Received this from Aleena.

If interested, please call Paul (016-6375161) or Davina (016-6650161).

Details from Davina below.

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These puppies are up for urgent adoption!

Three females, aged 6-7 weeks, all adorably floppy-eared. We’re getting them vaccinated and de-wormed.

1. One is a rich chocolate colour with hints of caramel, legs are light brown. Docile and friendly.
2. One is white except for her head, which is black. She also has three large defined black spots on her back. Easygoing and playful, and she’s just learning how to bark although right now it’s just a squeak
3. The smallest one is an adventurer! Curious and gutsy, so gotta keep an eye out for her. Similiar fur pattern to 2, except that this one is oak brown and her spots are a bit more splotchy.

They were found abandoned in Bukit Damansara and are temporarily sheltered in my boyfriend Paul’s house in Bangsar. Paul’s leaving for Dubai next Thursday 16th August and won’t be back til the end of the year, so we seriously hope we can find loving homes for them before he flies off.
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My head’s filled with vampires and werewolves at the moment.

Thanks to Eclipse, which I started reading 2 days ago and finished today.

Eclipse is actually Book 3 of this series, if you can call it that. Apprently, there’s supposed to be a Book 4 coming out next.

The main cast are :

Edward the Vampire
Jacob the Werewolf
Bella the Mortal

It’s your typical love triangle but with a twist (the Vampire and Werewolf part) i.e. Edward loves Bella, Jacob loves Bella, Bella loves both Edward and Jacob but she’s gotta choose either one coz obviously the gal can’t have both! Duh!

Oh, and throw in the fact that there’s a deranged vampire out to kill Bella, to avenge her lover’s death back in Book 1. And also the fact that the Vampires and Werewolves have been enemies from the beginnings of time (and they can’t stand the smell of each other!) but they now have to work together to defeat this deranged vampire due to their love for Bella.

Quite dramatic, I tell you… and also very soppy (yucks, so geli-fying when you read their mushy exchanges) but then when you remember that Edward is a Vampire who’s more that 100 years old, it sorta compensates for it. Quite cool, actually… hehe…

Well, I couldn’t put Book 3 down after getting into 1/3 of it. Same thing happened with Books 1 & 2. Something about the story just makes me wanna read and read till I get to the end of the book. It’s even more fascinating than Harry Potter 7!! I mean, it’s a love story only ma, with some action towards the end (i.e. killing and ripping apart bodies and all). Maybe I’m secretly waiting for Edward or Jacob to kill Bella in a fit of passion. Haha!!

Anyway, I’m still trying to figure out WHY Bella is so special that both the Vampire and Werewolf want her so much. Aside from the fact that Edward (who’s special talent is to read minds) cannot penetrate her mind, like how he can others.

Ah well… some gals have all the luck, eh? And Vampires and Werewolves, no less… hehe…

PS : I love the book covers. Beautiful yet chilling at the same time.

Last Saturday morning, while I was sleeping, I thought I heard strains of “The Sound of Music” in my sleep. I thought I was dreaming so I drifted off until I heard “The Lonely Goatherd”. Oh! He was watching The Sound of Music (TSoM) on TV!! Never mind, I’ll go back to sleep, I thought. But the music was too tantalizing until I finally dragged myself outta bed and plopped myself next to him on the beanbag and we watched the remaining of TSoM.

Now, TSoM happened to be my most favorite-st movie of all time!!! I know, it’s so corny and all but I can’t help it, I think it’s such a classic love story!! And I think Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer made such a lovely couple in that movie. Because of this movie, Julie Andrews has remained forever as Maria in my mind, haha…

Watching it when I was 10, 14, and again at 28 evoke totally different feelings in me. I can’t remember what I felt when I first saw it when I was about 10 or a little younger, but when I watched it again when I was about 14, I just totally fell in love with the story and all the people who acted in it, to the point where I was quite obsessed with it. No la, I didn’t try to act like them or burst out into song like they do… but it was more like, I tried to get my hands on as much info as possible about the cast (the actors in the movie as well as the real-life von Trapps) and the actual story itself. And that was quite a feat, considering the lack of internet at that time (I wasn’t net-savvy) and the lack of substantial books in our bookstores. But bless my sister, she was in the States at that time, and she managed to get a copy of this book for me. I totally drank in that book! lol! And then my dad bought the laser disc box set that had 6 LDs, with special features i.e. the making of the movie and all that… wow!

