Back

Hello 2008.

I'm sitting in front of a computer monitor for the first time in two weeks. Brief forays on a laptop don't count. I'm exhausted. The fuller life becomes, the less time there is to write about it. (Wow!) Maybe that's just an excuse to cover up my indiscipline at carving out time to introspect. It's been ages since I've done anything significant on this space. I don't feel like I know how to write anything meaningful anymore, and it saddens me.

Furniture highlights: Friday, 14 Dec 2007

Ikea Hacker. Today's major, stunning find. My mom has done some minor Ikea hacking herself, but to find a whole website devoted to new ways of using or personalising Ikea products is mind-blowing. I predict hours spent browsing through this wonderful resource for inventive, out-of-the-box home furnishing.

Reinventing old furniture on designsponge. This post from two weeks back was an eye-opener. Amazing before and after photos show that good-looking furniture can be had for a fraction of the usual price, which is something I'm excited about.

Sigh. I can't wait to get my own place to furnish.

How time flies

But I'm still optimistic about getting some Christmas craft projects out.

From designsponge's easy gift tag ideas

Drool-worthy

Agate coasters by moss. One dream I have is to own a fine set of banded agate slices one day.

Nest salad plate by Jeremie. Pale blue and brown: one of my favourite colour combinations.

Eco glassware by glassroots, made from recycled ordinary glass bottles. I love the shape, colours and etching!

Laser-cut metal Christmas tree (detail of the tree in the post below) from designmyworld. A modern take on Christmas trees. Silhouettes rock.

These were culled from designsponge's various Christmas guift guides. Yes, I spend time looking at pretty things I cannot buy like that.

It's December

We're already three days into the last month of 2007. Here's a shorthand of what's in store:

(1) Make lists (of all the lists I wanna make!)

(2) Clear err....6 updates before going on leave for Christmas.

(3) Make props. Fast.

(4) Christmas shopping (or not. The handmade option is subject to the constraint of time).

(5) Decorate house.

Surfing highlights: Wednesday, 28 Nov 2007

Short of time to post today so there's only one old link.

Alice Stevenson's website has been open on a tab in my browser for a while now, so I finally made the time today to browse through her work. It's been a while since an artist has caught my fancy enough for me to look through their entire portfolio. With intricate patterns and motives from nature in pastel colours, her pieces are lovely to behold. A definite a source of inspiration for me.

"Diary of a collector", commissioned piece for World of Interiors, November 07.

Surfing highlights: Tuesday, 27 Nov 2007

I have more links than I can post, so here are two vintage links. The first one is from yesterday while the other is about a week old.

Plugging In to Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord by Ben Ratliff. New York Times writes about how church bands are now one major way Americans hear live music. So we now have bands that "carefully calibrate [their] sound toward the pop culture disposition of [their] target age group" and "scavenge some of their musical style from the radio and television". I understand and even appreciate the drive to sound relevant, but on the back of yesterday's seeker service confessed flaws I wonder how good it is to pander to our 'consumers' taste too much.

Dusting off the great books by Matt Kaufman. While this talks primarily about the resurgence of interest in the great Western classics among African-American and minority students in America, it also touches on how Western classical literature contains truths about "great and transcendent themes like the relationship between God and man, man and man (and woman), man and the state."

Today's links are more light-hearted. I rarely notice, let alone click on advertisements, but this sidebar pic for ModCloth finally made enough of an impression (it's been up for a while) on me. The retro-looking plaid dress from the advertisement rocks, but what I really covet now is the dress Flowers at dusk.

MDA Senior Management Rap Watch the Singapore Media Development Authority top dogs rap about their jobs and vision for Singapore media! Who says that market trends, KPIs, adding value to the economy and service-orientated architecture can't be cool?

Aside hearing them attempt to stay in time with the beat, other highlights include the Chief Information Officer mixing a black superman-like suit with internal systems integration and the very-Singaporean bit about how easy it is for customers and licensees to pay their fees and fines.

Well, I think that it's a commendable effort by middle-aged/senior managers to connect with their young consumers' idea of hipness. But only in Singapore can you get (middle-aged/senior) managers compliant enough to attempt such a thing.

Surfing highlights: Monday, 26 Nov 2007

Not the same street by Virginia Heffernan. Why Sesame Street is inappropriate for children now: Cookie Monster is pre-diabetic, Oscar is depressed and Alistair Cookie smokes then eats his pipe. Maybe in 25 years Barney would finally be labeled unsuitable too.

Conservapedia. Basically wiki with a Conservative Christian perspective. Started initially as a homeschooling project, this site is unashamedly pro-American, which is unashamedly off-putting. Read the wiki page on Conservapedia and the Conservapedia page on wiki here. Also, how Conservapedia's article on how it differs from wiki here.

NAMBLA stands for North America Man/Boy Love Association and supports the legalisation of sexual relations between adult males and under-aged boys (or in other words, for the abolishment of age of consent). Click here for the wiki page, cos I didn't visit their actual site. I wonder why a female counterpart to this organisation hasn't been formed. Not that I want one to.

FIRST-PERSON: A shocking confession from Willow Creek Community Church leaders by Bob Burney. So seeker-services, with their "de-emphasis on taking personal responsibility for Bible study combined with an emphasis on felt-needs based 'programs' and slick marketing" are now acknowledged as being ineffective in producing mature believers.

5 Kinds of Christians. This examines the range of "beliefs, commitment levels and public practice" in American Christians and subsequently divides them into five distinct groups. What is interesting is the bit about how the church is to respond effectively to address the ramifications of these findings.

Picture: Judy Ross textile.