All that glorious time wasted in the computer lab...

Since my school campus is reeeeally boring, my friends and I spend the majority of our time on-campus sitting on our asses in the computer lab in Stats Building.
It seems like a waste of time to devote so much time to the Internet on-campus when surfing online takes up the most of my time at home, too.
This is probably because school is just... blah, and procrastination is too much fun to resist.

Shoe fetish

I'm obsessed with shoes.
It's true that I don't own a whole closetful of shoes, but that's only because I get more picky with what I buy and wear as I get older. Being the judgmental bitch that I am, I admit to judge a person based on first appearance. And out of that first impression, I look at the person's shoes before I scrutinize their other clothing/accessory choices. Price and brand don't necessarily guarantee good taste; I value good taste and a knack for knowing what goes/doesn't go with what.

Back in Seattle I had 30+ pairs at one point, and then I downsized considerably (because it was getting hard to decide on which pair to wear on a daily basis...). But that was mainly because online shopping made shopping for shoes that much easier -- and cheaper.

But somehow, now that I'm back in Thailand, I buy less and less pairs with each passing year. It's not for the lack of availability or access to shoes in here, hell there's probably way more variety of affordable goodies in Thailand than in anywhere else. But then, I went to Platinum Plaza yesterday, and all the shoes there (sandals, clogs, flats, pumps, wedge-heels, slippers) were just... blah. They were cheap alright, but they looked cheap, too. They were definitely the kind that people in the know can take one look at and say, oh you got them at mbk/platinum right? Nothing wrong with that, but being stupidly vain, I'd rather get complimented on how good my stuff looked rather than how cheap they were.

Right now I have less than 10 pairs in here, and around 5-6 pairs of shoes tucked away safely in my apartment in Taiwan.

But now these -- these are definitely the kind I'd wear even though I'd never be able to afford some of them. But hey, a girl can dream right? And ain't nothing wrong with just lookin'.

(image from Jimmy Choo)
"Simi" - Crepe de Chine pumps, Jimmy Choo. Heel height: 75 mm/3"
<-- oh gawd this is so gorgeous it kind of makes the fact that it costs £287.50 (after discount!) irrelevant... no not really, but still...

(image from Dr. Martens)
Sexy, sexy Doc Martens 1460 8 Eye Boot. Love the color, the smooth leather, and the durable sole. Functional and cute.

(image from grace gift)
Black leather booties I found from Grace Gift, an online shoe shop based in Taiwan. Heel height: 6 cm/a bit less than 2" I might get this pair when I go back to TW in December, it's only NT1480 (roughly $45), and it looks totally cute. Booties make your legs look slimmer and longer cuz they make your ankles look skinny :)

Now that I've ranted and drooled over the shoes that I want, I'm going to be helpful and point out the kind of shoes that one should not wear...

(image from nordstrom.com)

<-- from past personal horrifying experiences, one should never wear gladiator-style sandals if there are any slight imperfections to ones legs. Doesn't matter if your legs are too skinny or too muscular or lacking muscle-tone, gladiator sandals will emphasize all imperfections and make legs stubby and lumpy-looking, and that in turn, makes you frumpy. Not good if you ask me.

(image from nordstrom.com)

<-- Flats always look nice and comfy, don't they? Avoid at all cost the ultra flat flats like the pair above. Arch, toe, sole and ankle support are nonexistent, and these will probably hurt your feet more than stilettoes if you try to walk around in them. Always wear a little heel, 1-2 inches would be ideal if you have to walk around a lot in them, plus, heels will force you to arch your back straight, cuz slouching doesn't just look bad, it's bad for your posture too.

<-- I don't know if anyone's told you this before, but Crocs are just the ugliest things ever. It doesn't even matter how good they might feel on your feet, it's how they make everyone else feels about you when you're wearing them. Yup, you look totally ridiculous, that's what. Besides, you can get a really good imitation pair from Chatuchak or MBK for less than 200 baht (that's roughly $6 under the current exchange rate). Then these fur-lined Crocs come along, and they are just so much worse because they're so pointless. Aren't your toes still going to be freezing themselves off when you're treading through slush on your winter morning? Why would anyone choose to wear these is totally beyond me. (Don't come running and swinging your clubs at me, I apologize for offending anyone in advance :p)

Sometimes, you need to appreciate the spoilers.

