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Archive for the ‘Stuff to Share’ Category

The Girl’s Guide to Everything

I’m only a few chapters into this book but its so amusing I’ve to share it!

How To Walk in High Heels: A Girl’s Guide to Everything by Camillia Morton

‘From appreciating wine to understanding modern art, placing a bet to playing poker, wearing a hat to finding the mains, changing a tyre to loading an i-pod, HOW TO WALK IN HIGH HEELS helps you navigate life’s challenges with style.

Camilla has been ably assisted by a host of experts including Vivienne Westwood, Manolo Blahnik and Kylie, who offer tips on everything from the perfect poached egg to looking good in a photo.

Funny and informative, packed with great quotes and fascinating facts this will transform your approach to everything from getting dressed to hanging wallpaper. Turn your exasperated aaaaarrrrrghs into confident ahhhhs!’

Description from: http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Walk-High-Heels-Everything/dp/0340836059

Now, some of the funniest things I’ve read:

From ‘How to Impress the In-Laws’- “Also, take a good hard look at the father, as this is the wrinkly version of what you may end up with.”

From “Birthdays”- “Men may carelessly forgot them, while women try to and cannot.”

From “Weddings- What to wear”- “Comparatively simple for the bride, utter nightmare for everyone else.”

From “How to hold court from your sick bed”- “Keep your guests at a slight distance, as you don’t want to pass on the flu, nor do you want them to see how red your nose is.”

HAHA! Fortunately, Camilla is not made of just wit and sarcasm. In fact, besides giving useful advice for girls (you got to decide for yourself what you want to take and what to discard), she generally advices graciousness and consideration, which I like! For example-

From “Birthdays”- “Anyone can remember Christmas. Birthdays are for the individual and so that day must be special for them. It must not be forgotten. ”

From “Weddings- RSVP”- “You HAVE to RSVP promptly and politely to wedding invitations, ideally on the cards supplied, whether you can attend or can’t think of anything worst.’

From “Weddings- Think of others”- “If you do see someone on their own, go up and say something to them or compliment their dress…Compassion.”

From “How to have a good bedside manner”- “Ask them (i.e. ill person in bed) if there is anything that you can get them, and indeed what their symptoms are…be as nice and considerate and soothing to them as you would expect them to be to you. If You have good bedside manner then when you are sick they will want to fuss over you.”

From “How to rebuff unwanted advances”- “Never make fun of a love-struck fool because one day it could be you. Treat as you wish to be treated, and never date our of sympathy.”

Why you should treat your IT support staff well

Source: http://crenk.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/spare-577×493.png

Saw this and found it rather amusing. It makes it appear that IT people indeed spend a lot of time waiting, but also have lots of convenient excuses to justify not doing anything.

It reminded me of why I think certain groups of IT people really deserve to be treated well- IT support staff! I guess we should try to treat everyone well, but IT service staff are very prone to being treated with disrespect/meanly!

This occured to me last year, when I attended a course and met one of our IT support staff based in KL. I asked him about his job and he said that it’s a ‘shit’ job because the people who call you on the IT hotline are always in ‘PMS’ mode.

If you think through it, its really true. We call the IT hotline when our computer, scanners or printers are acting up on us, and usually, we’ve spent many frustrating moments trying to fix it before making that call. We’re upset, and in a FOUL mood. And, when the problem is not instantly rectified, I think we subconsciously blame the poor IT support staff on the other line, as if its his/her fault that your computer has gone cranky on you. So we speak in an irritable tone, sometimes rudely, and are always impatient with them when they are trying to help us solve some unknown problem remotely!

I’ll admit that I think I used to be pretty much the cranky user on the other line. After meeting the mentioned colleague, I decided that I should always try to be nice to the person on the other side of the line. Its surprisingly difficult sometimes when I’m really frustrated and waiting to get work done, but we should all try!

PS: There’s usually a whole queue of people with IT problems…maybe if you’re nice, your call gets priority the next time!

My Milk Toof

OMG! Lennel just showed me http://mymilktoof.blogspot.com

It chronicles the adventures of 2 teeth-friends, with the cutest pictures!

Here’s the author’s story:

‘When I was young, I placed my baby teeth under my pillow and when i woke up I’d find a shiny new quarter. But whatever happened to those little teeth? Where did they go? Would I ever see them again?

Many years later, a little tooth was standing at my door. It looked familiar. Its name was ickle. Welcome home, my milk toof!’

Do check it out! I want some milk toof!

My Perfect Powder

I hate it when my face feels/look oily, never fails to put me in a grumpy mood. My colleague once asked why I was always blotting my face, and its because oil just gets to my nerves!

