Out of nowhere, the rain poured down in what seemed like bucket-fulls. Just two minutes before, it was clear skies (albeit a humid night). Visibility dropped to about 10-20 feet. Singaporean weather can be so fickle!
torrential downpour from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
If you’ve had your laptop or desktop for a few years and the fan is having trouble cooling the device like it used to, it’s more than likely you are the victim of a massive dust bunny. It’s a fun adventure to take apart your computer to clean it out and help lengthen its life. After all, you don’t want it overheating and oftentimes, that can be caused by these dust bunnies!
The little devil knows how to block air flow.
The dust bunny inside Panda's laptop. No wonder his fan was having trouble.
When Hype 5-0 left America’s Best Dance Crew, it was the worst exit I’ve seen. They looked so dejected, so hopeless when they were removed from the show it was really pathetic. I understand that it meant a lot to them, but never have I seen a team with such poor sportsmanship. At least pull yourselves together for 30 seconds and dance yourself off the stage. Instead, they threw any semblance of pride they had and barely dragged themselves off-stage. It was really disgraceful.
That was the first time a team’s exit left me with a bad taste in my mouth. There have been other teams that exited with less-than-energetic dancing, but they held their heads up high until the doors shut behind them. They didn’t give up and throw despair at others. I don’t believe that the time when you get booted is the time to throw a pity party, especially in front of so many eyes. Not that they shouldn’t show emotion and perhaps even cry as they head out. But you can still dance and smile with tears in your eyes and put on one final show for the audience. That is much of what being on that show is about: putting on a performance. Plus, I never was much of a fan of them, since it seemed like they just slid by on votes, week after week.
There is a time and place for everything, and they did exactly what they shouldn’t when they shouldn’t. Good riddance.
I’ve been watching the Life series on the Discovery Channel and seen a bunch of cool animals from all corners of the earth. It reminds me of this beetle I saw in Hong Kong, which looked so shiny and was so unbelievably large that I could hardly believe it was real. Exactly why I decided to take a video of it, to ensure that you know just how alive it was.
HUGE beetle from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
The past few days I’ve suddenly grown an itch to cut my hair again. It’s getting to a nice length where cutting it won’t make it too short (and thus force me to shower in the morning so it won’t look too poofy during the day). Yet, it’s still not quite as long as I’d like (enough for it to be considered longer than average). Then again, I think my hair just doesn’t grow very long and probably will never reach much further than the bottom of my shoulder blades. Besides, my impatience with it once it gets to that magical length that it refuses to grow beyond prevents me from ever allowing it to really get any longer. After all, when you can’t easily comb out your hair with your fingers to give a quick fix, it starts to become much more of a hassle. Nonetheless, I really like the idea of growing my hair out longer. Pity it likely will never quite work out the way I’d like.
I think another issue I run into is that my body doesn’t allocate enough nutrients to my hair for it to get past my shoulder blades and not start to get really dry and brittle at the ends. There is nothing quite so distasteful as finding a slew of split ends hidden in there, and getting a dry, scratchy feeling from the tips of your hair. And my hair looks nothing like those shampoo commercials where ladies with long, flowing locks sport their shiny and extremely slippery-looking hair.
The other main obstacle is also related to its feeling – the feeling of hair on the back of my neck, which I hate more than most feelings. There’s something about that heaviness weighing there that I really don’t like. I’d tie my hair back more often, but I like having it down and keeping it up gives me headaches. Plus, when it’s down, it acts as an insulator for my neck, ears, and shoulders. Being one who gets cold easily, that little extra help really makes a difference. I also just like how it looks that way.
I wish I could have longer hair without the hassle of dealing with it. And I wish there was a way to keep it off my neck without tying it up. So instead, I guess I’ll have to settle for a medium-long length that is enough to weigh itself down so a quick brush will fix most problems, but short enough to not feel too heavy on my neck. While I’m at it, I’m thinking of getting streaks again (highlights? lowlights? I have no idea what the difference is – just something lights!). I haven’t had extra color in my hair for awhile now, so it’d a fun change.
Am I being too self-centered when I see my initials (backwards) in a bottle cap?
Hong Kong has one of the more distinctive skylines in the world (especially the night view). Here’s my first glimpse of it.
hong kong skyline from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
I have trouble falling asleep before 1 or 2 AM and usually don’t get to bed until past 2. This doesn’t bode well for getting up in the morning, which is always a painful experience. Yet, no amount of suffering in the morning seems to motivate me to get to bed earlier. It’s difficult to go to sleep right when your body is reaching its peak energy levels. It’s also difficult when your mind is reaching its peak activity levels. I always want to do more at night and can stay more focused too.
I wonder how long it’s going to take before I can sleep at midnight again. Perhaps never? After all, I seem to be doing alright with 6-6.5 hours a night, then sleeping in on the weekends. I love sleeping in more than most things and I’d definitely want to try an alternate work day in the future, getting up around noon and working until the late night. It might not be healthy by normal standards, but I believe my body is telling me something about my personal internal clock that supersedes conventional norms.
This week has gone by at a decent pace and I’m glad that tomorrow is Friday! That means that I won’t have to worry about how late I sleep, since I can just sleep in the next day. 🙂 It’s a satisfaction that few things in life can bring me. Simple, yet so pleasurable. Plus I’ve got an AMAZING body pillow that encourages me to stay in bed all day long. When I first got it, I couldn’t climb out of bed for a week. As I got more used to it, I can manage to let it go better, but it’s a great sleep aid. If only Costco still sold that texture! The ones they have now are nowhere as comfortable as the original ones they sold two years ago. Pity, for I definitely would have gotten more.
Much like perfume bottles, there and endless designs that make them look oh so cool. From the largest to the smallest, they make me want to collect them. In fact, I have a few mini bottles in my display case, chosen for their unique look.
Here are some found at a restaurant, larger than our arm!
The Night Festival, held outside the National Museum in Singapore one hot evening.
Check out the people drumming upside down at times!
fire show from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
ring of fireworks from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
Fireworks through the trees provide an interesting perspective.
fireworks through the trees from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
