I submitted my letter of confirmation from my Program Manager basically saying that I have been "managing" some projects for the last 6 months. I also submitted my CV.
I asked if that was it. He confirmed - "that's it!"
So, basically in July when my company renews my membership to AIPM, they will also be upgrading my registration from a QPP to a RPM.
At the end of the day, a good project manager is developed through practice of managing projects. To me, its like common sense. So, this piece of paper I will be receiving through the mail doesn't really indicate to anyone how good or how bad a project manager I am. It just shows that I am aware of the "best practiced methodologies"...
Fortunately, I have been working in an environment that is highly process driven, which is part of good practice. The company is ISO9001 compliant.
The piece of paper basically makes me one of the "skilled" employees, that Australia seems to be lacking.
Like my degree, on its own...the paper isn't of much value, its the implication of the words written on it that carries the value. For me, personally, the degree, the diploma, and the registration as a RPM means that I can command more $$$. And so, those 3 pieces of paper actually means a lot to me & my future.
I will be given more responsibilities. Better (harder) projects to manage. It will provide me with more opportunities. I will grow.
(lit: Update)
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Dépression, au delà de bleu...
I believe that i am very susceptible to falling into depression...or maybe i'm exaggerating and depression is the more stronger sense of what i have felt before.
I'm the middle child of my family and sometimes i do get forgotten, or perhaps i just view myself as being forgotten...
I have felt lonely. I have felt helpless. I have felt like being swallowed up by a gapping hole in the floor. I have wanted to just fade into the walls and disappear. I have felt the despair. I have felt worthless. I have wanted my life to end.
That was when i was younger.
Is that what depression is? Because the thing is, i have always managed to pull myself out of it without help from anyone...well, not direct help of knowing that i actually felt the way i did back then.
I envision depression to be something so great that it is sooo hard to knock back. An addiction that is too hard to kick without proper intervention.
A friend once told me that i was resilient. I didnt believe him at the time. My heart was in the process of being bruised. But he was right. I am a tough girl.
Maybe it comes from being a cynic. I'm very skeptical of most things in life. I still hope that there is some good out there, but i'm more inclined to assume the worst of anything until i am proven wrong. It is my armour in facing the world. I see it as a glass half empty and I prevent myself from getting hurt or disappointed. So, i am extremely organised and prevent the worse from happening to me.
I believe that this is why i am good at what i do for a living. If i stay organised, i stay in control. I account for issues and risks, but its assessed and i know that i can handle them if they pop up. On the rare occasion something i cant handle will appear, but i know that i can still handle it.
If what i went through, in those years before was depression...when the first time it happened, something must have pulled me through without my knowing. I'm not sure if it was the perfectionist in me that said "wake up and smell the stench of impending failure looming"..."perfectionists dont end the game, they win the game"...? Who knows...but all the other times when i was feeling hopeless, i know i got myself out. And i think it all comes back to taking control.
I manage to bounce back, because i know that i am the one in control of my actions.
That knowledge is empowering. To know that you make the decision to get out of it. Slap yourself if you have to, but you are the one in control. Take stock, life is will always have waves of challenges rolling in to shore to knock you off your balance.
Balance.
From practicing yoga and pilates and seeing my physio, i have learnt that balance is the key to keeping my joints and muscles feeling fine after any strenuous workout.
I strongly believe that balance is the key for life.
I may have felt dire at times and then flipped to being ecstatic at other times, but i always come back aligned to my equilibrium. I actually do balance on one leg for 70 seconds or more, then alternate. I do this each and every day. Thats for the physical side of things. In terms of mentally and emotionally, i laugh.
I like working with a bunch of guys. They either make me laugh with a joke or two, or alternatively they bring me down to earth by making me find something to laugh about within myself.
For those who do and are suffering from depression, i hope that you do see the light - you can get beyond it. Find your inner strength. It is hard. But there is hope. Just think about how blue the sky can be after a storm. The wonder of your eyes getting tricked to see rainbows - colours, even. The joys of hearing the sound of laughter...
It helps me, to think about awe inspiring, naturally beautiful things. Maybe it can help you too.
(lit: Depression, beyond blue)
I'm the middle child of my family and sometimes i do get forgotten, or perhaps i just view myself as being forgotten...
I have felt lonely. I have felt helpless. I have felt like being swallowed up by a gapping hole in the floor. I have wanted to just fade into the walls and disappear. I have felt the despair. I have felt worthless. I have wanted my life to end.
That was when i was younger.
Is that what depression is? Because the thing is, i have always managed to pull myself out of it without help from anyone...well, not direct help of knowing that i actually felt the way i did back then.
I envision depression to be something so great that it is sooo hard to knock back. An addiction that is too hard to kick without proper intervention.
