I was going to write this as a comment on her blog but then it got too long.
In response to http://lucid-nonsense.blogdrive.com/, I suspect I definitely have no principles where that is concerned.
I think if the guys in question did all that they did in a condescending manner I would be insulted rather than impressed. But because I really couldn't have managed carrying that home on my own...or rather would have managed but with great difficulty, I'm perfectly willing to let guys carry things for me to save me the work.
To be fair let me also mention that I'm equally impressed if a girl does that for me but to date no girl ever has offered to help me out when I'm bogged down with something and need help. What does that say about our society then? That the guys only do it because there is some subconcious sexual attraction even if it is not overt? Or that the guys are the only ones that have been socially conditioned to help?
I say subconciously because trust me, I know when a guy is simply doing something in order to attempt to impress me and that earns negative points with me.
I also admit that "doing all the little things" does not equate to being a nice guy and I never intended it to. I am currently caught between a dichotomy of opposites where my friends back home complain that guys are just incredibly dense and fail to remember birthdays, help carry things even when the girl in question is obviously struggling, and all the other little social niceties one would expect from anyone, and my friends here complain that guys here (who do do all that for the most part) are all egocentric jerks.
I have a number of guy friends who are thoughtful, sweet, considerate and genuinely nice, and yes they do treat me as equals. For some reason, there are never enough of them to go round.
Then of course we get to the "nice guy"'s complaint: "How come girls are only attracted to Jerks?" To which my response would be too long to post :-)
Monday, November 28, 2005
Sunday, November 27, 2005
A Few Good Men...
For some reason I have a knack of finding guys who are absurdly nice. What brought on this comment? V just walked me home, carrying two bags of groceries for me the whole way. This was a 40 min walk from Chinatown, and 15 min of that walk was out of his way since he lives closer there than I do.
Yesterday, Lady Red noticed a guy in passing who crossed over to the passenger side of the car, openned the door for his gf, before going back to the other side to get in the car, saying that such guys were rare. It got me thinking that I actually do know guys who do that, and not just one but a large portion of the guys I know would actually do that.
So while the other three girls in my college posse are complaining about all guys being egocentric jerks or "incredibly dense male" type, I've never had a problem finding nice guys who do all the little things. The question then becomes, is part of that because Asian guys are more likely to be sensitive and gentlemenly?
Judging from the complaints of Singaporean women everywhere and the typical Singaporean "So you want to get a HDB flat?" proposal, I wouldn't normally think so. Perhaps then, that it is a subset of Asian men that have that quality, and if so then is there some reason I meet all of them?
If I could isolate and market that reason, I'd be a very rich girl with lots of grateful thank you letters. As it is, I'm left wondering why I am the one who meets all of these guys, when I can't date any of them and the single friends I have only seem to meet the egocentric jerk type.
Yesterday, Lady Red noticed a guy in passing who crossed over to the passenger side of the car, openned the door for his gf, before going back to the other side to get in the car, saying that such guys were rare. It got me thinking that I actually do know guys who do that, and not just one but a large portion of the guys I know would actually do that.
So while the other three girls in my college posse are complaining about all guys being egocentric jerks or "incredibly dense male" type, I've never had a problem finding nice guys who do all the little things. The question then becomes, is part of that because Asian guys are more likely to be sensitive and gentlemenly?
Judging from the complaints of Singaporean women everywhere and the typical Singaporean "So you want to get a HDB flat?" proposal, I wouldn't normally think so. Perhaps then, that it is a subset of Asian men that have that quality, and if so then is there some reason I meet all of them?
If I could isolate and market that reason, I'd be a very rich girl with lots of grateful thank you letters. As it is, I'm left wondering why I am the one who meets all of these guys, when I can't date any of them and the single friends I have only seem to meet the egocentric jerk type.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
The reason why I work so much
is that at least work is clean simple and satisfying.
I just hung up on Lady J, who was whining and wanted to stay close to home. I hate it when people make me organize something saying sure why don't you call person A B and C and set up lunch or dinner and then complain and want me to change things when its done.
If you are so damn fussy, you can set everything up and do the calling yourself.
I have a good mind to just ignore everyone else and have this one day to myself.
I just hung up on Lady J, who was whining and wanted to stay close to home. I hate it when people make me organize something saying sure why don't you call person A B and C and set up lunch or dinner and then complain and want me to change things when its done.
If you are so damn fussy, you can set everything up and do the calling yourself.
I have a good mind to just ignore everyone else and have this one day to myself.
