Pet peeves

As you guys can see.. I've changed my layout again. I couldn't stand the colour. It was too colourful!!! So new layout still pending...

Since I listed a few things that made me happy, after reading an article about a man in Detroit who got car jacked and ignored, I decided to write about my biggest pet peeves. Of course it's easier to write about things I dislike than things that I like!

DISCLAIMER : I am not stating that I am the perfect human being. I am potentially a massive hipocrite as well!

1. Inconsiderate and selfish people 

I get really peeved when people don't think about the welfare of others. For example : No one stopping to help a man who is clearly hurt and crawling on the ground (Read article here).  I find this behaviour disgusting, I mean how can you live with yourself when you simply ignore a person who desperately needs attention and help - any kind of help!

I also can't stand it when kids or young people in general sit in the disabled area on buses and refuse to give up their seats for the less mobile people. I've seen so many counts of inconsiderate and selfish behaviour whilst travelling on the bus. Why aren't people willing to give up their seat for an elderly person or a pregnant woman?   Is it really that much of a big deal? 

I don't know if it's just me and my best friend, but we are generally considerate of other people's feelings. Actually I think I can attribute this to my mother's teachings. She always taught me to put other people's happiness before mine and that is what I strive to do. This way of thinking is also influenced by teachings in the Bible. So I guess after digging a little deeper, it's not really a normal attribute eh? 

2. People who are judgmental of the poor

I really dislike people who judge the poor, and by poor I mean the homeless. I know there is a social stigma attached to homeless people : "They deserved it", "They're there because they spent their money on drugs and alcohol", "It's their own fault". 

If everyone thought and felt this way, who would be there to help them? Perhaps they are addicts but no one deserves to be on the streets. They need help. Recently, I saw a young girl (she looked about 15) sitting on the corner of Pitt Street mall, begging for money. That was the saddest thing ever :(!! 

The Lorax

I really want to watch this movie!

Think Good Thoughts

Song above is Think Good Thoughts by Colbie Caillat. Her rendition of thinking good thoughts is imagining a starry sky or rain falling on a hot summer's day. I think for me, it would be to imagine sitting on a bench alongside a lake when it's dark at night and seeing the night sky get lit up by fireflies and stars! I think it would be really magical - of course until you accidentally swallow a firefly because you left your mouth hanging in awe.

Things that make me happy

• Happy Meal (no joke)
• Chocolate - 
• DIY lanterns -
• Things that glow (I am yet to see a firefly) -
• Winning - Stimulating my brain - 
• Creating things from scratch -
• Music; good music -
• People; only the ones who are worth it though 
• TV
•  Work

Wrestling with the truth

Children are quite innocent. They have a simplistic way of thinking and can sometimes only see one direction. I sometimes wish I could be simple instead of complicated. Perhaps if I took out the 'make-all-situations-complicated' gene out of my body, I would be a much happier chap.

I learnt a lot from my girls today at youth! They are so sweet, so innocent and so cute and so KPOP obsessed!

One cannot call themselves a Christian if they do not have Hope, Love or Faith. It led me to reconsider the most recent events of my life. How have I shown faith through hope and hope through love? I think I've done the opposite and shown dread through animosity and animosity through hibernation.

Holidays are ending soon! What have I accomplished this holiday? I don't even know. But according to my list that I forgot about on my phone... I still have 23 more things to do in 2 weeks. Not sure if that is possible!

Sick on a sunny day

And shoot you I will! Why must I be sick on a super sunny summer day? It means I am only limited to take photos of things in my house. I'm still trying to teach myself how to use my DSLR through youtube videos and photography blogs but it has deemed to be harder than I expected. Might join Photosoc when uni starts again. Ahh I don't even want to think about uni - it's more like impending doooooom because of a combination of excitement, over commitment, high standards and unachievable goals. 

Experimenting

Testing out some new fonts that I just installed...

Also been experimenting with pastel colours. I thought my blog needed brightening up but now it's too bright and too girly for my liking. 

I find it extremely annoying that most of my inspiration comes to me when I'm upset/annoyed/angry. It's like when I'm happy/content/indifferent, I can't seem to design. Well that sucks. 

Went to Myer today in hopes of buying Dance Central 2 for my new XBOX 360, only to find out that they got rid of the game sections! Woe to me!

