wasted talent

I have a confession to make: I'm a closet Hilary Duff fan. Her songs are catchy, even if the lyrics are terrible. And while I’m at it, I might as well admit I also like The Veronicas. Right now, I’m listening to their new song “When It Falls Apart” and debating whether to google the lyrics… just so I can sing along at work. LN will not be thrilled - she says my “singing” scares the customers.

Today, while I was in the office (aka the storeroom) doing magazine returns, I thought I’d be considerate by closing the door so I could sing my heart out. When I emerged, I asked LN if she heard me, and she nodded with a look of sheer disgust. I noticed a magazine left outside the door… I guess she didn’t want to interrupt my one-person karaoke session.

Clearly, I’m in the wrong industry.

opposites attract

"He wanted to lie in an ecstasy of peace, I wanted all to sparkle and dance in a glorious jubilee. I said his heaven would only be half-alive, he said mine would be drunk. I said I shall fall asleep in his, and he said he wouldnt breathe in mine."

:: Wuthering Heights, By Emily Bronte

changes

Recently, I started noticing some peculiar things about myself. Most of you have probably already picked up on a few of my quirks. That's mostly because I'm a weird person in general. The latest strange thing I’ve noticed is my sudden fascination with properties and home decorating.

Oh, it gets worse, folks.

I began to realise that my nesting instincts have somehow swallowed the little tomboy who used to look a lot like me - the one who thought it would be fun to climb the mulberry tree and who once intentionally scraped her knee against the pavement just to see it bleed. The little tomboy who talked tough, tore herself on barbed wire fences for the sake of adventure, and climbed over the neighbour's yard just to be chased by their vicious dog.

When did that little girl suddenly realise that maybe scars weren't the coolest things in the world and there was more to life than challenging fear and tempting fate? How did she turn into such a girly girl?

Now, instead of fantasising about catching grasshoppers in jars, I dream about decorating my house one day. Instead of searching for ladybirds in the garden, I search my heart to see if I have what it takes to be a mother someday.

home beautification

This afternoon, I was watering my mum's two guava trees and noticed that they were still alive and much happier in this cool weather. I could see the birds dancing around them, so I devised a plan to keep the birds off. I assigned Chino, my dog, to be our official security guard. He loves to chase birds away from our yard, likely because he's territorial.

The birds usually fly and land on the tree as refuge from him. I once caught Chino trying to climb the guava tree. I don't think he understands that dogs cannot climb trees. But with his presence, the birds are too scared to peck at the fruits. Being the angel that my mother was, she insisted on leaving food out for the birds. After some intricate and complicated physics work, I was able to calculate how high to place the bird feeder so that it would be impossible for Chino to jump from the ground to the feeder without a serious concussion. Thankfully, my dog is a mathematical creature, as he hasn't broken any limbs. My plan is working like a charm because the guava trees seem healthier and the birds are whistling outside my window as I type.

While in our backyard, I saw three elaborate spider webs on our fence. The patterns were gorgeous and probably took those little spiders hours to create. So, I went inside, grabbed my Raid can, and sprayed all three. I hate spiders. The webs were not ruined (can't say the same for the spiders), and in fact, the glistening whiteness of the toxic spray left them looking very distinguished in the afternoon sun. I think the spiders were secretly pleased with the free touch of home beautification I supplied, though they were apparently too busy choking to death on the poison to truly express their gratitude.