sharp.

Some people are very sharp with their words.

*dramatic ouch gesture*

Good time to practise humility and grace.

Practice makes perfect.

some clients.

A: "What's the status of Agreement X? I asked you a month ago."

B: "Sorry, my boss hasn't gotten back to me. I'll get back to you later. By the way, what's the status of Agreement Y? I sent it to you 2 months ago."

A: "Oh, that one is still pending. My boss hasn't gotten back to me."

*after 30 minutes*

A: "What's the status of Agreement X?"

B: "Hey Mr A. My boss still hasn't gotten back to me."

A: "You didn't call your clients to ask ah???? I've waited for months!!!"


Pot calling kettle black in loud whiny voice.

So annoying.

out of context.

One gets so tired trying to correct people who keep taking things out of context.

May be a futile exercise, since one's correction may also be taken out of context.

Why does one do this to oneself?

(public: "Who on earth is this 'one'????")

Nursery rhyme.

If the Hole-Puncher just did things right the first time, 

the Paper-Arranger wouldn't have to exist.

*to a tune yet to be concocted*

If you've worked in an office with shelves and shelves of files,
you know what I mean.

Unless, of course, you've been a Hole-Puncher your whole life.

Just yesterday, I was playing the nursery-rhymey Paper-Arranger. Today, I punched two slightly misaligned holes as a Hole-Puncher. 

And I thought, "Ah. It happens."

And I didn't proceed to punch better holes.

You know,

Everybody gets to be a Hole-Puncher at some point of their lives. And everyone has been a bad Hole-Puncher at some point. But not everyone gets to be a Paper-Arranger. 

Because to be a Paper-Arranger, you need to care enough to brave the bad holes that will make the simple act of putting every document back in place very difficult.

I'm glad that Someone cared enough to be the Good Paper-Arranger in the life of this Hole-Puncher.

On days when I think extraordinarily high of myself, I will remember this nursery rhyme:

If the Hole-Puncher just did things right the first time, 

the Paper-Arranger wouldn't have to exist.

And on days when someone makes me think extraordinarily low thoughts about myself, I will remember this nursery rhyme:

If the Hole-Puncher just did things right the first time, 

the Paper-Arranger wouldn't have to exist.

why the same nursery rhyme rebukes and comforts at the same time is another discussion for another day.

Rule #1 of Legal Practice

DO NOT tell your client he has a good case.

If you accidentally make that statement, QUALIFY it.

He may have a good case, but bad opponents. 

Makes all the difference.

numbers.

I try very hard not to let the lack of numbers affect me and what I do.

But when it's down to just a handful of people, it's hard not to keep count.

Thinking I'm alone won't help anybody, won't help anything.

But it's hard not to feel alone.

It's hard to forgive people who leave to go after their own dreams and ambitions.

It's hard to understand why people don't think of the people left behind.

These thoughts make me question my motivations.

To feel or not to feel...

Is that the right question?

What's the right question?

Or what's the right answer?

It's hard to think when I'm feeling down.

It's hard to be thankful for what I have when what I don't have is so glaring.

It's hard to be victorious when I feel so defeated.

It's hard to encourage one another when we each need encouragement ourselves.

I wish people would leave properly.

I wish people would at least stop to THINK before they leave.

I wish people would stop to ENCOURAGE those left behind before they leave.

I wish people would stop saying, 

"God will provide"

or

"There's still who-and-who around"

while they happily up and leave.

Irresponsible statements.


I wish everyone would just stop leaving.

when legal terms are not cool.

 

“as is where is”

translated:

“sebagaimana adalah di mana adalah”

you gotta do what you gotta do.

But sometimes you've also gotta do what you don't actually gotta do.

It's hard to tell the difference sometimes.

judgmental...?

I have a serious problem believing people who say they're out to be a 'witness in their mission field' when their lives seem to be filled with  99.9% of everything and anything but that. 

(the 0.01% is the part where they say they're out to be a witness in their mission field)

*slaps self*

Seriously.

Should be slapped. 

But I still have that serious problem.

pain in the neck.

You know, like when you didn't sleep on your back or alternatively on your side with a bolster the way experts have repeatedly told you to do, and ended up with a severe pain in the neck.

Just got off the phone with my former landlady. 

Such a pain in the neck.

