istoo

Because Neil asked

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 22:26:45 GMT

from the bottom Neil Gaiman's journal post "...when you live in a godless universe of pain. If the universe was ordered, Neil Armstrong should :

"I'd like to ask a small favour of those of you who have read down this far. Would anyone reading this, anyone with a blog or a website that is, mind linking to the last post -- http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2007/02/and-in-time-it-took-to-say-that-neil.html -- with the link text Penn Jillette? Given Penn's recent rant about the power and ubiquity of this blog on his radio show, I'd like to mess with his head just a little and see if we can actually google-bomb it so that that entry shows in the top few entries if you google Penn's name.

And sshhh, don't anyone tell him. I want it to be a surprise."

so Penn Jillette.

Snow problem

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 07:00:29 GMT

Hi, I'm still here, still square, and still care that I haven't been blogging much.
Today I saw something that I haven't seen for a while, snow in January in London. Snow seemed to come later in the year for quite some time now, around February / March instead of December / January as it used to.
I wonder if it's because of climate change, global warming, or that El Nino with the squiggly accent.

nix to 2006

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 23:55:53 GMT

Well, it looks like that year of time again, does it seem the same as last year to you? Outside I can hear some fireworks.

Following a meme a couple of years ago, I try to make a note if I do anything new during the year. Looking back, I would say that the only new things I did this year was go to the theatre to see 'Wolves in the walls', followed by meeting a few people that have blogs.

Hope you have a good new year.

Postsecret post

Sat, 25 Nov 2006 23:52:04 GMT

As I sometimes do, I saw that there was something going on in London, I had the free time, and decided to go take a look. A postsecret book is now available in UK, and Frank Warren (the author) was going to open a PostSecret exhibit at Foyles Gallery, Charing Cross Road, London (November 20th to December 10th).

Went and had a look round, it's been a while since I last visited Foyles bookstore, didn't know they had a gallery (could be new I suppose). The secrets were interesting, some sad, some amusing. It seems strange being privy to anonymous confessions, as I think that some have a lot of emotion involved.

At one end of the gallery was a chair and a table with some cards and colouring pencils. You could use the blank cards for making your own postsecret to be left in a jar there, and later added to the wall nearby. The other side of the cards had areas for an address and text / secret.

There were about 30 or 40 cards shown, which I presume were also in the book. Happened to be there before Frank Warren was going to sign copies of the book, so he signed one for me. I seem to be buying signed books these days.

Custom

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 22:30:40 GMT

Not sure how much is custom or cultural tradition, but I was asked about the rituals a (long) while ago. Anyway, it was a nice sunny day to go visit the cemetery, though we had some delay due to traffic.

I was told that there are two dates of the year for paying respect to the dead in Hong Kong - one roughly near Easter : Ching Ming Festival and one around Hallowe'en : Chung Yeung Festival. As I can only visit on a Saturday, so we went this day closest to October 30th.

First thing was to clean the area, cutting the longer grass, pulling weeds and tidying up. Two candles were lit, then the flames from them were used to light some joss sticks. The candles, joss sticks and paper items used later were bought together in a pack I believe, probably available in china town.
The candles were on sticks so that they could be inserted into the ground or container to hold them up. They were placed one on each side (in a pot), with the joss sticks placed in front / in between them, in three bunches.

Using flames from the candles, representation of paper money was burnt on the ground in front. A metal tray was used just to place the burning money on, and there was quite an amount of paper that had to be completely turned to ash and cinder.

While the 'money' and other paper things were burning (I don't know what they represented), food and drink were placed on the sides. A plate with some favourite things on the left, and on the right were three small cups of tea (favourite drink I suppose) and three cups of some alcohol. I don't know if the groups of three things meant anything, or it was because there are three of us.

