Archive | January, 2018

The Versatile Chopsticks

30 Jan

Chopsticks are the best. Most Asians use it to eat meals, be it noodles or rice. I use it too especially when it comes to noodles but I find myself doing more with it.

I eat my salads with chopsticks in the office instead of the fork, I take my toasts from the toaster with chopsticks, and I even cook using a pair of chopsticks.

From an omelette, testing the boiling spaghetti strands in the pot to stir frying a dish, I find the versatile chopsticks can do just about anything. Maybe I should pack a set with me whenever I travel. Hmm…

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No News is Good News

29 Jan

News headlines generally suck, world news suck and local news are no different. It is as though there are no positive news to update humanity. So it is better not to read the news than to learn what is going on around us to keep sane.

For this reason, I like to stay in my little bubble, away from all the shenanigans of the world for as long as I can manage.

So I carve. And I carve and carve.

After Monument 5 came about to kickstart the carving mood, everything fell into place. Within a few days, Monument 6, six Citizens and another Gnome were added to the population count of Gigglesville. No news is good news if this is the result.

 

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Serious Music

26 Jan

Yesterday I decided to bring my ‘boom box’ from home to the office to use as it is hardly used at home and just collecting dust. At the office, I must have music in the background for creative purposes. I feel the brain does not function well enough in an all too quiet environment. And I don’t like the radio because DJs in general talk too much regardless of the station.

The Altec Lansing inMotion dock speaker, although old and only works with 30-pin devices, will give my first iPod Mini another lease on its (the iPod’s) life after I retired it from use in the car last year.

It became a nuisance for the many cables required — an aux-in and a power supply, to hook up and it cluttered the gear area. These days, for my music in my current car, I use a pen drive which is hidden out of sight and not a nuisance at all. No cables necessary and everything is controlled within the steering wheel or the iDrive. This then renders the iPod even more obsolete.

So now with the speaker set in the office (all the Spongebobs, the single Patrick and the M&Ms dispenser had to make way for it but not the main gum ball machine), the iPod will have another chance with its 932 songs (it’s an 8Gb capacity) to stimulate me. I foresee creative juices will be in overdrive!

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The Sploot

25 Jan

Rooney, official pet number one also known as Senior Citizen, has become one quirky fella. Signs of old age or asserting his number one status by doing things his way? Lately, he has taken to venturing through the house as a short cut to head to the garden. He would do this several trips in a day especially when we are home.

And most times, he would pause midway and just sploot on the marble floor, forgetting his original intention of the passage. This creates a mess in the living room because of his excessive shedding and drooling but he doesn’t understand; he would just chill if the desire to make it further does not appeal.

Typically the sploot is associated with Corgis, and our English Bulldog is no different; he just loves to sploot too. Maybe this position is comfortable for him as he has short legs too. I suspect he loves the coolness of the marble floor when he lays flat on his belly and his short hind legs stretches out behind him.

We have stopped getting upset about the mess because he is getting older, and being a Senior Citizen, we close an eye or two to the situation.

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Farm Heroes No More

23 Jan

I have stopped playing Farm Heroes on my iPad, iPhone and the laptop. After such a long time at it, I find that I cannot go pass Level 1105, so no point in continuing the game. It was fun while it lasted.

As for my other games, I still do Candy Crush Soda (to collect the Daily Bonus) and Candy Crush Saga (on the office computer occasionally as it has been deleted from the iPad and iPhone) besides the two Monster Busters.

There does not seem to be a whole of appealing games offered these days, at least to me. Maybe it’s for the better as I can stay off my devices and go back to reading (which I did) and carving (which I will).

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Stuck

22 Jan

After the completion of Dinky the Dinosaur at the towering four inch height, I find myself stuck to progress with little Citizens which are only an inch tall. Oh no!

I thought I could whip out more Citizens after M1 went back to university but somehow, I can’t seem to get the carving motor going. Suddenly a Citizen’s size, being so tiny to hold (compared to Dinky), seems like a gargantuan challenge. How did I ever reach 120 Citizens and a handful of Superheroes, Friends and Gnomes in the first place?

I had to will myself to stay focused and over the weekend, Monument 5 came about. Perhaps I should get a few more monuments or bigger pieces done up before settling into the carving mood on the smaller ones. The township needs to grow to enable further migrations this year.

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Happy 21st M1!

19 Jan

Two weeks ago, we had an early birthday celebration for M1 prior to her return to the US. Today she turns 21. Dang… I feel old and no wonder the dinosaur sentiments are stronger than ever!

Although she is not here with us, the three of us will go out to celebrate this evening. But I am sure she will go out with her friends and celebrate, sensibly I hope, especially now that she is of legal drinking age.

I remember when I turned 21, I was in class and a classmate brought a six-pack of beer (in a brown bag) and gifted me. He thought it was significant, I thought he was being funny. Thank goodness the design lecturer did not notice or pretended not to notice. And yes, I did go out to the bar and celebrated sensibly.

Happy birthday my dearest M1! May you stay sensible and wonderful. And like what I said last year, I will say this again, no matter how grown up you have become, you will always remain my baby. Love you to the moon and back! Mwah.

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Here’s Dinky!

18 Jan

Over the weekend, I finally painted up Dinky the Dinosaur. And my… my… what beautiful white teeth it has! Towering over Gigglesville at four inches tall, it is looking rather fierce in dark blue but the dazzling white teeth and shiny light blue belly softens his fierceness to make it live up to its name.

Dinky is not considered an enemy of Gigglesville, that title remains with E.B. (Evil Buster). It is just so dinky in 2D as a tattoo on my leg and in 3D as a carved figurine for display.

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The Poor Birds, Part 2

16 Jan

The poor birds are hungry no more! We went in search of bird seeds yesterday during our lunch break. Hubby remembered a shop that we have drove past before but never frequented and what a bargain we stumbled upon.

For a mere eight Ringgit (equivalent to two US Dollars), he bought two kilos worth of bird seeds. Two kilos! That’s a lot of bird seeds. Looks like our garden party for the birds (sometimes dubbed Soup Kitchen for the Birds) will be quite happening for the next few months.

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Next to a five liter bucket of paint, that’s a lof of bird seeds!

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The Poor Birds

15 Jan

We ran out of bird seeds and the poor visiting birds have not been fed the last three days. To make matters worse, we have not had the time to replenish the seeds yet the birds still keep coming, hoping and wanting. I guess when life is made easier, they keep trying their luck.

Thoughtfully, M2 gave them rice grains the last two days, something better than nothing. And the birds will have to make do with this choice until we do go buy more bird seeds.
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