BLINDSIDED

It slipped my mind to mention yesterday that at the SS2/Tmn SEA traffic light where the cops LOVE to camp and catch double-line offenders, they made the fatal mistake of catching my hubby, who considers himself one of the most law-abiding and considerate drivers around. This junction is INFAMOUS for cop-camping and how it works is that they'll place one cop at one obscure corner, eyes trained across the road, hidden from view. Once the light turns green, inconsiderate people in a hurry will often cut from the left (not supposed to do) and the designated cop will spot the licence plates (from about 50 feet away) and then radio his pals across the road who will be all ready to round the offending vehicles up for 'negotiations'.

That's right. That's one idiotic cop who probably can't remember what he ate for breakfast that day, committing to memory licence plate nos for half a dozen cars travelling at 30kmph, trying to be funny. Inevitably, mistakes happen. It was that cop's unlucky day that the mistake that happened yesterday was my giant of a husband.

Suffice to say, we made noise like nobody's business. We asked him to describe exactly what we did wrong because he said we crossed a double-line, which we could not be further away from. THe cop that reprimanded us even said "Tak apa encik tak mengaku..." and Lokes just went ballistics. "Aku apa?" and demanded a detailed account of what his "spying" colleague saw. Resigning, he called that cop over and Lokes again demanded to know what he did wrong. The cop seeing that Lokes wasn't going to give in, simply waved us off.

And we face this cloak and dagger, cat and mouse game EVERY SINGLE DAY.

PROJECT Q'PLA

Bernice and I have embarked on a project to write - tada - a fan script for - voila - Enterprise! Since I watch so much of the stuff, I thought I might as well give it a shot. I have a pretty good story mulling about in my head now, so it's just a matter of putting it down. They used to have an open script policy for TNG but have somehow terminated the exercise, as Bernice discovered. DARN IT!

Oh well, I guess posting it up here would have to do. Maybe we'll get spotted - who knows? ;)

Any Trekkies out there? I've just started watching some downloaded episodes of DS9 from Season 1. Im more a TNG fan but this is getting pretty good!

SPEEDY GONZALES!

I finally picked up my new Intel P4 3.06GHz Hyper-Threading speed demon from HWM today, payment for judging their recent DIY contest at Low Yat. Yay! This weekend we finally have enough motivation to go shopping. We went two weekends ago to MVM's IT Centre, just to scout out the prices. From that we reckoned we'll need about RM4k WITHOUT the chip to get a good mobo, a good graphics card and ntm a good monitor.

Maybe RM4k won't be enough even...

Anyway, we thought of getting the ATI RADEON 9800 but a quick trip to Low Yat yesterday revealed that it will do a damage of RM1,800!! That's almost half my budget gone! Sigh...another RM900 for the mobo. THat's RM3k gone. Who's going to sell me a soundcard, a 21-inch flat-screen monitor, 512MB DDR 888 RAM and speakers for RM1000?

Oh well. I guess we'll just have to set our sights lower. Anyone here got stuff u wanna sell off?

HIGHS AND LOWS

The trouble with my line of work is that when it rains it pours, and when it's dry, it's a freakin' drought! Well, it's rainy season here at The Writing Pool. I just finished my monthly contribution to PC.com, and am now worrying about my assignments for Computerworld because my liaison there has not reverted - and it's getting late!

Sigh, oh well. The highlight of my day is I signed up for Maybank2u! Yay, now I can pay SO many of my bills online, including interbank transfers.

Great, I'm a bigger hermit than before!

Oh yea, I created a small blog for my little girl hehe. Have a look!

There's a very lively discussion going on at Wordup! today about women and self defence, in the wake of Canny Ong's tragedy, whether we should carry pepper sprays, a comparision of mace and pepper sprays, how women should defend themsevles with keys and fingernails and high-heels. It dawned on me that really women these days just may be too frail and dainty and concerned with their looks that they've forgotten that there ARE bad things and bad people out there. C'mon girls! Spunk up! Go for martial arts lessons or at least have enough spirit to want to fight back. I always wondered why Canny did not fight back. Maybe the guy is tougher than he looks, coz he sure looks like a loser-wimpy ass to me.

Seriously, I think having keys in your good hand, wherever you may be walking alone or just a couple of you, is just good sense. Not your house keys or car keys coz the assailant may want to rob you of your earthly possesions as well, but just some "self-defence" keys, sharp enough to poke his eyes out or dig a hole in his thigh. Someone suggested kicking his gonads with pointy shoes, which I don't happen to own. So I guess Mace and keys will have to do.

What do y'all think? Post comments on my zonkboard!

FROM ALMOST-RELATIVES TO FRIENDS

I had lunch today with my brother-in-law's ex-girlfriend, the beautiful and talented Ms Cindy Yeap, something we've only done twice since we met. Somehow, when she was Francis' other half, we never thought to fraternise. To be honest, and I really have no idea why, I wasn't sure if I could get close to someone if I wasn't sure she would end up being my sister-in-law, stupid as it may sound. However, it is very valid a fear, because what happens when it doesn't work out? We ALL say we wanna keep in touch but it's very difficult a promise to keep, even when you're already friends. And now that it's been over a year, I felt less of the "pressure", mainly because I did not like to pretend. Friendships should not be products of blood or legal relations, right? I guess I'm just too cowardly to face an uncertain future, even if it's only remotely linked to mine.

