pen not on paper

It takes tremendous effort to sit down and write a letter.
Let me correct that:
It takes tremendous effort to sit down, write AND complete a one page letter.
My usual 4 pages X 3 letters per week seem such a feat to achieve now.

My fountain pens are not getting any attention.

Causes of distraction:
- books to read
- the internet

I didn't mention work.
That's in control for now. :)

Remedy:
- Surf the internet for possible solutions
- Chat online and discuss way forward out of this with complete strangers
- Find a book that solves this distraction

Yes. I shall start on those solutions soon.
After I get over my procrastination...

Routine

And this is what my colleagues do on a normal basis. Daily.
I, on the other hand, work.

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it's dark, not gloomy!

So, there I was yesterday,
Feeling all DARK and menacing
Brewing up a storm of evil thoughts and plans
For something really wicked

Then pops a friend who said;
"I saw your blog. You're feeling gloomy? Why?"

Gloomy? It's DARK, not gloomy!
Gloomy is what the dwarves felt when Snow White was found dead.
Gloomy = sad.
I am not sad. Far from it.
I feel DARK and evil.
Like Lord Vlad on a hunt for fresh blood...

*ping*
In comes 2 comments on my entry and asks about my gloomy thoughts.

It's not gloomy, it's DARK!!

By then, I just could not help but laugh at myself.
Not an evil laugh in any way, but a funny one.
It took tremendous effort getting into my evil DARK mood.
And it lasted less than an hour (2 minutes to be exact).
I got kicked out of it.



Note to self:
The next DARK picture accompanying my entry will be of a dark hole somewhere to reflect my dark mood. Totally pitch "dark" picture. Thunderstorms just don't work. :)

dark reflection...

Today's weather reflects my mood.

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my team

Let me introduce the guys I work with.


Left to right: Adesh, Niza, Karen, Me.

Karen, my team lead. She is probably the nicest team lead you can get but don't be fooled by that. She keeps a whip on her all the time. She does need to learn to be bitchy though. She fails at it. Really. Karen eats more malay food than the rest of us in the team. She's a malay in chinese skin (foodwise).


Niza in foreground, Nik in back.

Niza, the-most-passionate-once-upon-a-time-called-Miss-Nazi-who-thrives-on-stress-and-is-such-a-stickler-for-rules-and-doing-things-the-right-way-and-the-hard-way-and-if-you-don't-do-your-work-she'll-talk-you-to-death. She sits right behind me. We argue all the time but she is the best person to have around if you don't know anything (and I usually am the one who doesn't know anything). Niza loves rojak buah.


Adesh (her pet name) USED TO BE the most quiet one among us but no more. She whips back with comeback lines like nobody's business and I am usually at the end of it. I guess I trained her well in that respect. She provides music for our room, into photography and loves rabbits (no, she's not the owner of the rabbit that died in my last blog entry). She has four rabbits that she fusses about daily. Adesh has really specific stuff that she likes and eats. And I have no idea what they are.


This is Nik. He is my best bud at work and is always there to hear my rant and raves. Nik is such a diplomat. He comments with carefully placed words. If I have evil plans, I will usually run it by him first and he would talk me out of it. Nik has no specific food requirements and enjoys everything. Like me.

So there you have it. The goons I work with in this project.
My colleagues, my friends.

Note: Photos courtesy of Adesh and Donut. Thanks!

furry little ones

This is a story of my friend and his pets. True story.

My friend loves furry little animals.
He owns a hamster but decided to get himself one of those long haired rabbits. Expensive critter.
All goes well in his happy apartment.

One day, he decided to give his rabbit a bath. The shop sold the rabbit together with rabbit shampoo anyway.
So a bath the rabbit took. And its long hair lovingly dried and combed.
Rabbits don't do well with water. At all.
And this was a warm soaking bubble bath.
The rabbit died.

The hamster?
It saw how the rabbit died.
It escaped its cage, ran off the ledge of the apartment's balcony and committed suicide!
SPLAT! Right on the tarmac below.

Lesson learned: Don't ever blog in the wee hours of the morning when you can't sleep.

quiet!

it's on quiet moments
on early mornings
that i find my mind reflecting and thinking

what do i want?
what do i need?
what do i miss?
what, what, what?

then i remember.
i have a family.

the devil is in the playground of my mind.

i'm going back to bed!

blegh

i think my emotion button is on the fritz.
my tear ducts are full.
and demands releasing.

i have no reason for tearing.

i just do.

*thinking mungkin sebab menghayati lagu-lagu cinta on pgl?*

silly goose!

Puteri Gunung Ledang Season III

"A captivating javanese princess
A noble warrior loyal to his sultan
Their love was never meant to be
Sets this tale of old"

I was speechless. Utterly impressed.
I applaud the effort of our local production.
Wonderful performance!



