Footsteps in the Mirror

Leafy Greens

Edrei — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:03:56 +0000

These days I've gone to eating a little healthier, not that I've completely given up on meat and fast food, but rather I've been trying to eat everything I want in much smaller portions than I'm used to eating. Sure I get hungry faster, but at the same time, I'm eating more times a day than I usually do. The result of which is that while I haven't lost much weight at all, being 1-2 kilos a week, I seem to be losing more fat than anything. Pants that used to fit me nicely are seemingly looser and shirts that couldn't really fit before now look better on me.

Of course, there are still pockets of fat that I do want to get rid off, but until I get into the habit of exercising, I'm not going to be losing the fat any faster. Not that it has bothered me before with my low self esteem and all, it's just that in thinking about my future, I want to at least get my cholesterol under control before it nips me in the ~~butt~~ heart.

Thankfully I have Melissa to help me get through this. Not that she's any less guilty of shovelling junk food into that slim tight body of hers, but as someone who can inexplicably grow strange vegetables from nothing, I'm glad I have someone who can give me my greens. Even if they come in the form of lettuce trees. Don't ask. She's as mad a scientist as I am to begin with.

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Excerpts From The Bloody Long Walk IV

My Public Parts Are Showing

Edrei — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:13:08 +0000

While I understand why the issue of privacy on the internet is so important, I come from a generation that is willing to give up, or rather, have changed where my privacy priorities lie as so to traverse the internet better.

I for instance will not give my opinion as to my working conditions, or financial details and other professional matters of interest to the public. I will also not disclose more personal details between my partner and I, nor will I discuss matters pertaining to my family.

I will however, talk about my own self, how I am bipolar, my interests, dreams, aspirations, desires and to some extent and circles, my sexuality (which among Asian cultures is considered a taboo subject to approach). I understand what I am willing to share to people and the consequences that it may bring. I also have experience enough to know just how to talk about my own life to other people on the internet, making sure that my public personal life doesn't come back to bite me in the future.

More often than not, sharing my strengths and more importantly, my flaws, I've come to meet people who too have the same afflictions as I do. Their experienced has taught me to managed my condition in the more difficult times and as such I have taken to try and help them center themselves as well. It doesn't always work, but only because most people do not put stock in how real an online conversation can be in relation to actually meeting someone in person. A separate but not all too different issue from privacy altogether.

On the other hand, my partner views privacy in a German-like stance. That she needs to have a choice whereby she can never be tracked and she takes all steps to have a large wall between her private life and the internet. It took her years to start on Facebook and even so, she uses a pseudonym. She's nowhere near hypocritical in real life either considering she takes the same near paranoid steps to remain out of the lime-light in real life. That's why I'm writing only about her views on this, and not about anything that people can relate to her as a person.

The internet I believe needs to find a compromise between people such as my partner and people like myself. It is impossible and naive to believe that the internet can run properly without taking certain liberties to what we used to consider private information. Our public parts as +Jeff Jarvis puts it, ares now the clothes we wear as we take a stroll down the reality we call the internet. It is the identity we show to world as so we can communicate on the same level that body language does in a physical presence.

So rather than saying we should enforce an ability to not track us while we're online, we should hold accountable companies that require certain information about us to not misuse that information. The use of our information should be transparent to the public and steps should be taken to ensure the public can trust companies with their information.

At the same time, what the public needs to realise is that for as long as you are on the internet, nothing is really private. Like my decision to talk about my private life in public spaces, people have to be consciously aware of the consequences they might run into should they decide to just be on the internet, much like people should be consciously aware of their surroundings if they are crossing the road or waiting alone at bus stop.

This kind of common sense or street smarts towards the internet is not something that people can willingly adopt overnight, but nevertheless, if the internet is going to part of our culture and life, then we have no choice but to develop this kind of street smarts. No amount of opt-out choices or do-not-track enforcement is going to change how much the internet and our digitized representation of ourselves will matter now and the future.

This post was originally written in Google+ in response to another post I read written by Jeff Jarvis. It should also be noted that while I'm just another schmuck on the internet with another opinion on how things should be made better, Jeff Jarvis is actually a respected professor in all things pertaining to journalism and new media.

