chervalier

yea aren’t you guys just sooooooooo glad that i’m just blogging ALL THE FRIGGING TIME right now? haha ok so it’s not all the time but it’s often enough!

Anyhoo, I think it’s due in part to the fact that I have significantly more time on my hands now plus I’ve finished the article that I had to write awhile ago so i don’t feel so laden with guilt.

Well, this article is, once again, relationship-themed.. Haha. Man, I can’t wait to start work so that I have a lot more distractions and less time to think about relationships!! Gah. And yea that’s right, I intend to be totally committed to work and not even give a thought to serious relationships at all once I start work.. That’s why as long as I’m not in a relationship by the end of this year, that’s it for me for the next year (or 3, I’m thinking..)

Not like that has any likelihood of happening, haha. ANYWAY, back to the point of this entry! I was just reading this thing on facebook titled “102 things Guys need to know about Girls” and found that I seriously need to comment about the (in)accuracy of it.. Lest any gullible guy out there believes it to be the truth.. So where better to do it than my blog? =))

I’m just going to list the points and post my comments after it.. The list was taken from this facebook group..

102 Things Guys need to know about Girls

1. Do not cheat on a girl. We girls talk, we WILL know, and we WILL find out, and we WILL dump you!

This is kinda true.. Nothing much to add on here..

2. Be aware of all your girlfriends’ guy friends, brothers, fathers, or anything. They are protective. Every single male friend we have will kick your ass if you end up hurting her.

Uhh I think so.. Haha my dad is protective to a certain degree, though he kinda makes way for me to have “opportunities”… If you know what I mean.. lol. As for my brother, I think he couldn’t give a shit.

3. Never ever miss an opportunity to tell her that she’s beautiful. We girls love that.

Who doesn’t love flattery?

4. If she slapped you hard, you probably deserved it.

I dunno.. I don’t think I’ll ever slap anyone.. Haha

5. Do not be afraid of holding her. If she’s going out with you in the first place, it’s obvious that she likes you and wants to be in your arms.

True! =)

6. Every girl should eventually get three things from her boyfriend — a stuffed animal, one of his sweatshirts or hoodie’s, and a really pretty piece of jewelry.

I can’t say every single girl wants these.. I kinda only want the 2nd item haha. A stuffed animal would be cute but would just collect dust.. And if you end up buying something I don’t like then that’s just gonna make things awkward for me right? Same goes for jewellery.. Guys don’t have very hot taste.

We girls want your shirts coz it feels like you’re around. I personally feel like it’s kinda having your boyfriend mark his territory, kinda. And I know a lot of girls don’t like it, but I think it’s cool. I think maybe I haven’t had a boyfriend in TOO long. haha

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 26% [?]

so this is another post I’ve wanted to write in awhile.. Lol.. What’s with me and all the relationship-themed posts lately!?!? No idea, though I think it might be because I’m utterly HOPELESS when it comes to figuring guys out. They say girls are the more complex gender… I think guys are pretty complex too!

actually, wait.. I think guys aren’t TOO complex.. We girls just tend to think too much.. hehe ^^ ANYHOW. The need for this post came about because well, I needed some answers quite awhile back (I think since like, a few years ago lol) regarding this issue and when I recently googled What Is A Date?, I didn’t get very satisfying/conclusive answers..

Many people on Yahoo Answers mentioned that it’s when two people go out to spend time together, with the promise of sex afterwards.. Yea that won’t quite fly in Singapore’s society.. At least, not for ALL dates and not openly.. Then when I was discussing with a friend about whether or not I was dating someone, he asked whether or not the person in question did a bunch of stuff which sounded like a checklist of things..

Apparently the things that happen during a date include some of these (according to that friend of mine, and this was in the States so there may be cultural differences..) :

• The guy pays for the food and whatever else you choose to do
• He picks you up and sends you home
• to be honest I can’t remember what else lol.. this happened awhile back.. some time last year.. don’t blame me!

