I forgot how I found this but Sacred Texts is a great online repository of tales, myths and legends from around the world. Included too are books and texts of world religions ranging from Christianity and Islam to the more mystical Kabbalah and Shamism.

I've been eyeing the new breed of iPods that Apple has been rolling out this past year - the Shuffle, the Nano then the granddaddy of them all - the video iPod. But frankly, while their lush looks and streamline bodies have many drooling and emptying wallets and maxing out credit cards, I'm quite happy with my first generation baby - the 5GB iPod.

Only thing is, the battery is near kaput.

A small story in today's The Strait Times gave me hope. Sonnet Technologies have given old iPod users just that. Well, batteries actually. Ones that can turn on the music again and make them last even longer than Apple's batteries.

Trouble is, they're only sold in the US, Canada and Mexico. What!?! Don't they realise that there are iPod users in other countries who are dying for this very thing they're offering? Now I have to get my sister to help ship this thing out to me.

D...if you're reading this...please check your email and see the link above. And help!

PS...I've caught a cold, on a Saturday. Sniffing, tearing and sneezing when I should be at an outdoor jazz concert. This sucks!

Never in a million years did I think I'd ever do it. But after nearly 2 months of excuses, I didn't have anymore to give so I bit the bullet. And put myself on the mat for over an hour's worth of shiatsu therapy. Ems had her shiatsu therapist over at her apartment so friends could sign up for sessions.

O M Y G O D !!!

The pain...the moments of unbearable pain. Followed by sweet release as the therapist moved to another point. Strangely enough, the left side of my spine drew more winces than the right. Ditto too for the left side of the stomach area. But I got the thumbs up except for having too much "cold" in me; nothing that shiatsu can't fix, I was told.

At the end, I stumbled downstairs in a vague blur of shock and bliss. I felt great, almost on cloud 9 but the pain...! I have a very low, low threshold of pain, and what was applied was the minimum of pressure but it still made me see purple spots!

While there are still some sensitive spots on my back and my stomach, it was a good session. Now I need to let some time go by before thinking of the next one. What helped was the yummy strawberry cheesecake Ems prepared for the afternoon. That took the edge off.

Cold cold heart
Hard done by you
Some things look better baby
Just passing through
--Elton John

An abstract of 3 ice cubes done in Photoshop. They have magical properties. If you look at them long enough, you won't feel the heat. Perfect for hot muggy Singapore!

See more at Illustration Friday.

You know what that is, right? Well, for me just now, it means being home after a horrendous week on a Friday night, satiated from a particularly delicious sashimi dinner, with my laptop and something good on tv (tonight's movies are "Dial M for Murder" followed by Donnie Darko).

Janey surprised me yesterday with this but I've been so swamped till just now.

So, here goes...Twenty random facts about me.
1. After nearly 12 years as a designer and copywriter, I made a career switch last year to creative services.
2. I've studied, lived and worked in the US for nearly 7 years before heading back to Singapore.
3. I'm an impatient optimist
4. My favourite pizza toppings are olives and mushrooms, super thin crust please.
5. I like raisins, but NOT in my cereal or icecream.
6. I like onions but ONLY as fried onion rings. If I cook with it, they're chopped to bits!
7. My dog's name is Murphy. I've had 4 other dogs : Butch, Wags, Raffles and Snoopy. They were all from the SPCA.
8. I love Toblerone Dark Chocolate bar.
9. I'm a HUGE fan of Apple and am a total tech geek.
10. I love the color purple. Do you know they have purple potatoes now?
11. Work starts at 9am but I'm in at 930am...thank goodness, I'm in the creative industry where nearly everyone does this.
12. I'm longing to visit Italy - and it is on the cards for next year.
13. My idea of a chill out time is hanging out with some friends over good food and wine.
14. I don't drive.
15. My favourite children's story when growing up was The Snow Queen
16. I'd kill to see U2 in concert - Bono, if you're reading this, please, please come to Singapore! (yeah, right!)
17. I love all kinds of music except heavy metal and the stuff they play at dance clubs.
18. I love to dance.
19. I hate being pushed into something I don't want to do.
20. I have 8 really good friends. I've lost some along the way due to stupid misunderstandings and such. Oh well...

Now, I'm tagging Flee, Stef and BookGirl.

Lost and alone on some forgotten highway
Travelled by many, remembered by few...
-- John Denver

I drew this while being a couch potato last night, and now realise that the perspectives for some arrows are a bit off. Ink, in my Molekskine.

See the rest of the creative bunch at Illustration Friday.

I'm looking for part-time Singapore-based illustrators. Those with a portfolio (especially with realism illios in whatever media) and interested in working on several regional packaging projects.

Drop me a line here.

I just wanted a quiet weekend, indulging in one of the seven deadly sins - Sloth. And dammit, after the week I just had, I think I deserve it. So what on earth possessed me to say 'yes' to rushing out a small project from a friend/client? I tried to squirm my way out of it after hearing the full brief but it was too late. She was desperate and I was stuck.

Next time, I'm saying 'no' first.

Bombs went off on Saturday night in Bali. Three years to the month of the last horrific car bombs that killed 202 people. This time, sucide bombers targetted holiday diners at 2 locations in Jimbaran and a restaurant in Kuta. The numbers are still coming in on the dead and injured.

I'm so angry, that once again the gentle people of Bali have been targetted by extremists with an axe to grind against the West. Watching amateur videos on tv, I just got more enraged. Damm it! If they want to blow things up...blow themselves up first, and see if that feels good before doing it to others!!

These people believe that their religion promises them a place in heaven by doing such deeds or jihad. Well, the joke's on them when God drops them, kicking and screaming into Hell.

Yes, I'm mad.

How can any woman read this and not be uplifted with powerful feelings from such positive words. Thank you Easywriter for writing and sharing this.

Darling heart, do you not know how blessed you are, how much you mean to those whose path you cross? Gentle woman, you are the soft place others land when they have fallen from high places. Tender soul, sweet nature, spine and spirit strong as tempered steel. You are worthy of a starry crown.

The following is supposedly an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it so well.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat), or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.

With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you", and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.

The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is, therefore, extinct... leaving only Heaven --- thereby proving the existence of a divine being --- which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting, "Oh my God!"

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A".

Thanks to Blueberry Moon for the link!

Another doodle (among others) done this evening during a mild lightning storm. Did this also to remind me to water Dad's plants as the gardener is not coming around on Sunday.

I float. Before another whirlpool drags me down, I float into the blue. What a week it's been and this weekend is just what I need to restore my chi before the stresses of a new week engulf me.

My first submission to Illustration Friday. Am a former graphic designer who's now trying to re-acquaint myself with sketching and doodling, and all things that sent me to design school in the first place.