I'm All Dolled Up!

shannonzann.com

2010-06-01T16:50:00.003+08:00

Hello dollies!

I won't be updating this site, but will be doing so at my other personal site instead.

Please go to shannonzann.com if you would like to read! =)

Do remember to grab the sale items at ADU!

Busy Bee

2009-10-26T14:11:00.009+08:00

Oops! It's been almost 2 months since I last blogged!

I've been real busy going for auditions, shooting, sourcing for clothes and preparing for launch, and of course going for church service, connect group etc etc.

Shooting (as in filming) is not just shooting, there's also the preparation to read/remember the scripts, work on the characters, rehearsals.

As I'm just starting out, I'm still mainly doing student films, low paid assignments, thus the need to really hone my skills and get more paid jobs so I won't have to dig too much into my savings monthly.

I'm really thankful for God, cause I've been really blessed with quite a number of short films (though mainly no/low pay), some corporate videos, and currently I'm doing school assembly shows, a short play which is showing next month, and a full fledged musical next year!

My dream is to do stage plays and especially musicals, and it's coming to pass! The main drawback is that there's a whole lot of work involved and the pay is crap. So I hope to do more screen work and hopefully TVC cause that's where the money is. Also, it'll be great if I can expand AllDolledUp's business. I don't wanna depend on my savings or just be glad to cover my basic expenses!!

In any case, as promised, here's some photos of the latest shoot that was wrapped last week.

With NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia masters students. The whole crew. The African-American guy in front is the director.

Me and my little co-actor who is my on-screen daughter. It was really really hot, and my friends who haven't saw me for 2 weeks asked if I went sun-tanning. =(

Me with the cameraman. And my bamboo bag - Tasha!

Thank You!

2009-08-31T23:53:00.003+08:00

Wow! We've got a record breaking number of unique visitors for today!! Thank you thank you for all of your interest and support! *beams*

You know, it really warms my heart to see all my efforts for AllDolledUp being appreciated, even if the people just like to browse and don't buy anything, cause there is a reason why you guys are drawn in and would keep checking back. I really thank every single one of you again! =D

Running an online shop isn't easy, contrary to what many people think. Just buy some clothes, take photos, do some layout, post them online.

Nahh, it's so much more than that. Without a passion for fashion and actually design as well, it's really easy to give up as a lot of time and energy are put in with marginal profits reaped. It's only when your customer base gets really huge and sales are in big volumes then it pays off well (in monetary terms), eg. Bonitochico.

I stayed up for the past 2 nights and slept at 6+am, just doing the layouts and retaking photos as some were blur or too small etc. So I'm really glad that the accessories collection can be launched this morning! I love the entire layouts and I hope all of you do as well!

Please do feel free to drop me a message or email to share any feedback on the website, on what clothes/accessories you would like to have. I will reply every single one of them!

Here's sharing a photo of my 'babies' when one of them had to be 'hospitalised' a few weeks ago..
The big guy's imac and the little one's ibook. I love apple! Haha.. Anyway I was doing a transfer of my files from imac to ibook as it refuses to respond. Thank God that it was eventually a ram issue and nothing to do with the harddisk so everything was back to normal for the big guy.

A reminder for all, remember to backup your files regularly!

Fashionista 2

2009-08-21T03:10:00.011+08:00

ADU will be going for a flea market this saturday! =D

What?: Fashionista 2 Flea Market
Where?: SMU Main Concourse (next to koufu and library)
When?: Saturday 22.08.09
Time?: 1pm to 8pm

Get some of our current items at special prices and be the first to see our new items!!

It has been a packed week.. Going for auditions, filming, clearing work (still have a last bit which I'm going back next week to finish up), observing a school program which I'll be doing part time training for, and of course, preparing for the flea market. Hence the lack of new items this week.

However, I've already planned for the next collection, which will be accessories! Vintage and brass rings and necklaces, metal bracelets, glass earrings etc etc. It's time to jazz up our clothes!

Do get your friends to sign up on the mailing list (on the website's left menu bar) so they don't miss out on the benefit for the next launch!

