If you ever wondered what Coolcat had for lunch, wonder no more. I have a food blog now! It’s a joint effort with some of my regular lunch partners. Head over to Lunch Partners for more details ;)
It’s about all things trivial and not-so-trivial about food. Cya there!
Can anyone tell me what’s the difference between being thrifty and being stingy?
My brains are a little fried today.
Maybe it’s because I’m shell-shocked by this and this.
Updates: Nianci has put it well, I think. Thriftiness is being careful on what you spend. It’s taking time to think about a major purchase and seeing whether you really need something before getting it. Stinginess, on the other hand, is a state not sharing anything with anyone – treating good friends once in a while. It’s the opposite of generosity.
So, Paulos, does that answer your question, bro? :)
With all the flurry and hectic-ness of the past few weeks and days, I’ve totally forgotten that my baby turned 2 months old yesterday!
Hard to believe that he only came into my life for a couple of months. There was some initial apprehension – would I be able to take great pics with him? Do I really need a new addition to my gadget collection? What if I cannot fully explore his features and coax him to grow to his fullest potential? Can I afford to maintain him? In the months preceeding his birth, I battled with all these questions. The pros outweight the cons and I decided to get him.
I have no regrets. He brought a lot of joy and color into my life. Suddenly, the world looked vastly different and beautiful through my baby’s eyes. We spent many happy moments traipsing places together. Places that I would not have thought of going had it not been for him.
Unfortunately, like every other baby, this one comes with a hefty maintenance cost in order to perform to his best possible capabilities.
At a very young age, he already needs glasses.
Clothes.
Pram.
A torchlight.
Brain-matter.
Soap.
And milk.
Pretty soon, he’ll need to grow taller, too.
They weren’t kidding when they warned me that it was gonna cost me some to get him. But I don’t mind ‘cos he makes me happy.
Happy 2 months, baby d50! Here’s to many, many more :D
Disclaimer: These may not be the actual stuff/model/brands that I own. The pics are just to illustrate what it takes to upkeep and run a dSLR reasonably to your heart’s content. As far as expansion options go, the sky’s the limit!
Can anyone guess where this pic was shot? :P I can’t call this life my own
‘Cos I’m not where I want to be
~ Debbie Gibson
A friend and I were talking the other day. We agreed that increasingly, most of our peers are not doing things that they love for a living. I think it has something to do with the age of easily accessible knowledge that we live in. The more things we are exposed to, the more opportunities that we get to explore new frontiers, the more disatisfied we become with the jobs that we currently hold.
Call it ‘the grass is greener on the other side’ kinda mentality.
Then yet another friend suggested that I find a cash cow (snag a rich hubby or a filthy rich investor who believes in me) and be free to pursue whatever I love to do sans the financial pressure. Great idea. Easily done for there’s a cash cow waiting in the wings, too. But at what price. It’s akin to selling one’s soul to gain resources to indulge in the things one loves. The irony of it.
At one point of a rough patch when I was ready to throw in the towel a while back, the idea of the cash cow became very very appealing.
"Wah, no need to work anymore. Can be tai-tai (queen of the house, lounge at home doing practically nothing) and spend all my days shopping and spa-ing. So syiok!"
But as appealing as the idea was, it was soon replaced with dread at the thought of spending a lifetime with someone who has absolutely no passion for the things I value and love. Someone who doesn’t appreciate the beauty behind the simple things in life. Someone whose world is only limited to meeting bottom lines and 8-day work weeks with little room for anything else.
Yikes.
And I was reminded yet again that cash cow or no, it’s the journey that we need to enjoy. It’s the longing for a better future that keeps us going. Hope deferred may make the heart sick. But hope that is placed in the right Hands will see the blooming of something beautiful that will never fade, but grow evermore radiant.
I asked for a cash cow.
God placed me in green pastures. With cow dung.
First interpretation: No cows, no dung :P
Second interpretation: Dung = fertilisers. Fertilisers make the land fertile. The cash is there – I just need to till the land, plant something wholesome and make a good living out of it.
Either way, I doubt things are handed in a silver platter to us most of the time. Perhaps if we have it easy all the time, we would be spoilt rotten. Perhaps.
Photo credits: Joe, the bovine hunter
I find that it’s easier being behind the camera. You don’t have to put on make up to look your absolute best. You don’t have to sleep early to reduce your eye bags or drink lotsa fluids to ensure healthy glowing skin. You don’t have to worry if the troubles on your mind are showing through the frown lines of your forehead or the dim look in your eyes. You don’t have to watch every calory you eat. And best of all, it doesn’t matter in the least if you were wearing just a T-shirt and that pair of very comfortable shorts.
Behind the camera, you just need find the right angle and camera settings, frame and shoot.
Models don’t have it easy.
Photo credits: MF
I can’t help smiling when I think of all that’s happened last week. It was a week of firsts:
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Sharon had this out-of-this world idea – a children’s church photo project which involves a cocoon. The question was, how on earth would we find such a huge cocoon that we can angle in whichever direction we like? The ingeneous girl finally decided to make her own cocoon. Surely a case for this coolcat idiom ~ if you can’t find ‘em, make ‘em.
The assembly of a cocoon. It’s basically made out of newspapers with crushed leaves stucked onto it.
Sharon hangs it carefully on a tree branch
And voila, an honest-to-goodness cocoon!
The cocoon inventor lovingly beholds her invention. Awww…
And after she got tired of it, she wanted to eat it!
That was one hardy cocoon. It survived two high-level falls. With just a minor touch-up, it was good to go for the next round of photo shoot. Needless to say, it was one fun weekend project :)
Just came back from a birthday bash. Organised by bezzie and I – for ourselves and our mutual friends. We thought it would be so cool to put a dash of the 80’s into the whole party flavour. The 80’s was like the age of bad hairdo and bad fashion sense, the time of experimentation of all things funky. It was also the time where our favourite songs, music videos, movies and TV series were at. I think we had a LOT of fun.
A special thanks goes to Mei Fong for opening her beautiful house to host our party. Paulos for doing such a great job and great effort in preparing for the games. Grace for her old but reliable laptop. Rapunzel for bringing TWO laptops as backup. Lenny for being the official photographer of the night, he sure was trigger-happy – can’t wait to see the pics! The cg members for helping set the place and clean it up after the party’s over. And last but not least, for our dear friends who came to celebrate a rite of passage for us. Your presence (and presents!) are deeply appreciated by the both of us.
Here are some pics from my baby. The pic with my face in it was taken by Grace. Thanks, girl :)
80’s models
The 80’s teeny boppers
Dianne and Nianci digging in
Paulos thinking up dastardly things for us to play during the games time.
Jotay working hard at Win, Lose, Act, Hum or Draw
Irene and Denise trying to guess what Jo was drawing
The gamemaster enjoying the unfolding of the game play
And the best dressed award goes to Jane!
And SJ!
Those who were not garbed in the 80’s fashion were punished. Sadly, the gamemaster himself was punished.
I was fascinated by Irene’s earrings
A friend who had nothing better to do with his time, started to wonder if I am really as narcisstic as I claimed to be.
Today, out of the blue, he decided to count photos of me right on the first page of my blog.
“Hey, I did a photo count on your blog. Your face appeared 9 times!!!” the bored boy said excitedly.
How could this be?? Was he stating the truth?? I rubbed my eyes in disbelief and did a thorough count. Felt a mild triumph when my suspicions were confirmed. I knew he had miscounted.
“It’s not 9 times lar. It’s 11. You forgot to include the two pics at the top.”
And today, there are 10 :)