tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59668082012-02-18T03:44:42.183+08:00let lemons be angryjuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.comBlogger6881100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-26681706519723109052012-02-13T23:43:00.001+08:002012-02-13T23:43:35.880+08:00
A wedding begins with a list of to-dos, and ends with the tiredness of have-dones.
In-between, there is almost no time to savour the moment. No time to talk about the meaning of things, or how long we've waited for this day.
So because there was no time for these words, here they are:
I'm glad your dreams are coming true. I'm glad that you are starting your own family, in your ownjuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-33817281066091628062012-01-27T12:41:00.001+08:002012-01-27T12:42:40.915+08:00I can finally say...
This looks like a happy new year!
Wrapping up two projects that have more or less dominated the past year, and now I can open my arms to new projects, new directions, new afternoons trekking up hills.
Something else dominating my thoughts has been the subject of beauty.
Not just a lust list of products, but beauty as an extension of personality.
Makeup not to look perfect, but to add juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-87541924357676495402012-01-06T00:02:00.000+08:002012-01-06T00:02:32.233+08:00All in One Place
When something is done twice, it can be counted as a little family tradition. So lunch buffet at Sheraton has become my birthday tradition. The best value for money at a hotel buffet, because of the oysters I love.
What a blessing to have all the people closest to me here in one place. To have them happy to be together, liking one another.
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-70702466531478717382012-01-04T11:59:00.000+08:002012-01-04T11:59:42.086+08:00christmas
Christmas day is a time to be selfless, no matter how silly i really feel inside.
A day to embody silliness so that 14-year-old girls can put aside their self-consciousness too--and win that prize for best costume!
Christmas is a time for hearty, homemade meals. Because homemade turkey is a lot better than store-bought, or worse still, turkey roll. But any meal with loved ones is juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-85917949746767943702011-12-27T22:07:00.002+08:002011-12-27T22:07:55.491+08:00Where do you meet God?It's easy to ask questions like, "Why does God allow suffering?"
But somehow in the heart of the deepest sadness, I find God there. More clearly than when things sail by on this sheltered half of the world.
Yes, it's ironic. These children have been abused or left behind by parents whose lives are also broken. Meeting them should make us angry with God for allowing such cruelty and injustice injuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-46188529138736081892011-12-12T15:00:00.001+08:002011-12-12T15:25:03.904+08:00And camp has ended again.Nine Royal Family Kids' Camps, and every camp gets more intense than the last.
I had two seven-year-old girls in my care. One was a Dreamer, paint splatters on her arms and scarves around her neck, a whirlwind of distractions and happy gurgles, but also a victim of night terrors. The other was a gungho baby with a tiny puffy face, eager to be first in any race, but in great need of sayangs and juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-22491055107770522212011-11-24T00:03:00.001+08:002011-11-24T00:07:15.278+08:00Surprises
Work in progress always looks worthless. Then it all comes together with colour and Photoshop.
I found the following photographs in my computer, which I didn't know I had. I surf a lot and it's all throwaway imagery to me. But once in a while I look at a picture for more than five seconds, trying to decipher what it has that captivates. Then I know I have to right click and save. So here juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-90498411356503596282011-11-17T09:54:00.000+08:002011-11-17T09:54:04.976+08:00Joy is giving us a deadline to download her facebook photos of us before she deletes them (paranoia). So I was made to look through all her albums, and I found these. Including this from Year One, when Joys still looked sporty and I still had a tan.
Presenting the Finest moments of our Group of Eight. (with occasional honorary members).
There were Muffin Awards at the end of year 2 or 3, and we juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-33473578211714992372011-11-15T17:14:00.000+08:002011-11-15T17:14:11.576+08:00The Unending Weekend
1. Feel-good storiesI hate to say this, but after going to a few too many weddings this year, I'd lost my "aww" for them. This one over the weekend, however, sent everyone in weepies, and not because the groom involved was something of the Prince of our peasant church. A sweet love story: bad boy comes full circle and marries his childhood friend, someone he was afraid would juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-42141143129945709862011-11-03T00:56:00.000+08:002011-11-03T00:56:54.581+08:00Of Missionaries and Makeup
A wise man recently asked me what I've learnt from my parents. He was too witty and intimidating, so my answer became incoherent and silly. But walking in the rain today, massive clutch under my aching elbow while grappling umbrella and drink, I suddenly knew what my parents have taught me.
As full time Christian workers, every cent they have had over the last 30 yearsjuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-41570709760046195402011-10-15T01:16:00.000+08:002011-10-15T01:16:14.073+08:00"I Wish" is a graphic novel I read recently about a magician who grants people wishes. In return, they must give him their most precious possession. They often do not know what that most precious thing is; the moment the wish is granted, it will be taken from them.