If you are around SMU this sat, do drop by to say hi! =)

Filming for Student Short Film

2009-08-14T01:42:00.002+08:00

I started filming today for a short film by a group of ITE College West (AMK) students who's doing their final year project. It was quite fun! Took a few behind the scenes photos, shall upload next week when I have time (handing over my work at my full time job next week!) and when I get their permission. Oops, realise I didnt take photos of myself with my camera, but they did take and will email me when they are able to.

Shall update again! Zzzzing..

ADU 08.08.09 Launched! / Crashed Comp

2009-08-08T23:11:00.004+08:00

My imac crashed when i woke up to publish ADU's pages for today's launch! Oh gosh, of all days.. At least thank God I had almost everything up already and I could use my bro's comp to go into the server. As of current, I'm still trying to back up my data to my ibook and external harddisk.. Using ibook now is also kinda testing my patience as the specs is much older and slower than the imac (plus all the transferring of data is slowing the other apps down), and the 12.1" screen is really tiny compared to the 20" imac!

In any case, the latest collection is launched! All items are imported and I love all of them! They are very easy to wear and the quality is superb. Plus, we hear you and prices are revised down! Except for some items as they are May's and I couldn't get direct info from her and edit the photos due to the comp crash. I'll try to key in the new prices w/o editing the photos when I get the info from her.

Let me show you my faves..
Ah, real hard to choose which are my faves cause every item has their unique points!

I also just remembered after seeing the photos that I've finally decided to 'show face'! Tough decision to make as there are varied views amongst friends, and personally I'm more shy and find it kinda weird to put myself up in public view. Also from my experience thus far, people either love or hate my look. Hence I'm concerned if customers would boycott ADU if they belong to the latter!

Anyhow, I hope the pictures look more complete w/o a chopped off head, and do remember to key in happy44th! to get 10% off your entire purchase!

Ruthie Henshall - Les Miserables

2009-07-30T23:51:00.005+08:00

Ah, what a beautiful voice Ruthie has, and she sings with utmost emotion! Wrings my heart and makes it stop beating every time I (re)play them..

If the above doesnt work (which I kept getting errors for), try the below..

On Leave

2009-07-30T17:40:00.003+08:00

I'm happy to be on leave today! And also happy that people are liking ADU's clothes! Thank you ladies!

On another note, May is no longer in ADU as she is very busy with her work and unable to spend time on ADU. We wish her all the best for her endeavours!

I chanced upon this concept called Restorative Justice (RJ), and am wondering how effective it is. RJ is basically a process where victims of crimes and offenders meet and hash things out, for the purpose of repairing the harm done and therapeutic healing (in my words).

Thus far, I'm reading many qualitative accounts on how RJ has helped both the victim and offender. Here is one of them: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3907255.ece

I heard that Singapore Girls' Home does something similar (like getting the girls' to write letters to the victims, but I'm not sure if they actually do send them out or is it for the therapeutic effect), but I've never used it in my own setting, well because we do not have the means to contact the victims and for any new program, especially one which could potentially have an impact in either ways, we'll need to have more research, awareness and support before the organisation can adopt it.

In any case, I would sure like to find out more about it.

Here's another link for anyone who's interested: http://www.restorativejustice.org/

Sneak preview

2009-07-24T23:38:00.007+08:00

I did the photoshoot for ADU 3.0 today! I hope I can launch it by sunday 5pm!

A sneak preview of 2 items I love! They're imported and of excellent material!

Okie doke, I'm going to sleep already.. This week has been really packed, what with musical theatre workshop, work (my full time job), bible study, cell group, ADU, researching for vocal instructor. Totally exhausted.

Have a great weekend and do join our mailing list to enjoy mailing listees only discount! =)

ADU 2.0 Faves / Musical Theatre Course

2009-07-22T20:52:00.005+08:00

Collection 2 was launched last sunday! Let me pick out a few of my faves!

I am a red person and what's more it comes with pretty flowers and butterfly!
Ooh, this is a classy piece as well, simple yet outstanding. That's how I want my life to be as well, simple, happy and honest, yet contributing much to society and making a difference in other people's lives. How about you?