A friend once told me that i was resilient. I didnt believe him at the time. My heart was in the process of being bruised. But he was right. I am a tough girl.
Maybe it comes from being a cynic. I'm very skeptical of most things in life. I still hope that there is some good out there, but i'm more inclined to assume the worst of anything until i am proven wrong. It is my armour in facing the world. I see it as a glass half empty and I prevent myself from getting hurt or disappointed. So, i am extremely organised and prevent the worse from happening to me.
I believe that this is why i am good at what i do for a living. If i stay organised, i stay in control. I account for issues and risks, but its assessed and i know that i can handle them if they pop up. On the rare occasion something i cant handle will appear, but i know that i can still handle it.
If what i went through, in those years before was depression...when the first time it happened, something must have pulled me through without my knowing. I'm not sure if it was the perfectionist in me that said "wake up and smell the stench of impending failure looming"..."perfectionists dont end the game, they win the game"...? Who knows...but all the other times when i was feeling hopeless, i know i got myself out. And i think it all comes back to taking control.
I manage to bounce back, because i know that i am the one in control of my actions.
That knowledge is empowering. To know that you make the decision to get out of it. Slap yourself if you have to, but you are the one in control. Take stock, life is will always have waves of challenges rolling in to shore to knock you off your balance.
Balance.
From practicing yoga and pilates and seeing my physio, i have learnt that balance is the key to keeping my joints and muscles feeling fine after any strenuous workout.
I strongly believe that balance is the key for life.
I may have felt dire at times and then flipped to being ecstatic at other times, but i always come back aligned to my equilibrium. I actually do balance on one leg for 70 seconds or more, then alternate. I do this each and every day. Thats for the physical side of things. In terms of mentally and emotionally, i laugh.
I like working with a bunch of guys. They either make me laugh with a joke or two, or alternatively they bring me down to earth by making me find something to laugh about within myself.
For those who do and are suffering from depression, i hope that you do see the light - you can get beyond it. Find your inner strength. It is hard. But there is hope. Just think about how blue the sky can be after a storm. The wonder of your eyes getting tricked to see rainbows - colours, even. The joys of hearing the sound of laughter...
It helps me, to think about awe inspiring, naturally beautiful things. Maybe it can help you too.
(lit: Depression, beyond blue)
Monday, June 25, 2007
télévision...
Last night, i watched Michael Buble on Rove.
"T!t-humper"...if you watched it, you will know what im talking about...
I enjoyed the interview and decided that I will skip half the day of work today to be in the audience for Enough Rope with Andrew Denton.
My alterna-date was invited to be in the audience and asked if i wanted to go last Friday? I told him that that was a dumb question. That it was a no brainer...and then i realised that it started at 1:15pm and ending at 6pm.
I told my manager that i scored tix to be in the audience and that i had to go. He said he'd think about it.
This morning after i decided last night, i told him when he walked through the door that i was most definitely going.
12:40pm I left my office to go to ABC building on Harris Street.
The process of getting into the studio was a pain in the behind. We didnt get seated until over an hour later.
The first guest was a man named Lincoln Hall (?) who basically died while climbing Everest, but came back from the dead to tell his tale. It was an interesting story to tell and the interview was engaging at times, but i was getting sleepy and i wondered how it would look in the play back if they glazed over the audience and caught me snoring???
=T
Anyhoo...I was getting impatient as the interview with Lincoln was dragging, not because of the lack of trying...i think it was just his voice that droned on. I was waiting for Michael and i really just wanted the first interview to end.
And end, it finally did.
Next in line, i thought it was going to be someone other than Michael...from Andrew Denton's hints before the filming began, it sounded like Michael would be last in the 3 guest line up. But to my surprise, Michael was next.
He is really charming and enthusiastic and funny. And i adore him.
This episode being filmed today was for Enough Rope's new season. I would like to reveal some funny things that happened on stage, but i dont know what will make the cut or which part will end up on the cutting room floor. But if you do watch Enough Rope and catch this episode and hear a girl laughing pretty heartily during the Michael Buble interview, you can be sure it was in fact moi! But i sat in the back row and i dont believe they filmed any shots of me...thankfully!
*LoL*
After the episode is aired and i remember to, i will write another post and reveal some parts they had cut out.
Did you know that they film the audience applauding and smiling and laughing, and then edit it into the actual interview with the guests?
I didnt until today.
(lit: television)
"T!t-humper"...if you watched it, you will know what im talking about...
I enjoyed the interview and decided that I will skip half the day of work today to be in the audience for Enough Rope with Andrew Denton.
My alterna-date was invited to be in the audience and asked if i wanted to go last Friday? I told him that that was a dumb question. That it was a no brainer...and then i realised that it started at 1:15pm and ending at 6pm.