Watching it again last Saturday, I couldn’t help but laugh at some of the corny bits, which I didn’t find corny when I last watched it, but sounded quite cheesy now. But it still manage to evoke that awed, starstruck feeling after the show ended. I think it’s because the story’s based loosely on a real-life story and the part where they managed to escape the Nazis by climbing over the mountains was soooo dramatic!!

So yes, TSoM is still my most favorite-st movie of all time!!!

Now it’s time to get the DVD (ori, ok?? ) coz my dad’s LD player has kaput-ed and I’m suddenly craving to watch the behind-the-scenes features again!

Haha… yes, I know I’m mental

I readily admit that animals play a big part in my life. I would go as much to say that they make up a part of me; I don’t feel complete without having animals in my life. I have come to a point where I don’t feel a need to justify my affinity towards animals as most people cannot (or would rather not) understand this strong bond that I have with them.

Every time I see a stray animal by the side of the road, all skin-and-bones or manged or wounded, or a mangled, crushed-up body on the road, an unfortunate victim of roadkill, I get a deep, sick-to-the-gut feeling of helplessness and sorrow. Helpless because I cannot save them all, sorrow because many of them would eventually die a painful and slow death. All I can do, at this point in time, is to say a little prayer for their safety and hope that they will find a better place to be in.

Which is why I’m so thankful for my cats. Thankful that I managed to save at least a few and give them a good life. Thankful that they don’t need to suffer the fates of the many strays who have to fight to survive, not only for food but against the needless cruelty in the hands of two-legged creatures, which most of the time they will lose. It’s also therapeutic for me to have my cats lying/sleeping peacefully at the foot of my bed, near enough for me to reach out to stroke them or give them a pat on their heads.

Talking about animals and responsible pet ownership brings to mind a friend, also an animal lover, and her dog of 14 years. Aleena has had her dog for that number of years and in the past few years since I’ve known her, we’ve shared stories about our pets. She shared with me that Rambo is getting on in age and has been encountering signs of old-age like deafness and bowel problems. There are days when he couldn’t muster enough strength in his legs to get himself out of the house to relieve himself, so a member of Aleena’s family would carry him out several times a day for him to do his toilet duties.

But other than that, Rambo seems happy and content. Aleena mentioned that there were several other things that her family has had to change in order to make life easier for dear Rambo, and the amazing thing is, they didn’t think that having to make those changes was an inconvenience to them. It was a natural reaction for them because Rambo was a member of their family. And when Rambo showed signs of old-age and started having those problems, they didn’t immediately condemn him to death just because he required a little more effort to be taken care of, which so many people would have done because the dog is old and has outlived his “usefulness”, so to speak. Of course, if the animal is in pain and suffering, then the humane thing to do would be to put the animal out of its suffering but only unless absolutely necessary and not because you couldn’t be bothered to take the extra effort to care for your aging dog (or any other pet).

My reasoning is, you wouldn’t put your aged and ailing parents to death so why would you subject your pet to that? They are both living creatures, aren’t they? Of course you would do anything you can to ensure that your parents have an easy and comfortable life in their old age and you would see that their every need is taken care of. So why not extend this similar consideration to your pet?

Each time we speak and I get an update on Rambo, I am overwhelmed by Aleena and her family’s commitment towards their dog. THAT, to me, is a perfect example of responsible pet ownership and treating animals with respect. THAT is a perfect example of treating animals as living beings instead of objects that can be disposed of as and when you feel like it.

And she is one of the few friends among many who will actually take the time to ask me how my cats are doing each time we manage to catch up. She even remembers what problems they had when we last spoke. And it is a gesture that I greatly appreciate because I know that (1) she remembers that my cats exist, and (2) her concern of my cats’ well-being is genuine.

I know I’ve talked about this topic to death but it IS something that I’m passionate about and nothing fires me up more than seeing and hearing the way humans behave like they own the Earth, without any respect for God’s other creatures.

We all go through many different experiences throughout our daily lives. We all encounter all sorts of situations in our daily lives.

Nothing angers me more than seeing/experiencing/hearing about injustice.
Nothing infuriates me more than seeing/experiencing/hearing about unfairness occurring in any facet of our lives.

Innocent people sent to prison, criminals free to walk the streets, the rich and powerful able to get away with anything, the poor having everything taken away from them.

People being discriminated against because of their nationality, race, skin color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation. Law breakers flaunting their criminal activities in front of our faces while the authorities just stand by and watch.

Our environment and nature being “killed” by the day because we couldn’t care less to preserve what little we have left.

On a smaller scale, similar injustice and unfairness occurs in the workplace as well.