I've been going for an intensive 5 half-days musical theatre course by Nicole Stinton. There's so much to learn and these 5 physically-draining half-days will just cover the tip of the iceberg! We have been learning to dance, sing and act (usually separately or at most 2 concurrently) and it's not just about the moves or the voice or the expression, but it's also about the history, the styles, the culture of the era, the character development, the theories etc etc. I've not studied much about performing arts before, only taken leisure workshops/courses, so I'm not all too familiar with them. Nevertheless, I love (watching) musicals and this course really brings me in to the world of musicals, albeit just barely passing the front door! 2 more days to go!

Housework and Bargain Finds Day

2009-07-16T19:09:00.007+08:00

I cleaned up a fair bit of my kitchen today! Sooo so satisfying to see that all the table tops and appliances are all pretty neat and tidy and free of dust, albeit for a short while only, as the air is quite still in my house, thus dust settles down very quickly.

I'm actually preparing to 'stay home' as I'll be clearing leave soon, so with more time being spent at home, I figured I should start cooking my meals! And no, my mum hasn't cooked for years hence I don't really want to use the existing appliances cause of their dubious conditions.. Haha..

With the need to cut down on expenses as I'll be tapping on my savings to last me at least 6 months after I quit my job while I work on ADU and other freelance/volunteer stuff, I was searching high and low for cheap appliances and there are some really good promos going around!

My bargain finds:
1) 1.8l Rice cooker / $19.90 / Shop & Save
2) 2.5l Thermal Pot / $24.90 with purchase of $15 in a single receipt / Shop & Save
* Both items are limited time promo and while stocks last

And just the other day, I got myself a garment steamer so I can iron ADU's clothes first before taking photos! I know, I dislike looking at photos of crumpled clothes too, but with so many clothes to take pics of, it'll take a long time to de-crease them using the iron and board method. But well, with the garment steamer, it'll be easier now! It won't be totally free of wrinkles, but it'll definitely look much better than w/o ironing!

Also, I've got so much (personal) clothes in my wardrobe that I have to fold/squash them in trays cause there's just no way to hang all of them! Thus they get all crumpled and being the lazy-to-iron-clothes me, you'll find me rotating my clothes quite frequentyly as they wld be the ones which are hanged up and in crease-less conditions. With the garment steamer, I can start wearing those forgotten clothes now.. Heh..

In case anyone wants to know about the garment steamer, info as follows:
1) Blue Sky Garment Steamer / $59.90 / Carrefour

Alrighty, I need to do the photos for the next collection! Hopefully it'll be up this weekend! =)

2009-07-11T13:11:00.002+08:00

Hello ladies!!

Our new website is launching tomorrow,12.07.09, at 12pm!

We have renamed it AllDolledUp and the website url is http://alldolledup.oursecrethaven.com/

I have been preparing for it on and off the past few months while juggling with work and other commitments and I'm so excited that its finally taking off!

I'm also currently serving my one month notice at work and clearing leave, hooray!

Do join our mailing list to be updated first hand yah! =D

2009-04-18T12:13:00.002+08:00

have you heard this?? Susan Boyle's voice is absolutely amazing!! this is a must watch and must hear!! =D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

hiatus

2009-04-07T21:46:00.003+08:00

so so sorry girls.. think OGM will go on hiatus for a while till i quit my job (probably around may/june) to take a break and pursue my interests - fashion blogshop and theatre acting!

im really unable to juggle the various commitments and OGM has to go down the priority list at this point in time.

in any case, i may put up mini launches when i have the time, and i will update all of u on the mailing list. so if you want to be notified, hop on to OGM's mailing list!

thank you all once again for your wonderful support! =D

time management

2009-03-24T22:32:00.003+08:00

we're still not able to put more time into OGM as we hope to be.. May lost her bag the other day, along with her thumbdrive which stores the photo layouts, so she's still finding time amidst her work to redo them. thank God she had her wallet and phone with her thus they were not stolen with the bag. im packed this week as well, so i figure we would only be able to launch our next collection earliest next week.

hmm, there must be a way where i can rearrange my schedule such that i can launch faster!

photos of my loot

2009-03-22T02:04:00.007+08:00

oops, i only found a few pics which actual items can be seen.. in bkk, i wanted to layout and photograph at the end of each day what i had bought for OGM, but there was really no time. i slept past 2am each night just to pack each day's purchases!

i absolutely love these vintage rings! bought necklaces too. all come in 1 piece only.

only the bag (in other colours) and the cross necklace are brought in for sale. these are my friend's actually.

i brought in the black tees in the peacock and other designs. these are my friend's one too!

by the boab tree

2009-03-20T13:31:00.020+08:00

i was reading kyurii's blog (i love their clothes though i havent bought from them before as its quite ex, and i think their model, Suyin is very pretty too!) and saw this song from the movie Australia, which Suyin posted.. first time im hearing it and i love the song! melts my heart.. enjoy!

i prefer another video, but the user for some unknown reasons has disabled embedding. click here to go direct.