I told my manager that i scored tix to be in the audience and that i had to go. He said he'd think about it.
This morning after i decided last night, i told him when he walked through the door that i was most definitely going.
12:40pm I left my office to go to ABC building on Harris Street.
The process of getting into the studio was a pain in the behind. We didnt get seated until over an hour later.
The first guest was a man named Lincoln Hall (?) who basically died while climbing Everest, but came back from the dead to tell his tale. It was an interesting story to tell and the interview was engaging at times, but i was getting sleepy and i wondered how it would look in the play back if they glazed over the audience and caught me snoring???
=T
Anyhoo...I was getting impatient as the interview with Lincoln was dragging, not because of the lack of trying...i think it was just his voice that droned on. I was waiting for Michael and i really just wanted the first interview to end.
And end, it finally did.
Next in line, i thought it was going to be someone other than Michael...from Andrew Denton's hints before the filming began, it sounded like Michael would be last in the 3 guest line up. But to my surprise, Michael was next.
He is really charming and enthusiastic and funny. And i adore him.
This episode being filmed today was for Enough Rope's new season. I would like to reveal some funny things that happened on stage, but i dont know what will make the cut or which part will end up on the cutting room floor. But if you do watch Enough Rope and catch this episode and hear a girl laughing pretty heartily during the Michael Buble interview, you can be sure it was in fact moi! But i sat in the back row and i dont believe they filmed any shots of me...thankfully!
*LoL*
After the episode is aired and i remember to, i will write another post and reveal some parts they had cut out.
Did you know that they film the audience applauding and smiling and laughing, and then edit it into the actual interview with the guests?
I didnt until today.
(lit: television)
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Comédie allemand...
I watched a German movie last night. The first German movie I had ever seen.
I always considered going to the German Film Fest, but never quite made it.
I was actually watching Iron Chef and in between I saw the commercial for "Kebab Connection". I giggled because it was pretty funny (the ad) and it got me curious.
So, when Iron Chef finished I stayed with SBS and watched this movie. It was about a Turkish boy knocking up a German girl and his family disowning him for getting a German girl preggers. She is an aspiring actress, he an aspiring director with an obsession to make the first German Kung Fu movie (totally Bruce Lee inspired action).
I laughed quite loudly, and my laughter must have shook the house.
It reminded me of E (the boy and his obsession with film directing) and his family (all the crazy things that happened in between). It got me wondering whether this "craziness" was a cultural thing. I mean, all the stories E had told me about his family...they were portrayed in the movie in one way or another. I always thought it was just E and his family, but if the theme is carried out in a German movie about a Turkish boy...hehehe...
(lit: German Comedy)
I always considered going to the German Film Fest, but never quite made it.
I was actually watching Iron Chef and in between I saw the commercial for "Kebab Connection". I giggled because it was pretty funny (the ad) and it got me curious.
So, when Iron Chef finished I stayed with SBS and watched this movie. It was about a Turkish boy knocking up a German girl and his family disowning him for getting a German girl preggers. She is an aspiring actress, he an aspiring director with an obsession to make the first German Kung Fu movie (totally Bruce Lee inspired action).
I laughed quite loudly, and my laughter must have shook the house.
It reminded me of E (the boy and his obsession with film directing) and his family (all the crazy things that happened in between). It got me wondering whether this "craziness" was a cultural thing. I mean, all the stories E had told me about his family...they were portrayed in the movie in one way or another. I always thought it was just E and his family, but if the theme is carried out in a German movie about a Turkish boy...hehehe...
(lit: German Comedy)
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Anniversaire de 2 ans...
Its 2 years with my company and its exactly the same amount of time working with the same client.
Its also just a little over 2 months before i fly to Europe.
And ironically, it will be 2 years tomorrow, since i broke my left ankle.
Life is hectic, but interesting right now. In terms of work. In terms of social stuff. In terms of thoughts running through my head.
In terms of work...I'm working on some summaries in support of gaining my RegPM (Level 5 registration). If successful, i shall be a registered PM by the end of Financial year.
In terms of social stuff...I'm meeting a number of people since moving to the Glebe office and i quite like these new people. Its really funny, there is this one guy who purrs when he walks past my desk - he does so as a joke to me...i havent quite pinned what the purring is actually for or what it actually means...but it makes me laugh...so i guess its worth it!
There is a local cafe we go to and i keep seeing Yumi from Channel V...she brought in her daughter today while the guys and i were having our morning coffee. Her daughter is a little cutie. The guy at the cafe who makes our drinks, he is really funny. He knows just how much to stretch when he teases various people and when to stop. And he just makes me laugh and really yummy soy hot chocs.