The paper had to be burnt completely, so had to use a stick to turn them over to check for embers and light any paper still intact. We had brought a lighter rather than matches for our burning needs. It was interesting to see the patterns of the embers moving, like little red worm shapes as they burnt the paper.
Three small bows then waiting until the candles and joss sticks had all burnt down, before we finished up. The alcohol was poured slowly across the ashes on the ground, one by one, in a line from the left to right, followed by the tea in the same fashion.

Finally we cleaned up the things we brought with us, packed up and left.

Closed

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:10:57 GMT

I know that I am somewhat nosy and secretive - I prefer to find out more about others than I am willing to share about myself.

In September, New Scientist magazine had some reports on Living Online about online social networking, such as MySpace, and one was entitled "The end to privacy?" (you can only read the first part of the article in the NS archives, but found that someone had a copy of the whole text).
Articles like that one, and ones like How to Dissuade Yourself from Becoming a Blogger mention how public the information that you put online could be, unless you expressly make it otherwise.

It is these kind of reasons that makes me reluctant to write much about things that may be personal or revealing, but that could be said in public (I tend not to write private posts and few friends only ones).
Perhaps I feel that talking about some things or 'opening up', could be make oneself vunerable to having what has been said used against them. So I tend to limit what I write about.

Lines of communication

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 22:02:10 GMT

So why don't I write more? The main reason is probably laziness, and perhaps I'm not that good at communicating with others.

I can't really use the excuse of not having something to say, as when I don't feel my day to day is worth writing about, I can think up a topic to write a few words on. Free time is not that much of an issue, if I have time read others people's journals, then that is time I can make small comments or posts. You could say that while I may have the means and opportunity, I probably don't have the motivation.

There may also be a case of 'the longer you leave a task, the harder it is to do', and it feels easier just to not say anything much, the times I might have said something being overruled by the habit of keeping quiet.

Anyway, just a few lines as a friend wanted me to post more (not a nudge but a snug), so here I am in October.

Superman Returns

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 22:59:07 GMT

It's Friday, so it must be September.

I shouldn't really ask "How are you doing?" as it might be a rhetorical question since I could get an answer from looking at current blog posts of my flist. Perhaps instead I should be telling you what I have been up to, with me being quiet for a while (although the answer is "not much").

Today, went out to see the film Superman Returns. It was good, I liked it, my friend thought it was better than X-Men 3, but I haven't seen that so can't say. While there were thoughts and questions on one point or another, I didn't bother about them and just watched it. Liked how the theme sounded in the cinema, how I remember it from watching the previous films on television (never saw them at the cinema).

Afterwards, went for a walkabout along the Thames, from about Embankment to look for the Tate Modern, friend wanted to look in the shop there. It was a nice walk and relatively quiet, as the other side of the river was mostly pedestrian with no major roads in range to cause too much traffic noise. Need to go visit there again sometime, now that I know where it is and how to get there.

Had camera with me, so took snaps at anything that looked remotely interesting, or just things like notable landmarks and structures at certain angles. I don't take enough pictures usually, as sometimes feel self-conscious snapping any small thing that takes my fancy, or other times when the batteries are flat from periods of non-use and need recharging.

Contemplation

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 22:08:02 GMT

There are times, such as at new year's day, anniversaries and birthdays (or after momentous events) when people might look back over the previous year, and think about what has happened during that time. If they have medium or long term plans, they may consider whether they are on schedule, and if things are going according to said plans. I'm of the no-plan type, not knowing where I want to be in say 5 years time, only the vague notion of 'some where better'.

Well, when I look back, I see that I'm still where I am last year, and probably the year before that. Practically nothing new has changed much here, with most weeks and months about the same as the ones before.

Contemplation probably makes it sound more thoughtful than I really am at the moment. I wonder if I should look for another job. Been at the same place for a few years now, and the little things that are annoyances could eventually lead to resentment (and the dark side) and wanting to go someplace else and do something better.

Of course, thinking about something and actually doing something about it are two separate things. Lazy as I am, that's how I got here in the first place, by taking whatever temporary work came along at the time (within reason).

