I Remember Now Why I don't Like Women's Magazines

I found this little thing in an article in January's issue of Cleo, one of Malaysia's lifestyle and beauty magazine for young women.

Written by a bloke named Adrian Christopher, he deciphers some favourite acronyms (I never knew they existed to begin with) guys give girls, there is one what totally cheesed me off:

WTS (Way Too Smart)
WTSes are not your cup of tea. These women are sharp, cunning creatures and usually do well in their careers. Why we (men) don't like them is because we cannot outwit them or out-manoeuvre them if ever we fall into disagreement. We leave WTSes to the wiser and older among us men because they are the only ones with the brains to keep the relationship equal.


How to lose the label (if you are a WTS) :
Forget about having the last say. try to stop intimidating men with your wit and remain more humble. Else, the only man who will ever date you will be twice your age.

Oh where do I begin?
The author is irresponsible to advocate that smart women stop "intimidating men" and play dumb. The advice dished out also severely insults young men by suggesting that they are incapable of appreciating a woman of intelligence.

What pains me is that it is CLEO, a leading women's magazine that is featuring this crap. If the media who claims to be a voice for women isn't going to stand up for us, encourage us to believe that we are worthy to be loved for who we are and foster healthy gender relations, guess we continue walking around as living stereotypes.

I don't care if the article is syndicated, the editorial team should have given more thought to their stuff as what they print is being read by so many impressionable teens.

I am going to write to the magazine.

I want a Hippopamus for Christmas

I love this ad!
Here is the link: http://promo.telus.com/tm/05/q4/highspeed_tv/

Telus is an ISP and it ran a commercial in Canada starring a baby hippo just prancing to the song I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas. It was such a hit that unfortunately for Telus, it started a massive trend for toy hippos instead of for the company.

Well it may not have sold me ISP but hey, here is a girl all the way from the opposite ends of the earth who now knows about Telus and who is singing about wanting hippopotamuses all day.

Not bad for an ad.

Have ye a blessed christmas

My sheep and I would like to wish you a very merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Christmas comes early

On the fourth day to Christmas my true love gave to me:

FLOWERS!!!

Thank you thank you thank you.
Its bragging rights for weeks.

Christmas Turkeys

I never totally realised just how much our Ringgit has devaluated until I had to buy a RM5 present for the office gift-exchange. It is so hard trying to stay within that budget. I finally gave up and bought a RM10 gift.

At the office we had a splendid meal of turkey and chicken and lots of potatoes and cakes and fruits and bread. Working after all that was more than the drowzy eyes can take. Zzzzzzz.

The bosses joined in and their presence was felt strongly. Odd how people can't relax when their bosses are around. We were banned from eating in the conference room and all 20 odd of us had to cram in the pantry. I guess my office mates are not as close as it would initially seem. I started missing my ex-colleagues a lot.

I can't wait for the weekend.

Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!

On the Seventh day to Christmas my true love said to me:

"Let's go to One Utama"

To which I chirpily replied, "Are you out of your mind?"
The Malls are packed, the shoppers are mad, the taxi queue stretches to the next county, why on God's good earth would I want to go to a mall? Christmas is coming.

The Urbanites are obsessed with shopping malls. Sure there are fantastic pantomimes, charlatan Santas who scare the bejeebers out of kids, styrafoam snow and scrawny plastic trees (well, this is not a country where pine trees flourish unless you want to hang your thisle and ornaments on a pokok rhu.) and the fact that amazing movies are now showing at a mall near you, but it is one stressful adventure and it starts right at the parking lot. Well it is conceptually a parking lot coz logically it means that it is a place where you can get to park your car but seriously, unless you can get your tires to glue themselves on the ceiling, you chances of getting a spot would be miniscule at best.

So I am not going to a shopping mall this weekend. Besides, book vouchers make sexy gift too, no?

Sunday morning

An ideal Sunday morning involves waking up to a beautiful day, early enough so it is cool still but late enough that sunshine has taken to pouring through the windows, casting bright watery reflections as it shines through the recycled jam jars half filled with happy yellow flowers.

