Best of facebook.

I don't love facebook, but I can't kick the habit. But there are many things that make it worthwhile, so it's a habit I don't mind.

I've got a facebook friend, my family and his family were super close when we were little. Lived around the corner, played every day, until I was about 10 and my family moved to Maitland. His older sister was my first best friend and we were inseparable, so moving was cruel, but I did get my own room instead of sharing with 3 siblings. Anyway, we're all grown up now and he's married and living somewhere in the central west. He is one of those happy people. I find him very hilarious, so it's a shame I don't get to see him in real life. But from facebook, what comes across is his joy in life: appreciation of the small things, and general way of living a simple life in an adventurous way. He documented the time his wife's horse fell down a well. He learnt to bread. His pregnant wife asleep on a bean bag. He found a baby chicken hatched from an abandoned egg. I love his life. I think that is the best stuff on facebook.

Speaking the truth in love

Last night, our Bible study groups kicked off for the year. A lot of the groups met together at church and we did an intro seminar on Ephesians 4:1-16. We spoke a bit about verse 15, "But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ." People spoke about it as rebuking and correcting each other in a loving manner, but I see it more than that. Speaking the truth in love can also be giving a word of encouragement.

When we struggle, we can lose perspective, lose sight of God. Speaking the truth in love in this case can be reminding each other that God loves you, cares for you, is in control etc. Encouragement is a great way to speak the truth in love.

Irony

I'm looking forward to filling in one of these Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes this year. I'm mindful of filling it with good quality, long-lasting gifts, even if it costs more than the cheap stuff. I wonder if any of these children work in factories, making cheap stuff for the West. Imagine the irony of sending back gifts that they spend hours each day manufacturing.

Pimples and acne in adult life

Pimples and acne in adult life are annoying because you tend to associate it with the teenage years. "I'm an adult already! Why am I still getting pimples!"

I think of mild acne in adult life as God's way of stopping me from going completely vain and putting security in my appearance (e.g. "if I had flawless skin, I would have an exciting life!"). That's what advertisers try to do - make you feel inadequate and then sell you a product to make up for the perceived inadequacy.

Diagram of Cute Trend Cycle.

For this post.

Bangladesh and Mr Thornton.

http://www.perioddramas.com/articles/north-and-south.php

Last night I watched the 4 Corners on the garment factories of Bangladesh that make the clothes we buy from Target, Kmart, Rivers, etc. Quite a bleak story. Makes me not like my cheap thermal singlet from Target made in Bangladesh.

Recently, NPR Planet Money podcast did an interesting story on the bigger picture of cheap garment factories. http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/05/14/184019151/episode-458-bangladeshs-t-shirt-economy Basically, when a country is moving from a subsistence farming economy to an industrialised economy, the first rung on the ladder is t-shirts. Bangladesh is now where China was a few decades or so ago, and now China makes electronics and everything and more people are climbing into the middle class. Go back a couple of centuries, and the West was in the same place. Which is where Mr Thornton comes in. I've been reading North and South (3rd read through), and it's pretty much a snapshot of the same struggle for safe working conditions and fair pay vs market forces. Bessie dies of "fluff on the lung". There's no compensation for workplace injuries. Children work instead of being at school. That's what Margaret Hale sees when she moves to Milton. That's the big struggle with the strike. And today we, in Australia, who happened to be born in the right place at the right time, are the ones indirectly putting the squeeze on the workers at the bottom of the ladder. Imagine THAT as an epic love story.

Chinples

I tend to get hormonal acne on my chin. I like to call them chinples. I'm convinced that there's nothing you can do topically to treat or prevent chinples. I've tried everything: cleansing, toning, exfoliating, benzoyl peroxide, drying lotions etc etc

They bug me because they're pimples (and who likes pimples, especially when you're an adult?) and they can be painful. I haven't done the research on how to "cure" or "prevent" chinples, but I'm putting it out there that you can't apply anything on it to make it better.

Safe and well-off.

Walking across the Domain last night after an hour at the art gallery listening to a jazz trio (free music in the cafe on wednesday nights is a good deal, people!), JK observed that we were lucky to be able to walk around our city at night on our own and not be attacked. That's pretty rare in the world. I agree. We are SO lucky. On a similar theme, I've come to a place in my mind where I don't mind the cost of living in Sydney being so high (3rd most expensive city in the world?) because I know I get a LOT for my money.

Staring at mens' faces

This is probably a sign that I've been watching too many makeup videos and reading too many beauty blogs, but I like to stare at and study mens' faces.

