Tinker, Tailor

Ἔρχεται ὥρα καὶ νύν ἐστιν, ὅτε ὁ τετέλεσται τετέλεσται.

And it was good. The visit to the museum.

Almost 5 hours at the gallery with the Vatican collections, scrutinizing the relics, surveying in the paintings, studying the inscriptions…

And it was a joy to discuss the artifacts with the Nicole-Kidman-lookalike-but-somewhat-older guide, as she tutored the other guides-to-be. I am now a self-declared-qualified guide.

And I shall be back.

A disclaimer: what is good to me may not be good to you.

I sometimes wonder if I’m a little autistic, even though I think I can read people pretty well.

Thanks to Baron-Cohen’s Autism Spectrum Quotient test, I am somewhat reassured.

Your AQ Score:
16

How to Interpret Your AQ Score
0-10 low
11-22 average (most women score about 15, and most men score about 17)
23-31 above average
32-50 very high (most people with Asperger Syndrome or high functioning austism score about 35)
50 Maximum

Hmmmm. Maybe I’m more woman than I realised.
I should redo the test someday - might get different results.

The next time I start a new blog, I promise to take more than 2 minutes to think of a name for the blog.

I promise to choose a name that does not sound gay (as some have pointed out).
Or female (as some have assumed).

And even though I may not be running it on blogspot, I promise to check the blogspot addess to make sure it’s not already taken. At the very least, not taken by a blog that doesn’t conform to my tastes.

I hate tinkertailor.

Was trying out this learning style questionnaire.

My results:

Style Scores

Visual 15
Aural 10
Verbal 17
Physical 13
Logical 14
Social 15
Solitary 18

The scores are out of 20 for each style. A score of 20 indicates you use that style often.

Hmmm… I get 15 for social, and 18 for solitary? Weird. I must have lied on some of the social questions, or the questions are flawed.

When I was a kid, dad used to entertain me by moving his biceps. He would point to a bicep and say “这是老鼠 (this is a mouse)”.

What he probably didn’t know is that “muscle” comes from Latin “musculus“, which is the dimunitive form of the word that means “mouse”.

Coincidence?

It turns out that around 20% of the world’s languages have words for muscles coming from words for little animals. “Calf” is another example of this in English.

And in one third of all languages, the word for the “pupil” of the eye is closely related to “little person” in meaning. Again, English is no exception here.

I swear I’m going for this.

One of the extraordinary highlights of this exhibition is two fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

I need to stop drooling. Anyone wants to join me?

But I’m slightly disappointed that they aren’t showing the Codex Vaticanus. Ah well…

Speaking of ancient codices, here’s an interesting update on what they’re doing with the Codex Sinaiticus.

“I hope no gays try to pick me up, as I’m really badly dressed today.”

Those were my last words to a friend before I left for Borders.

Borders used to be my favourite hangout, until it became overrun with gays.

I have no issue with gays, if they leave me alone. But too many times when I’m at Borders, a tightpants would give me that look, or muscleguy-in-tank-top would be standing hair-standlingly close…

*shudders*

But that nauseous feeling would eventually wane and be taken over by my longing to breathe Borders air again…

So off I went.

But I hadn’t had lunch, so I dropped by Burger King to grab a Whopper.

As I waited at the counter for my burger, two guys walked in the entrance, triggering off my gaydar.

They queued behind me.

For some reason, my rear end felt especially vulnerable.

“So where shall we sit?” asked one, speaking in the typical gay manner.

“Just find some strategic spot.”

I went to the inside corner to enjoy my meal that took too long to be served, before realising how strategic their spot was - I had a great view of their table.

And it didn’t take long for me to notice that one of them kept glancing in my direction. And the other - he kept turning to look every few minutes.

I can’t say I enjoyed the Whopper.

P.S. Thankfully it was incident-free at Borders.

