marendigell

Somehow I find it easier to achieve the gruelling KPIs of my work, then my yearly personal resolutions. It's as though I have taken myself for granted.

Fortunately for me, I am quite a goal-oriented person. Once I've set my mind on something, I will work towards gettting there. Maybe for personal goals, it will take me a while - but yeh, I will get there. :)

And here are my resolutions for 2008. Check back again with me at the end of the year - and we will do an audit of how far I would have come.


1. Exercise regularly.

I have been pretty sickly last year - and have been told by my numerous concerned friends that maybe I should get out into the sun more and move my lazy ass. Exercise helps improve blood circulation and sleep, boosts the immune system, and of course, keeps my ballooning weight in check.

I don't seem to have a choice if I want to reduce the number of days I have been on sick leave. So I resolve to take NO medical leave this year! <== Big Fat Hairy Resolution

On to the treadmill!


2. Lose 6 kg in 6 months.

This is an unfortunate consequence of not exercising at all whilst I was stuffing my face with food. I will write more about this in my next post - but for now, I need to cut off some fats at strategic parts of my body, gain and tone some muscles and stop looking pregnant. This practically means, Resolution (1) is necessary for the successful completion of Resolution (2).

Damn.

3. Blog regularly.

My blog seemed to be frozen in time in 2007. Yes, I admit I had other distractions - but that shouldn't be an excuse. I absolutely love writing. Blogging helps to keep that rhythm, and disciplines me to materalise my thoughts, opinions and emotions in words. It oils the writing engine and more often than not, reduces the down time - more commonly known as writers' block.

I want to be able to share like before and let my entries touch people in ways that I might not be able to do so in person. But most of all, I don't want to stop writing and lose sight of the one true passion of my life.


4. Make a will

Life is so fleeting - and totally unpredictable. I see people dying around me every day, and the fatalistic part of me sometimes wonder when will I be next to go. You would never know, would you?

So I was thinking, if I do expire one day, I want to leave behind a legacy to bless those whom I care about. When there's a will, there's a way.

How corny.


5. Develop the outline of my book.

That's pretty achievable, don't you think? I have to start somewhere you know - and writing that very first chapter seemed even harder than conquering Mount Everest. It seems that many writers are inflicted with this numbing disease called Writophobia - the fear of writing because one feels the finished work will never be good enough.

I figured if I start working on the outline of my book and list the topics/chapters that I would be writing on, the next step to writing that first chapter would be less daunting.

Or am I deluding myself?


6. Clear my debts.

Credit cards - the bane of all evil. I want to be debt free - or at least credit card debt free by end of 2008. Banks are legitimate loansharks. They seduce you to take their products, entice you to use them regularly (for everything and anything), and blind you with all sorts of promotions and member privileges. And suddenly, you are totally duped into using the money that you don't have in the first place.

Behind the scenes, they start to pile up the interests, which escalate every month to alarming levels. And before you know it, you are neck high in a pile of shit and gotta try to stay afloat and not to drown in the tsunami of bills.

So I am getting meself a mighty pair of scissors to cut away those plastics the moment I cleared the shit out of them. That's what me gonna do.


7. Start saving.

The lack of savings is an unfortunate consequence of servicing credit card debts. Which means Resolution (7) is dependent on the successful completion of Resolution (6). Don't you just hate it when your resolutions overlap like this?

I want to be able to put aside a significant amount of savings each month. I want to be less dependent on plastics and loans and have a healthy amount of cashflow. I want to fatten my bank account and be able to swim in wads and wads of bills.

Well I can dream, can't I?


So there we have it - seven simple resolutions for the new year. Nothing fanciful - but extremely significant to me. I am hesitant to have more than seven resolutions because as it is, it takes a hell lot of determination and discipline just to achieve one. I am being Ms Realistic here - so that I will not be driving myself insane just to tick a laundry list of resolutions off my checkbox.

Now - what are YOUR resolutions for 2008?

New Year's Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time.” ~ James Agate

happy birthday to me

Artwork by ~polawat

one year older
one year none the wiser
forget the candles
scrap the cake
less is more, remember?

from girl to woman
like a flower blossomed
what's innocence
where I'm from
it's literally non-existent

so it's another year
another day
another reminder
oh, come what may

so much love today
i feel faint
greetings poured in
like summer rain

well my friends
thank you for everything
life's been great
absolutely divine
almost heavenly
so just for today
happy birthday
to me