on being a sub-editor

"The news is thrown at him in huge miscellaneous masses, which, but for his labours, would kill the reader stone-dead with mental indigestion. He has to cook this mass, having first trimmed it into reasonable proportions, keeping one eye on the probable accuracy of the facts as stated, another on the law of libel, another on various other considerations which crop up from time to time, such as the law relating to elections, and yet a fourth, which must be no less vigilant than the other three, upon the clock. Sub-editors, when I meet them, seem to have only two eyes just like other people; where they keep the other two I cannot say, but I know they must have them."

~ Edward Shanks (in Harold Evans, Essential English for Journalists, Editors and Writers)

This passage is a sharp observation on how a sub-editor, or a 'copyreader' in the US or a 'text editor' in Britain, work. I thought it presents the juggling of the various factors that comes with this job wonderfully in just a paragraph.

Edward Shanks, an English poet, writer, academic, literary critic and editor; describes the work of a sub-editor in its very essence like a true-blue journalist - short without missing any relevant or important points with a flair for witty, creative depictions.

shot by rosebullet

Always on the lookout for alternative clothes' brands, my best friend and I discovered Rosebullet a few years ago. At that time, this Japanese label has just been launched in Singapore, the first in the South-East Asian region. I remembered how exhilarated both of us were at finding a label wherein its style is just so, well, our style of dressing - simple and sweet while playing with every details. Plus, we were delighted at not always having to buy from the dominant labels.

Unfortunately, the style of its collections gradually changed to a more flamboyant one, perhaps due to the departure of its Japanese Manager whom I believed was in charged with selecting which apparels and accessories to be brought in here. Hoping that I would finally see a revert back to the original style, I would always be disappointed after stepping out of Isetan, where it is located. Eventually, I stopped going there for my fashion fix.

That was the case till I happened to pass by there again last Saturday. I had the exact feeling when I first saw its clothes that it is like a re-bonding session. I bought a cute navy dress with mini gold studs all over it and received its catalog that showcases its spring/summer collection. I loved the whole package of its presentation - the summer-vacation theme, the choice of colors, and the laid-back style of the clothes - that best encapsulates these two seasons:

a handbag affair

Today's lecture was about buyer behavior and when my lecturer explains the buyer decision process, I know exactly what he is talking about.

The Buyer Decision Process:

1st stage - Need Recognition:
My only versatile (in terms of style and function) has gave up on me with four holes which were once fastened with rivets. Refusing to give up on it, I went to a few repair stores to get it fixed but they don't just don't have the same rivets as those on my handbag. They don't even have those in similar colors. Sigh... So I've been carrying my mom's handbag but I still have to get one for myself.

Verdict: I need a handbag.

2nd stage - Information Search:
This handbag affair has me absorbed in looking at photographs (zoom in, top view, back view) of one tote bag after another for a week now. That explains the dark circles around my eyes. I think I'm now more than ever qualified to join the panda-look-alike club.

3rd stage: Evaluation of Alternatives:
But how am I going to chose one that I really like and is suitable for me without bombing on my wallet? That needs a precise filter system.

So hopefully, the fourth stage of purchase decision arrives soon and that the fifth stage of postpurchase behavior will be a positive one unlike the negative sentiment I felt for my previous handbag that doesn't last.

Seriously, why do academics love to put labels on every single minuscule commonsensical stuff?

happy chinese new year

Have a roaring Tiger year filled with happiness, good health and great fortune! Happy Chinese New Year!

I Am

I am ...
A woman
With a full heart, hidden
Somewhere in an empty room ...
With eyes not quite of autumn's gold, and yet
Neither all of summer's green;
I wonder ...
If love is a tale made for children --
A granting of sweet dreams in their innocence --
A honey-coating to help their throats
Choke down the bitter draught ...
I hear ...
A voice that whispers warnings, half-formed,
Bodiless as hope, until I swear I cannot draw
Another breath unless this spectre be unmasked,
His lies mangled ‘neath my righteous tread;
I see ...
A woman, proud, uncompromising,
Diaphanous as air -- less, even, than the tears
That fall in desolation about her weary feet,
Salt poison pooled upon the withered ground ...
I want ...
A measure of quietude, a certain silence,
The echo of alone which heals me of dreaming,
The nothing that stills the wanting,
The numb, the cold that laughs at pain;
I am
A woman,
hidden ...

