Believe it or not, I was contemplating treating my officemates to coffee just to get this, but for the cover design, not worth it for me (Hey, if you think it’s good, then whatever floats your boat. :D). The designs inside aren’t so bad, but Mary says it sucks so at that price, I’d rather not. Haha.

Now, that still doesn’t break my resolve to get a good planner. I saw the Belle De Jour ones and while I do get why they say they’re nice… not my thing I guess, and I can’t really tell why. You guys might find it pretty though, so clicky click if you want.

Now I have 2 options. No, not the Moleskine ones — I seriously do not get it. No really, someone please explain to me what the big deal is about Moleskines, I’m curious. Lulz. But anyway, being the cheap (lol) paper-loving person I am, my 2 options as of now are

1. The Go Nuts Disorganizer. I haven’t seen it yet, but I saw Columbia’s 2008 disorganizer was cute! If it’s anything like that, and please say it’s brown, I want.
2. This Journal Will Actually Change Your Life!!! 2009. Yes, that’s what it’s called. It’s from Free Speech Publications, and though it looks pretty decent on the website, I have yet to see the actual one. I’m gonna try looking for it, I hope it’s still in stock.

The best thing about those planners is — you can buy them! Wonder of wonders!

Quite frankly, when I use calendars for work I prefer ones printed out on paper or on a wall (preferably both), because they’re more accessible and you don’t have to flip pages to see them. This, in theory, would be for personal use rather than for work, buuuuuut I don’t really plan my weeks too much. I’m guessing I won’t be doing my future planner any justice.

But I like paper, so don’t judge me. :)

For kicks, I’m sharing this theme here. You can see it in action on my own Plurk profile. Thanks to Columbia btw for the constructive criticism! :]

Anyway, despite my wallowing, I still like to torture myself by looking at online shops and stuff, juuuust to toy with the slight possibility. I forgot how exactly, but looking around brought me to this here beauty.

Mmm, doesn’t it just make you want to grab a fork and knife and dig in? Or be sick, whichever. This is no victim of a crazy music-loving cook, apparently it’s art. Now I’ve never been one for art appreciation (beyond traditional and digital), because really, modern art confuses me. So if you can see the hidden beauty in this one, please help my poor art-ignorant eyes see it.

But now I’m thinking — this could probably still make a good gift. That’s how messed-up people are. Haha!

While you (and that little voice in my head) may be thinking “so what?”, I’m gonna share something I think is interesting. I think that everyone’s still so euphoric about Obama’s victory, that none of this really matters. Obama is now Superman, the savior, the one who’ll make the boogeymen go away. Al-Zawahri’s statement is reduced to meaningless propaganda to mar Obama’s image. Osama bin Laden’s threat isn’t even making as many headlines as you’d normally expect. Nobody’s talking about it at work, but then again you’d sooner see a dozen paper planes flying across the room than hear people talk about politics there.

Anyway, I think people have counted the years since 9/11 as a sign that Osama bin Laden is no longer relevant, or perhaps just feel such a strong sense of security that what the news says must be an exaggeration. A strange figure of speech, a misinterpretation even.

But is it really? I don’t claim to know more than average about this topic, but I am wondering why the threat seems to be downplayed. These days, you can’t even say the word “bomb” in an airport, so this to me doesn’t add up.

What about Iran? Its continued refusal to cooperate with IAEA, arguing that they won’t “succumb to bullying” and insisting that they are acting according to their rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, blah blah you all know the story — so how can they honestly expect people to believe that they have nothing to hide? Well, the sanctions seem to be doing more harm than good without actual serious penalties for non-compliance. I mean, if it were true that they were doing something fishy, I don’t think trade sanctions would stop them now that they’ve gone this far.

And yet, I can’t blame the US for taking its stance. Ahmadinejad was right when he said a preemptive (or any) attack would be a stupid move, not to mention a pain to justify (based on our experience with the Iraq invasion), and yet with Israel’s scared out of its wits, there’s a lot of pressure to do something. Now, anyone who’s been following the news knows all this, but let me get to my point (finally!).

Despite pressure from Israel, it seems that given the current situation, the US will not initiate anything other than negotiations — “unconditional” ones at that. Even though it makes sense, I am convinced that something big is gonna happen in the very near future, and if the US isn’t going to start it, the other parties will. These things don’t just happen and die down on their own, now do they? This is very similar to the situation that drove the Iraq invasion — Al-Qaeda attacks, US can’t find the terrorist so they pick on someone else. Of course, it’s pretty clear that Obama is no Bush, but I’d say that makes it more interesting. ;)

For starters, Plurk gives you more credit for updating your profile information — the fact that they give you credit (see: karma) at all gives it a huge advantage. The feel seems more similar to Facebook feeds than it does to Twitter, because it’s more flexible with the type of content a user can “plurk”. Heck, it even seems more similar to a multiplayer game, what with the points and all. And ultimately, looking at the Plurk timeline actually makes you feel like you’re part of a social network, and non-linear replying seals the deal for me.

But what does Twitter have over Plurk? The blue bird. Let’s face it, save the yellow platypus thing, Plurk creatures are butt-ugly.

