Chinese New Year 2008

a little late to wish everyone a happy chinese new year i guess but at least this post shows that i'm still alive.

first three days of CNY was spent in Melacca where my grandparents were (father's side). drowned in boredom, i decided to start ransacking things in my grandparents house to see what can i take a picture of. i finally found a mechanical watch that is powered by winding. the watched belonged to my grandfather, easily making older than myself. however, i was shocked to see that it worked when i wound it up! but when i checked the time the next day, it seems it has sped up about 5 minutes. the old age of the watch must have affected its efficiency.

anyway, here is a look at it.

of course, you might not actually see the brand name from here cause i can't seem to take a clear shot at it. but i finally managed to take a picture of its winder from the side where it also has its name imprinted on it. (you may want to click on the image to make it load its original size)
besides this mechanical wound up watch, i decided to also take a picture of the wound up clock my grandfather had that was hung on the wall and used until today.
not bad eh?

the next three days were spent in kedah in my other grandparents house (mother's side). the only picture i managed to take there was of a 5 cent coin. however, the picture was not easy to take. my camera phone could only have about a 2 inch macro mode. with the help of two and a half magnifying glass, i managed to take a much larger picture of the coin without losing clarity.
time for a random picture. here is my little sister's teddy bear trying to drive us home from melacca.
cute yes? no? anyway, this reminds me of valentine. at least my friends are having a gathering so i won't be lonely as i thought. but still my heart is blue. haha.. an early happy valentine's day for everyone.

Keyboard

(since i never had much posts with personal pictures, this post will have 12 very personal pictures exposing my very personal friend. Maximum Exposure! you have been warned)

i was never satisfied with the keyboard i was using. its keys were too hard to press on and there were times when i wasn't sure whether or not i have pressed a key. so what happens when a guy gets bored in this situation?

i went to the store room and discovered my favorite keyboard sitting in a corner, dusting away. i picked it up and recalled that i once bought a DIN to PS/2 converter for it so i can use an old keyboard with a newer computer.

i brought the dusty keyboard into the house and searched for the port converter. my heart leaped for joy in finding on my study table. but looking at the keyboard, i decided it needed a good bath. what more can i say when i have seen such a sight. next thing i knew i was holding a screwdriver in my hand and was beginning to open up the poor old keyboard.

after cutting it open, i began to pop each key and wiped it squeaky clean with a damp cloth. not wanting to mess up the key arrangement, i arranged the clean keys in its original positions on the floor. i did all this on the floor by the way.

2 rows done in 20 minutes:

3rd row done in 17 minutes:

4th row in 11 minutes:

numbers and backspace in another 11 minutes:

escape and function buttons in yet another 11 minutes:

13 buttons in 8 minutes:

all keys finished in the next 11 minutes:

spent the next nine minutes cleaning its body with water and soap, scrubbing it to ensure cleanliness:

i placed its innards on the body so can have a 'x-ray' feel of how it looks inside. the brain is at the top right:

a closer look at the brain of my lovely keyboard:

a look at the body from the inside with its keys and partial innards in place after it has dried:
i spent about half an hour just to put the keys back in place.the hardest key to place was the ' enter' key. since it has 2 metal pieces under it, it proved to be a challenge. second hardest was the space bar as it has 1 metal piece. all other pieces had no metal pieces and so was quite easy to reinstate their positions.

but putting the keys wasn't even half way out of the woods. aligning its innards and placing its brains was easy. but after closing it up, it had to be reopened several times to reposition its partial innards under each button. after resisting many times of giving up, i have finally reassembled it.


as you can see it has a DIM port and not a PS/2 port. this is why a converter is essential, which i happen to have. *laughs*

of course, forcing everything into a box is easy but i had to make sure it survived the thorough cleaning otherwise there is no point anyway. i connected it to the converter then to the computer. i typed the letter 'i'. a letter ' i' appeared. yes!!! it's alive! IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!!

the most comfortable keyboard i had in my life is now alive and in use in my new computer! Muahahahaha... i am typing this with my 'new' old keyboard. cleaning it was hard work but it paid off. i feel so proud of myself just looking at the keyboard that looks like its still brand new. even my typing speed increased. and all done in 2 hours and 45 minutes.

so i decided, since valentine's day promises no present for me (except last year. exchange among friends), i decided that this is an early valentine gift from me to me! what more can i give myself besides the most comfortable keyboard in existance. with keys that are neither too hard now soft, i feel like i don't want to stop typing! this keyboard must have been hand crafted by a god and charmed by night elves. it probably was enchanted by warlocks too.

i love my keyboard. it is my valentine.

Valentine II

a poem for valentine's day. might add more.

untitled poem
valentine,a day so divine,
everything seems like its going fine,
not a word of sadness,
not even a taunt,
surrounded by happiness,
and behaviors of flaunt,
so make a wish, as here comes a shooting star,
may your valentine this year be the best one so far.

a lonely valentine
a day of lovers, happiness and joy,
why do i still feel like a broken toy?
abandoned and lost, in an isolated shack,
trapped in the darkness, brightness i lack,
as i watched people around me smile and talk,
without noticing me as they held hands and walked,
they went about their business of love and care,
but to look at me, i believe no one would even dare,
alone on a day when people would meet up and pair,
regardless of age, height, even colors of their hair,
to express their love, any price they would pay,
but for me to be lonely, i guess it's like any other day.

Valentine 2008

although valentine (and christmas actually) passes by like any other day for me, it gets annoying to be in a 'pink' atmosphere. the talking and the giggling and the messages and so much more that touches my nerve. fortunately they never declare a holiday for such an occasion or every valentine i might be out having a massacre.

anyhow, since i'm no longer in school for now, my nerves seem to have no disturbance. however, Eliza linked me very nice song and i thought:"just because valentine means nothing to me, no harm in trying to blend in, right?" so i decided to go with the flow and embed the link Eliza showed me. and more.

DJ Sammy's version of Like a Rose and Heaven:





on the side note of it all, valentine shouldn't be too pinkish. it should be reddish. like a red rose. red. blood red. glorious blood red. that's what valentine should be like. a massacre. everyone should send red roses that still have their thorns. then when their partner finally pricked their fingers, you can go over and suck their fingers and taste the colour that runs in everyone's veins. HAHAHA!!! blood! BLOOD!!

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Massacre most commonly refers to individual events of deliberate and direct mass killing. from here.
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