Phones

I found this hilarious. Couldn't stop laughing. Maybe because I didn't expect the punchline to be from the maid.

The phone bill was exceptionally high and the man of the house called a family meeting.

Dad: People, this is unacceptable. You have to limit the use of the phone. I do not use this phone, I use the one at the office.

Mum: Same here, I hardly use this home telephone as I use my work telephone.

Son: Me too, I never use the home phone. I always use my company mobile.

Maid: So what is the problem? We all use our work telephones.

Free

After about two decades of continuous education today is the day I finally end it all. This very day marks the end of one phase of my life and the beginning of another.

Free?

Probably not. Henceforth begins the phase of backbreaking labour that follows financial independence.

How does that feel? A little intimidating and yet in many ways so, very seductive. To be finally earning your keep. It is a hallmark of worries to come. :)

A book review: My Family and Other Animals (Gerald Durrell)

This is long overdue. Oh, well. Here goes.

This book is purely wonderful. I'm a lover of animals and any tale involving animals usually do capture my interest and my good opinion. However, this book is more than that. It tells the story of Gerald Durrell during his childhood stay on the Greek island of Corfu and the many animals he met, discovered and kept as pets. Woven into the story is the various antics and eccentricities of his family that really made the book such fun to read. Indeed, the book is full of wit, satire and sarcasm that livens up the story in so many ways, making it all really laughable.

I got the book at the weekend flea market at Amcorp and it was really such a steal. I forgot how much I paid for it but it was only a few bucks. Gerald Durrell wrote various other books and I'm currently searching for them. I'm hooked.

Yeah, they even made a television series based on the book. I can't seem to find a download so I guess I'll have to purchase it.

Finally, I'll leave you with an excerpt that really made me laugh and I feel that was a wonderful ending to the book. He managed to capture the sorrow of leaving Corfu but yet manages to make light of the event by injecting a little humour into the scene, making it a perfect closing to a great tale.

As the ship drew across the sea and Corfu sank shimmering into the pearly heat haze on the horizon a black depression settled on us, which lasted all the way back to England. The grimy train scuttled its way up from Brindisi toward Switzerland, and we sat in silence, not wishing to talk. Above our heads, on the rack, the finches sang in their cages, the Magenpies chuckled and hammered with their beaks, and Alecko gave a mournful yarp at intervals. Around our feet, the dogs lay snoring. At the Swiss frontier our passports were examined by the disgracefully efficient officials. He handed them back to Mother, together with a small slip of paper, bowed unsmilingly, and left us to our gloom. Some moments later Mother glanced at the form the official had filled in, and as she read it, she stiffened.

'Just look what he's put,' she exclaimed indignantly, 'impertinent man'

Larry stared at the little form and snorted.

'Well, that's the penalty you pay for leaving Corfu,' he pointed out.

On the little card, in the column headed Description of Passengers had been written, in neat capitals: One traveling Circus and Staff.

'What a thing to write,' said Mother, still simmering, 'really some people are peculiar'.

The train rattled towards London.

On the moon with Armstrong

It is finally out. I've waited for this so so so so long. Why does it take so long for a book to be published in paperback?

These money grubbing publishers should be rounded up and made to eat their own hardcover books. Then let them use all that money earned from forcing people to buy these hardcover editions of books to get their stomach cut open and the books removed.

I'm rambling. Shouldn't be rambling when there's such a nice nice exciting wonderful book to be read.


Can't wait to read about my all time favourite necromancer.

Ciao!

Celebrating Gaia

And your homework today is to go read up on the Gaia Hypothesis. It's a very interesting read. Do your little part and be more aware of our earth.

Blogosphere's 50 Most Unknown Bachelors

I'm late again. Whoops. Forgive me Sam?

BACHELOR NO : Err....What's my number again?

NAME : Zyklon22

OCCUPATION : Writer :)

AGE : 23

ZODIAC : Dual Cancer/Leo ( born on the cusp) with Scorpio on the rising

FAVE HANGOUT : A bedroom with an internet connection, telly, chips and books.

TALENT : To be a stoic temperemental.

Three things you can’t live without?

My wit, my confidence and my innate ability to be evil.

What is the sweetest thing a girl / guy has done for you?

