dependent perceptions

"Sometimes you see someone doing something that does not fit at all with your idea of that person. You realise that, a lot of the time, you don't really know people, even one of your best friends.

Instead, you get to know a little bit about that person--the things they want to reveal, or inadvertently reveal--and then you make up a whole lot of rubbish that's your idea of the person. So it's not all that important who people really are. Honestly you could end up spending your life with almost anoyone, and it wouldn't matter who--because the person they are to you is totally dependent on your view of them."

-Steph Bowe, from girl saves boy

one of the best Australian ads: Bankwest Sunflower

I've been thinking about the sunflower with an Asian accent in the Bankwest television adverts.

Giving Sunflower an Asian accent is really clever, functioning not only attract new Australian migrants to Bankwest, but also to bridge differences between everyone.

Now in Australia, there is an unspoken divide between people who have stayed there for generations, and every new wave of migrants. Australia, unlike America, fails to proudly recognise themself as a country of migrants, of diverse heritages. State Governments may talk about 'multiculturalism' but they prefer to use 'tolerance' to deal with differences, rather than encouraging understanding of common human traits and cross cultural learning.

Hence there still exists a group of people who look down on new migrants, believing in a migrant pecking order, ignorant as they are that foreign investments account for a major part of Australia's economic growth.

Bankwest's Sunflower appeals to international students/new migrants--an extremely large community in Australia who are happy to serve their new country, via their skills, if not taxes. It is probably the only character in Australian TV which these group of people can relate to. I know I can.

Sunflower talks about being open, as a normal person, to make friends. This hints at being open to different people as a local business, and being open to make new friends in a foreign land.

And we all know that being receptive and open to interacting with other cultures gives you an edge. Obama is popular with the rest of the world for a reason.

http://eurasian-sensation.blogspot.com/2010/11/obama-in-indonesia.html

In this era where global superpowers are inter-reliant, it is not only cool, but also beneficial to recognise flexibility in between cultures!

For further interest, here's a clip that shows how Sunflower puppet is maneuvered:

popular culture differences

phrase of the day

"If you take a sharp knife to dissect my heart for the grit and sludge of hated and prejudice, you will find it there. If you carve my heart in search of the red blood and scented flesh of compassion, forgiveness and courage, you will see that too. I am a prism of possibilities. And as you move, and as my breath moves me, the colours of the refraction is shifting, shimmering, shifting."

--Chi Vu, in Vietnam: A Psychic Guide

summary of my week

caricatures

B is for Bitch, by the way.

And introducing...

strawberry gnome hats and plush creatures

On a side note...

The strawberries gnome hats were inspired by the lovely cake Hui Ying, Hwei San, Regina, Shing Yun, Eddie and Kim got for me and Charlene.

The sea monsters, unicorn and primates were inspired by this wonderful lady's creations! Buy her plushies if you're willing (and I shall come play with them hoho).

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nonesuchgarden?page=3

Sometimes I wish I was a cute and loved pet rabbit... that doesn't get eaten EVER

just a bridging post

So spring is here. Somewhat.

It's rainy for a few consecutive days, and then sunny for the rest. And the cycle repeats itself.

Can't wait till it's convincingly less cold to wear short skirts and swimwear! Unfortunately I am still waiting on several factors to properly plan my schedule for the summer and next semester.

Charlene and the feline humanoids...

And the following is for Mischa. Thanks for the gift, I love it!

Ever wonder how it feels like being a woman?

I felt really queasy when watching Carey Mulligan’s ‘pregnancy’ in the Wall Street 2 movie. I kept looking away from the screen during her intimate shots with Shia LaBeouf and can’t help but shoot frantic glances at the EXIT sign in the cinema.

I’m still having this sick feeling after that movie. Don’t get me wrong, I like kids, but it made me fall back onto that feeling—the feeling that my purpose in life is just to have babies.

If you’d like me to elaborate further, here’s a chart for you. It describes to you how I actually feel about being a woman.

If you can’t take reading this, you’re not man enough.

Felt Animals

Craftwork I recently made, for two dear friends.

More to come!

dust penguin

dugongs galore!

Took this picture at the Sydney Aquarium gift shop.
Showed it to pretty much everyone I met, and cooed about it like a mad cow, or a cuckoo, to be precise.

Shu's response was:

is a fit what you think it is?

