I’ve grown attached
Category: Obsessions, Oddity
My laptop of two years died (again) this morning. It’s a Toshiba M105-3041, but I call her Maeve. She can be sensitive and moody at times but on most days she works fine. Since her purchase, she’s undergone a few modifications:
- Upgraded from the 1 GB RAM to 2 GB ($130)
- Upgraded the original 1.86 GHz core solo processor to a 2 GHz core duo ($125)
- Fixed in a new connector to the adapter cable since it had problems charging (< $2)
- Replaced adapter when it continued to fail to charge ($76)
- Replaced it again when the one before short circuited within the first month ($90*)
- Upgraded the previously 30-minute-life battery with one that lasts a little over 5 hours ($100)
- Replaced the original DVD drive with a slot load. ($100)
- Changed the keyboard pad just because (~$25)
* + S&H, the rest are without. All upgrades and replacements made by my brother.
Her modifications and upgrades shockingly amount to $150 more than the original selling price - that’s inclusive of the new hard disk drive that should be here in a week. 
So now, I must wait - again, for her to be revived once more.
(Edit: Cool, look at the date posted. XP)
Touch me not
Category: Oddity, Relations
I’m amused at my own antics.
Just a while ago, some people came to visit. I wasn’t really in a sociable mood at the moment, so I was already dreading to make pleasantries. Turns out, the people in question were ones I particularly disliked making physical contact with (read: shaking hands, hugging, air kissing - as is the custom).
And so, I took my book and ran into the bathroom, locked the door and waited. Waited until I heard that they were about to leave. Came out, and then risked a James Bond move to hide behind my bedroom door and watch them leave.
There’s only a handful of people that I know, that I feel this way for. Being in such close proximity with them no matter how transient, feels weird. Uncomfortable, even.
So yes. On certain days, I don’t want my personal space invaded every time I need to greet people - even if they are just being sociable.
Quirky food associations
Category: Doodling, Humor, Oddity
You know those things that people say about food that make you rethink whether to eat them or not?
For example: Eating chocolates cause pimple/acne outbreaks (which by the way, is not true nor has it been proven to be; Acne does not depend on diet {or sex and/or exercise})
Despite that, every time I eat that piece of chocolate, I brace myself for that pimple that could appear the next day.
When I eat cheese or fatty foods like pizza, I actually have visions of little fat molecules going and clogging my arteries. Observe:
In reality, it really depends on what kind of fat is in the food; saturated & trans (the bad) vs. poly/mono unsaturated (the good). And they don’t… lounge around like that. This is what it really looks like.
When I eat those olives, which I happen to adore, I visualize them chasing off that fat and clearing up those arteries.
They don’t really do that either. They are healthy in the way that they help lower bad cholesterol though.
The same goes for other foods. Too much oily food brings on a headache that is sometimes temporarily cured by drinking water. Again, no sound reasoning, only that it “clears” it away for a while.
Before I get carried away, do you guys have weird food associations that go against (or with) logic and literature?
Of a curious nature
Category: Oddity, Relations
A few days ago, I met made a new friend online. While we were chatting, I found an uncanny similarity between her and me. In this community, I only know maybe two three Muslim web designers (Leo, Mika, Asha) and barely any Indians. But not only is she a designer, she’s also around my age group, Muslim and Indian. We both share a like for henna, have lived/or live in the same neighborhood, aspire for the same profession, and have the same number of siblings and sibling hierarchy. Even her birthday is a day away from mine.
And this was not where I offered information and she reiterated. In fact, it was the other way around. I had long stopped saying “Ooo me too” because it sounded fake even to me despite the fact that it was the truth.
And while I love being able to relate, I don’t know if I should find this amazing or a little freaky. Can there really be complete strangers out there who are so similar to you in not just hobbies or likes, but in things that neither can control?