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Reading Leaves

Edrei — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:50:19 +0000

Not that I have been skivvying in my attempts to take 365+1 pictures a day, it's just that duty calls louder than the blog. You understand of course what it's like to be an ambitious career driven person with a partner that you want to dote every day.

If not, then well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

On the other hand, if you aren't really interested in my grasp for excuses, you can hop over to my Picasa page and look my pictures up. Even if I didn't blog about it, rest assured, there is always time to upload it for all to see. So enjoy.

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Unforgettable Mistakes

Edrei — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 05:25:10 +0000

You can never live your life without making mistakes. Yet your life after all is never defined by the mistakes you make, but what you do with them. While a black stroke will ensure that the best you will ever get in your life is a grey palette, it is up to you, the artist of your own canvas, to determine how best to accentuate the brightness in your masterpiece called life with shadows and highlights.

Unforgettable mistakes doesn't mean the end of the world. It just means you have to work a little harder to turn it into something that won't spoil the entire picture, and with time and experience, perhaps, turn it into something people would pay you a whole lot to see for themselves.

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Low Tech Guilty Pleasure

Edrei — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 04:53:33 +0000

Contrary to popular belief that I'm some kind of cyborg, I still do enjoy a good paperback book from time to time. It's not that my Kindle doesn't satisfy my need to have a huge library at the tips of my fingers, it's just that when it comes down to it, some books are worth your time to collect and keep as physical memories for an uncertain future.

That was why I bought the Kindle to begin with. Not because I think books are a dead end technology, but because I think it's good to scout out as much books that I can without having to bother about buying them or walking all the way to my local library in order to read them. In that aspect, I would admit to pirating my fair share of books if only to see if it's a good read.

The result of which is the troublesome possibility that I might need a bigger shelf in the end. Such is a price to pay for being a pack rat, but at least I have high standards doing so.

Note: "Kill the Dead" featured in the picture is the second book in the Sandman Slim series by Richard Kadrey. I recommend the series especially if you're a fan of urban fiction and anti-heroes with dark undertones. While the first book "Sandman Slim" is a little rough around the edges and evident of a shaky start, this one and the third book "Aloha From Hell" is in fact quite a read.

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Heart of Goo

Edrei — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:57:10 +0000

Looks are always deceiving. More so when you're a crappy shot. Even more so when melted dark chocolate in a calzone is involved. Mmmmmm.

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You Gonna Use All That?

Edrei — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:32:32 +0000

Incidentally, yes. I do use all of the gadgets above. Also added to the mix, but not featured here because artistically it cannot fit into the picture, are my 3G Kindle Keyboard and HTPC which is connected to a 42 inch plasma screen. You would think that it means I am some sort of rich person, but sadly, it just means I'm willing to work my butt off to pay for it.

So whoever said that money can't buy you happiness has apparently never lived for their passions or lived in or close to poverty before because I can tell you, maintaining a life that you love costs a hell lot.

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The Most Romantic Dinner For Two

Edrei — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:12:19 +0000

The best moments in life are when you share it whole heartedly with someone you love and care for. No amount of lush, fancy backdrops and settings will change what matters in a relationship. While it does spice things up a bit, you don't need an special excuse to see to it either. More often than not, the most meaningful times can be a moment shared in the early hours of the morning after the party has died down and everyone else is asleep, or the morning on a lazy Sunday, with your backs resting against one another in a grassy park, each reading a book you both love. These are moments that happen because both of you are truthful to who you are regardless of events that unfold in front of you.

For us, the day's moment shared in amusement of all those who would consider today the highlight of their love lives, and the anticipation that tomorrow brings about chocolates at bargain prices. It's a simple morbid fascination life we lead, but it's so much more fun when you have someone who enjoys it as much as you do.

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Cake Or Death

Edrei — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:53:18 +0000

I do apologise for the amount of food photos I have been putting up. It just so happens that I happen to be around food all the time being a foodie. It's not a bad thing, after all everyone is entitled to their own passions. Food is a much better thing to take candid shots of. The pictures don't complain too loudly when I start using the artsy part of my brain to showcase them the way I think they should, unlike the machines and other geek projects I work on.

Everyone is a critic after all. Especially machines with an ice cold heart, not to mention the gadgets I own.

Note: The title of today's post was inspired from this hilarious bit of British standup comedy to which I have to share.