Image from http://www.mtv.co.uk/

Men usually don't wear makeup (and presumably take less care of their skin than women), so I imagine what men would have to do, if they made up as women do. Men with a lot of redness in the face might wear foundation to even out the skin tone. Men with sun-damaged skin might benefit from exfoliation and sunscreen. But men with great, makeup-free skin?! What is their secret?? How do they do it?? That's what I want to know.

Sometimes I wonder, is it better to be man, and have the freedom not to wear makeup, or is it better to be a woman and be able to fake looking alert, awake and luminous? Why do we accept men as they look, but expect women to wear makeup?

Anyway, since I like bright colours and it is a creative outlet for me, I pick makeup.

Constant learning

In my current role at work, I get to rotate across at least four different roles in three years. That means constant learning, and constant learning hurts.

In each new role, I've had to learn different concepts, different systems and different skills. In the beginning, it really hurts my brain. I am really slow at performing the task and I document processes as meticulously as I can. There's two different processes going on when you learn to do something: there's the why (understanding what you're doing) and the how (actually being able to perform the task). In the beginning, I don't fully grasp what I'm doing, so I rely heavily on my documented processes. Over time, as I do the task repeatedly, I begin to understand what I'm doing a lot better.

I'm at the brain hurting phase and I have to consciously stop from myself from thinking, "I'm so slow and stupid! Why can't I get this the first time round? Why is this hard to understand?" and remind myself this is part of the learning process and soon enough, I will be efficient and proficient. I remind myself of times when I've mastered a new role and exceeded the expectations of others.

I'm always thinking at the back of my mind, "How would I explain this to a complete newbie? To someone who'll be in my shoes at the next rotation?"

This is what I would do:

• Give an overview of organisational structure of the department: who's who and who you need to know
• Give an overview/big picture of the task at hand
• Explain and walk through a spreadsheet before showing someone how to do it
• Show and explain to someone the end product (e.g. a printed report) before showing them how to put it together
• Show them how to do the task, and then the second time round, getting them to drive and perform the task under supervision
• Speak slowly and clearly, with pauses
• Repeat yourself several times
• Be patient
• Lower your expectations: expect mistakes and questions
• Provide a detailed instruction manual with screenshots (or allow the trainee time to take notes while you're explaining)
• Encourage copious note-taking!
• Tell the trainee it's okay if they don't really understand the first time round or if they feel confused or overwhelmed

Maybe some people are really good at getting things the first time or without taking lots and lots of notes. Not me. I have a Word document at work that's nearly 50 pages filled with screenshots and instructions on how to do my job. It amazes me how people just show you something once and then implicitly expect you to know how to do it next time. I can't do it without taking notes and screenshots, especially since a lot of my tasks are monthly: I'm bound to forget how it did it thirty days later!

People who've done something for years often have forgotten what it's like to do something new for the first time, to see a programme or a particular spreadsheet for the first time. I hope I never forget.

A lesson on pain and change

My tummy has been giving me extreme grief of late. It's turned temperamental quite suddenly. I used to eat whatever I liked, including junk, oily/fried and spicy food, and not suffer from too many consequences (except for weight gain). Now my tummy is so sensitive that I will be in a world of pain for hours after if I eat certain foods. I often wake up in the middle of the night because of the pain (hence this 3am post while I wait for the painkillers to kick in).

You'd think after a couple of times, I'd learn to steer clear of certain foods to avoid the crippling pain. But no, I keep on making the same mistakes. My new strategy now, is to eat like a lady: super small portions, eat more frequently, eat very slowly, take small bites and avoid pain-inducing food (e.g. junk, oily/fried, spicy). But it's really hard to do if you've been used to eating like a piggy: eating whatever and whenever you want, eating bigger portions and wolfing down your food.

Some things are easy for me to avoid (e.g. alcohol and coffee), and I'm proud of myself for avoiding chilli (even though I miss it terribly), but others are plain hard.

Instead of berating myself each time I stuff up, I remind myself that change is hard, I'm only human and I am getting better at working out which foods make my tummy happy and which ones make it churn eight hours later. This is practising self-compassion; one of my current life lessons.

The people who really suffer are my colleagues and close friends because I am constantly whinging about the pain and asking them to pray for me.

I am also enlisting their help in another way. For example, on Friday, I will have a yum cha lunch with colleagues. I have asked a particular one to sit next to me, and I will only eat food she puts in my bowl (she's experienced with tummy troubles!). I've also asked them to help me say no, to say no to me, and remind me of the consequences.

