riding the gravy train

Today, I learned a metaphor that would explain the leechi-ness and glue-like characteristics of some people. I am talking about pachyderms who go for free rides at the expense of others. Riding the gravy train is very much akin to parasitism plus insensitivity.

"To ride the gravy train" means to secure an ongoing situation that provides good pay or other benefits with little labor or trouble, the equivalent of "living on Easy Street." It may be that the phrase originated among hoboes and other vagabonds who hopped trains as a way of life and for whom "gravy train" would be a likely metaphor for an easy existence.

Just as in avoiding the drama queens, there is a way to rebuff these unwanted free-riders of the universe. Don't give them a hoot. Deworm your life. Watch your money like a hawk:).

"suffraging"

Jenna Bush, teacher, first daughter and soon to be young wife, will not necessarily vote Republican. That's brilliant news. It would mean she's beyond partisanship and may not really go for the traditional, conservative elements in her country. Wow. Go, Jenna, Go.

In Brunei, we have been exercising suffrage - voting for the best blog. May the best blog win - and do vote, putting emphasis on blog's content and message and not the personalities.

draw for me

I've always kept Meeza's art work. This piece of work was done about a year ago. Meeza and I love to sketch but her work has more depth.

meme3 - unconscious mutterings

What comes to your mind with these words?

1. Questioning ::


2. Immunity ::


3. Online dating ::


4. Calcium ::


5. Dressing ::


6. Bucket ::


7. Stain ::


8. Advanced ::


9. Dramatic ::


10. Self-medication ::

Mine would be:
-interrogating
-excused from taxes, lawsuits, bad health
-internet smooching
-milk, bones
-salad
-water
-spot
-way ahead
-grand
-over-the-counter painkillers

Please remember to use http://subliminal.lunanina.com when linking to Unconscious Mutterings.

austerity

If I am to believe the news, then we are on the way to a global food crisis. Food is getting scarce in countries like India and Egypt. It is such a sensitive issue that food protests have been present in countries like Indonesia and Haiti. Of course, the deepening rice crisis even in rice-producing countries as the Philippines has got us worried for family and friends. The difficulties are not only felt in these countries but also in some developed countries as in Great Britain. Brunei is at the moment spared of these troubles because of the subsidies on staple food especially rice.

A large percentage of household incomes goes to food purchase. So, if and when we experience the high cost of eating – time to be austere. Don’t waste food. Do all the right things – grow fruits and veges if possible; try preservation – they go a long way.

emergencies

Today, I called in sick (sms-ed actually). I have a feeling I caught the bug when I went to buy headscarves the other day and the shop attendant was having the snifles. The bug could have travelled to headscarves -----> my hands -----> my face -----> my nostrils -----> my sinuses. Eeeew! I hate the watery smuck. Got to prepare my armaments: loads of tissue, lots of water, Logicin day and night tabs. And books to read and re-read - my dependables - my rescuers out of a day of fuzziness and tissue overload. Being sick for a day (I hope just one day) is one of abandonment - of forgetting the demands of everyday living and those endless compromises.

what's in a name?

A name is everything. It is something bestowed on you by your parents with love and expectations; it is something that you would have to live with all your life; and in some instances, it is something that you have to defend as you would do with your honour. Hercules sought out to defend his good name when his half-brother stole his name/identity. We know of celebrities who named their children strange-sounding names (to most American ears). Shiloh and Suri are not really odd names when you are Asian or African. Barack Obama was called Barry in his younger days, for convenience, I suppose. His is a name that incites curiosity and perhaps a name that would make a grand story.

Seriously, my parents have thought of names like Bradley, Khayyam, Patton to give my younger brothers. Their choices show what kind of persons they are - romantic, movie-going, hero-worshipping, and in my father's case - sort of militaristic (Patton???). Ultimately, my brothers were given names of Omar Shariff (as in Hollywood's Dr Zhivago), Khadafi (as in the Libyan anti-west leader)- luckily, no one was called Bradley or Patton, then they would have to live up to their names' expectations - being in the generals' boots.

Like in Kuala Lumpur and in most of Singapore, no Bruneian who goes to Kuching will ever doubt the halal-ness of the food he/she eats. Kuching is one of my favourite cities because, other things aside, it has an Italian restaurant (at the Merdeka Palace Hotel) that has a buffet of pastas and pestos and unbelievably halal at that!

The nasi lemak, of course, is staple food.

In-room dining at the Holiday Inn has these comfort-food:

Nasi Lemak with accouterments including a leaf-wrapped otak-otak


All too familiar - Roti Canai! The roti was light and airy - not the greasy type.