Let's see where I am next year.

Sights out in London

Sat, 20 May 2006 22:33:09 GMT

One of the things about being the sort of person that doesn't go out much (I'm the stay at homey type) is that I can sometimes miss out on happenings that I might have been interested in. Take for example the other week, when there was a visit by The Sultan's Elephant. I only found out about after the weekend, when it was all over, as people started mentioning it. That is to be expected (missing things) as I don't catch them mentioned on tv, or read the entertainment guides as what's happening out in London (although someone did think that Sultan's Elephant wasn't very well publicized).

This weekend, I decided to visit some place I had not been before in London (and there are plenty of those places), went to Covent Garden to have a look see. What is unusual I guess is that it's only a short walk or one tube stop (London Underground station) away from Leicester Square, which is one place I go to often-ish (has cinemas there and London's Chinatown). Need to go and visit there again when I get the chance, has nice things. Street performers, lots of stores and stalls of interesting stuff.

As I had said to a friend, that although I'm living in a city like London with lots of stuff to see and visit, it's a shame that I don't actually go visit and see some of these things and places. It's not quite like a 'familiarity breeds contempt' type thing, just that sometimes don't have time or energy to go explore places (go off the beaten track etc.) and see what's out there (and do touristy type things).

Channel hopping

Sun, 07 May 2006 21:16:15 GMT

So now we have digital cable television. We had cable tv, but lately it has been on the fritz, so had to call the provider about it. They said that they would send someone round to fix it, so it was decided that they could come and upgrade to the digital service while they were at it. We were offered digital before, but didn't want the bother of someone visiting to set it up (we were okay as with what we had, and tend not to want visitors seeing our messy place).

Any how, having lots of extra channels (going from tens to over one hundred, possibly two hundred) can consume a lot of time. There is the usual trying to check the channels that are usually watched, as well as changing channels to find something interesting to watch (as though having a short attention span, hopping from one channel to the next).

Have to try to resist spending too much time in front of the telly (and stay in front of the computer instead).

Five questions interview meme

Wed, 03 May 2006 20:58:27 GMT

1. Leave me a comment expressing interest in being interviewed
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. (Subject to time and the possible running out of inspiration)
3. Then update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. Include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others ask to be interviewed, ask them five questions.

I was interviewed by miss__scarlet
1) What kind of work do you do, and is this where you thought you would work when you were at school?
At the moment, it's manual work, moving stuff, operating machinery type work. Nope, this would not be where I thought I would be when I was at school. I was the sort of person who didn't know what they wanted to do in life, so had no idea of what I could be doing in the future. I guess I still am, because if asked what type of work I would like, I can only give vague answers such as working with computers or something creative or fun. I didn't get much career advice or have aptitude tests so don't know what I could be suitable for.

2) What do you most enjoy about living in London?
There are lots of things that are nice here, but I can't pick one. I have not traveled much, so cannot compare how different locations feel to London. It's a cosmopolitan capital city, with different communities, interesting places and things to see and experience. I guess almost anything that you are interested in or like can be found here.
Other people have a better way of saying it : 'what I like about London'

3) If you were forced to take a holiday, all expenses paid, where would you choose to go?
Considering that I have been abroad only to one place, I wouldn't mind a holiday like that, doesn't need that much forcing for me to go. :)
If I can pick more than one location, it would be a round the world trip, visiting as many countries as I can. That way I can go to the places and see the sights that I have never seen, do the touristy things and maybe visit people that I know online, but have not met. The same thing but on a lesser scale would be traveling around Europe or America, if I had to limit it one place.

4) What is your favourite thing to wear and why do you like it?
In terms of ornaments or jewelery, I don't wear anything except my watch. As for clothes, I can't say that I have a favourite. I feel that I am unstylish or don't have much of a sense for fashion, so I just wear casual things whenever possible: t-shirt, jeans and sweater. At home it's similar, something like a sweatsuit that I can lounge about in.

