I went to evening mass today and I saw not 1, but 3 groups of people leaving the church immediately after communion.
They sat through mass and went to communion and straight out the door.
I wonder why. The mass isn't over yet. There's still about 10 minutes to go. If they had sat through 50 minutes of it already, why not just complete the whole thing?
Not only that, isn't it terribly disrespectful to the Eucharist to do that? After all, are we not the Tabernacle of Christ when we have received Communion? Would it kill them to just go back to their pew and complete the whole mass?
I don't geddit... :-(
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Friday, 17 April 2009
The philosophical side of me
I was browsing some handcrafted jewellery websites and came across one which had a note on the sidebar informing people that all the work featured had been lovingly and painstakingly crafted by her and that she doesn't take kindly to anyone breaking the seventh commandment. In case you don't know, that's the one that says "thou shalt not steal".
As I recall, this is not the first time she has had to post such warnings in her blogshop and it's always puzzled me that someone who is so obviously successful in what she does can be so insecure.
I suppose she means people stealing her design ideas but then again, how many ways can you manipulate the design of a pair of earrings, bracelet or necklace? It's just a bunch of stones or glass or whatever medium wired together and hung on a chain or hook.
The difference, I think, lies in the colour combination, use of materials, quality of materials and craftsmanship.
But at the end of the day, what does it matter? As a crafter myself, I am only concerned that the piece I make is liked well enough for it to be sold. By the time someone else copies the design, I would have already moved on to more new designs and probably sold them already.
Perhaps she is being considerate to the person who has bought her jewellery. Perhaps she wants the buyer to have an exclusive item, one which 10 other women don't also own.
But then again, given the quality of her stones, her stuff is really cheap. I suppose she makes them out of love for the craft but if you really want to protect your buyer, copyright the design and sue the hell out of the person who steals your design ideas. That comes at a cost which will have to be borne by the customer.
So when you think about it, the customer who pays a pittance for something of good quality should not complain about 10 other women buying similar items from someone else.
Truth be told, I browse lots of crafted jewellery websites, some of which are really innovative and creative, in my humble opinion. This is the only one I know of that posts warnings like this. What I'm wondering is... is it really necessary? Or is it insecurity and vanity disguised as indignation and righteousness?
I don't think I would be caught up in the egocentric mindset of warning people away from copying my designs, especially if they're not particularly groundbreaking or revolutionary. It's crafting jewellery, not designing a Spyker, for goodness' sake. And beauty, after all, is in the eye of the beholder. As long as it looks pretty to me, I'm happy. And I'm even happier when people like it enough to buy it.
So I say, copy on if you like my design so much. I judge you not and might even be flattered. After all, imitation is the best form of flattery, no?
And last but not least, I don't take kindly to people who quote the bible, yet fail to appreciate the value of tolerance, forgiveness and mercy; traits that are at the very core of Christianity.
As I recall, this is not the first time she has had to post such warnings in her blogshop and it's always puzzled me that someone who is so obviously successful in what she does can be so insecure.
I suppose she means people stealing her design ideas but then again, how many ways can you manipulate the design of a pair of earrings, bracelet or necklace? It's just a bunch of stones or glass or whatever medium wired together and hung on a chain or hook.
The difference, I think, lies in the colour combination, use of materials, quality of materials and craftsmanship.
But at the end of the day, what does it matter? As a crafter myself, I am only concerned that the piece I make is liked well enough for it to be sold. By the time someone else copies the design, I would have already moved on to more new designs and probably sold them already.
Perhaps she is being considerate to the person who has bought her jewellery. Perhaps she wants the buyer to have an exclusive item, one which 10 other women don't also own.
But then again, given the quality of her stones, her stuff is really cheap. I suppose she makes them out of love for the craft but if you really want to protect your buyer, copyright the design and sue the hell out of the person who steals your design ideas. That comes at a cost which will have to be borne by the customer.
So when you think about it, the customer who pays a pittance for something of good quality should not complain about 10 other women buying similar items from someone else.
Truth be told, I browse lots of crafted jewellery websites, some of which are really innovative and creative, in my humble opinion. This is the only one I know of that posts warnings like this. What I'm wondering is... is it really necessary? Or is it insecurity and vanity disguised as indignation and righteousness?