Friday, November 18, 2005
I may not have blogged in a very very long time but this time I have an excuse. All I'd have to do is tell you my leave work times for the week and you'd understand why. For this week it was 10pm, 8pm, 11pm, 12am.. so far. Let's just say it has been a rather intensive week.
Bunches of things however have occured since I last blogged.
For one thing, I can now say I've been to the west coast. Palm springs itself was beautiful in a very resort kind of way that I'd have to admit, could have been a resort anywhere. However, the things the company arranged however, were amazing. The food was good. The dinner themes were elaborate and unique. The first night we got clowns and circus performers and stuff, the second night, we got a fake casino, and the last night we got fireworks. All in all, I had a great time. I also got to ride in a hot air balloon for the first time.
LA though was very different from any other city I've been in. It's large and sprawling and seems to go on with no end. Not a good place for someone who doesn't drive to live.
And.. being that I'm supposed to be back at work in a bit. I shall stop my blogging quest for today :-p
Bunches of things however have occured since I last blogged.
For one thing, I can now say I've been to the west coast. Palm springs itself was beautiful in a very resort kind of way that I'd have to admit, could have been a resort anywhere. However, the things the company arranged however, were amazing. The food was good. The dinner themes were elaborate and unique. The first night we got clowns and circus performers and stuff, the second night, we got a fake casino, and the last night we got fireworks. All in all, I had a great time. I also got to ride in a hot air balloon for the first time.
LA though was very different from any other city I've been in. It's large and sprawling and seems to go on with no end. Not a good place for someone who doesn't drive to live.
And.. being that I'm supposed to be back at work in a bit. I shall stop my blogging quest for today :-p
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Losing my language
In the midst of all the work that I 've been doing, I've come to the dawning realization that I'm losing my first language - English.
I admit that that is at first glance not only ironic but seemingly impossible. I'm losing english because I moved to America? Land where everyone speaks english? Trust me. It is true.
To begin with, land where everyone speaks english is also land where in general people may speak english but their vocabulary is not necessarily that large or gramatically correct. I definitely had a larger exposure to vocab and good grammar back in Singapore (Being in Humanaties might have had something to do with that.)
In addition to that, I work primarily with numbers. I haven't written an essay or played with words in a long time. Lastly, English is now my work language. What I mean by that is in picking up Japanese and such, for fun I play japanese games, listen to Chinese music, and watch Japanese TV so I have no greater exposure to English. Although arguably the media is not the best place to increase my english vocabulary.
There was a time when words came as easily to me as breathing. I need my words back.
I admit that that is at first glance not only ironic but seemingly impossible. I'm losing english because I moved to America? Land where everyone speaks english? Trust me. It is true.
To begin with, land where everyone speaks english is also land where in general people may speak english but their vocabulary is not necessarily that large or gramatically correct. I definitely had a larger exposure to vocab and good grammar back in Singapore (Being in Humanaties might have had something to do with that.)
In addition to that, I work primarily with numbers. I haven't written an essay or played with words in a long time. Lastly, English is now my work language. What I mean by that is in picking up Japanese and such, for fun I play japanese games, listen to Chinese music, and watch Japanese TV so I have no greater exposure to English. Although arguably the media is not the best place to increase my english vocabulary.
There was a time when words came as easily to me as breathing. I need my words back.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Unrelated list of events
1. I've decided that the best way to blog about multiple things with no real link is in lists... like EE.
2. While walking home yesterday from the grocery store I had to take the long route. And yes I said "had to". The reason was because the wind was too bloody strong. My usual route home from the grocery store involves cutting through the Christian Science Park which is a beautiful park with its primary feature being a huge man made pond/fountain in the middle of it. In other words, its an open area in the middle of a city where the wind is usually blocked by buildings. Yesterday being a windy day, I tried to cut across my usual route but I couldn't move. Having the wind against me meant that I was fighting to take every single step and not fall down in the process. Of course, I'm sure being weighed down by groceries didn't help the walking against the wind part but it definitely prevented me from falling when I was walking with the wind. So in the end I decided it'd be faster to just take the long route. The one with buildings.
3. We're starting a week long training case today. What that means is that the new analysts form a pretend case team and take over a case for a week. What that also means is that all my other case work is going to have to be put on a relative hold while I do this. In addition, I still have to give interviews this week so it would be interesting to see how I manage my time this week. I went back to work for 3 hours on Sunday because I knew this week was going to be hectic and I wanted to clear some of my workload. Oh yeah interviews. I'm on the other side of the recruiting process now, and interviewing candidates. I got to do my first interview on last week. I never realized how much work went into interviews on the company side and not just on the student side but it's been an enjoyable and interesting experience so far and definitely would help me out when I actually interview for stuff next.