I bought Miss Saigon tix for October at the Lyric Theatre today. L, V, M&D, Mon and i are going. I ended up with 3rd row tix...close to the centre...im so chuffed! I can't wait!!!
I went to Eiger Swiss restaurant last Saturday and had cheese fondue, air dried beef, seasoned mushrooms, veal schnitzel, roesti, choc fondue, and chestnut vermicelle...basically i stuffed myself with a whole variety of comfort food. The owner, Alain, is rather eccentric, but since he said i that i am a beautiful girl...i forgive him from being a tad pushy at times. I went to Eiger with my workmates and their spouses and it was fun.
I'm going to drinks and dinner with other workmates this Friday and i'm sure that i will enjoy Friday night too, as much as i did last Saturday. I dont usually "hang out" with my workmates...only a select one or two. But the people i have met are really nice, so i figure why not? It cant hurt me and i sooo need to branch out more.
(lit: 2 year anniversary)
Its also just a little over 2 months before i fly to Europe.
And ironically, it will be 2 years tomorrow, since i broke my left ankle.
Life is hectic, but interesting right now. In terms of work. In terms of social stuff. In terms of thoughts running through my head.
In terms of work...I'm working on some summaries in support of gaining my RegPM (Level 5 registration). If successful, i shall be a registered PM by the end of Financial year.
In terms of social stuff...I'm meeting a number of people since moving to the Glebe office and i quite like these new people. Its really funny, there is this one guy who purrs when he walks past my desk - he does so as a joke to me...i havent quite pinned what the purring is actually for or what it actually means...but it makes me laugh...so i guess its worth it!
There is a local cafe we go to and i keep seeing Yumi from Channel V...she brought in her daughter today while the guys and i were having our morning coffee. Her daughter is a little cutie. The guy at the cafe who makes our drinks, he is really funny. He knows just how much to stretch when he teases various people and when to stop. And he just makes me laugh and really yummy soy hot chocs.
I bought Miss Saigon tix for October at the Lyric Theatre today. L, V, M&D, Mon and i are going. I ended up with 3rd row tix...close to the centre...im so chuffed! I can't wait!!!
I went to Eiger Swiss restaurant last Saturday and had cheese fondue, air dried beef, seasoned mushrooms, veal schnitzel, roesti, choc fondue, and chestnut vermicelle...basically i stuffed myself with a whole variety of comfort food. The owner, Alain, is rather eccentric, but since he said i that i am a beautiful girl...i forgive him from being a tad pushy at times. I went to Eiger with my workmates and their spouses and it was fun.
I'm going to drinks and dinner with other workmates this Friday and i'm sure that i will enjoy Friday night too, as much as i did last Saturday. I dont usually "hang out" with my workmates...only a select one or two. But the people i have met are really nice, so i figure why not? It cant hurt me and i sooo need to branch out more.
(lit: 2 year anniversary)
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
controversé...
I have a lot of opinions on controversial topics, but i usually dont voice them because i know that my opinions are based on very limited information...and therefore i shut up and prevent myself from being a fool in public.
Because i graduated from USYD i get their quarterly "Sydney Alumni" magazine and when i have the time i try to read it. This Winter edition has an article about Stem cell research which i found quite interesting.
Not like we all havent heard a lot about it in the news. So, its not like its all new. There has been so much debate about it all over the world. But there was something written in the article that presented an idea that i had never considered until now. Which i basically found thought provoking...
"Enchantment with our own uniqueness remains central to the Western imagination of the self. Therapeutic cloning not only shakes that idea; it also confronts our notion of ourselves as circumscribed individuals both spatially and temporally.
...
'Stem cell technologies involve a reorganisation of boundaries and elements of the human body. Bodies become materially implicated in each other,' says Prof Waldby. Through an indefinite fusing of bodies, what disappears are the safe, certain lines where our body stops and another begins." --Immortal lines, written by Dr Kate Rossmanith
I didn't think about it that way...the fusing of another's cells in one's body. I saw it more from the idea of using "babies" and "cloning"...in some ways my concerns were fears of Frankenstein-esque monsters being created and man becoming power hungry and wanting to play God...like i said, i dont know much about stem cell research, so i usually keep my mouth shut on the topic.
I have been against the idea, because i didnt and still dont know enough about it. And thats the thing I have learnt by reading the article. That most of the scientists dont know enough about it either, that all research done so far is only scratching the surface and that more needs to be done. They can not definitively advise that it can be used therapeutically in a clinical environment. It looks promising, but the truth is that there are years of research left to be done to know for sure.
I guess i should wait and read more before i can really say that im for or against it...i wonder if a decade is enough?
(lit: controversial)
Because i graduated from USYD i get their quarterly "Sydney Alumni" magazine and when i have the time i try to read it. This Winter edition has an article about Stem cell research which i found quite interesting.