5) Name a person dead or alive, real or fictional who you would like to meet, and why?
Could not come up with a definite person for this question.
My first answer would be 'my future significant other', someone who loves me (as I am) now, because that would save a bit of time. :)
Another person I would like to meet is a mentor, someone with wit and wisdom, who can teach me, help me grow and develop into something better, into someone who can overcome problems and can get through life with less worries. I can't think of a single entity to fill that role.
If I was really lucky, these two roles could be found in the same person.

and interviewed by kittygopounce
1. What makes you doubt that I wouldn't find your answers enjoyable or interesting or intelligent (or all of the above)?
I didn't mean it like that exactly. It's just I feel that my communication skills are a little rusty from not having posted for a while and the little conversation that I get. Having a tricky time trying to put things in writing, and answering some of the questions, especially when the answers are not definitive. It's taken me a few days answering Morven's and your questions. I'm glad when you find what I write enjoyable, it is just that sometimes I feel that it is interesting enough, when I compare it to others' writing. Probably a slight inferiority complex.

2. What was your favourite subject at school? Why? Has the subject had any impact on your adult life?
Don't think there was one particular subject that I liked more than others, liked a number of them. Let's see, I liked Maths, English and the sciences of Chemistry and Physics (maybe could say science in general if I had to pick one subject). Also liked art, music and French, but was not so good at those. Why? because some of them were fun and interesting, with some subjects allowing creativity, while others were about knowledge, and I wasn't too bad at some of them.
I think my favourite subjects have had some effect in some way or another.
Mathematics is almost everywhere in some form or other, such as computer studies, games and puzzles like sudoku.
English of course leads to reading and writing, from enjoying stories and writings of others to posting on LiveJournal, and trying to communicate thoughts and ideas through conversation.
Chemistry and Physics have probably influenced my like for science fiction and related things, like James Bond's gadgets, computers, robots and machines in anime, and how things work in general.

3. Tell me the earliest (shareable) memory that you recall. How old were you when this memory takes place?
I think my earliest memory is around age of 3 to 5 or so, not sure. It's just a memory of playing and maybe falling over outside, not really much. I think we have a photo of around that time (not of said falling over incident), doubt you'd want to see it. There is another memory of playing indoors with a drum, either a christmas or birthday present, not sure if that would be a later or earlier one.
My early memories are pretty patchy, my later ones aren't that complete either. :)

4. What is your favourite meal/dish? Do you know how to cook it? Or do you frequent multiple restaurants in search of the ultimate version? Why is it your favourite meal?
I like most things, so don't know what would be a favourite. Fish and chips are nice, so are pizzas, fast food, pasta and simple things like bangers (sausages) and mash with egg on bread. I guess if I had to choose it would be the dishes from chinese restaurants as a favourite. When I was younger (and seldom these days) we sometimes went to Chinatown in London to meet family and 'have tea' at a chinese restaurant. Generally liked most of the dishes, though there are somethings that I didn't, like chicken feet. Part of the appeal I think was the dining out, being at a restaurant when younger, and trying dishes that we would not usually have at home, like Dim Sum. I do not know how to cook any of those things and don't go out to restaurants that often so don't quest for the ultimate version.

5. Chocolate. White, milk, dark. Why? Why not? Any fillings/flavours in particular?
I like chocolate of the milk and white variety, not so keen on the dark kind. Probably because I like sweet things, dark chocolate being more bitter and I don't like bitter so much (which may also be why I don't like coffee much either). Don't mind little amounts of dark chocolate on jaffa cakes, but that's about it. With chocolate selection boxes, I tend to prefer soft centres to hard ones, so don't mind strawberry, orange, caramel, turkish delight type things.

Pub Chat

Sat, 22 Apr 2006 20:32:20 GMT

"Someone told me about the art of conversation, but I wasn't listening."

