3 Things I Don't Like About Your Blog.

I follow a quite a lot of blogs and it gets hard to keep up so when I get the time, I try to read a week's worth of posts on my dashboard all in one go. If you haven't figured out already, that's a LOT of reading. So it takes a couple of hours and usually I don't mind because I like reading blogs just as much as I like writing them. But there are some things which kind of bother me when I'm trying to read or respond to a blog post.



1. Annoying background music.
Or any music actually. I hate when a song automatically starts playing when I open your blog. And I really hate when I can't even find where on the blog the music player is! I don't get why bloggers want to force us to listen to music that they like. I mean, what if I already have my own music playing, don't you see how annoying this could be?
Also, most of the time, I open a couple of blogs at the same time in different tabs. So when music starts playing from ONE of them, I have to check which one it is then find the player then pause it. Very inconvenient.

2. Confusing design and layout.
I don't like it when it's difficult for me to find my way around a blog. Like when I can't find old posts or the 'post a comment' link. I also don't get the point of having loads of unnecessary stuff on your blog. Sometimes it's difficult to actually read the content of the blog due to colours or small font. Also, I know people who have lots of widgets and other stuff at the sides of the page. This makes the page load super slow, which sucks for the person who actually wants to read and comment on your blog.

3. Captcha (word verification) on comments.

I know you're trying to prevent getting spam comments and whatnot but I removed the captcha on my blog a long time ago and haven't had any problems at all. I think people are more likely to comment if they don't have to bother with typing in the code. And for readers like me it's very tedious to type in code after code as I go about trying to read and comment on as many blogs as I can.


I could add more to this list but I don't think it would be fair for me to critisize the content of people's blogs because it their blog, they can write whatever they want on it and I have no right to judge them. I mean, if I don't like it or find it interesting, I just don't have to read it. That's why I don't get people who bother writing hate comments on blogs.

Anyways, what are some of your pet peeves when it comes to reading blogs?
Anything you don't like about mine?
I'd love to know!

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I recently joined the writing team at an online magazine called High School Pieces. Check out my first article on 5 Ways To Overcome Insomnia.

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I think I'm going to write a post with mini reviews of some books and movies. Because I've been reading a lot of books and watching a lot of movies recently. 

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I wrote a guest post for Albert, he's doing this really cool A-Z guest post series. I got the letter "E", so I wrote about Ed Sheeran, click here to read it :)

I'm feeling nostalgic. And I want cookies.

I remember the most random things from my childhood. Most of them are not anything significant so I don't know why these moments have stuck with me. And when I try to recall them, all these little snippets of my life pass through my head like a fast forwarded video.

For instance, I remember a lot of things from the day my grandfather passed away. It was 10 years ago so I was around 7 or 8 years old back then.

My cousins and I were fooling around in the car on our way back from school. We didn't know what had happened until we actually got home.

The shirt I wore that day: it was a dull lime green colour with a little pattern shaped like a sun in the middle. I think I remember it because I felt like I should be wearing white like everyone else, since it was a funeral.

Sitting in my parents' room with some of my siblings and cousins. I was flipping through a KFC calendar, trying to distract myself.

I also remember seeing him for the last time.

Then there are those moments which I'm not sure whether they actually happened or if I was just dreaming. Like once I was travelling by bus overnight. We were on the highway and I woke up to look out the window and see where we were. 

I looked up and gosh... I was mesmerised. It was dark, obviously, but the sky was lit up by a cluster of little dotted stars. And there were SO MANY of them. I had never seen something like that and I even remember taking out my glasses from my bag to look at it more clearly. 

It was just so beautiful. And maybe that's why I think I might have dreamt it. I'm pretty certain it actually happened but I can't be sure since I was half asleep and I don't have any proof. I wish I had taken a photo of it or at least woken my sister up (who was sleeping in the seat beside me) to share it with her so I would have some sort of evidence that it was real. But I didn't and all I have is the memory of that scenery. I don't think I'll ever forget it. Honestly I'm not even exaggerating, it was the most magnificent thing I have ever seen. 