3 years down the relationship, I start to lose the awareness of his maleness and my femaleness. In some way, we've moved past the shallow physical dynamics. It makes me wonder, if it weren't for the attraction, would I still know him as he is, would he know me? In a genderless world, would we still connect?

I don't want to go all out and say that it feels like we're a half of each other, and we make a whole. Because that wouldn't be true. We are still very much separate entities and identities.

But I can tell you this, that when we hang out, it falls into place. It fits. (Or maybe I'm making something out of nothing? We humans are good at that. At convincing ourselves something when it's convenient, finding excuses to fit our logic).

Things may not work out sometimes, with my hormones and boredom preying on me. I start picking at little things, mostly because I still expect some sort of thrill or strong emotion that I've always felt, especially in the first few years of being together. The overwhelming feeling that assures me Yes, I feel so strongly for us, it's why we must be.

I want to feel inspired, excited, courted!

I really don't want to fall into the old couple routine, but slowly I am accepting that it is happening.

The good part of it is that no matter what nasty things we say/do, it doesn't matter, it won't damage the relationship.

The bad part of it is that no matter what nasty things we say/do, it doesn't matter, it won't damage the relationship.

Buddhist zebras?

The sea of Bodhi leaf wishes on Buddha's day, 3 weeks ago.

Something about the core of Buddhism still tugs at my emotional strings, despite me being a part time agnostic.

I recently dreamt that a man asked me why I am not a Christian, and I said 'Well I do not believe in the teachings of Christ."

He said, "So what do you believe in then?"

"Buddhism."

"Now why is that?"

"Well, I feel a strong connection with its values."

"That's it!" he cried, almost with enthusiasticly. "A connection is all you need."

I loved this particular message. Beats talking about sending other people who don't agree with you to hell.

And here is my latest purchase from Target -- Zebra house slippers. How I wish I could wear them out (without getting too many weird looks, that is)!

ballerina obsession

Inspired by my new bubblegum-coloured tights (coined by D-man) , I went into a ballet-pretend phase last month. Complemented them with my nude ballet flats. 

The two pictures on the far right were just thrill frills I tried on at the Friends of Couture warehouse in Brunswick; As if I can afford them or have the boldness to step onto the streets in them, ha. 

In similar style and material, love Keri Hilson's mermaid gown at the Grammys. Gorgeous!
By the way D-man's exact words were, "Man those tights reminds me of bubblegum! Urhhh... not that I want to eat it or anything..."

so don't feel bad about transitioning from friend to non-friend

I really do hate it when someone (and especially someone which I do not consider close) hits me. If conducted repeatedly, it irritates me the hell out of me.

Speaking to a new(re)found friend, I realize it is often the cases that lack closure are the ones we think about again and again. Find ourselves agitating over it, it jabs you behind the knees even when you thought you’ve shut it in a box somewhere in your mind.

From reading, I‘ve resolved some of my thoughts. And let go.

From Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle:

‘But as is so often the case with men who have made it like this (referring to men who established some form of status in society, from perceivably humble beginnings), he was arrogant and self-righteous’

I found solace in ‘Nothing so consumes a person as meaningless exertion’, when the main character referred to his falling out with his father-in-law.

‘The relief this gave me bordered on ecstasy’.

I was discussing with my housemate E today about phasing out of friends which we find irritating, which she admits she does too, only to feel bad about it after.

I replied that there should not be a reason to feel bad about it, because if they had so selfishly imposed themselves on you when you can’t stand them, then who’s going to look out for your self-interest?

No one, but yourself really.

Other people are going to think that you’re a bitch anyway, no matter what we do. So we must as well do whatever that pleases us. Like what YN said to me last year, 'You're a bitch, it means you stand up for yourself!'

SWEET.

From Bitch: in praise of difficult women, by Elizabeth Wurtzel, ‘Bad girls understand that there is no point in being good and suffering in silence. What good has good ever done? We women still only make seventy-one cents, on average, for every man’s dollar… Princess Diana behaved with perfect restraint and dignity for years—waving from the royal horse coach and giving her head over to millinery madness, all the while her husband carried on with Camilla Parker Bowles—and what good did it do her?’t

So what the hell, I had my justifications. I could dish everything out now, but I’m not going to. Because it’s beneath me and behind me. So let go. Not that I haven’t; I had, since last month.

But I think I can’t write bout anything else without getting this out of my system.

Out with the old. In with the rest!