Sometimes the price they paid was more important than the thing they wished for. A daughter wished for her father to become more juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-48227844459360215892011-10-06T17:58:00.000+08:002011-10-06T17:58:21.175+08:00
I don't know why the little ones thirstBut I know the last shall be first
A promise to hold on to.juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-12437769515358153182011-10-04T15:43:00.000+08:002011-10-04T15:43:11.260+08:00Everybody is in Paris (okay, only two friends) for work, and I'm waiting too for the day work will send me somewhere. Meanwhile, I am falling into Francophilia browsing all these personal accounts of foreigners living in Paris, and believing that I need to be there too. Not for the Eiffel tower, but the little artifacts such as Angelina's hot chocolate above, purportedly so decadent it leaves juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-56857138503641550682011-09-29T22:15:00.000+08:002011-09-29T22:15:08.742+08:00
I have been having insomnia, despite being desperately tired during the day. I walk till my feet throb and my contact lenses get dry, yet I still can't sleep through the night.
I blame my pillows, but I've fallen asleep in stranger contortions than flat out with a bad pillow.
If I can't sleep tonight, I won't waste time trying to. I should get up and try what some people do, paint at 3 am, or juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-82883083505482682992011-09-22T13:06:00.001+08:002011-09-22T13:10:25.883+08:00About a year ago, I did this logo for wimbly lu, a chocolate cafe. The owners, Weebs and Lu, bought a shophouse and had all these dramatic ideas for the interior. They'd found my website and wanted their logo to be like the symmetrical heart house I drew before.
So the logo represents this shophouse: complete with their symbolic car in the front. Pity about the kerning for the signage, should juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-67532208543916918662011-09-22T12:22:00.000+08:002011-09-22T12:22:42.874+08:00So my oldest companion has been nicknamed Funnel-Face and Conehead these days. It's a collar that prevents her from licking her wound. I dutifully prepare her medicine and gauze morning and evening, and get one of my unwilling parents to hold her down while I treat her. It's a recurring abscess of her anal gland--those brave enough can find youtube videos of the condition.
At mealtimes we take juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-3725135971440542192011-09-12T10:25:00.000+08:002011-09-12T10:25:33.910+08:00Mental and Spiritual Wastebasket: the discarding of old ideas. (and the new ideas that take their place.)
1. My talent defines me.
I am who I am even if someday I can't do all the things I do now.
2. I am still young enough to let others do the planning and talking.
I am old enough to do something and not care how young I look while doing it.
3. Every day must be jam-packed with juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-33286212886800795082011-09-11T23:01:00.000+08:002011-09-11T23:01:17.061+08:00I've come to see that I will never understand what it means to love a sibling. I look at k and his, and am amazed that there are still whole worlds I will never get to explore. I often imagined that I would have a brother like a Protector, or a little brother like a mini-son. But that's the best my imagination can do.
Am I an introvert--or am I just an only child? I find my way in more easily juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-22377820600471523132011-08-30T20:29:00.002+08:002011-08-30T22:50:15.983+08:00I was at the Jurong East Stadium on Saturday night, waiting for Dr Tan Cheng Bock to appear. K was there, my parents were there--my parents are never awake past midnight, and here we all were in dress and tie from my cousin's wedding dinner, holding the fort for the president we wanted.
There was no agenda, no certainty. The growing multitude was not there because we were sure TCB would win, juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-90842206839360128752011-08-26T13:53:00.000+08:002011-08-26T13:53:04.815+08:00 We Flocked to Bock last night.
Unlike his political opponents, Tan Cheng Bock's rally strategy was to get normal Singaporeans to speak to Singaporeans. His speaker lineup: his very enthusiastic PA, a taxi driver, a new immigrant, his patient of 35 years, a young girl who made her election choice after doing research on the candidates, and his own children.
The focus for the first two hoursjuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-33108971316394802172011-08-23T14:29:00.000+08:002011-08-23T14:29:36.265+08:00RFKC HK'11.The camp that had us all in wigs at some point of time. No photographs of the children to show, except for kids of the staff. Lucky me got to be one of the photographers of the trip. Photos of me are by Nicole or Shian Wen.
So this was my 8th camp, and my most relaxed. Apart from taking photographs, I planned birthday party games and the chapel decor.
Every role in camp feels juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-57754429014090794012011-08-11T01:01:00.000+08:002011-08-11T01:01:00.883+08:00800 dogs, 300 cats. Noah's Ark Natural Animal Sanctuary.We blindfolded Joys to take the busride to the causeway, but even with her eyes open she didn't know we were coming to heaven on earth.
Through my eyes even ponies are huge and intimidating, and I could barely keep my hand there long enough for them to grab apples with their teeth. Clomp, clomp, and apples turn into juice pulverised all overjuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-25924132719648942462011-07-26T21:41:00.000+08:002011-07-26T21:41:02.687+08:00Love and Vomit.
I share my pillow every night with ET. I look at her compact body facing the wall with head cocked, and think that each moment must already be in Extra Time. I touch her and she becomes a vibrating engine, purring louder and louder and louder until I can feel it through the pillow we share.
