Pickles n' Tickles by JJ

This new dashboard on Blogger is driving me nuts! I much prefer the older version but I think there's no turning back now ? I can't view things properly on my phone for some reason. The sentiment also goes for Facebook's new Timeline, which I think, is like a complicated open diary. Not neat. Again, there is no turning back there, too.  Thought I'll put this sweet one up. Something written by a friend. Ode to the Gecko The Gecko is a funny chap that lives in nooks around my flat. I often catch him unawares when opening doors or climbing stairs. I don't despise him despite lack of rent. Although too much time picking up his turds is spent! We never argue, we rarely bicker, And seldom does he hide the TV flicker. He keeps the place clear of mozzies and gnats, And never bores me with "meaningful" chats. He's happy if I have friends to stay, Whether bi or straight or just the other way. He never tuts if the toilet seat's up,...

WHEN I was growing up, I've been mostly seen as a snob.The truth is I may have been a little shy but never snobbish. I was just a happy kid being on my own and didn't think I needed many friends and have noisy gatherings during recess. So I usually stuck around with one or two friends whom I was happy with for the most of my school years and spent a lot of time watching other kids talk, play, grow boobs and later come back with a baby or two to visit the teachers at 16. It amused me but I wasn't surprised or felt anything at all.   And then I grew up. The snob, among other attractive descriptions, continued to make the list of words to describe me. It's interesting how people perceive or simply choose to see you regardless of how you project yourself to the world around you. The best cure is not to care. So I don't and most times, I'm just me, in my comfort circle. But work often gets me out of it. In my business, I'm constantly talking and listening to a ...

HOW was my weekend you ask, RC ? It was fantabulous despite the pain in the neck of course :) But lately, there’s a been a little pain in the arse too and that is a whole different story, my friend.  It's my LIONKING !  So I’ve been addicted to Draw Something. This app is crazy addictive and I spend about two hours a day just replying draw requests. It’s pretty interactive - just draw something and post it to your selected friends so they can guess your drawing, and when guessed correctly, you earn coins which can be used to buy more colours and tools. I’m still just operating with four colours - black, yellow red and blue. And it seems to me that I have a long way to go before I can make enough coins to purchase green, white and maybe pink ? Otherwise, I’m still getting used to drawing details on a tiny touch screen. It is not easy but somehow friends like Azman, Mei Ling and Mek Zhin simply draw awesome pictures!  Man's CARWASH. I like this one....

YOU know when you're feeling under the weather, there's only so much of games and gossips from the social networks that can hold your interest. Fifteen minutes into waiting to see your doctor, you irritably dump the phone into the bag (with a sigh) and start studying the ancient posters of cardiovascular diseases that map the clinic walls. Arms crossed and with impatient foot-tapping at that.  I was losing it already after 30 minutes of waiting my turn at my favourite doctor's office today. Dr V is a nice lady with a kind face and gesture. Maybe that's a problem   because people tend to like her so much they end up pouring out their life stories to her while I'm outside, staring aimlessly at a cross-section of a human heart for the 100th time. Heartless people.  Finally at the 40th minute, at the creak of a door, waddled out a vision of horrid pain. He must've been a kid in his early 20s, looking pretty disorientated with all that pain that I could feel for ...

This is a review of a non-fiction I did recently.  100 Simple Things You Can Do To Prevent Alzheimer's And Age-Related Memory Loss Author: Jean Carper Publisher: Little, Brown, 322 pages WHILE I was purchasing petrol at a station five years ago, a neatly dressed, well-spoken senior citizen greeted me with a cheery hello. His approach came like the morning sun. I was pleasantly taken aback by the friendly stranger and gave him my attention as he began checking directions to a nearby location. As I was half way through giving my explanation to the man who seemed rather confused about the area, a younger version of him came up and politely took him away, saying, “I’m sorry about my dad. Sometimes, he wanders off like this.” Both waved at me as they got into their car while my confused mind was busy putting the pieces together. The old uncle must be suffering from Alzheimer’s – a form of dementia that gradually gets worse, affecting memory, thinking and behaviour, I concluded. From ...

ELECTION is in the air and there is a whole lot of bullshit everywhere. So, Pat . Does that make me a rhyming artist yet ? Hahaha.  On a serious note, we're at a point where you don't have to read in between the lines in the local newspapers to know what's going on. As much as I'd like to keep my political observations in a private setting, I can't help openly noticing stuff that has been going on around me. And sadly, it's been going around at a rate of dizzying predictability.  Yesterday a certain politican tried to shove some cash into my closed palm. Alarmed, I moved back but as in a perfect tango, he stepped in to drop the folded note into my front-facing sling bag. I shoved it back at him but he managed to block my arm with a perfect karate chop. It wasn't a good sight, really.  "Keep that for a drink. I don't want it back," he said.  "I'm still not going to use it," I replied. So as in previous such episodes with ...

MY neck needs to rest. Do you ever get that sort of sluggishness when your neck feels as if it's been bearing the weight of your body the entire time ? It's like going about the day on your neck instead of the feet. I can perfectly feel the taut neck muscles that refuse to sink in together with my head into my gentle duck feather pillow when I go to bed. It's crazy. Well, I've been experiencing that for the past week.  Perhaps it's time for a nice traditional Thai massage at Thai Odyssey. I love the mention of it, and when I am there physically, I find solace in the balmy scent of the place and to some extend, I even find the massage therapists'  coy manners somewhat comforting. They speak very little English and probably know basic work-related words like Pain, Ouch, Hard, Relax, No, OK and Sorry. For everything you say, they smile. Sometimes that is annoying but I suppose it's a good thing for me because I tend to talk during massages to therapists who ...