Technological ups and downs

Today is a good and bad day.

Good - My camera finally arrived. It is SWEEEEET. I can't wait to field test it. It's charging right now in its cradle. YIPPEEEEEE!!!!!

Bad - My iPAQ ran out of battery and I lost all my data. On the bright side, I do have a backup and most of my data is stored on my CF card, so I don't think I lost all that much. I'm charging it now and I'll worry about my data retrieval tomorrow. Bummer. :(

In love with Anna

She's soooooo... human! How can you not love her?



Images linked from Anna's websit (annanalick.com).

On a side note, I gotta blog this down before I forget...

On the night of the concert:
Carrie: What would you say to Anna if you ran into her at a bar?
Me: Erm... I don't know

Later, I figured out the answer. I never got to tell her, but I should probably write this down. Who knows? It could happen...

What would I say? I'd ask if she can cook...

Giving thanks

Where to start...?

God, thank you for making this wonderful crazy messy world that I live in. And especially for carrying us through the challenges we've faced.

Mum and Dad, thank you for everything you've done for me, and everything else that I forget to mention. Don't even know where to start... Setting me on a good path, encouraging me, kicking my ass... Lots more... Dunno where to start...

Jo, we never see eye to eye, and I still think you're a pain in the ass sometimes, but I love you.

Ah Ma, thank you for everything you did for me. I realize that I will probably never know you any better than I do now. It's funny (and sad) how you only miss what you've lost...

Alwyn... Hey man, you're the brother I never had, and I'll always love you.

Ye Lin, thank you for taking care of me and being a great older sister to me. I'll never forget that one afternoon in school where you solved that math problem and that pissed me off so much that I decided to get good at math...

Yee Chuan and Tien, you guys were rocking roomies! Thanks for all the growing up lessons you taught me. A lot of what I am now is due to your direct influence.

Juli, thanks for some beautiful memories. You'll always be someone who has a very special place in my heart.

Marcia, for baking brownies while the rest of us watched TV. YUM YUM!

Bruce, you're still a dick for being so damn logical and bringing me back down to earth when I start going too crazy :)

Jayles for being the greatest manager a guy could ever ask for!

Shantharam for making me excited about ClearCase

Evan for his entrepreneurial spirit and unflagging enthusiasm for making money

Paul, thanks for all those Starbucks runs in the afternoon! I'll definitely miss that!

Amy, I wouldn't have gotten rid of Crazy Tina without you!

Lance, Grant, Garrison, Dan and the rest of the PU101 crew as well as all my classmates in AOA and AOR, you guys breathed new life into me!

Stacey Gartland, without whose help, I'd find myself without a green card

Hung Chi Ching and Lee Kwong Peng, for showing me how to really love tae kwondo

Jeremy Lim for teaching me how to play killer chess

And to everyone else whose lives have touched mine and left their mark, and whose names I have forgotten to mention, the person I am today is because of you. Thank you!

Live performances

I just realized that my life lately has involved quite a few live performances.

Seen recently...
Wicked the Musical (Sep 2005)
Gwen Stefani - Black Eyed Peas opening (Oct 2005)
Rob Thomas - Anna Nalick opening (Nov 2005)

Seeing soon...
Rocky Horror Picture Show (Dec 2005)
Lestat (Dec 2005)
Coldplay (Feb 2006)
Aerosmith (Feb 2006)
Bon Jovi (Feb 2006)

Anna Nalick opening for Rob Thomas

OMG, it was an absolutely fantastic concert! Anna had a very simple, unelaborate opening set - just her and her band of 3. But she absolutely rocked. She was incredibly genuine and real. She laughed on stage. Not a rehearsed laugh, but a genuine laughter like she was enjoying performing.

Midway through one song, she saw something, and her voice broke slightly as she tried to stifle a laugh. After she finished the song, she walked to one of the guys sitting in the front row and said, "Your t-shirt made me laugh". Then she turned to the audience and said "He's wearing somethign which reads Ronny Rocks. That's Ronny" and pointed to her drummer. Then she continued joking around saying, "Yeah, Ronny really rocks. Anna, she's just ok".

After another song, she turned to a lady sitting in the front row and said "I noticed you had your cellphone out the whole time". The lady said something, then walked up to Anna and gave her the phone. Anna laughed and started talking to the person on the other end who was apparently a big fan but couldn't attend the concert.

She talked for a bit, then said "Actually, I'm in the middle of something right now, I gotta go. Oh wait, say hi to everyone here". Then she held the mike to the phone, and you could hear a very excited young girl say "Hiiiii!".

At the end of her act, Anna gave a few curtsies and then pranced off the stage. Her whole act was so spontaneous and real that it really gave me a warm tingly feeling.

Rob was... Well, he was good, but he didn't have anywhere the same connection with the audience. And anyway, I'm not a big Rob fan... Carrie liked him. But she's ready to jump him and drag him away in her car.