4. I think cooking for me goes in batches. Like I cook Asian for a couple of weeks then I get tired of it and decide to cook Western. I don't do too well with long elaborate recipes though, I think my speciality is probably making things off the cuff with what ingredients I have and leftovers in the fridge. Example.. last week I made lemon chicken cream pasta from leftover chicken and soup from having made chicken rice. My weekend also included tomato basil cream with italian sausage pasta, and sweet italian sausage cooked with red wine and sweet onions, and steak with soy sauce, garlic, butter and red wine. :-p Basically my menu usually reflects what was on sale at the supermarket.
2. While walking home yesterday from the grocery store I had to take the long route. And yes I said "had to". The reason was because the wind was too bloody strong. My usual route home from the grocery store involves cutting through the Christian Science Park which is a beautiful park with its primary feature being a huge man made pond/fountain in the middle of it. In other words, its an open area in the middle of a city where the wind is usually blocked by buildings. Yesterday being a windy day, I tried to cut across my usual route but I couldn't move. Having the wind against me meant that I was fighting to take every single step and not fall down in the process. Of course, I'm sure being weighed down by groceries didn't help the walking against the wind part but it definitely prevented me from falling when I was walking with the wind. So in the end I decided it'd be faster to just take the long route. The one with buildings.
3. We're starting a week long training case today. What that means is that the new analysts form a pretend case team and take over a case for a week. What that also means is that all my other case work is going to have to be put on a relative hold while I do this. In addition, I still have to give interviews this week so it would be interesting to see how I manage my time this week. I went back to work for 3 hours on Sunday because I knew this week was going to be hectic and I wanted to clear some of my workload. Oh yeah interviews. I'm on the other side of the recruiting process now, and interviewing candidates. I got to do my first interview on last week. I never realized how much work went into interviews on the company side and not just on the student side but it's been an enjoyable and interesting experience so far and definitely would help me out when I actually interview for stuff next.
4. I think cooking for me goes in batches. Like I cook Asian for a couple of weeks then I get tired of it and decide to cook Western. I don't do too well with long elaborate recipes though, I think my speciality is probably making things off the cuff with what ingredients I have and leftovers in the fridge. Example.. last week I made lemon chicken cream pasta from leftover chicken and soup from having made chicken rice. My weekend also included tomato basil cream with italian sausage pasta, and sweet italian sausage cooked with red wine and sweet onions, and steak with soy sauce, garlic, butter and red wine. :-p Basically my menu usually reflects what was on sale at the supermarket.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Katamari
1. I've been addicted to Katamari very recently. For those not in the know, its a game where the objective is to roll a ball of items as big as possible. In the beginning, when you have a small ball, most items won't stick to your ball and are instead obstacles, but as you go on and it gets bigger, you can roll chairs, desks, people, trees and houses into your ball. Sounds simple but its frighteningly addictive... so much so that my thumbs now ache from the effort.
2. The anime I've been following, Honey & Clover, just came out with the last episode. *quiet sigh* I particuarly liked it because it had real life characters and not anime ones... if you ever watched as much anime as I did you would probably know what I was talking about. And true to real life characters and real life, there are no certainties in this series, no sure happy endings. But like life (another thing that is frighteningly addictive), I want it to carry on just a little longer.
3. At work, I'm in the middle of reading the funniest complaint I've ever read. I nearly started laughing out loud in my cubicle, but caught myself just in time. Wouldn't do for my co-workers to start thinking I'm crazy already. (They can get that when they've known me for a while longer). I love American law. It's just much more entertaining this way. The complaint and the response to it aren't tied down in that much legal language, or at least it makes fun reading. Fun reading? a law document? you ain't read these ones. They sound like Ally McBeal in writing. The lawyers use words like "just plain out ridiculous" and "hemorrhage cash and red ink". Seriously, I always thought Ally McBeal was made up but reading these documents, now I want to see a real court trial.
4. I started the Bloomberg certification program over the weekend, where I get a cert to learn how to use bloomberg. This means that Lady Red and the other J now think I'm weird because I go back to work on Sunday for fun. Am I addicted to work? My friends here seem to think so but then I don't feel like I'm approaching anywhere near the normal Singaporean level of work and learning. I think with the amount of subliminal messages and not so subliminal messages we've gotten telling us that learning is good and that we should work hard, I don't work quite as hard as they're telling me to work. Or maybe it's leftover college guilt. In college, work is never quite done. Playing is always a guilty pleasure because there's always homework, thesis, study to be done outside of classes. All of a sudden, all I have to do outside of work is chores. I'd much rather work than clean. The sad thing is it might be that I'd much rather work than play too. The other J has already thrice offered me a job in his company if he ever has one under the impression that I'd make a great employee. Maybe I should eventually work for myself.
