Hello, Sincerity.

I posted the following in the Embodiment Livejournal community, but have edited it for this Livejournal. This will also be the last post for my Livejournal, so if any of you read this, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and may the year 2008 be prosperous for you!

I saw a post in the Embodiment Livejournal community written by someone who made their own journal from scratch. I was inspired and after googling and studying similar tutorials. I decided to base my project on Curiously Crafty's Journal Tutorial and Dave The Designer's Book Tutorial, which essentially have the the same steps but the latter has steps for making things like bookmarks, headbands, embossed design elements and screening. With these, I decided to make my own. Perhaps this will motivate the essence of writing an entry every day for a whole year, knowing that I have actually made my own journal:



( Outside looking in.. )

.. J.K. Rowling outed Dumbledore as gay. I have nothing against homosexuality (people who know me well know that I shouldn't even have had to say that), but I cannot imagine how much of an effect this'll have on people who love to 'slash' Harry Potter characters.

I know I haven't been updating this place. I've been over at my domain often. Very often. Although it's rather late in the plugging, do check it out if you have time, as it has evolved from a personal blog to a design blog (which appears to be way too wordy to even be a design blog) with a pop blog as an extension. It's currently running on Blogger (a blogging platform that I am slowly losing my patience with) so an upgrade to Wordpress (plus a handful of changes) is going to happen. Soon.

A survey that I gacked from someone (Thanks, Tina!) who gacked it from someone else, who gacked it from someone probably stranded in the middle of the ocean with a miraculous option of wireless internet and a laptop. I kid.

(I am using the 'Rich Text' function for Livejournal for the first time. Yes, I'm late, but I am still busy blowing off the dust on this journal.)

Do you snore?: I have been told that I do when I'm really really tired. But I also heard that I also sleep-talk when I haven't had much sleep, so there's been more of the latter being reported than the primary.

Lover or a fighter? I would safely say 'lover'. To fight brings out the loser in everyone. A lot of people think that just because I have a lot of opinions on things that I am a fighter. I think those people (Aha! Do I see an opinion being formed?) are just afraid because they don't have the chance to be change me with their own views and opinions that they black mark the term 'opinionated'. But at the end of the day, one should know where they stand in life.

What's your worst fear? Becoming a parent, because I have big shoes to fill (giving birth is just part of the package), heights, vomiting, regressing to a less than pleasant past, cockroaches.. there are quite a few, but not very many of them are coming to mind right now.

As a kid, were you a Lego builder? Yes. All the more when my brother was small, because I got to use his toys. I don't think it's a coincidence that I ended up in the industry I am now.

What do you think of 'reality TV'? There's no such thing. Everything is taken with the inherent intention to embellish the situation somehow.

Do you chew on your straws? Yes, and it's a habit that never went away. When I was younger, I was often told by my mom not to chew on my straw because it would make beverages more difficult to drink. My teeth still don't listen.

Were you a cute baby? I was told that I was a mischievous baby and there are shots of me being caught in the act of trickery, so whether that trait in itself is 'cute' is really up to the person. But my aunt says that when I am not in one of 'those moods', I was a quiet baby that was a pleasant to change and bath. Cute? I'm sure a lot of mothers think that is.

How is the single life for you? In terms of the 'non-married'  type of single life, well, that's the only life I've known. But in terms of dating, I'm not currently single.

I use Gmail for my email service, and it's been really convenient for me because I can upload songs and play them when checking my email (or send them to others) with a 10MB limit per message, chat on the same window as the inbox, and let it refresh all by itself every time there is a new email. They also have a nifty labelling option. As a former Hotmail user, I thought this was snazzy. Don't get me started on Yahoo!. I don't like Yahoo!. No PR advertisements in the comments or email or charismatic pity parties will change my mind. Issue closed.

So when I was labelling my email, I recieved the following email from this health newsletter that I recently subscribed to. I get nice healthy recipes, good articles and even exercise tips. I immediately labelled it; consider it an act of habit:



Inside were tips on what food causes flatulence and how to avoid having frequent encounters with the Bronx Cheer, etc. It was only later when I realized what I labeled it under:



In my bajillion email labels, 'SBD' stands for the name of the newsletter that I subscribed to.
'SBD' also stands for a category of gas: Silent But Deadly.

