Neuticles - replacing your dog's neutered err... testicles

This is why I have a female dog. And also why I'm happy to neuter her without guilt.

You can now replace your neutered pet's testicles, "allowing your pet to retain his natural look, self esteem and aids in the trauma associated with neutering".

What is the world coming to?

Private Road

One of the best written songs I've heard. It's so clever! Listen to this song on a lazy, white bright Saturday afternoon. Sip a glass of chilled, iced lemon tea with twinkling cubes of ice. Relax in a cold, cold room on a leather sofa.

Serve chilled.

Private Road
My heart for now is a private road
No thoroughfare, no heavy load
No slow traffic, no graphic details,
Cold or collisions
No more stories to make me ache

I'll always love you, Venus
Still you are mine
Why'd you have to take so much time
In calling me
Just want to be easy like
Sunday morning

Snow falls in silence and covers the green
Still you can see where the birds have been
Hungry but alive and free, waiting
Waiting

The Glory of the 80's

It's scary how it probably reveals your age when you think about the songs that defined your angst years, the teenage years. Bands like Heart, Erasure, The Pet Shop Boys (though that was a mainstay), U2 (another evolution), Chris Isaak.

I grew up with A Little Respect (Erasure), Somebody (Depeche Mode) and These Dreams (Heart). But ended up living with a New Kids on the Block generation that preferred Go West (Pet Shop Boys), Dirty Dancing (various - I've had the time of my life...) and Hero (Mariah Carey).

Where did the world go to?

Anyway, just a little treat for the glory of the 80's. I took a taxi from LA to Venus in 1985.

These Dreams

What is probably my favourite song (personal reasons) of all time - I just gotta have it on my blog somewhere. Mental note to self to buy a Best of Heart album, probably "These Dreams - Heart's Greatest Hits" since I realised that there are many songs I love from the band.

Spare a little candle
Save some light for me
Figures up ahead
Moving in the trees
White skin, in linen
Perfume on my wrist
And the full moon that hangs over
These dreams in the mist

Darkness on the edge
Shadows where I stand
I search for the time
On a watch with no hands
I want to see you clearly
Come closer than this
But all I remember
Are the dreams in the mist

These dreams go on when I close my eyes
Every second of the night, I live another life
These dreams that sleep when it's cold outside
Every moment I'm awake, the further I'm away

Is it cloak 'n dagger
Could it be Spring or Fall
I walk without a cut,
Through a stained glass wall
Weaker in my eyesight
The candle in my grip
And words that have no volume
Falling from my lips

There's something out there, I can't resist
I need to hide away from the pain
There's something out there, I can't resist

The sweetest song is silence
That I've ever heard
Funny how your feet in dreams
Never touch the earth
In a wood full of princes
Freedom is a kiss
But the prince hides his face
From dreams in the mist

Jura - the Federer break of choice

In an office social posting on espresso machines... The website hosts a fabulous picture of Federer endorsing an espresso machine. Obviously, I didn't get to the coffee in the end.

http://www.jura.com/

Damien Rice's first album =

O, as in "oh", as in not "zero".

So confirmed by doing an Amazon search for Damien Rice + zero; no search results found; then searching Damien Rice + oh and found the albums.

Haha.

Whole Foods Market in Kensington

Surprisingly, this one - the flagship Whole Foods store in UK is actually really accessible. One of those places to check out when next in London. I can now buy my Allegro coffee from UK!

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Silver Polish Method for real?

I just had to keep this tip:

Put a sheet of aluminum foil into a plastic or glass bowl. Sprinkle the foil with salt and baking soda and fill the bowl with warm water. Soak your silver in the bowl and tarnish migrates to the foil. Dry and buff.

Where is my album "O"?

Stumbled across "The Blower's Daughter" on tv today while watching a drama series (case in point that I'm addicted to all drama series that have good music, but will leave that to another blog) and within the first chords of the song, "And so it is...", the one single underlying thought in my head was, "I have that song... what album is it in my iPod?" I'd managed to isolate it down to Damien Rice (classic voice you gotta love the man for his voice, not his looks), but somehow, my iPod houses only "9" and the song came from "O".

