My Violent Streak

I love gummy bears. I love biting their little nails off one by one. :) I like the orange ones, the green ones, and yellow ones.

They don't fight back! Catharsis at its best! :)

I love jelly beans too! Jello Bello only please! Where to get them in Singapore? They're too pricey at candy empire in HarbourFront!


*random thoughts, don't read on if you're not a girl or are in a trashy mood*

I need to buy my gold bag! I need to buy my white pointy shoes. Thanks to Corn for the prada perfume. Food at waruku is pretty good. The first sperm to reach an egg is the strongest & fittest -- we were once champions. Kent Ridge guild house has good cod fish. Satay house @ Mhd Sultan Road sucks! I love Jap food. How can a pregnant woman not explode with all that pressure within? Shimei is coming back soon! The largest cell in a woman's body is an egg. Dawn is an amazing cook. Anyone wants to go night safari with me?

Just us 2... and the world dissolves

There's something absolutely magical and beautiful about sharing something with someone you don't know. And I don't mean sharing a pen or a pencil, or something of that sort. I'm talking about sharing something intimate like an umbrella.

Now I've got you thinking -- an umbrella? What so intimate about an umbrella. Well, I never thought an umbrella to be intimate but until yesterday, something made me change my mind.

I was at a T-junction along the road on the way back when it started to pour. I plucked out my umbrella from my bag and carelessly sheltered myself, trying hard to stay dry and fight the gusty winds. Behind me there was this punkish looking kid in uniform, pierced and tattooed, nothing like me at all. She was skinny, short, slightly hunched with yellow-orange rings around her eyes (probably due to too much smoking).

Standing beside her, we were worlds apart. I had just finished work, so was dressed in smart casual, my fair pinned neatly behind my ears (or so I would like to think so). I looked at her scramble to find her umbrella but to no avail.

I don't know what came over me but I was compelled to reach out to her -- to almost "prod" her back to the reality -- or the "normal" life. I walked a couple of steps, stood beside her, silent and managed to shelter her with my umbrella. She looked up at me, gave a shy smile, nodded, as if to acknowledge, and looked down. There we both stood, total opposites, no one saying anything --silence--.

I didn't dare to looks at her, and likewise, it seemed we knew we had nothing common to share, save for cursing the rain beating mercilessly down our backs.

2 different people - 2 walks of life. She was she, I was I. We waited in slight awkwardness for the green man to indicate that it was safe for us to proceed across the road. The green man flashed and it was almost as if i was willed by God, I draped my hands around her shoulder and pulled her close.

I could feel her frail shoulders quivering as I held her by my side, walking with her across the road to the shelter. As I walked, I continued to pull her closer, as if to say "come nearer, keep out of the rain...". My hands struggling to hold her in and keep her out of the rain. Then it all felt comfortable, like she was my younger sister I wanted to protect. For a second, I could feel her lean close to me, as if to accept my embrace. The weight of her body leaning against me, our steps in unison as we walked forward in small strides.

2 girls drenched in the rain, with nothing to talk about, nothing in common, save for a moment where there was this mutual need for comfort under the pouring rain.

Just as quick as I had put my arms around her, we reached the sheltered walkway and we parted company. She never looked up to thank me, neither did I attempt to look in her eyes. I really have no idea why I didn't have the guts to look at her. It's puzzling. I wish I did.

But thinking back, whereever she is, I hope she's safe. And warm. It's funny how seemlessly trivial and dumb stuff can evoke such strong feelings in me. The fuzzy feeling about altruism, , or the caring for someone else, other that ourselves, expecting nothing in return.

Or maybe I'm just emo... but we could have been friends...

I promise not to kill you...

Everyone needs a bit of TLC once and then. Hugs are free, so why not do someone a favour today? There is something about skin to skin touch.. something Asians aren't too fond of. We don't hug our kids much, we show them we love them by putting food on their plate and buying gifts. Maybe we're more conservative, but deep down inside nothing beats the conventional hug. It's warm and fuzzy and power -- really speaks a lot more than mere words!
Studies have shown this!

When you wonder what you can do to help, sometimes the answer is easy: just reach out and touch someone.

There may be no words that can make an elderly or ill person feel better, but your touch can make them feel that you care in a way that words and deeds do not. A hug, pat on the shoulder or holding their hand can bring great solace. It may provide the encouragement needed to complete a difficult task or just get through a gloomy hour. After a long, close marriage filled with physical affection, a widow may go for weeks, even months, without being touched by another person. One reason that pets raise our spirits is that we touch them and they nuzzle back. When talking about her husband and explaining why she loves him, a young woman gives an example that whenever he is in the room with his grandmother, he holds her hand. That kind of touching does not come naturally to everyone, but when it does it can compete with most of the medicine that elderly people receive!

Perhaps the lack of touch is one reason the elderly often ask to take someone's arm. They are not only concerned about falling; they enjoy the sense of physical closeness to another person, and it's an acceptable way to ask for it. If you are not comfortable just sitting and holding someone's hand, try touching their back when they go through a door or just touching their hand when you greet them and say goodbye.