Not like we all havent heard a lot about it in the news. So, its not like its all new. There has been so much debate about it all over the world. But there was something written in the article that presented an idea that i had never considered until now. Which i basically found thought provoking...
"Enchantment with our own uniqueness remains central to the Western imagination of the self. Therapeutic cloning not only shakes that idea; it also confronts our notion of ourselves as circumscribed individuals both spatially and temporally.
...
'Stem cell technologies involve a reorganisation of boundaries and elements of the human body. Bodies become materially implicated in each other,' says Prof Waldby. Through an indefinite fusing of bodies, what disappears are the safe, certain lines where our body stops and another begins." --Immortal lines, written by Dr Kate Rossmanith
I didn't think about it that way...the fusing of another's cells in one's body. I saw it more from the idea of using "babies" and "cloning"...in some ways my concerns were fears of Frankenstein-esque monsters being created and man becoming power hungry and wanting to play God...like i said, i dont know much about stem cell research, so i usually keep my mouth shut on the topic.
I have been against the idea, because i didnt and still dont know enough about it. And thats the thing I have learnt by reading the article. That most of the scientists dont know enough about it either, that all research done so far is only scratching the surface and that more needs to be done. They can not definitively advise that it can be used therapeutically in a clinical environment. It looks promising, but the truth is that there are years of research left to be done to know for sure.
I guess i should wait and read more before i can really say that im for or against it...i wonder if a decade is enough?
(lit: controversial)
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Je ne suis pas asthmatique.
I hopped on the train and chose my seat.
Next stop.
A girl hopped on and sat down next to me. She was coughing a lot and i thought to myself "uh-oh...i'm going to come down with yet another thing"...
As the train ride progressed, she pulled out her inhaler. I had forgotten that she was asthmatic. You see, i had often seen her on this train and she has on a number of occasions taken a puff from her inhaler, especially in the colder months.
How could i be so unsympathetic? I know how bad it is to be sick and not wanting to go to work, but having to go because you are sick, but not that sick. Sounds like torture when you put it down in writing, but some people are unable to work from home or they just can't afford not to work even if they are sick.
I use to have really bad asthma. I've taken it for granted that I have overcome it and that I am no longer a slave to my Ventolin.
But it wasnt like it was easy to overcome. Often it felt like I was running an uphill battle and the funny thing is - that is exactly how i overcame it.
I ran.
I exercised. I exerted my lungs and my heart to a point where my organs got use to the exertion. They started to switch on and function as per normal without the drugs. And then, I stopped coughing and wheezing and feeling as though my lungs were going to explode.
It was a slow process in reducing the amount of Ventolin I was taking, as I was increasing my cardio exercise. I started out taking a puff before, during and after exercising. Then I slowly dropped it down to a puff before and during (if needed). As my cardio increased, then just a puff before my exercising. And one day...I just decided to forgo the single puff before starting.
It was tricky to deal with at this stage. And I think if I was ever wheezing, it was happening out of anxiety and the fear of having an attack, when in fact I was really fine.
I stopped using my Ventolin when I was about 19-20, there abouts. I carried it around in my handbag where ever I went, but I didn't have to use it for about a year or so. And then I stopped carrying it and it has been a good number of years now.
I have also stopped ticking the box which says "Asthma"? on the various forms I fill out.
Sometimes, when I do my interval training on the treadmill, or when I run outside and the air is really crisp, I still wheeze a little. But its nothing unbearable and I can jog it off. I think its more from being unfit than an onset of adult asthma.
Well, I hope.
(lit: I do not have asthma)
Next stop.
A girl hopped on and sat down next to me. She was coughing a lot and i thought to myself "uh-oh...i'm going to come down with yet another thing"...
As the train ride progressed, she pulled out her inhaler. I had forgotten that she was asthmatic. You see, i had often seen her on this train and she has on a number of occasions taken a puff from her inhaler, especially in the colder months.
How could i be so unsympathetic? I know how bad it is to be sick and not wanting to go to work, but having to go because you are sick, but not that sick. Sounds like torture when you put it down in writing, but some people are unable to work from home or they just can't afford not to work even if they are sick.
I use to have really bad asthma. I've taken it for granted that I have overcome it and that I am no longer a slave to my Ventolin.
But it wasnt like it was easy to overcome. Often it felt like I was running an uphill battle and the funny thing is - that is exactly how i overcame it.
I ran.
I exercised. I exerted my lungs and my heart to a point where my organs got use to the exertion. They started to switch on and function as per normal without the drugs. And then, I stopped coughing and wheezing and feeling as though my lungs were going to explode.