I'm half way through my copy of Twilight, book 1 of Stephenie Meyer's popular Twilight Saga. It's a great book, really. Just as I was making up my mind to buy the other 3 books in the series, I made the mistake of reading some people's reviews on the final installment (titled Breaking Dawn) -- the reviews were far from positive.
--warning: spoilers ahead--

It's not that people didn't like Breaking Dawn or the conclusion Ms Meyer has drawn up for her fans, it's just that most readers seemed to have a problem with the not-so-subtle message she was trying to send.
The moral of the vampire-human-werewolf love triangle is supposed to be sacrifice and selflessness. But the main character, Bella Swan, is possibly the most immature, self-centered heroine ever created. It feels like Ms Meyer has forgotten to give Bella any personality at all because she was kept so busy describing over and over again the beauty of Edward, the vampire. As a result, Bella is so unimpressionable both in her own eyes and in the eyes of the readers, and defines herself based on cooler "others" -- namely, Edward and Jacob the werewolf, both of whom are willing to sacrifice their lives for her. Even though I'm not even done with book 1, I already have an idea of the kind of happy ending Ms Meyer has in store for everyone, and I have issues with it. Despite my interest in the love triangle which the story centers itself on, I'm totally giving up on Twilight Saga and on Stephenie Meyer's works because I wholeheartedly disagree with her message.
I like happy endings, and I like Enchanted and Cinderella, they were cheesy but cute. But based on the dissatisfied readers' complaints about Twilight Saga, Ms Meyer seems to want her young (mainly female) teenage fans to think that an eighteen year old child-woman does not need to be independent, nor does she need education. She just needs to marry a man--preferably a rich, immortal man who can in turn make her immortal and shower her with material goods--have his baby, and live happily ever after. Who cares if she can't support herself, heavily relies on others, and does not develop as a person throughout the entire time? Who cares if her boyfriend suddenly leaves her? she can just go ahead and find another man to cling onto. And what if her boyfriend decides to come back and she's torn in between the two men, both of whom profess their eternal, undying love for her?
She can just marry one of them (the richer one), and then make a deal to let the other one go for her child (which she has with the one she marries) instead!
That's just wrong on so many levels, not to mention disgustingly morbid. Imagine going after the daughter of the woman you love but can't have!
In the end, Bella gets everything without even trying, and she does not make a single sacrifice. She becomes a vampire, gains immortality, gets the beautiful and faithful Edward, begs for sex, and becomes pregnant with his baby -- and Meyer claimed that this is the story she wanted to write all along. I can't even begin to tell you what a letdown it was. But trust me, it's so disappointing that I'm bothering to type all this crap up right now at almost 3 in the morning even though I'm having difficulty thinking coherently or even keeping my eyes from closing involuntarily.
You can't even use the excuse of "Why not? It's fictional/fantasy!" for the wrongness of the ending because it's illogical, incoherent, and most importantly, where's the moral? Fantasies are supposed to center around a main ethical argument or a moral so readers young and old can enjoy the stories and learn something in the process. Ms Meyer's fanbase is primarily made up of impressionable teenage girls, they've followed Stephenie Meyer faithfully from Twilight to New Moon, Eclipse to finally, Breaking Dawn, and I'm highly doubtful that this is the kind of ending anyone has anticipated for. On top of that, I really don't think that the glorious "marry young, marry rich, forget about schooling", "baby-having-baby," and "turn to the daughter if you can't have the mother" notions are such great message to be sending out to anyone at all, let along her fans.

I disapprove (not that it means much) and urge anyone who's bothering to read this post to NOT read Twilight Saga and read something more worthwhile instead (even Harry Potter had more depth and Harry experienced very significant personal growth than Bella, who most readers claim to have remained flat, one-dimensional throughout), or if you're already reading it, finish the book you've got and just... stop. I'll still finish my copy of book 1 so it won't be a total waste of my 365baht, but tomorrow I'll go to Kino and find something else to read.

