And succumbed oh-so-badly.

Among the purchases I made are two books on knitting sweaters Aran-style (no matter how hard I try, I can’t stop thinking about Nil when I see them), four hanks/skeins of laceweight yarn from a Knitpicks spree and three hanks of yarn (for socks and something else) from Maryann.

This does not include the chocolatey stuff I won from serendipity. Thank you thank you, my dear!

There goes my Chinese New Year angpau.

O’well…looks like I’ll have to start from square one again.

Record: 1 month and 3 weeks.

I find it…

…witty (almost) when people who are on the same fence start fighting with each other.

…irritating when people bring in your personal life into a debate/argument. That’s a debate fallacy, y’know and an old trick.

…annoying when people whine non-stop about the same stuff. Complaining once in a while is fine but all the time and about the same thing over and over again with no suggested solution? It’s whining.

…sad when people refuse to see beyond the complaints and reach to a solution OR even suggest one.

…aggravating when people who have reached a solution are judged because of the choices they make. Really, if I want to emigrate, what the f*** would it mean to you?

…shocking when the very same people who whine justify their lack of pro-activeness to “it won’t matter no what I do” (like vote). I don’t care if you vote for DAP or whichever opposition party but at least you voted.

I don’t mind having a verbal repertorie with some people I don’t even know in a mass email. I don’t mind listening to complaints about how shitty the government is, how corrupt politicians are, how Chinese people are getting the raw end of the deal (although I think EVERYONE is getting the raw end of the deal) and so forth. I really really don’t mind all those things. I even join in the bashing session sometimes (as I have on this blog).

But when the person on the other side starts bringing my personal life into the picture (like me going to France or another country because I want to follow my fiance and how that is called “running away” - WTH!), it stops being pleasant. It is downright annoying and things become clearer.

You (you know who you are) are not interested in addressing the problem. Heck, you won’t even take a step back to look at differing points of view. You’re just interested in hearing the words “OHYES, YOU ARE SO RIGHT.”

So you heard it here.

OHYES, YOU ARE SO RIGHT.

el·o·quent /ˈɛləkwənt/ [el-uh-kwuhnt]
–adjective
1. having or exercising the power of fluent, forceful, and appropriate speech: an eloquent orator.
2. characterized by forceful and appropriate expression: an eloquent speech.
3. movingly expressive: looks eloquent of disgust.

…is a man after my own heart.

I love eloquence in a man, not the kind that is curt or rude but one that is laced with much intelligence, a sprinkle of flirtation and a good dose of humour. There is something crazily attractive about a man who has a way with words; hence the silly crush on Le Lapin who probably finds this amusing as hell. Lawyers always are attractive…since that yummilicious one in The Practice, anyway. (Why lawyers is another thing altogether.) But like a good, typical crush, it’s all just talk and no action.

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Courtesy of Edward Champion.

Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.

1. (+) The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. (+) Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. (+) To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. (+) The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. (+) The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. (+) The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. (+) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. (+) Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. (+) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. (*) A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. (+) Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. (+) Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. (*) Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. (+) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. (+) Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. (+) The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. (+) Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. (*) The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. (+) The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. (*) The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. (*) The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. (*) The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. (+) Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. (+) The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. (+) Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. (+) The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. (*) She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. (*) The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. (*) Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. (+) Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. (+) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. (*) The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. (*) Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. (*) One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. (*) The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch–22 (Joseph Heller)
69. (+) Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. (+) The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint–Exupery) (This is the French copy!)
71. (+) Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. (*) The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. (*) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. (*) The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. (*) Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. (*) Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. (*) Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. (+) Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. (*) The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. (*) Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of a Lion (Ondaatje)
92. (+) Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. (*) The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. (*) A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

…

I really ought to get back to my reading. T.T

*cough*

Well, I was pretty tired of doing plain stockinette stitches for Baby Apple - I had to rip out half a sleeve because I missed out some increases.

So I took out Les Blues, ripped it and reknitted it with a different gauge only to transfer it onto a thin long circular needle. First time! Hopefully it’ll be first time lucky too!

I just had to. The bamboo DPNs of 2.75mm remind me so much of satay sticks. Strangely enough, I’m beginning to warm out to the feel of wool in my hands…

Oh the softness!

My government has the right intention but the wrong execution. They can be so silly (bordering on stupid, actually) at times.

Government mulls over fast-food ad ban
By AUDREY EDWARDS

PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry is “seriously considering” a ban on fast food advertisements.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said the move would also cover endorsements of events linked to fast food.