So now. That is one of my favourite albums of all time. And I just can't find it. Together with the other albums that I've lost - Tori Amos's From the Choirgirl Hotel (my favourite Tori album of all time also) and Tori Amos's To Venus and Back Disc 1 (following on with a close second of favourite Tori albums and strangely enough I have Disc 2, the one I don't like). It's missing. Together with "O".

I definitely own them. Originals too (in case you wonder), because they are my all time favourite albums and I won't compromise having anything but the originals.

But they are missing. As in they are nowhere to be found in all my collection of CDs that have survived my fifth house move now. Well, considering their vanished nature, I'm not about to say they have survived now - but instinct tells me I must have taken all my favourite albums and put them in a CD case. And it is that very precious CD case that comprised all the music I wouldn't want to live without if there were no CDs left on earth that is now missing.

Missing.

The horrid truth is that I couldn't find them since I've moved here. Which makes me suspect that I may not have moved with them in the first place. The thought that the CD case of music could have been left at some relocation movers warehouse to be collecting dust for all eternity while I'm sitting here having "Can't take my eyes off of you..." playing repeat in my head is quite horrifying.

Imagine for a moment my distress.

And what did I do? To tide my sorry heart over, I went to YouTube and promptly looked for the stupid song that prompted this all.

It's right here.



So this is love/Just when I've lost my CD/And I'm lost and sorry.../Now, at this time/And so it is/I've lost that one thing.../I've cared for.../More than your voice./Can't take my eyes off.../Shouldn't take my eyes off...

Should have put it together with the passport and the intricate little obsessions we carry around with us every day.

Tokens, trinkets, sentimentalities.

The song reminds me of so much that I cannot find. So it's not really about The Blower's Daughter really, that is now occupying my fast flowing, random, path of least resistance stream of consciousness.

Ever played a song and all that came to mind were old photographs, faded memories, snatches of moments where you stole a glance at someone you shouldn't have? That's "The Blower's Daughter".

It's what you think of when you're staring into a vastness of ocean that looks like seemingly nothing.

It's what you say when she comes up to you and asks, "What are you thinking?" And you smile and say, "Nothing, sweetheart." She turns away and you hum a song, "And so it is..."

How do we live our lives in our sleeping, soft, silent, subtle, dreaming moments, when they shatter as we wake? How do we explain our lives to the people that fill it in our waking moments, when they don't touch us where we sleep?

And so it is, the colder water, the blower's daughter, the pupil in denial. I'll be waiting at that ocean's edge, hair in the wind, salt water in my eyes.

Bill Gates's Speech at Harvard University

Here is a man with a deep enough sense of noblesse oblige. With a mother that teaches good values: "From those to whom much is given, much is expected." I've always thought that one of the things that Bill Gates did right, aside from the Foundation, was to instil a deep sense of need to change the world. If there's one thing the Internet can do, it is that it makes the grassroots the community. It puts the power to act on anything that you like into the masses of people who see, hear and feel things that they are told every day. But if they are not told, they will and can do nothing.

I'm not sure if this is real (apparently so, because it was published by the Harvard Times), but it's an inspiring speech so I'm sharing this one.

President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of
the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty,
parents, and especially, the graduates:

I've been waiting more than 30 years to say this: "Dad, I always told you I'd come back and get my degree."

I want to thank Harvard for this timely honor. I'll be changing my job next year ... and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.

I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees. For my part, I'm just happy that the Crimson has called me "Harvard's most successful dropout." I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class ... I did the best of everyone who failed.

But I also want to be recognized as the guy who got Steve Ballmer to drop out of business school. I'm a bad influence. That's why I was invited to speak at your graduation. If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today.

Harvard was just a phenomenal experience for me. Academic life was fascinating. I used to sit in on lots of classes I hadn't even signed up for. And dorm life was terrific. I lived up at Radcliffe, in Currier House. There were always lots of people in my dorm room late at night discussing things, because everyone knew I didn't worry about getting up in the morning. That's how I came to be the leader of the anti-social group. We clung to each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those
social people.

Radcliffe was a great place to live. There were more women up there, and most of the guys were science-math types. That combination offered me the best odds, if you know what I mean. This is where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn't guarantee success.