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Subtle Ingredients

Edrei — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:16:29 +0000

Good beer, not just limited to an end of a tiring day or a complement to the big game on tv or fishing. It's also an essential building block to perhaps one of the most hearty meals that I have had the fortunate pleasure of learning. If you're smart or if you're a foodie, you can pretty much guess what that dish most likely is.

2 Comments

At February 13, 2012, Silencers wrote:
The only thing I can think of is beer boiled sausages and/or caramelised onions.
At February 15, 2012, Edrei wrote:
Actually it's Irish stew using lamb rather than rabbit. :)

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Home Is Where The Food Is

Edrei — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:19:21 +0000

The only problem with living in Australia is the lack of good food around. Australians aren't really known for their culinary prowess, and when you live inland Australia, the amount of people that appreciate good food are almost non-existent. For a foodie like Melissa and myself, this poses a lingering annoyance that spurs our wanderlust in search of good food to eat. For the most part, the foods don't measure up to our standards of experience, but every once in a while we find hidden gems in the places we least expect it. They are moments in which we savour for as long as possible, committing the lingering flavour into our memories and gullet.

Then we repeat the eternal quest all over again. It's a big world after all. So little time, so many things to try.

2 Comments

At February 12, 2012, Jeff wrote:
YES. I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes I wonder if I'll magically feel at home if I was on the North Pole, but there was a great, authentic Chinese restaurant there.
At February 13, 2012, Edrei wrote:
It gives an absolutely legitimate reason to visit the north pole then. :)

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Silly Goose

Edrei — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:25:26 +0000

No one can stop us from making silly decisions from time to time. It's apparently in the contract we signed when we entered this world. Yet being the silly goose can also bring about greater opportunities than we could experience if we were straight arrows. You just have to remember that it's perfectly alright to let life take control of your destiny for the moment. It'll never give you anything more than you can handle. The end result of which is a moment in which will almost always be part of a chapter you'll remember to tell for years to come.

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Going For Broke

Edrei — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:37:43 +0000

Picasa kinda went funky a couple of days ago so I couldn't post up a link to my picture after I've uploaded it. Goes to show that even the most unexpected of things can fail, mucking things up for everyone.

Speaking of equipment failure, you should never invest in cheap knockoffs of a good brand, especially when you are dependent that investment to support something far more expensive. While trying to take the previous picture, I needed my Gorillapod, something I got as a Christmas present a few years ago. Unfortunately as it was a knockoff, the hinge broke while I was adjusting it, sending my camera to the ground and causing a bid dent and several other superficial scratches.

Thankfully, the camera lens and screen appears fine and everything else is in working condition; but for the most part, there is a sickening feel of not having your gadgets in good order, like a friend who has been recently left with a bad scar in an avoidable accident. Unfortunately while time heals all wounds, the same doesn't apply to machines, yet. So I'm left with the feeling of wanting a new camera or keeping what I have because I need the money to buy something else.

Going for broke. So much context today.

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Moonshine

Edrei — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:29:12 +0000

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Important Meals

Edrei — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:14:49 +0000

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and even if I do know that, it's not like it's a habit I routinely commit to. Unless of course there is someone I that I have a urge to cook for.

The thing about being a bachelor after all these years was that even though I basically lived on instant ramen turned culinary masterpieces along with all the other geeked out university inspired meals, it did not dull my sense of taste. It was just that I never felt like upping my standard of cooking nor eating at the right hours unless there was always someone around to share in my love for all things delicious.

In a sense, that's one of the few things that Melissa and I share. Our love for food and the eternal adventure to find new and tasty things to savour. For me at least, it's the reality that I now have someone to share my creations with for as long as I shall live. As I've said before, cooking is science for hungry people. Well, you can't have your research validated unless it's been peer reviewed right?

Note: The special bit of the breakfast I made was grilled egg in avocado thanks to a Lifehacker post. Basically you halve the avocado, discarding the pit, then put an egg yolk in the hole after you've separated it from the whites. I took the liberty of putting dried oregano, salt and pepper on it before putting under the grill for 5 minutes of so. Variations to the recipe include sprinkling grated cheese and hot sauce on it. Experiment to your taste, because…science remember? The egg whites can be used in other things, which in my case I just scrambled them and served it alongside bread and fried bacon, which was overkill, but who cares? It's bacon!

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