Author: Wilfrid

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Diary

Oscar, Job Fair, And A Book Published

Round about the time when Natalie Portman gets her well deserved Oscar win, my sister has her one-liner of fame on The Straits Times, our national papers.  And Cynthia has published a book.  Let’s go through the events in sequence.

I had to give the local Oscar media invite a miss due to work commitment.  What a shame.  Because I was told that sumptuous breakfast buffet and champaign would be served at a cinema, courtesy of FOX.  Nevertheless, in the evening, I tuned into Star Movies while playing Warcraft on mute.  I am a huge fan of – besides “Black Swan” – “Fighter” and “King’s Speech” and hence, I was looking forward to hearing some of the acceptance speeches.  Natalie Portman looked radiance.  I am happy for her win, and her pregnancy.  Meanwhile, I am considering to unfriend TK because he did not think that Portman performed well on that show.  TK, if you are reading this, you have until the next time we meet to say something very nice about Natalie Portman.  Or my decision will be final!

*     *     *     *     *

I am usually not the type of guy who talks about work.  Suffice to say, I have no clue about what my sister does for a living, what Cynthia does for a living.

Last weekend, my sister messaged me to see page B7 of our national paper.  The news is titled as “Bumper Year for NTU Job Fair”.  I can see that a lot of her hard works (and her colleagues too, no doubt) are reflected on the news snippet.  Such as a record turn-outs of  employers at the event and the featuring of iFair – an online system that facilitate job hunt.  So, what did my sister say on papers?

iFair allows students who are overseas and who cannot come back in time for interviews to interact with employers.  Having a virtual presence also offers more cost savings.

One student – through the virtual fair I presume – has secured a job with Temasek Holdings.  Starting salary?  Between S$6,000 and S$7,000.  Now, I sure did not know that fresh graduates are so well paid today.  I will think twice before buying fresh graduates lunch next time.

*     *     *     *     *

A few years ago, Cynthia and her friend wrote a book called “Communicate Effectively With Your Indonesian Domestic Helper”, which can also be found in our national library.  This year, they have released a second edition with content updates.  Will this book be featured in my website alongside with the rest of the book reviews?  You bet.  On first look, this book can well be renamed to “Communicate Effectively With Your Indonesian Wife or Husband”.  Because I see sections on kitchen … and bedroom (I have to admit that I have not looked into the book in detail, as yet).

So, what did Cynthia write on the acknowledgement page?

To my husband Wilfrid, for his ideas, endless support, love and inspiration.  To my mother Rosaline, for her valuable comments throughout the development of this book and for reviewing the final manuscript.  To my brother Eric, for his unfailing confidence in me.

It is heartwarming, to say the least, to see my name featured somewhere in print.  To be totally honest, the only tangible support I have provided during her time in co-authoring the book was to make sure that the free-to-use OpenOffice is up and running in her computer.  Because Microsoft Office is way too expensive.  Having said that, I am thoroughly touched by her one-liner.

“Communicate Effectively With Your Indonesian Domestic Helper” is written by Cynthia and Siau Leong.  It is available from all good bookstores.  ISBN: 978-981-4328-48-7.

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Book Reviews Fiction

Merde Happens By Stephen Clarke – Hilarious! At Least For Most Part

“Merde Happens” is part 3 of the merde series.  It helps to have read the previous installment.  Compares to “Merde Actually”, this one is funnier.  Perhaps because I have done my share of road tripping in US and I can relate the culture shock the main character Paul West has experienced.  To recap, Paul West is a British who works in France, has quite a few extraordinary love affairs with the French girls, and in this episode, he is going to America with his girlfriend (finally) Alexa and his American poet friend Jake who speaks very strange English mixed with French.  A good part of the book is spent on Paul and Alexa on a Mini in America.  It is hilarious to experience the frustration of a couple trying to read map while understanding how the road system works.  Just like in real life when – in general – women don’t like to read map and men don’t like asking for direction.  There is a fair amount of US and European history being used as a plot.  There is also some insanely hilarious moments on outsourcing.  To that end, I would rank “Merde Happens” higher than “Merde Actually” and somewhat on par with “Dial M For Merde“.  I have yet to read the first installment “A Year In The Merde”, and I am looking forward to doing so.