It was a slow process in reducing the amount of Ventolin I was taking, as I was increasing my cardio exercise. I started out taking a puff before, during and after exercising. Then I slowly dropped it down to a puff before and during (if needed). As my cardio increased, then just a puff before my exercising. And one day...I just decided to forgo the single puff before starting.
It was tricky to deal with at this stage. And I think if I was ever wheezing, it was happening out of anxiety and the fear of having an attack, when in fact I was really fine.
I stopped using my Ventolin when I was about 19-20, there abouts. I carried it around in my handbag where ever I went, but I didn't have to use it for about a year or so. And then I stopped carrying it and it has been a good number of years now.
I have also stopped ticking the box which says "Asthma"? on the various forms I fill out.
Sometimes, when I do my interval training on the treadmill, or when I run outside and the air is really crisp, I still wheeze a little. But its nothing unbearable and I can jog it off. I think its more from being unfit than an onset of adult asthma.
Well, I hope.
(lit: I do not have asthma)
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Se faire aimer Napoleon Dynamite...
When Napoleon Dynamite was released in the cinemas in 2004, i had really wanted to watch it. I don't know what got in the way, but i didn't end up catching it in the cinemas...and i didn't even get to watch it on dvd...that was until this weekend.
It is soooo geeky, the movie, as much as Napoleon is, which makes this movie so endearing!
I had chuckled throughout the movie, and my friends were right. I was totally missing out!
Recently, i had borrowed a selection of dvds from G and this was one of them. I'm so glad that he had let me borrow this gem of a movie. My alterna-date was telling me that this was one of his favourite movies and he was surprised that i hadnt watched it until now.
I have to agree...this is now one of my favourite movies.
Highlights of the movie:
* Vote for Pedro - I now get it!
* Kip changing into a homie with the help of his "soulmate" LaFawnduh...hehehe...
* Jamiroquai's - Canned Heat (Synkronized 1999)
(trans: The endearing Napoleon Dynamite)
It is soooo geeky, the movie, as much as Napoleon is, which makes this movie so endearing!
I had chuckled throughout the movie, and my friends were right. I was totally missing out!
Recently, i had borrowed a selection of dvds from G and this was one of them. I'm so glad that he had let me borrow this gem of a movie. My alterna-date was telling me that this was one of his favourite movies and he was surprised that i hadnt watched it until now.
I have to agree...this is now one of my favourite movies.
Highlights of the movie:
* Vote for Pedro - I now get it!
* Kip changing into a homie with the help of his "soulmate" LaFawnduh...hehehe...
* Jamiroquai's - Canned Heat (Synkronized 1999)
(trans: The endearing Napoleon Dynamite)
Monday, June 11, 2007
Mon meilleur ami...
My alterna date and i were talking about how many people we would consider to be our best friends...the type of friend that you could call at 3am or in an emergency, knowing that they would come to your rescue - guaranteed...and also, that they lived in a 5Km radius.
We had eachother. I could add D...but i actually feel funny if i imposed on him with an emergency call at 3am.
If M still lived in the area, i would put her down. If E was closer by 5Km...then i would put him down...and that is the same for K, L, G and V.
We spoke about this on Saturday, prior to watching "Mon meilleur ami - My best friend" on Sunday at the Palace Twin Cinemas.
And it was funny that our topic of conversation was the exact premise of the movie.
I was hoping that the movie would be more funny...but I found it dramatic and serious...perhaps, it is because it touches on the topic of alone & loneliness, and I obviously have an affinity with being alone.
Irrespective of the serious underlying tone of the movie, i still enjoyed it. After all it is a story about being a true best friend.
But if you had to watch one French flick this year, I would suggest vehemently, that you go watch "Prête-moi ta main - I do". It was part of the French Film Fest 2007, but I missed it by watching Priceless and OSS-117.
I think it speaks for itself that it was part of the Fest and now its actually showing in cinemas as general release.
G got a free double pass to the advanced screening of "I do" and asked me to go with him - as I obviously have this thing with foreign movies, lest to say French flicks.
And it was the BEST French film I had seen for the year. It was FUNNY!!! If anyone said that the French don't know how to do comedy, they should really see "I do". I couldnt stop laughing and i thoroughly enjoyed it.
***
Over the long weekend, i slept in and i went shopping - lots of shopping!!!
I didnt buy anything really expensive, but i bought a lot of inexpensive things...which in the end broke my budget for this month anyway.
Shame on me.
>_<"
We had eachother. I could add D...but i actually feel funny if i imposed on him with an emergency call at 3am.
If M still lived in the area, i would put her down. If E was closer by 5Km...then i would put him down...and that is the same for K, L, G and V.
We spoke about this on Saturday, prior to watching "Mon meilleur ami - My best friend" on Sunday at the Palace Twin Cinemas.
