A Mind of My Own

I love reading. Reading lets me escape from the world and fantacise in the world of Alice in Wonderland (the movie is coming), Xanth creatures and other beautitul characters with wonderful homes. For the past few months, I have been reading other books. Books that have helped me get better focus in life.

Dale Carnegie was a visionary; he knew that everyone would need help in How to Win Friends and Influence People. Long title but it impacted everyone who needed some help in the friendship area. The book isn’t just about influencing people. It’s about building good solid, sincere relationships instead of making use of people to help anyone gain in a one way traffic. Business don’t make money just on a one time sale. Such a business will go broke sooner than you can say “Donald Trump!”

Friends are treasures and real friends don’t cheat friends. Real friends help one another without thinking about whether the returns for the help is equal in value. If a friendship is based on equal values, how can it last long? It won’t even last more than a year.

As I was saying, books are my love and I have this growing stack of books that are for keeps. I also have another stack of books to be given away or sold. Go see if they might be useful for you since I won’t be reading them again as I feel that they are more useful to others.

It’s always amazing to get to talk to people ever since I started volunteering at NLB. I took up a session for the book exchange that would be carried out until 24th Apr 2009 to allow people to exchange their books for coupons to be used on 25th April 2009 at Victoria Street from 10.30am to 6pm.

Quite a number of people asked about the books that could be exchanged and often emphasized on “old” books. So far, the books I saw today were in good condition. What was even more interesting was that some mistook that they could exchange used books for new ones. Well, this is a recycling programme, new books have to be bought.

Humans are truly fascinating since we want certain things but unwilling to sacrifice what we think is cutting off a chunk of our flesh and keep thinking that we are being disadvantaged.

Never say anything to hurt anyone. Moreover… refrain from double talk, from shrewd and canny remarks that are designed to advance our interests at someone’s disadvantage. We are to turn our back upon evil, and in every way possible, do good, help people and bring blessings into their lives. ~ Norman Vincent Peale

At times like this, I wonder, in our lives, we keep trying to avoid something that we hate but it keeps coming back until we take a deep breath and conquer it. After we have conquered that fear, we realised that it is so much easier to just cut short the pain. 长痛不如短痛. Humans tend to torture ourselves more than others.

A little discomfort is surely better than being uncomfortable for the rest of your life, right?

This volunteering took me some time because I couldn’t join the earlier batches. It is a hot service because everyone would want to take part but on the day itself, I was rather shocked at the no-show. I am not sure what happened but it is unfair to those who are available on that day being unable to take part because the no-show were taking advantage of the slots and not informing the NLB about their last minute changes.

That aside, I spent a day at the Central Lending Library registering books for BookCrossing. The task is pretty simple, just make sure that books are still in good condition and with the relevant stickers pasted. Finally, register online and the book is released into the wild for your reading pleasure.

I have yet to come across books that are part of this programme. Perhaps, I haven’t looked hard enough and I really wanted to keep all those books for myself first before releasing them into the wild. Such sinful thoughts. However, I didn’t bring an empty luggage bag along. That would have been great.

If you have the spare time, try registering here to volunteer at NLB. For your time spent there, you get to borrow twice the amount of your current allocation after completing the required number of voluteering hours. That was my initial intention

However, having spent some time there, I realised that I was happy to assist in any small way I could. So, if you like to mix around, the NLB has lots of activities that require the boisterious ones to mix around with strangers too. Register as a volunteer now!

Having been toying with the idea of publishing my own book for years, I have finally pushed my lazy butt and published an eBook first. It is just part of what I have written for NaNoWriMo in 2008 and I have been editing it tediously for spelling and grammar.

Having lost the art of writing for more than 10 years, I was nearly on the brink of tears when words fail to flow smoothly unlike previously when I could pluck out cheem words from thin air and insert them into my stories. Hence, I have finally managed to recover part of my writing skills by borrowing books from the library again.

It feels good to read those romance and mystery novels again. I feel as if I have found myself again. Reading does help with the writing. I have no patience for non fiction, unfortunately. They put me to sleep within the first 2 pages. Power.

Anyway, I hope that you will enjoy Reaching 30: Stalker, Book One that I have finally bit my lips and just hit publish. If there is a demand, I will do a print version.

I will continue with Book Two that is currently in the works.

I have been bitten by the “Aggressive Reading Bug”. Just before CNY, I went to the nearest regional library and borrowed 8 books because they have a promotion. A pity that they can’t allow that for everyone except for the premimum membership that I never got around to applying for. Although I have gotten myself into the volunteer programme for NLB.