Mmm.. See there are many points of contention regarding any definition of a date. Some people can go dutch on a date and STILL call it a date. Other times, it might not be practical for either party to send/see the other home so it doesn’t happen. Technically, a date is when 2 people meet up and spend time together. That’s it. But if that’s it, then well, most of us would be dating a lot of our friends.

A romantic date can’t just be defined by 2 people going out/making an arrangement to meet up (and maybe stay in)..  There’s a lot to define and many different variables to consider. Of course, you can get all pissy on me and say it needs no definition etc but well, confused and relationship(ly)-impaired people like MOI need help understanding all this crap.

I would love to list some examples of confusing date-type-things I’ve been on and have you all decide if they are but dates…. But it would mean letting a lot of people (er not a LOT but some.. haha) know that I’m confused by my outings with them haha. See, when it’s with a close friend, you know for sure it ain’t a romantic date. I go out with my really good guy friends all the time without having to wonder if they are dates because it doesn’t matter.  With someone that matters though, that’s when u start getting all confused and nitpicky. Haha.

Whatever it is, I’ve reached a definite conclusion. I will now term every single time I’m out with a person as an OUTING. I will only consider it a date (meaning romantic date) if and only if:

• The person asking makes it clear that it’s a date. Meaning, when he asks me out, it includes the following statement, “Would you like to go on a date with me?” or other variations of the same. It must include the word date
• OR
  
• I ask the person if it’s a date and he agrees it is. AGREES. NO HEDGING. No qualifiers like, “maybe”, “probably” or “perhaps” type words. HELLO? It takes me a certain amount of courage to even ASK if it’s a date ok. I’m usually extremely reticent about such things. (My friends would know)
• OR
• During the outing, he makes obvious gestures such as buying me flowers(which really, I don’t like but it’s obvious..), holding my hand (for an extended period of time and away from roads and traffic lights), or uh, saying obvious things like I like you (?) lol.

Now, using the above criteria, I can now safely say “I HAVE NOT EVER BEEN ON A (ROMANTIC) DATE!” woots. haha. I HAVE, however, rejected going out on obvious romantic dates with people I obviously don’t like.. That’s another story for another time, though.

I think based on the above, I am likely not going to get asked out in a loong loooooong time… HAHA. If I do though, and if I agree to it, then I say, that must be something special indeed. haha =)

What say you, readers? Agree with my arguments/criteria? Anything to add? Dating horror stories? COMMENT AWAY =)

Popularity: 17% [?]

now now, don’t get all pissy on me just because I haven’t blogged in what, one and a half months? Heh. I apologize, truly. I’ve been mentally swamped with all sorts of stuff, gotten food poisoning, been moody etc.. At least I’m back (kinda) and with a post I’ve wanted to put up quite awhile ago..

This post came about because I developed a crazy love for the BBC series Torchwood, which is a Doctor Who spinoff.. The main character is played by the very desirable John Barrowman, who is, sadly (for straight girls like me), gay. Haha. Ohwells.

Anyhoo, I realized that I have a very very varied taste when it comes to men. I have liked celebrities ranging from Orlando Bloom and Lee Ryan to Daniel Wu and Li Dong Xue (Li Yuan) to weirder choices like Matthew Perry, Colin Firth and John Cho. What I’ve decided to do is put together a composite of these people to create the (in my opinion) perfect man! =D

Let’s start with the physical:

We will use Li Yuan’s body and face! (I really really think he’s perfect. haha)

By the way, he’s 183cm tall which is like within range of my ideal height =D

Now, the face thing is a bit contentious because there are a HECK of a lot of guys out there with REAALLY gorgeous faces (Kevin Cheng, Raymond Lam, Chris Pine etc come to mind).. However, I think the face really goes with the body because well, it’d just look weird, I dunno. The size of the head wouldn’t fit etc.. Haha.

haha. Aaanyhoo… *regains control of self* We’ve settled almost all the physical aspects.. We have gone with Li Yuan’s bod, face and height. What we need now is…

JOHN BARROWMAN’S ASS

But before I introduce you to his behind, let me introduce you to the man himself, John Barrowman:

And nowwwww you can get the Asstroduction:

Now now, I agree that John Barrowman’s behind would be a bit disproportionate for Li Yuan’s amazing bod so I’ve offered that last picture of Gareth David-Lloyd’s behind. GDL plays Ianto Jones in Torchwood, the lover of Jack Harkness. I think his behind is a perfectly acceptable substitute =D

(Don’t you love how I’m objectifying men now? Tables turning? You betcha!)

