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I had a document that displayed only the first 7 pages (~1000 words) in Print Layout view even when the Word Count display stated 4000+ words. I could view all the text only in Draft view, but the tables could not be viewed. Save As a new file in .htm/.html format didn't work. Copying and pasting (Track...
I've been exchanging FB messages with an online acquaintance on and off for a few days. He's a cool enough dude. (I mean, he's sending me pics of him with his kids and asking if we'd be interested in joining them; it's a strange way to set up a play date!) I see it as conversation, although Enfant...
Have I told you about my 2 kids? I have 2 kids now. They were born 2 years apart. They are 2 much 2 handle sometimes. Daughter was born at 34 weeks and 1 day. (Star Wars Day baby. Also Audrey Hepburn and Kimora Lee Simmons's birthdays.) I had an emergency c-section because I had preeclampsia. I still take...
Just saw that Kilian Jornet and Emilie Fosberg have had their baby! THIS is a child with an athletic pedigree, if there ever was one. I can't imagine the pressure. I also wanted to make a crack about how a woman shouldn't have to have a marathon labor just because she's the world's premier ultra-runner,...
Today, I asked Enfant Terrible what I now realise was a loaded question: "Do you think you and your mum will ever be able to have a normal conversation?" And he shot back with: "What makes you think you and your mum have such normal conversations?" Touché! I guess what I meant was: is it possible for...
How to get that hotel room smell* in your own room (I know...): Get a cup of coffee with a little milk in it Set the air-conditioning at full blast. Bring the coffee in and let it hang out for a while. You're allowed to sip. Start work. Be transported out of your current surroundings! Realise it's not real...
Here is an article about John Cheever the writer: Vodka for Breakfast: On the Melancholy of Cheever's Journals. I found Cheever's Bullet Park in a now-closed secondhand bookshop (isn't that the fate of all secondhand bookshops now though?) about 20 years (!) ago. In the blurb on the back was a line about...
When I was in China with my mum, the hotel "buffet" breakfast usually involved plain rice porridge to which you added condiments and toppings (usually soya sauce, salt, pepper, and a bunch of salted vegetables). It was simple and filling and you had only yourself to blame if you didn't like what was in the...
I didn't realise how freeing it'd be to just delete a draft from my dashboard here. It had sat there so long I'd forgotten the context in which it was begun. Well, that's not true. It was about soap. So trivial! But I like soap. Or I like the idea that using a soap will see a brand new me emerging...
I don't think I've ever written about when I was in my last year of secondary school, i.e., Form 5, and had no idea what I'd do afterwards. Everyone seemed to have a plan or knew what they'd study after Form 6. Most of it seemed to involve studying accounting in Australia and/or working there. In fact,...
I made chocolate bark the other day. It might not sound like a big deal to you, but it was a revelation for me. What I did was: Melt the remainder of a 70% dark chocolate bar (~100 g) and 100 g semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave.* Drop in a pinch of chili powder (serbuk cabe).** Stir everything...
That's all it takes for a boy on a scooter to go from zooming down a slope, a banana in one hand, to sprawling, dazed, on the asphalt with elbows and knees scraped after losing his balance. Also the time taken for you to have a bite of banana muffin and for your kid to spill her strawberry yogurt drink on...
I dreamt that I was Idris Elba. The complete and utter self-assurance of just being in "my" own skin was amazing. I want to be like that in real life but the feeling is fading too quickly.
Using baby oil (or any other oil) instead of soap or shaving cream to shave. It's great: you don't have to step in the shower, and you just wipe off any excess. Clean your shaver well, of course, but that's about it! You don't even have to buy artisanal bespoke-concocted stuff (Truefitt Hill's...
Enfant Terrible was registering us for a race the other day and needed my personal details. He entered my IC number on the eletronic form, then paused. "How old are you this year?" he said. Quick mental arithmetic done, I said, "36. Why?" "I'm wondering if I'm supposed to enter you in the women's...
Triggered by a breakfast radio broadcast, I'm currently longing for the 1990s so bad it actually aches. Life was simpler back then: I didn't have deadlines to meet, bills to pay, or a child to care for. On the other hand, my hours are no longer bound to a school bell, I can afford pretty much what I want...
I have the free version of a Blogger app. I can draft posts in it but will have to pay like RM20 for the full version in which publishing is enabled. RM20 isn't much (a mains at a mid-range eatery; a starter/appetizer at a high-end eatery) but then I'm Malaysian and therefore funny about money like that. ...
It rose when I saw an eatery staff blow his nose at the sink and wrestle to clear the impossibly long string of mucus that emerged. And he was the drinks guy. Three years on and the memory still makes me gag. I hope that by sharing it I will exorcise it, and I apologize for the resulting mental image. ...
The thing about Facebook and Twitter is that brevity is of the essence. So you just shoot from the hip and post without a second thought because who reads past the first 2-3 lines anyway? And if you change your mind about the post, then you can delete it as easily as you'd posted it. (Yes, everything...
My writing muscles have become flaccid from disuse!