One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975, when I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that had begun making the world's first personal computers. I offered to sell them software. I worried that they would realize I was just a student in a dorm and hang up on me. Instead they said: "We're not quite ready, come see us in a month," which was a good thing, because we hadn't written the software yet. From that moment, I worked day and night on this little extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with Microsoft.

What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence. It could be exhilarating, intimidating, sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging. It was an amazing privilege - and though I left early, I was
transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on.

But taking a serious look back ... I do have one big regret.

I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world - the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair. I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics. I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences. But humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveries - but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity - reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.

I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country. And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries. It took me decades to find out.

You graduates came to Harvard at a different time. You know more about the world's inequities than the classes that came before. In your years here, I hope you've had a chance to think about how - in this age of accelerating technology - we can finally take on these inequities, and we can solve them.

Imagine, just for the sake of discussion, that you had a few hours a week and a few dollars a month to donate to a cause - and you wanted to spend that time and money where it would have the greatest impact in saving and improving lives. Where would you spend it?

For Melinda and for me, the challenge is the same: how can we do the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have. During our discussions on this question, Melinda and I read an article about the millions of children who were dying every year in poor countries from diseases that we had long ago made harmless in this country. Measles, malaria, pneumonia, hepatitis B, yellow fever. One disease I had never even heard of, rotavirus, was killing half a million kids each year - none of them in the United States. We were shocked. We had just assumed that if millions of children were dying and they could be saved, the world would make it a priority to discover and deliver the medicines to save them. But it did not. For under a dollar, there were interventions that could save lives that just weren't being delivered.
If you believe that every life has equal value, it's revolting to learn that some lives
are seen as worth saving and others are not. We said to ourselves: "This can't be true. But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving." So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it. We asked: "How could the world let these children die?"

The answer is simple, and harsh. The market did not reward saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidize it. So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.

But you and I have both. We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism - if we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living, serving people who are suffering from the worst inequities. We also can press governments around the
world to spend taxpayer money in ways that better reflect the values of the people who pay the taxes.

If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world. This task is open-ended. It can never be finished. But a conscious effort to answer this challenge will change the world.

I am optimistic that we can do this, but I talk to skeptics who claim there is no hope. They say: "Inequity has been with us since the beginning, and will be with us till the end - because people just ... don't ... care." I completely disagree.

I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with. All of us here in this Yard, at one time or another, have seen human tragedies that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothing - not because we didn't care, but because we didn't know what to do. If we had known how to help, we would have acted.

The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity. To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact. But omplexity blocks all three steps.

Even with the advent of the Internet and 24-hour news, it is still a complex enterprise to get people to truly see the problems. When an airplane crashes, officials immediately call a press conference. They promise to investigate, determine the cause, and prevent similar crashes in the future.

But if the officials were brutally honest, they would say: "Of all the people in the world who died today from preventable causes, one half of one percent of them were on this plane. We're determined to do everything possible to solve the problem that took the lives of the one half of one percent."

The bigger problem is not the plane crash, but the millions of preventable deaths. We don't read much about these deaths. The media covers what's new - and millions of people dying is nothing new. So it stays in the background, where it's easier to ignore. But even when we do see it or read about it, it's difficult to keep our eyes on the problem. It's hard to look at suffering if the situation is so complex that we don't know how to help. And so we look away.

If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step: cutting through the complexity to find a solution. Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our caring. If we have clear and proven answers anytime an organization or individual asks "How can I help?," then we can get action - and we can make sure that none of the caring in the world is wasted. But complexity makes it hard to mark a path of action for everyone who cares - and that makes it hard for their caring to matter.

Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have - whether it's something sophisticated, like a drug, or something simpler, like a bednet.

The AIDS epidemic offers an example. The broad goal, of course, is to end the disease. The highest-leverage approach is prevention. The ideal technology would be a vaccine that gives lifetime immunity with a single dose. So governments, drug companies, and foundations fund vaccine research. But their work is likely to take more than a decade, so in the meantime, we have to work with what we have in hand - and the best prevention approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behavior.