Ok  now we get to the character bit. This is gonna get reeeaaally tricky but we’re going to TRY, dammit.

Don’t laugh at me or scorn/scoff/throw up here, but we’re gonna use the unrealistically undying love of a very well-known character..

Cheesy as hell but come on, who are we kidding? We’re trying to build the PERFECT man, which is never going to happen, so let’s use unrealistic stuff anyway!

So Edward Cullen’s devotion is one of the qualities we’d use. His love like, REALLY WON’T DIE. It just CAN’T. Of course, we’re gonna have to minus the bloodthirst *makes notes*.

Next, we’re going to want the Smarts of this guy:

I also wanted to put in the smarts of Qi Dang Jia of ShuJian (which you will remember was my previous major obsession) but since this is more current (to me), we will use this.

Did I mention that Wu Qing is also a talented musician? Hmmmm…. =P

We want the protectiveness of this guy:

I don’t like this guy for his occasional indecisiveness but he did eventually step up and become a really good boyfriend+husband so hurray for him!

Another quality that can make girls really happy (or at least, girls like me) is a great sense of humor. And for that, we turn to…

Yup. Chandler’s sarcastic wit is funny as hell, though I think it can get tiring after awhile.. Hmm.. Just a good sense of humor will do, boys =)

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There’s a lot more I could add but I’m kinda exhausted, lol. Now, bear in mind that there are a lot of things that realistically don’t make sense in the above concoction (such as a white behind on an Asian bod) but we’re gonna disregard all of that in this make-believe situation ok? =D

To be honest, I don’t believe in a set recipe for creating a partner. A lot of the time, external factors come into play, such as timing, chemistry and compatibility. That’s something I’ve definitely learnt first-hand =D

I know I’m coming across totally boy-crazy in this post but well, it’s healthy to unleash this side of yourself once in awhile.. Haha =) Have also realized that I have left out certain, shall we say, demographics… Maybe I just haven’t come across people I like who are not white/asian.. Haha. I do really like Simon Webbe of Blue though. Haha.

What do you think? Agree or disagree with my perfect concoction? Have things to add yourself? Think you could be my perfect man? (I doubt it since almost none of my readers are guys. HAHA)

Popularity: 17% [?]

so this post is gonna be all about different levels of attraction to people.. I’ve wanted to post about this for awhile since, well, it’s something that I’ve had to explain to quite some of my friends..

See I’m the kind of person who likes people on a varying level of degrees.. Much like most people, actually. We have stages/phases of Liking, as I’d like to call it.. And different people have different definitions for the same “stage” .. For instance, a crush is defined by some of my friends as much less serious than I define it.. So when my friends ask if I have a crush on someone, I say “NOOOOO” vehemently and they’re taken aback.. Heh.

So here’s my take on the different Stages of Liking (hereby titled SOL)

Starting from the least serious:

STAGE ZERO

Stage 0) Just to be meticulously accurate, stage 0 is apathy. Defined by a total lack of attraction or dislike towards a person. Negative stages will reflect the exact same amount of feeling toward a person, only the emotion is opposite (negative.. like dislike or hatred)

STAGE ONE

Stage 1) I call stage one Agreement. It’s when you agree/acknowledge/admit that this person is attractive, but either you don’t like his/her character at all or you don’t know him/her well enough. You just think that you could see what someone else sees in the person.

STAGE TWO

Stage 2) Two is Attraction. When you feel that a person is good-looking/hot and would do the person. This is different from Stage 1 in that you don’t agree with general opinion (which is passive) but you actively find the person attractive. It’s still on a very low level though, and you still might not know this person well at all. However, you definitely don’t hate this person’s character.

