Work, I need you

Okay, it’s close to 2.30, just after lunch. I stare at this monitor and don’t know what to do. I look at my in tray and it’s empty. I look at my filing tray, and it too was empty. *Sigh* This is going to be a long afternoon, and 5.30pm is just so far away.

I’m so bored out of my wits now. I went to the secretary and asked perhaps the boss had set out a task for me or left me with something to do. No such luck. It looks like I’m just going to spend my time surfing. But then, it doesn’t feel right to surf the afternoon away. After all, I’m still in the office. Wait, maybe I can re-arrange stuff in my cubicle. Oh no, I just did that this morning.

Tra-la-la-la-la….
(sits backs in chair, looks around office)
*blink. blink*

I’m a bored person sitting at my desk
(types out entry, pretending it’s work)
*squint. squint*

Tra-la-la-la-la….
(scratches head and folds arms across chest)
*roll eyes all the way round*

I’m feeling so drowsy now
(eyelids droop and big yawn escapes mouth)
*blink. blink. blink*

Aiyah, bosanlah!
I’m gonna find some work to do.
Ta-taa!

'Chick lit' and other crap they tell you

Yesterday hubby and I went to MPH MidValley. It was already 9.45 when we got there so it was about to close. I saw that they had Grisham’s The Broker out in paperback already. Can’t wait to get that. Also want to buy Cecilia Ahern’s second novel. MPH was having this promotion for female readers I guess, since it was called A Female Affaire (or something to that effect).

Seems that you can get a 20% discount from buying books in the ‘chick lit’ genre. I was a bit taken aback, as the term ‘chick lit’ is used in a bookstore. I mean, it would sound ok if it were in an informal setting, but a bookstore?

‘Chick lit’ is derogatory to me. Plain gender biased. In this era of equality and political correctness, how can we allow such a term to be used? And in a bookstore for goodness sakes! This is where we congregate to gain knowledge, to broaden horizons, to learn to be colour blind and impartial to race, religion, creed and nationality. And yet, right there in the middle of store, smack! An unfavourable term clearly used to disparage female readers.

I know that I have been guilty of being a book snob and have sometimes considered certain books ‘fluffy’. However, remember that that’s just me and my weird expectations from myself (which I am trying to overcome, even as we speak). But for the-powers-that-be to lump all books by female authors, more so those books done up with colourful covers with a comic feel, into one big dumping ground and bestowing the title ‘chick lit’ really makes smoke come out of my ears.

Do you mean to say that if women were to read, these were the only kinds of books that were suitable for them? Are you saying that we women do not have enough gray matter to be able to read other books? You mean the other books are for the ‘big boys’ only? For serious mature readers? What crap!

And to the bookstores, could you please stop using this term. It not only ridicules; it also deters female readers from buying the books. Readers who wish to be taken seriously might not want to purchase books that are considered frivolous and brainless.

I understand that bookstores may use the term to describe the type of subjects or messages that the books may convey, but seriously - ‘chick lit’?

What next? Geek lit? Black books? White trash? Pulp fiction?

Lazy sick-o

I missed a blog entry yesterday. I try to write from Mondays to Fridays and the weekends are spent away from the computer. But I missed yesterday because I was feeling really tired and lethargic in the office.

I did things with robot-like movements, doing them for the sake of doing them and getting things done. No thought went into my work. None, whatsoever. This made one of the tasks really tough. I wanted to wrap up a presentation I prepared since like ages ago, but I just couldn’t think straight. I read the same frigging slides over and over and yet there was no coherent train of thought. Zip. Nada. So I chucked that out. For a day anyway. Lucky me I had set out my deadlines a week earlier. Yeah… what’s up with that huh? Setting deadlines for myself a week earlier and then working like a ‘lipas kudung’ trying to get it done, and when it’s done, I smile at how I still have one week to do the bloody job. I really must be getting crazy after all….

So today I’m at home because I feel a cold coming. I hate moving about because I feel so lazy. And that’s another thing. It could be that I’m really tired or exhausted but I still call it being plain lazy. Hubby told me that I shouldn’t be too hard on myself. I guess that I am. I will never admit that I’m tired. I’m always “just plain lazy”.

Unconsciously I must have set these rules, this dogma, if you will, that I must never let others see how weak I am. I have had such a trying time growing up with my blood disorder, this affliction that makes others see me in a different light altogether. People used to ask me why I was so pale. Does it hurt? Do you feel tired? Breathless? The questions didn’t seem to stop. It made me feel really helpless and weak to have to answer ‘yes’ to any of these questions, that I simply pushed all these thoughts to the farthest recesses of my mind and forget about them. So anytime I feel a teeny bit tired, I brush it aside and say, “Man, I feel so lazy today”.