After reading a few of his books, I begin to see a certain pattern.  Initially the story would be like going nowhere, then things begin to get exciting and the story would reach a climax.  After which, it would be like going nowhere again (usually with a breakup of a relationship), with a rather melancholy ending that introduces plot opportunity for the next book.  This book seems to take a little dive towards the end.  But I would say, for most part of the story, “Merde Happens” is a hilarious read.  Not a soul nourishing read, but one you would want to read on a holiday and by a beach underneath a palm tree.

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Diary Linguistic

In This Deep Pool Of Español

Today included, I have thirteen days to prepare for my upcoming Spanish examination.  Over the years, I have this recurrent dream.  In this dream, I would be inside an examination hall staring at exam questions that I have no clue on how to answer.  And it is always this sense of anxiety that wakes me up.  If I am to trace the root cause of this nightmare, it would likely be pointing to the time period when I was studying for my degree.  You see, in my four years direct master course, I only had three examinations.  In addition, only the last two mattered.  There was no examination at the end of the second year.  In theory, one could be bumping around for three years only to face the brutality of a series of tests in the span of a couple of weeks that determined one’s future.  You can imagine the boiling pressure.  No wonder we have so many pubs within the university perimeter, thanks to student’s syndrome.

How do you study for an examination?  For me, I often start with a timetable, laying out what I need to do on paper.  Systematically work through the activities and assuming that the plan is good (it has to be), everything is going to be OK.  This time is different.  For a start, after close to three years of learning Spanish, I am still hovering at the basic level of hi-how-are-you and my-name-is-so-and-so.  I may have learned a lot along the way.  But language is a skill that if you don’t use it, you don’t have it.  So I am doing some soul searching lately, on the things that I suck when it comes to Spanish.  I am looking beyond this upcoming exam and am looking at where my Spanish learning journey is heading.  I think I have been bumping around for a bit too long.

Our Spanish teacher has a beautiful way to describe the necessity of learning grammar; something to do with the structure of discourse; something to do with the expression of one’s wisdom.  Lately, I have been reading about communicating grammar in a discourse level.  I am no linguist or learning expert.  The jest of it, from what I have internalized, is that learners should interact naturally in a real communication act.  Since Cynthia is also learning Spanish (she is the reason why I am in this deep pool of español), we should use each other as a practice target communicating on topics that we have no idea where they are coming from (versus artificial learning environment whereby we know what is to come).  Why haven’t I thought of that?  I could talk about the monthly S$7 lunch special at my canteen today.  I could talk about the pumpkin soup, assorted German sausages, sauerkraut, potato glatini, salad, black forest cake, and a drink I had today.  I could talk about the friendly patrol attendant I met today, whom was surprised that I know the timing of their shifts.  He would be surprised had he know that I also know besides pumping petrol, he has to clean the kiosks and clean the toilets.  I could talk about this lovely song I heard over the Spanish Internet radio station while I was stuck in the traffic this morning.  I wrote down the lyrics and it went something like “deep inside you cry cry cry, don’t let your hope die die die”.  I could talk about how I love Google because with a mere fragment of lyrics, it tells me that the song is by Oceana and it is called “Cry Cry”.  I could talk about how I am determined to memorize the verb conjugation, to relearn something basic such as numbers, seasons, and days of the week, to practice Spanish using the two textbooks we have bought and have yet used, and to inject some Spanish vibes into my head through the Spanish Internet radio every day from now till March 8.

OK.  It is time to do some serious research on how to say all of the above.  Be right back.

Categories
Comedy Movie Reviews Romance

No Strings Attached – And The Portman Fever Continues

I was expecting worse, partly influenced by the mixed reviews.   But as a fan of Portman, it would be a crime to give “No Strings Attached” a miss.  I do not love her less after watching this romance comedy.   Natalie Portman remains as a versatile and witty actress.   And she has good chemistry with the leading actor Ashton Kutcher.   It is unfortunate that the script is less than inspiring.  Is it the scriptwriter’s fault?  Or is it because some of us cannot relate to the topic of casual sex?   A few minutes into the show, a younger version of Portman tells a younger version of Kutcher that she does not believe in loving someone forever.  Shortly after, a younger version of Kutcher shyly asks, “Can I finger you?”   That pretty much set the tone – script-wise – on where this film is heading.