STAGE THREE

Stage 3) This is the subjective/messy part where people might not agree. Most people put “crush” here but I’d put Appreciation as stage 3. Appreciation happens when you start to appreciate the person for his/her character and enjoy hanging out with him/her. You could even start imagining yourselves going out on a date and perhaps maybe even (note use of numerous qualifiers) probably see yourself in a relationship with this person.

STAGE FOUR

Stage 4) Here comes the Crush.. Stage 4 (the Crush) is defined by a desire to talk to and hang out with the person, as well as the wish to end up in a relationship with the object of longing (lol).. Here’s where my definition of a crush differs from what I know a lot of people have defined. I personally don’t develop crushes on people I know nothing about or have not spoken to on a regular basis. Some other people, however, are perfectly ok with labeling their attraction to some popular person in school as a crush..

STAGE FIVE

Stage 5) Beyond the crush, relationships are starting to solidify and we’re delving into words that have more weight to them. Stage 5 is a stage of Liking. You may or may not be in a relationship with someone but you have definitely had enough interaction on a regular basis to develop strong feelings for this person. You are concerned for their wellbeing and would do things for them that take up your time. You think about them a lot of the time but you still live separate lives.

STAGE SIX

Stage 6) Here comes the big L-word. We move from Liking to Love. I don’t think I need to explain this too much but most times at this stage, you’re in a relationship (not necessarily all the time) and you feel intimate with this person. You care deeply for him/her and (without being too explicit) would do things with him/her.. You feel the need to spend special occasions together and not only do you care for this person, but because of your feelings towards him/her, you also feel a certain amount of affection and concern for the people in his/her life (ie family members or close friends) Also, you’re ready to commit to this singular person by this stage.

STAGE SEVEN (& beyond)

Stage 7) Anything beyond Stage 6 is slightly scary. I have one all-encompassing stage for everything beyond Stage 6 and it’s called OBSESSION. Yup, Mariah Carey’s song indeed. Obsession is when you are so driven by your feelings for a person that you feel the need to see/hear from/talk to that person all the time. You resort to stalking the person (be it on facebook or in real life) to catch a glimpse of him/her or to find out what he/she is doing..

I wasn’t sure if I should put Obsession in the list of Stages because it isn’t really an emotion or a stage of loving-feeling towards a person. However, it is an emotionally-driven stage that does fit in on the spectrum so I left it in.

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And there you have it, the complete list of SOL. Of course the above is just MY personally defined list of stages and should not be used as a guide to all women/men out there.. Though if you want to talk to ME about how I feel about a person, this would be a pretty good scale to use =)

As for the question in the blog title… Hey I’m notorious for keeping my private life private (kinda) so did you really think I was gonna even acknowledge such a question? It was just a teaser to get you guys reading =D

Enjoy, guys, and ttyl! =)

PS and Disclaimer: None of the images used in the blog post are mine. I ran a search on Google and found them. No infringement intended.

Popularity: 18% [?]

I’ve wanted to post this for awhile now.. I’ve been crazy about a Taiwan television drama for the past few weeks.. If you have me on msn you’ll notice i’ve been squeeing about this show for abit.. My MSN nick’s “光阴的故事！！ 美元恋FTW!!!” Hehe. 光阴的故事 is the title of the show.. Roughly translated, it means “The story of the passing of Time” or “The Story of Time” or even more directly, “Time’s Story”..

It’s a very sweet back-to-the-old-days kinda story about people living in the village areas of Taiwan from around the 1950’s all the way to modern day Taiwan.. It’s pretty long and draggy but the characters are endearing and funny (quirky would be a better word) and you’ll start to feel as if you know them after awhile.. In fact, before I started watching this show I thought it was pretty stupid but I started to watch it because I wanted to spend more time with my mom so I watched it with her (she likes it haha).. Now I’ve really developed a liking for this show and am watching the entire series on tudou, heh.

My favorite part of the show has to be the development of the relationship between characters 许毅源 (xu yiyuan) and 孙一美 (sun yimei).. The term for their relationship is the second part of my msn nick.. 美元恋FTW!!!  Haha minus the FTW of course.. I added that part. The guy’s name, Yi Yuan, sounds like One Dollar in Chinese, so they all call him Ji kou/r (which is one dollar in Taiwanese) .. The moniker for the couple is Mei Yuan, which means USD. Haha. Anyhoo, that aside, I really really really love this couple.