But last night as I tumbled groggily into bed, I found her vomit splayed across my quilt, juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-42272532489101129402011-07-18T11:28:00.000+08:002011-07-18T11:28:06.372+08:00Sometimes I suspect I'm slowly rotting away on the inside.I learnt it in Primary 3 Science: living things grow. Without growth, there cannot be life.
I once had dreams to expand my territory far and wide, to have a little dorm room and a studio and be on a ladder painting. But these days I have tidied up my thoughts and swept them into closeted piles. I farm myself; I trim away inclinations that juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-28034871670633585842011-07-11T21:21:00.000+08:002011-07-11T21:21:28.964+08:00
Marks of a good evening: Your salad requires a waiter's explanation, and the birthday girl gets chinese philosophy books as presents.juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-44331371554873303342011-07-09T11:29:00.000+08:002011-07-09T11:29:22.712+08:00I learnt this painful lesson after watching someone fall.
We must not confuse God with our Idea of God.We must not confuse God with Life.We must not forget Jesus, in our search for God.
It is so easy to call out to God, this faceless abstract notion of a supreme being, and live in our idea of decency and virtue. We were made to have a perception of what God should be like. So He fills the void juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-56539894292241109792011-07-07T17:48:00.000+08:002011-07-07T17:48:32.414+08:00 So on Saturday, I was sitting on the floor like this in a comfortable room at the substation, for minimart.Not possessing any portable, stackable shelves or the like, I put up a clothesline to clip up my prints. I was later told it was a nice idea.
I also painstakingly made sticker packs of some of the queerer characters in my sketchbook. There's k, me, huimin's head, and mgs schoolgirls.
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-70059475934052269782011-07-02T23:18:00.000+08:002011-07-02T23:18:40.664+08:00The most exhausting Saturday I've had in a while. Took a first step in pushing myself out onto the fine art scene, and I am happy. :)
More can and will be said about the people I met. For now, let's just say that if I'm to carry on in this industry, my heart must be buried in the purest of things, and stay childlike.
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-18470219157422904002011-06-26T20:21:00.000+08:002011-06-26T20:21:08.366+08:00Enamoured with the olympus pen. It wasn't in my plan to get it, certainly not this year, but God is good.
My new picture wall, with additions from Shanghai.
Good food at Bedrock. The camera does pretty well in low light.
It also has several art filters that I am not too enamoured with, but could learn to use to break up photo monotony.Good news for Olympus users is they are now offering a juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-33399051236158376322011-06-22T10:57:00.000+08:002011-06-22T10:57:51.192+08:00New Mission: Becoming a Woman, Eventually
These days my obsession has been nothing else. Ever since my mother and I had a landmark conversation about who in my social circle was a woman and who wasn't yet (me), I have thought about nothing else when dressing up. Just a year ago I was lamenting that the low-20s were passing me by, and I still wanted to be a lithe young girl. How quickly the rulesjuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-39232893734431188162011-06-22T10:04:00.000+08:002011-06-22T10:04:24.977+08:00
New at a nomad sea! We finally finished our Carrot Top Filing Cabinet. And our suitcases are featured in this month's Alexis!
To be honest we don't have time to make the shop as stocked or as publicised as we would like. But our objective in this has always been to treat it as a hobby, even if the tradeoff is slacker than I would like. Our emblem is, after all, the very chilled hammock. So oncejuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-59225791714002262582011-06-16T23:18:00.000+08:002011-06-16T23:18:20.893+08:00Seychelles. I am tired, but I must show you this very blue Small Hotel,
decorated by a zealous man,
and this house we later stayed in with the most calming morning view. But such views are too common to the Seychellois. Everything is built along the coast. Every roadside is a beach.
Such as this: roadside.
So many children.
So much beach. But alas, no snorkelling, no diving license, no boating, juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-60857974231960378012011-06-07T21:44:00.000+08:002011-06-07T21:44:53.724+08:00 And: the rest of Shanghai. Condo owners love their dogs, and make them wear shoes because their dogs sleep in their beds.
Moganshan road. Such simple subject matter, such simple materials. Just paper and watercolour-- i have no excuse not to be able to start painting right now.
This very popular cat is actually a tomcat. But the cafe owner put him in a dress because it "looks better." juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-26011427323941626162011-06-07T21:14:00.000+08:002011-06-07T21:14:27.801+08:00 Shanghai: 10 minutes in the Gao house.
Needless to say, we were all pooped at the end of each day.juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-81739203802739794002011-05-21T11:22:00.000+08:002011-05-21T11:22:30.247+08:00So many things happen when you're in China and unable to log onto blogger, facebook and twitter. These things will come with more detailed posts each, but nonetheless here's a smattering of photos of the last two very exciting weeks:
3 Things that Shanghai was to me:
Chaotic Singaporean children;
M50, Moganshan Road, art district, where my mother and I cried at the same painting and I found juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-58813552467184532332011-05-10T16:34:00.000+08:002011-05-10T16:34:28.553+08:00A quick one before I rush back to my work. I don't think that the government will, or should, remove TPL from parliament just because there is a petition to do so. The petition states that the people voted the PAP in, but that their votes do not reflect their consent to TPL being an MP. What utter naivete. They voted for the PAP knowing that she is in the GRC; they have "5 years to repent" in juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-45035428155470010892011-05-08T16:39:00.000+08:002011-05-08T16:39:51.756+08:00 The last rally. 5:30 pm and the front rows were camped out. This poster sent shivers down my spine. Thankfully the pro-George sentiments are higher on a whole.
