Bobbie's Litter Bin

This is a gift from Seemon, a gifted illustrator. "Bobbie's Litter Bin" is her new book. I had a great time travelling around the Litterland. She mentioned in the book her son is her source of inspiration. I think if you look closely, you can see that in her illustrations. It's a really beautiful book.

Status Anxiety

My agent called and told me the client was still thinking which layout they should go for. The great thing is they will take care the rest. My job's done. Yay. Got on the boat at the last minute and finished Alain de Botton's Status Anxiety. The book is about our quest for personal status and our anxiety about what other thinks of us.



We may think we desire money, power and fame but De Botton tells us all we want is "love from the world". Modern society creats a general belief that:

1) The rich are the useful ones, not the poor.
2) Status does have moral connotations. In theory, everyone would have a chance, while in practice any failure could only be ascribed to oneself.
3) The poor are sinful and corrupt and fail because they are lazy and or stupid.

De Botton offers philosophy, art, politics, Christianity and bohemia as solutions to our anixety.

At the end, it's all about love. It's about how we balance our yearn for love from others with recognizing the true value of being who we are and feeling good about ourselves. It's just a matter of choice.

0600 : 0030

How did you pick up the threads of an old life?
How do you go on...
When in your heart you begin to understand there is no going back?
There are something that time cannot mend.
Some hurts that go too deep that have taken hold.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Miffy

With just 6 colors, Dick Bruna creats a wonderful world for Miffy. Miffy turned 50 on 21 June 2005. Here's my tribute to the master of simplicity.



Among all Miffy books I've read, "Miffy is Crying" is my favourite. Silly Miffy thought she has lost her teddy. After searching him everywhere...

She crept beneath the blankets,
and do you know what she found,
A furry something with two arms,
Its shape was nice and round.

Here's the touching moment:

Here is my bear, cried miffy
Here is my bear, for sure
Hurrah, I've found my teddy,
And Miffy cried no more.

Miffy's lovely, isn't she?

A Farewell to Arms

Just finished A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. Yes, Hemingway. Sometimes it's good to let your mind stay in another place at another time.



Hemingway is such a great narrator. An ordinary breakfeat becomes less ordinary in his world.

" I ate the ham and eggs and drank the beer. The ham and eggs were in a round dish - the ham underneath and the eggs on top. It was very hot and at the first mouthful I had to take a drink of beer to cool my mouth."

What do u have for breakfast?

Keep Looking, Don't Settle

Back to work after a break, it’s time to get some serious job done. Work was a bit hard this week but it’s over already. Sometimes I’m still not sure about accepting and declining jobs. It gets me to think about the inspirational speech made by Steve Jobs.



"Sometimes life’s going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it."

I feel really blessed that I'm doing what I love. So, I'm ready for another week of new challenges.

This Stop is Bangkok

Just returned from a two-day trip to Bangkok with my big sister. We made a pact that we would have a great time. Well, we did laugh like kids, swim like fishes and eat like pigs.



We caught the 10:30 pm flight on Friday evening. The plane was delayed a bit. Sitting next to us was a nosy middle east businessman who suggested to travel with us. I had the most bizarre vegetarian meal. I tried the salad... spit. My sister tried my dessert... spit. By the time we arrived at the hotel, it was already half one in the morning. We stayed at the Mandarian Oriental. Don't be mistaken "We are fans". It's just because my sister can get a staff rate.

We headed to the Playground in the next morning. We took the shuttle boat from the hotel to the BTS. Then we got a bit lost. 2cm on the map turned out to be a 20-minute walk. We cooled ourselves by a guava juice. The design of the Soontra juice stand is fresh and cool as the juice.

Playground, the inspiration shop, is kind of hip. What you see on the ground floor won't prepare what you get on the upper two levels. The black staircases will lead you to a sea of colorful giant bean bags on the second level. Some gals were having a cooking course at Kuppa restaurant on the third level. On the day we visited xcursionist, a visual communication arts exhibition, was closed. Our Playground experience was ended by taking photos at the loo.

Peace be with Us

May God comfort those who lost their loved one in the terror bombings in London.

O

Had a "quad-o" dinning experience this week. First, it's White Spot Triple O. The "hand-baked" burger is okay. Second, it's Cafe O and that's something. I love this place. The identity, the environment design, the collateral, the menu, and the most important of all, the food is good. Their food and drinks are raw, delicious, and flavorful. Tried CALZONE (a folded pizza filled with veggies and tomato puree) and Oooops breakfast (museli with fresh fruit, yogurt and honey). And the best part is I shared them with my dearest sister.



First of July... So, this is the frist day for the second half of 2005. It sounds cliched but time really flies. Really happy to learn that both my brother and my friend A are going to start a new job after summer. Thinking of the resolutions I made when I first put this blog up, I've been doing 4 out of 5. It's not that bad. YAY!