More accurately, I really really love how sweet Yi Yuan is to Yi Mei (the guy is to the girl).. I don’t believe that such a sweet guy exists (something I’ve mentioned in an earlier post)… He’s protective, loving, caring, thoughtful, sensitive, and just so much more!! Soooooooooo sweet omg.. Like the perfect boyfriend / husband!! *sighs*..

I utterly love seeing this two together.. She’s really cute and a little bit stupid.. She’s also very nosy and cares a lot about her friends. He cares a lot for her (after falling for her, of course) and is so loving and protective and oh I could go on and on..

Sigh if I could find me a guy like that in real life!!! Though I actually don’t think he’s very good-looking… (He’s kinda Jay-Chou-ish which isn’t bad.. Haha) but this picture below seems to want to prove me wrong.. He might be quite good-looking!

Hehe. Anyhoo, it’s a great show with solid acting (most of the time) and interesting characters. I love it and you might too! =) Go watch!

Popularity: 10% [?]

it’s possible this blog entry was in some way spurred by a very odd dream I had last night.. don’t get me wrong, it was an amazing (albeit short) dream. I think it had something to do with the fact that I had just watched a Friends episode before I went to bed — TOW Rachel’s Book. In that episode, Chandler and Monica begin preparing their wedding and Monica brings out her wedding book etc..

Anyway, my dream was soooo sweet but a bit out of character for me. I dreamt I was at my wedding. No shit. My groom was the male protagonist from Wild Child, but Asian. Honestly, dreams are weird. If they aren’t weird, they aren’t dreams.

So yea that guy (Alex Pettyfer.. I had to wiki it) was my husband-to-be and man I was sooo happy in my dream! It was really weird coz

1) He was Asian in some way that wasn’t really visible (though I think in my dream his hair was really dark and so were his eyes or something) [and no shit, somehow even my subconscious wants me to marry an Asian guy, not a white guy. so much so that a white guy was turned Asian.. ]

2) He’s not even my type! I haven’t even thought about this dude since I last watched Wild Child! He’s not one of those guys I obsess over (like Li Yuan and Xu Yi Yuan)

Anyway, back to the dream. We were walking around in the ballroom before the guests arrived, I was in a pretty white dress twirling around (seriously, this shit doesn’t sound like me) and somehow I was surprised by the wedding. It was some kinda surprise party wedding.. Then the guests turned up, congratulating us etc.. At one point one of my aunties started hounding me for $600 that she had passed to me like, an hour before the wedding. For some reason. -__-”

Anyhoo, that isn’t the whole point of the entry. I wanted to blog about this because I was thinking about a friend of mine and wondering if he/she would end up with his/her (don’t want to reveal the identity of my friend LOL) current partner and wondering if they DID get married, whether I’d get invited.

Have you ever wondered whether you’d get invited to a friend’s wedding? It’s interesting because on the one hand, you want to get invited because it means your friend remembered you or felt you were important enough. On the other, you don’t want to have to go and get a gift, find a date etc.

You don’t face this situation with REALLY good friends. Those you know for SURE you’d get invited to. I’m talking about good friends who you don’t talk to ALL the time or friend with whom you don’t know where you stand.. I started thinking more about the issue of wedding invitations because it’s the one big party everyone has in their lives. Whoever they invite to this party will be part of that person’s history. Though you could say the same for 21st birthday parties, I think weddings are WAY bigger.

Some ex-classmates of mine have already gone and gotten married. I was not invited to any of those. I don’t feel sore about it, just a bit left out I guess. I didn’t expect to be invited because I wasn’t really close to them, but when other common friends are invited and you aren’t, you start wondering what you did wrong. Lol. When the reality is probably that the couple probably had to cut down on guests they were inviting for cost-saving purposes.