Trying to think of a gift that might make a difference? Give a massage, a manicure or a pedicure. The greatest value may not be in the grooming but the touch. Or give a certificate to have these services performed. While not the hands of a friend or loved one, the touch is still valuable, not quite so personal but touch just the same.

I love hugs! I make sure to give my girlfriends hugs whenever I meet them, or when I leave. What's wrong with showing a little affection? I think that's what we all need to learn a bit more of. That's something we need to learn to adopt.

Venus Fly Trap Bit My Head

It's the litle things... Count your blessings...

"To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wildflower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour"
- William Blake

And I really mean count them... Happy Wednesday!

300000 babies! :)

I am going to have 30000000 kids, only because of this clip! You will fall in love with her, I promise! Baby Ally is a gem! Watch this! Doesn't it make you go "Awwwwwww". This baby is soooo totally cheerleader material! Bring it on!

You're a buttwipe, im sorry

I'm guilty of this. Making those I love cry.

The other day I made my mom cry. I know, I'm such an asshole. But I did. I would love to go over the details here, but its shameful. I shaln't put it in black and white but I shall still post it, because this should serve as a reminder never to be rude to the people who love me the most.

It's funny how someone like a parent can show their love for us yet we snap back in the face and insult their love. I can really be a bi-a-tch at times.

I apologized like 2 days later -- way tooooo late, but I knew I had to do it.

Sorry might not mean much, its just a word, but when you mean it -- its really the best thing on earth.

All the world's a stage

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts"

I met Dawn for dinner today with her family. Po po, uncle, auntie, Melvin, his girlfriend (mimi), Dawn and myself. Despite not meeting her for so long; I always manage to blend seamlessly into their family, and then and there, part of me wondered what it was like to be a REAL part of their family. Not that i'm not but it cracks me up when I think how my life would change if I really got successfully matchmade with Melvin Gwee. Haha... Hmm but I'll shove that thought 1) he is happily attached 2) Dawn is my friend, I don't think I'd prefer her as a sister in law. (although she's going to spoil me rotten!)

But it's funny how auntie creeps in the room and laments that I've missed my chance when Melvin was interested; why didn't I consider when.... -- how he flew all the way... oh but that story should be left for a whole separate blog post.

So I sit there, stoned, with Dawn on my left and mimi on my right at the dinner table. I like uncle and auntie a lot, they are great people. Dawn's a real important friend, I want her parents to like me.

The Gwees break out into occasional laughter, uncle talks about how Yanting should find a boyfriend at work and Dawn complains that no one from UOL dares to date her because they would never dare to date a CEO's daughter. I snigger under my breath, I've never heard someone complain about that before. But as every converation we have at the Gwee's dinner table, they all almost instinctively gravitate to the testosterone filled human couch potato (aka the male species), and so does this. Dawn starts matchmaking me with her freaking cousin, then runs through a mental checklist of her father's staff from the 1st floor to the "god knows what" floor.


I'm not really paying attention, but somehow I drift somewhere back in time, it's funny how our families can be so different, yet so similar. I think about how we as well, sit by the dinner table, eating and watching TV together. We too, tease each other at the dinner table, we laugh out loud, we talk about the most random insignificant things. Maybe families all around the world are alike. We may all speak different languages, eat different food, wear different clothes, etc, but we all speak the universal language of love. Perhaps its the same small acts of picking food for someone else, turning the lazy susan for someone's convenience, passing someone the table napkins, or passing the salt, sharing spoons (heck the serving spoon, we're freaking chinese!)

And then I snap out of it and plonk hard back into the real world when everyone breaks out into laughter when Dawn says something so abso-freaking-lutely her. The dinner would not have ended if she hadn't come up with something so "Dawn-ish" -- you get my drift.

"Got girlfriend, can break up, got wife, can divorce, got wedding ring, can throw away, got children, no problem -- can give to orphanage.. "

I look at her, in disbelief, then the whole table breaks down into incessant guffaws. Trust her to come up with that. She wears a smug look on her face. I don't know to laugh or cry... I end up rolling my eyes.

This girl needs help. :)

3 more weeks until she leaves back to freaking land of the koalas and kangaroos. I need to find a potion to stop time... How am I going to get my dose of stupid bimbotic jokes (noactually she;s damn smart la!) Somehow there is something comforting with your girlfriends around. Somehow, it's like I'm orientated again. (But that could be the effects of the Great Singapore Sale.. they both feel damn good). Some people I need to pen down to meet -- Jas, Jin, GeneV, Joyce, Shupz.

So may things to do, so little time! ....

"That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

RJC boy dies after running Triathalon

"He was a very very good boy", lamented his mother.

I hate it when this happens! WHy do bad things have to happen to good people. Why do people have to "go" just like this. I want to blame someone but I don't know who to holler at. It's just unfair.. it could have happened to some bad crook destined for hell -- but no, it had to happen to a young 18 year old chap, God loving and with a passion to do all things great!