Hasn't started yet, but everyone is watching the crowd grow.
Alas, no photos of myself on my own camera. K was too busy waving his flag at the front to mind me as I walked up and down the stadium by myself, queuing for the loo and juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-18353198670142027652011-05-07T21:29:00.000+08:002011-05-07T21:29:51.943+08:00Polling Day.
So many things I'd wanted to say before this day. Too late now, for you would have voted.
So instead of trying to be persuasive, I can only be reflective. And perhaps that is the wiser, more beneficial thing to do.
Whatever the election results, we can say that change has already happened.
1. There was opposition.
More and better opposition arose than we could ever predict. We juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-90553914483246296872011-04-29T09:50:00.000+08:002011-04-29T09:50:42.662+08:00 A Tribute to TPL
I confess I was never interested in politics. The elections I remember are of estate walkovers and vague sentiments that the underdogs should win. Other than that, I was content with life in Singapore. I compared our general standard of living with that of the neighboring countries, and was indignant with critics who picked too many bones about nothing. K would go on about LTK juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-67171300472151102452011-04-27T12:52:00.000+08:002011-04-27T12:52:46.708+08:00 Nothing much goes on in the privileged world. We fret over what to wear and which new places to eat at. We complain when our stomachs are too full. In all honesty I despise my life now. I despise my hobbies and need for beauty products. I despise my interest in good restaurant set lunches.
My boss cut short her stay in Japan after the tsunami and radiation traumas. But she said she lived well juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-86033694222257694062011-04-12T13:05:00.000+08:002011-04-12T13:05:54.248+08:00Synaesthesia, at the Substation
Ceriph put together a matchmaking project between artists and writers. We would be assigned a text and come up with a typographic work based on it. I said yes, but "no vulgarities please, because I get awkward with those."
My work never shows up well in photographs because I like them faint and close-up. So if you drop by the substation and find my piece, go up juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-87233949356291906692011-03-31T13:44:00.000+08:002011-03-31T13:44:20.859+08:00 Time for more muses. Spring colours, face painting, a little more rock-disco than usual.
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-60639862508168822252011-03-29T19:22:00.002+08:002011-03-29T21:44:32.457+08:00
This is the Clarisonic Mia. If you are addicted to youtube beauty gurus like I am, you will know what it does--and other facts irrelevant to life such as the Skinsonic being an affordable dupe for it, and what tightlining is.
For the uninitiated, the Clarisonic is an electric toothbrush for the face. It gently vibrates in a sonic pattern to slough away dead skin and leaves pores 6 times juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-16570671472953897452011-03-28T16:12:00.000+08:002011-03-28T16:12:13.180+08:00 Hammock Day 2! So we arrived early, and started taking photos of each other.
Then k's family arrived,
and so did friends,
and friends of friends!
So did a happy baby.
In the midst of all the computer work you do, remember to get out and enjoy the earth!juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-12293818713783085112011-03-22T23:35:00.000+08:002011-03-22T23:35:40.664+08:00 So I've become quite the website addict lately, churning out .coms the way I used to churn out new blog addresses. But each one is different! Anyway this is what I've been busy with these weeks.
a nomad sea:It arose out of k's fixation with looking for suitcases and finding none on our sunny island. He then suggested we import some lovely ones, and so we did. We talked about all the things juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-74129496184422942572011-03-10T22:15:00.000+08:002011-03-10T22:15:29.901+08:00Colours:
I'm a person who wears a lot of grey and black, but did you know that I am obsessed with a few other colours?
RED/ORANGE: my room is full of red accents. I didn't manage to get all the red in this one photo. From the left, clockwise: clog from Malacca, flat pouch from Hongkong, cup from Tokyo, flowers from k from Feb'10, pepper grinder from Vietnam, clay pig from Vietnam, tin carousel juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-20635607880790990862011-03-08T16:28:00.000+08:002011-03-08T16:28:29.376+08:00Movie Dreams
1. I had a magic time-travelling notepad. It was palm-sized and I believe you could buy it at most HDB stationery shops. To time-travel, I just had to write the time and date on one of the lines and touch the printed pencil icon beside it. I tried it and had an incredible whizzing feeling, and was brought back by five minutes.
So the grand plan was to go back several decades and juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-39536012085009315232011-03-07T15:59:00.001+08:002011-03-07T17:26:05.082+08:00Have not been able to get well for weeks, because days were too hot, sweaters were too warm, nights were too long, and obligations were too many. I have all the time in the world, but I can't use it.
