(ii) today's african emir is El Hadj Mamadou Kabir Usman, Katsina, Nigeria
"Wotcha lookin' at, punk?" - & more of the same.
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(i) i've realised no one really reads my livejournal even though i labour over interesting!links and stupid!realitychecks, (ii) the first thing my mom said when she came back from Malaysia after a one-week absence was "you scratched your arm! see, see, it's all red now!", (iii) UCAS just sent me a form to confirm my course choices which means it'll be months till i get any offers (i was hoping to get some by early-Feb, ie. before my A level results), (iv) i think being employed will be less exciting than i deluded myself into believing (i forgot about the politics, lack of free will and fact that the music might be bad, even at Cedele) and (v) i haven't exercised in 10 days. Which makes me a whale.
On the positive side, Food from the Heart and One Singapore replied to my offers to volunteer! Which means i'll be (finally) doing some real NGO work, probably in admin or publicity, which will give me great opportunities to network (absolutely crucial for development work). I'm also thinking of starting a magazine again - something along the lines of Rated Artistic but focused on world/social issues and how youths can help. Mostly, it'll be a youth magazine, chockful of all sorts of stuff to be done around the island (think of a meatier, wittier I-S) and interesting things plucked from the net. Would any of you guys be interested in something like that?
I'm almost coming to the end of the annoying "me" part of the update. Latest mission - to live ethically. Basically i was in town today gawking at how expensive all the 2007 planners are ($8.40-$10.50 WTF) and decided to fashion one myself out of old notebooks and spare plastic wrap. That got me thinking that maybe i should start making my own material possessions (obviously, not those that would necessitate an inordinate opportunity cost - like jeans and pen refills). Little things like diaries and pencil-holders and book-ends. Whatever can be reused will be re-used and no money shall be spent on things that are not absolutely necessary (obviously, good books and tea fall into this category)! Of course, the other things like not-buying-from-American-companies and eating-healthy-organic-fairtrade-food still count. I felt really gummy and happy after making the vow. Less like a fat leach of good karma.
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I've discovered quite a few interesting things on the web these few weeks, and i'll split the links conveniently into recs for people in my flist i think would like them most. If you don't appear here, i assure you it's nothing personal - same as before, i probably don't know enough about you (perhaps you could comment more HINT HINT). So here goes!
- aulait: It's easiest to come up with recs for you. First, there's If We Are Pretty Ghosts. Hammered In by Kerri Webster. Turns you inside out. Next, there's William S Burroughs's and Brion Gyson's Non-Linear Adding Machine, which is fabulous for writers' blocks of all shapes. Lastly, a report on the worst ads on American teevee. Enjoy!
alldoubtaboutit: This is a mega big rec, probably because you're my most eclectic friend. First up, a terrific podcast archive - Open Culture. It doesn't matter if you don't have an iPod; you can just visit the websites and download the episodes direct from there. I've spent the afternoon getting language lessons. For easy navigation: french, german, italian, russian, spanish, japanese and brazilian portuguese. Also, there's a super-report by the New York Times called "Ideas". Here are a few i thought might interest you: sporno, the ballot-that-is-also-a-lottery-ticket, psychological neoteny and yodelling is universal. To top it off, here's Indexed, basically what i think rabbit and bear would do if they were econo-socio-scientists. Or something.
phantasmagoria5: Yaning! Let me see: first, there's some articles from "Ideas" that may interest you too: taxing virtual economies, literary spam, jujitsu advertising (attention, aulait!), the hidden-fee economy and the comb that listens. Haha, I realised i recced most of the techie/economie things :) Don't worry, there's also the Kyoto International Manga Museum, an archive of anime and a list of 2006's best reads.
xinnk: Because i know you like creating things: cooking, for engineers and knitting a binary scarf. Also, some interesting sites: MakeZine, full of interesting-missions-for-rainy-days and a knitting community, Knitty!
thirty9: A list of the best movie trailers this year and a totally hilarious video of Justin Timberlake's "Dick in a Box"!
cheshirequeen: (i) Musicovery, a visual music application that allows you to listen to music according to mood, time period or style and (ii) Bill Waterson's rarest.
odditorium: I'm sorry. The comic history of Rome. Oh and, for kicks, the economics of the short cappuccino.
deewhydeeax: Here's something fun - copy and paste anything you've written and this nifty app will supposedly tell you your gender. Also, i have no idea how this might amuse you but - Google Patent Search.
Also, randomly, there's Smllr, which enables you to add scents to your photos (uhm, so those family reunion ones...?) and Guardian's take on the best in online cinema. Once again, sorry if i missed you this time! Everyone gets a thick cord of love for new year blessings!
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It's to bed and a hectic new year's eve's party preparation tomorrow (super mega extended family steamboat huzzah!), but before i leave, a few words from a famous president:
"The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorize himself." - George W. Bush.
Ta!