Nothing like a good conversation with friends.
Met up with Vladimir again, cellardoor28 and snowking. Those two are a nice couple, and the first LJists that I have met (at least London ones, Vladimir is mostly on greatestjournal now, so not sure he counts :).

The weather was okay, so we went to a pub to chat. I can see why people like to go to pubs, and have a nice conversation in amiable company. Though public houses would not be my first choices, as I prefer a less smoky noisy atmosphere, but we sat outside so was fine.

Been a while since had a sit down and nice informal chat, was fun. They talked about lots of things, while I was my usual quiet self and let the others talk, because they are more interesting. So far, when people first meet me, I'm not very chatty, but can get talkative when I feel more comfortable. We spent a few hours watching the people go by and discussing this and that. As was remarked, the things people talk about help form a different image to the impression one gets from just reading their journal online.

Hope to see them again sometime.

Wolves in the walls

Sat, 22 Apr 2006 11:13:31 GMT

Short version : Met Vladimir. saw Wolves in the Walls, was good, liked it.

Long version :
vladimirsever was in the UK for a short break, and was in London for a few days this Easter weekend.

Met up and went to a pub to chat, nice bloke. He managed to get some tickets to Wolves in the Walls play and there was a seat available. He asked if I wanted to go see it and I said okay.

Got there a little late (how late is fashionably late?), didn't miss too much of it.
Was my first time to a theatre. The show was good, fun, funny. The audience liked it, the children and adults grown ups alike laughing at the different parts. There was 3 bows at the end, because the audience kept on applauding.

Oh, and Dr. Who's back.

Matching voices to faces

Mon, 17 Apr 2006 21:19:50 GMT

It is strange hearing someone's voice for the first time, especially if you have never met them before and only communicated through text on the internet previously. Seeing their face in a userpic is one thing, but you can only hazard a guess to how they sound before you to hear them on the phone, and then decide if they sound like how you imagine their voice would be.
Kind of related to how I try to guess an actor from their voice in an animation, or when you cannot see who they are (V for Vendetta would be a recent example, though I already knew who it was). Trying to match the voice to a face can be tricky sometimes.

Unmissable

Mon, 17 Apr 2006 14:20:04 GMT

I don't want to sound like I'm unfeeling or unsentimental, but I don't seem to miss people much when they are not around. Perhaps it is because I don't mind being by myself, or that I have gotten used to not seeing family all the time every day. Starting with going to school and not seeing family until home again, up to working and being away from home for most of the day / week.

Another factor could be knowing that sometimes the people you used to know and see at school or work tend to leave (or you leave them) and not likely to see them much again after that. I have seen a few old schoolmates and occasionally spot someone from my past, but the majority of people I knew I have lost contact with.

With family, if someone goes on a trip or is away for a time, I don't seem to feel unduly worried (but still hope they remain safe). Similarly with internet friends, as long as I think they are okay, I don't have to worry that they haven't made much contact or updated their blog for a while (I just have to assume that they are busy, and 'no news is good news').

I don't want to think that 'familiarity breeds contempt' but maybe I just haven't found someone that I miss when they are not around.

Relatively Quiet

Sun, 19 Mar 2006 10:12:14 GMT

It's been a fairly quiet couple of weeks here, mostly because my mum has gone on a well deserved holiday with friends. So that means there has been less ~~nag~~ telling us what to do, and means some tidying up before she gets back.
Yes, I actually did some hoovering yesterday. I know that doesn't sound much, but if you knew how lazy I am and that I hadn't done any in about a month, then it's quite an announcement. :)

Familiar furniture

Sun, 12 Mar 2006 10:38:44 GMT

Hello, I'm here again. :) Not that there's any visible difference, but I am back in my familiar surroundings with the bookmarks in my usual browser (which I really should tidy up more). While it was nice using another computer, I didn't want to do stuff like save bookmarks or download stuff until I was back.

Turned out to be the power supply unit (some capacitor had burnt out or something), not too bad. But found out after buying and fitting a new motherboard first, so that was another necessary expense.