I need fruits for health but they make me cough. I need to strengthen my body with exercise but I have no energy to run. I need to get rid of projects so that I can make art, but I can't make art juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-26626548166695263482011-02-28T15:05:00.000+08:002011-02-28T15:05:56.118+08:00 A story of kids having to grow up.
When we first met in 2006, he was a skinny punk and Topshop was still selling those lycra t-shirts that I wore to camps. We both had golden highlights. He was a lionlike team leader, and I was his responsible assistant. It was a time of Crusade meetings, suppers in Canteen 2, mission trips, and art projects. He got an afro perm and I lugged around folios of juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-44836899875943419882011-02-22T14:46:00.000+08:002011-02-22T14:46:17.748+08:00Isn't this beautiful. By Morimura Ray.
I've been working harder than I did all of last year, which makes me happy.Some days I wake up and do some housework, then I cook my own lunch. Or else I settle down to work and don't stop until dinner. No more mind-numbing surfing.
My work has also evolved slightly, which is progress. Time to move away from the same old style, and improve. juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-60459005471382647692011-02-16T13:19:00.000+08:002011-02-16T13:19:18.357+08:00 How was your valentine's day?I spent mine in a fever, while k was at his cousin's wedding. It was also my mother's birthday, but we were both too under the weather to go out, so my dad bought us tori-q bentos and we spent the night watching a new (old) taiwanese drama about the ethics of honor and saving lives.
Here then, to celebrate the great love that is my family, is a photograph of my juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-50160363963312467052011-02-08T14:52:00.001+08:002011-02-08T15:18:25.130+08:00It was a happy chinese new year.For one, the weather was cold. All the better for wrapping up in.
And there was time enough to do some painting,
and some puppet-making,
and some tidying up of the hurricane happening on my desk.
Time to laze around and be stretchy. Although I must admit I haven't stopped rolling around in bed these mornings either. New year's eve dinner with the family: ajuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-42812451638635906632011-01-27T15:27:00.001+08:002011-01-28T13:20:19.579+08:00I had my first real truffle experience last night.
K and I never pass on the truffle fries if it's on a menu. And we figured that if truffle fries are only drizzled with truffle oil, which purportedly doesn't even contain true truffle, then the real thing shaved over a truffle cream dish should make us die on the spot.
The funniest thing is we didn't die.
We had a creamy, cold, light burratajuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-34384201393256703032011-01-26T14:07:00.000+08:002011-01-26T14:07:40.636+08:00
Soon my future will be my own to schedule in.I want to take a week, not more, to enjoy the mundane things. Whole days of camera film, whole days of Oscar movies.Whole days of stopmotion.Whole days of reading.
And then, when my subconscious is filled with the richest and oddest of things, I can create again. There are a few series of work I have been longing to finish. One on sleep. One on juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-84427138165219140592011-01-21T12:21:00.001+08:002011-01-21T12:21:27.864+08:00http://juliennetan.com/juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-49701517213633160722011-01-19T16:06:00.000+08:002011-01-19T16:06:18.570+08:00These days I have been out cycling in the rain with happy girls,
at a late-night tea party with a very glum tea hostess,
and my cats got a bath, which they enjoyed despite this one's mournful moans.
And I have had quite an obsession with beautiful living spaces, and triangles as roofs.
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-68144679327806507372011-01-17T13:33:00.000+08:002011-01-17T13:33:01.273+08:00A bit of a cleaning frenzy these days.
Yesterday I told my sec 2 girls the Proverb, for "a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest," and ruin will come to a house in the form of brambles and thorns and weeds. And I have been living it out by vacuuming every crevice in the shop, coming home to dust everything, and even scrubbing out 15-year-old filth from the inside juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-8905843763371806152011-01-12T13:18:00.000+08:002011-01-12T13:18:56.605+08:00Finally I have a proper portfolio website:
http://www.wix.com/juliennetan/portfolio
This should have been out right after I graduated. But now, looking through my folders, I have enough work to pick and choose what to show, and what is best shoved out of sight. And with wix, it couldn't be easier to create a flash site, thank God I don't have to refer to my old html notes to crank out a juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-64824073901219097312011-01-11T12:25:00.000+08:002011-01-11T12:25:06.893+08:00This photograph of a photograph barely comes close to the real thing.From the Affordable Art Fair k and I were at some time ago. The only piece we fell heart-in-mouth-in-love over.
In theory you can like a certain kind of photograph, or want to make astonishing art. But it never comes close to actually doing it. Which is why I want to take this year to stop talking, and go do something for real.
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-22077137222049909582011-01-04T22:42:00.000+08:002011-01-04T22:42:11.579+08:00
Yesterday my family joined the ranks of Jurong's kite flyers. My father and I were perched on our bicycles looking at the rain sadly, like little kids thinking they can stare it away. Then the sun came out, and you should have seen my dad beam. We gave up the bicycles, and my mother came along in the car. A never-before family park event!