Pursuing that goal starts the four-step cycle again. This is the pattern. The crucial thing is to never stop thinking and working - and never do what we did with malaria and tuberculosis in the 20th century - which is to surrender to complexity and quit.
The final step - after seeing the problem and finding an approach - is to measure the
impact of your work and share your successes and failures so that others learn from your efforts.

You have to have the statistics, of course. You have to be able to show that a program is vaccinating millions more children. You have to be able to show a decline in the number of children dying from these diseases. This is essential not just to improve the program, but also to help draw more investment from business and government. But if you want to inspire people to participate, you have to show more than numbers; you have to convey the human impact of the work - so people can feel what saving a life means to the families affected.

I remember going to Davos some years back and sitting on a global health panel that was discussing ways to save millions of lives. Millions! Think of the thrill of saving just one person's life - then multiply that by millions. ... Yet this was the most boring panel I've ever been on - ever. So boring even I couldn't bear it.

What made that experience especially striking was that I had just come from an event where we were introducing version 13 of some piece of software, and we had people jumping and shouting with excitement. I love getting people excited about software - but why can't we generate even more excitement for saving lives?

You can't get people excited unless you can help them see and feel the impact. And how you do that - is a complex question.

Still, I'm optimistic. Yes, inequity has been with us forever, but the new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever. They are new - they can help us make the most of our caring - and that's why the future can be different from the past. The defining and ongoing innovations of this age - biotechnology, the computer, the Internet - give us a chance we've never had before to end extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease.

Sixty years ago, George Marshall came to this commencement and announced a plan to assist the nations of post-war Europe. He said: "I think one difficulty is that the problem is one of such enormous complexity that the very mass of facts presented to the public by press and radio make it exceedingly difficult for the man in the street to reach a clear appraisement of the situation. It is virtually impossible at this distance to grasp at all the real significance of the situation."

Thirty years after Marshall made his address, as my class graduated without me, technology was emerging that would make the world smaller, more open, more visible, less distant. The emergence of low-cost personal computers gave rise to a powerful network that has transformed opportunities for learning and communicating.

The magical thing about this network is not just that it collapses distance and makes everyone your neighbor. It also dramatically increases the number of brilliant minds we can have working together on the same problem - and that scales up the rate of innovation to a staggering degree. At the same time, for every person in the world who has access to this technology, five people don't. That means many creative minds are left out of this discussion -- smart people with practical intelligence and
relevant experience who don't have the technology to hone their talents or
contribute their ideas to the world.

We need as many people as possible to have access to this technology, because these advances are triggering a revolution in what human beings can do for one another. They are making it possible not just for national governments, but for universities, corporations, smaller organizations, and even individuals to see problems, see approaches, and measure the impact of their efforts to address the hunger, poverty, and desperation George Marshall spoke of 60 years ago.

Members of the Harvard Family: Here in the Yard is one of the great collections of intellectual talent in the world.

What for?

There is no question that the faculty, the alumni, the students, and the benefactors of Harvard have used their power to improve the lives of people here and around the world. But can we do more? Can Harvard dedicate its intellect to improving the lives of people who will never even hear its name?

Let me make a request of the deans and the professors - the intellectual leaders here at Harvard: As you hire new faculty, award tenure, review curriculum, and determine degree requirements, please ask yourselves: Should our best minds be dedicated to solving our biggest problems?

Should Harvard encourage its faculty to take on the world's worst inequities? Should Harvard students learn about the depth of global poverty ... the prevalence of world hunger ... the scarcity of clean water ...the girls kept out of school ... the children who die from diseases we can cure? Should the world's most privileged people learn about the lives of the world's least privileged?

These are not rhetorical questions - you will answer with your policies.

My mother, who was filled with pride the day I was admitted here - never stopped pressing me to do more for others. A few days before my wedding, she hosted a bridal event, at which she read aloud a letter about marriage that she had written to Melinda. My mother was very ill with cancer at the time, but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message, and at the close of the letter she said: "From those to whom much is given, much is expected."

When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been given - in talent, privilege, and opportunity - there is almost no limit to what the world has a right to expect from us.