By The Boab Tree

Sing and I will hear you
No matter where you are
A song to light the darkest night
And guide me from afar

And I will never be alone
Now I know you’re somewhere
You’re everywhere to me
You’re the colour in the sky
A reason to believe
And when the rain falls down
You tell a story
And I will hear you
Always near you
By the boab tree

Lay your arms around me
Like the falling rain
Let the feeling drown me
And life begins again

And I will never be afraid
Now I know you’re somewhere
You’re everywhere to me
The warming of the sun upon
The earth beneath my feet
And when the rain falls down
You tell a story
And I will hear you
Always near you
By the boab tree

Oh you are somewhere
You’re everywhere to me
You’re the colour in the sky
And you’re the earth beneath my feet
And when the rain falls down
You tell a story
And I will hear you
Always near you
By the boab tree

wonderful shopping trip!

2009-03-20T12:46:00.005+08:00

im back in sg! its been a great time shopping, i went crazy!! gosh, there are so many talented local aspiring designers and i love all their stuff! many of the items i brought back are so me (read: uneven asymetrical cuts). in uni days, my friends had joked before that my clothes are 破破烂烂 not because they're literally spoilt, but because they're cut in asymetrical/abnormal ways.

however, after i started work, i havent been able to wear too abstract clothes, plus they're usually more designer styles so its a bit more pricey. not that i bought the expensive ones in my school days though, but hmm i wonder where and how much i bought them last time..

anyway, back to the clothes! other than uneven cuts, there are also many funky tees, basic spags and cute dresses! some items only come in 1 piece due to no stock, most only a few pieces. i also bought a lot of accessories, vintage brass designs and cute doll characters, in necklaces, earrings, rings and hair clips. gosh, i love all of the items and i'm tempted to keep many for myself too!

i think i can do a few months worth of collections with my spoils! hahaha.. i don't think i took pics of the clothes i bought, but i'll see if i can find some pics of some of the shops..

MIA!

2009-02-16T20:26:00.003+08:00

Oops! I have been MIA for very long! So sorry girls!

Super busy with work and super unmotivated at work too. I'm making some changes so I can take a break and just rest and recharge and do things I like, especially spending time with God. I miss the hour long of praise and worship, prayer and bible reading in my room during the CNY holiday. I feel like I'm Martha in the bible, where I try to please Jesus by my works but I need to have a bit more of Mary, where I'm just by Jesus' side and adoring Him as He is.

Anyway, I know OGM has not been updated as frequently everyone would hope to be, May, my new partner, is kinda new to this and is learning the ropes. I'm caught up at work and also trying to get the new website running. It'll be a fresher and cleaner look and we'll also be changing our name to something more relevant, so keep your fingers clicking on OGM!

Thank you for all you lovely ladies' support! =)

2008-11-24T00:00:00.001+08:00

I just came back from the finale of Asia Conference 2008! It ran from 19-23 Nov 08 which I've attended everyday cept Sat due to our own church service. It was awesome and I'll try to post by this week some pictures I took with my handphone and perhaps even videos!

Am super tired already, slept bout 2am and woke bout 6+, 7am during the past few days.. sweet dreams!

Health

2008-10-19T22:54:00.003+08:00

I really think there's something wrong with my body. There are times when my lower back and neck aches really badly and it feels like they're going to break into half (or a third, considering there'll be 3 parts of me if my back and neck breaks). At times I think it's because my stomach is not filled thus I'm lacking in energy, but there are also times when I ate barely 3 hrs ago and I feel weak. It gets worse when I am walking a lot and especially travelling in cars/vans, and under a hot sun, I'm almost bound to get motion sickness and pukish.