It was a good lunch. We caught each other up, me on Raeven and life as a mother/writer/wife, and Cindy on how she's saving money to pursue her Masters in Music Management in Westminster, God willing. Seeing her with her future in front of her, adventure seemingly waiting at every turn - it's just so exciting, and I feel both happiness and envy for her. Now she's a determined young lady, if there ever was one. Reminds me of my sis!

I have a deadline looming! Have to disappear for a while. Cheers!

HAIKU FOR MEEGOO

Sliver of sunshine
with all but two teeth, she shrieks
full of glee, no shame

eyes dart around, alert
the little explorer waits
for her next conquest

to think she knows not
the happiness she brings us
it must be magic!

ps. "meegoo" is the nick name given to our daughter Raeven. It means "flour tortoise", and is a form of offering to Chinese deities. It's made from flour with no filling and is often coloured pink on the outside, raised to a plump oval shape, and often moulded into the form of a tortoise. Because Raeven was very swollen and red when she was born, she was thus named. Today, she's lost most of her weight but the nickname stuck. Still, her face is still quite round and pink, don't you think? ;)

ENRICH YOUR VOCAB!

I've started reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte two weeks ago (for my Lit Appreciation Class) and so far, have reached Page 52 - largely due to lack of toilet/nodding off to sleep time. I've discovered a huge number of strange words. Beautiful, but strange - words I think we should start using again!:

1. Cavillers ~ jesters, people who like to play the fool
2. torpid ~ lethargic, slow and always tired
3. bilious ~ nauseous
4. exigency ~ the need for urgent attention

There are plenty more, too many to state here. I observe that Bronte put a very mature mind into the 8-year old Jane Eyre. Seems a little unrealistic an adolescent, although of English descent, knows such words!

OFF THE RECORD

I just received a call from a client of a client's I interviewed for a story I wrote on e-commerce recently. Basically, he was giving me an earful for publishing numbers he quoted during the interview, even though nowhere during the session did he mention that those figures were P&C. After berating me for not being sensitive and sending the story to him for verification (not of the facts but for "publishable" and "unpublishable" statements), and explaining to him what the words "editorial prerogative" meant, I referred him to my editor.

First rule when talking to the press: NOTHING is "off the record".

GAUDY GENTING

As mentioned, we took Raeven, my one-year old girl, to Genting Highlands yesterday. It was also a discovery trip for me, as I'd not been up for quite some time, while Lokes went up recently for a business conference at the all-new convention centre in the all-new First World hotel, this gawdawful, gaudy technicolour monstrosity trying desperately, but failing miserably, to emulate Vegas. I did not manage to take any pictures of the screaming facade because my camera was running out of batt and it was pretty misty.

It was shocking to see how quickly this "all-new" "attraction" has fallen to disrepair, appearing somewhat stale and jaded even to the unseasoned traveller. This is the main thing that Malaysian "tourist attractions" fail to immitate - the upkeep. You'd expect someone like Uncle Lim to have the kind of cash needed to keep a place nice and tidy. It was so clear that everything was substandard, from the 2D sterofoam Roman figurines greeting "gamling ghosts" to the mass-produced buffet spread. C'mon, uncle. Money is pouring in. Ease up on the purse-stringslah.

Anyway, my daughter was having the time of her life. We spent most of our time outdoors, took her for (rickety) carousel rides and on the equally precarious-looking "Flying Jumbo". We pretty much did the whole family-attractions circuit for RM28 per pax (not including Raev). It did not take more than an hour, and the climate was warmer than an average day in our condo. Unless you're up here to gamble/screw around on your spouse/on a school trip, there's really no point wasting time and money here. I'd much rather go back home to Ipoh for some makan sessions.

I've included some lovely pics of Raev though. Enjoy ;)!

IRONY IS...

...returning from a country with a higher crime rate than ours, to a fate worse than death.

THE RETURN OF READING

While fans of Chinese romance literary serials will tell you otherwise, it's not common practice today to queue up hours or pay a substantial amount in advance for a HARDCOVER book - until Harry Potter 5: Order of the Phoenix. I haven't purchased a copy myself because I like to let hype simmer down a little before dipping in. It's not to read the reviews either, because good or bad, I know I'm going to get the book anyway.

But this is good, no? Reviving the love for reading is not easy these days, and while the twists and turns in Harry's magical life at Hogwarts (and beyond) are formulaic to a good thriller (and not unlike the trials and tribulations of one Darrell Rivers of Malory Towers, if you are the right age to remember who or what that is, Rowling's style is also conducive as language text, albeit far from offering the same literary nutrition as the Classics. It's still pretty darn good, wouldn't you say? If I want my kid to be in awe of something or someone, I'd rather her chase after a book and not some waxy pop star.

Maybe I should go buy a copy ASAP. I heard a lead character dies. Who??!