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Since we’re on the topic of weddings and having to attend them, I started thinking about the tradition of the bouquet toss. Sometimes it seems humiliating to me to have to stand and be labeled “single” (more on this next time).. It seems like many women out there place huge importance on catching the bouquet at weddings since well, many shows have women fighting tooth and nail over the bouquets…

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m one of those girls who completely shuns the bouquet. I mean, sure it’d be fun to catch the bouquet but MAN the response from everyone around you once you catch it. I hate when my relatives ask about my love life. In fact, in general, I don’t talk about my love life much except to my close friends (with whom I talk about my love life endlessly)..

Thing is, I don’t think that’s the real reason why I’d shun the bouquet. I think there’s some other reason I don’t want to and I don’t know why. It’s definitely not that I want to remain single all my life or something (though I do have a problem with commitment). Oh well, not a problem I’ll have to think about soon anyway. I’ll wait till the wedding invitations come in to start shuddering.

Will I be invited to your wedding? =D

Popularity: 100% [?]

I need to finish this post by today because I want to post this on today’s significant date.. Do you know what date it is today? 09.09.09! I only realized this when I saw a news feature about this baby being born at 9.09am today and the following story on thousands of couples getting married today…

For those of you who don’t know the significance of this date to us Chinese people, 9 in Chinese/Cantonese is hononymous (sounds like) with the word “long (lasting)”.. It’s typically considered a romantic number to symbolise longevity of relationships.. People get married on dates with 9 in them or give token red packets in denominations of 9 as a “hope” that their relationship will last forever. Roses are also given in 9, 99 or 999.. There’s even a song called 999 roses..

On a side note, Singapore’s emergency number to dial for the police is 999.. Does it mean it’ll take them forever to get to you? hmm..

Anyway, I thought it would be a good opener for a topic that I’d wanted to blog about for EVER (hey, 99!)..

I believe many people here know of the concept of The One. It’s a concept commonly explored in chick lit novels, situational comedies, glossy magazines and many more.. In fact, so many people believe in this concept that they actually question themselves before they get into a relationship on whether their potential partner is, indeed, The One.

Just a quick search on google turns out so many different results on finding out if he’s The One..

I think I might even have bought into this concept for awhile when I was younger. Now, disillusioned as I am, I completely disagree with the idea that there is ONE perfect person out there for each person. I think reading so many chick lits and magazines has caused many many women to have highly unrealistic expectations of what men should be like.

I concede, I am one of those girls. I’d like a man who’s manly, assertive, funny, intelligent, smart, sexy etc.. (In other words, 许毅源from《光阴的故事》 but more on that later..)  I know, however, that such a person is nearly impossible to find. And even if I were to find someone like that, chances are someone else has already landed him.

So while I believe that there’s no way I can find someone like that, I do believe, however, that there are imperfect people out there that will soon grow into people who possess such qualities that make girls fall in love. I believe that love is a matter of timing. If two people are  looking for the same thing at the same time, that’s when things work out for them. However, if a girl finds a perfect boy but the boy is not looking for anything serious at the moment, or if a boy finds the perfect girl but the girl finds him too immature, then things aren’t going to work out for them.

The previous two examples were real-life examples of people I know. In both cases, they’ve found other people they love and are in committed relationships right now.

To me, love is a concoction of variables such as attitude, timing and compatibility. You need the right attitude/mentality towards a committed relationship to be in one. The timing is essential to ensure you’re both at the right place. Compatibility needs no explanation, you definitely need to be compatible in most ways to have a long-lasting relationship.

These things don’t come about all of a sudden. That’s why I don’t believe in concepts such as “Love at first sight” or cheesy crap like “You had me at hello”. Those things can only be seen in movies and they belong there. The One also doesn’t exist. Anyone can be The One if you give them a chance and work at your relationship.

If you keep looking for The One, you might miss out The Ones with a Chance, or The MaybeThisCouldWorkOut One. I don’t think we really fall in love. We grow in love.

My msn nick for today is “if I find a boyfriend today (09 09 09) then I’ll believe in the concept of “The One’. Otherwise, no such thing, people!!!”