You know what? Typing all this and sitting at this table in this room with the heat emanating through the windows makes me so lazy. I think I’ll stop now. Hope to be back to work tomorrow, if I don’t get too lazy again….

UM: Fashion Passion

I went out for lunch today, and my eyes lit up at the sight of little tables with gleaming bracelets on them. There were necklaces and brooches and earrings and tons of other stuff. It reminded me of the time when I was in UM. Man, the things I wore at the time… These were some of my essential items during my uni years.

Accoutrements
Bag
I bought an Eastpak backpack that was black with brown leather trim. I used it since my asasi days all through my final year. Oooh, how I loved that backpack. It went with me to Sydney and LA and Orlando, Florida. Anyway, that backpack stored my books and pencil case and organiser.

Organiser
We had none of these PDAs. It was a filofax kind of organiser, where we actually had to use a pen to write in. I remember mine was a colourful one – hey I was 19 ok. Anyway, I bought that and whaddaya know some girls copied me.

Clothes
Jeans
The staple of every uni student, mine came in dark blue, light blue, and black. I wore jeans with t-shirts, blouses, button-down ladies shirts, and men’s shirts.

Shirts
I had lots of button-down long-sleeved shirts. I had many in white but with different designs – eyelet, embroidered, fitted, men’s cut, etc. They are so versatile and can be dressed up or dressed down anytime.

Denim jacket

My faithful jacket, which also travelled with me everywhere. I know you must be thinking this girl’s crazy for wearing a denim jacket in Malaysia’s weather. But it was about style, man…. I wore that jacket and it was a statement for me. I wore it with my jeans and even with my long dress. I looked really cool and funky, even if I do say so myself (angkat bakul a bit). Of course after people got tired of giving me funny looks, they also jumped onto the bandwagon. Hah! I remember I actually bought a men’s jacket, because the ladies’ was cropped and didn’t look cool to me.

Sweater
I had a dark blue round neck sweater and I always paired it with my jeans and a button-down long sleeved white shirt. If I did not wear it, I would tie it around my waist. Whenever I wore this ensemble, one of my friends would always holler and call out “hey, preppy!”

Shoes
I had my ever-reliable brown suede Reeboks, my dark brown sandals, my black Mary-Janes, my white leather slip-ons, and my favourite pair of espadrilles with straps that go around my ankles and calves. Oh and I had these pair of dark-blue mules. Most comfortable pair ever. I wore them like forever. Really worth the RM70+ I paid for them.

Accessories
Rings
Silver rings were my everyday must-have. I wore rings on all fingers except my thumb and little fingers. Yup, on both my right and left hands.

Necklaces
I had a few of those necklaces that were made famous by Jen Aniston from Friends. It was those y-shaped thingies made from tiny colourful beads on a string. I also had those bead-bar necklaces with letters in small cubes. I was very adventurous then in terms of trying out new fads. Once my friends saw these, they asked me where I got them. So I gladly shared.

Earrings
I wore the whole range what-have-yous. I wore shoulder sweepers, studs, pearls, plastic, metal, hoops big and small and cheap stuff and expensive stuff. But my stuff were mostly silver. I don’t like gold, it looks old.

Watches
I had a silver guess bracelet type of watch, and a blue and gold and silver swatch with all those buttons and dials, and I had a black leather guess watch with the moon and the sun that went round and round as time goes by. My favourite watch – unfortunately it was stolen.

Thinking back, I think I had a really fun time wearing all kinds of stuff. Thanks to all those American teen magazines that I read, I knew what to buy and what to wear just before it goes big in KL. Once everyone was into something, I’d immediately look for other stuff. Hey, it was no fun being part of the crowd. Standing out was where the fun was!

Aimless meandering

I am so not into it at the moment. Probably one of those days where a little down time is required. Feel like we need a break, we as in hubby and I. I know he’s been working his butt off, staying up every night till three in the morning. Slow down, I tell him. But then again, I understand his urgency and his reasons for doing this. So how do we choose the lesser of two evils?

Wish we could go on a break. It’s been really hectic, these past few months. Really wish we could break the monotony of this routine and do something. Or better yet, do nothing!

This is mudslinger, sighing out….

*sigh*