I love passionate people and it seems to be that Thaddeus was one such person. What did he do to deserve this. I know I don't know him in person, but deep down inside it seems I've known him for forever. We would have gotten along. That burning zest for life and the desire to make things happen. I feel torn inside. I am very angry. Why didn't God stop this from happening.

if i never get to heaven then at least i will have known,
i had an angel here on earth that i could call my very own,
and if this world should end tomorrow girl this much i know is true,
i found my piece of heaven the day that i found you

Sometimes, you really never know when you'll take your last breath. It's times like this I know to treasure family and friends. Sometimes you only have one chance, before it slips away like silk in the wind.

Have you told your family you love them?

He had just qualified to represent Singapore in the triathlon at the South-East Asian Games in December.

But moments after crossing the finish line during a time trial yesterday, 17-year-old Thaddeus Cheong collapsed unconscious. The Raffles Junior College student was rushed to Changi General Hospital. Ninety minutes later, he was pronounced dead.

The time trial began at the Tanah Merah Country Club at 6.45am and saw 12 triathletes swim 1.5km, cycle 40km and then run 10km along Changi Coastal Road.

Thaddeus had been with the national squad for two-and-a-half years. He came in third yesterday with a time of 2hrs 9min, booking, for the first time, his ticket to the games. The qualifying time was 2hrs 12mins.

Last night, Thaddeus' mother Angeline Wee struggled to keep her composure as she told Today: "His heart had already stopped beating when we reached the hospital.

"He collapsed at the end point and there was no medical help. No one knew how to do CPR."

She added: "We're not blaming TAS (Triathlon Association of Singapore) but we hope that they should ensure that no one will ever experience the pain we're going through again."

Mr David Hoong, honorary secretary of TAS, said no CPR was administered because they were unsure what had caused the collapse and wanted to rush Thaddeus to hospital.

The Morning After... Dawn Breaks

There is something irreplaceable about girlfriends. And no, diamonds are indeed not a girl's best friend. Nothing beats a real girlfriend -- and I mean someone real, in flesh and blood.

I hate having girlfriends who live freaking far away. I hate it whenever I send them off at the airport, I only get to spend the summers with them. What a bummer! It's like before we have enough girl time, they scoot off to some far away land, and skype becomes crack to my life.

I'm glad Dawn is back -- it's good seeing her. Everytime I see her, I wished she learnt to take more care of herself. She's a great girl and she deserves so much more than the world is offering her..

I want to tell her that she should quit smoking, that she should not fall for the same old, same old jerks, that she should learn to love herself more, but those words don't resonate. And somehow, it seems they bounce off her and I wonder to what extent I actually am like her, to what extent we are all like her -- lost in our own flights of fancy, trying to be perfect in an imperfect world. Maybe deep down we're all the same.. different faces of a coin, but still, the same coin.

I'm so happy to see her -- I give her a huge hug. She's still the same soft squishy cuddly teddy bear she always was. I love the times I used to stay over the nights before she flys off, talking until we fall alseep. There truly is something irreplaceable about a friendship with a girlfriend.

I really wish Dawn will find her own happiness, which ever way she defines it. I wish she will find happiness from within, it's not something a guy can define for her, but it's learning to love herself, within and without.

6.5 weeks more before Shimei comes back. Now that's a girl that totally kicksass! :)

When the rubber meets the Road

These 2 days I've been thinking a lot.. & having a ton of fun too.

I've been very inspired by new found friend -- let's call her A. And her boyfriend, B.

B used to live in US, until he fell in love, after which he moved to Singapore to be with A. B first met A when he chanced upon her blog when in US. He fell in love with the passion at which she blogged and emailed her. They soon started to liaise via MSN and soon, he found it within himself to fly down to visit her. I don't think A totally liked B then, since it could have been pretty dubious talking to someone online (Hell, he could be a 60 yr old fart right?) During that time when B visited, they fell in love and A flew to USA several times to visit.

B has since moved to Singapore and both of them are living together now. (I asked her when they were getting married but I think they are waiting for both of them to chalk up a steady income first. Watching them together makes me rethink -- Maybe there really still are real life fairytales. Maybe, just maybe somewhere, somehow, fairytales do exist -- A & B are testament to that...

But then I soon hear this small voice at the back of my mind, asking me to wake up my idea. I don't care, I guess -- I have every right to blog about my make belief perfect life...

Why is it that marriages of yestergeneration always last? It seems that our parents get along, you rarely hear of people breaking up -- families seem to be more complete. It seems everywhere I look now, people are undergoing divorces, breaking up, cheating on one another. Am I just old school, doesn't anyone care about keeping together anymore?

And i'm not talking about a perfect marriage. Of course fights are inevitable... I just mean staying together.