I started flying an eagle, but it wasn't high enough.Thenjuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-30331067793635140762011-01-02T22:54:00.000+08:002011-01-02T22:54:20.763+08:00
Things we don't try to remember, that we will miss the most:
Making handprints on ET.
Being ignored by her. ET's paws. Any cat owner will be able to relate to you how precious a paw is. The first time I touched ET's baby paws, I was shocked at how soft they were.
Putting a smile on her face.And as for Christmas, the same rule of memory applies:
The things about December that I rememberjuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-74390914232845849752010-12-31T11:58:00.000+08:002010-12-31T11:58:15.731+08:002010:
1. seen@dempsey, exactly one year of photographing amazingly expensive handcrafted glasses and feeling their superior hinges. One year of walking up the Dempsey Hill and hearing the hysterical parrots squawk, popping into Hubers for fries and malt soda, and living behind this glass door.
One year of attending shop events, each event with more supercars than the last one. And eating juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-59037971357149809442010-12-29T13:13:00.000+08:002010-12-29T13:13:42.883+08:00By recent London College of Fashion grad Xiao Li. Looking at these, it's almost automatic to revert to common grumbles that fashion is never created for the human body. But then, look at them on the human body!
This is one of those moments I'm proud to be Chinese, even though China is far from being my motherland.
China Vogue manages to take fashion from the big houses and turn it into art on juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-50678649869549195942010-12-28T11:34:00.000+08:002010-12-28T11:34:53.473+08:00Christmas at Uncle Earnest's is always something to look forward to.This year's dinner was a crispy sizzling roast pork belly with peanut mustard, antipasto with homemade Yorkshire pudding, and this trifle with ruby port drizzled on top.
And the earl grey latte that changed my mind about earl grey forever.
Opening presents--
and being absorbed by presents.
My mother got a travel kit to go to juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-55665488692630061712010-12-24T16:36:00.000+08:002010-12-24T16:36:48.157+08:00
May your Christmas weekend be as tranquil as this bathtub,
as traditional as girls in pastel poufs,
as surprising as this pair of Mykitas I found at work today,
and as restful as this well-dressed pup.
It has been a good year! Go hug somebody today.juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-51892248231443765412010-12-23T12:00:00.000+08:002010-12-23T12:00:36.847+08:00When we do camp, who do we really do it for?
The children? We are not their saviours. We can only be there for five days, and by the sixth day we close our hearts again and run back to our bustling Christmases. The children become stories--and if they should try to follow us back into our daily lives, we would not be large enough to bear that responsibility.
Our leaders and coworkers? We are juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-13697936178374517462010-12-21T14:10:00.000+08:002010-12-21T14:10:55.242+08:00Kids' camp year is over.
On the last day of camp, a few of us travelled back on the bus to the MCYS building with the children, and watched foster parents and group homes come to receive them in trickles. Some parents and homes were late, and the children had to wait. Then I returned to Sentosa where the rest of the volunteers were already having their Welcome Home lunch in loud, festive joy. I juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-40089839139568097842010-12-08T16:12:00.000+08:002010-12-08T16:12:06.098+08:00The Full Lifestyle Detox.
1. Beauty Products.
I kept my vow and was new-product free for 3 months! Without this self-ban, I wouldn't have realised how much waiting time I have killed by chalking up points at Watsons and testing products on my hand. My legs have eyes of their own and they gravitate towards shiny pots of nail polish growing out of their display trays like flowers. But for three juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-28326776306280226512010-12-06T23:02:00.000+08:002010-12-06T23:02:37.723+08:00Saturday: 16% of budgetSunday: 50% of budgetToday: 90% of budget!!!!!!!!!
Praise God, He wants camp to happen!38 kids will be very happy next week!And everything is turning out fiiiine.
And I don't think I've ever used so many exclamation marks in a written piece.I know too that money is the very least of problems.We must not neglect to pray for the bigger things.
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-75869975695295075712010-12-03T00:00:00.000+08:002010-12-03T00:00:10.276+08:00
(photo: from transcool tokyo exhibition couple weeks ago)
Feeling a bit helpless now as the kids' camp pulls into the station, and I'm still straddled on the train track watching it come.
Last week I taught some brand new volunteers the basics of RFKC- the same stuff that started me on this journey five years ago. I might love RFKC a bit too much. I'm so afraid that if I want this too much, I juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-10418467344816527502010-11-19T13:05:00.000+08:002010-11-19T13:05:01.243+08:00I know, I know. This blog is turning into a cutesy photospamming blog. But look!
This is Shironeko, the "most relaxed cat on earth", and he has a blog.juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-60435763754839816472010-11-16T13:39:00.000+08:002010-11-16T13:39:06.272+08:00
This sums up why I love cats.
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-47013284253248777612010-11-11T13:11:00.000+08:002010-11-11T13:11:44.492+08:00God, I know I'm to be content and bide my time.