This was because such meals are considered “silent killers,” he told reporters here.

A fast food “sin tax” is also being pondered, added Chua.

He said the rationale for the proposal was motivated by the increasing number of Malaysians suffering from “affluent” diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension.

…

“Surveys consistently show that Malaysians don’t exercise enough and do not pay attention to the food they eat.

“This is the only country where people discuss over breakfast where and what to eat for lunch. And then over lunch, it will be what’s for supper,” he noted.

…

Dr Chua, a medical doctor, said as far as his ministry is concerned, burgers and fries are just as bad as cigarettes and liquor.

Admitting that the move would be “revolutionary”, Dr Chua said the ministry welcomed feedback on its proposed action.

…

“We do not allow advertising for cigarettes and liquor.

“Fast food should be treated in the same way as alcohol. The time has come.”

…

Seriously, can we put a sin tax on stupid people? We are scapegoat-ing McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut (I’m not a fan of them either, k? I make my own pizza!) because adults don’t exercise, let their children gorge on fast food and let themselves gorge like crazy on that as well. I don’t see how a total ban/sin tax application would work in the long run and I would expect him, as a medical practitioner, to adopt a better approach than to just wave his hand and go “I wanna put a sin tax on this because *I* think it’s bad”.

Applying a total ban and even a sin tax still will not address the issue of why children are obese.

Besides, the typical M’sian diet of teh tarik, roti canai and nasi lemak plus breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea, dinner, and supper isn’t exactly healthy either.

So tell me…am I just daft or is the good doctor locos?

My response here.

Moving scares me.

There, I said it. The prospects of becoming someone’s wife (!!!), moving to be with him (!!!!!!), leaving behind family and friends for like a long time scares me shitless (!!!!!!!!!). While I’m happy and even a bit tad excited about going to another continent, another country out of Asia, I’m frightened about havinig to start from scratch again.

As June/July looms closer, it’s starting to hit the mark - the worry-pot mark. Upon registration of my marriage, I’ll be following Nil to wherever he’ll be. That means leaving behind a job that I like, friends and family…everything. I’ll probably leave behind a boatload of stuff I’ve bought/collected over the years too. Everything that has made me who I am today will be left behind…in exchange for a new life with someone I love deeply.

My fear is that love itself won’t be enough.

I have always known that I will be jobless for at least a few months into my marriage. So that lowers the possibility of making friends at the workplace. I could call up my Norwegian friend from my uni days but we are not very close. Sure, I could chat up my neighbours but that’s if they are friendly to begin with. I could always find some Norwegian knitters but I doubt it’ll be an overnight endeavour. Keeping in touch with friends here, well, it really isn’t the same. Building friendships take time…so I foresee some lonely times ahead; just Nil and myself.

*sigh*

So I’ll be truly dependent on Nil financially (although I’d have some money of my own), emotionally and hell, socially. Something I’m not quite comfortable doing. What if things go wrong?

*long sigh*

Is this what people mean by starting afresh?

Lunch today was an eye-opener. Surrounded by people whom I have known all my life…how they have grown from children into adults poise to enter into marriage and possibly ready to have children of their own. Teenagers who had crushes on each other end up being together.

And there I was sitting next to someone who had a crush on me (or at least that’s how I remember it; he feigns ignorance) and we are still as close as we were before.

Just to satisfy my curiousity, I did a mental rewind and went bonkers on all the possibilities. I wanted to go beyond friendship when we were both in college but he wasn’t keen on starting a relationship before leaving for studies abroad. Then before I dated Nil, there was this moment, the window in time where I had toyed with the idea of developing that crush again but it never materialized. Probably because I rarely saw this person and he never came back until after I met Nil.

The best part of the whole thing was this: I never had wanted to go out with someone from a completely different background; never saw myself in the situation where I’d have to move halfway across the world to be with my future husband; never saw myself starting afresh with a new family and new friends. The thought, I’ll be honest, scares me to bits. I had always wanted someone close to home. Perhaps I was wrong in the meaning of “home” itself.

If one thing had changed, the outcome would have been completely different.

Funny how things turned out to be the way they are now. Some things which were possible are just not meant to be and some things which seemed impossible turned out to be quite the opposite.

To you both who took your crushes a step further, congratulations on making this step of life more memorable. It’ll make a wonderful story for your children, trust me! I’ll miss you both when I do leave.