And it was funny that our topic of conversation was the exact premise of the movie.
I was hoping that the movie would be more funny...but I found it dramatic and serious...perhaps, it is because it touches on the topic of alone & loneliness, and I obviously have an affinity with being alone.
Irrespective of the serious underlying tone of the movie, i still enjoyed it. After all it is a story about being a true best friend.
But if you had to watch one French flick this year, I would suggest vehemently, that you go watch "Prête-moi ta main - I do". It was part of the French Film Fest 2007, but I missed it by watching Priceless and OSS-117.
I think it speaks for itself that it was part of the Fest and now its actually showing in cinemas as general release.
G got a free double pass to the advanced screening of "I do" and asked me to go with him - as I obviously have this thing with foreign movies, lest to say French flicks.
And it was the BEST French film I had seen for the year. It was FUNNY!!! If anyone said that the French don't know how to do comedy, they should really see "I do". I couldnt stop laughing and i thoroughly enjoyed it.
Over the long weekend, i slept in and i went shopping - lots of shopping!!!
I didnt buy anything really expensive, but i bought a lot of inexpensive things...which in the end broke my budget for this month anyway.
Shame on me.
>_<"
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Je suis ici de passage.
(Pronounciation: zher swee zee.see der pa.sazh)
The audit is almost over...and i wasnt one of the lucky people to be selected...
^_^
But all the hard work in catching up took its toll. And then all of a sudden it turned into an anti-climax...because today...in anticipation of the auditor arriving there was a buzz in the office and then he left. He didn't question my team. Didn't enquire what we did all day...just pretty much walked past us.
It was good and bad.
I closed a project today! *woohoo* I also saved the company a couple of grand...except, i think it was by accident...not because i managed the budget well. Ha!
I think im over the panic attack...and just going with the flow. Finally.
Plans for the weekend...I'm going to work from home on Friday...catching another french flick "My best friend" and was going to walk the markets and go for a bike ride...but i believe the weather will be working against me.
(lit: I'm in transit)
The audit is almost over...and i wasnt one of the lucky people to be selected...
^_^
But all the hard work in catching up took its toll. And then all of a sudden it turned into an anti-climax...because today...in anticipation of the auditor arriving there was a buzz in the office and then he left. He didn't question my team. Didn't enquire what we did all day...just pretty much walked past us.
It was good and bad.
I closed a project today! *woohoo* I also saved the company a couple of grand...except, i think it was by accident...not because i managed the budget well. Ha!
I think im over the panic attack...and just going with the flow. Finally.
Plans for the weekend...I'm going to work from home on Friday...catching another french flick "My best friend" and was going to walk the markets and go for a bike ride...but i believe the weather will be working against me.
(lit: I'm in transit)
Saturday, June 02, 2007
travailler à vivre...
Work has been crazy lately. Stress levels have been really high. Energy levels have been waning. A workmate and i had to stay back on Thursday night and it wasn't fun...even though i have started to laugh hysterically - it isnt actually funny.
I have noticed that since moving to the Glebe office, i barely have time to think about anything except work. I don't respond to emails, unless its from the customers or something urgent from a manager. Everything else is low priority.
My workmates have noticed that it is Glebe. We have other things that could potentially make us feel "fast & furious", but essentially we would not have been so hard hit if we were still in the CBD.
I have started to pick up bad habits like taking 10 minute lunches at my desk...mind you the unhealthy part is that i sit on a level (in the building) that is enclosed by 4 walls and only 2 smaill windows that are tinted so that you cant look to the outside. So, its really just blank walls. (Highly secured area).
I've also started to continue working, even though i have left for the day, even while on my train ride home. I'm following up with workmates on requests, phone calls to customers, managers, et al. I'm like "this" close to carrying my laptop and wireless around to work on the train...how sad is that?
I've always said that "I work to live, NOT live to work", but it seems to me that work is starting to take over my life...and its what i wanted to prevent. 95% of the managers i know have a balance of about 75-85% work, 25-15% life ratio. They aren't 'failing' from the lack of trying to create a 50-50 ratio...its just the nature of working in the project environment.
But to their credit, they are either in a long term relationship, married, &/or with kids...and their better halves are understanding. So, they are obviously getting some things right.
My workmate and i, who are both single females, and are developing our careers in this industry have realised that we are basically screwed (apologies for the lack of finding any other word that would define it more eloquently). We both have been trying to avoid this impending moment...and now we have to look straight into the eye of the monster.
I had a panic attack last night. I called 3 friends in Sydney, who didn't pick up their phones, so that i could panic with a rational voice on the other line to talk some sense into me...but as that was lacking, i sent an sms to E, who is currently in Istanbul.
He responded in a couple of minutes, and that calmed me down a little. Funny how the person who is miles away across some oceans can respond in a couple of beats.