Less than inspiring script aside, “No String Attached” does have its fun side.  I found myself laughing lightly throughout the movie.  Portman plays a doctor who has little time for romance.  And here comes Kutcher whom Portman has seen occasionally over the last 15 years, who agrees to be her friend with ‘benefit’.  You can’t really read too deep into the story because you can more or less predict where it is heading, as in most of the romance comedies.  If there is one takeaway point, that would be: being in love could be painful but it is better to feel love than living a life without.  In today’s Singapore, this seems to be so relevant.  Especially when we finally realize that the root cause of the falling birth rate could well be people not falling in love enough to get married.

Now that we have watched “No Strings Attached”, after that phenomenal “Black Swan“, I am looking forward to watching “Thor”.  Yet another movie with Natalie Portman in it.

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Book Reviews Fiction

Inés Of My Soul By Isabel Allende – An Eyeopening Read On Chile Conquest

Cynthia and I share a rather limited reading list.  I could spend hundreds and hundreds of words here talking passionately about the books I read but she’d catch no ball.  She could go on and on about the books she enjoys reading but I’d would go, “huh?”  But since we are both studying Spanish, and some parts of South America were colonized by Spain long time ago, I was intrigued by “Inés of My Soul” – a historical novel based on Inés Suárez strongly recommended by Cynthia.  Who is she?  Wikipedia sums up nicely as follows.

Inés Suárez (c. 1507 –1580) was a Spanish conquistadora (female conquistador) who participated in the Conquest of Chile, was mistress to Pedro de Valdivia, successfully defended Santiago against an attack of Mapuche people in 1541, and was eventually married to Rodrigo de Quiroga, Royal Governor of Chile.

Initially, it came across to me as a romance story – a story told by Inés to her step-daughter Isabel (who initially I thought the author ‘visualized’ herself as Inés’s daughter but we will get to that a little bit later).  A Spanish women born into a poor family got married once in Spain.  Then with the excuse of searching for her missing husband, she ventured into Peru, met with Pedro de Valdivia – a Spanish conquistador who has the vision to civilize and evangelize Chile.  Together, with a rather small Spanish army and the natives from Peru, they conquered Chile.  Valdivia and Inés have found and governed Chile’s capital Santiago, and defended the city against numerous attacks from the native Indians.  The wars described in the book are vividly harsh and bloody.  I can see a lot of quality research going into the writing of this historical novel.  Four years of avid reading, as mentioned in the author’s notes.  It is less of the romance bits but more of the history bits that gripped me.  Eventually, being a mistress to Valdivia did not seem to be agreeable by the Spanish Royalty.  So Inés married to Rodrigo – a war hero – in the age of 42.  The story is told by Inés in her dying hours, not long after her husband’s death.  I suppose this is an attempt to relive the incident of them passing away in the same year.

For those of you who have heard little about the history of Chile, “Inés Of My Soul” is an eyeopener.  The author Isabel Allende has done a good job in stitching the historical incidents together, with her imagination.  I am usually not a fan of this genre because I would prefer to read a journalistic writeup on the event to a novel that is part history, part fiction.  But I enjoy reading this one.  Isabel Allende was born in Peru and raised in Chile.  How suiting it is for her to write about a story that starts in Peru and ends in Chile.  I can now see where the passion transcribed in the book comes from.

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Snippet of My Life

Snippet Of My Life Episode 30 – Love, Yusheng, Snail, and Bicycle

How did you spend your Valentine Day?  It was on a Monday, not an ideal day to celebrate.  So we celebrated ours on Sunday instead.  In case if you are curious on what we did on Monday, the picture below says it all.  Something is very wrong about this picture in so many dimensions, I know.  But it is what it is.

This Valentine, one of the gifts I bought for Cynthia got her jumping up and down in pure happiness.  It was a pleasant surprise, because I have not seen her so happily surprised at that euphoric magnitude.  It was something simple, did not take me long to find.  What took me a long time though was to think of what to get for her.  Perhaps it is true that it is the thought that counts.

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No.  Despite the common belief that Yusheng or Lo Hei comes from Hong Kong, this dish is as uniquely Singapore as it can be.  I came from Hong Kong.  I have not eaten something like this before.  Certainly my family would flip if they see me standing, tossing food in mid air, inside a Chinese restaurant, during Chinese New Year.