I just came back from J's 22nd birthday party, lo and behold, nice huge house, complete family with 3 sons. He has a father with his own company that he has built from his own bare hands, and just listed on Singapore stock exchange. What more can someone ask for right? Then J tells me his dad is cheating on his mother. For the 2nd time around. Only he knows, he's confronted his dad -- but to no avail...

When I heard this, I cried deep down inside. I felt sorry for all the women married to rich men, who didnt know that they were being made a fool of. So what if you could be bought anything you wanted when you cant even keep your own man..

Maybe its overgeneralization, but rich men can never stay committed. But I don't cpmpletely blame them. It also is the fault of women who willingly break up other people's families.

I look at my parents. They're not the richest people on the earth, we get by, more than comfortably. We live in a nice executive HDB and rent out 2 of our other houses. My parent both work, my sister studies overseas (scholar) while I school at NUS. We're your very average family, we go shopping on weekends, eat simple dinners out on weekdays.

We are happy, er are very happy. My parents share a special relationship, they argue & fight once a while but they are sooo sweet.

I recently met ZhangYang who told me his mom woke up at 430 to prepare breakfast for his dad every morning, and slept when he did at 930PM. Then Ming told me his parents so for holidays together. My parents go cut their hair together and Shimei's parents go to botanical gardens with their dogs every morning for dog walks. I can think of so many instances older couple show affection for each other and this doesn't mean buying expensive gifts -- it truly is the little things.

Junkang just told me he's met people a couple of years younger that have midsets so liberal it makes people like him so old school. But what's wrong being old school? Is it now unrealistic to want something that lasts more than a mere flight of fancy?

Everytime I get jaded I just look into my parents' room. -- A old satisfied couple, happy, just sleeping side by side, confident that their love will last a lifetime and beyond...



How I wish I could paste myself in a still photo... live like that forever...

Meeting Social Media Evangelist - Jeremiah Owyang

So we were at iX the whole of today and it was amazing! Got up so super early to go down to help with the set up. It was pretty smooth running. You can get a great summary of this event through Jeremiah Owyang's blog.

After reading his blog for since I heard about him, I finally got to meet him in person!! (and even sit beside him!!! *double woot*) He did a great job in helping us blog about the events of today. Do check out his weblog! Very insightful and very thought provoking. He is even nicer and friendlier in person, even helping me to "fill" up our new media document by informing me that Intel was one of his clients who took to the use of twitter!!!


The Digital Movement is the new media partner of iX conference this time around and kudos to Bill Claxton for helping to plug us into this event. We truly are in a very strategic position now - at the forefront, pushing for the adoption of new media!!!

More information and videos about this conference can be found in Mr. Inspector Gadget - Kevin Lim's blog as well as on SG Entrepreneurs, thanks to Bernard Leong.

Returning to the event, it was great to hear speakers from apollo, microsoft and New Media BC's Lynda Brown share their insights. I'm also especially grateful to Lynda for talking with Raine and I about Blue Stocking. It's a not for profit organization that we want to set up to connect female entrepreneurs (esp. those interested in tech and new media) together. Females are always under represented in the digital space so we believe that Blue Stocking can be a medium through which we can marry new media, technology and the passion for making things happen.

I'm really proud of TDM as a team -- indeed we have come very far -- the best is yet to be!!!

Trust me - LAUGH until you DIE! If not I pay $$$$!

If you don't laugh until your abs hurt; money back guarantee. I just got 6 packs from this vid alone. TRUST ME MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Japanese Tetris - Watch more free videos

How to get a 6-figure BOOK DEAL from your BLOG

I’m going to tell you how to get a six-figure book deal from your blog. People ask me this question all the time, and I have been a little hesitant to give people advice because

Here are ten tips for getting a book deal of your own that is based on that blog you’ve been writing.

1. Solve a problem.
Non-fiction books define a problem and offer a solution. This is what makes the consumer buy the book. A blog can be a fun rant. A book needs to be more than that.

Do the “how to be” test. Can you say, “My blog is about how to ….” And finish the sentence? You need to be able to do that to turn your blog into a nonfiction book.

For my book, I said I’m solving the problem that most career advice books are irrelevant to the current market. I did a they say/I say section. For example, they say report sexual harassment/I say don’t. They say don’t lie on your resume/ I say be practical.

2. Have a big idea.
A blog is a big pile of small ideas adding up to a community of people talking about those ideas. A book needs to be more than that. A book needs to add up to a big idea. You get your advance based on how big the idea is. One of the hardest lessons for me was that I thought I would just put a bunch of posts together in to a book. But my editor rejected that when I turned it in. The posts need to be organized in a way that builds up into bigger ideas (chapters) into a big, grand idea (the book).

Aside from Seth Godin, who is an industry unto himself (mostly as a public speaker), there is no record of printing out a blog and having a six-figure-worthy book.

3. If you’re in a niche, make it a big one.
Editors don’t like to buy a book that is in a field where no other books exist. In the blogosphere, if no one is blogging about your topic, it’s probably because you’re in a very small niche. Niches are fine for blogs, but not for six-figure book contracts.

