The daughter's birthday has just passed, and she received several toys from her mother and I. The most significant of these were the Star Wars lightsabers : )
Originally, we had trouble finding anything other than the old Darth Vader one - red and ominous-sounding. But the girl insisted that it was fine, and that any lightsaber, regardless of the colour or how it sounded, would do her nicely. Since it was my wife who was footing the bill (heh heh heh), she went ahead and bought it for our girl. Needless to say, I wasn't all too enamoured with that decision. So I did a little hunting of my own.
After a bit of searching, I found that there was new stock somewhere else. Within the space of a hour, skipping out during a lunch break at my old office at Pulau Brani, I discovered that I could purchase both the Luke and the Anakin ones - green and blue respectively, at another shop close to my office. Honestly, I couldn't decide which of them to purchase at first. So, in the end, I got them both. Then I called the missus to tell her how I intended for the whole thing to turn out....
I went home and hid all three of the lightsabers, and waited for the daughter to hunt down her birthday present when the time came. When she pulled out the Anakin Skywalker one, her eyes went wide and she came running to me, telling me that something was not right. Then she found the Luke Skywalker one and decided that she preferred its green colour. She held on to it tightly, as she went around and searched for the Darth Vader one that she had originally convinced her mother to buy for her. When she found it, she promptly handed it over, telling me that she was keeping the green one.
So I told her that the Vader one will become mine, while the blue Anakin one will become her mother's.
Not that it mattered; she's playing with all three of them every chance she gets : )
Will put up pics of her with the toys soon, I hope.
Monday, 21 May 2012
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Requiem For the Impatient
Finally got my copy of Epica's album - Requiem for the Indifferent. At the same time, managed to grab Xandria's latest. Good stuff, both of them : )
Thursday, 3 May 2012
Tides of May
The daughter has been happy this last week, since it has seen the return of her mother to our shores. The wife will be back for a week, it appears, and shall leave once the week is done. Sigh.
Well, best to make the best of the time we have together.
Well, best to make the best of the time we have together.
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Run-down
For the record, I am now seated in my office, typing this while Loreena McKennitt plays in the background, while I munch on raisin-laced biscuits and douse myself with Coke light. All this takes place in the early hours of the day, before the rest of the office drag themselves through the Gates.
The place where I slave away at my given tasks is not luxurious. Indeed, there are some among my colleagues who might regard it with some disdain. Still, knowing that I am only here to fulfill my duties for two years, and one of which has passed, does not inspire me to rage against the tides that washed me here. Still, the lack of support with regards to the technical matters often drives me to seek help back at my old unit. Not a particularly unappealing solution to my doldrums, I assure those who actually bother to read this.
Indeed, the situation, dire though it may appear to the casual reader, has not been as detrimental to my situation as one might suppose it to be. To be honest, the white-liveried commanderies here are more than a little chary of the rest of us, probably due to the fact that we can, if we so choose, to overturn their carefully orchestrated play meant for the sight of the Hierarchs. And so, we are left to languish in our positions, ignorant and ignoring the calls to battle.
Yet, despite the offer of respite that this situation affords me, I find myself hard-pressed to fulfill the demands on my time and my energies. To be more precise, I find myself stressed, torn and conflicted between the interests of the mind and the needs of the young. Truly, if I am forced to do so, I will simply point out that I am suffering from a malady of the mind known to most as the 'single parent' syndrome.
The wife has departed for the Great Southern Land, to earn her next laurels in the great campaign, leaving me and our daughter to wage our war on the tides of our lonely shore. At the same time, there has arisen a situation in her mother's family that requires me to take charge of the daughter for the space of two weeks, while the grandmother deals with the loss suffered by her eldest son. And so, I am left as sole parent, and sole caretaker of my daughter for these two weeks. If my daughter was as endearing as most believe her to be, it should not be so great a chore.
Ha!
Needless to say, my daughter's traits are far less appealing when viewed at proximity. The indulgence lavished upon her by her grandmother(s) has twisted her view of the world somewhat, and this is often opposed to the vision that I see. Which, of course, leads to the expected tumult: our time together is often spent in argument. And our time together has just been greatly expanded!
This shall prove to be a most ... interesting, and exhausting, experience.
Sigh.
The place where I slave away at my given tasks is not luxurious. Indeed, there are some among my colleagues who might regard it with some disdain. Still, knowing that I am only here to fulfill my duties for two years, and one of which has passed, does not inspire me to rage against the tides that washed me here. Still, the lack of support with regards to the technical matters often drives me to seek help back at my old unit. Not a particularly unappealing solution to my doldrums, I assure those who actually bother to read this.
