New books!!

...courtesy of the publishers...

Remember the Meg Cabot omnibus I wrote about earlier which had the missing pages? So I wrote to the publishers and told them about the problem.

And I received this in the mail a couple of days ago. Yippee!

Last Night's Dinner

The folks have been holidaying here since Sunday night and I'm glad for the company. If nothing else, the food I cook doesn't sit in my fridge for days while I try to scarf down the leftovers. 

But of course, that's not the only reason I'm happy they're here. Dad seems less stressed out, mum seems glad for someone to share her angst with, and I'm in my element when I can fuss over people - you know, putting out pots of tea, sorting out their laundry, sitting with them while they watch tv. (Or in dad's case, while the tv watches him!)

Last night mum bought some serondeng and ketupat and I grilled some chicken and chucked some fish fillets in a chilli crab gravy. It was simple but it was good. And most importantly - it was finished!

Queen of Babble

This is the book I've been reading. I got to the end last night. Only, at page 251 I realised I was back at page 219. There was a repeat of the whole chunk from chapter 19 onwards for about 30 pages, and then it skipped all the way to page 282. So I missed the bit where Lizzie received her present from Luke. She was expecting an engagement ring - only it wasn't a ring, and from what I can tell they must have gotten into a fight and broken up. Cos by page 282 she had moved out of her apartment and into the upstairs unit of the shophouse where she works.

I hopped over to the publisher's website where there's a nifty link to an email address where you can report faults like missing pages (I wonder if this happens often) and they've auto-responded saying someone will contact me about my report soon.

And so it IS possible to get from 247 to 283 in the span of 2 pages... Sigh. Anyone want an almost-choose-your-own-adventure romance novel?

The Bait & Wait

I've just been sitting on my butt for the last 2 hours in my room watching He's Just Not That Into You.

And you know, the main thing I got out of it is that I've been a stupid cow the last 30 years of my life. With every relationship I can look back now and pinpoint the exact moment when it all fell apart. The moment when I should have walked away. But didn't. I'm just pissed that I wasted so much time - not only on the ones who never quite made it to relationship status, but even on the ones who did.

So the deal is this - since so many people out there wonder why women keep hanging on and hoping and waiting for the guy to call / ask her out / propose, I have decided to consciously remember that if he ain't calling, then he ain't interested.

Having said that.. over the last month I've had 5 almost-offers to go out. I say "almost" because they've all expressed some sort of interest in meeting up / having coffee / buying me dinner, but only 1 has ACTUALLY asked if I was available over the weekend. Unfortunately I wasn't so the date didn't happen but that's not the point of this story.

The point is, why would you say "we should have dinner sometime" or "I'd like to take you out" or "let's meet for coffee when your schedule lightens up"  and then NOT set a date or ask a girl out?

My theory is that guys just don't realise that's what they've gotta do. And asking her out means you set a day and time - not call up NOW and say "hey, you free for brunch?" cos chances are she won't be. Cos she has a life right? And she would have already made other plans. And if she hasn't, it's likely she's got stuff to do or errands to run or simply doesn't feel like company.

So here are lines I'm getting from the Bait & Waiters of the moment:

"I was going to ask if you wanted to go out but I thought you'd be busy"    

So you're a psychic now are you?

"Oh do you often have friends over for drinks? So when am I going to get an invitation?"

We've never met. Ever. Why would I ask you to my home?

"I'd love to continue this conversation over dinner sometime"  but hasn't been able to actually project a date in the future for this to happen. He HAS however rung me up and asked if I wanted to have brunch like NOW at least 3 times. Sorry. I don't do beck and call anymore.

"We should definitely have coffee. I'd love to hear from you when you're free to meet." 

Am I expected to email you a timetable? You've fished around to scope out my willingness to meet up and I've said, sure I'd like that. It's your turn buddy. It's not like you don't have my number.

So if anyone knows a decent bloke who isn't likely to piss me off, and whom you think might appreciate my personality and all-round (pun definitely intended!) good looks, throw him my way will ya? And yes, he has to call me. Cos I ain't doin' no mo' callin'.

Hello, Write Properly, Can?

Short Sorries... I mean, Stories.

1. I was looking at indie blogshops selling used clothing (ok, some of the stuff is purported to be brand new, with tags intact, even) and the one thing that struck me is how many Singaporeans mix-up reasonably common words. The 2 most common mistakes are using BROUGHT instead of BOUGHT and INTERLINING instead of INNER-LINING. I mean, the last time I heard the word "interline" there were aeroplanes involved. There is a fashion-industry use of the word Interlining - it refers to the sandwiched piece of cloth BETWEEN the main garment and its lining, or any fabric commonly used for such a purpose. I'm sure that's NOT what these web-sellers are referring to. 

2. Earlier on today I had a conversation online with a bloke. He made a joke that was totally not funny. It was more of a one-liner, really. Which didn't make any sense at all. In addition, it was about something I said in reference to something my best friend gave me.  When I totally didn't react in the manner which he was expecting his reply was "Just Kidding".  A) You're not my friend and I don't know you. We've never met in person and I'm only chatting with you online to be polite because you enquired about something I posted up. B) You don't know my friend and you have no idea what it is we're talking about because the reference was for HER not YOU. C) Do you even know the meaning of "Just Kidding"? 

3. While many have adopted the practice of typing words using as few letters as possible in an SMS (aka Text message) I'd like to point out that when you're writing a story for people to read on your blog, it is NT ok 2 type lyk dis bcos d eye doesn't automatically pik up d meang of d word if it's nt spelt out prop. The result is that it takes a person twice as long to decipher the meaning of your discourse. Well, alright, maybe not twice as long, but definitely longer than normal. And isn't it more natural for your fingers to type the actual word out on a computer keyboard anyway? If you've used the computer for any amount of time and type regularly enough muscle memory takes over no? (and now tell me, did you slow down while reading that funny line up there? Cos I did when I read through this paragraph - and I WROTE it!)

4. Back to fashion blogs. Just one more thing to add. When you don't know the correct word, or if there's a chance you might be using the wrong one, just swap it out for a simpler version. Eg. The description for a Black and Cream Polka Dot Dress >> Goes from the office to the restaurant - all you need is a simple bracelet and necklace to compliment the outfit. In my head I have a comic strip going: Dear outfit - You're looking nice today... Why, thanks for the compliment. Seriously. *Rolls eyeballs*

So u noe, I saw dis dress tt wil really compliment d shoes I brought in M'sia bt den dere was no interlining! How? no lah.. Just Kidding!