September 2010

Answering your Formspring #001

September 28, 2010 · 0 comments

in Formspring

ally! it’s me angie. why can’t i leave a comment on your posts? i swear i’m not an idiot. i wanted to comment about the mulberry and hermes wallet :( god, i sound like a brat! oh, and my link on your link has changed. i’m at wordpress now :) sending love!

Angieeeee!! Yes, I’ve updated your link already. :)

Hmm, now I’m wondering if any one else is having problems leaving comments on my posts? It’s quite simple, really. You just need to post your first comment, wait for me to moderate it, and after that, you’ll be able to post all the comments you want, without moderation.

Got a question? Ask me anything

Edit: I now know what the problem was. I had set my comments to turn off after 14 days, so people can’t comment on old posts. I’ve since changed that. :)

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Where I’m almost at the breaking point

September 27, 2010 · 1 comment

in Life, Rant, Work

You know the problem with teaching? Be in it too long, and you’ll start talking to everyone as though they’re your students. It’s funny at first, until it becomes condescending and downright grating.

Needless to say, I was at the receiving end today. And it seriously drove me insane. But unlike my previous job, something tells me that my superiors here will not appreciate my candour, so I had no choice but to struggle to hold my tongue. And thus begins the first part of my rant about working with people who have always been sheltered by the civil service.

THEY. ARE. TOO. RIGID.

Of course, I start to rationalise (as I always do) that the civil service serves a much bigger target audience compared to the private sector who has a lot fewer stakeholders. Admittedly, proper “systems” and “processes” will need to be in place in order to ensure the smooth running of things. However, being in the “system” for too long, you’ll naturally become one with the “system”. You end up running things in such a way that there becomes very little tolerance for alternative solutions. Even though the end product is still THE SAME.

And it confounds me. If there’s only one way of doing something, why are we given options in the first place? Why offer us this false hope of flexibility? Are you just trying to make us succumb without appearing too dictatorial? And why isn’t taking the initiative more appreciated? Why does everything have to go through the channels first? Am I not mature/responsible/capable enough to make a decision? Am I beginning to sound a tad bitter?

Breathe. BREATHE.

The second part was already touched on earlier in the opening paragraph. Wherein I felt like a 10-year-old while being talked down to. (Oh please tell me again how to get it done? Cos I was totally playing with my hair the first 3 times.) It made me feel like I was working for my mother*! Oh. My. Heck. Thankfully, this doesn’t happen often, but when it does happen. OHHHH BOY. I can literally feel the blood pressure rising.

*Bless her, cos my mother’s actually very easy-going and not difficult to work with at all. I was just trying to make a point.

Increasingly, I can’t help but wonder if this environment is suitable for me. I need to be in a place where I can work with learners who are more responsible. I need to be in a place where people are less concerned about ranking and more about moulding. And personally, I don’t know if I can continue teaching the same two subjects for the rest of my life, especially since I don’t see the syllabus changing drastically anytime soon. I don’t want to have to keep imparting the same bits of information each scholastic year. I want teaching to be more dynamic where I can continuously learn new things and be able to pass them on to my students (I guess this is why I’d originally chosen to teach Literature, since I know the text will change every few years). I guess most of all, I miss studying. I miss learning new things about the world. Sure, I could always read, but I hardly have time to sit down and indulge in a book from cover to cover. So trust me? That’s not a solution.

I think it’s clear what I need.

I need a break.

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Aaaand they’re all back

September 24, 2010 · 2 comments

in TV

For those of you who know me, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of TV. And I mean huuuuge. I’m sure there are others out there who watch way more TV than I do, but I definitely *ahem* pride myself for being as big a TV fanatic as I am. So each September, when Fall season TV comes back on, I do a little dance in my seat and promptly indulge in every piece of pop culture as best I can.

This year, I was really really looking forward to the return of some new shows that have successfully escaped the various network’s axes and are safely in their sophomore season. And judging from their premieres, I am quite confident that there’ll be a few more seasons left in each of them. :)

I started watching Parenthood because it starred Peter Krause (who somehow always manages to charm and reduce me into a puddle of goo) and Lauren Graham (who I totally wanna be when I grow up). Little did I know the characters and stories would speak such volumes to me and make me care that much. Each character’s personal struggles are incredibly realistic, yet their triumphs have just the right amount of idealism for us to feel good and remain hopeful about. But what I love most is the perfect portrayal of how much this family loves each other. Unfortunately, Parenthood’s still quite underrated at the moment and as much as I love the show, I don’t see it going beyond 3 seasons. Fingers crossed!

The most well-known of the lot, mostly because Glee is now a bonafide pop culture phenomenon, whether you like it or not. For me, this is creator Ryan Murphy’s gift to everyone who loves musicals. It entertains me each week with the over-the-top song-and-dance sequences, and unexpectedly serious issues that many of the characters are made to grapple with. And while I know of many who find Rachel (Lea Michele) annoying, I think there’s no denying that she’s pretty good at what she does. I mean, being able to make us hate and sympathise with her all in the same episode? I say, well done. The cute fellas on the show are a nice touch too. :p

This Modern Family is as dysfunctional as dysfunctional gets (Arrested Development still takes top honours for that), but true to it’s title, it IS modern, and this comedy usually ends up making me feel more warm and fuzzy than anything. I guess it’s because there’s all that love and acceptance going around, in between the pure gold moments. Who can forget the boyfriend’s highly inappropriate song, the over-zealous tributes to pop icons courtesy of the cutest baby on TV right now, and pretty much everything that Phil Dunphy is in? Heh. I’m also a big fan of the mockumentary style of shooting, because it’s just more fun that way.

I just started watching Community about 2 weeks ago, and was immediately SOLD. Then, it was a mad rush to finish all 25 episodes of Season 1 before the Season 2 premiere (last night) and I’m happy that I’m right on track now. :D This comedy was completely off my radar cos A) I didn’t know anyone except Chevy Chase and I’ll admit, he doesn’t exactly excite me, and B) the concept didn’t seem too interesting. AND HOW WRONG I WAS. Because it? IS HILARIOUS. Each episode is filled with plenty of genuine laugh out loud moments, and the pop cultural references, OH THE POP CULTURAL REFERENCES. It’s like a great big nudge and wink to all the TV and movie fans of the world who would appreciate the mocking of/tribute to all the cliches that have ever graced our screens. Love. Love. Love. And even if some of the references are a little more obscure, there’s still more than enough for everyone to laugh about. Hands down, my favourite new comedy. (Disclaimer: Glee doesn’t count, cos I consider it more of a musical that also happens to be funny.) Besides, have you seen the EPIC that is Modern Warfare? I love it so much I want to draw imaginary hearts all around it.

So that makes up less than half my TV-viewing schedule. Yeah, how I get any work done is beyond me.

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