That was when I saw the box to drop off adult fiction and unwanted spectacles. The novels are to be used for the Book Crossing scheme while the unwanted spectacles will be used to reduce blindness for the poor countries. NLB has partnered with The Lasik Clinic, yes, the one that I did my Lasik at.

Since I’m in the midst of writing some erotic fiction cum mystery cum suspense, I borrowed the following books to help my writing muse.

River Road by JoAnn Ross – Definitely a sexy book whereby the eldest son is ready to tear off the clothes off a popular actress who is being stalked.

I Heard That Song Before by Mary Higgins Clark – Suspense is what Clark does best and the plot got thicker and thicker.

Gift of Fire by Jayne Ann Krentz – Physical and mentally attuned to each other, I can’t believe how much chemistry the two main characters have for each other.

Love, Lies and Liqour by M. C.Beaton – Agatha Raisin the tottering old lady that most of the police department except her friend Bill Wong would like to believe often has flashes of intuitions to solve crimes that the police can’t. This time, she is framed for the murder of another lady and after supplying her alibi and that her scarf was lost, she finds herself being embroiled in a series of digging out skeletons that the dead lady had acquired.

Chow Down by Lauren Berenson – Dogs rule here and solving a murder while chartering between an unforseen contest and dog shows wasn’t what Melanie had in mind at first.

Agatha Raisin and The Haunted House – A handsome neighbour moved into James’ old cottage has piped Agatha’s interest and she went along with his idea of being a ghost buster only because she was fantasizing about love again.

Don’t Talk Back to Your Vampire by Michele Bardsley – The sizzling attraction to Lorcan was so powerful that Eva couldn’t help but imagine being ravished by him even though he was the one who made her a vampire in the first place.

Because Your Vampire Said So by Michele Bardsley – That white wolf keeps saving Patsy and even though she tells herself not to love any men again, she was strongly attracted to him. Never mind that her womb was removed after giving birth to her son before turning into a vampire by Lorcan.

To Kiss a Spy by Jane Feather – Duchesses have the fun of kissing unbelievably handsome men of all statuses. Unfortunately, this particular duchess needed help from a spy to find her son.

Househusband by Ad Hudler – I was rather intrigued by the title and I must say, it’s the first time I have read a book that includes recipes at the end of some chapters.

Bury The Lead by David Rosenfelt – Full of legal terms yet riveting enough for me to keep reading on to find out the serial killer.

The Winter Queen by Devin Cary – A young queen forced to take on the role of a regent against the council’s denials that women can’t be kings after her king died due to a freak accident. Although her lack of control for sorcery may help her but she couldn’t display them as the elders couldn’t accept such witchcraft.

Agatha Raisin and The Deadly Dance by M. C. Beaton- Agatha is at it again bumbling into cases that irk the local police but yet finding clues that they never seem to be able to find.

Kissing Christmas Goodbye by M. C. Beaton – Agatha does it again and this time, she is jealous of her young detective who seems to have youth and skills that match hers except for the age part that she is horribly jealous of. And she keeps fantasizing about getting back with James Lacey her ex husband for Christmas.

After reading the books, I realise that I have never managed to borrow any series that is from book one to the current ones. I usually start off from the middle of some sort, take Gift of Fire and the Agatha series for example. Over the years, I have come to the sad conclusion that the public library will never be able to stock the books in series according to when they were published.

A feeling of nostalgia overcome me when I watched shows like The Days, Hana Kimi and Brown Sugar Macchiato. School crushes were a plenty of course. What’s growing up as a teenager without girly crushes over that cute guy in class or another class?

I never shown my bravery at telling any of the crushes that I remotely liked them. The girls in BSM were brave to tell them. One even made a scarf for hers. I can’t knit at all despite a few attempts. I have never had such adventures like Ashiya Mizuki in Hana Kimi with so many guys. Actually, in real life, it’s impossible to actually sneak into a boy’s school unnoticed.

I mean, not all girls can actually disguise themselves as boys so well. Sometimes, I wondered where all the handsome ones had gone to and realised that dramas chose only the cute ones to act. Pretty girls don’t study at the same school either. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a title called School Belle in the first place.

Come to think of it, I can’t remember if we had any School Belle in Secondary School either. Did I miss out something in my bumbling years? I still remember this primary school Science teacher. Somehow, she was stalking me by entering the same secondary school I was attending!

The horrors! Everyone was afraid of her because she was fierce. Especially during her pregnancy. I wonder why. It was by pure luck that I wasn’t assigned to the class where Home Economics was part of the subjects.

