just minishorts.

… and I'm proud to say I'm happy I'm that kind of a jerk. Ushering in the new year yesterday took on a whole new meaning when I walked into a presentation room to talk to a bunch of hoity-toity at-the-top c-level nitwits who think that just because they're 'up there' it means that they are high and above all of us.

I mean, ever tried to present to a bunch of people who're more intent on examining the contents of their curry puffs and finding out whether the overcooked curry chicken fibres had gotten stuck in between their teeth?

Having worked in a Government Linked Company, I thought I had seen it all,but at least, we did make it a point to pay attention to strangers when they do presentations or try to make a point. I don't quite recall anyone munching down food as they feigned attentiveness, and yesterday was certainly a first.

So who's the fool? The phrase don't suffer fools lightly points usually to people in places of power who think they're the cream of the crop. But I think it's received for people like that, the word 'fools'. I don't suffer them lightly. Seriously.

One day, I'll get there. And then they'll see.

Eric and I went off to the bank today to withdraw the cash and exchanged some a lot of new notes for the angpau packing. Before that we have been (and still are) doing a lot of shopping and stocking up, and for the first time in my life, I'm experiencing the blues of the Chinese New Year season.

Like, OMG why the hell does everything have to COST SO BLOODY MUCH these days?

So the list of angpau recipients goes on and on: unmarried cousins, check, unmarried friends, check, cousins' and siblings' children, check, parents and godparents, check, the family helps, check, employees, check, additional stand-bys for the just in cases, check.

I thought giving out angpaus during the wedding was dehydrating, this, this whole Chinese New Year stock up business is absolutely burning holes in our pockets. OMG~~

There was this idiot of a person who somehow contacted my mom and told her that I was not working anymore and she frantically called me to tell me 'why the hell do you blog about all those nitty gritty details on that thing called minishorts'.

Apparenty, my mom and some of my family members (and many of them naughty enough to read my blog on a daily basis but pretend they don't when we meet up in person), are very traditional non-traditionalists. Its a sin not to work, if you're a woman. It's a bigger sin NOT TO WORK after you're married, if you're a woman.

So my mom called me the other night and she went, 'Girl you know someone from the family called me to tell me that you're not working anymore, and he read it from your blog. Do you know every0ne is talking about it? How can you blog about these things on that thing? Aiyoh don't you write about everything online can or not? Hello?'

So yeah I've had this blog for six bloody years and now that FAMILY is reading the contents as well, they decided to be busybodies and instead of CALLING ME DIRECT to ask me what's up, they get smart and call my mom and bug her about it.

Pardon me if I sound a little bit pissed, but being sneaky and making my mom frantically worried because she's old fashioned (or new-fashioned, depending on how you want to see it) to believe that NOT working is evil and terrible and bad for my resume and reputation, isn't exactly kind and thinking the best for me.

But if anyone calls me direct after reading this, friends, family, whoever you are, for whatever intentions, and if you're about to be bitchy like this idiotic commentor that did a 'for God's sake you're not working and you don't want to do the housework, quit complaining' already, TO everybody out there who knows me or doesn't know me but still wanna give me a piece of your cheap cent and tell me what to do with my life, here's this pack of info just for your benefit:

1. I'm working you idiot. I'm working in a way that you don't understand and I'm too lazy to explain it. It's enough said that my husband happens to earn enough for the two of us (even though he's not very much older than me) and we still like eating at Italiannes every week or so, so we can afford tiny luxuries. Jealous already?

2. I'm also human enough to say that I'm allergic to cleaning toilets. I happen to think it's perfectly NORMAL to say I'm a stay-at-home housewife cos my husband can afford to have me not work, but I still like to have a househelp to help me clean the toilets. Is it not normal? (As you can see I am damn pissed at that bitchy busybody who said I'm terrible because I want a maid even though I don't work. You got a problem with people being normal is it?)

3. Its tiring to do work and do the housework at the same time, and it's difficult when your work is in your own hands, the decisions are your own to make and you're typically reporting to someone very close to you. It's hard to work with friends you know? And I've grown to know this person a little too well already, so there are some things that are hard to do.

What I finally mean to say is, as usual, if you believe every darn letter I print on this side, it's really time to recruit a little more processing skills up there before you churn out any more assumptions and decide to worry my direct family by calling them to tell them 'Hey did you know what's happening in Choo Ki's life now, well apparently….'

Pardon me, but I just, just, just realized that the marketplace busybodies have found their way into the blogosphere.

I told my hubby that I am positively allergic to doing the housework. When I was unmarried and staying with Mom, I was princess of the house and didn't have to do THAT much (except wash my delicate clothes and iron the stuff to wear to work), since we had some househelp coming over to help clean up the mess. I would only help to sweep so very occasionally, and I think its definitely less than ten times a year.

But since getting married and living out with Eric, the need to keep the pad clean and dust free is getting on my nerves – especially when Eric seems to be deaf to my 'Dear can you please help me sweep the floor so I can mop later'. And so I'm reduced to sweeping the floor, sometimes several times a day (because I'm anal, can?) and mopping after meals and before going to bed.

Cleaning the toilet's another chore that I'm allergic to, because the last time I did that I was still in uni and staying on campus. We did it haphazardly then – we didn't really care 'how clean' the loo should look, but my own pad's toilets and bathrooms have GOT to look sparkly clean all the time. Cosway's PowerMax toilet cleaner can be abrasive to use – but it's mightily effective on tough stains, except I don't really fancy cleaning toilets. And AS USUAL, you think the stupid guy will do it ah? He just comes back, plunks himself down on the sofa and turns on Discovery Turbo (I HATE THAT CHANNEL GAH).

I so need someone to help me with the housework. So I've decided to try to look for some househelp that can come over once a week for a few hours to help do the heavy stuff. Still looking with fingers crossed.

I hardly think it unreasonable to consider the Israel-led bombings as a strategic defensive reaction towards the random acts of suicide terrorism upon its civilians over the years past.

In the same way I think it is unreasonable for some religious parties in this country called Malaysia to call upon a boycott of Made-in-Israel, or consecutively, Made-in-The-USA goods.

Like I have previously mentioned, this shouldn't be a religious issue. Or to be more factually precise, IMHO, the whole Israeli-Palestinian saga (decades in the making) isn't even halfway about religion, although the world and its newsmakers would like us to believe so. And it isn't even because some smart aleck keeps mentioning, there are Christian Palestinians also amongst the victims.

It is such a sinful way to call upon the world to care. Since when was it ever about putting our hearts and souls to people in suffering ONLY because 'there are Christian palestinians also'? In the same way, since when was it only an Islamic concern that Israel is bombing Palestine?

And dare I say, since when was it only a Jewish concern that Islamic fanatics have resorted to suicide bombings to make their point known?

So if you want to boycott those made-in-somewhere related to those 'damned Yahudis' goods, rethink your motivations. Is it because you hate Israel or is it because you hate war? If you're concerned about Palestine, is because of  the sovereignity YOUR RELIGION? Or is it because your religion teaches you to uphold peace? Splitting hairs, yes, but where has humanity gone if we keep organizing ourselves into parcelized labels, separated by our different opinions of what an omniscient God should be like?

I think God must be despaired by all this selfishness.