But my frustration grows with every ill-fitting day, and I'm developing ulcers.
Please give me an escape route, and a departure schedule.juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-76856536983772545692010-11-09T13:48:00.000+08:002010-11-09T13:48:22.618+08:00What is my work computer full of? More muses.
Basically I'm attracted to a lot of hair and a lot of layers.
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-48694570614705029052010-11-07T23:41:00.000+08:002010-11-07T23:41:50.731+08:00My dad and I spent the night watching old home videos. He cringed at his kaypoh video narration ("Wow you have a very nice smile! Did you just go to the dentist?") and I cringed at my kaypoh seven-year-old-ness. I wasn't one of those doll-like cute kids. I was too smart to be cute, and full of dramatic lines. "I am Julienne! The famous actress!" My bangs were severely short and I hadn't learnt tojuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-23320371233668597032010-11-03T22:30:00.000+08:002010-11-03T22:30:41.766+08:00 My dear ex-SM (leader of cell group in ADM crusade) Eliza got married on saturday! I've been waiting for this wedding the whole year. Unnecessary photographs of the flowergirl because... I made the bouquets and corsages. From vegetable flowers, no less. Only the best crops for my ex-SM!
There was one group session we were probably celebrating Eliza's birthday, when she told us to pray that juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-18705856861020471362010-11-01T15:06:00.000+08:002010-11-01T15:06:33.518+08:00There was Hammock Day--and now there will be Hammock Day 2!
We will be out with our hammock and ukulele on Deepavali Friday, bewildering pragmatic Singaporean masses with our garden city behaviour. And hopefully inspiring more people to shake out their hammocks and make good use of the many trees (and railings) on our island.
The Hammock Tour will start at approximately 2 pm, span 3 differentjuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-36588011962703593492010-10-26T12:44:00.000+08:002010-10-26T12:44:03.107+08:00My dad's been warned by the doc again about his high blood pressure. He could have a stroke anytime, doc says. All because my dad has not been taking his meds. More than unhealthy food, I know why my dad has high blood pressure.
(driving, talking to me)
"I will voice it out, but I don't know how to solve the problem! (huffs) You see, it is not meeting my needs! Now our school has uninterrupted juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-55319742045674682002010-10-25T13:20:00.000+08:002010-10-25T13:20:09.740+08:00People used to imagine life in the 21st century as a hyper-technological landscape of robots performing daily duties, and we'd all wear space suits.
Listening to the auto-tuned monotonous songs on radio these days, it sure sounds that way.juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-14040383176010651412010-10-19T13:31:00.002+08:002010-10-19T13:31:59.190+08:00juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-31551716793173423512010-10-18T13:52:00.000+08:002010-10-18T13:52:18.267+08:00 A rare moment that ET let Fiver come lie beside her. No hissing or growling. My mum and I whipped out our cameras to snap away. Their world-weary, nonplussed expressions kill me. So fat, so fluffy.
And then suddenly, he decided he had quite enough of this photo-taking.
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-8951412344898250492010-10-13T12:28:00.000+08:002010-10-13T12:28:37.635+08:00
Three muses for this season.
I've been feeling a little dissatisfied with the way I look. I know, I know, what am I talking about, I'm ungrateful and unthankful. But a lot of girls feel that way when they're trapped by makeup.
Some brave college students in Texas have launched a No-Makeup Tuesday to "Redefine Beautiful". Their argument being that our highly airbrushed, made-up society has juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-52589508074126367482010-10-07T16:49:00.001+08:002010-10-07T17:01:46.888+08:00To all Christians: Halloween is not for us!
This is something I feel convicted about enough to talk about here. My first year in university, there was a halloween party in ADM and of course everyone was talking about it before, during and after--for years to come, I would still hear about how they dressed up and went around spooking people trying to sleep in hall.
I was the only oddball in my juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-9983800970506323672010-10-07T11:52:00.001+08:002010-10-07T11:57:08.411+08:00
Mother to k: Come, stir this.Mother to me: Quick, take photo of him!
Yesterday was my parents' 31st wedding anniversary. Also bong's and paki's birthdays. But we can only celebrate one thing at a time. So it was my parents' anniversary.
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-33558962899620603912010-10-04T13:26:00.001+08:002010-10-07T11:58:03.449+08:00
Finally found the photographer who did this favourite picture of mine!Jason Lee photographs his daughters here.
So funny!
Capturing the little bright sparks of the daily rut can make it all wonderful.
Like yesterday's nice evening cycle by the lake, seeing the people come out of their boxes to sit around the lake on all the new steps, and stand on the new bridge. And all the kite fliers juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-79673888016077488482010-09-27T14:53:00.001+08:002010-10-07T11:58:28.370+08:00 Two fridays ago, I went to chinatown.
