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Giving Up

3 Aug

I finally decided to ‘give up’ two more games on my iPad, deleting them several nights ago. Remember Candy Crush Saga was canned awhile back?

It’s not a total give up but a technical one because I still play these games in Facebook on the laptop (at home) or desktop (in the office). My iPad has been so slow, rendering it almost useless, it’s aggravating.

I don’t have pictures and music on the iPad, so I suspect it’s the games’ data accumulated when I play them and it hordes the space on the device thus slowing it down. With the RAM dropping down to 200MB or thereabouts most times, what can I do? I can’t even read anything on Safari, let alone crush some candies!

So I canned both the Monster Busters apps. This is on top of clearing away other apps that I don’t use any longer. I even deleted the Facebook app!

On hindsight, maybe it’s a good thing to make me less dependent on my iPad as I find myself doing more meaningful things in my free time, like carving up a whole township of Gigglesville citizens!

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A Tribute – The Great Wall of China

27 Jul

The carving efforts have improved with time and dedication. This most recent piece is a tribute to hubby’s uncle, a man with a great passion and unusual life mission which is to walk the Great Wall of China.

This little 31mm Wanderlust Owl comes complete with a cap, a backpack and hiking pole, just like the man who has traversed the Great Wall in a spate of several years since 2009. He would continue on each year from where he left off on the previous journey to pursue the improbable dream and fulfill his mission with amazing courage.

You can read all about his adventure in details on his website: http://ooithin.wixsite.com/count1million

Hats off to you for this courageous and determined effort! You deserve the Wanderlust Owl.

Carving-5b

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80% Effort, 100% Result

25 Jul

Golf is a funny game I always say. It is also a game of opposites. When you try hard, the more difficult it becomes somehow. But when you don’t try so hard, everything clicks. It is almost like when you hit rock bottom and just about to give up, you play one of your best games and because of this, there’s a renewed zest again.

Over the weekend I decided to participate in an away Interclub match for my golf club. After all, a golf buddy signed me up ages ago, I thought it would be good to try playing again after such a lengthy rest.

It has been three and a half months since my last competitive game. Although there were a couple of social games in between, the performance and ability had been questionable. With the persistent tennis elbow, golf has taken a back seat in my life. In its place is of course, the carving and the growth of my Citizens of Gigglesville.

So without any expectations except to not aggravate the elbow injury, I played my best game ever! This is truly a case of 80% effort and yielding a 100% result. I am dumbfounded at my ability but pleasantly gratified with the achievement.

The partnership with another lady saw the two of us emerging as the best pair (not first runners up or even second runners up but BEST pair) for our club, beating the men who are always better. Each of us played one under to our handicaps for a combined Stableford 74 points.

Well, it is indeed a confidence booster and a new secret discovered – putting in only 80% effort to yield a 100% result. This theory has made me wonder if I have been doing it wrong all these years? Hmm… If this is the case, I should remember this formula to have a good outing and at the same time, enjoy the game and not aggravate the injury.

I now look forward to future games and no, the Citizens will not be forgotten, they will still strive in numbers.

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The Pet of Gigglesville

24 Jul

In the thick of carving, I suggested to hubby that he should try his hands at this too instead of just fiddling with his air plants. So I gave him a tiny leftover piece of balsa to try.

He was keen but wasn’t sure he could do the owls, so he opted for something else and we ended up having a baby elephant!

Tiny little fella is now deemed the official pet of Gigglesville. Ain’t he cute?

Carving-6

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A Good Mess

20 Jul

Everyday I would sit at the living room and carve if time permits. Gone are the days where I would be on the iPad, being device-reliant all the time which is bad. So this is a good thing.

I wouldn’t say the place is messy because I am stationary in the middle of the spacious comfortable zone. And with everything I need within reach in an IKEA RÅSKOG trolley (which M2 helped to put together), it’s a good spot. A good mess I’d say.