It was my father's birthday yesterday, so i was actually panicking while sitting in my car waiting for my family to arrive at the restaurant. And since it was Dad's birthday, i didnt want to alarm the family, so i abstained from talking to Mum about the fear that was in me.
So instead, after dinner i drove to A's place to catch up with some friends and watch Shrek 3 on A's new big ass plasma, in his new pretty, pretty apartment.
I barely took my boots off when i broke down in front of the girls in the hallway.
Its shameful, but they understood my concerns...at least that means im not over reacting too much.
I think i alluded in my last post about wanting to pay off my mortgage, building my nest egg, and potentially that now is the time to start planning if not acting.
So, im sort of stuck with a connundrum...my catch 22...
At 26, work my way to become a fully fledged project manager, my registration is 6 months (tops) from being awarded. Get flogged with work and have no social life for the next 4 years...reach 30 and have another panic attack realising that the last 4 years i should have been socialising instead of working my butt off...at this point in time have no friends, because i haven't had the time to make the effort to keep in touch, and therefore everything spirals out of control and i die lonely!!!
Have i ever told you that one of my biggest fears is dying lonely?
Its not like i can avoid work. And its seems natural to get promoted to project manager and the promotion means i get paid more...which helps me pay off my mortgage faster, and on a projet manager's rate i will have money to start building my nest egg.
So, do i choose the pending career which would free me financially or the life i currently dont even have but would like?
(lit: to work to live)
I have noticed that since moving to the Glebe office, i barely have time to think about anything except work. I don't respond to emails, unless its from the customers or something urgent from a manager. Everything else is low priority.
My workmates have noticed that it is Glebe. We have other things that could potentially make us feel "fast & furious", but essentially we would not have been so hard hit if we were still in the CBD.
I have started to pick up bad habits like taking 10 minute lunches at my desk...mind you the unhealthy part is that i sit on a level (in the building) that is enclosed by 4 walls and only 2 smaill windows that are tinted so that you cant look to the outside. So, its really just blank walls. (Highly secured area).
I've also started to continue working, even though i have left for the day, even while on my train ride home. I'm following up with workmates on requests, phone calls to customers, managers, et al. I'm like "this" close to carrying my laptop and wireless around to work on the train...how sad is that?
I've always said that "I work to live, NOT live to work", but it seems to me that work is starting to take over my life...and its what i wanted to prevent. 95% of the managers i know have a balance of about 75-85% work, 25-15% life ratio. They aren't 'failing' from the lack of trying to create a 50-50 ratio...its just the nature of working in the project environment.
But to their credit, they are either in a long term relationship, married, &/or with kids...and their better halves are understanding. So, they are obviously getting some things right.
My workmate and i, who are both single females, and are developing our careers in this industry have realised that we are basically screwed (apologies for the lack of finding any other word that would define it more eloquently). We both have been trying to avoid this impending moment...and now we have to look straight into the eye of the monster.
I had a panic attack last night. I called 3 friends in Sydney, who didn't pick up their phones, so that i could panic with a rational voice on the other line to talk some sense into me...but as that was lacking, i sent an sms to E, who is currently in Istanbul.
He responded in a couple of minutes, and that calmed me down a little. Funny how the person who is miles away across some oceans can respond in a couple of beats.
It was my father's birthday yesterday, so i was actually panicking while sitting in my car waiting for my family to arrive at the restaurant. And since it was Dad's birthday, i didnt want to alarm the family, so i abstained from talking to Mum about the fear that was in me.
So instead, after dinner i drove to A's place to catch up with some friends and watch Shrek 3 on A's new big ass plasma, in his new pretty, pretty apartment.
I barely took my boots off when i broke down in front of the girls in the hallway.
Its shameful, but they understood my concerns...at least that means im not over reacting too much.
I think i alluded in my last post about wanting to pay off my mortgage, building my nest egg, and potentially that now is the time to start planning if not acting.
So, im sort of stuck with a connundrum...my catch 22...
At 26, work my way to become a fully fledged project manager, my registration is 6 months (tops) from being awarded. Get flogged with work and have no social life for the next 4 years...reach 30 and have another panic attack realising that the last 4 years i should have been socialising instead of working my butt off...at this point in time have no friends, because i haven't had the time to make the effort to keep in touch, and therefore everything spirals out of control and i die lonely!!!
Have i ever told you that one of my biggest fears is dying lonely?
Its not like i can avoid work. And its seems natural to get promoted to project manager and the promotion means i get paid more...which helps me pay off my mortgage faster, and on a projet manager's rate i will have money to start building my nest egg.
So, do i choose the pending career which would free me financially or the life i currently dont even have but would like?
(lit: to work to live)