2. The anime I've been following, Honey & Clover, just came out with the last episode. *quiet sigh* I particuarly liked it because it had real life characters and not anime ones... if you ever watched as much anime as I did you would probably know what I was talking about. And true to real life characters and real life, there are no certainties in this series, no sure happy endings. But like life (another thing that is frighteningly addictive), I want it to carry on just a little longer.
3. At work, I'm in the middle of reading the funniest complaint I've ever read. I nearly started laughing out loud in my cubicle, but caught myself just in time. Wouldn't do for my co-workers to start thinking I'm crazy already. (They can get that when they've known me for a while longer). I love American law. It's just much more entertaining this way. The complaint and the response to it aren't tied down in that much legal language, or at least it makes fun reading. Fun reading? a law document? you ain't read these ones. They sound like Ally McBeal in writing. The lawyers use words like "just plain out ridiculous" and "hemorrhage cash and red ink". Seriously, I always thought Ally McBeal was made up but reading these documents, now I want to see a real court trial.
4. I started the Bloomberg certification program over the weekend, where I get a cert to learn how to use bloomberg. This means that Lady Red and the other J now think I'm weird because I go back to work on Sunday for fun. Am I addicted to work? My friends here seem to think so but then I don't feel like I'm approaching anywhere near the normal Singaporean level of work and learning. I think with the amount of subliminal messages and not so subliminal messages we've gotten telling us that learning is good and that we should work hard, I don't work quite as hard as they're telling me to work. Or maybe it's leftover college guilt. In college, work is never quite done. Playing is always a guilty pleasure because there's always homework, thesis, study to be done outside of classes. All of a sudden, all I have to do outside of work is chores. I'd much rather work than clean. The sad thing is it might be that I'd much rather work than play too. The other J has already thrice offered me a job in his company if he ever has one under the impression that I'd make a great employee. Maybe I should eventually work for myself.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
ipod meme
Taken from N and J...
What do you think of me, iTunes?
Angel Sanctuary
wow I never knew it thought that highly of me :-p
What should I do with my life?
Silent emotion by Cagnet
hmmm.. not sure that keeping my emotions bottled should be my life goal...
Will I have a happy life?
I could fall in love - Selena
does that lead to happiness?
What do my friends really think of me?
Take it Easy - The Eagles
*lol* alright this one is pretty accurate, people are always telling me I need to relax and have fun more and not be a workaholic.
Do people secretly lust after me?
Story of Us - Eric Clapton
erm is that a yes? *lol* sounds like one.
How can I make myself happy?
toki ni ai wa - from utena
(translation: At times love is.. )
From the lyrics of the song "At times love is strong, so much it even wounds people's hearts, but Ah in the midst of the courage that grants our dreams,a light always shines forth, Love is strong, so much so that it can move people's hearts, but Ah If we are together, then without a doubt we can change the world, and everything will become one power."
So the way to be happy is to have strong love? I'd like to think that.. but look at all the tragedies that were centered around love.
Why must life be so full of pain?
You're a God- vertical horizon
Because we create our own misery? Or because as human beings we create misery for others?
How can I maximize my pleasure during sex?
Bizarre Love Triangle - Frente
I don't even want to think about what this means! Although my mind automatically filled in a couple of "I don't even want to go there" answers.
Will I ever have children?
Grain of sand- vonda shepard
One? or as many as sand? I don't even want children at this point!
Will I die happy?
Secret Garden - Gackt
Fine. Don't tell me.
Can you give me some advice?
enrai - do as infinity
translated "Distant Thunder"
Erm not good then? That sounds rather omninous like a warning of some kind..
What do you think happiness is?
qi zi - Faye wong
translated "pawn"
Definitely not my belief, why would happiness be being like a pawn? Unless of course it means having pawns to control.. oooh dictator tendencies coming out there...
What do you think of me, iTunes?
Angel Sanctuary
wow I never knew it thought that highly of me :-p
What should I do with my life?
Silent emotion by Cagnet
hmmm.. not sure that keeping my emotions bottled should be my life goal...
Will I have a happy life?
I could fall in love - Selena
does that lead to happiness?
What do my friends really think of me?