Indeed, the situation, dire though it may appear to the casual reader, has not been as detrimental to my situation as one might suppose it to be. To be honest, the white-liveried commanderies here are more than a little chary of the rest of us, probably due to the fact that we can, if we so choose, to overturn their carefully orchestrated play meant for the sight of the Hierarchs. And so, we are left to languish in our positions, ignorant and ignoring the calls to battle.
Yet, despite the offer of respite that this situation affords me, I find myself hard-pressed to fulfill the demands on my time and my energies. To be more precise, I find myself stressed, torn and conflicted between the interests of the mind and the needs of the young. Truly, if I am forced to do so, I will simply point out that I am suffering from a malady of the mind known to most as the 'single parent' syndrome.
The wife has departed for the Great Southern Land, to earn her next laurels in the great campaign, leaving me and our daughter to wage our war on the tides of our lonely shore. At the same time, there has arisen a situation in her mother's family that requires me to take charge of the daughter for the space of two weeks, while the grandmother deals with the loss suffered by her eldest son. And so, I am left as sole parent, and sole caretaker of my daughter for these two weeks. If my daughter was as endearing as most believe her to be, it should not be so great a chore.
Ha!
Needless to say, my daughter's traits are far less appealing when viewed at proximity. The indulgence lavished upon her by her grandmother(s) has twisted her view of the world somewhat, and this is often opposed to the vision that I see. Which, of course, leads to the expected tumult: our time together is often spent in argument. And our time together has just been greatly expanded!
This shall prove to be a most ... interesting, and exhausting, experience.
Sigh.
Monday, 26 March 2012
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Latest acquisitions
On a lighter note....
Just bought Olivia Ong's Sweet Memories and Corrinne May's Crooked Lines albums.
A different cover, but same album. Maybe a later press. Light music - mostly old favourites from my school days.
New songs. Devout. Mostly joyous and celebratory, though some of the lyrics makes one think. I believe that was her intention in the first place.
Hope I can get hold of Epica's new album next : )
Grrrr..
Things have gone south.
Apparently, my daughter has not taken my words to heart. Despite talking to her about her sleeping habits and her utter lack of urgency when getting ready for school. She has, for the umpteenth time, dragged her heels this morning so much that she was late.
Which leaves me no recourse but to issue threats and promise harsh and immediate punishment should she fail to comply with my simple instructions of:
1) Getting up when she (a) hears the alarm, (b) gets shaken awake, or (c) gets hauled onto her feet;
2) Eating her breakfast and stuffing her snack-box and water-bottle into her bag in a no fuss, timely fashion (which I have set at a generous 20 minutes); and
3) Getting dressed and leaving the house by 6.45am.
My promised punishments for 1) is a swift whack to the backside, and additional whacks if she proves recalcitrant. For 2), it is setting her alarm (and bedtime) early an additional 5 minutes, thereby leading to a greater potential for violations of 1) and its consequent penalty. Failure to comply to 3) leads to her being late for school, which carries its own attendant punishment from her teachers. Hence, there is no stipulated penalty from me. (Despite my propensity towards physical punishment, I am inclined to the rule of natural justice that precludes being punished more than once for the same offence.)
This will begin with immediate effect.
We'll see how it goes.
Apparently, my daughter has not taken my words to heart. Despite talking to her about her sleeping habits and her utter lack of urgency when getting ready for school. She has, for the umpteenth time, dragged her heels this morning so much that she was late.
Which leaves me no recourse but to issue threats and promise harsh and immediate punishment should she fail to comply with my simple instructions of:
1) Getting up when she (a) hears the alarm, (b) gets shaken awake, or (c) gets hauled onto her feet;
2) Eating her breakfast and stuffing her snack-box and water-bottle into her bag in a no fuss, timely fashion (which I have set at a generous 20 minutes); and
3) Getting dressed and leaving the house by 6.45am.
My promised punishments for 1) is a swift whack to the backside, and additional whacks if she proves recalcitrant. For 2), it is setting her alarm (and bedtime) early an additional 5 minutes, thereby leading to a greater potential for violations of 1) and its consequent penalty. Failure to comply to 3) leads to her being late for school, which carries its own attendant punishment from her teachers. Hence, there is no stipulated penalty from me. (Despite my propensity towards physical punishment, I am inclined to the rule of natural justice that precludes being punished more than once for the same offence.)
This will begin with immediate effect.
We'll see how it goes.
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