Meh.

Talkin' to myself and feelin' old
Sometimes I'd like to quit
Nothing ever seems to fit
Hangin' around
Nothing to do but frown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.
-- Rainy Days and Mondays, The Carpenters

It's a Monday and I'm cramping badly and there's this presentation I must do this afternoon... sigh. Oh well, at leat try to enjoy your Monday with a healthy dose of hot chocolate and Valium and pray that it'd be Tuesday soon. Oh wait, but I hate Tuesdays, too. Le sigh.

In the meantime, enjoy the sight of this magnificent GINORMOUS rabbit:

(I should stop overfeeding my wabbit before he becomes scarily huge.)

夏目友人帳 Natsume Yūjin-Chō

夏目友人帳 is a Japanese anime I watched recently. Like most of the Japanese anime, this was made from 緑川ゆき's (Midorikawa Yuki) manga of the same name. The main character, 夏目貴志 (Takashi Natsume, referred to as Natsume throughout) has had this strange ability of seeing "Ayakashi mono" -- ghosts and spirits, since he was really young.
After moving to this town to live with some distant relatives who adopted him, Natsume is troubled by all the Ayakashi who seem to want something in his possession. The thing in question is a "Book of Friends" (友人帳) that he has inherited from his grandmother れいこ (Reiko), who passed away (altough how or why she died was never mentioned in the story).
Reiko also possessed the ability to see ghosts and spirits, and instead of befriending them, a young and lonely Reiko fought them and beat them in combat, then forced them to sign their names in the Book of Friends, thus binding them and making them her servants.
Some of the spirits loved her, some hated her, but all were pretty upset that she never called on them or visited them after beating them that one time.
Now, upon meeting Reiko's grandson, all the Ayakashi-mono are stunned at how the two human beings bore a distinct resemblance to each other, and most of them mistake Natsume for his grandma (apparently none of the spirits know about her death).
The main storyline is that Natsume feels sorry for all the Ayakashi that his grandmother has carelessly bound and trapped to the Book of Friends, and proceeds to release them.
The cutest part of this anime has got to be Nyaanko-sensei, this cat-formed higher-being who also lusts after the Book of Friends, but grows to be fond of Natsume and acts as his bodyguard against evil spirits who're after him.

As most of you probably know, I'm deathly afraid of horror movies and ghosts of any kind cuz I'm super sensitive like that, and I react negatively to scary things. This is probably the first anime/manga/movie/anything at all, in which monsters and ghosts play predominant roles in the plotline that I'm not scared of. In fact, I think it's the sweetest thing ever. It's honestly not meant to be scary or spooky, and a lot of the scenes made me want to go "awwa" because they were so cute. Specially the adorably fat Nyaanko. Plus, he's SUPER cute when he reveals himself in his true form, Madara. Overall, this is an anime I highly recommend to anyone who loves anime/cute things/a good story.

This is what you get when you get on the wrong side of PETA.

My trollsen twins:

It's a bit early for Halloween but awwa aren't they gorgeous? :D

Go ahead and get your ass to http://www.peta2.com/trollsens/index.asp and dress up your own Trollsen twin.

BluebloodTV presents: 第一次親密接觸趴吐 First Intimate Contact Part II

Ta da~~ the much anticipated sequel to the original "First Intimate Contact" is here. The sequel is longer and arguably better-executed to show our appreciation to the support we've received.

But first of all, let's recap...

Space Rabbit suddenly appears in front of Earth Rabbit, who is shocked and scared of the strange presence in front of him. They have the most unusual "first contact" and the story ends with Earth Rabbit running away from the alien and hiding in his house...





Two days later, Earth Rabbit receives another shock when the mysterious Space Rabbit appears again, demanding for food. Earth Rabbit tries to fight off the unwanted company, but can he succeed? What does Space Rabbit want from him anyway? Watch to find out...



The story:

Stay tuned on BluebloodTV for more exciting episodes of 第一次親密接觸 First Intimate Contact.

