today was quite an achievement and disappointments all rolled into one... i spent the whole day inserting menus into the right page, folding issue 1 + 2 then printing out stickers and affixing lollipop in place to form this gift pack:



take out menu from dressed salads - why? because i made a vow  to myself to help any company, person, artist etc etc that supported the magazine and my efforts for teens and dressed salads have been incredible - the staff, the managers and just in general - the understanding of what im doing with the magazine without my having to preach and go into detail and justify each of my actions - they get it!

mind you i dont state my vow to help those who support the magazine from the start because im all about "less talk more do" - i hate the word promise - cos 9 times out of 10 theyre always broken - for me, its only natural to give back what has been given to you - so for example if today i really need an apple and alivenotdead have an apple and they notice that i am in need of one and give it to me -  instead of me immediately saying "ill give you an apple back i promise!" -  i say thank you and i appreciate & value them noticing my needs and helping and i know at some point ill notice one day that they are in need of ... (im looking around my desk for an example...) ok... PAPER ... so ill be in a position to help them with paper!

pretty simple and straight forward stuff eh?

but time and time again its not practiced enough... ok im totally going off on my point...

STICKER OF LOGO : why? cos the initial place i was going to get the stickers done couldnt get it in time and i spent hours in my local stationary shop (confession: most girls spend their money on makeup, clothes, shoes, bags etc etc - i spend all mine on stationary! so easy present for me is a bookstore or stationary store pleasures - its like winning the lottery for me - silly eh?) 

ISSUE 1 & 2 together : why? im not all that proud of issue one in all honesty - and you can see that from issue 2 - which is what i wanted the kids at the event to appreciate and take notice - "if at first you dont succeed, brush yourself off and do again"

"HEY! its "brush yourself off and try again not do!"

yes i know! i changed it to do! - in my last year at school - one of my teachers noticed how disheartened i was getting and took time out to talk to me one on one - and being a teen of course i had a mouthful of excuses as to why i wasnt achieving "i tried that" " i tried!" "i did try!"

he said "try is a failing word - cos you can always bark back about how you tried - you either do it or you dont - its that simple" and thats one of the principles ive held on to!

so i spent the whole day packing those up - had to prepare 500 and ran out of issue 2 which led me to do a quick run to dressed salads in IFC and collect what they had left in there!

then i had the ginormous task of finishing my document which at first started off very formal:



then turned a little too informal and OF COURSE today - 3 hours before im due at the event - inspiration slapped me across the face and said CREATE SCRAPBOOK - and like a mad woman i double sided sticky taped stuff and cut out paper, grabbed ribbons and whatnot and the end result is this:



it also meant that it made me running through olympic city II mall like a mad woman with hot pink ribbons to follow but i made it just in time for sky magazine to accept a token of appreciation for sponsoring the event:



which of course you cant see very clearly cos its glass engraved (why is that everyones choice? id like to be bold about who we're thanking, why and when!)



this is my absolute favorite:



CHECK OUT THAT TINY DETAIL OF AN ANIMAL PAW!!!

I LOVE THAT!!!

and thats another thing - kids notice and pay attention to small details - its these very small details that when put together result in big things like:


the sistine chapel...

ok i may be overstretching it a bit with lego bricks... however



thats pretty amazing for a few hours work!



and thats pretty boring stuff to work with!

you know how long it took builders to DEMOLISH wembley stadium in london? THREE YEARS! and they just needed to break sh*t up!

so yeah kids notice small stuff...



(i wonder if you can notice a problem with this picture?)

how do i know this? im not a genius or have a high IQ by the way - nor do i want to be known as being really smart - cos its not like being those things rewards me with unlimited supply of stationary!

its cos i still see things like a kid - my doctor told me it probably happened when i was young and having to grow up too quickly and not been able to outgrow / mature things which would leave me frustrated as an adult cos i wouldnt understand why adults think the way they do...

now i dont see a problem at all cos everythings pretty simple and straightforward through my eyes - if i dont get something - i ask - if i dont understand - i say it - if something doesnt make sense - i say that too... which has led my most recent catchphrases to be:

I DONT GET IT   or   WHO DOES THAT?! and you can jumble them together WHO DOES THAT?! I DONT GET IT!