A lot of things have happened in the current project. Decisions made and rejected, options proposed and accepted. All the normal operations in an organization, except that when one finds out the way decisions are made and its consequences/outcomes, one cannot help but wonder helplessly “why?”. WHY did they decide to do that? WHY did they not follow the proper process? WHY are they omitting that from the report? WHY are they not following the recommended steps?

According to MB, the amount of work or having to work late is the least of her stress. What stresses her the most is that she feels obligated to perform her best, regardless if it’s right or wrong, just because she is being paid to do the work. And when certain decisions go against her principles, that’s when the guilt sets in and the stress level increases.

I agree with MB 100%. For me, everything is straightforward, and what’s right or wrong is pretty clear-cut most of the time. Work-wise, that is. For example, for simplicity’s sake, let’s take writing minutes of a meeting. I write my minutes in detail. Everything that was discussed in the meeting — comments, decisions made, action items – will be documented.

However, when the minutes were reviewed by certain people, they wanted certain information that certain people said to be omitted from the minutes. Of course, I went “How can?!” Not only is it dishonest reporting, it is disrespectful to those people whose comments have been omitted! How can one practice selective minute-writing????? It’s either you report everything that was discussed or don’t report anything at all. But unfortunately, they’re paying my salary so yes, this is one of the things that I had to do, and it makes me very uncomfortable because the points that I was asked to remove were key points and should be documented officially, in my opinion.

That is one of the many examples of things that I feel were “wrong” and shouldn’t be done. Decisions that were made, reek of someone’s hidden agenda. Even if we do the right thing by reporting the correct info, in the end, the info gets twisted around or omitted completely. And this makes me think, “What’s the point of doing the work properly when they’re not going to accept it anyway?”

Another thing that infuriates me is how contract employees are being treated like 2nd class employees. These people here have the perception that just because we’re contract employees, we don’t have the same needs or ambitions or feelings like permanent employees. And I can’t, for the life of me, comprehend why because we work as hard (if not harder) than the permanent employees. We are as committed (if not more committed) than the permanent employees. So why the double standard?

I’m like MB. I don’t mind the amount of work or even working late occasionally. But when I’m made to do something that goes against my values/principles or I’m being treated unfairly (or others as well), there’s only so much I can take before the feeling of guilt and discontentment, and worse, the feeling of not being true to myself and my values, eats at me and makes me feel depressed. I mean, let’s face it. If you work so hard to do things good and do things right, yet no one seems to appreciate it, why even bother? It’s not worth it, right?

As MB says, it really doesn’t matter what you do for a living as long as you enjoy what you’re doing and you’re happy doing it. And at the end of the day, your conscience is clear and you know that you are being true to yourself, regardless of what others may say.

*Another work rant* 

I don’t know why these people even bother having someone follow their meeting and producde their meeting minutes when almost everything that was in the minutes, they want to omit and not include.

What’s left is just a bunch of superficial words that barely skim the surface of the content of the meeting. No wonder the senior management is always in the dark about the exact and true status of the project.

Such a bunch of morons. Wasting my time only.

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I can’t believe that she’d finished the meeting and had actually left the projector in the unlocked meeting room. Simple common sense would tell you to pack up all equipment and take them with you after any meeting, right? And if you didn’t want to pack up the equipment yourself, then just call us and let us know and we’ll send someone to pack up. So simple, right?

But that also cannot do. She just left the projector sitting there, out in the open. Thank gawd no one swiped it.

And she calls herself a manager. Yah, a manager without any common sense. So simple thing also cannot do. This is beyond stupid.

Bah!

I really enjoyed the movie!!

But then again, I enjoy all feel-good animal-related movies… lurve all the Disney movies, Dreamworks, Pixar… whatever that has animals or anything remotely related to animals in it.

Remy is darn cute!!! Now I want a rat for a pet!!

Go watch!!

I like his comment and his comment.

It is so obvious that there’s some sort of double standard practiced in this country. THEY can bring up racist comments and wave their stupid “keris” everywhere and get away with it… but nobody else can talk about the TRUTH coz then they’ll be charged under the Sedition Act.

And they’re so efficient at hauling people up for questioning over the things they write/sing/blog about… but they can’t seem to solve the ever-increasing crime in the country.

Hhhmmm… talk about incompetence… and misguided priorities.

And I just found out from someone that apparently, in our history textbooks these days, at least 50% of the content is about Islam. From my very limited knowledge of history, I am pretty sure that the subject of history is so very vast, covering so many more topics than Islam.

So why are our history textbooks focusing 50% of its content on Islam?

No prizes for guessing why.