I Am Titanium

"You shoot me down, but I won't fall, I am titanium."

Simple words that carry so much meaning!

The Smirking Conundrum

I've been told I tend to smirk in photos.

It's unintentional!

I swear I was trying to look friendly. Why do I turn out looking so smug instead? T.T

Somehow one corner of my mouth will curve up more than the other, and I can't seem to catch this imbalance when I'm smiling to correct the flaw before the camera's shutters go off.

So I tried a wide, dazzling smile that shows off my not-so-perfect pearly whites.

Honey and the "bee". Who's honey and who's bee? :D

What do you think? Any better or does my teeth totally ruin the picture? :P

The Space Between

The warm fuzzy feeling that you have when you've read a book which you really enjoyed? I don't really get that often.

Sure, there are plenty of books I had fun reading; books that made me laugh, cry and think really hard about my world view.

(Can you tell these are the sort of stories which I like the most? ^^ )

So I'm really glad I had enough sense not to pay attention to first impressions with Brenna Yovanoff's The Space Between.

Pandemonium, otherwise known as hell, is a city of steel and metal.

"Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped—and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible.

Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie’s whereabouts. 

As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way"


Everything about it just didn't appeal to me - the cover (which I now find really awesome XD ), the storyline, even the characters - though I was rather impressed with Brenna's debut, The Replacements.

The eerily haunting image everyone was talking about.

There's just so many YA novels out there about girl goes on quest, meets love of her life, external parties interfere, yada, yada, yada. What's the diff, right?

I was so wrong.

The difference is in the quality of prose, immaculate pacing, well fleshed out and lovable characters whom you accept flaws and all, and - dare I say it - the humanising of demons so much so that you actually feel a sliver of sympathy for what we traditionally think of as the bad guys.

I only wish Truman's name wasn't Truman. Okay, I admit I'm shallow but Truman, seriously? He's supposed to be some skinny, tragic, self-destructive kid and all I can think of is Truman Capote. The old one. Yeah, not sexy, at all. :P

Hmm..

Small Miracles

There I was, navigating through the night towards the office, in my ageing car, at a frantic pace. The LCD clock beamed a string of numbers starting with 9, and my eyes were trying hard to stay focused on the road ahead.

Dang, I'd done another of my infamous acts of 'absent-minded professor-ism'... I'd left my phone at work, goodness knows where, although I suspected the wash room (don't ask. just don't.ask.).

How I wish my car could fly! Other than absolutely knowing I'd lost my phone, the next most agonizing feeling was not knowing if I'd find it or if it was gone for good. Aargh, the frustration!

And then, on a random whim - my fingers somehow flew to the button on the panel - I switched the radio's frequency to a mandarin station's. Lo and behold, mother of all miracles, this was playing:

Owl City's title song from the new EP, Shooting Star. Adam Young!!

What were the odds? The EP just dropped on iTunes about a week ago and I've yet to hear any of the songs on English radio stations.

Surely, that was a sign. An omen.

“Omens are everywhere in this world, you just have to find the one that fits.” 

- Tiffany Aching in I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett

Granted, Shooting Star's not my fav track off the EP but you take what you're given and be grateful for it.

My mood lifted immediately and yes, I did find my phone eventually. It was on my desk, buried under a neat stack of papers.

Go figure.

Power Packing 101

Calling fellow pack rats,

If you insist on:

- Packing clothes by doubling the amount of days you'll be away (eg: for a 3-day trip, you bring enough threads for 6 days)
- Carrying 2 lip balms, 3 lip glosses, 3 eye shadow compacts, etc just because you can't decide which colours to take to suit your mood
- Sitting on your suitcase to zip it up

Then, this piece on power packing at Rookie is too good to pass over.

You know.... if you're still serious about finding people to travel with after your last suitcase meltdown.
:P

BRACES is a 6 letter word for torture

Braces... one word that sends me running in terror. My parents want me to get it but even me- at my very vain-est - can't really bring myself to seriously consider getting those torture devices of doom.

Yes, I chicken out at the (perceived) pain, the fact that I'm going to be 23 (who wears braces at 23??) and this:

Pic: http://www.yummycorner.com/2005/10/14/low-yau-kee-porridge/

Now, I'm not saying the porridge here isn't good (you learn things like this when your pay comes from the media industry), and I've personally never tried it.

It's just that I detest watery porridge. Very much. I rather eat plain rice. And I've been fed horror stories of how I'll be on a "porridge diet" for the 1-2 weeks right after getting braces.

*shudder*

No, absolutely no. I'll live with self deprecating jokes about my gap teeth and imperfect set of not-so-pearly whites.

Quick Pic

Fact: Women like to buy pretty stuff that they may, in all probability, never use.

Falsies from Sasa that I *might* one day use for cosplay or events... if I ever figure out how to get these stuff on without looking like Halloween gone bad.

For now, I'l stare and sigh at how pretty they look in glorious original packaging. *ahh, so lovely*

Why am I no Kotakoti?! :P