Excerpt from a chat with my best friend. Yes, we show our love for each in the most morbid way we can both think of:

Marz: When you go back Sunday, are you stopping over in other countries?
Pam: Just S'pore again. But only for an hour or two, I think.
Marz: Oh all right. =P Well, either way, I'm coming in May or June so we'll be able to meet up either way. =)
Marz: Weirdest sentence I read all day: [insert sentence regarding someone talking about crushes on relatives -- exact quote omitted to protect URL of website it came from]. O_O
Pam: .. DUDE. You just broke my brain. I went from seeing a goal against PSV and having my brain go "Kerplunk!"!
Marz: You're welcome? XDDDD
Pam: .. I'm going to poison your drink when we go have lunch in Indo. XP
Marz: HAHAHAHAHAHA! I can feel the love in this chat! =3
Marz: Hey, you know, if we have lunch in a warung, you don't have to poison my drink. Warung food already has a plethora of unknown substances that can either kill you or give you a cast-iron stomach. XD
Pam: .. dude, that totally won't work. Fine. I guess I'll just have to settle with good ol' sabotage. Like, maybe cutting the break wire of your car or something. XD
Marz: That will work fine actually. Seriously, WHO in Indonesia actually uses the breaks when driving? XDDDD
Pam: .. Crap. That's so true. XD
Marz: Besides, as far as those drivers are concerned, they all saw a "job opening in heaven" flyer somewhere and they're all going for it. =P
Pam: XD That sounds so horrible! XDDD But I can't disagree!

You had to have at least lived in Jakarta to understand how some drivers there are in another stream of consciousness when driving. Then again, I love the place and it'll always be my home. It'll be especially so since my best friends are returning back in the next few months -- one for vacation and one permanently. After getting work experience in Singapore, I'll definitely join Team Permanence.

I just tuned into American Idol. I find the auditions to be excruciating, and I'd rather save my braincells. The only thing I can say is: Nick Pedro = ♥ ♥! So far, he's charmed me off the seat. My mom argues that I like him because he resembles my boyfriend. But I actually beg to differ. I won't deny that there are similarities (the way he dresses, his hands, and I presume his heritage), but it was actually his rendition of "Fly Me To The Moon" and "Now And Forever" that stole my heart.
It's ironic this would be the case because I was originally looking for rockers. (Then again, Daughtry is simply one a kind.) Either way, I really hope that Nick stays for the rest of the season.
(Jared is cute, too, but he appears to me more TV/videogenic than photogenic.)

It is also the first day of Lent aka Ash Wednesday. To those who are celebrating/fasting/abstaining/etc, may the Spirit and the peace of Christ be with you this season.

So, say you were meeting a new person—blind date, new friend, who knows. And you wanted them to have some idea of what kind of person you are, and who you are. But you can't actually tell them in so many words. Instead, you have to give them a box, with a dozen things in it for them to look at/read/listen to/taste/whatever. What would you put in the box? And a copy of your journal or a link to your LJ would be the same thing as just telling them directly, yourself, so that's not allowed.

1. The family Daily Roman Missal that has all the Bible readings for cycles A, B, and C, dates of Catholic holidays, patron saint days, with little patron saint/prayer cards that they sometimes distribute after Mass. Our family has two Roman Missals -- a Sunday Missal (which is the one that is used for anticipated and Sunday Masses) and the Daily Roman Missal (which is the thicker one), but for this box, I opt for the Daily Roman Missal. The Daily Roman Missal is the one where the spine has already snapped in half due to its daily use (hence Daily Roman Missal) and it has to be held together with clear tape. It is almost as though no matter what happens to the Missal, its use or integrity will never be any less valuable. That in itself can be a metaphor to many religion-based things about me.

2. One packet of teh Sosro kotak. (Visual translation.)

3. My green Creative MP3 player, which in this meme, will be fully synchronized to the songs that I have on my computer. (Note to self: Upload the Far Too Jones songs I got from a friend into player.)

4. My rainbow sweater that I wear on the very rare occassion and never let anyone else wear it. So the means the new friend/blind date has to give it right be back to me after they seen it. =P

5. The blue, yellow and white porcelain bead necklace my boyfriend gave to me just weeks before we started dating. I rarely use it, and even when I don't, it is never in the drawer like the rest of my jewellry. It is hung on one of the picture frames that have a shot of me and him.
I probably took this back also after this new friend/blind date saw it.

6. My vintage-looking Starbucks mug. I would be more generous and put something in the mug, but most likely I drank it before giving the box to this blind date/new friend.