A sweet, self written poem sms-ed to me on my birthday that put a smile on my face. I shall not elaborate. I'm still keeping it in my hp.

The most daredevil thing I’ve ever done is...

Trekking in a bloody cave full of bleeding bats without a fkin guide, but of course - with wacky friends. :)

What’s one thing you’re glad you’ve outgrown?

I'm glad I've outgrown being dependent on having company around me constantly.

Your biggest mistake is...

Not having the courage to break out from the mold shaped by social obligations and personal expectations earlier in life.

Which actor would play you in a movie about your life?

Tobey Maguire? LOL

Why do women / men...

Why do women feel that they should have everything in their favour? Gender equality comes with both the bad and the good. Take it or leave it I would say.

And I write

It is official. I picked up my letter of appointment today, got it signed and now, I'm officially employed. I am gonna be a writer! Woot!

My thoughts? It is surreal. Never would I imagine that I could be writing for a living. Even saying that sounds unbelievable. There is something dreamlike about it all. It will take a while to fully sink in I guess.

My feelings about the whole thing? It's all excitement and thrill washed down with a smattering of apprehension and flavored with a tiny dash of self-doubt. You can't blame me. I'm taking a big leap out of my field of study to do something I've always dream of doing - something I never thought I could and would be doing. I think in this case a little self-doubt is permissible. Don't you think?

I'm going to be starting in June but I have been asked do to some pieces for the magazine on a freelance basis at the moment. So I'm gonna be in print for the June issue. Weeee.

Anyway, one bad thing is that my plan to menganggur one year is seriously dashed. Sigh, I so need a holiday. I guess I can't have my pie and eat it at the same time.

Now before I end I need to say this one more time for it to sink in.

I'm gonna be a writer.

There, that's three times now. Third time's always the charm.

Life!

Yeap, all that hard work paid off. My mock-up of a magazine of choice has been printed and submitted for my magazine publishing class I took. The result? I'm damn proud of it. It is amateur work I admit but I'm proud of it all the same. I have very little experience with graphics work but I think I managed to pull it off completing the layout and all the best I could.

Hey I managed to land myself a job when I printed and brought a few of these to the interview the other day and what more can I ask? :) It was worth it being editor-in-chief despite all that death-defying work.

Sourpuss?

Would I say I'm sour? Probably yes.

You Are a Lemon

You have a very distinct personality. And if you're not being sweet, you're a little hard to take. You're a bit overpowering, especially in one on one situations. And while you are very dominant, sometimes your power is needed and appreciated. You can liven up a dull situation, and you definitely bring a fresh outlook. You are a bit of an acquired taste, and you tend to grow on people over time. People feel refreshed and rejuvenated after spending time with you.

What Type of Fruit Are You?

A book review: Shalimar the Clown

Truth be told, I am not a great fan of political novels and this one by Salman Rushdie did not change my perception much. I tend to avoid political novels purely based on the reason that if I would want to read about politics, I could just as easily purchase the daily paper. However, the story of an American ambassador, his wife, a village dancing girl, their love child, an Islamist hit man and how they are all tied together by both love and hate intrigued me enough to purchase the book. As much as I stood in the bookstore trying to hazard a guess, I could not imagine the plot connecting their much disconnected backgrounds. These separate lives on several continents and in numerous countries seemed like an insurmountable task to be put together into one novel.

When read, I certainly enjoyed the story development but the writing is too abstract for my taste. I do know that thoughts and feelings are abstract in their original form but is it not the job of a writer to capture them into writings easily understood and imagined? Though some parts of the novel proved to be much easier to fathom and read, overall it was a struggle to complete.

To me, it was alot of words, a lot more cultural references, neverending pop culture, infinite name dropping and definitely more than enough political messages.

Scented books

There is nothing like the scent of new books. It is refreshingly seductive (literary-wise, of course) and it is exciting in too many aspects to be described. In many ways, the very smell of a freshly purchased book brings back memories of pure contentment - reading that is, and nothing else. The light scent that wafts up when you turn the crisp pages is enough to get you high and the cool touch of your fingers against the smooth, unblemished texture of the paper heightens the sensation and bolsters the reading experience.