To add extra woe, my throat currently feels like a carpenter came and sand papered the inner walls of my throat and chucked sand on it. Anyone have any good remedies besides strepsils, gargling salt water, honey lemon tea, warm water, sleeping and eating more fruit? Nothing seems to be working!! 

The beauty in ugly

A few days ago it was my Mum's birthday! Happy Birthday Mum!!
We celebrated by going to our favourite Malaysian restaurant - Kopitiam! and to save you from some amateur food porn, I've completely cut out pictures of food.
In case you wanted to know, the star dish of the night was the Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Yeah I know. I'm a pretty crap photographer! But I'm learning how to use my Nikon D90! I am pretty much a noob, but that's okay, if I was pro at the beginning there would be no room for growth (people refer to this as loser talk).

I remember at Microsoft training everyone was whipping out their DSLRs and taking photos of I don't know what. They all looked so pro and I was really intimidated! My roomie Susan Allin (check her out at www.susanallin.com) had not one but TWO CAMERAS! So talented.

Anyways! my mum keeps telling me to take photos of ugly things. Say what? Ugly things? Yep ugly things. She said that one of the greatest things is being able to see the beauty in ugly. What a contradiction! It reminded me of how Jesus dined with the "sinners" and how he didn't come to save the righteous but the lost.

                                                                                Taken from Matthew 6:28-29, 34     

All of these photos were taken around my house and my backyard! Ahhh I feel itchy from sitting on the grass, devastating!!

Taylor Swift speaks the truth?

I often wonder to myself - Why do I find Taylor Swift songs so damn catchy?! It didn't occur to me how warped her view about love is until today, when I was listening to her songs on the train. Now I'm not saying I don't like her music! I like it quite a bit to be completely honest (no shame).

Lets see..

You Belong With Me 
This song is all about a girl falling in love with a taken guy and wishing that he would see her the same way she saw him.

Concept- 
It's sweet! The guy should be with the girl who understands him the best right? Especially when she's "standing by here waiting at your back door".

Reality -
 It's cruel for all three parties. First of all,( purely my opinion) a girl shouldn't pursue a taken man! At this point you're probably thinking - "HOLD ON! She's not singing about that, she's singing about waiting around for the guy to realise that he's better off with her". That takes me to my second point - why would you wait for someone who didn't pick you in the first place? Waiting for something that may or may not happen is one of the worst things ever! Every time he does something - ie. smile in the song, apparently it 'lights up the whole town', you'll be sucked further and further into your grave.

How did something as innocent as love turn into this complicated mess? I mean sure, the song is cute and cheery and pure sounding but in reality when you analyse it, it's not! It's just a sad story about a girl who's desperately waiting for the guy she loves to love her back.

Sparks Fly 
I think this song is about that feeling you get when you meet that person that makes you light up on the inside.

Concept -
Pretty cute concept as well, basically about seeing 'sparks fly' when that special someone smiles and because of that everything magically turns better.

Reality - 
No! My problems don't magically disappear when you show up! This is the idealistic Prince Charming affect that Taylor promotes all the time! It sets a really high bar for all those poor boys out there - why poor? because they'll never reach them.
For example - Taylor wants them to drop everything now, meet her in the pouring rain, kiss her on the sidewalk and take away all her pain. Insert Prince Charming merged with Fairy God Mother!

And I can't be bothered talking about the other songs but you get the general gist.

End rant.

New Toys!

 

I’m just testing blogging from Windows Live Writer on my new Acer Aspire S3! So far the laptop is pretty sleek. I really wanted the Asus Zenbook! ahhh it was so pretty.

Had a blast at Microsoft U Crew Training! Right now I’m too lazy to write in detail about what we did and looking at the state of my blog I probably won’t be bothered to write about it later either. Unless I’m really bored?

Highlights :

• Photoshoot and filming – I’m so sick of saying HELLO EVRYONE! MY NAME IS JILLIAN AND IM THE WINDOWS U CREW AMBASSADOR FOR SYDNEY UNIVERSITY!
• Going to Ripples for dinner! We had this beautiful view overlooking the harbour! I will upload a pic of the cocktail I had – Lychee something. It was really nice! Very light and sweet.
• Hanging out with everyone at bowling and karaoke – woot!
• Dancing at the bowling place
• The moment when we all opened our ultrabooks

There are a lot more but I just can’t think of any atm!