And nothing quite comes close to filling the kitchen with smells of fresh coffee. In between waking up the dog and picking up the newspaper from the porch.

No I am not influenced by the Nescafe ads but I am stirred by a longing for my own place. Where I can have the space and freedom to enjoy simple pleasures such as keeping a pet and filling a kitchen with the aroma of said coffee.

For 3 years I have been living in a tiny rented room and it is so easy to get tired of the campyness and crampiness it. I can't even invite my brother in my room without informing my landlord and I can't even keep sandwich hams in my fridge as the landlord forbids me having any meat in the fridge while he can stuff a giraffe in there if he wants to. Of course it is unfair but when I moved in I desperately needed a convenient place to live and hence I tolerated it.

Hopefully I will be able to move out to a better place by the end of next year. PLease please please. I better start planning my future window curtains.

For old time's sake

HAD I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

W.B. Yeats (1865–1939)

Update, maestro

Good God I am so tired.
It is such a treat to be able to blog. With the many changes in my daily routine, I keep telling myself I need to get this all down before I forget but by the time I get home, all I want to do is crawl into bed.

Anyway, I filed my papers into the High Court just a few days ago so I am officially a Pupil now. I was not able to file my papers before as I had to retrive my birth cert from home which feels like about 900 miles away.

As a pupil I am only allowed to represent my firm in very limited instances and exclusively in chambers as oppose to open court. After three months, or after what is referred to as Short Call, I will be able to appear before a Magistrate in a court. Maybe I should explain, In Chambers just means the judge's office. Open court is the courtroom proper - where everybody can witness you kena properly from the judge.

Baptism of fire, with the complimetary brimstone.

So far I have been attending court with my master constantly. I have sat in open court with her to see her conduct hearings and next week I will be witnessing a full trial. My master's grasp of procedure is amazing.

I must say that my experience in court has been quite different than what I had imagined. Most lawyers are very courteous (of course this may be due to the seniority of my master and opposing counsels) and even the courts are not as daunting as I thought they would be. I am actually looking forward to go to court. ( Mark this as I bet this will be my famous last words)

And I have stopped wearing make up to work. Oddly, the more made-up and ego a chambering student is, are the more likely the officials will ignore her. Looking at all the stressed out , worst for wear litigation lawyers, I know that my livid look allows me to fit right in.

My black and white attire has also attracted attention. I.e "Can you tell me where the children's department is?"
I am just waiting for someone to mistaken me for a waitress.

I am also quite surprise as how fast my Malay has improved within these two weeks. And how fast my appetite has shrunk. But waist line still the same, damn it.

It is all so very different from my days at the tin factory. But one thing remains tho, I can't wait for the weekend.

Only day 4

Day 4 of my chambering.

Today I was at the High Court where I met the Assistant Registrar aka Penolong Pendaftar. Subject: Taxation of cost. That just means haggling over legal fees. Because when one party wins a case, the loser will not only have to fulfill judgement but also pay the other party's legal costs. And so, parties will come to a sum which parties can agree to (which hardly ever happens) so they go to the Assistant Registrar to get the matter decided upon.

The KL High Court is quite nice indeed. The courtyard is nice - green and pretty. SO different from the Magistrates and Sessions Court which are more gritty.
Nevertheless I bet the parties actually involved in any suit would rather not be anywhere near the courts.

Later in the day I even went to Cheras to an auctioneer.
And tomorrow I will be in Shah Alam for a Summary Judgement hearing and Land Office matters.

I am knackered. So much running abound. My best investment so far has been great pairs of pants and fantastic flat healed shoes. I have yet to see any short skirted, perfectly made up Ally McBeals at court yet. Yeah, like there is any chance she will be taken seriously. Well I can say, I have mostly met with senior lawyers/counsel and judges who have so far effectively ignored me. At this point, I can't say I mind. Half the time I am still as blur as a sotong on a stick.

Argh, there is so much to catch up. I even bring home stuff to read. This is quite hard.

I am getting a bit tired. And this is only the beginning. I think I need to go to bed. Will catch up on my writing over the weekend. I will tell you more.