P.S. I love pandas.

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A long time ago, I wrote a post called The Book That Changed My Life. I talked about the book Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. And guess what? The author read it! 

Receiving this message on Tumblr totally made my day:

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Someone please bake these for me!

I get really bad cravings after midnight.

I should go to sleep.

These days, if I lie still, I feel like the ground is shaking slightly. I know it's not actually happening, but for some reason, I feel like it is. This is probably because of the earthquake last week. It wasn't even THAT strong here in Malaysia. Definitely the worst I've experienced but still not as bad as it was in Indonesia, as in there were no things falling off shelves etc..

The first one was pretty crazy. I was on on the computer and I felt like someone was shaking my chair. I froze, my first thought was that it was a ghost :P Yes, I'm so paranoid about these things. But then my mom ran out of her room and said she can feel it too so we rushed downstairs.

The second time I was lying on my bed, when suddenly I felt like my bed is swaying. I thought I was just imagining it. But then I sat up and I could still feel it, turned out it was happening again.

So now whenever I'm lying on my bed, I feel the tremors, it's super weird. 

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Yesterday, I was at the hospital, sitting in one of those big rooms with loads of beds and curtains for a whole group of patients. I saw an old lady there sliding a portable oxygen tank type thing along with her whenever she walked from her bed to the toilet on the other side of the room. Each time she did this, I watched her and you know what it reminded me of? 

Hazel Grace!

I smiled, thinking about Philip :)

[If you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about then you should go read The Fault In Our Stars by John Green.]

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I love how I get introduced to some of the most amazing music through TV shows. Like this one.
I'm always typing out lyrics to songs I hear in the background and searching them in google so I can listen to them properly.The Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl have the best music!

Speaking of TV shows I started watching New Girl, love it.

And another one called Community. At first I thought it was kind of boring, but now I like it. 

Troy and abed :D

Also, the evil people of Tumblr are making me want to watch Supernatural and Doctor Who. But I won't. At least not until I've caught up with the shows I'm already watching. I waste so much time.

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The awesome photo editing website Picnik is shutting down today (19th April). I wanted to use one last time before that happened so I spent a few minutes editing some of my doodles. Just to add some colours to them and make them more attractive because these ones are so random.

                 

The Fault In Our Stars and The Hunger Games.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. 

As you may already know, there was a lot of hype surrounding this book before it even got published. The main reason I decided to read it was because once it DID get published, the internet wouldn't shut up about it (by that I mean people on Tumblr who kept reblogging these amazing quotes from this novel which I hadn't read and it was driving me crazy).

What I loved most about The Fault In Our Stars were the characters. They were so intriguing and different. And the dialogue was pretty epic too, just like John Green's other novels, pretty much the entire book was quote-able.

When I really love a book, I can't put it down. These days I have a lot of free time so I could have easily finished this book in a few days but it took me almost 2 weeks to complete it. I don't want to say it was boring because there were a lot of things I loved in it, but it just didn't make me feel like oh-my-god-I-can't-stop-reading-this. Also, it didn't make me cry. At all. And I don't say that with pride, when a book makes you cry it's a good thing because that shows that it really had some sort of affect on you. But for some reason I didn't cry while reading The Fault In Our Stars. Even though it was immensely sad and beautiful.

So overall, I think it's a great read, but I prefer John's other novel, Looking For Alaska.
I think I'm going to read Paper Towns next.

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book. And then there are book which you can't tell people about, books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like a betrayal.” 

― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

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The Hunger Games Movie (Spoilers!)

I watched the movie about 2 weeks ago. Since then I've had some time to think about it. I'm not disappointed at all, like a lot of other fans. I think the movie was actually very satisfying. Sure, there were some things which weren't exactly like the book but then again, I never expected it to be perfect. It met my expectations and I think the cast did a great job portraying the characters. 

I also liked how they showed the world outside of Katniss' view, like the control room for the Hunger Games and the interaction between President Snow and the head game-maker, Seneca Crane. The nightlock scene was one of my favourites since we weren't told how Seneca is killed and I think how they showed the death was pretty genius.