I pretend ...
That I can live forever -- that Time
Has no puissance but that which I afford Him --
And so, I can wait, I can be happy tomorrow,
Sleep is for the dead; but its ghosts haunt my waking ...
I feel ...
Too much -- too deeply to be directionless,
Too real for imagining, and yet the familiar eyes
Hold nothing of recognition -- only my reflection --
A meeting of shadows in sunlit glass;
I touch ...
The downy wings of hope, in wonder,
In reverence, in need, in hunger;
Alas, it burns my fingers as a flame,
A sacrilege, self-defined ...
I worry ...
That I am alone; that in my longing
I have forsaken all -- but oh, what reward,
What smile divine should light the path to freedom --
And how can I but heed the siren's call?
I cry ...
For having too much, for fear of bursting,
And then, when by the pouring of my soul
I lie, a vessel emptied, I cry again
For what was had, and lost;
I am
A woman,
empty ...

I understand
That life is what you make it,
That sometimes, the coat of many colors
That marks your triumphs brightly, blends only
To loneliest of grey ...
I say
That we are made by life, shaped,
Broken, perhaps -- unmade and voided --
But always, the core of us remains, waiting
With only faith, with trust, to be reborn;
I dream
Of bluest waters, reaching
With unnatural hands toward the faded sky,
Of dolphins that wander in seas without limits,
Carrying me water-breathing past corals and clouds ...
I try ...
To lead by example, knowing
That merely the telling holds no power;
A gift of giving is merely a day, while
A gift of knowing spans forever;
I hope ...
That my darkness holds you gently,
That pain is halved by sharing, that feeling
Wields nothing past the words it summons,
Except that it touch you with only healing ...
I am
A woman,
only.


~Skyfyre

CNY oh CNY

Yay! Finally a break!

Even though it's a break from school and not from work (and a very short one too), I'm pretty hyped up knowing that Chinese New Year (CNY) is just around the corner! I'm probably the only one who's that excited for CNY as it's the only time in the year where I get to have the whole family, including both of my sisters' (as they're married), get together and spend some quality time.

Haha I'm in such good mood anticipating that the exhaustion I just accumulated juggling assignments and work for several months wear off when I think of what to decorate my house with for this upcoming festivities. I've bought two gigantic yellow pineapples (a symbol for good fortune and luck) and a lovely 福 (which means the same thing as the pineapple), in which the font is designed with pink and red peonies in cardboard.

I happened to drive past a store selling CNY decors on my way to school when this huge yellow pineapple hanging between two smaller red pineapples caught my eye. I couldn't get the picture of it off my mind for some reason and as I'm always in a rush to school, I didn't stop and purchase them. I was so fixated on them that I told Kevin (my bf) that I must get them.

Thinking they are easily available, I looked for them at similar stores when I passed by them on foot but all of them don't carry this specific pineapple. Fellow Chinese must be thinking 'why' right? That's because the one I eyed on is the largest one - 45 inches - as compared to the ''normal' size of about 20 inches. That supposedly enormous one just seemed like the right size to me that I refused to buy any of biggest ones (30 inches) available there.

When I finally went to that store and purchase them, I was (and still is) elated. Walking away with the pair of $38 pineapples, I was grinning from from ear to ear. Once I reached home, Kevin helped me to set up and stapled them as they were in the initial flattened state.

The moment he helped me hung them up, I couldn't help laughing to myself. They're really huge! Way too big to be hung at the sides of my front door! Kevin was like, 'don't look at me, I told you it's going to be really huge, you're the one who's bent on getting it in this size'. What if my three mischievous little nephew and nieces pull them down?!

As my camera is not working anymore and I'm still contemplating on whether I should splurge on one, I can't upload any photographs on them at the moment. I'll try to upload them soon! Meanwhile, I hope that all the Chinese have as much fun and enjoyment as me preparing for CNY!

頑張ります!

Came across this quote that I like very much:

"The quality of your life depends less on what you are doing with your body, and more on what you are doing with your time and spirit. Keep your soul nourished and everything else will fall into place."

Even though my circumstances resulted in me having a job I don't like, I do feel alive and rejuvenated whenever I'm studying. These steps I'm taking may seem like baby steps, but the time and the joy of working on my chosen field of interest in university constantly remind me that I have to keep moving on to my goal regardless of the odds.

頑張ります! (I'll try my best!)

the start of something wonderful

The break of dawn illuminates shades of orange hues across the horizon, signifying the arrival of a brand new day.

Since life is a short-lived luxury that is engulfed in a cycle of light and darkness, let this marks the start of something wonderful that's here to stay.

~A.W.

Happy New Year everyone!
May you and your loved ones be blessed with joy, good health and fortune throughout 2010!