I suspected before that I'm anemic or have low blood pressure or some sort of illness, cause I get giddy easily when I havent eaten for the day, but I did a body checkup in 2004 for my application to YMCA's ICCP (International Camp Counselors Program) and all was fine.

What's wrong with me????

So friends, pls do take care of yourself and exercise regularly!

Diet Coke and Mentoes

2008-10-15T00:51:00.004+08:00

This is really cool! Check it out!

My Grandparents

2008-10-09T23:06:00.002+08:00

Was on course from mon-wed, 9.30am-5.30pm. Some form of rare normalcy considering I knock off anytime between 6-10pm! I mean, a lot is to do with my choice but well.. =p

Since I'm off early, I decided to have dinner at my grandma's and visit them. I know my grandparents are very happy when they see their grandchildren, especially my brother and me as we live further away from the rest of our relatives and we don't see them often/regularly. I have been the see-once-a-year-during-CNY-granddaughter, and since this year, I made a commitment to try and visit them more often as I realise they are getting old and I do want to be part of lighting up their lives while I can. I know they are also very worried and sad about *them, so I hope to be able to support my grandparents as well.

Ah Gong and Ah Ma, I know you won't ever read my blog, but I still want to say here that I love you! Thank you for all your showers of concern, food, effort, time, love and much more, I just want you guys to be happy always =)

Light Filtration

2008-10-05T21:09:00.008+08:00

This is so cool! Notice the red and blue structures at the bottom left of pic. If you've pass by and saw this at Raffles City, you'll know what I mean!

The huge original poster on the wall:
The poster seen behind the red glass:
The poster seen behind the blue glass:

From my limited remembrance of science in my brain at this age, this is done using the properties of light, where the coloured glass is used as a diffusing medium and certain light wavelengths are absorbed (cannot pass through) and others can enter, thus creating the images that we see. (any science students pls??)

I forgot to take a pic of the description and meaning of the artwork, so based on my memory, the original picture depicts consumerism in developing countries, and the coloured images reveals the alternative lives and sufferings in 3rd world countries. (do correct me if I got it wrong)

Yea, most of us seldom see the other kind of lifestyles 3rd world countries are living as we are really very fortunate in Singapore and need to be . However I hope we won't view them through coloured lenses and discriminate them due to their poverty or standard of living.

Humanitarian ideas aside, I think the creator of the poster is super zai (outstanding).

OurGlassMansion 6.0

2008-10-01T10:54:00.006+08:00

OGM 6.0 has launched!

I love all the clothes I bring in (thats why I bought them mah), and I'm glad people feel the same way for a number of them too!

Though sometimes I do wonder why a few of my items are not sold when other blogshops selling the exact same thing gets sold out! It's really quite frustrating. I do post on LJ selling communites, friendster, facebook. God, help!

Below are just 4 designers who used belle curve styles in their latest runway collections! Very pretty silhouettes which brings out our womanly curves! OGM thus brought in a few pieces!

Driving

2008-10-01T10:26:00.003+08:00

Am supposed to be out jamming now but the studio was broken into last night! I hope not too many instruments and equipment were stolen and the owners will recover quickly =( .

My dad's coming back to sg today! Glad he's back, although I get to use his car when he's away! Haha.. I havent driven for at least like 6 mths - 1 year? And I usually drive my brother's car, so when I first drove dad's car the monday before, I was kinda nervous and kept praying for safety! If I 'buang' the car, the damages are gonna be greater than if I 'buang' my bro's! Well, I definitely abided by the saying that slow and steady wins the race although I can be quite a monster at times =P . Thank God I became more confident after driving a few more times during the past week, and I was zooming away more normally.

I really hate to be behind the wheel when its raining, cause I find it so hard to see the road markings and signboards! There was once in 2006 when I had to drive from pasir ris to novena, it was pouring elephants and I couldnt even see the car plate directly in front of me. Being an irregular driver and bad in directions, I was pretty lost, and murphy's law took over. I made a turn when I was not supposed to, went straight when I needed to turn (to go by another route), and guess what? I ended up at changi airport! DIAO... But really thank God for protection cause the roads were packed, I almost rammed into the road divider and made an emergency swerve, and thank God there wasnt any car beside, else I would have caused a major accident and pile-up.