7. A mini globe or an atlas, with various bookmarks of cities, photos, and slips of paper containing certain phrases from different languages.. 'How are you?', 'How much is this?', 'Where is the bathroom?' and even certain more.. 'colourful' words, in case.

8. A small bottle of sambal (Indonesian chili sauce). (Visual translation.)

9. A piano key. A black one. B flat.

10. The Rosary that I made from scratch. Not just because it complements the rainbow sweater (see item #4).

11. A rainbow watch that is set exactly at GMT +8.

12. My salmon red pashmina. (Visual translation.)

Anyone have a Purevolume account? Add me. My user name is: 33andathird. No surprise, neh?

Today, I was supposed to get some work done with Pinky for our Drawing and Documentation class, but we ended up talking for hours at a coffee shop in Purvis Street with her friend Kester. It was hilarious. We talked about the most unorthodox things and the owner of the coffee shop was shocked that we have been planted on our asses since the beginning of the afternoon.

Just a few doors down in another coffee shop, there was a photoshoot going on, presumably to take photos of the new menu or something, when there was smoke billowing from out of nowhere. Pinky screamed, "Oh my GOD! There's a fire!" and people from all coffee stalls and store ran out to investigate the commotion. Soon, people were on the phones calling the police and the fire station. But it was a small fire. It came from the kitchen; the owner was so caught up with the photo taking of his food that he forgot about the activities that were going on in the kitchen.
Pinky was playfully bragging that her screaming got people's attention and triggered them to check out the smoke. Thank goodness that at the end it was a small fire. But it's amazing how people here easily converge into being civic-minded enough to help.. or just look at the commotion and be part of it. XD

On other notes..
I rolled over my alarm clock when I was sleeping, and now I have an alarm clock shaped mark on my arm. I took a photo of it, and was debating on whether or not I should show it to you all, but I think putting one photo is enough for today.
This is the closest that I've gotten to a tattoo YET. Before this incident, it would be the two times I tried henna, but this one is red and angry and it feels like a bruise. =/

My Livejournal account needed a little cleaning up, anyway.

So, yes, there is a new layout. (Click here to see) My very first layout for this account featured one of my favourite movies, 'What Dreams May Come'. That movie was chopped to pieces by critics, but when it comes to movies, I almost never look at movie reviews before watching it. I prefer to make an opinion of my own. Even if I'll be making a mistake,even if my opinion will be unpopular, even if I end up wasting 10 dollars on a ticket, at least I can own up to that type of responsibility. I made my bed, therefore I lie in it.

This layout features another movie that the critics exercised their claws and teeth with. It's called 'November'. I happened upon this movie by accident. I had trouble sleeping and just as I was about to drift off, I looked at the TV (which I almost forgot to turn off) and saw this movie. I was immediately drawn. It was an hour and 18 minutes of no sleep which I didn't regret, and it was placed in my list favourite movies the moment the credits rolled.
I highly recommend people to see this movie. However, do not expect to understand it or for the plot to unravel all by itself. It is more of a visual feast and a movie that every individual understands for their own, because death is surreal, grief is surreal and pain is felt by all but the magnitude cannot be measured unless we're knee deep in it.

I also made a set of user icons, which I wove the plot of the movie with the Stages Of Grief, a very prominent theme in the movie. I used the 5 Stages Of Grief, which is just one of the many methods of grieving. I'm quite proud of them, as I think they're the best set of icons I've ever made.

Hope you like the new layout!

It was a community I had intended to join ever since I happened upon it. Unfortunately, when I happened upon the community, the intake for members was closed. I had to wait until next year. A couple hours before the clock sounded for the New Years (and the rest of my family was by the pool BBQing sausages and sate ayam (chicken satay), I decided to Google Embodiment for fun, hoping that perhaps there was chance to join.
It turned out that applications were indeed open and there were six hours to go. I signed up as fast as my hands could type. It was a good thing that a few hours before, I bought a new journal. Perhaps this'll get my ass into gear for writing every day of this year. I used to do a lot of paper journals. Now that I do my penning down of thoughts through blogging (and because of blogging, have divulged my secrets a LOT less), I spent less time with my journal. I didn't want to overly rely on one medium of recording thoughts and alienating myself from another.

So far, I made entries on both the 1st and the 2nd day of the month. There are more than 50 weeks to go, though, but good start, I guess! =)


Above: My January 2nd entry: A list of good music/movies for 2006.

For more information on the EMBODIMENT paper journal project, go to the EMBODIMENT Livejournal community.