Hodge podge, mish-mash.

With regards to the post about niceness, I think the whole problem arises when you start to question what it means to be nicer. Yes, that's it. Once you try to weigh niceness, you need to use measuring devices, and the most straightforward one would be time/effort/money. You can't detect intent clearly anyway, so no point trying to measure that. So on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 would be niceness that only has intent, and 10 would be niceness that has intent AND oodles of time/effort money.

I am clearly procrastinating from doing what I need to do, but nobody likes to hear insecure whining so let's move on!

I've been baking like crazy, and if I posted up everything I made you'd be bored to death. I've made:

9-inch cheesecake
6 plain cheesecake cupcakes
12 carrotcake cheesecake cupcakes
6 chocolate swirl cheesecake cupcakes
4 cappucino cheesecake cupcakes
9x5-inch cheesecake swirl brownie
24 cheesecake-filled thumbprints
2 loaves of cream cheese bread

The problem with cream cheese is that once opened, it needs to be used within a week to prevent spoilage. So far people have nothing but rave reviews for what I've made ('cept for my mum - "Aiyo, can you don't make so sweet?"), so that's a relief. I apparently should be a patissier. But I don't invent recipes; I'm just a rather meticulous and somewhat diligent follower.


Carrotcake cheesecake. It's very good.

It was also the first time I tried making bread, and it's a very tedious process actually, which I shall not bother to delve into. But look!


The carbon dioxide that the yeast produces is enough to cause such a bulge in the clingwrap! Quite cool. It's like conducting a home science experiment. On that note, here's a site: Cooking for Engineers.

I was rifling through an old notebook and saw this.


It SEEMS like I jotted it down from some self-help book. I may have came up with it myself, but I doubt it. Either way, it's definitely about socialising. I can't remember who I was trying to evaluate with those little ticks and crosses, but it does seem as if that particular someone had probably made me feel like shit, because he enlightens me about my suckiness (de-elevates). The step-by-step conversation thing is quite comprehensive. (Only because it's so duh.) But online conversations usually don't allow for discussing surroundings, because that would probably fall into no.2 of bad talking-at styles.

I realise that I rarely talk AT people. I hardly ever lecture/tell stories/sermonise/relate jokes, except for people I'm really comfortable with, and even then I don't lecture/sermonise unless I think the other person wants a wake-up call. Maybe that's why I'm always a victim of these conversation-killers. Ah well.

Random inspiration pictures:



Dior Couture F/W 2008: Gorgeous! It's like a combination of my favourite things: translucence, figure-huggingness, lingerie-inspired, and the 50's silhouette. I can never wear that shade of dusty blue... Or whatever it's called.


Love the ballet/lingerie look going on. Combination of textures. Soft, silky, etc.


Leggy and lingerie-inspired again.


This makes me think I need a motorcyle jacket.

karlascloset.com, lookbook.nu, facehunter.blogspot.com, style.com

Another random favourite website: garancedore.fr. Can't read French but pictures transcend language.

DramaFest was great - I think I shall support school productions as much as possible, because it's so affordable. I think the best plays are those that feature things that can ONLY happen in plays; like Sure Thing. It's sort of the same concept of why I think graphic tees aren't very intelligent, because you can put the same design on a, say, tote bag, and it'll still be as effective. If a particular design can be replicated in several incarnations, then I don't think it's very clever. It's as good as drawing on a flat canvas. Whereas really great designs and ideas take into account the medium used and everything.


Take for example this Martin Margiela tee. The graphics is actually some famous painting that I can't be arsed to find out. This is a bad design. Not only because it's blatantly copied, but because it doesn't take into account its medium. Pays no attention to the female form, etc.

These are what I call good designs.


shikisai alternative t-shirts

If you were to print the same thing somewhere else, the design wouldn't work anymore. It's a tee-exclusive design. And that's what I think distinguishes good designs/concepts and bad ones. Sheesh, should I even bother explaining my design aesthetic?

Maybe that's why I don't get music, because the musical equivalent for medium would probably be different instruments, and sometimes, a certain melody can sound good in different renditions.

Oh, I think it is extremely useful to be as knowledgable as possible, because it makes talking to new acquaintances much easier. I think my knowledge is quite deficient in... tech stuff. Perhaps I need to do some reading up, in the event I meet a tech geek.