My claypot fish-head

Yum yum :D

Just wanted to post this ‘cos I’m happy about it :P

I tried it once as just a way to finish up some cauliflower (had to ask my mother what to put in), but it turned out so good that I decided to make it again even though I have no cauliflower left :P Of course, lazy-ole-me didn’t deep-fry the fish first :P

Oh yeah, and this time around I put in an egg as well...because I just broke an egg (don't ask me for details) If you click on the picture to see the bigger version, you might notice the pieces of egg. And it wasn't such a bad thing after all...I think I'll put in egg next time as well!

Is a reason necessary?

Been reading a bit of Detective Conan lately. I can't believe I've actually gotten hooked on a comic series other than Doraemon. :P But it's really pretty close to Sherlock Holmes, I guess. And I just came across a pretty philosophical quote in the series that justifies its worthiness. ;)

Now Conan, like any self-respecting detective, never stands by and let the criminal commit suicide. That's nothing surprising. But what I wanted to share is what he said after saving a serial killer's life.

The serial killer asks him, "Why did you save me?"
And his reply: "Is a reason necessary? I wouldn't know the motives for a person killing another, but as far as helping a person is concerned, why should there be a logical mind?"

Macaroni bake

Just thought I'd share this "recipe". It actually comes from Hidayah, and is oven-baked, but since I don't have an oven, I used a microwave (on half power)

It's pretty easy, the only "difficulty" is that you need to cook three different things in all.
One: the macaroni
Two: the meat
Here I used minced beef stir-fried in oyster sauce and black pepper. (Hidayah's dish used minced beef cooked in curry) I have also tried it with tomyam paste, and am thinking of putting in tuna next time.
Three: the final dish
Mix macaroni, meat and eggs and bake in oven (or microwave) The last time I microwaved a small portion for 5 minutes, this time I made a bigger portion and some parts were still slightly watery after 7 minutes. But slightly cooked egg can be eaten as well (think half-boiled egg), so it doesn't really matter.

And ta-dah! (well, it doesn't look tremendously appetizing, but it isn't too bad either, is it?)As you can see on the photo, it can be cut like a pie ;) Sorry about the low quality of the photo, but I was too lazy to get out my camera, so I took it with my phone.

Oh yeah, and I said "recipe" 'cos it isn't really one; you have to figure out the quantities yourself! :P

If you like cheese you could put some cheese on top, especially if you're using an oven. Then the cheese will make a nice crust (I think!)

Anyway, that gives me an extra meal option...now I'm thinking that I could probably do it with leftovers as well...in which case I'd only need to cook macaroni and put everything into the microwave.

Am I talkative?

I was voted 3rd most talkative on Facebook. Two people voted for me! I wonder who... Uh...do you really think I'm that talkative? lol

(for those who don't know this Facebook application, it's not really accurate...it's just based on how many people happened to say that you're more *something* than someone else, in this case, *something* is talkative)

James Blunt trivia

I never thought I'd post pop star trivia, but I heard this anecdote while listening to NRJ (a French radio station) It seems that James Blunt used his NRJ music award to chase away a thief who entered his hotel room. The DJ was swearing that it's true ("je jure sur ma tête..." was the expression he used) so I searched on the internet and found this article:

JAMES BLUNT BASHES BURGLAR WITH AWARD

Hmm...how I wish I could win an award...it'd be a great weapon! lol

Webster

In the Middle Ages, when last names such as Baker and Taylor reflected a person's occupation, what did "Webster" indicate?
A- Weaver
B- Miner
C- Writer
D- Weapon-smith

Answer below, in tiny font.






The correct answer is *A*
A female weaver. A male weaver was called Webb.

L'importance de l'orthographe

Je gagnerai jamais cette bataille. Mais voici un autre exemple: aujourd'hui j'ai reçu la newsletter associative de l'INSA. Ils l'ont envoyée deux fois parce que la première était illisible. Le titre du premier mail était:

newsletter associative - Des laveries (ou pas) et nos voeux

D'accord, c'est le titre de la newsletter. Très bien... Et le deuxième titre?

Newsletter associative - des laveries et des voeux (version qui mache...)

Noooon! J'en veux pas!!!

Bien sûr qu'ils voulaient dire version qui marche...
(on pourrait aussi dire que ce n'est pas mâche, donc le mot n'existe pas, mais quand je vois un mot qui devrait avoir un accent dessus mais qui n'en a pas, j'attribue le manque à la flemme...)

Okay, translation time ;P
Those in red are the titles of e-mails I received. They're from the INSA newsletter. The first one is just the title, but since the first e-mail was unreadable, they sent it a second time, and they added "version that works" in brackets. But instead of writing marche, which means "to work", they wrote mache, and mâche means to chew. Well, I don't want to be chewed!

The contraction of must not is musn’t!

And not mustn’t, even though we see it more and more often nowadays.

Even Oxford says that the right form is mustn’t (it doesn’t have musn’t) but still... I beg to differ.

Yeah, I know that is not becomes isn’t and was not becomes wasn’t. The two words are put together and the o is replaced by an apostrophe. But what about can’t, won’t and shan’t? They’re cannot, will not and shall not, and they do not follow that rule! And we all know that there are lots of exceptions in English, so musn’t is simply one of them!

The problem is that we find mustn’t very often. Way too often, in my opinion. (the same way that appears too often instead of who)

So here’s my theory: musn’t is used less often than can’t, and the misspelling doesn’t change its pronunciation. (unlike shan't and won't) So people misspell it, again and again, until it becomes the norm. And what about Oxford? I’d say that it got tired of correcting people, and decided to adopt the if you can’t beat them, join them attitude. In that case, shame on Oxford!

For the occasion, here's a quote that I absolutely agree with:
Ce n’est pas parce qu’ils sont nombreux à avoir tort qu’ils ont raison. -Bernard Werber
(Just because everyone else is wrong doesn't make them right)

(I wrote a short paragraph about musn't vs mustn't half a year ago.)

My number one job

I just took a right job/wrong job test, and this was on the top of my report:

Wee Pin, based on your unique skill set, the #1 right job for you is a:

Cook / Chef

Avg. salary: $29,000 - $34,000

Your runner-up jobs are:	Avg. salary:
Civil engineer	$83,000 - $95,000
Firefighter	$27,000 - $45,000
Optician	$31,000 - $42,000
Home builder	$38,000 - $48,000
Computer network specialist	$92,000 - $145,000
Forest worker	$44,000 - $64,000
Graphic artist	$62,000 - $81,000

Cook / Chef ?
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ...

Actually I didn't even notice my #1 job at first. I first noticed the table and saw that it started with an engineering field, and I told myself: I'm on the right track. But then I saw that those were runner-up jobs...and Cook / Chef is number one!

Hmm hmm...so what do I do now? lol

Edit: Oh yeah, the report also told me that
if you want to avoid your wrong Job, don't be a:

Security Officer

Oh, okay. No problem. ;P

Euripides

Just wanted to share this joke ;)
(I don't really know who Euripides is, and I don't really care :P)

A man brings a pair of torn pants to a Greek tailor. The tailor takes a look at them and says, "Euripides?"

The man answers, "Yes. Eumenides?"