Also, ask yourself if you are solving a problem for a mass market or a niche market. If you’re in a niche, you need to expand your reach by choosing topics for a more broad audience.

4. Have a big audience, but say they are old rather than young if you want a lot of money.
Most blog readers are young and most book buyers are old. Therefore, books that are geared exclusively toward young people often come out as paperback originals, which don’t get huge advances. Figure out how to sell your broader portion of the population.

5. Have a lot of blogger friends to promote the book, but talk mostly about USA Today.
It’s true that a few books, like The No Asshole Rule and The 4-Hour Work Week, got to the top because of initial support from bloggers. But publishers aren’t making bets that they can tell which books this will happen with next time. So you need to tell the book publishers that you can get a lot of attention from conventional media outlets. Editors are more comfortable with traditional media. After all, that’s what book publishing is.

6. Follow conventions.
Most of the non-blog world sees bloggers as the Wild West, at best, and a freak show at worst. The publishing industry is wary of being able to translate bloggers into authors, and there have been a lot of high profile flops. So make your writing look like the kind of writing that agents and editors are used to dealing with. This means not only very high quality writing samples (which will probably be blog posts). But you also need to follow the conventions for writing a killer proposal.

7. Find someone to model yourself after.
I am not the only person to get a book contract from a blog. Here are some others: Gina Trapani at Lifehacker, Shauna James at Gluten-Free Girl, and Joe Bageant. When you were in sixth grade, you read five paragraph essays in order to figure out how to write one. When you started blogging, you read other peoples’ blogs to figure out how you wanted to do your own. Now you should read books by bloggers in order to figure out how to package your own blog into a book.

8. Put your blog in the marketing section of your proposal.
A book proposal is about the idea, and who you are and how you’re going to sell the book. If you have a large blog readership, you can say that in the marketing section. You can’t say they’ll all buy the book. If that were true, Gina Trapani would have the one of the biggest selling books ever. But you can say that the blog will provide a lot of buzz and a lot of customers.

9. Trust that agents know a good proposal when they see one, but try again if you get a bad response.
Here’s how I got my agent: I bought The Writer’s Market and picked out five agents. Here was my criterion: I only chose agents who said they weren’t accepting new clients, because I wanted someone who was established and doing well. And I picked people whose last names started with letters at the end of the alphabet because I thought other people who pick agents randomly probably start at the beginning, so people at the end must not get as much mail.

This experience makes me trust the agenting system. It’s not hard to tell the big agents - look at the books they represent. Send your proposal to agents who represent books like yours. If no one likes your proposal, admit that your idea is flawed. Figure out why, fix the problems, and try again with another proposal.

10. Use blog comments to train yourself for rejection.
If there is any way to prepare for the constant rejection from the publishing industry, it’s by answering the negative commenters on your blog. Respond in an even-handed, respectful way. This is how you’ll have to respond to agents and editors who try to poke holes in your proposal. For example, I wrote eleven proposals that my agent said no to before she sold my most recent one.

That’s a lot of work. But, to be honest, it’s not as much work as posting to a blog five days a week.

Thanks to ProBlogger for this tip!

Money makes you Happy? Hint: Sex matters more!

I've been ruminating on this for a long long time. What makes one happy? We're all caught in the rat race, fighting with our peers for the best jobs, comparing who's got what and who's with who...

Last night I met about 30 some friends (plus friends of friends) for a chill out session at the Loof. It's a nice cosy place and it was a gathering for peeps in the financial field. Most of them from banks and other financial institutes.

Each one of them seemed to be living the "life". High flying careers, great paying job whats nots. This got me asking myself a question,"Is that the life?" "Is that what really makes one happy, all the moolah and bling in the world?"

My head screams a resounding YES, but my heart says no. No. NO. It's not only about the kaching.

I woke up this afternoon, rolled around on my bed. The events of last night looping through my mind - the drinks, the people, the party. I walked out of my bedroom, my father reading the morning news paper. '

Then it dawned upon me, yea, I'd like that life and all, but is it really important? Yea, I guess to a certain extent, but waking up knowing your family is safe and sound and at home is probably one of the best feelings in the world...

So being the GEEK that I am, I came down had breakfast and googled "What makes on happy?"

**** You decide****

How much money buys happiness? A wide body of research suggests the number is approximately forty thousand dollars a year. Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychology at Harvard University, says once you have enough money to meet basic needs – food, shelter, but not necessarily cable —incremental increases have little effect on your happiness.

Aaron Karo, comedian and author of the forthcoming book, Ruminations on Twentysomething Life, responds to the number with, “If you want to draw a line in the sand, happiness is having enough money so you don’t have to move back in with your parents.”

To someone who just spent four years in college living off nine-thousand-dollar loan stipends, an increase to forty thousand means a lot – moving from poverty to middle class. But it’s a one-time rush. After you hit the forty-thousand-dollar-range money never gives you that surge in happiness again.