There’s half an hour left to the end of the day. If something miraculous happens by then, maybe I’ll change my viewpoint (because it would be truly magical for anything to happen lol) Otherwise, I just want everyone to open their eyes to the opportunities around them. I’m not saying give up hope on love, I’m saying look around. It might be somewhere you never looked. Or even right in front of your eyes!

Man I sound like a chick lit or a magazine columnist. Anyhoo, happy 090909 all!

Popularity: 9% [?]

so I’ve had a lot of time lately, being unemployed and all, and I’ve spent a lot of that time on the Internet searching for lists of the Best Movies of certain genres (namely horror and romantic comedies).. What I’ve realized (and found infuriating, by the way) was that many of the so-called “best movies” are films from way long ago.

It really annoys me because the unappreciative lout in me hates watching old grainy black and white films and I’m really just looking for cheesy sugar fluff flicks to numb my brain a bit (from the harsh realities of unemployment)..

Also, I can’t comprehend how, with the advances in technology allowing for modern mind-blowing graphics and effects, the older films with their unrealistic effects and tinny music can actually be seen as better than modern movies!

Of course, there are timeless classics like Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, E.T., Nightmare on Elm Street etc And I can see the argument for strong plot/storyline holding out against special effects and all.. But all these things kept constant, I think modern films definitely surpass the flicks from older days..

What annoys me, though, is how some sites/lists just toss in random old movies from YORE that no one has really heard of (or at least, me..) and go on and on about how good it is. It struck me that a lot of Gen X-ers (and Baby Boomers) see old things as good or better than modern things..

Take my parents, for example. They hate all the current  popstars and films and insist that those they had watched previously (years, even decades, ago) were better.

I don’t think that actually is an indicator of the quality of popstars/films/anything else past and present. I believe that it’s because of their youth when they viewed/enjoyed those things. They were less cynical than they are now, plus those things make them feel young again. It’s something they can connect to.

Watching television and seeing commercials for the albums of new singers or trailers for new movies that they cannot understand the concepts of makes the people of that same generation feel old. They aren’t able to connect with what they see or they might not want to connect with what they deem to be things their children agree with. It isn’t a feeling that makes them comfortable and so they hang on to the stuff from when they were younger.

So the same reason that makes an old film seem “good” to a Gen X-er (not sure if i’m using the right generation here) is probably the same reason they find Mom’s cooking better than any other. It brings back memories of younger, happier and carefree days. It makes them remember when they had lots of hope in their life. And perhaps, by reliving those memories, they can find hope in their existing lives.

In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ll be pining for my mom’s cooking when I’m 40 (oh the horror!) or wanting to watch Final Destination over and over again, the same way my dad watches Grease to relive his youth. And I’m looking forward to it!

What about you? Do you like the old things better? Imagine if you like old things now… Are you going to pine for them when you’re 20 years older? How old are the things you like going to be then!? Hmmm..

Popularity: 14% [?]

I don’t know about you guys, but I spend a lot of my time thinking up nasty ways to get back at people who piss me off. It’s part of who I am, really.. Heh. I thought I’d share some of my more creative revenge methods.. =D Maybe you guys can learn a thing or two! Or share your creative ways to get back at people =D

I live in a corner terrace in an estate with row upon row upon endless rows of houses backed up against each other. So it’s inevitable that you’re really really close to your neighbours.. In terms of proximity, that is.. We’re not close to our neighbours in terms of neighbourliness.. We’re alright with them..

Living in such proximity makes some things unavoidable, like when the lady from the row across my house decides to teach her son Math.. And they’re going “1+1 is?.. 1+2 is?… 1+3 is?…” and all the way to 25 or something..  I really have to bite onto a towel to not scream out “IT’S BLOODY 9876543245678 you MORON” at them.

That’s not the worst. My neighbour’s maid has the voice of a witchcathenhyena. That’s right. Her voice is like a cross between an alleycat with a sore throat and Kristen Chenoweth on helium. I swear, I’m not kidding. And the worst thing is, she loves to talk really loudly, and CACKLE. CACKLE!!! It’s so effing annoying I half-wish I was deaf. But most times I just wish she was mute.