My face used to get incredibly oily when I used the wrong foundation (Loreal Angel Fit), or the wrong make-up base (Face Shop). Then I dumped my foundation and switched to using powder foundation or BB Cream and things got much better.

Later on, I started using pressed powder and it was the best quick-fix solution. Put some powder, the oil is absorbed and your skin makeup is touched up. I’m not even particular about which powder I use, alternating between Silky Girl’s Oil-Control Powder and Maybelline’s Clear Smooth Shine-Free Powder… then recently, I ran out of powder decided to try out something different for a change.

Revlon’s New Complexion Pressed Powder in medium beige! I’ve been using it for nearly 2 weeks and I’ve to say that this is the perfect powder! Its smooth and easy to blend onto my skin. Its oil-free and put an end to my oily skin woes- I don’t know what it does exactly, but I now only blot my face once a day, and feel the compulsion to do so much later in the day. Also, its texture is slightly creamy or something, which makes it very hassle-free and clean as I don’t get powder flying all over if I’m not careful. I’m pretty clumsy and drop my make-up compacts pretty often, but this powder has not broke after dropping it twice!

This is my perfect powder. When I need some new powder foundation, I’m definitely giving the New Complexion Powder Foundation a go.

I don’t know if I’ve developed some kind of biased brand loyalty to Revlon, but somehow, I seem to have very few bad experiences with their products…in fact, I remember that the first time I bought liquid foundation on my own, a promoter in Watsons recommended Revlon’s Colorstay to me and it worked better for me than all other foundations I tried subsequently. Their things are slightly more expensive than most regular pharmacy cosmetic brands, but they worked the best and usually, last longer because you don’t need to use half as much!

For My Valentine

It ain’t Valentines, but this is for my love=p Chanced across it today, and I remembered the first time I heard it in sec school, and I decided that I’d one day sing it to the love of my life.

Wear them, drive them!

 

Last Saturday, Lennel and I were at Vivocity when we came across the Chevy Aveo 5- Levis Limited Edition.

 It started with me noticing that the cars look sporty and cute from a distance, and then we saw the Levis prints! I’m not a Levis fan, but thought they were cute in a way. I was debating whether it’d make me look cool, or like a driving advertisement for Levis…

 Anyway, I figured I could peel the decals off when I get tired of the Levis branding. Then we opened the doors to climb in…

Pictures from: http://chevroletsingapore.com/aveo5-levis

Omg, denim seats, carpets and pockets! Now, I thought that was unique!!! I tried to ask if you can buy it with the denim interior without the decals on the exterior, but unfortunately, no. It’s all Levis or plain Chevy.

Overall very cute. Love the blue, but I like the decals of the red better. It made me tempted to buy a car, hah!

 

 

 

Its the bus uncle’s birthday!

And a whole gang got together to celebrate it. This is aww. Thanks Sooty for recommending.

Colours Galore!

I’ve been reading loads about Coastal Scents 88-colour palettes on blogs and such. Having loads of steadily-depreciating USD on hand, I finally decided to do some online shopping and try the regular and ‘warm’ palettes (save on shipping!).

Sidetrack: I am beyond impressed with Fedex. I chose the cheapest International Shipping and it got from Florida to Singapore in THREE days. Bubble wrapped and intact.

There are lots of rave reviews on these eyeshadows, such as this. I  absolutely cannot wait to try them out…

Looks like there’s (more than) every colour in the world I could possible need and the best part? Its only about 20+ USD/palette, I kid you not.

PS: This is the THIRD time in my life I’ve ever shopped online in my life, achievement!

Hot Guys Reading Books

Saw this on Twitter!

There are plenty of attractive men in the world, but unfortunately few of them that are avid readers. Welcome to “Hot Guys Reading Books” the blog that scours the internet for examples of luscious literary men and gathers the evidence in one place.

Quoted from: http://hotguysreadingbooks.tumblr.com/

Girls, (and curious boys), do check it out. Hilarious and delicious.

 

INTJ

My friends have been into this MBTI test and I decided to intrude into their little game and try the test. 

INTJ- Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging

 

Strength of the preferences %
56	12	38	44

I’ve done many of such tests, but I felt this deserves a mention because for the first time in my life, I’ve felt sure of my answers when answering a personality test. Little hesitation between options, I just knew what answer suited me. Better self awareness as I approach 24? LOL. 

Therefore, I think this is the most accurate MBTI-type assessment I’ve done. 

Below are 2 analyses on INTJs, and its so long that I’m sure no one will really read it, so I’ll just say that I find many parts of the 1st description to be close to heart when I read it. 