In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the graduates here to take on an issue - a complex problem, a deep inequity, and become a specialist on it. If you make it the focus of your career, that would be phenomenal. But you don't have to do that to make an impact. For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers, and find ways to cut through them.

Don't let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.

You graduates are coming of age in an amazing time. As you leave Harvard, you have technology that members of my class never had. You have awareness of global inequity, which we did not have. And with that awareness, you likely also have an informed conscience that will torment you if you abandon these people whose lives you could change with very little effort. You have more than we had; you must start sooner, and carry on longer.

Knowing what you know, how could you not?

And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now and reflect on what you have done with your talent and your energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the world's deepest inequities ... on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity.

Good luck.

Organic Fresh Foods at your doorstep

Well, I'm not talking about the Tesco's organic range at my doorstep. Curiosity got the better of me, so when I received the 2nd Abel & Cole's brochure in the mailbox, with a recommendation from an Australian colleague of mine living in London who uses them frequently, I decided to check out the website.

The result is surprising. A wide range of fish, meats, dairy, fruits and vegetables - all organic, locally farmed and sourced without air freight - at relatively affordable prices, delivered to your door free of charge and you don't even have to be home when they arrive. Even better, they deliver at my area on Fridays, which is my usual grocery day out anyway, which makes for a very good option in home cooking during the week.

I might switch very soon after coming back from Singapore - simply because the range of food isn't too shabby for now and then cooking. Having a mixed bag also takes the humdrum away from having to choose foods, and allows me to try new foods which I probably wouldn't buy if I were walking around Tesco's by myself. I might try it for the fish, if it's going to be good - since Tesco's isn't.

I love this, actually. Life is too short to eat cheap, run of the mill, probably unhealthy Tesco produced fresh produce. Overcoming the snob value of getting organic food all the time, the bottom line is that for good taste and for good health, getting fresh foods from a specialized grocer like this, even if you pay more, is well worth it's while in the long run.

Did I mention the other day that I was walking in Tesco's and browsing the fruits section when I found mouldy grapes sitting on one of the shelves? I've been getting squeamish about mass produced fresh foods for a while now...

And the winner is...

Every year around my birthday and Christmas, I identify a birthday present for myself. So the quick pick desire (I waaaaaaaaaannnnntttttt this bad!) item of the year is...

A laptop back pack. And not just any laptop back pack either, one I found on the Apple store specially designed for the MacBook too. For shame!

The LeBag for PowerBook 15” by be.ez

Little Things....

Japanese Lamp
Originally uploaded by metaphoric.

... make me happy.

Like being able to fix up this lamp all by myself.

I had bought it from Thailand a year ago, and never thought to fix it up and use it as a night light, until today when I had 20 minutes to spare.

Somehow the quiet light and dainty floral/pressed leaves pattern make me happy.

Meme: Car Music

I'd always wanted to start this list - a compilation of music that go well with long car rides, road trips... basically songs the DJ should be playing at 60 miles/hour. More additions to follow, but I realized that one of my favourite experiences would be to drive a Saab (potentially possible) to Tori Amos (also possible).

1. Tori Amos - Sleeps with Butterflies
2. Tori Amos - Bouncing off Clouds
3. The Eagles - Love Will Keep Us Alive

Incidentally, a playlist I came up with when I was bored (I play a little game with myself on the train, I go through my playlist and come up with a playlist with a theme) - this one was music with driving/cars/travelling themes (my iPod music list wasn't complete):

1. Tori Amos - Cars and Guitars
2. Tori Amos - Taxi Ride
3. Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
4. Sheryl Crow - Every Day is a Winding Road
5. Tori Amos - Big Wheel (surprisingly goes very well after Sheryl Crow)
6. Tori Amos - Beauty of Speed
7. Bent - Private Road
8. Radiohead - Street Spirit (at some point, I insist)
9. Tori Amos - Roosterspur Bridge
10. Vienna Teng - Harbor
11. Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars

More to follow as things strike me - although I thought the car/travel playlist if made into a CD would be a very good congratulations gift to someone who's just got himself a new car or just passed his driving test. (eh, little fish?)

