Whim wham whoom

Actually feeling stressed about work. Really stressed. Too many balls to juggle. And friends who know will tell you that it takes a lot to get me stressed.

Need to find time to sit down and untangle my jumbled mind right now. Complete de-frag!

We'll see.

Ajantis is stressed with a capital S

The reactions of atomic dust

So was talking to some friends who read my blog yesterday. It was nice to get some support, although I was irritated at the common refrain - "oh don't mind XX, he/she's usually like that + he/she was probably worse than usual cos he/she had a flu"

That wasn't a fair reaction cos said friends were trying to be supportive. So i started trying to figure out why that refrain got my hackles up. Part of it comes from the authoritarian part ofme that likes to figure out who is right and wrong.

But a larger part of it was, and this is as best as i can put it : It's ok if you are having a bad day, and are being a bit more irritable than usual. But let us know it so that I know not to set you off. It doesn't take that much to be self-aware and say, "hey, i'm having a bad day, so don't do XXX". But to be kinda passive aggressive about it is just annoying. So the reason the refrain mentioned above annoys me is because it is too easy an excuse, because it gives the person too easy an out just because he/she is like that or he/she is having a bad day.

I am feeling a lot better today though. Thanks guys (you know who you are)

Part of the reason I might be feeling better -- note the tendency to attribute everything to reasons and causes -- is discovering one of the currently fastest fading fads online -- Lip-synching. L had already sent me some links, but saw an article about it yesterday and started surfing for videos. I have to say, some of these guys are quite talented at making a fool of themselves. My fav are the Back Dormitory Boys.

Of course campiness/silliness are quite different from sheer lack of talent and a monstrous ego. It is quite amazing... and scary when you look at the kind of stuff you can find on the net. brrrr.

Alright. Time to go play some DQ VIII (and no, not Dairy Queen... Dragon Quest!)

Picking the lint while navel gazing

Many questions today. Not sure what the proper response is.

What do you do when you think someone is mean to you? Do you excuse that person cos he or she is feeling sick? Do you speak up, knowing that if you say something in the heat of the moment, it could mess things up? Which is not a good thing seeing as how you have to keep practicing with each other? Even if being criticised (possibly unfairly) made you feel lousy about yourself as a person, or more specifically, as a dancer? what if, what if, what if.

Ah well. But as fish reminded me, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. So life goes on.

Went to watch Rent today. Was interested to see how I'd react to it. Reviews have criticised it for seeming dated, a product of its time. The last time I saw it it didn't seem that way.... but that was 3 years ago.

Having watched it, I must say that I wasn't as excited by it as I was 3-4 years ago. Part of that excitement stemmed from knowing that a piece like Rent could be staged in Singapore, that such mental space was actually available to the public. So watching it for the 2nd time seemed a little bit like old hat. Part of it was because Karen Mok was ABSOLUTELY ATROCIOUS. Her Mimi was an absolute ditz, instead of the tragic sexy ingenue that she was supposed to be. Her voice was completely swallowed up by the others, she over-sang, and her big number where she was supposed to gyrate on stage, came across as.... little more than a girl trying to play-act salaciousness. And finally, yes, part of the reason for my lessened enjoyment was that Rent was dated. In the end, it was more a pleasant visit with an old friend than an exciting reunion with an ex-flame.

Life moves on.

Had an interesting discussion with both fish and H about the death penalty as a result of the recent . Some people are ok with the death penalty per se, but not with it being mandatory, because of the removal of any form of discretion. My reaction to H was that the issue with a mandatory death penalty was a non-existent one. This is because due process would have allowed for cases where the person did not intentionally commit the crime (eg. where he was tricked into it). My other reaction was that any person who committed the crime would have done so knowing what the penalty was.

But in the end, it comes down to whether you (a) believe in universal human values and (b) agree on what those human values are ie. whether the sanctity of a human life is absolute.

Anyway, these are morbid thoughts to be having for the end of year. Christmas is here, H will be here soon, and I have a bonus to spend!

Ajantis hates eggs and broccoli

Beef consomme!

Random funny stuff from the past few weeks....

Saw one of the worst ever puns at one of the local food courts. Thaksin beef noodles. We are bullish about beefing you up! I think THW might actually appreciate the sheer punniness of that. Another punny food slogan from Clark Quay... We are En-Thai-Ly Thai.



So at M's chi-chi farewell party for Siv the other day, we saw a travel show featuring turkish oil wrestlers. Now, the sight of half-naked beefy hairy Turkish men wrestling while drenched with oil is already somewhat homo-erotic, but what capped it off was when the men started reaching into each other's pants. And there are actually whole websites, moves and rules devoted to this sport.

Was chatting with L today about the state of Lindy here. It seems kinda strange that you really only see about 14-15 dancers who regularly show up and are at a comfortable enough level with the dance, unlike other scenes where there seem to be more regulars. That said, my limited experience with the US scene in Ann Arbor and Michigan indicates that the number of dancers, and the number of more advanced dancers, is also not that big. And perhaps part of the reason why the scene is not large is also because we do not interact much with the Lindy Hop Ensemble, and do not go to each other's swing events. Is there something more we should be doing as L Hoppers to grow the scene? Maybe reach out more to the intermediate dancers? I really don't know. This topic has been debated ad nauseum on the chatterbugs websites, but I still don't think we have a good answer.