However, old books have their mark too that I find addictive. The musty smell of a book with yellowing pages brings to memory of books that are a comfortable read. These books are books that have weathered time and are an easy-going kind of novel to be carrying around. They speak of past happiness to be found in their pages and the continual collection of cheer in readers to come.

If anyone ever bottles the scent of books, I will surely be their number one customer.

Stairmaster

I walked up 14 flights of stairs today because the electricity was out and thus no elevator. I reached my room turned on the fan, waited ten seconds and the electricity came back on....

I think if I walked up everyday I would be able to lose half my weight by the end of the month.

Addicts they are!

See these mice? They are so cute aren't they?






Then we proceeded to stick them with morphine for observation purposes. They are now drug addicts. It's sad isnt it? So much for the love of animals.

I'll probably rot in hell.

Political tsunami in general election

Well, well, it seems the results are shocking. With five states lost to the opposition I'm sure this is the biggest win so far seen in history. I do hope that the opposition will perform now that they have gotten the chance they so crave for.

It's time that they show they can walk the walk since they know how to talk the talk.

Salah tekan

I'm pissed. Some bloody bugger called me four times this morning at approximately 3.30 am and I woke up at the fourth call. I admit, I'm a heavy sleeper and I don't usually get awaken by calls and thus it makes it worse when I do get woken up. Naturally, I couldn't fall asleep again for about an hour and I promptly overslept and missed my 8 am class. What shit.

When I was rudely awaken, I sent him a frigid sms demanding the reason but there was no reply. I called him a moment ago and he said probably he 'salah tekan'. 'Salah tekan'? Four times? I blasted him thoroughly but my anger has not been fully vented yet.

I'm a student with 8 am classes and a never ending load of stupid things to do each week. I'm having a lousy last semester and these people who have no bloody manners and phone etiquette are making it worse.

'Salah tekan' at 3.30 am indeed. Did I mention it was four calls? What kind of mentally retarded person do you think I am to believe that?

Somethings are just too good to be true

After that particularly harrowing experience of last week's assay evaluation where everything, from the recovery value to the coefficient of variation, ran totally, it is like a miracle to be plotting an almost perfect standard curve for this week's creatinine assay. I was feeling right up in cloud nine, that is until I calculated the control value and found out once again my assay is out of control range. Sigh...

Weeeeee. Where is Alice's rabbit hole?

Silly Milly had a filly called Millie who loved lilies,
Filly Millie ate too much lilies which made her dizzy so she switched to dillies,
But silly Milly then got into a tizzy when she saw filly Millie ate her dillies,
Filly Millie then switched to chillies which gave her heebie jeebys.

I'm so going crazy. Help me anyone?

A book review -Atonement

It was a beautiful read. What more can I say? The tale of two sisters estranged by a moment's whim of uncertainty and the tale of two lovers' uncertain estrangement combined proved to be a novel of both exceptional plot and exquisite writing. The writer manages to be unsparingly descriptive but yet minimally wordy making the book a rather easy read.

The book is incomparable to the movie whereby the character development of Briony in the book took on an even greater depth than I could ever imagine. Briony turned out to be more complex in personality, character and thinking yet at the same time more lucid to readers as the book explores most of her memories with greater clarity than the movie can manage. Even more so is the war scene described in the pseudo-memories of Robby where one can actually feel the heat, grime and despair painted in words by the writer.

As much as credit must be given to the movie, the book is a must read for all the fans of the movie.

My last verdict? Definitely a literary delight!

Love me, choose me

I was heading back from a class late in the evening when I met a whole bevy of Indonesian women all dolled up coming down the stairs to meet their potential suitors waiting on bikes. I hardly recognized these industrious women who I meet everyday along the corridors slaving over their cleaning routines, and to see them all excited today certainly put a smile on my face. It looks like Valentine's day is for everyone everywhere, irregardless of status, lifestyle and nationality. It is indeed something cute to see that even these women who are so far away from home, are able to come up with dates for this special day. St Valentine must be smilling today.

And to all those people in love reading this, "Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!".

Superlatives

1. You know it's going to be a great year when the very first day of the new year you get hit by a heat wave as you are out of the house from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. visiting relatives.
2. You know it's going to be a greater year when you come back and you develop a fever.
3. You know it's going to be the greatest year when you have to repeat step 1 and 2 again tomorrow.