Days when I don’t have time to carve, I would take out the Citizens of Gigglesville and just look at them. Simple silly act but full of satisfaction. Delight would envelop my heart whenever a citizen is completed. It’s funny how I discovered this engrossing activity, thanks (sort of) to the tennis elbow.

Carving-2

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My Poor Canvases

18 Jul

I have been so engaged with carving lately that my poor canvases are just sitting in the corner collecting dust. Even the tubes of oil paints are neglected because I use acrylic instead.

Everyday I would carve a piece, two if the mood hits and definitely more on weekends. The citizen count of Gigglesville now stands at 48, minus the superheroes series.

Sigh… I hope to go back to painting. Eventually.
Canvas

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More New Colors

17 Jul

As Gigglesville is booming, I felt I needed more new colors. I am not too particular of the brand but the color choices available. So over the weekend, I bought another two tubes of acrylic, burnt umber and red ochre, totally new from the brands that I have because I just so happen to be at a new bookstore and not my usual art haunt.

It has been very colorful so far for the citizens of Gigglesville and now with the introduction of brown (I call it mocha), the range is pretty diverse. I foresee a boom in mocha-colored citizens as they need to catch up in numbers with the rest of the red, blue, green, orange and purple citizens.

AcrylicColors

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Gigglesville is Booming

14 Jul

It must be a burst of energy or something because suddenly Gigglesville is booming! Or could it be that Citizen #30 migrated just two days ago and I have this need to replace the void. For every one departure, there should be at least two replacements.

Citizen #30 is the second one to leave the sanctuary, the first being Citizen #10 who now resides in Penang.

Gigglesville is shaping up well with a mayor, citizens and superheroes to protect them (especially from Evil Buster). Citizens even have passports issued for them if they are selected to leave to spread their giggles. Citizen #30 had its passport approved hence, its migration. This weekend another will leave… sniffle.

I have grown to be very attached to all my citizens but it is for spreading giggles and love that I am allowing them to migrate.

Gigglesville!


Citizen #10 (top) and Citizen #30 (bottom)


Citizen #30 with its passport

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I Missed My Friends

11 Jul

Sometimes an injury not only takes the person out of action, it makes a person out of sight, out of mind too. I have not been to my golf club for ages because of the tennis elbow. And because of this, I missed all my golf buddies. Boo hoo hoo…

The friendship and friends are far more important than the game I realized. I miss the company, the laughter, the silly banters, and love. Throw in the food and drinks, I miss all this. Boo hoo hoo…

Over the weekend, the club held its Annual Championship and for the first time, I did not participate. I don’t think I could survive the two-day tournament. The spirit may be willing but the body, the arm specifically, would not be able to withstand the outing. It would be a painful nightmare and a big setback to healing.

But I went to the club to support all my golfing buddies because I missed them. It was indeed good to catch up with everyone who played in the tournament. And after the two days of intense golf, the defending champion prevailed to retain her title and I am glad I was there to celebrate with her and the rest of my golf buddies.

The 12-year old Glenlivet whiskey (and 12-year old Singleton plus an 18-year old – which I forgot what label) were thoroughly enjoyed on that humid Sunday afternoon after the morning excitement subsided. And it felt good to see most of my friends after so long. Ahh… the company, the laughter, the silly banters, the love and drinks…

Maybe I should reconsider playing again just to be with friends. After all, it’s the friendship that matters, not the game.

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Green Fingers, Part 3

6 Jul

Hubby had been very busy the past few weeks with his air plant creations. Every evening, after dinner he would sit at the terrace and be at it while I would be either carving an owl or just chilling indoors.

During the day, if time permits he would be on the net looking for inspiration. One day, he stumbled upon a site that took orders online. The lightweight box arrived in the office two weeks ago.

They were some interesting air plants that he purchased. It’s amazing what one can buy from the web, all sorts of things big and small, and even live plants.

Air plant-5

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