Twentysomethings who are looking for happiness from their careers will benefit from research about their parents’ choices. Richard Easterlin, professor of economics at University of Southern California says previous generations have proven that our desires adjust to our income. “At all levels of income, the typical response is that one needs 20% more to be happy.” Once you have basic needs met, the axiom is true: more money does not make more happiness.

So then one asks, what does matter? The big factors in determining happiness levels are satisfaction with your job and social relationships. And in case you found yourself slipping back to thoughts of salary, according to Easterlin, “How much pleasure people get from their job is independent of how much it pays.”

Unfortunately, people are not good at picking a job that will make them happy. Gilbert found that people are ill equipped to imagine what their life would be like in a given job, and the advice they get from other people is bad, (typified by some version of “You should do what I did.”)

Gilbert recommends going into a career where people are happy. But don’t ask them if their career makes them happy, because most people will say yes; they have a vested interest in convincing themselves they are happy. Instead, try out a few different professions before you settle on one. For college students, Gilbert envisions this happening with part-time jobs and internships at the cost of “giving up a few keggers and a trip to Florida over spring break.” But even if you wait until you enter the workforce, it makes sense to switch from one entry-level job to another; no seniority and scant experience means you have little to lose. So it’s an ideal time to figure out what will make you happy: Use a series of jobs to observe different professions at close range to see if YOU think they make people happy.

It’s simple, proven advice, but few people take it because they think they are unique and their experience in a career will be different. Get over that. You are not unique, you are basically just like everyone else. Gilbert can, in the course of five minutes, rattle off ten reasons why people think they are unique but they are not. For example: We spend our lives finding differences between people to choose teachers, band mates and spouses, so our perception of peoples’ differences is exaggerated… And then Gilbert gets to grapes: “If you spend seven years studying the differences between grapes, no two will look the same to you, but really a grape is a grape.”

So your first step is to stop thinking you’re a special case. Take Gilbert’s advice and choose a career based on your assessment of other people in that career. You next step is to focus on social relationships, because in terms of happiness, job satisfaction is very important but social relationships are most important.

And by social relations, most researchers mean sex – with one, consistent partner. So consider giving your career aspirations a little less weight than you give your aspirations for sex. For those of you who like a tangible goal, David Blanchflower, professor of economics at Dartmouth College says, “Going from sex once a month to sex once a week creates a big jump in happiness. And then the diminishing returns begin to set in.” He adds, to the joy of all who are underemployed, “It’s true that money impacts which person you marry, but money doesn’t impact the amount of sex you have.”

Maybe all this research simply justifies the twenty something tendency to hold a series of entry-level jobs and put off having children. Says Karo: “All we really want is to get paid and get laid.”

****

Thanks to Penelope Trunk for this article

Blog your way to your DREAM JOB

Blogging is good for your career. A well-executed blog sets you apart as an expert in your field. How do you do this? Simple. This article gives you the tips and trick on snagging your dream job -- by doing what you love! BLOGGING!

1. Blogging creates a network.
A blogger puts himself out in the world as someone who is interesting and engaging — just the type of person everyone wants to meet. “A blog increases your network because a blog is about introducing yourself and sharing information,” says Kaputa.

2. Blogging can get you a job.
Dervala Hanley writes a quirky literary blog that got her a job is at Stone Yamashita Partners, a consulting firm that “tries to bring humanity to business.” Hanley told me that the firm was attracted to her ability to put her business experience into personal terms on the blog.

3. Blogging is great training.
To really get attention for your blog, you’re going to have to have daily entries for a while. At least a few months to get rolling, and then three or four times a week after that. So you will really get to know your topic well.

4. Blogging helps you move up quickly.
To escape the entry-level grind, you can either pay your dues, working up a ladder forever, or you can establish yourself as an expert in the world by launching a blog. High-level jobs are for people who specialize, and hiring managers look for specialists online. “Decision-makers respect Google-karma,” writes Tim Bray, director of Web technologies for Sun Microsystems — on his own blog, of course.

5. Blogging makes self-employment easier.
You can’t make it on your own unless you’re good at selling yourself. One of the most cost-effective and efficient ways of marketing yourself is with a blog. When someone searches for your product or service, make sure your blog comes up first.

Curt Rosengren, a career coach, periodically Googles “career passion” — words he thinks are most important to his business — just to make sure his blog, Occupational Adventure, comes up high on the list. He estimates that his blog generates at least half of his coaching business.

6. Blogging provides more opportunities.
Building brands, changing careers, launching a business — these endeavors are much easier once you’ve established yourself online. Rosengren told me, “My blog is a foundation. I’m building an awareness that I can leverage to do other fun things with my future, such as product development, or public speaking.”

A blog gives you a leg up when you meet someone new. Dylan Tweney, a freelance writer, told me his blog, the Tweney Review, gives him instant legitimacy with clients.