now before i sign off another awesomely long saturday rant - i want to make a special mention about this particularly cute boy:



hes really cute - he realised really quickly he was blocking one of my shots and looked at me - paused (and i know its because he was trying to work out the appropriate language) and said "im really sorry" in english and i smiled and he smiled - its funny cos i get that a lot - i do speak chinese - albeit kinda kid-ish - oh but BOY when im ANGRY i can cuss down the moon and back (cant say my mother didnt teach me nuthin eh!)

im going to leave that little "whats wrong with this picture" riddle for you guys to work out

xxx

so before i begin work on this final document ive been preparing for for a few weeks i thought id let it all out and then plow through...

i couldnt get the sky logo stickers printed on time so... i printed them myself! and have started to put the gift pack for the event together...



how cute is that lollipop!?! AND its a tongue painter

so im doing that x 500... (thank you ciko for doing 202 for me yesterday! and candy shopping!)

i went to speak up yesterday - i didnt stay long cos i got really uncomfortable with the questions "are you ok?" "youve lost a lot of weight" "why dont you ask for help?" - well im fine, yes ive lost a lot of weight cos im doing a lot of work for one person and i do and have asked for help and people have offered to help - and when its that time - i'm always left doing it all on my own but anyways i continue cos i'm just not going to let anyone slow me down

before i begin my rant lets pause and blue steel!



heres my prep...



which i have now absorbed and translated on to paper:



and i begin expanding that into a strict document :)

crazy yeah? but this is how my mind works - i can actually absorb copious amounts of information and pin it down into simple structures - unfortunately the simple outline only 1 out of 20 people understand so thats why i have to expand from it

how did i learn all this? well its a combination of always curious to know how the world works and finding a solution to make it better, simpler, moving forward and productive whilst still balancing everyone equally + law school (!) + conveyancing law (property transactions - i worked as a conveyancing exec for 2 years !)

why didnt i become a lawyer instead? sure i would have made $ but (sorry dad i dont think you intended your words this way) my father said to me - to live; you have to live with meaning, have substance and of value - i know what he really meant - what he was saying was "to live; you have to live with $, have $ and of $"

but i dont understand numbers and so i took his words literally

so this is what i want to do:

just have to add a bit of text and what not but yeah 75-85% done... (the cover i mean)

(missscarlett i think you'll be right behind me on this blog)

i am intuitive, perceptive and can feel things around me and see through things - this is not magic, a god given talent or a miracle. it's actually very simple - anyone and everyone can be this way. its possible and one can be this immediately if they wanted to.

how? attention.

i react to things around me, in front of me even to things far away from me. i react to people i think about and care about, things i care about and love. they don't have to be right in front of me or present for me to react or feel.

i'll give you an example:

i went out on a date last friday (yes i really did!) and hes lovely - we've watched each other from afar and over time, a few years - i suppose we finally reached a communicative level for it to happen - now it's not like fireworks and lightning bolts started flashing around me when we first kissed however my leg did do a little of this...



and oh boy the last time i kissed a man and i totally was lost in it ... was ... december 2007 ... my gosh after that kiss i lost my balance - actually i lost my balance on friday too

"Traditionally, when a woman and a man kiss, the woman tends to lift her leg to show just how hot and heavy it's getting or to demonstrate how much she trusts the man to hold her up. "

where am i going with this?

(forgive me here im actually running a high fever - which i think its because everyone i care about is hungover and i can feel it and i was working last night drinking lemon tea and chocolate milk! - i spent 2 hours folding menus into magazines x 300 oh and i made a video)

errr... yeah cant finish this - ive totally lost my train of thought and want to lay down damnit

*** update ***

i have a restless mind - so thats called foot popping by the way - when the leg lifts up ... and i found this picture!

Be Attentive

Many mistakes in reasoning are explained by the fact that
we are not paying sufficient attention to the situation in
which we find ourselves. This is especially true in familiar
situations. That very familiarity causes us to make careless
judgments about facts right before our eyes. We misread a
situation because we are skimming it, when what we should
be doing is perusing it. Often, we assume that a familiar situation
will be but a repeat performance of a similar situation
we've experienced before. But, in the strictest sense, there
are no repeat performances. Every situation is unique, and
we must be alert to its uniqueness.

The phrase "to pay attention" is telling. It reminds us
that attention costs something. Attention demands an active,
energetic response to every situation, to the persons,
places, and things that make up the situation. It is impossible
to be truly attentive and passive at the same time. Don't
just look, see. Don't just hear, listen. Train yourself to focus
on details. The little things are not to be ignored, for it is
just the little things that lead us to the big things.

- being logical : a guide to good thinking by d. q. mcinerny