What else can I say?
Two thumbs up!! (and my toes are pointing up too).

p.s. Javanese princess and noble warrior - kudos to the heartfelt scene!!

my wife will sleep better too...

the stolen marc jacobs handbag, it's found.
in the cistern of a WC in the male's toilet.
same building. different floor.

dripping wet. everything intact.
except, the blackberry, cash and 2 FOUNTAIN PENS!

i guess the pilferer has taste in pens.
he can't be all that bad. pfft.

strange, really.
the handbag costs more than everything else combined.
and that was left behind.

and lucky us, he wasn't a metrosexual guy. heh.

i can sleep better now

finally.
i can blame technology for my distress for the last 3 days.
frickin glitch.
lost sleep over it.

normally i would not fret as much.
but this was a matter of emotional stress.
for me.
and maybe others too.

if you were affected, i'm sorry.

annual medical

i have to admit.
this is my first annual medical check up after a VERY long time.
apart from a slight bump in cholesterol and uric acid to watch out for, i am well.
thank god.

scheduled for a stress test. never taken one.
and just thinking about it, i am stressed.
i have a headache now thinking about it.
silly, but i do.
my headache will probably kill me.
not my heart.

i agree. ignorance is bliss.
guess its too late for that now...

i need a serious distraction.

truth

truth equals fabricated lie

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Pens in current rotation

Let's see.
I have not rotated my pens for quite a while now.
I felt that the ones currently used just screamed for more attention from me.
Not just one fill. But several fills.

So, in current rotation are:

Stipula Etruria Alter Ego
Lamy Safari Lime Green
Lamy Al Star Silver Blue
Pilot VP Yellow
Desk pen: Danitrio Mikado raw ebonite eye dropper.

My collection 090205

Over the past few years since I started on my fountain pen journey, I have amassed a total of about 48 fountain pens in my collection. Along the way, I discovered personal favourites and preferences and my collection whittled down reflecting it. I gave away the "surplus" to my siblings and friends. And ended up with the ones I would not part with. Or find it VERY difficult to let go.

They are:

1) Sailor 1911 large black, chrome trimmed, Concorde nib
2) Sailor 1911 large black, gold trimmed, tombo dragonfly maki-e, Cross nib
3) Sailor 1911 large black ribbed, chrome trimmed, Naginata Togi nib
4) Sailor 1911 large demonstrator, chrome trimmed, medium nib
5) Sailor Sustake, aged bamboo, Naginata Togi Emperor nib
6) Pilot VP Yellow
7) Pilot Fermo Green
8) Pilot Custom 823. gold trimmed, black ends, SE clear demonstrator
9) Pilot dragonfly wings maki-e
10) Danitrio Mikado raw ebonite, soft medium nib
11) Danitrio cum laude brown celluloid
12) Stipula LE Pinocchio #13/881 brown ebonite
13) Stipula Suprema Amber 52 degrees nib
14) Stipula Etruria Ocean Blue
15) Stipula Etruria Alter Ego
16) Aurora 88, black
17) Aurora Optima, burgundy, chrome trimmed
18) Aurora Talentum, black, chrome trimmed
19) Aurora Archivi Storici
20) Delta Dolce Vita Soiree, black
21) Parker Duofold Centennial True Blue LE #608/5000
22) Pelikan Souveran M1000, green
23) Waterman Kultur, blue demonstrator
24) Lamy Safari LE blue
25) Lamy Safari LE lime green
26) Lamy Al Star Silver blue
27) Cross Townsend, chrome
28) Laban Kaiser, off white pseudo ivory

I told myself I would stop at 24 because that was the max that my pen case could take. I lied.

I have 2 other pens pending completion of payment:
- Sailor 1911 large yellow, music nib (last year's birthday present from my good buddies)
- Omas Arco Green (buying second hand from Rafil)

So many pens. And only one hand that writes...

p/s. Note to self: No more buying pens. No more buying pens. No more buying pens.

an unfortunate incident

My wife had a spell of bad luck yesterday.
Her office was broken into and her handbag and laptop was taken.
Clean getaway and the evil deed was done in less than 10 minutes.
No witnesses.

I'm glad she is safe and was not present when that happened.

She is now going through the hassle of replacing her IDs, licenses, credit cards etc.
But that's nothing to her.
Compared to losing her handbag.
Her beloved Marc Jacobs I got for her in London.
She still can't get over that part.
And I still can't get over the fact that I have not finished paying for that bag!
Heh. :)

hates it

Rainy day traffic jam. Hates it.

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disturbing

so many thoughts in my head
and yet i can't write
to finish a letter
or to say something meaningful
what gives...?