7. Blogging could be your big break.
Visually creative types can blog beyond just text. Mark Fearing has a cartoon blog. “Cartooning and illustration are very crowded fields,” he says. “My blog has gotten me more notice than any other publicity tool I’ve used. Plus, the blog gives me a way to have a new conversation with potential clients about other work.”

8. Blogging makes the world a better place.
“Blogging is about giving stuff away to a community,” says Day. “For years, as a junior developer, I would go to the Internet for solutions and I would always take, take, take. Now I am happy to be a contributor and give something back.”

Click here for the entire article! Thanks to Penelope Trunk!

Wisdom Tooth Part II (Laugh for me cuz I can't)

With my mouth all banged up from the post surgery, I thought I'd be looking forward to later today when I finally get my damn stitches of my wound. Some is funky about it though. There still is a swell and I'm just about to finish my whole course of anti biotics.

Though I'd cheer myself up by some crazy wisdom tooth cartoons. Well, here goes nothing!

Enjoy! :B

Is MARRIAGE for U? DO U REALLY want 2 get MARRIED?

Kiddos, maybe you'll think twice before tying the (dead) knot... :)

Marriage (Part I )

Typical macho man married typical good-looking lady, and
after the wedding, he laid down the following rules:

"I'll be home when I want, if I want and at what time
I want -- and I don't expect any hassle from you.
I expect a great dinner to be on the table unless
I tell you that I won't be home for dinner.
I'll go hunting, fishing, boozing, and card-playing
when I want with my old buddies, and don't you
give me a hard time about it.
Those are my rules. Any comments?"

His new bride said:
"No, that's fine with me. Just understand that there will be sex
here at seven o'clock every night...whether you're here or not."

(DARN SHE'S GOOD!)

************************************************

Marriage (Part II)


Husband and wife had a bitter quarrel on the day of their 40th wedding anniversary!

The husband yells, "When you die, I'm getting you a headstone
that reads, 'Here Lies My Wife -- Cold As Ever'!"

"Yeah?" she replies. "When you die, I'm getting you a headstone
that reads, 'Here Lies My Husband -- Stiff At Last'!"

(HE ASKED FOR IT!)


*****************************************

Marriage (Part III)


Husband (a doctor) and his wife are having a fight at the breakfast table.

Husband gets up in a rage and says, "And you are no
good in bed either," and storms out of the house.

After some time he realizes he was nasty and
decides to make amends and rings her up.

She comes to the phone after many rings, and the irritated husband says, "What took you so long to answer to the phone?"

She says, "I was in bed."

"In bed this early, doing what?"

"Getting a second opinion!"

(YEP, HE HAD THAT COMING, TOO!)

*****************************************

Marriage (Part IV)


A man has six children and is very proud of his achievement.

He is so proud of himself, that he starts calling his
wife," Mother of Six" in spite of her objections.

One night, they go to a party. The man decides that it IS time to go home and wants to find out if his wife is ready to leave as well. He shouts at the top of his voice, "Shall we go home Mother of Six?"

His wife, irritated by her husband's lack of discretion,
shouts right back, "Any time you're ready, Father of Four."

(RIGHT ON, LADY!)

*****************************************

THE SILENT TREATMENT

A man and his wife were having some problems at home
and were giving each other the silent treatment.

Suddenly the man realized that the next day he would need his wife
to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight.

Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece
of paper,"Please wake me at 5:00 AM." He left it where he knew she would find it.

The next morning the man woke up, only to discover it
was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight.

Furious, he was about to go to see why his wife hadn't wakened him when he
noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up."

Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.

Flowers 4 "BOGAY" girl! =B~~

Thanks to Cornelius and my best bud Dawnie they've made a BOGAY girl feel so much better. This afternoon I received a knock on the door and was greeted by a bunch of roses



and a very cute lil' bear cub! :)



All the way from down under, MELBOURNE!!!! Aren't friends the best? Truly knowing how to bring a smile to my face despite all this swelling on my right cheek! :)

Thanks guys! May the tooth fairy bless you! :) *hugz* LOOOVVEEE UUUU!!

Biggest bOObs in the WORLD?

Biggest boobs in the world!? Pick your jaws off the floor and munch on your potato chips..

This is really sexist, I'd boycott them, to be honest!

My Wisdom Tooth Surgery Pics (not 4 faint hearted)

So for 4 freaking years, I have been avoiding the issue of the need to have my wisdom tooth extracted. OK so I thought that if I wished hard enough and ignored it long enough, it'd jut go away. I thought that like any part of the body, a decay in the tooth would heal itself up. I mean why not right? Afterall, our body is a wonderful work of art that has the ability to "heal" itself...

Hmmm so I was woken up from my sweet sweet dream when 2 weeks ago, I had the most horrible toothache. Ok so 4 years ago I was already asked to have my wisdom tooth removed, but it wasn't affecting me that much, so I was like "Heck this #$%^&* dentist doesn't know a rats ass what he's talking about. Why should I remove something that does not cause me any problem or pain?" But the fact was that removing a sleeping wisdom tooth should be done as fast as possible, when detected, to prevent it from pushing the other tooth (or nerves for that matter) and causing much more pain. In my case, this is how a sleeping wisdom tooth looks like:



As you can see, there isn't space for the tooth to grow out, because of the angle at which it is trying to "push out" through the gums.