I don't think I would be caught up in the egocentric mindset of warning people away from copying my designs, especially if they're not particularly groundbreaking or revolutionary. It's crafting jewellery, not designing a Spyker, for goodness' sake. And beauty, after all, is in the eye of the beholder. As long as it looks pretty to me, I'm happy. And I'm even happier when people like it enough to buy it.
So I say, copy on if you like my design so much. I judge you not and might even be flattered. After all, imitation is the best form of flattery, no?
And last but not least, I don't take kindly to people who quote the bible, yet fail to appreciate the value of tolerance, forgiveness and mercy; traits that are at the very core of Christianity.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
My bike
While chatting with a friend who's just recently gotten into cycling, I realised that I do not have any pics of my precious Pink Lady - my favourite bike from the days of yore when I used to ride.
So I dug it out from the storeroom, cleared off the cobwebs, ignored the flat tyres and took some pics of it. Here they are....
Check out that last pic of my dog marking his territory....
So I dug it out from the storeroom, cleared off the cobwebs, ignored the flat tyres and took some pics of it. Here they are....
Check out that last pic of my dog marking his territory....
Saturday, 22 November 2008
Latest updates on the Kats
Hmmmmm.... it just occured to me that I forgot to mention that sometime in September, we picked up another kitten. It was white one that looked exactly like the one who had died back in July. This time the mother had for some reason deposited him under my neighbour's car. The previous pics on caregiving were taken using that kitten as model.
Here's more of him and the black one. My bro and his family can't seem to settle on names for them so they've basically come to be called Black Kat and White Kat. Yeah.... don't say it.... I know.... *rolls eyes*
White Kat at about 3 weeks old... eyes just opened...
A couple of weeks older... snoozing....
Pics taken last night... Black & White Kats sharing a bowl... White kept using his head to block Black from eating.... heehee...
White won out and fell asleep.... ZZZzzZZzzz....
Sorry about the fuzzy pics. They where taken with my phone cam under bad lighting conditions :-( Black Kat is now about 4 months old and White Kat about 2 months.
I'm very proud of my bro and his family for having undertaken such a responsibility and achieving a much better success rate than experienced rescuers. Yay for them :-)
Here's more of him and the black one. My bro and his family can't seem to settle on names for them so they've basically come to be called Black Kat and White Kat. Yeah.... don't say it.... I know.... *rolls eyes*
White Kat at about 3 weeks old... eyes just opened...
A couple of weeks older... snoozing....
Pics taken last night... Black & White Kats sharing a bowl... White kept using his head to block Black from eating.... heehee...
White won out and fell asleep.... ZZZzzZZzzz....
Sorry about the fuzzy pics. They where taken with my phone cam under bad lighting conditions :-( Black Kat is now about 4 months old and White Kat about 2 months.
I'm very proud of my bro and his family for having undertaken such a responsibility and achieving a much better success rate than experienced rescuers. Yay for them :-)
Monday, 22 September 2008
Kitten Updates
Apparently, newborn kittens are damn difficult to raise. A seasoned rescuer told me that their survival rate without the mother's care is only 5%. There're lots of things you need to help the kitten to do, not to mention the 2-hourly feedings. Here are some pics of the feeding process.....
First, massage the privates to stimulate peeing cos they can't pee or poo by themselves at this stage of their lives...
squeezing out the last drop...
Milk! I want milk!!
aaaaaahhhhh... that's more like it....
Making him pee again after his meal..
Massaging his tummy to make him burp
He's been constipated for 2 days... running warm water to stimulate pooing..
A crude measurement of growth (a week ago, he was swimming in the ring) :-P
Peed, fed and burped... now for a nice snooze on top of the hot water bottles...
First, massage the privates to stimulate peeing cos they can't pee or poo by themselves at this stage of their lives...
squeezing out the last drop...
Milk! I want milk!!
aaaaaahhhhh... that's more like it....
Making him pee again after his meal..
Massaging his tummy to make him burp
He's been constipated for 2 days... running warm water to stimulate pooing..