There were a number of things I would have changed or done differently, like give more importance to the mockingjay pin (in the movie Katniss got it from a shop instead of it being a gift from Madge). But I really think that despite all these flaws, the movie was great and the acting was as good as it could be, most of the actors played their roles perfectly.

I will surely watch it again whenever I get the chance!
What did you guys think of the movie?

So Many Movies.

 

I finally watched Titanic. 

This is going to sound pathetic, but I actually read the documentary of Titanic a LONG time ago. Like the real one with all the facts about the incident and blah blah blah. It was a school thing though so I didn't really have a choice. Anyways..

After witnessing the hype around the movie for all these years, I honestly thought that Titanic was going to be an amazingly tragic love story which will blow my mind. And I will be bawling my eyes out by the end of it. And feel stupid for not watching it earlier.

Well... that didn't happen.

I'm not saying it was terrible and that I regret watching it, I just don't think it's as incredible as everyone seems to think it is. The story itself is great, but I think the movie was dragged out way too much, it really didn't need to be 3 hours long.

I have to admit though, the ship was replicated perfectly, it all looked so real and believable. Also, Leonardo Dicaprio was in it, which makes it ten times better for me :P
The acting was great and I'm glad I finally watched it. Even though I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to see it again, I still think it's one of those movies that every one should watch.

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I also watched Remember Me, which was okay.
But more importantly, The Hunger Games is releasing in a few days! I'M SO EXCITED I MIGHT DIE.
The Vow, another movie I really want to watch, is releasing on the same date (I know it has already released in other countries but we had to wait a few more weeks until it released here.)

  

No more doodles to post because I haven't been drawing much. I'm actually working on my novel quite a lot these days and I think I'm finally starting to figure it out. I know I've been saying this for months and yes, I do plan to tell you guys what it's about eventually, but first I need to find out myself, everything just keeps changing so I'm still tweaking and adjusting a lot of the plot.

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I've been spending a lot of time on my Tumblr. So much that I wonder what I used to do with my life before I started using it. I'm sure some of you know what I'm talking about :P
If you have one, give me the link :D

P.S. I have a 'mock' driving test tomorrow. I just learnt how to park last lesson (which was a week ago) and I've already forgotten the steps. I'm so screwed. Wish me luck!

P.P.S Since I have a few hours to kill before I go to bed, I'm gonna watch 10 Things I Hate About You again. I just love that movie! It's so cute. And plus, it's on youtube so I don't need to buy or download it :D
If you haven't watched it, YOU SHOULD. Heath Ledger!

You should watch this.

IF THE WORLD KNOWS WHO JOSEPH KONY IS, IT WILL UNITE TO STOP HIM.

IT STARTS HERE.

KONY 2012 IS A FILM AND CAMPAIGN BY INVISIBLE CHILDREN THAT AIMS TO MAKE JOSEPH KONY FAMOUS, NOT TO CELEBRATE HIM, BUT TO RAISE SUPPORT FOR HIS ARREST AND SET A PRECEDENT FOR INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE.

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SO AFTER GETTING MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CAMPAIGN FROM TWEFRENCE, I'VE REALISED THAT IT'S MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN WHAT WE SEE IN THIS ONE VIDEO. 


AND PERHAPS THIS CAMPAIGN IS NOT EVEN THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH THE SITUATION.
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED TO READ FURTHER INTO IT, CHECK OUT THIS LINK.


Share your opinions :)

The awkward moment when you spend 15 minutes trying to think of a title and end up writing something lame like this.

1. Desserts- preferably chocolate.

2. Family reunions. This is a photo of me and some of my cousins at the beach, credits to HK photography.

3. Old photos. Yup, that's me.

 

4. Tumblr. I finally made one!

5. This video:

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I don't know what to call that list, honestly I just couldn't be bothered to think of anything else to blog about :P
I might write a post about by novel because I've been working on it these days and I'm so frustrated, the whole plot seems to be falling apart. I really need some advice/motivation because I'm so tempted to delete everything and just rid myself of all this stress.

Anyways, here are some more doodles: