Betty Page passed away yesterday (December 11th 2008). I’m sure she’s in a better place now. I love her work! Love the fact that she celebrated her sensuality and sexuality and the fact that she made most of her swimsuits!

Rest in peace sweetheart. You are missed!

x

I’m not quite sure how this happened (and NO this isn’t my car, nor did I cause this crash – though if by me merely being there caused such an accident to happen, it is rather flattering thankyouverymuch). From what Ui Hua and Alejandro said, someone was reversing, someone was moving forward and suddenly

BAM!

Car on the stairs! This happened in Hartamas, right next to Uncle Dons (or at least where Uncle Dons’ used to be) and according to Ui Hua, this is the same spot Darren Kang got murdered (you know that murder that happened in Hartamas?) and is therefore now cursed – hence the accident. I’d hate to be the owner who comes back to see his car on the stairs!

Of course I didn’t do anything constructive other than take pictures to put on this website!

Of course.

I will won’t be writing for the rest of the week (actually I haven’t written the whole week) since I’m up to my neck with assignments (due this week and next) and my mid-terms are going on.

As always, I’ve left everything to the last minute and am now stumbling along, struggling to finish assignments and to study.

So wish me good luck and I’ll be back next week. We’re also going to shoot The Epic Adventure of Clown Boy this Sunday. I’ve got fabulous actors and Ui Hua (he he).

If things go well, then that’ll be my first short film. Yay!

Oh yes, back to work.

Ta..

I am by far no expert in quitting smoking but I have however significantly lowered my smoking to one stick a day – if I should so feel inclined.

The Technique

There are no hard fast rules, but I am a believer of the quit cold turkey rule. But sometimes it gets hard especially if your job involves a lot of meeting other people who smoke. So what I came up with was having a limit to how many sticks I could smoke a day.

My limit is one stick. This way I don’t totally deny myself from smoking and it makes it easier to resist the temptation because in the back of my mind I know I have that one stick to smoke if I really need it. Most days I don’t even smoke this one stick.

And no, if you don’t smoke that stick you can’t accumulate it and smoke it another day!

Of course if you have the will power of steel and are able to quit cold turkey, then Kudos! You’re better than the rest of us! And remember it should be;

“I am in control. I am a non smoker. But should I choose to smoke, I don’t deny myself, I have one stick”

and not;

“Oh thank god thank god! I have one stick oh thank god! I can smoke!”

The First Step

Now all this is fine and dandy, but there is that challenge of actually quitting smoking~ Always the first step is the hardest.

Firstly, you must want to quit. It can’t be because you know its bad for you, or you really should, or that your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband/mistress has threatened to leave if you don’t – NO. You must want to quit. It should go something like:

“I really want to quit”

“I don’t even know why I do this anymore. I really want to quit”

“I am going to make an effort to quit because I really want to quit”

“I was just diagnosed with lung cancer, I really want to quit”

and NOT:

“Shit Sarah/Bill wants me to quit. I guess I should try”

“Aw man, yeah it is bad for me, I guess I should try quitting eh? *chuckle*”

“Man, cigarette prices have gone up, I guess i should quit”

Now the intention is really important because this is what helps you on those days (usually the first day) when you’re trying to quit and your mind plays tricks on you on you think “Ah fuck it, smoking is not so bad, I’ll quit some other time!”

Trust me, it’ll happen. This is when your intention will carry you through.

Ask yourself why you smoke. Dig deep. You’ll be surprised why you do.

Step Two

Not taking that first cigarette. You’re just gonna have up and stop. Only you can do this. Some people smoke their last cigarette the night before and that’s the end of it. I didn’t want to make a big deal about it, I didn’t even finish the pack I had. I left one cigarette in it – just in case. In my mind, I wasn’t quitting like I was losing something. It was a non issue, I just wasn’t smoking. And since I wasn’t consciously quitting (I was merely not smoking), I didn’t feel the need to stuff my face with food to get over the oral fixation either. So I haven’t actually put on any extra weight since I cut down/quit smoking.

Things that help

Try and not drink any alcohol for as long as you can. Alcohol and smokes go hand in hand, and if you start drinking too early on you’re sure to smoke.  If and when you’re ready, it helps if you drink alcohol with people who don’t smoke either.

Hang out with non smokers.

If you need to, buy gum or something to help with the oral fixation.

Keep busy and don’t just sit there and think about how you’re not smoking.

After meals you’re going to want to smoke, this feeling passes if you give it a moment. Don’t give in to it.

Here are some websites that might be helpful:

• How I quit smoking Cold Turkey – Mens Health
• How to quit smoking cold turkey
• 10 things to avoid when you quit smoking
• Things that can help you stop smoking

I also found this book to be very helpful:

• The Easy Way to Stop Smoking: Join the Millions Who Have Become Non-Smokers Using Allen Carr’s Easyway Method

Anyway, good luck. So far things have been good for me. I smoke that one stick sometimes, but mostly I can do without. I’ve saved so much money and I feel much better. I hope this little guide helps you too. All you need is a little faith and determination!

Well, something went wrong with wordpress and I couldn’t log in anymore. So I had to delete everything and re-install wordpress.

And to go with the new layout, I have also got a new haircut.

Woot!

A new kitten called Lulu.

(woot!)

And I’m learning to play the ukulele.

WOOT!

And here’s a random shot of Ui Hua wearing clown make up.

The ukulele is heaps of fun, now to only learn how to strum properly, change from chord to chord smoothly, tune the damn thing and I’ll be an honest to goodness ukulele player! You Tube is my god. Without it I would merely be a girl with a ukulele, now I am a girl with a ukulele who thinks she can actually play it!

*blessed*

Lulu came from Hana’s office. One of the stray kittens. She has a talent, which is non-stop-meowing. It’s pretty amazing, I must learn how she uses her lung power so well at such a young age. She also kinda frightens Charlie (I think) by hissing at her at every opportunity.

(Oh, Charlie is my other cat)

I wonder how long this will last? Cuz quite frankly, I’m betting on the little one. Charlie is a bit of a scardy cat!