A crude measurement of growth (a week ago, he was swimming in the ring) :-P
Peed, fed and burped... now for a nice snooze on top of the hot water bottles...
Sunday, 14 September 2008
More on kittens
Remember them from a few posts before?
Well, the white one died a week later probably due to pneumonia. It had difficult breathing one Sunday night and on Monday morning, we rushed it to the vet. The vet couldn't tell what was wrong exactly but we got some antibiotics and glucose which my brother had to administer intravenously every 2 hours. Poor fella died the next morning at 3am. RIP sweet one....
Anyway, 3 months later, the black one now named Kat, is a fiesty little fellow who loves to play and can shoot around the house like a rocket. She (we think it's a "she") as also managed to get herself shut into the kitchen cabinets every so often because nobody knew she had sneaked in. Here she is :-)
This is Kat at about 5 weeks old. These pics were taken on National Day, 9 Aug...
Here she at 10 weeks old. Pics taken yesterday :-)
aaaaaaannnnnnndddddddd............
NEW ADDITION!! Rescued on 4 September from under the neighbour's car. The mother had once again abandoned this little one. It's a dead ringer for the one who died and we suspect it's the same mother :-( His (we think it's a "he") name is Fluffy...
Well, the white one died a week later probably due to pneumonia. It had difficult breathing one Sunday night and on Monday morning, we rushed it to the vet. The vet couldn't tell what was wrong exactly but we got some antibiotics and glucose which my brother had to administer intravenously every 2 hours. Poor fella died the next morning at 3am. RIP sweet one....
Anyway, 3 months later, the black one now named Kat, is a fiesty little fellow who loves to play and can shoot around the house like a rocket. She (we think it's a "she") as also managed to get herself shut into the kitchen cabinets every so often because nobody knew she had sneaked in. Here she is :-)
This is Kat at about 5 weeks old. These pics were taken on National Day, 9 Aug...
Here she at 10 weeks old. Pics taken yesterday :-)
aaaaaaannnnnnndddddddd............
NEW ADDITION!! Rescued on 4 September from under the neighbour's car. The mother had once again abandoned this little one. It's a dead ringer for the one who died and we suspect it's the same mother :-( His (we think it's a "he") name is Fluffy...
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Just wondering...
... if anyone actually reads my blog. I've told only a handful of people about this blog. Even my closest friends and family don't know about it. Bloody hell, even I don't read it. Every now and then, I remember that I have a blog so I update it with my ramblings. I wouldn't be able to find it on another computer because it's only bookmarked in this computer.
So who reads my blog? If you do, please leave me a comment so that I'll know I'm not really talking to myself. Thanks :-)
So who reads my blog? If you do, please leave me a comment so that I'll know I'm not really talking to myself. Thanks :-)
I'm not a sportswoman but....
... I do like to WATCH sports :-)
I've been glued to the telly this past week watching the Beijing Olympics. I think Michael Phelps is part fish... maybe once he hits the water, he grows webs between his fingers and toes and if you examine under his ears carefully, you'll see gills. That man is sheer genius in the water!!
That aside, I happened to catch the 200m women's fly finals. It was an ok race at the start but at the turn for the last lap, China's Liu Zige starting catching up with the defending champion and beat her by about a body length, cutting the world record by 10 seconds. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!!
These wonderful feats bring to mind 1976 Nadia Comeneci's perfect 10 performance and Barcelona 1992 Fu Minxiang's winning dive from the 10m platform. I don't think I've ever seen anything to beat these 2 breathtaking and beautifully executed performances.
Oh yes, I remember from eons ago in some vague part of my memory Mark Spitz's wins in the pool. If I'm not wrong, he had a full head of hair, a big moustache and a triangle Speedo. But now, all the swimmers are either bald or double-capped with shark skin suits that compress their bodies to be as aerodynamically efficient as possible. So are the new world records a result of their own prowess or the suits?
So ok, Singapore won silver in the women's team table tennis but it's all very hollow to me as at the end of the day, all 3 players are imports and not trained and developed in Singapore. I'm sure I'm not the only one saying that it was essentially a China vs China match. But Zhang Yining is another kettle of fish altogether. She is by far the coolest player I have ever had the pleasure of watching. It's no wonder she's World No. 1 :-P
Badminton... now that's about the only sport with a net that I know how to truly appreciate, having played it myself since I was so high with the neighbour kids and joining the badminton team in school just for the heck of it. Strangely enough, they didn't show badminton on Channel 5, the "official Olympic channel". Funny how the official channel missed out so many events. Maybe they weren't officious enough.
Well, I managed to catch the men's final between world no. 1, China's Lin Dan and Malaysian Lee Chong Wei. That Lin Dan... W.O.W. I've never seen him play before but I'm glad I channel-surfed to the Malaysian station and caught that match.
Caught gymnastics last night and was a bit shaken by the hairlessness of the men gymnasts from the eastern bloc. Men really shouldn't shave anything other than their faces. Since we're on that subject, men shouldn't do floor exercises either, especially big men with bulky muscles. It's not a pretty sight.
I don't know what's on tonight but I think it's beach volleyball. I'll give that a miss and get on with reading my Eddings.
I've been glued to the telly this past week watching the Beijing Olympics. I think Michael Phelps is part fish... maybe once he hits the water, he grows webs between his fingers and toes and if you examine under his ears carefully, you'll see gills. That man is sheer genius in the water!!
That aside, I happened to catch the 200m women's fly finals. It was an ok race at the start but at the turn for the last lap, China's Liu Zige starting catching up with the defending champion and beat her by about a body length, cutting the world record by 10 seconds. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!!
These wonderful feats bring to mind 1976 Nadia Comeneci's perfect 10 performance and Barcelona 1992 Fu Minxiang's winning dive from the 10m platform. I don't think I've ever seen anything to beat these 2 breathtaking and beautifully executed performances.
Oh yes, I remember from eons ago in some vague part of my memory Mark Spitz's wins in the pool. If I'm not wrong, he had a full head of hair, a big moustache and a triangle Speedo. But now, all the swimmers are either bald or double-capped with shark skin suits that compress their bodies to be as aerodynamically efficient as possible. So are the new world records a result of their own prowess or the suits?
So ok, Singapore won silver in the women's team table tennis but it's all very hollow to me as at the end of the day, all 3 players are imports and not trained and developed in Singapore. I'm sure I'm not the only one saying that it was essentially a China vs China match. But Zhang Yining is another kettle of fish altogether. She is by far the coolest player I have ever had the pleasure of watching. It's no wonder she's World No. 1 :-P
Badminton... now that's about the only sport with a net that I know how to truly appreciate, having played it myself since I was so high with the neighbour kids and joining the badminton team in school just for the heck of it. Strangely enough, they didn't show badminton on Channel 5, the "official Olympic channel". Funny how the official channel missed out so many events. Maybe they weren't officious enough.
Well, I managed to catch the men's final between world no. 1, China's Lin Dan and Malaysian Lee Chong Wei. That Lin Dan... W.O.W. I've never seen him play before but I'm glad I channel-surfed to the Malaysian station and caught that match.
Caught gymnastics last night and was a bit shaken by the hairlessness of the men gymnasts from the eastern bloc. Men really shouldn't shave anything other than their faces. Since we're on that subject, men shouldn't do floor exercises either, especially big men with bulky muscles. It's not a pretty sight.
I don't know what's on tonight but I think it's beach volleyball. I'll give that a miss and get on with reading my Eddings.
Monday, 4 August 2008
Waiting for the air-con man
Last night the air-con in the room went a little haywire. It wasn't cool at all and if you are in sunny Singapore right now, you'd know how torturous the weather is these days.
So D called the air-con man who was supposed to have been here at 5pm, but it's 7.14pm now and still no sign of that all-important figure in our lives.
Here are my dogs confined to the kitchen so that they don't pounce on and tear our dear air-con man to shreds... the feral beasts...
So D called the air-con man who was supposed to have been here at 5pm, but it's 7.14pm now and still no sign of that all-important figure in our lives.
Here are my dogs confined to the kitchen so that they don't pounce on and tear our dear air-con man to shreds... the feral beasts...
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