In memory of the previous bike

I know I'm a bit obsessed, but just to put things in perspective, colour and all - you see, it looks so much nicer. Sportier, white, with that nice trimming on the saddle too.

But I'm learning that looks aren't everything.

The Ride

Specialized has bigger wheels, making the ride stable, but harder work. While the Giant could previously go on gear 4 on a straight road, the Specialized cuts a little bit of work at 3, with 4 if you want a workout.

But stable it is. I now can come to a halt at traffic lights while balancing perfectly on the bike. With some Giants you can do that, but I found the frame giving that tinny, hollow feeling, while not exactly being too light either.

The Body

Frame wise, the Specialized had one detail that the Giant kind of messed up on - the Giant had the wires at the bottom of the top bar of the frame, making lifting the bike messy work with wires pressing into your fingers. Like most other bikes, Specialized routes them on the side and top of the bar, so you get a clear lift off.

It's also 0.6kg lighter, overall having a slightly better frame, so while nobody likes to lift bikes off the ground, at least now I can rather easily, despite the Specialized being a 15" frame to the Giant's 14" frame.

It's got comments that it was a big bike for a small girl though, something which is probably true, although the Giant did feel a tad tiny to my frame. I had to push the seat down as far as I can manage while cramming in the lights, reflector and mudguard, but am realizing that vantage point and leverage on the pedals cannot be under-estimated.

The Joy

Oh the joy of the ride. The Specialized has silent well-oiled brakes, unlike the screechy nonsense of the old girl. I am beginning to wonder if the place where I got it next specialized (pun unintended) in only bicycles, unlike the multi-purpose shop where I had to get the previous bike, and hence did a better job of tuning the bike up prior to shipping. Never mind that I had to fit the pedals, turn the handlebars and adjust the seat for myself and didn't get a customized fitting - but Halfords did a half bit job of it anyway and besides fitting the bike up in front of my eyes, didn't do much for the piece.

The brakes started screeching on the Giant since practically Day 1, and the chains rattled when they move. The frame is slightly lighter too, sacrificing balance for flexibility and control. So... you're looking at steering a Mazda instead of a BMW.

And it doesn't cushion rocks and hard places half as well as the Specialized does. Must be the numb preventing saddle.

Diffusion Drama

And because I am bored and missing alcohol...

Cocktails for Two

I'm quite taken by this incredibly cute ad on the telly these days from Schweppes. And thanks to subtitles being on, lyrics can now be found - (in bold are the bits used by the ad)

Cocktails For Two
Music by Arthur Johnston, lyrics by Sam Coslow, 1934

Oh what delight to be given the right
To be carefree and gay once again
No longer slinking, respectfully drinking
Like civilized ladies and men

No longer need we miss
A charming scene like this:

In some secluded rendezvous
That overlooks the avenue
With someone sharing a delightful chat
Of this and that
And cocktails for two

As we enjoy a cigarette
To some exquisite chansonnette
Two hands are sure to slyly meet beneath
A serviette
With cocktails for two

My head may go reeling
But my heart will be obedient
With intoxicating kisses
For the principal ingredient

Most any afternoon at five
We'll be so glad we're both alive
Then maybe fortune will complete her plan
That all began
With cocktails for two

And of course, you can find the ad on YouTube. :-)

My new set of wheels

As geographically closer friends would already know, my bicycle was stolen from right under my nose (or apartment building to be more exact) over the weekend. How? I wonder at the audacity of the thief, breaking into a locked (but commonly neglected) bicycle shed) and breaking the bicycle lock to get to my bike.

It was pretty much brand new! (laments) Having been only 2 months old at most, and of the brand that I liked the most - Giant.

I was pretty reluctant to consider other brands, being rather loyal to Giant after having tried it in Melbourne, but Specialized was the other brand which was recommended to me, and partially considered, after having finally decided to go the Giant way.

Guess fate had another thing to say. The lost Giant got replaced by the Specialized Hardrock Sport for Women. The only gripe I had about it was the colour of the frame - a sort of gaudy, electric blue, and the size of the frame (actually the one suited for my height, but my short legs make me chicken and I keep opting for a smaller frame that I should really get). But as for the ride, I can't complain.

In fact, it makes the Giant ride like a Toyota and the Specialized like a BMW bordering on a 4WD (the irony). It's sturdy. Stable. With large wheels (larger than the Giant, larger than the frame almost in proportion), and a silent, smooth braking system and gears that click and shift into place better than the clunky Giant, I'm beginning to think that Giant is simply overrated as being the biggest producer of bikes in the world and therefore showing high value for money for the features on their bikes.

This frame is lighter, despite being larger, and offers better control. Despite the large wheels, turning at slow speeds offer confidence, control and precision, and stability on surfaces is unparallelled. Previously, the Giant Yukon would rattle a little, and the brakes made a skittery, squeaky noise from Day 1. This one glides smoothly and firmly to a halt, and there isn't a hint of a rattle, even on rough surfaces.

The only thing now to get used to is the height. I pushed the wheels way down so my feet pretty much touch the ground and went as chicken as I dared. Although that's the way it is, and comfort wise a requirement, needing to mount a bike instead of simply get on makes me feel a little uncomfortable. Not to mention I've not yet really mastered the elegant way of getting on and off with a skirt on.

But pleased I am. And if this gets stolen yet again, my heart is really going to be broken.

Everything but the kitchen sink

As any fashionista would know these days, being a desperate housewife, or a housewife in any case, desperation optional, is big these days. Nothing says more than luxury after L'Occitane toiletries and Creme de la Mer facial products than clothes care from The Laundress, New York, and washing up liquids in original organic scents like rosemary, thyme and sage. What was used almost exclusively on the face is now also, exclusively for wool, cashmere and the kitchen sink.

So, here's some top tips from The Laundress on how to be fashionably green, since green has now become the new black.

1. Eliminate toxic chemicals such as bleach, which is bad for the environment and bad for the fibres in your clothes too. Alternative acids which are less harmful include vinegar (icky smelling though), and on a nicer note, citrus fruit juices.
2. For smaller loads and delicates, hand wash and air dry to save water and energy.
3. Spot clean instead of wash the entire garment again. Sometimes not every bit of the clothes become dirty. You don't have to wash your items after just one use! (I learnt this myself yesterday) Save water, energy and avoid your favourite outfits going to pot with overwashing.
4. Avoid dry cleaners and dry cleaning clothes where possible because they use harmful chemicals in the wash process. Certain pieces only need dry-cleaning twice a year. Keep them fresh with clothes fresheners instead - and a cheap and easy alternative is to fill a spray with 7-8 drops of your favourite essential oils, diluted with distilled water. I also like the idea of diluting one of my favourite bottles of body spray (especially by filling bottles that are running out) to maintain a signature scent.
5. Use paper dryers that are biodegradable, recyclable and have no carcinogenic fibres. Actually, even better, get dryer balls that are reusable hundreds of times.

I've also discovered ironing water, a wonderful European invention. I'm not obsessed, but ironing water in the iron smells great and prevents the iron from limescaling with the hard water that is frequently found here. Keeps your clothes in good shape and your iron too. Don't laugh - I've recently just got myself the organic ironing water in a large 1 litre bottle, for the ironing that I so rarely do.

I ran into a door today

Unbelievable. Sometimes I think I walk around with my eyes closed. I ran into a door today. And it was a door at home. What's more, the door was wide open. As in, the door was completely not in my way. In fact, it couldn't have been any more out of my way if it had tried. It was wide open, there was a door's width for me to pass through and I had to walk into the door.

I don't actually know what happened. I must have closed my eyes and walked, completely awake, about 3-5 feet into the door. Talk about peripheral vision, my straight ahead vision wasn't even working!

Please laugh with me with that sort of laughter slapstick humour generally generates. It'll help me feel better. After all, I've now got a bruise on my head, right above my right eye, and it's swelling. In a line (door's edge)! *laughter again*

Ouch.

P/S: Yes, this does happen to me. Very often. My sense of physical presence must hover somewhere 2 feet above my head most days, at the rate I get myself into accidents.
Trade-off: I'm very good at virtual games, however. I think it's because virtual reality has very little difference to me from actual reality the way my perception goes.