But seriously, I think Twitter does have some advantages over Plurk. The very thing that seems to have Twitter left behind is actually it’s strongest advantage to many people — simplicity. And I have a few of my own concerns. Though I’m certainly not at that point, what happens when you get hundreds of friends? Should you be forced to “un-follow” them to avoid a cluttered timeline? Does it end up using way more of a user’s time than what it’s worth? Will no 3rd party tool come to rescue it from the website?

It’s for these reasons that I’m not truly confident in Plurk’s shelf life. After all, from what I see, most if not all social networks reach their saturation point. After that they slowly fade away — or others take their place. I wonder what (or when) Plurk’s downfall is gonna be?

Melanie, me, Jaz, Columbia and daddy EJ (father of the celebrant and gracious host haha) at the top. Random spooky shadow behind us. Ernest, Ali, JJ and a lot of others were also there but I don’t have the pics of them. What I have are videos, woot! I love videos. :D Adding to the fun is that it was at Shakey’s, and I absolutely love their chicken, mojos and…

Dessert! I was planning on buying the Oatmeal Cookie a la Mode because it’s been a long-time favorite of mine (long story), but since Melanie and Jaz also wanted dessert, we decided to buy this big momma. Yum! And just when I was thinking of that bowl of insanely awesome dessert Mikko shared.

Didn’t get the mini DV to work though, so I had to use the SD memcard. I need to get that fixed before the Christmas party! :( Anyways, happy birthday again baby Jay Jay! :)

While technically I’m not a GM, people in-game know me as GM Abby. The interview turned out more fun than I thought it would! And it felt good to see a lot of international players on the chat with us, asking questions and showing a lotta love. Heartwarming, considering that for some of them it was around 3am. So anyway no details on that, but I’m glad I went. :]

Then had dinner with Ali at The Old Spaghetti House. Man, did I miss Italian food. And guess what, I only found out last night that it was called TOSH. Haha, I don’t know whether to feel good or bad about not knowing that!

Going to EJ’s kid’s birthday. First time I’m looking forward to a children’s party! Shakey’s love. <3

Click it.

I CAN REST (and chat more) NOW.

I’m not going to work tomorrow yay! Well technically I shouldn’t considering I just finished working from home and it’s 2:31 AM. I really must be insane.

Btw I’m joining NaNoWriMo! I know I’m late but I really really think I can do it. And SHOULD do it, for my sanity’s sake. I hope I finish! :]

No birthday post from me! That’s how much I suck as a blogger right now. So anyway let me see what I can come up with now.

Must have been five or six in this picture, I really don’t want to compute given my confusing school-year history (some of you know what I mean). How time flies.

October 4 was actually a great day for me, I got a lot more greetings than I expected to get. Really. People I didn’t think would bother to greet actually did, even a friend I haven’t seen in at least 6 years! I loved it because I wouldn’t have thought any differently of them if they didn’t, but since they did I’m deeply thankful. If you’re one of those people who greeted me, and for those who gave gifts, thank you so much. You’re all part of the reasons I love my life. :]

As mentioned in my predictably vague October 11 post, had a select few friends over, and it was a blast. They say that when you’re with close friends, you tend to revert to the person you were when you first met them. Well, I might not really like who I was in general back then, but I absolutely love who I am when I’m with them. Thanks for being there guys, and thanks to Ali for bringing the Wii again haha!

View from the office building in HK, back when I was there mostly for fun.

Work-wise, things have been different. Interesting, challenging, and exciting — but different. Stress and anxiety levels are at record levels with the current status of our project, and I was telling someone over chat that we must have been a little masochistic! Haha. Well, even if by definition work’s been tough, I wouldn’t have it any other way (Er, sans the incompetence of certain *cough* devs). Because at the end of the day, after giving ourselves a pat on the back for delivering despite seemingly unreasonable deadlines, I feel good. I feel like it’s not just a job to me. And it has its perks.

In the past week, we’ve been pulling overtimes like we actually lived in the office, but man did things end up going great. Like our project manager said, no matter happens from this point on, it’s already a success. The fact that we even pulled it off given the unbelievable circumstances, that makes it a success for the team.

And things are looking so much better for the future. I’m so happy to be in this project. Which brings me to my next point, as I do my (late) obligatory birthday pondering.

This is something I often forget. Something that I lose sight of often enough to make me more worried than I should be, make me let my ego get in the way, turn me into a very angry person. When I look back every year, I come to the same undeniable conclusion, one that I pray I forget less and less — God has blessed me with so much, and words cannot contain my joy and gratitude. I’m sure my long-time friends, if they tried to, will remember me as a lonely girl who didn’t really care about anything enough for her life to mean anything to her. Call it a phase, call it temporary confusion, but I know how bad it was for me then despite appearances. When I think about how far I’ve gone, and how rich I am in good friends, a loving family, a job I love, and a future full of God’s promises for me…

I am overwhelmed. And in every single thing I do, in every success and failure now and forever, I will praise and thank my God — who has sustained and blessed me for 22 years. Here’s to the year ahead! :]