Another random article seen this week. Sunday Life featured an interview with this 30 year old engineer who had saved $250k, in contrast to many of his peers who were struggling with massive credit card bills and other unsecured loans. Now that sounds impressive, until you realise that this $250k included CPF savings (that accumulates at 20% of your income anyway!)
That's one of the things i've learnt to be careful about when reading reports, papers, etc. The statistics and policies you read are often based upon certain assumptions....

In some ways, that was one of the most useful lessons i took out of political science and into work/life, which is the importance of being rigorous in one's thinking. Was reminded about this most recently when reading a book called Freakonomics, which aimed to answer everyday questions using the methods and approaches of social science. Questions like : why do crack dealers still live with their mothers? Do sumo wrestlers really cheat? (answer : they do, sometimes). Let me give an example from this book : In Israel, these child care centres were experiencing a problem with parents picking up their kids after the stipulated time. So they decided to impose a fine, but that only resulted in more parents picking up their kids later. Why? Because the imposition of a fine made parents feel like it was ok to pick up their kids late. The imposition of a financial disincentive was more than outweighed by the removal of a moral incentive to be on time. Parents no longer felt guilty, as shown by the fact that a higher number of parents still picked their kids up late after the fine was removed. I guess what I took away from this book was the idea that we need to be very thorough and vigorous in anything that we do. If you pick up this book, read the section on school teachers and sumo wrestlers. The way in which the author builds up and proves his theory is simply beautiful.

On a less esoteric note, RENT is coming to town. RENT! One of my favorite musicals, and it's the Broadway Cast this time. No half-past-six mix of Filipino and local actors this time, even if Karen Mok is going to be Mimi.

2 months till H is here. Can't wait!

Ajantis is aching for a baking....

Boats and dragons racing

Back from Wisconsin and Michigan. Was a fun fun trip, both work and relationship wise, but far too short. Didn't do anything unusual while I was in Michigan, which was nice cos that part of the trip was only 6 days.

Highlights of the trip :
1) Hanging out with Gimble. Kinda neat to see how things that were decided when the group first started had influenced how the group operated today. Kinda strange to realise how old I was compared to the kids now in Gimble

2) Catching up with old friends. Hung out with M and her fiancee, and caught up with H as well.

3) Good food! Ate at Zingerman's Roadhouse twice, and let me tell you, they had the yummiest rum tum yummy calamari i've ever had...

4) Good weather. Last time i went back, it was -20 celsius. Brrr. Not so much fun

5) Swing dancing! In Ann Arbor! Lotsa exclaimation points! :P

One good thing was that I didn't gain any weight! Woo hoo! First time that's happened on a trip back to the US. Which is not surprising given how gimongous US portions can be. The first time my mom went over there, she ended up ladling 2/3rds of her plate onto mine and H's plates.

Speaking of weight, this recent study quoted in USA Today tells us that you should start worrying when you gain 5 pounds, cos your body then starts adjusting to that new weight. So 5 pounds = bad. That could be the tagline for a new diet fad... 5 pounds bad, 0 pounds good....
Bad taglines = me :)

Was talking with L recently about what career would be more preferable. Lindy Hop teacher, or professional video game reviewer, all things equal (ie. salary). Surprisingly, I picked the former, reason being that as a professional video game reviewer, I would have to review even bad games. While as a Lindy Hop teacher, you have control over how you teach, and get enjoyment even out of helping mediocre dancers. Food for thought.

Oh, and I will be going dragon boat racing! Yes, me... dragon. boat. racing. Corporate thingy that I kinda had to lead. Oh well. It will be a trip, and my team is very on about it. They even signed on for extra lessons. >< Yikes.

And on that note, signing off now.

Ajantis is boating dragons for a race...

Jet-lagged in cheeseland

So here i am sitting alone in a hotel room in Madison, Wisconsin, where Selenasol has officially corrected me over yahoo that Wisconsin is known as cheeseland, not cowland.

Should i be amused that the first thing i am told upon arriving in Wisconsin is that the World Dairy Convention is behind held in town , RIGHT NOW? God forbid.

Forgive the slight sarcasm. Had one of the worst flights ever. 17 hours to LAX on the new SQ airbus. Nice economy plus seats. Good snacks. Room to stretch. Good deal right? Not when you're in the 2nd row behind 2 kids screaming literally non-stop the entire flight. What capped the whole experience was when they fell asleep just as the lights came on.

To top it off, we had a 7 hour layover in LA cos the people arranging the trip were told to ensure no missed connections, resulting in a red-eye 3 hour flight from LA to Chicago.

So my body clock is all messed up, and my stomach and brain and body are telling me many things. Stay up! Sleep! Eat! Run around! Be goofy! Well, guess that's not too different from how i normally behave anyway :)

oh well, meetings tomorrow, so i should get to bed now. 5 more days till H. and I get to visit Gimble, which will be fun.

Ajantis is lagging the jet, or jagging the lag.