As long as I get my the internet, I'm happy. :)

Big spender

Thu, 09 Mar 2006 23:11:15 GMT

It seems that whenever I get the notion to try and save up a bit, things happen and I end up spending money. If it isn't something like utility bills, it's something else. I don't have a budget set, and forget when the quarterly bills come, so when they arrive they seem to have been waiting for me to get paid :) and I'm surprised as they came from nowhere.

Or as in this case, computer broke down and required some purchasing of bits to get it up and running again.
Other times it may be something of a tempting nature, such as the supermarket reducing the prices of some things that I might buy. One part of me will say "No, I won't buy any of them, even if they are reduced in price and I sometimes bought some before", while another part of brain says "but they're reduced, so if you buy them now you don't have to get them when the prices go back up again. it says while stocks last, and who knows how long they will?

Strange furniture

Mon, 06 Mar 2006 22:45:08 GMT

Hi, ~~I missed you.~~ I almost didn't post today. But then, not posting because I didn't have anything to write about and not posting due to no online access looks the same to whomever is looking. (I find it tricky trying to write off the top of my head.) It's strange that I want to post about not being able to post something.

What I'm trying to say is that the computer I normally use is not working. So I'm using someone else's computer, and it is like staying at some place new, with the furniture in different positions to what you are used to (hence trying to think up a subject title).

You really can miss things when they are gone or not available. No computer this morning meant no internet and no morning LJ fix, and couldn't get online 'til evening. Not sure what's wrong with computer, may be motherboard or memory, both will require ordering a replacement part.

Anyway, this is just to say that I might be more quiet than before, if that is possible, though due to intermittent internet access rather than me not saying anything.
It's getting late, otherwise I'd re write this a few times.

Ambigrams

Sun, 26 Feb 2006 09:56:30 GMT

Hi, how are you all? I am ok; cold, tired, achey (or just "fine" as I usually say). I haven't had much happen to write about, but I thought I'd better say something before anyone starts wondering. Haven't been able to write anything, so have been playing around with whatever comes along that I can get ideas from.

Since Cleolinda mentioned ambigrams a while back, I have been trying to make some up. I'd ask if you would want to see my sketches (does that line work?) but they are just scribbles while I work out the letter shapes. So I made a few of them to show ~~off~~ you.

Ambigram n., - a word or words that can be read in more than one way or from more than a single vantage point, such as both right side up and upside down. (from Latin: ambi=both gram=letter)

Some are trickier to do than others, and I have some more to work out.

Valentine's Day

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 18:44:07 GMT

Happy Valentine's Day to you all.

These are my Valentined icons, I left them 'til the last minute to make. :)

Book list 2006

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 20:42:22 GMT

Might as well make a list of books I have read this year and recently. I used to make a note of books I borrow from the library, so I know which ones I have already read, but I had stopped doing that for a while.

American Gods
Coraline
by Neil Gaiman
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Witch's Honour by Jan Siegel
which follows Prospero's Children, and The Dragon Charmer.

Collected stories of Vernor Vinge
Oryx and Crake by Magaret Atwood
Resonance by Chris Dolley

Currently reading
Caverns of Black Ice by J. V. Jones

Year of the Dog

Sun, 29 Jan 2006 21:11:19 GMT

It's Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dog (my kind of year). :)
So I did some icons.

Happy birthday to Heaven :)

Beep!

Sat, 21 Jan 2006 21:33:18 GMT

Hi, I'm not in right now,
Hiya, as you may have noticed, I haven't posted much lately. :) This is mostly because I don't have much happening to write about, and I'm not trying to fill up all the days with entries like I was last year.

I am still reading journals, but not so much posting on mine, and will try to keep up with comments now and then. I haven't actually gone anywhere.

so if you like, please leave a message after the tone.
If you like, you can try to nudge me, but it won't make me post more, and email would be better. :) Leaving a comment is okay too, it goes to the same email.

Beep!
ta ta for now!