But anyway as you can see, its a problem that needed to be nipped in the bud, but stubborn as I was.... I waited 4.5 freaking years before last week when this sharp throbbing pain started to affect me (even in my sleep).



I went to the dentist and he said that not only was the wisdom tooth pressing against the nerve, it was pushing against the tooth before which had caused a decay in both the wisdom tooth itself and that poor tooth before it. If it was bad, I had to get a root canal!!! WTH! Root canal? No way, its like killing the root by drilling it and thats going to hurt like freaking hell. No way. Then I as about to take that fat drill on the dentists tray to knock myself out. Better to be unconscious than face the truth right? RIGHT...

So there and then he gave me 2 jabs, wanting to start the extraction of my wisdom tooth. #$%^&*#$%^&* no no no no no. Horror and shock! no no no.... Half way while waiting for the anesthetic to take place, I had no choice but to back out. I swear I was breaking out into cold sweat. I had images of him drilling and sawing and cutting me open. I swear, this was the image in my mind:



So the smart and very cowardly me, backed out. #$%^&*( had already taken the blardee jabs, not have any tooth extracted, still must pay up. But seriously I had to be mentally prepared before getting cut open right? I'm a girl after all... and I wasn't prepared to MENSTRUATE from the mouth then and there!!!

In that week alone, I had scheduled and rescheduled the extraction 3 times, obviously due to the immense fear.. :(... But THE DAY CAME!

Today I finally had it done up. My colleagues were real nice at work. They told me it wasn't that pain and in the morning they had SMSed me to let me know that if I died, they would divide my pay (kidding)... they had texted me to let me know everything would be OK... heck la. Die la, this damn tooth. Wonder how the cavemen could cope with this, last time there weren't any dentists, how they handle toothaches?

5 days MC, NO thanks to the freaking wisdom tooth. Now I am lot wise anymore!



DRUGS!



TEETH!





OUCH. @#$%^&*(#$%^&*(@#$%^&*()@#$%^&*().

After the anesthesia weared off (its wearing off now).... it really hurts! OUCH! Seriously although he stitched the wound up, the bleeding isn't stopping it seems and it really hurts. Like some one punched me real hard on the cheeks.

With that said, I still love my dentist. Dr. Lee kept on joking with me, making me laugh. I hate going to the dentist, but with a dentist like him, really the experience is so much better. Thank you doctor Lee... :)

I just want the pain and throbbing to stop. See you in a week to remove my stitches! I'm a work in progress :)

Later skater!
Bogay eStee

Get Ur Very Own Widget -- FREEEE!

Hey Guys!

I stumbled upon this site where u can create ur own widgets and wanted to share with you all! It's so cool!

I have my very own widget now!

Click here to get them!

2nd and the HALF life - HILARIOUS!!!

This is what happens when you play toooo much computer games. Your computer games come alive and check out what happens when you get killed by the very thing you control...

Eat your heart out gamers!!! :P

Self Reflection - The Painful Truth

Have you self reflected today yet?



The truth hurts, but it's paramount that we look at our faults and self examine... Afterall, no pain, no gain right?


...but make up always helps :)

Hitchoo Week! :) Fallin' 4 U..

Since I've got Hitchoo on my Nuffnang ads, this week I shall declare it a HitChoo Week!! All my blog postings will be about LOVE, LOVE and more LOVE! Which, come to think off, is way tooo ironic, because I haven't had much experience and definitely am not a GURU.

But love isn't only about BGR right? I'm really thinking how Hitchoo cards can be used as well in other contexts. Not only to get together with the better/worse sex right? What about sometimes we don't say I LOVE YOU enough to our parents? Or siblings, for that matter?

Can it be used that way? As a form of telling them we love them? Maybe not so right, on second thoughts. Maybe hitchoo should also include a section where you just want to give a holler to kin. Sometimes it's hard telling the people you love the most that you love them.. especially when you take them for granted.

Bottomline: Family is most important. Everything can go, but family really the foundationa nd corner stone of happiness. Sometimes we only realise when its too late. Cherish the moment.

Kiss & Blog (a.k.a Virtual Reality Kiss & Tell)

You better be careful what you do in the privacy of your own room. Yes, the rooms have eyes, the lights have ears but the most potent is your better/worse half being an avid blogger.

To blog or not to blog, that IS the question. Lucks!
Later skater!
eStee

Make ur Blog Statistics ROCKET :-)

There really isn't any hard and fast rule. But if you don't take yourself that seriously and love to have a good laugh (some times even a yourself), soon you'll just find that you might just get great readership.

Alternatively, just be ECL (Eastcoastlife) and be hottest mummy blogger and blog about zips and penises. Those work as well... Your blog, you decide! :)