Frankly speaking, I fell asleep by the 3rd lesson of History within 5 minutes. World War II and all about how Singapura became Singapore was really old news. Why can’t we learn about Pernarakan Culture or the differences between Taoists and Buddhists? How many different religions do we have in Singapore actually?

How many different dialects do we have actually? I don’t even know which Lunar day of the month we have to pray to the different gods. I don’t even know what customs we have to observe during a birth, 1st month for the baby, wedding and different things to say during Chinese New Year.

I don’t even know how long some of the buildings have stood in certain places either. I wonder what I learned during my school years besides Mathematics, English, Electronics, difference between like and love. Forget like love since such feelings are still new.

Sometimes, I wonder if the school years could have been more interesting if I had done something brave. Like actually remembering the script on stage when I was performing. That’s when I realised that I have severe stage fright.

I love money. Hands up for those who don’t! There! See? Nobody has their hands up! All your hands are on the mouse and the keyboard, right? I clever, right?

When one is rich, what does one do? Buy property and stuff. When one is poor, what does one do? Sell the assets to raise the funds just so one can eat and take the public transport. Check out Claudia’s Garage and Bazaar, the latter is obviously by yours truly.

I have rummaged for stuff in my closet and cabinets. I realised that I have kept all my birthday gifts up there somewhere and never used them. What a waste. I have cups, wind chimes, teddy bears and many more. So, why are they in the cupboards? I don’t want them to get dirty! They are gifts from my friends even though I have lost contact with a few of them.

Unfortunately, I need the money. So, do I sell them off? Will you kill me if I do that?

I have found textbooks that are more than 8 years old. I seriously doubt that anyone would want to buy such old books. One of them is worst for the wear too. I have the full collection of Samurai X comic books in Chinese that I will be keeping for my own collection since they are no longer in mint condition.

I will be selling off the stuff that I have dug out from my closet and cupboards since I am no longer needing them and most of them are still in their original packaging. I wonder why on earth do I buy them when I don’t even use them. Oh wait, the shopping streak in me.

If you want new or eco-friendly jewellery or clothes, check out Cheri Divas.

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Freelance can be a torture. That’s when you don’t plan the schedule. Your family members keep calling for you thinking that just because you are home, you are free. You try to let them know but they fail to see the logic when working in the office means you are busy (can’t see you so they assume you are busy). Eh?

I need the Harry Potter’s Invisible Cloak. Or even a jumper’s ability to just jump to a quiet place to do work. I won’t say that I am fully freelancing since I’m not exactly doing that. It’s like I’m more in dabbling in a pet project at this moment with too many other mini projects that need the brain cells to be active at the same time.

I am still wondering if I can do freelance. I’ve always wanted to do professional writing. I know it doesn’t pay that well since I’m not Stephen King, J. K. Rowling (Did I spell the author’s name correctly? I have this problem with initials) or Dan Brown.

Maybe I should just give myself a name with writing credits to that name so that I do get some exposure. I read that some authors use different names for their books, like Mark Twain and the author of Alice in Wonderland. Here I am, digressing in 3 paragraphs about doing freelance.

Anyway, freelancing means discipline and not everyone is able to do it. There’s a way to make one self-disciplined too. By blogging the deadlines so that readers will pester you for results.

Nobody will understand the feelings of a freelancer except another who had gone through the same situation. Everyone needs a little tender loving care at times and support. Freelance may not bring in stable income but it does bring the flexibility of time schedules. You don’t have to tell anyone why you are submitting that leave form.

However, you get calls from clients who call you in their day time while you are at night because they are on the other side of the world and forget the time difference. And you get calls from frantic clients on Saturdays because they think that by paying you, they can call you at any time without considering the fact that you may be spending some family time.

Having studied a degree, writing reports is the next thing to proceed. You have to write thesis for the project for that final mark to gain that honours. It wasn’t easy for me to choose a project from the list of term paper topics as there wasn’t really a list.

We were supposed to think of a problem that is plaguing a company or the mass. Tough. However, when I think of those who are in JCs writing their A-Level coursework, I wonder how they did it. Writing isn’t easy for those who have difficulties putting down the thoughts and process on paper.

Language is a skill. Some are stronger in written while others are better with welding their weapons using the spoken language. That’s why there are those smooth talking sales people we do have to be aware of as the goods that they sell may not be what is claimed.

For the written work, proof-reading is important as you can’t change the text after it’s printed. Written words carry no emotion. Thus, for students who have difficulties, they often request for help from peers or professionals who can help them with their AS Physics coursework, for example.