Some people think they can get away with highway robbery by yelling over the phone. Well, I've had the unhappy experience of being yelled at over the phone before by a person with a much higher voice frequency. I was more amused than angry or hurt at how juvenile she was this time. So I suppose it didn't scare me as much as she'd hoped.

My action plan? To be as civil as possible. I left barbaricism a long time ago and have no intention of returning to that old way of life. But being civil doesn't mean I give up being firm. 

And I suppose, as someone very wise once said, "If they are your enemies, you are under orders to love them." (C.S. Lewis)

On another note, 

I went to the park with someone very important. 

=)

so someone posted this:

...and called Christians "sexist, chauvinistic, judgemental, xenophobic" and backward.

I'm sorry,
you said who was judgmental?

I don't get angry at this stuff anymore.
I just get really amused.

Jerry Seinfeld:

‎"We are all throwing the dice, playing the game, moving our pieces around the board, but if there is a problem the lawyer is the only person who has read the inside of the top of the box."

Ok. So my job is to read the inside of the top of the box.

talking about listening...

Neighbour's alarm went off for the longest time. Nobody was in when I checked. I wonder how their dog tahan-ed man (which, incidentally, is the same dog here). 

Anyway, I couldn't do anything about it. since this lousy neighbour doesn't have her neighbour's number. And the sound of the alarm was killing me.

So I went to the piano and...

Pressed the E key. 

And was glad to find that my perfect pitch is still perfect.

Alarm just stopped. Yay.

lesson #1.

"Mind over matter" means,

if you don't mind,

it doesn't matter.

-Uncle TP-

I'm sure that's not what "mind over matter" means.

But Uncle TP's definitions are quite spot-on sometimes.

In the past month, I think I've learned to shrug off things that don't really matter.

For example, if I'm hearing the same question the third time, I smile and repeat the same answer the third time, and tell myself that it's just deja vu.

Or if someone tells me I did something which I'm absolutely sure I didn't do, and it really doesn't matter if that person believes it or not, I smile and shrug. 

But learning to shrug off things that don't really matter also means that I've learned not to shrug off things that really matter.

For example, if someone says something that is totally against what he or she should believe, it usually means that there is a statement beneath the statement, and I shouldn't dismiss it as an annoying start to an annoying argument.

Of if someone asks a question that he or she should definitely have known the answer to, it usually means that there is a question beneath the question, and I shouldn't dismiss it as pure ignorance.

All in all, I think people behave the way they do for a reason. While it's true that sometimes people simply want attention, I think a lot of the time, people are holding the door wide open for someone to come in. And a simple decision to not roll my eyes or to wave my hand dismissively can be the difference between a meaningful conversation and a general one.

I would think that deep inside, everybody wants to have meaningful conversations. 

No, opinions don't count. 

Disagreements and "views" don't really count either.

You can get all of that in a court of law. and i tell you that they're not always enjoyable.

A meaningful conversation is one that makes you prop your right elbow against the inner part of your car door and put your index finger to that part of your chin just below your lower lip as you drive away from that conversation. 

It's what makes you think twice, or at least pause, before you tell anyone else about that conversation, because it meant something to you.

It often brings back memories of the past, and questions about the future, because meaning is attached to who we are and who we want to become.

It's not easy to have a meaningful conversation with someone,

but it's a skill worth learning.

I think I need to learn to listen.

kucing sedap.

No, I don't eat cats.

This is kucing:

Kucing that made me very happy at a mamak stall.

This is sedap:

Pretty people, pretty voices.

Both make me smile.

=)

i tell you the truth.

Most of my time at home is spent trying to stop my grandma from worrying about the clothes outside.

On a brighter note, 

I think I've become a lot more patient.

*yay*

it upsets me when there is strife within the family.

not too cloudy today.

So I hand-washed some clothes and put them out to dry.

Then I swept and mopped the floor downstairs.

And put out the clothes on the other side of the house to dry.

Now I'm going to sun a sleeping bag for this weekend's girls' outing.

At the end of all this, I'm gonna say something like this,

"Good sun, good sun."

(the way Chelsea and I did in PJ)

I...

Feel like an auntie.

(Public: "Aunties are people too!")

pink tulips.

i don't like flowers because they die real fast.

and they look ugly when they die.

but flowers are nice to look at.

buahaha.