Analysis from: http://keirsey.com/handler.aspx?s=keirsey&f=fourtemps&tab=5&c=mastermind 

 

All Rationals are good at planning operations, but Masterminds are head and shoulders above all the rest in contingency planning. Complex operations involve many steps or stages, one following another in a necessary progression, and Masterminds are naturally able to grasp how each one leads to the next, and to prepare alternatives for difficulties that are likely to arise any step of the way. Trying to anticipate every contingency, Masterminds never set off on their current project without a Plan A firmly in mind, but they are always prepared to switch to Plan B or C or D if need be. 

Masterminds are rare, comprising no more than, say, one percent of the population, and they are rarely encountered outside their office, factory, school, or laboratory. Although they are highly capable leaders, Masterminds are not at all eager to take command, preferring to stay in the background until others demonstrate their inability to lead. Once they take charge, however, they are thoroughgoing pragmatists. Masterminds are certain that efficiency is indispensable in a well-run organization, and if they encounter inefficiency-any waste of human and material resources-they are quick to realign operations and reassign personnel. Masterminds do not feel bound by established rules and procedures, and traditional authority does not impress them, nor do slogans or catchwords. Only ideas that make sense to them are adopted; those that don’t, aren’t, no matter who thought of them. Remember, their aim is always maximum efficiency. 

In their careers, Masterminds usually rise to positions of responsibility, for they work long and hard and are dedicated in their pursuit of goals, sparing neither their own time and effort nor that of their colleagues and employees. Problem-solving is highly stimulating to Masterminds, who love responding to tangled systems that require careful sorting out. Ordinarily, they verbalize the positive and avoid comments of a negative nature; they are more interested in moving an organization forward than dwelling on mistakes of the past. 

Masterminds tend to be much more definite and self-confident than other Rationals, having usually developed a very strong will. Decisions come easily to them; in fact, they can hardly rest until they have things settled and decided. But before they decide anything, they must do the research. Masterminds are highly theoretical, but they insist on looking at all available data before they embrace an idea, and they are suspicious of any statement that is based on shoddy research, or that is not checked against reality. 

Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, Dwight D. Eisenhower, General Ulysses S. Grant, Frideriche Nietzsche, Niels Bohr, Peter the Great, Stephen Hawking, John Maynard Keynes, Lise Meitner, Ayn Rand and Sir Isaac Newton are examples of Rational Masterminds. 

Analysis from: http://typelogic.com/intj.html 

To outsiders, INTJs may appear to project an aura of “definiteness”, of self-confidence. This self-confidence, sometimes mistaken for simple arrogance by the less decisive, is actually of a very specific rather than a general nature; its source lies in the specialized knowledge systems that most INTJs start building at an early age. When it comes to their own areas of expertise — and INTJs can have several — they will be able to tell you almost immediately whether or not they can help you, and if so, how. INTJs know what they know, and perhaps still more importantly, they know what they don’t know. 

INTJs are perfectionists, with a seemingly endless capacity for improving upon anything that takes their interest. What prevents them from becoming chronically bogged down in this pursuit of perfection is the pragmatism so characteristic of the type: INTJs apply (often ruthlessly) the criterion “Does it work?” to everything from their own research efforts to the prevailing social norms. This in turn produces an unusual independence of mind, freeing the INTJ from the constraints of authority, convention, or sentiment for its own sake. 

INTJs are known as the “Systems Builders” of the types, perhaps in part because they possess the unusual trait combination of imagination and reliability. Whatever system an INTJ happens to be working on is for them the equivalent of a moral cause to an INFJ; both perfectionism and disregard for authority may come into play, as INTJs can be unsparing of both themselves and the others on the project. Anyone considered to be “slacking,” including superiors, will lose their respect — and will generally be made aware of this; INTJs have also been known to take it upon themselves to implement critical decisions without consulting their supervisors or co-workers. On the other hand, they do tend to be scrupulous and even-handed about recognizing the individual contributions that have gone into a project, and have a gift for seizing opportunities which others might not even notice. 

In the broadest terms, what INTJs “do” tends to be what they “know”. Typical INTJ career choices are in the sciences and engineering, but they can be found wherever a combination of intellect and incisiveness are required (e.g., law, some areas of academia). INTJs can rise to management positions when they are willing to invest time in marketing their abilities as well as enhancing them, and (whether for the sake of ambition or the desire for privacy) many also find it useful to learn to simulate some degree of surface conformism in order to mask their inherent unconventionality. 

Personal relationships, particularly romantic ones, can be the INTJ’s Achilles heel. While they are capable of caring deeply for others (usually a select few), and are willing to spend a great deal of time and effort on a relationship, the knowledge and self-confidence that make them so successful in other areas can suddenly abandon or mislead them in interpersonal situations. 