I've been very thankful for the support of others during this tummy trouble time.

Vanity

I really love the idea of having a vanity (or dressing table); an area in the bedroom where I can sit down and do my makeup in the morning. Currently, my makeup sits on my study table and I run back and forth from my  mirror (attached to my bedroom door) to my study table as I do my face.

I love the idea of a vanity because it means an opportunity to indulge in my love of vintage furniture. My friend from the States has the most beautiful retro vanity and I love it! It also adds a bit of glamour to your daily routine.

I like the look of these, but they don't quite compare to my aforementioned friend's vanity:

Image source: http://everythingfab.tumblr.com/post/170880804

 Image source: http://thatvintageshop.com.au

Image source: http://www.pbteen.com/products/hampton-vanity-tower-and-super-set/

I have a large bedroom, which could definitely fit a vanity, but I'm hesitant to buy one because I'm a renter. Such is the life of the renter: you never know if your next bedroom will have a built-in wardrobe or what size the room will be. If I weren't in the midst of getting my professional qualification, I'd probably get rid of my study table and replace it with a vanity.

One option would be to get a small table and attach a lovely vintage mirror that I already have, to the wall above the table - a modest, makeshift vanity that would suit the unpredictability of renting.

But there are relatively smaller vanities available too:

Image source: http://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/30158273/

I shall keep my eyes out at second-hand furniture stores and on Gumtree.

Watches are still a thing.

 

I remember a lot of talk a couple of years ago about how people weren't going to wear watches any more. Tech gurus were boasting about the trend. "Everyone just checks their phone now." Well that is true, but I found that a phone is actually a pocket watch, like in the olden days, when you had to fish around in your waistcoat to check the time. That's annoying. So I went back to a wrist watch. And this morning I did a survey of the people on the bus whose wrists were visible, and out of 6 of us, 5 were wearing a watch. Possibly professionals are more likely to wear a watch as part of their corporate image, and possibly people who catch the bus want to be able to check the time more easily (that is a main reason for me). But I think that's enough to refute the death of the watch.

Speaking of telling the time, my uncle had an intriguing facebook status today.

I thought I'd worked out how to measure time in meters and was very happy for two days, til I realised my mistake. Does anybody else get this kind of problem?

That's the kind of facebook I like. I can't stop wondering what he means. Did he make a sundial? Or some kind of odometer clock? Or a giant pendulum? I am proud to be related to this man.

Flake, Twirl, Twix

I like Cadbury's Flake Chocolate Bar, except that it's quite messy to eat. I recently rediscovered Twirl Bar, which is like a Flake encased in a chocolate shell. That makes it the perfect way to eat a Flake neatly. I also get Twirl and Twix mixed up because they both start with "twi", even though they're different chocolate bars and have different packaging.

Three years

I've noticed that a lot of my close friend are either 3+ years older than me or 3 years younger than me. What is it about the 3 year mark?

Tangent: on jelssie, we have the labels "ponderings" and "musings". I wonder what the difference is between the two?

Libraries are for minimalists

Libraries are so awesome, especially for a wannabe minimalist like me. You get to enjoy stuff without keeping it! Woo! Libraries are such a vital part of the community, I'd happily pay an annual fee to join one. If I were building a community, I'd make sure there was a well-stocked library, alongside an playground/exercise park and meeting halls (for church and stuff).

Libraries are a hub

Local government libraries are a hub for migrant/non-Anglo families. It could be that the last two libraries I visited were culturally diverse areas, but I suspect the appeal of the library stems from:

- free access to a variety of materials: books, magazines, CDs, DVDs etc.

- access to a clean, free, comfortable and sometimes quiet environment, which is good for studying (crucial in Asian culture) and good for reading free newspapers (enjoyable for senior citizens, as well as saving precious pennies)

- books are for nerds and most migrant parents want their kids to be the biggest nerd in town.

Elsie Elise

When people meet me for the first time and get my name right, they often call me Elise the second time round. It makes me wonder: do people named Elise ever get called Elsie? Know an Elise you could ask for me?

Food bloggers

I frequent Sydney food blogs when I'm super-bored, but the question must be asked: what is it with Sydney food bloggers? Why are most of them Asian and female? I know I'm not the first person to make this observation, but I need a theory peeps!

(Oh look, here's an American-Asian's take on it.)

The Original Hipster

Graham Coxon (lead guitarist of blur) is probably the original hipster. I mean, he's been looking like this since blur's early days in the 90s.


But look at this meme that's been floating around:



So who is the original hipster?