Lobang in my elbow

After being plagued by that silly lump in my elbow for the past year, i finally decided to get it removed last week at my doctor's. The whole procedure took less that 1/2 hour and wilk got everything down on tape, from the injection of the LA to the cutting, to the pulling out of the cyst, to the stitching.

Very entertaining. Especially watching on a bigger screen than the camera's. Not quite open-heart surgery but still, with the scalpel cutting away and the blown-up shots, it was pretty gross to said the least. At the end of the procedure, there is just this diamond shaped lobang on my left elbow and now i am working around with "cookie monster blue" stitches. And the doctor was so nice as to give me a running commentary of what's happening (i couldn't see because i was lying on my stomach) and the lump at the end of it for a momento in a little bottle filled with saline. Think i will keep it to show my mom but wilk said it is starting to look really unhealthy, with yellow cheesy thing oozing out of a thin layer of fat-like sac.

Would have posted a shot of the 'lump' here but... Heh heh, maybe not.

Searching

When you know what you are looking for, does it make it easier to be found?

A cat who would be a lemur... or panda...

We have been painting a lot of cats in the studio lately. Well mainly wilk, though i tried my hand at a cat or two. Mine are usually happy, smiley, contented, chubby cats. Much like how i remember ruski to be but wilk's cats are a mysterious, menacing, crafty colour-run ones. Perhaps sort of how he feels ruski is like (esp the menacing bit). But last night, wilk painted a cat... well sort of a cat from one of ruski's photos (ruski's photos on our camera phones are a huge 'inspiration'). But it looked sort of... funny.

It started looking much like a bear cub with a flat head, then a lemur with big unblinking eyes and when blue outlines were added, it suddenly transformed into a panda. As odd as it sounds, the painting actually started to look more like ruski as compared to wilk's previous 'ruski-cat' paintings. Maybe it is the goofiness or the startle-wide-eyed look which was so spot on (esp when you jump into the bathroom, surprising ruski during one of his 'mid-lick' moments). But i think, it was the absense of the previous qualities in the other cats and this was just ruski as a harmless domesticated pet who is really just quite blur.

So... are you going to finally admit that you don't fear ruski as much as you think you do, dear? *grins*

Big things, little things

I wonder if anyone have the experience of being so focused on the details of a particular thing, that they fail to see the big picture. This is just a thought i have after listening to a friend who is currently doing an art project which involves him looking for a quote in the books of a particular author. Talk about looking for a needle in a haystack but such patience! Anyway, while i think i understand his rational of undergoing through such a, in my view, clinical and precise process, it is something difficult for me to envisage doing myself.

I am a 'big picture' reader and i read fast. To put it plainly, i read chunks of sentences, enough to know what they mean and move on quickly, trying to catch the rest of the fleeting images of the story as it unfolds in my head. Though occasionally, a particular good line stands out like a beacon beckoning at me, rather than the other way round. And i realized that when i focus on the individual words and slow down, i often stumble and fall into the chasm of grammer, syntax and vocabulary. Nothing much gel and at the end of the day, i often couldn't really remember what i have read.

Perhaps it is just me, having the inflexibility of the mind to both focus on the details and pull out far enough to appreciate the big picture. Perhaps, i am just too impatient to try and do that, appreciate both the language and its meaning at the same time. Maybe that's why i like to re-read my books. First round skim through the lot to 'view' the images, then a 2nd reading to pick out nuances of the langauge. Not a very effective way i guess, but i'm slow in that way...

Maybe for my next book, i should try to do both at the same time.

The Powerpuff Girls Lunch Club

Lunch time at work these days has been spent with some of the newer (under 1 year of service) young and pretty therapists in the social work department's counselling room eating lunch and chit-chatting together. It is nice, relaxing and generally cheerful. We have tons of fun and it was great not having to deal with work for a while, at least an hour a day when we can afford the time to eat a decent lunch without having a meeting schedule during lunch time.

Due to our regular 'gatherings' and friendship, the head of the social work dept has unceremoniously dubbed us as the "powerpuff girls" (in return, we call him our 'sugar daddy' for always buying us snacks and ice cream *heh heh*). And being the oldest of the lot *sigh*, i have been declared as the 'chief' of club. Other than lunch, we always have birthday gatherings, the latest being the sleepover/drinking/makan/mahjong party at my house during my birthday and long lunches during holidays. We even have a 'treasurer' who is incharge of the calculating the cost and collecting funds. Who knows, we may even get to register our little lunch club as a regular society once we have more members. :)

Still, working environment couldn't have been better. Now.. if only the work can improve...

I need a host...

for my photos so that i can link it up from my blog decently.
Yahoo photos and Sony Myimages just cant quite cut it.
The links doesn't stay where it is suppose to!
:(

Holidays are here but i am pretty stressed.
From term 2 onwards my responsibilities seems to have doubled and i am still far far behind in terms of my reports. Have a couple of sessions schedule with some teachers to prepare them for whats to come in the new term but i don't think that they are quite happy coming to school during the holidays. I don't think at this point they have any choice because we are really behind time.

Had a siblings workshop yesterday and we brought the kids to watch robots. Most kids behaved themselves and my group was pretty good. Would have enjoyed it more if the lunch was a bit more *cough* palatable (sorry angela) or if some of the kids are less spoilt. Sigh. The whole workshop could have been a little more well-planned too. Very harrowing to see people photocopying materials and changing some games details just before workshop started. Gosh, some even forgot that we will need pencils! But... i guess i am not quite anal of this sort of things. If anything, we will just wing it and see what happens.

Gazing

If I could, I would like to lie here and stare at the skies forever.

Meet Andrew

My latest car companion

Easily Old

or '29' in Cantonese... at least a sort of an approximation.

Well.. that's me.
Actually, it is not half bad, considering the gaping big 30 i will have to face up to same time next year.

I've always liked my birthday. First of March. Good number, easy to remember. Always rather enjoyed being an 'almost' leap year kid, missing the 29th of Feb by a couple of hours. I was, however, lucky enough to get my driving license on the 29th, making that a perfect birthday present in the year 1996.

In 2005, 1st of March was a good day.
I had the happy birthday song whispered into my ear at the stroke of midnight and everyone was nice to me at work. Well wishes poured through my phone from close friends who remembered and my mom called well ahead of everyone else to wish me a happy birthday.



My brothers topped their last year's surprise with a hugh bouquet of lilies this year AND an ice cream cake was sent to my office with "The Greatest Sister, Alice" decorated on it with Snoopy&Woodstock. That, despite the fact that none of my family is in Singapore.

Spent a lovely evening trying on wedding gowns and happily confirmed what the design would be. A check of the wedding-to-do list and a load of my mind. Close friends came by and even wilk, who should have been busy preparing for his exhibition in 2 days time. The lovely dear made reservations at a nice french restuarant call Aioli and i ended my birthday superbly having red wine, french food and great company with my dearest and friends.

Birthdays make me felt loved.
Thank you...