Patrick Hassel Zein’s Linguistic Index
is the first decent site on Chinese linguistics I’ve come across (not like I’ve come across many).

via Languagehat

I was clearing some old email when I came across this one which I sent to a friend. I think I was already blogging around that time, and this email must have been a blog entry. But I can’t remember. I can’t even remember why I sent it. Anyway, that blog is long gone - blogger ate it.

P.S. I’d like to think that I write better now.

12:50 01/03/2002

The Joys of Online Shopping

I just went shopping 3 weeks ago. Online shopping, that is.

Many women like shopping, be it window shopping or actual shopping shopping. Maybe ‘like’ is too weak a word- ‘lust’ would do more justice that primal desire gushing forth from within the depths of the unfathomable female psyche.

Being a male being, both biologically and psychologically, I cannot claim to comprehend the woman’s lust for shopping. But I have to admit that I do enjoy a bit of shopping every now and then, once in a couple of years. Maybe I’d enjoy it more if I didn’t have to jostle with odorous crowds when there is a huge sale, or when the stuff I want is all there laid out in front of me, saving me the hassle of wearing out my shoes hunting for stuff. You see, it’s all a vicious cycle once you start shopping- your shoes wear out from all the shopping, then you have to shop for more shoes, and while shopping for shoes, you wear out your shoes. Get the picture?

But I guess the thrill of shopping comes from spotting an object of interest, desiring it, and finally buying it. Oh, and of course using it, hopefully catching the interest of others while doing so.

So I went online shopping right in my office. Of course my boss didn’t know it. For all I know, he might have been doing some shopping himself in his office. Anyway, I went to my favourite online shopping site, and browsed around without wearing out any footwear. I spotted an object of interest, desired it after examining a two-dimensional image of it, then added it into virtual my shopping cart after selecting a suitable size. I went on to add a few more items to my shopping cart. No crowds, no walking, just moving and clicking my mouse.

A great thing about online shopping is that when you have a shopping cart full of stuff, and all of a sudden you lose the urge to buy anything, all you have to do is go do something else. Now imagine doing that at a real shopping mall. The sales assistants will remember you for a length of time directly proportional to the number items you have in the shopping cart.

I have left the best of online shopping to the last.

When you’re ready to part with your money (which you do not see) after online shopping, you click the ‘check out’ button in your shopping cart. You fill in your particulars, including your credit card number and your correct address (you don’t want the goodies delivered to some very lucky individual). That’s basically it.

If online shopping stopped here, then you’d be left with a very empty feeling. Fortunately, it doesn’t.

Being a rather busy person who frequently lets things slip out of my mind, within a week I’d forget that I had gone online shopping. Which I feel is a good thing, because when the package finally arrives, I’m pleasantly surprised.

Which is what happened just now.

I happened to be near the front door of my office when I saw a blue SpeedPost van parked just outside.

“Darn it’s my package!” I thought to myself. The delivery man was doing something in the driver’s seat, and whatever he was doing, it was taking way too long for me. Before long, I was outside the office door gazing hopefully at him. He noticed me and waved me over. I went gladly and he produced a slip with my name on it. “YESH!!!” I almost shouted. He dug out the package and I hauled it gladly into my office, I’m sure with a stupid grin on my face. And oh, it’s already paid for!

One thing about these online shopping packages is that they’re usually sealed quite tightly and would require inhuman and inhumane efforts if they were opened with bare hands, feet, and teeth. Being somewhat experienced, I whipped out my sharpest blade and started attacking the brown tape. With a well-protected package like mine, you don’t just start slashing the box in frenzy. The challenge is keeping your head cool despite your mounting urge to rip the box apart, and carefully attacking the cardboard and tape fortress at the weak spots.

And gosh, when the package finally gives way to human intelligence and opens wide, and you remove item after item, smelling the sweet scent of virgin footwear, and wearing it and finding that your foot doesn’t go in so you remove the crushed paper stuffing inside before wearing it again, and finding that it fits like a glove… an extraterrestrial experience.

I shall say no more. Try it yourself someday.