Take it Easy - The Eagles
*lol* alright this one is pretty accurate, people are always telling me I need to relax and have fun more and not be a workaholic.
Do people secretly lust after me?
Story of Us - Eric Clapton
erm is that a yes? *lol* sounds like one.
How can I make myself happy?
toki ni ai wa - from utena
(translation: At times love is.. )
From the lyrics of the song "At times love is strong, so much it even wounds people's hearts, but Ah in the midst of the courage that grants our dreams,a light always shines forth, Love is strong, so much so that it can move people's hearts, but Ah If we are together, then without a doubt we can change the world, and everything will become one power."
So the way to be happy is to have strong love? I'd like to think that.. but look at all the tragedies that were centered around love.
Why must life be so full of pain?
You're a God- vertical horizon
Because we create our own misery? Or because as human beings we create misery for others?
How can I maximize my pleasure during sex?
Bizarre Love Triangle - Frente
I don't even want to think about what this means! Although my mind automatically filled in a couple of "I don't even want to go there" answers.
Will I ever have children?
Grain of sand- vonda shepard
One? or as many as sand? I don't even want children at this point!
Will I die happy?
Secret Garden - Gackt
Fine. Don't tell me.
Can you give me some advice?
enrai - do as infinity
translated "Distant Thunder"
Erm not good then? That sounds rather omninous like a warning of some kind..
What do you think happiness is?
qi zi - Faye wong
translated "pawn"
Definitely not my belief, why would happiness be being like a pawn? Unless of course it means having pawns to control.. oooh dictator tendencies coming out there...
It's been a long gap but I haven't had much time to blog lately. Work is absorbing all my energies together with the endless supply of chores that always seem to need to be done. Lately, I haven't even had much of a time to sleep.
Partly I admit is because F and Lady J are back in town again and between them, they always seem to be able to guilt me into going out and having dinner or doing something with them, even if it means cutting back on yet more sleep that night and going into work early the next morning again.
Red was also in town this weekend and fun as it was, I definitely did not get any relaxing done this weekend. We went up to the north end for some good italian food, and even better pastries and desserts. We also made yet another haul at the haymarket. This time we got yams, tomatoes, zuchinni, basil, parsley, asparagus and mushrooms. Of course that meant I had to make tomato basil cream soup again today. I also used some of the asparagus and the last of my bacon to make bacon wrapped asparagus that I'm going to be using in my bentos for next week. I need to start using all the food in my fridge.
*yawn* it's the end of the weekend and I have yet to do my ironing or make tomorrow's lunch.. or clean.. or any of the numerous errands.. *sigh*
Partly I admit is because F and Lady J are back in town again and between them, they always seem to be able to guilt me into going out and having dinner or doing something with them, even if it means cutting back on yet more sleep that night and going into work early the next morning again.
Red was also in town this weekend and fun as it was, I definitely did not get any relaxing done this weekend. We went up to the north end for some good italian food, and even better pastries and desserts. We also made yet another haul at the haymarket. This time we got yams, tomatoes, zuchinni, basil, parsley, asparagus and mushrooms. Of course that meant I had to make tomato basil cream soup again today. I also used some of the asparagus and the last of my bacon to make bacon wrapped asparagus that I'm going to be using in my bentos for next week. I need to start using all the food in my fridge.
*yawn* it's the end of the weekend and I have yet to do my ironing or make tomorrow's lunch.. or clean.. or any of the numerous errands.. *sigh*
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
I'm going to LA!
... in November on the company retreat. Actually, to be precise, I'm going out of LA to a resort in the desert for a weekend which promises to be fun. I also intend to take two extra days off to visit with sc and catch up. hooray for free air tickets into LA :-p
In other news, I finally got myself a permanent library card - which means I can now take out books! Yay! I already took out 3 to start with. The boston library here is not only huge.. (think of a fiction section that is at least twice as big as the old national libaray used to be, but you can take out as many books as you want. (Something that definitely meets with my approval). Since I have a month to return these books I'm sure I'll be done long before then.
Recruiting has also started which means I get to be on the other end this time *hee hee* This promises to be fun.
In other news, I finally got myself a permanent library card - which means I can now take out books! Yay! I already took out 3 to start with. The boston library here is not only huge.. (think of a fiction section that is at least twice as big as the old national libaray used to be, but you can take out as many books as you want. (Something that definitely meets with my approval). Since I have a month to return these books I'm sure I'll be done long before then.
Recruiting has also started which means I get to be on the other end this time *hee hee* This promises to be fun.