A Different Consciousness

Lately I find myself talking about... *cringe*... beauty products and treatments! Oh wow! I'm in shock! Oza, discussing the virtues of waxing vs shaving and depilators? Colouring my hair? Buying expensive makeup? Going for spas? Omigod! As Angela said, "What HAPPENED to you??" Mostly I'm just bluffing, trying not to look totally clueless. It's a side effect of working in close proximity to beauty conscious people, I'm afraid. It's funny, from being beauty unconscious to actually doing stuff and cringing over my own imperfections. Sigh.. what else will I do next??

Small, small, world

Have been catching up with my TKC friends lately. Sometimes, I interviewed them, sometimes call them to get contacts... I interviewed someone the otherday, turned out they knew my dad! Seems funny to meet people we haven't met for 18 years... But I guess that's how the cookie crumbles :)

Insane

I've always slept late, but have never been exceptionally hardworking. This is totally new to me, the huge importance put on deadlines. Right now, I'm paying the price of going home early, watching a movie a couple days ago. Falling behind means major effort catching up. Right now am struggling to get back on track. Doesn't help that I'm such a lembap writer... It's taking me forever to finish a piece seasoned writers finish in one day! Well, no choice, will just have to suck it up and get things done. Urgh.. I miss my nice, cool bed...

Racun

Sometimes I can be quite a sucker for trying out new things. And many of these end up being 'hot hot chicken shit'. After being so gung-ho about cycling, the bike ended up gathering dust in the store room. Don't get me started on all the other half-baked projects I've had. Lately I barely have time to do laundry! The other day I met a few bikers and they're all racuning me to take up riding. Ye la, diorang punya moto cun giler. But then tengok la how much they're earning!! On my pitiful writer's pay ni... susah sket la. Plus, I do need a decent new car.
Well, it is much cheaper to ride than drive, but the safety aspect is quite daunting. My own 2nd hand kapcai is in bad condition these days. Can never seem to find the time to fix it properly. Since i only use it to go beli kuih or eat in Uptown (easier to park), sometimes the battery sampai mati tak recharge. Then I end up rolling it down the hill to revive the battery/ starter/ whatever. They spokes are yellow, and I think the exhaust is illegal, rempit type. Tyres need changing and suspension is crap. Lagi nak bawak moto besar! Heh! Have thought about getting a motorcycle license previously, but cannot justify the cost. After all, I got car license oredy, what for spend $$ on B license? Riding is so not my passion. Nak bawak moto gi OneUtama pun, liat. Karang jadi tukun tiruan pulak moto tu. But sometimes, itulah, you get excited on all the hype. Racun sieh.. Need an antidote, fast!

Moving Up...

Well, literally, at least. MagWorld properly merged with BluInc and 4 mags including ours were reshuffled into different locations in the building. So, as planned, we had to move upstairs today. We'll all sorely miss our darling orange walls and orange compartments... Plus we're so used to being the bising and huru hara group downstairs and now we've got to 'jaga perangai', at least until we know what we're dealing with in the main editorial section.

Am glad it was relatively painless. Started carrying our stuff up at 9.30, and by noon I was all settled in, more or less. Had to rush because I had a shoot in the afternoon. It went well, more exciting than usual. I think I hurt a singer's feelings because I didn't recognise her. Darn, now I have to learn to identify celebs and pseudo celebs too? Do they have scientific names? Jeez, the things I do to keep this job... I really enjoyed spending time with the other 2 ladies, actually. Cool gals, no divas, please.

Came back and of course went straight back to work. Donno la what time I nak balik nanti. But a bit hungry la, maybe I should take a break for dinner first. That way I don't go home and forget about work. Sounds like a plan...

Gym alternative

Came home after meeting a friend and proceeded to trim my garden back into a semblance of order. Haven't had any time to deal with gardens and floors of late, when I was up to my eyeballs with work day in, day out, weekday, everyday...

It felt good to forget about files and papers and dictionaries for a while. It was a little sweaty and uncomfortable (I was in a black shirt). I got pricked a lot - man, bougainvillea thorns are vicious - but it felt good. Feels way better than paying too much money for a gym membership which I would probably underutilize. Working on the garden is real to me. I come close to the plants and the soil and the earth. I could smell the freshness of the leaves, mustiness of compost and the scent of the kenanga blooms. It's therapy!

Maybe there's some truth to that sickly, unhappy girl being rejuvenated by bringing the garden back to life in in the children's classic Secret Garden. My reward - fresh organic papayas from the tree next to my compost heap. It's a gift from God... It grew from some old seeds I must have thrown with the rest of the kitchen waste. I'm pretty useless when it comes to making plants germinate at will. Went inside when it got dark and got stuck watching some kids' show on Disney. There's always that inner child inside us, I believe :D

Went up to a semi-uncluttered room. Had made time to clear my dumping table (that means the table where I dump all my stuff as I enter the room) this morning before I went out. Still need to put away stuff I found in the filing cabinet. Will do that later. Like next week. I think I'll stuff my clothes into the washer and deal with the laundry before I take a shower and continue with work. Yeah, I have to work. Need to check my document and submit it before the client loses all trust in my professionalism.

Am scheduled to for a massage tomorrow, so would like to get all work out of the way before I pamper myself. I'll probably be working on Monday, but it's all right. As long as I get a few hours of me time, I'll be fine. It's really, really nice not to think about work for a bit.

Will try to make time for my other gym, of course - the Lake Club. Love being on the water. It's therapy! What else can I say?

Cheers, guys. Have a good week ahead!

Wasting My Time

I have a few assignment going on at the same time, just like everyone else, but it feels extra tiring because right now they all keep interrupting each other. Every time I start on something, I'm forced to deal with a part of another project. Plus I had to rework some stuff and go searching for someone's info. Unfortunately, since the guy is married to a celeb, I couldn't find ANY info that is about HIS qualifications. Everything is about his marriage, wife, bla bla bla. And his PA couldn't help me either. Pah! Useless waste of time! I feel like going home, but I know full well the moment I get home, I'll switch to domestic/lazybutt/translator mode and forget all about my pile of work. On the other hand, it IS my precious weekend. Who else is going to deal with my laundry and clean my room? Lend me a maid, anyone?

Cakey Cravings

The past few days we've been chatting a lot about cakes and stuff. One of my colleagues brought beautiful homemade cupcakes for our potluck lunch. I brought boring boiled rice... Maybe it's time to bake again. I haven't done it for SOOO LONG! I never even baked cookies for raya last year. Maybe I can make some coffee biscuits or the apple cake. Something simple and nice to share. Maybe this weekend... :)