Lo Hei is a cold dish with mixed vegetables.  I had my first encounter this year inside a posh Indian restaurant with a majority of Indian colleagues and business associates.  In view of the cultural difference, our Chinese hosts took the time to explain the steps in consuming this dish the Singapore way.  I do not remember all the steps in details.  All I remember was a full jar of oil emptied into the dish.  One of the Indian balked.  Me too.  I think the oil signifies a smooth and easy life.  Wow.  That was a lot of oil.

Lo Hei is an auspicious dish.  Tossing the dish with the ingredients high up in the air is part of the ritual.  The higher, the better.  In a business setting, I would presume that we do this in wish for a better career?  As I was happily tossing the dish, I suddenly recalled that my boss’ boss  and I were sharing the same dish, with a few others.  I was unsure if it was OK to toss higher than my boss.  So I quickly readjusted my enthusiasm and observed how high my boss’ boss tossed.  Am I going crazy?  Would you toss much higher than your bosses?

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Ever since I shared this observation with Cynthia, she has stopped eating prawns.  You may skip this section if you are a prawn lover.

To me, prawns are underwater worms with a shell.  Once the shell is removed – raw or cooked – the naked prawn looks like a worm.  It is a lump of protein, which fortunately tastes pretty good – cooked or not.  I am fine with this imagination.  Cynthia is not.

Sea slugs are in essence snails without a shell.  But no one eats marine slugs or freshwater slugs inside a restaurant.  What we do have though is a land snail dish called escargot.  I love this French dish.

We eat land snails (selected species of course) but we don’t eat sea slugs.  We eat prawns but we don’t eat worms (except in some exotic cultures).  I conclude that we prefer eating things that come with a shell.

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My friend R never stops trying to rally my emotion and call for my return to my ‘glorious day’ of being a cyclist.  My response to him is always the same.  I do not trust the drivers in Singapore.  I do not even feel safe hiding inside an encrusted metal when I am driving here.  What makes you think that I am willing to risk my life and share the road with fellow drivers, on a bicycle?  One of our mutual friends accidentally entered into a highway and got himself into an incident.  Another one got his shoulder dislocated on a hit-and-run incident.  Really.  Need I say more?  Fortunate for me, although I have only got to learn cycling when I was in my twenties, I have had the most smashing experience cycling across UK doing at times 120km a day.  After which, all I can say is that I can be happily ‘retired’, as far as cycling goes.

One day, I met R for lunch.  He showed me a badly cracked smartphone and asked, “Guess what happened?”  No idea.  You dropped the phone, I responded.

A few days ago, R was cycling in the middle of the leftmost lane.  Should cyclists stay on the far side of the road or should they occupy the entire road wide enough for buses and trucks?  I do not know which is less dangerous.  One car made a hard left turn from the  middle lane, cut into R’s lane, and they collided.  My friend seemed OK.  And he is claiming S$5,000 from the driver.  Because he has an expensive bicycle; he bicycle has some expensive gadgets; and he was carrying an expensive smartphone.

I do not know what level of damage his bicycle has endured.  But I learn to stay away from expensive bicycles after hearing R’s story.  This evening, at one junction, I saw a horde of expensive bicycles crawling towards me.  I patiently gave way.  If one was to cause a domino effect on them – however remote this could be – that would be one expensive bill to pay.  Not only for the bicycles, but also the attached speedometers.  Maybe GPS devices.  Not to forget to mention the smartphones that cyclists carry when they cycle.

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Diary I See I Write

Did You Catch The Glee Flash Mob At Orchard Singapore?

Cynthia and I are known as “the late couple”, especially so during weekends.  There are hundred and one things to do such as not wanting to get out of bed (that is Cynthia), not able to get back to sleep after waking up ridiculously early (that is I), spending too much time reading the papers over home delivered McDonald’s breakfast  (that is Cynthia), playing too much online game while having breakfast (that is I), doing housework together, and then this, and then that.  Soon, time flies and we are late for our weekend appointments.  Hence the title – “the late couple”.

We were informed that there would be a Glee flash mob performing in front of Ion Orchard last Saturday.  Miraculously – by that I don’t mean speeding on our beloved highway – we had 10 spare minutes to dash from the car park to Ion.  I can tell you what exactly happened at 5pm.  There was heavy downpour and we thought the performance would be canceled.  Fortunately, there is an invisible shelter at the open area in front of our prestigious mall, right in front of Dior (OK, there is a huge glass shelter high up above us).  And the show was on!