This happens in part because many INTJs do not readily grasp the social rituals; for instance, they tend to have little patience and less understanding of such things as small talk and flirtation (which most types consider half the fun of a relationship). To complicate matters, INTJs are usually extremely private people, and can often be naturally impassive as well, which makes them easy to misread and misunderstand. Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense. This sometimes results in a peculiar naivete’, paralleling that of many Fs — only instead of expecting inexhaustible affection and empathy from a romantic relationship, the INTJ will expect inexhaustible reasonability and directness. 

Probably the strongest INTJ assets in the interpersonal area are their intuitive abilities and their willingness to “work at” a relationship. Although as Ts they do not always have the kind of natural empathy that many Fs do, the Intuitive function can often act as a good substitute by synthesizing the probable meanings behind such things as tone of voice, turn of phrase, and facial expression. This ability can then be honed and directed by consistent, repeated efforts to understand and support those they care about, and those relationships which ultimately do become established with an INTJ tend to be characterized by their robustness, stability, and good communications. 

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Functional Analysis
by Joe Butt 

Introverted iNtuition

INTJs are idea people. Anything is possible; everything is negotiable. Whatever the outer circumstances, INTJs are ever perceiving inner pattern-forms and using real-world materials to operationalize them. Others may see what is and wonder why; INTJs see what might be and say “Why not?!” Paradoxes, antinomies, and other contradictory phenomena aptly express these intuitors’ amusement at those whom they feel may be taking a particular view of reality too seriously. INTJs enjoy developing unique solutions to complex problems. 

Extraverted Thinking

Thinking in this auxiliary role is a workhorse. Closure is the payoff for efforts expended. Evaluation begs diagnosis; product drives process. As they come to light, Thinking tends, protects, affirms and directs iNtuition’s offspring, fully equipping them for fulfilling and useful lives. A faithful pedagogue, Thinking argues not so much on its own behalf, but in defense of its charges. And through this process these impressionable ideas take on the likeness of their master. 

Introverted Feeling

Feeling has a modest inner room, two doors down from the Most Imminent iNtuition. It doesn’t get out much, but lends its influence on behalf of causes which are Good and Worthy and Humane. We may catch a glimpse of it in the unspoken attitude of good will, or the gracious smile or nod. Some question the existence of Feeling in this type, yet its unseen balance to Thinking is a cardinal dimension in the full measure of the INTJ’s soul. 

Extraverted Sensing

Sensing serves with a good will, or not at all. As other inferior functions, it has only a rudimentary awareness of context, amount or degree. Thus INTJs sweat the details or, at times, omit them. “I’ve made up my mind, don’t confuse me with the facts” could well have been said by an INTJ on a mission. Sensing’s extraverted attitude is evident in this type’s bent to savor sensations rather than to merely categorize them. Indiscretions of indulgence are likely an expression of the unconscious vengeance of the inferior. 

Famous INTJs:

Susan B. Anthony
Lance Armstrong
Arthur Ashe, tennis champion
Augustus Caesar (Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus)
Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)
Dan Aykroyd (The Blues Brothers)
William J. Bennett, “drug czar”
William F. Buckley, Jr.
Raymond Burr (Perry Mason, Ironsides)
Chevy Chase (Cornelius Crane) (Fletch)
Katie Couric
Phil Donahue
Michael Dukakis, governor of Mass., 1988 U.S. Dem. pres. candidate
Richard Gere (Pretty Woman)
Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor
Greg Gumbel, television sportscaster
Hannibal, Carthaginian military leader
Veronica Hamel (Hill Street Blues)
Angela Lansbury (Murder, She Wrote)
Orel Leonard Hershiser, IV
Peter Jennings
Charles Everett Koop
Ivan Lendl
C. S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia)
Joan Lunden
Edwin Moses, U.S. olympian (hurdles)
Martina Navratilova
Michelle Obama
General Colin Powell, former US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State
Charles Rangel, US Representative, D-N.Y.
Pernell Roberts (Bonanza)
Donald Rumsfeld, former US Secretary of Defense
Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California
Josephine Tey (Elizabeth Mackintosh), mystery writer (Brat Farrar) 

U.S. Presidents:

Chester A. Arthur

Calvin Coolidge

Thomas Jefferson

John F. Kennedy

James K. Polk

Woodrow Wilson

Fictional:

Cassius (Julius Caesar)
Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)
Gandalf the Grey (J. R. R. Tolkein’s Middle Earth books)
Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs)
Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis
Ensign Ro (Star Trek–the Next Generation)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Hamlet)
George Smiley, John le Carre’s master spy
Clarice Starling (Silence of the Lambs)