After I finished the first Persepolis only a few weeks back, I knew I had to read Persepolis 2. So when my collegue dangled it in front of me, I immediately took the bait.


I’ll read this after I finish the other book.

I’ll just read the first few pages.

And soon, I was already halfway through with it.

May as well just finish it.

In this volume, Marji records her experiences as a foreign teenager living in free Vienna, then going back to Iran, a foreigner living in repressive Tehran. A poignant story of the stuggles of adolscence, peer acceptance, self-identity, culture, and love.

SIL’s humbling glossary of linguistic terms.

The first ten items under ‘A’:

What is abessive case?
What is ablative case?
What is an absolute adjective?
What is absolute social deixis?
What is absolute tense?
What is absolute-relative tense?
What is absolutive case?
What is an abstract noun?
What is accompaniment as a semantic role?
What is an account?

I only know 2 of them for sure.

Wikipedia has competition. It’s called Uncyclopedia.

Here’s a snippet from their article on Zombies:

Zombies are a loose form of human being that are often found engaging in mindless consumerism, discussions about American Idol, and the consumption of brains. Although technically undead, zombies can still function relatively well in society by taking on odd jobs such as U.S. President, television game show hosts, ditch diggers, and fancy rave club DJs.

One of those things I wished I’d thought of.

I found this note on the floor at the library:

I’m sorry I’ve been fierce to you today. I’m not feeling well so got a little frustrated juz now.
especially you went to eat with those girls & leave me in pain here.

it’s really nice you got me a packet of Milo. Really touched.
thank you.
I’m sorry.

This ain’t funny anymore. Wait till I get my hands on that guy.

“Brother” in russian is “брат” (pronounced “brraht”).

I’m sure a lot of sisters knew that already.

The subtitle of the book is “marketing without marketing”, which caught my attention.

Opening the book, I read this on the dustjacket:

Fair warning: this book is not for everyone.

Sounds like the type of book for me.

I read on:

It proposes untraditional, even counterintuitive practices: Let the marketplace take over. Stop clamoring for control and learn to be spontaneous. Be bold enough to accept a certain degree of uncertainty in the definition of your brands.

Brand hijacking relies on a radical concept: letting go. What a frightening, yet oddly liberating thought.

I liked the idea, so I was sold. (I decided to read the book.)

I’ve read a few marketing and branding books (around 10?), and this is probably the best one so far. Sorry Philip Kotler, you’re pretty good and all, but… I don’t think you always get it.

On page 9:

MARKETING WITHOUT MARKETING:
A BRAND HIJACK MANIFESTO

Let go of the fallacy that your brand belongs to you. It belongs to the market.

Co-create your brand by collaborating with your consumers.

Scrap the focus groups, fire the cool chasers and hire your audience.

Facilitate your most influential and passionate consumers in translating your brand’s message to a broader audience.

Be patient. Your brand initiative could take years to take off - or weeks.

Be flexible. Carefully plan every step, but be totally open to having the story rewritten along the way.

Lose control. Free yourself to seize sudden opportunities that only last for moments.

Resist the paranoid urge for consistency. Embrace the value of being surprising and imperfect.

Respect your community. Draw the line between promotion and the adbusting trinity of manipulation, intrusion and co-option.

Let the market hijack your brand.

The author is a partner of an agency… of sorts.

I first heard of this book because I was following the author Cliff Atkinson’s blog for a while; but that was before his book went to press. Then during the few months I didn’t follow the blog, the book hit the bookshelves, and it was mentioned by Scoble (I believe). That was when I decided to order one.

What I love most about the book’s approach to PowerPoint - no using of bullet points at all - is very similar to what I’ve done in a number of my presentations, including one done a few years back. It’s always nice to have an expert agree with you.

Radical stuff as far as the typical PowerPoint user is concerned, but who cares - your audience will love it.

Finally overcame the inertia and created an About page. I’ll add more more stuff to the page if I can overcome more inertia.