Despite the heavy rain, there was a good turn out.  The Glee Flash Mob is Fox International Channels’ effort to promote Glee on Star World, which I am sure you know that Glee is now on Season 2.  As always, Cynthia and I like different things in this TV series.  She thinks that Rachael is hot, and she can sing.  I am a man.  I am in love with Quinn, the cheerleader (duh!)  Quinn is hot.  She can even convince her then boyfriend that she got pregnant while sharing a fully clothed hot tub with him.  Which one is your favorite Glee episode?  For me, that has to be – cheerleader joke aside – the one with featured guest star Barney from “How I Met Your Mother”.  The rendition of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” is my all time favorite Glee track.  That episode has won Neil Patrick Harris a well deserving Emmy, as a guest actor.  Neil, you are my hero.

Back to the flash mob, there were about 70 dancers.  A few of them are professionals while the rest are students and volunteers.  It must have been a rewarding experience for them.  Cynthia and I love the atmosphere.  It was a fun watch.  I must be amongst the first group of audiences who clapped with full conviction.  Either Singaporeans are not well trained in the displays of appreciation in public, or the audiences were waiting for more.  I think it was the latter.

To the dancers, thank you for putting so much effort in preparing this (800 man hours according to my reliable source).  For those who have missed it, fear not.  The video has arrived at my mailbox today, here for sharing.

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Drama Movie Reviews

The King’s Speech – “Terribly Good”

“Terribly good”, so said one of the audiences behind us at the end of the show.  This movie, “The King’s Speech”, has attracted quite a crowd of Westerners.  It must have been moving for some to see King George VI of UK playing on the big screen.  He is the father and predecessor of Queen Elizabeth II.  And if the queen is “touched by a moving portrayal of her father”, the filmmakers must have done something right.

Colin Firth plays the duke – soon to be king – who has a stammering problem.  Quite a thorny problem as a king who is expected to delivery public speeches.  Colin’s acting is convincing.  Those long pauses are painful to watch on screen.  The script is written by David Seidler who also has (or had) the same problem.  Geoffrey Rush plays the speech therapist.  Certainly to me, the most delightful character to watch.  Going head to head with Christian Bale (“The Fighter“) for the best supporting actor category, it would be interesting to see what the outcome is.  Because both actors are superb in what they do.  Helena Bonham Carter plays the king’s wife.  Although her airtime is minimal as the story is focused on the friendship of the king and his therapist, her being so supportive to her husband is moving.  Once again, Elizabeth is on screen, played by a charming little girl.  The Queen of UK must be quite flattered by the number of actresses in recent time eager to play her role.

The entire film gives a good early 1900 feel.  What I like most, besides the acting, is the soundtrack.  The classical pieces – of the piano and violin – accompanied the plot well.  If I read the end credits right, the soundtrack is performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.

How many Oscar awards will “The King’s Speech” bag this year?  We don’t have to wait too long to see.  The Oscar event is just round the corner.

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Announcement

Feb 7 – Mar 7: Eat, Pray, Love Read Along!

Some of you might have heard or even joined us for the Midnight’s Children read along last year.  OK.  That was a bit intense.  To kick start a new year, we are doing something lighter, something more – I suppose – popular.  I have no idea what I have got myself into.  The ladies have chosen Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love”.  I vaguely remember Alex, my buddy from Hong Kong, said to me one day: “You won’t believe me.  I am reading Eat, Pray, Love.”  Back then, I have no idea what so unbelievable about him reading “Eat, Pray, Love”.  Months later, when I finally got my hands onto the book, the book’s subtitle reads: One woman’s search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia.  OK.  I think I now have a clearer idea on why it is so incredible for a man to read this book.  Buy hey, I have always enjoyed reading materials written from a woman’s perspective – online and offline.  I have started reading “Eat, Pray, Love”.  The tone and rhyme of the author’s writing style appears to be agreeable.  I am eager to see what I can get out of this.

For those who have joined me for the previous read along, you should be familiar with Jo, a blogger from UK.  Jo’s friend, J from Canada, is joining us this time.  Feel free to pop by their websites to get a feel on how we are going to eat, pray, and love till March 7.  We have agreed that after reading the book, we will watch the movie too in order to gain a holistic experience.  By then, I could well be vividly entertained or totally horrified by how some women think.  We shall see.