These noises seriously get on my nerves.. And I’ve just thought of the perfect way to shut them up. I’m going to make a recording of SEX NOISES. You read that right. SEX NOISES. Loud moaning, groaning, climaxing, “HARDER HARDER” and all.. And I’m going to get some really good amps. The next time someone makes an annoying noise, I’m going to hook up my computer to the amps, move the speakers to my windows and BLAST the sex noises for a good half hour or so.

If that doesn’t shut them up, I don’t know what will. Then I’ll end off the sex noises with a preachy monologue on how if you don’t like the noises I’m making then you can jolly well move out. This might cause a mass exodus from my area seeing as it’s full of families with little children.. Ahh… Then it will be peace and quiet at last…

Love thy neighbour? I think so! Heh. So what other creative revenge ideas have you guys got??

Popularity: 17% [?]

I don’t know why exactly, but I’ve recently been spurred to sign up for some volunteer activities so that I can make some contribution to society.. It could be because of that silly TVB Drama with the dogs and cats in it with its overt animal-loving-volunteer-supporting message that got me to do this.

I’ve always had a latent desire to volunteer in some way. Well maybe not always, but since at least a few years ago. When we were still in school, we had chances to volunteer and have it contribute to our Community Involvement Project (CIP) points and those were definitely fun times. Somehow, though, that didn’t really feel like volunteering. I guess it’s because we were doing it to gain the points we needed to graduate from school.

I remember being involved in Flag Days, Bake Sales, visits to Old Folks’ Homes and all.. Volunteering as a docent in the Asian Civilizations Museum was also one of the best experiences I had, and the craft-day volunteering we did at the National Day Istana Open House was also very enriching. It didn’t, however, give me the same sense of satisfaction and fulfilment as it would have if I weren’t doing it for school.

I once went with my church to a nearby Old Folks’ Home to give out food and gifts during the Christmas season. The church choir performed for them and the residents were all smiling and grateful. That, I must say, was definitely the best experience EVER. Being able to do something to make someone happy without a selfish thought for yourself is probably the best thing in the world. Well, maybe not the best, but it definitely ranks up there with all sorts of other pleasures.. Ahem.

I want to be able to help these people in need, because I feel so lucky in so many ways. In my previous blogs I’ve mentioned several times how lucky we are to be healthy, whole individuals with much of our needs cared for. The fact that you are on your computer reading this right now goes to show that life isn’t all that bad for you. You can read, you have electricity, you have a computer (or have access to one somewhere). You can use your fingers, you can understand what I’m saying. All the above are things to be grateful for.

So let’s give what we can to the people who are not as privileged as we are.

My special areas of concern (I can’t think of a better way to phrase that, but I’d say these are my soft spots) are the Elderly and underprivileged children. I am especially passionate about these 2 groups of people because

1) I love my grandma and I know she has led a hard life. A lot of people at that age have led a tough life and most of them who have ended up in homes have been abandoned by unfeeling children or maybe have no children to support them in their sunset years. I know I don’t want to see my grandmother in any situation except being loved and cared for after all she has gone through. Similarly, I think many of the elderly folk deserve love and care, if not from their families then from complete strangers who can make them smile and realize the world isn’t that harsh after all.

2) Children, especially young ones, are the most innocent creatures on Earth (despite being born into a debt of sin.. yada yada.. lol).. I don’t think they have to suffer for things they haven’t even done. What’s more, what you could do for them in their childhood could go a long way in nurturing and shaping their futures. What greater joy is there than helping a poor child find his/her place in the world and seeing him/her succeed? Even just a smile and a hug is enough to brighten anyone’s day. I dare you not to be moved by the innocence of a young child in need.

So I’ve signed up with the NPVC (National something Volunteer something i think) and registered for a whole bunch of volunteer activities.. The only thing stopping me from going all out and volunteering is my fear of committment (to anything that requires my time).. Still though, I’m gonna make an active effort to try

How about it guys? Anyone wanna join me? =)

(filed under Projects coz it’s a project I’m embarking on wheee!)

Popularity: 18% [?]