For a very packed reading at Books Actually. My first live reading. Personally I think that people's voices interfere with the mood of a written piece, especially if not read in a way I imagined. But when read well, it's like listening to a film, and I could hear words fall.Huimin who accompanied me. My piece,And the book cover. I'm a tad lazy to repost thejuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-9151724572668469502010-09-27T14:10:00.001+08:002010-10-07T11:59:00.422+08:00 One surreal night, we made lights.
Mooncakes are out of season, but there is always mochi.
Here I really look like this bird that the glue girls found to be me:
Thank you k for fulfilling my chinese dream!
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-20977350707071521522010-09-25T01:08:00.000+08:002010-09-25T01:08:51.523+08:00Beauty and Mothers.
Not a very flattering shot for either of us, but the only one on my dad's computer.
I don't know what I would look like if my mother hadn't been around all my life. I've said before that I'm not dressing the way I feel inside; largely because my mother edits my wardrobe, pushes me to dress for my body type, skin color, and age.
Words that have shaped my life include:
"You juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-54313177919276454932010-09-15T12:21:00.000+08:002010-09-15T12:21:58.754+08:00I'm quite a small person. Petite. But when I was at my tiniest, I was the most fearless child ever. I was an only child who grew up among adults. So I never had any concept of how small I was.
When I was three years old, another little girl climbed on my father's back. I stood my ground and shouted, "Get down!"
When parents' friends came to the house, I went up to them and beckoned them with juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-10565800014508675312010-09-14T12:36:00.000+08:002010-09-14T12:36:47.572+08:00I got a new toy! Funny that a nice new camera can make everything in a common weekend seem extra special:ET's perpetually judging, quizzical expression.
Muji cities, occupied by sylvanian babies.
Fiver in his favourite spot in the whole house: the middle of the floor
My dad looking at his arrowana, trying to communicate with him.
Judgmental ET looking sweet when she sleeps
Lunch at vavavoom for juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-46136702911251484642010-09-13T13:01:00.003+08:002010-09-13T13:02:59.553+08:00
From the work blog.
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-1267769291748618432010-08-31T13:57:00.001+08:002010-08-31T13:58:19.316+08:00Aah and this little piggy reaffirms the stereotype that pink things are cuter. Russian Vogue.
Clearly Highsnobette is hitting all the right buttons for me this morning. All stories today from them.juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-3464672345180502992010-08-31T13:52:00.000+08:002010-08-31T13:52:58.096+08:00Balloon work by Daisy Balloon.(click for site).
I'm not afraid of balloons, whether bursting them or blowing them, but imagining the painful rubber squeaks that would accompany work like this? And when I think of balloon art, I often think of lumpy animals or swollen "flower bouquets" that don't come close to art.But look at that "RICH"! Fluid balloon typography! Tiny balloons, unblown balloons. juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-46891648163978893762010-08-27T22:16:00.000+08:002010-08-27T22:16:55.683+08:00Yes, a Chinese song. Sometimes we forget that we are Chinese. Ignore the video, like the song.
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-8281073044859532822010-08-27T15:50:00.002+08:002010-08-27T15:50:10.866+08:00
Speaking of style, I love hers.Valentina Ilardi Martinjuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-4912246098595317072010-08-26T22:00:00.000+08:002010-08-26T22:00:20.216+08:00Some days, usually Thursdays, I wake up and have to think about what to wear because I'm meeting with magazines. On Saturdays I wake up and can only think about shorts and slippers for a picnic. On Sundays I think about non-distracting clothes for church.
This week though, I had to think about social-work clothes. Kids camp meetings everyday. Not yet cardigans and blue jeans, but little tweaks juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-61591096258797081332010-08-18T23:56:00.000+08:002010-08-18T23:56:01.738+08:00
King David fell because of a woman.
Eve fell because of a fruit.
"Men," it was said, "die for trinkets."
If you've been holding on to the faith for five, ten years now, or more, please don't give up. Not for things that look pleasing on the outside, but are poisonous in the mouth.juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-82216261637015131772010-08-12T17:09:00.001+08:002010-08-12T17:09:15.807+08:00Time to change the hair colour.juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-75067513362273340712010-08-11T19:04:00.000+08:002010-08-11T19:04:05.425+08:00Have you ever been stopped by an old woman asking for $2 for food? I asked a random guy at church and he's never met one. But I've been stopped 4, 5 times since I was 21. Asking around, it seems that girls get approached more often. Maybe because we look kinder, maybe because they know we can't look away from old women who clutch at our arms and blink away tears.
Do you give money to these womenjuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5966808.post-64272576317860652362010-08-04T14:44:00.001+08:002010-08-04T14:53:18.083+08:00My Dad's 60th birthday. Cake-cutting, pretty normal. We had a surprise party for him in a country club ballroom, and that's pretty normal too.
We had group games like Birthday Bingo, 007, a quiz on my dad, and prizes galore. But I've already told you about my Tan clan's group games.
What makes the Tans truly, truly strange is what happened after the games.
We did the hokey pokey and turned juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11416326102878489474noreply@blogger.com1