Many asked: What is a read-along? It is a simple concept.  We read with a timeline in mind.  And we discuss online via blog posts and comments at the end of the read-along activity.  If you have a website or you are socially networked, feel free to spread the words.  You are welcome to post your thoughts in our websites.  Or link your post to ours.  This is free and easy exercise.  We do this for fun.  Jo’s post comes with book club discussion questions as well as questions and interview posted by Penguin Group.  Do pop by her site to take a look.  I often find it more fulfilling to read a book with the discussion questions planted in my head beforehand (think Shakespeare’s masterpieces).

OK.  Enough talking.  Lets do more reading.  Go grab your copy of “Eat, Pray, Love” today!

External Links: (1) Jo’s announcement post and (2) J’s announcement post

Categories
Diary Travel Blog

Bandung Chronicle – Part 6 of 6

This is the final installment, of my trip to Bandung, divided into 500 words per piece.

… rinse them inside a tank of water, and make sure that they are towel dried as they may catch a cold.  Porcupines can swim.  And the best thing about keeping porcupines?  When you need to leave home for a prolong period of time, just keep them in dry ice (why not put them inside the fridge?).  The porcupines will hibernate and you don’t even need to worry about feeding them while you are away.

Neat eh?

Towards the end of the program, the TV anchor asked, “Why do people buy porcupines?  Does anyone buy them to eat?”  The farm owner calmly replied with a smile, “4,000 years ago, Egyptians were used to eat porcupines.  Now, we keep them as pets.”

I love Indonesian television programs.

“This is Bandung airport.  Unlike others in the region, we get to walk around in leisure, taking pictures on our way to the plane.”

10. New Year Eve

Christmas went by without much of a bang.  We have attended a Mass on Christmas Day but instead of celebrating Christmas, it was a Mass for the Holy Family, which was meant for December 26.

I must have put on some weight.  Because I keep eating and eating, reading and reading here in Bandung.  I wonder what would happen to my S$900 investment on tailor making my shirts and pants prior to coming to Bandung.

Each trip, I deliberately want to learn some words in Bahasa Indonesia.  Proud to say, I have discovered the word bau (means smelly) one day when we were shopping in a supermarket.  Like a kid who has learned a new word, I kept repeating bauuu! with the hand gesture.  Cynthia could not stop laughing.  I picked up angker from a cinema poster.  I used it to describe my experience crossing the streets in Bandung.  Cynthia laughed and corrected me that angker is horror, but in a spooky sense.  No, I have not seen ghosts when I crossed the road.  Rather, the incoming traffic scared the living soul out of my body.  Our niece Felicia liked to repeat the word malu.  Maluuuu! has the same magic as bauuuu!, phonetically speaking.  But it means shy instead.  At the rate I am going,  I will be able to speak fluent Bahasa Indonesia when I am … seven hundred and ten?

I have finished reading the sixth book from my stack of seven this morning.  It is “Inés of My Soul” written by Isabel Allende.  The Chile Conquest, is bloody.  Forward to 2010 going 2011, the world is still in conflict.  Peace seems so fragile, so hard to attain.  Given the knowledge of knowing what we are, will the end state of our civilization ever reach peace in totality?  Or war and conquest is the only mean to propel our progress?

What shall I do in this New Year Eve?  Cynthia may surprise me with some grapes from the supermarket, I do not know.  And we may do the countdown, in Spanish style – swallowing one grape every two seconds, as we countdown from ten, nine, eight, seven …

“This is another photo taken as we approached the only airline that flies direct from Singapore to Bandung.”

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Author’s note: This chronicle ends with the countdown, in a form I visualized.  In reality, I felt asleep at 11pm (which was midnight in Singapore and Hong Kong).  As I was peacefully entering into year 2011, I was woken up this time not by the blasting of the speakers from the nearby mosques, but by the loud bangs in the air.  It had the same 7.1 stereo effect as the 4am prayers.  The first thought that struck my mind was: Get out of bed!  It is an air raid! In real life, nothing was as dramatic.  It was fireworks everywhere, close by from different locations.  Indonesians sure know how to welcome the new year.

Why 500 words a piece?  Some time ago, I have dedicated one full month to write blog entries that were limited to a word count of 500.  It was fun, as it forced me to be concise.  Why 500?  By my research, most online readers don’t have the time to read beyond 500 words.  In the world of Twitter and Facebook status update, 500 is a big number.

To recap on the entire chronicle, click here.