Broken-Up Music #3

And finally, the revelation, the guilt trip, the blame song. There's actually something very liberating in this song, but you only find it in the background vocals and chords.

Over some time, a long long long time ago, I realised the exact emotion that this song conveyed. That sense of freedom, of cathartic relief. It's that emotion that you get from the first breath you draw after crying until you cannot possibly, physically, cry any more. It feels almost like being born again (never mind the fact you're doing pretty much the same thing when you're born), followed by the relief of breathing, simply breathing, crisp, clear air (anywhere you are, at that moment, the air is crisp, I promise).

It's actually the sense of being very very glad to be alive, regardless how horrible things get, despite whatever makes you cry. It's the realization that it is because of suffering (someone else's and later ours) that we're alive in the first place.

Broken-Up Music #3 - Sarah McLachlan - Plenty

I looked into your eyes
They told me plenty
I already knew
You
never felt a thing
So soon forgotten all that you do
In more than words I
Tried to tell you
The more I tried I failed

I would not let myself believe
That you might stray
And I would stand by you
No matter what they’d say,
I would have thought I’d be with you
Until my dying day
Until my dying day

I used to think my life
Was often empty
A lonely space to fill
You hurt me more than
I ever would have imagined
You made my world stand still

And in that stillness
There was a freedom
I never felt before
I would not let myself believe
That you might stray
And I would stand by you
No matter what they’d say,
I would have thought I’d be with you
Until my dying day
Until my dying day

Broken-Up Music #2

This one's always been a classic. There are different types. There are some types that get you eating anything sweet. This song is best served with a generous stirring sugar into unlimited iced tea and a dessert buffet. Bring a willing friend and a listening ear.

Broken Up Music #2 - Tori Amos - Baker Baker

Baker Baker
Baking a cake
Make me a day
Make me whole again
And I wonder
What's in a day
What's in your cake this time?

I guess you heard
He's gone to LA
He says that beihnd my eyes I'm hiding
And he tells me I pushed him away
That my heart's been hard to find

Here, there must be something
Here, there must be something here, here

Baker Baker can you explain
If truly his heart
Was made of icing
And I wonder
How mine could taste
Maybe we could change his mind

I know you're late
For your next parade
You came to make sure
That I'm not running
Well I ran from him
In all kinds of ways
Guess it was his turn this time

Time thought I'd made friends with time
Thought we'd be flying
Maybe not this time

Baker Baker
Baking a cake
Make me a day
Make me whole again
And I wonder
If he's ok
If you see him say hi

Broken-Up Music #1

Don't be sensitive, it's nothing at all, seriously. Recently I've taken a shine to broken up music, with a collector's ear kind of interest. It's one of those things that everybody sings about, even though when you think about it, it's kind of weird to think that the first reaction people would have to emotions like regret, wistfulness, sentimentality, hurt, anger, despair is to sing, but the human voice is an expressive instrument.

I love collecting emotions. And sometimes trite phrases that come up in lyrics ("The heart of a gypsy; the soul of a stone" - Take That) just make me laugh.

Anyway, first part of the broken up music collection: Take That - Like I Never Loved You at All

In celebration of the fade-to-zero emotion that comes in with a break-up. I used to think that the worst thing you can do to someone is to fade-to-zero, so I love it that this is the first song that put it quite so literally. At least I can say Take That has become honest in their lyrics.

Where, where are the stars?
The one that we used to call ours
Can't imagine it now
We used to laugh til we fell down.

The secrets we had
Are now in the past
From something to nothing, tell me.

How did we lose our way?
It's hard to remember
All that we shared
Now we both have separate lives
From lovers to strangers, now alone
There's no one catching my fall
No one to hear my call
It's like I never loved you at all.

Now you're so far away
And I see our star is fading
One too many times
Guess it just got tired of waiting around.

The nights that we thought,
If these walls could talk
From something to nothing, tell me.

So now does he give you love
Is it only me now that's thinking of
What we had and what we were?
Did you ever care?
Baby was I ever there?

Ever passed an ex along the streets, glanced at each other, there was a clear sign of recognition, but all you get back was a blank stare? Bottle up that feeling and put it in a song.