Note: No rabbits were harmed during the making of this movie. Both actors have been immensely loved and cared for.

BluebloodTV presents: 第一次親密接觸 First Intimate Contact

Synopsis: The well-loved furry slacker Earth Rabbit (NO小) loves to chill and lives in his very own worry-free bubble. But little does he know that the world as he knows it will soon end following a space invasion and a strange creature that calls itself Space Rabbit (Smorkin' Labbit) descends upon him... What will Earth Rabbit do to defend his turf? Will the unlikely pair ever become friends?

Characters:
Earth Rabbit........... NO小
Space rabbit..................Smorkin' Labbit

Produced and shot by Lisa Hsiang

Leading actors:

NO小 (pronounced N0-Shiao) age: 2 nationality: Thai-Taiwanese

Smorkin' Labbit age: ??? nationality: Korzikian

The story... *drum roll*

What will happen next? Be sure to stay tuned on BluebloodTV...

色老頭與小妖精 A Modern Fairytale Part III

Okay, I know whoever was interested in this story had already read it elsewhere (cuz I forced them to), but I feel bad about leaving it hanging unfinished in here. So I'm going to go ahead and post the last bit - and I just want to say thank you to all of you who have supported (or at least tried to support) my fairly unsuccessful writing career throughout. I know I can't write, whether in English or in Chinese (and suck at both), but thank you for bearing with me. Twenty years from now I'll probably look back and laugh at my complete inability to come up with coherent plots, but till then, I'll hold these lame unfinished (and probably will never be) stories dear to my heart. They're like my babies.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
隔天﹐她帶他去了教堂作禮拜。
早上9點17分﹐在她虔誠的唱著詩歌時﹐他看到了她眼角的淚。晶瑩的像水晶項鏈般﹐一串串的滑落她光潔的臉龐。她緊抓著他的手﹐嗚咽著訴說著兩天前她的愛犬是如何的早夭。
『…她…她是在我懷裡斷氣的…我﹑我還是不敢相信這是真的…她的毛還是那麼白﹐眼睛卻緊閉著不肯看我…我怎麼叫她﹐她都不會回應了…』
他震撼的不能自己。原來那些傳謠都是假的--她不是過於物欲﹑嗜錢如命的小妖精﹐她是上帝派下凡的小天使。
『芙…』他被撼動了。為什麼上天要對他這般不公平﹐在他流浪情海那麼多年﹐屆臨中年時方纔給他這份遲來的真愛﹖

中午12點29分﹐她不像女朋友那樣堅持吃米其林等級的餐廳﹐卻很高興的偎著他吃路邊沒有冷氣小吃店的白切透抽和蒜泥白肉﹐接吻時嗆得他喘不過氣。
『羅傑﹐你嘴邊沾到醬了啦~』她取笑他﹐一邊隔著衣服撫摸他日見圓潤的肚皮。
『妳…妳不介意﹖』他試探的問。
『介意什麼﹖』她眨著娃娃大眼﹐一派自然。
他摟緊了她﹐單手把玩著她的雙手。她的指甲纖長﹐塗成自然派的嬌嫩淺粉紅。『我大了妳這麼多歲﹐又胖又禿頭…』
『什麼嘛﹐難道你之前的女朋友都那樣說你﹖』她驚訝得睜大了眼﹐鄙夷的癟嘴。『太過份了﹗你根本就不胖﹗而且﹐十四歲又不算差很多…更何況﹐我在乎的是內涵﹐外表年紀什麼的不都是假象嗎﹖』
她曖昧的貼近他。『有人說﹐禿頭的男人﹐能力越是好…』
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
傍晚6點09分﹐他送了她一支粉紅色鑲鑽的IWC﹐要她做他一個人的小妖精。她感動的哭了。當晚﹐她抱得他好緊…

卻在收了錶的隔天﹐


她消聲匿跡。




那時﹐時鐘剛好敲響了午夜12點。

他回家﹐賴在八十歲老母的懷裡哭。向來是他讓女人哭的﹐這個女人怎會有能耐讓他…

她是個小妖精。




你有興趣陪她玩嗎﹖

--THE END--