Learnings of the day: Slow and steady wins the race! And safety first, not face!

3 Day Fast

2008-09-24T22:42:00.003+08:00

I just broke my 3-day fast!

No I'm not muslim though I am often mistaken as one.. haha.. Christians have fasting too as we want to put aside our fleshly desires and to pray and seek God. We definitely always pray to God even when we are eating normally, in addition, we especially fast and pray for important events/situations/challenges in our lives and that we want to hear from God/need God's special guidance.

It's amazing I lasted 3 days of fasting with no solid food and surviving only on liquid (think Ceres fruit juice, Campbell chicken soup, geylang soya bean - thanks to A and your pursuer! *winks*).

I get hungry very easily. On normal days, I get hungry by 11.30am, and get hungry again at 5pm after a good lunch at 1 pm. The hunger pangs churning in my stomach never fails to remind me about morning and afternoon tea breaks! Thus I have 1 entire drawer of my cabinet dedicated as my personal pantry. Gee, in uni days, I even had a nickname 'hungry ghost festival' coz I was always complaining of hunger and always munching away!

Thus it's precisely of this that I know it is God who is sustaining me and removing the hunger pangs - for 3 days. I'm praying for my family, as there was a huge saga on sunday and I was just crying almost the whole day. Crying while talking to them, crying (literally) to God desperately.

Dear Lord Jesus, thank You and I will testify of Your goodness. September 09 Lord.

Macdonalds' Breakfast

2008-09-20T14:02:00.003+08:00

Macdonalds' breakfast makes me happy!

In fact, most breakfasts makes me happy because I seldom eat breakfast. I would usually wake up and have just enough time to wash up, change, put on skincare and light make-up, and rush to work!

It's bad I know.. Trying to change my sleeping habits too to sleep early and wake early.. *yawnz*

Anyway, I tried Mac's mcgriddle for the first time and I think I shall stick to the normal mcmuffin. Somehow the mcgriddle has a texture and sweet taste and basically the whole combination of it all, that I found it hard to swallow (literally).

Oh well, one man's meat is another man's poison. And I quote from one of my customer, Michelle, "one woman's trash is another woman's treasure". Very true. =)

Why a Blogshop?

2008-09-16T00:06:00.004+08:00

A friend asked me why I wanted to set up a blogshop amidst a full time job and all.

Well, I would like to stretch my capacity and see how far I can go, to learn about doing a business without having to pump in a large capital for a physical shop and tons of goods, to just give a go at something which I might not do 10 yrs down the road, and basically to have fun coz I enjoy shopping too!

It's been a month+ since I launched OGM's first collection, and I realised there are a lot of God's principles which I can put into use to mold myself!

1 incident which left a deep impression in my heart is when this buyer did not make payment nor reply mail within 2 days after acknowledging my invoice, and I wrote to say I would be blacklisting her by a certain time if I do not hear from her. Within hrs, she replied and suffice to say, she did not purchase anything. I was quite disturbed for a while, wondering if I had done anything wrong, and I concluded that I could do with more of God's patience and love when dealing with her, and many others in future. That's not to say I can be taken for a ride, but I definitely could train my patience, sensitivity, love and more!

Do support OGM! =)

OurGlassMansion (OGM)

2008-09-10T02:16:00.003+08:00

Heyhey! Sorry havent update for so long.. I've been busy with my new blogshop OurGlassMansion! It's tiring juggling so many things, but its sure fun and I'm enjoying myself!

Pls do visit and support OGM!

Will update here again, I have many thoughts on my mind which I want to blog it down and share with you guys, but its quite late now and I have a meeting in the morning later!

Sweet dreams! =)

OGM 4.0 Launching 14.09.08, 3pm

2008-09-10T02:14:00.000+08:00

OGM 4.0 will be launching 14.09.08, this ~~Saturday~~ Sunday 3pm!

Expect chic working dresses and skirts!
For tallies, this is for you as longer dresses are brought in!
For petites, there are also dresses perfect for you!

Get ready!

OGM 4.0 launching soon..

2008-09-08T00:55:00.000+08:00

hi dearies!

OGM 4.0 will be launched mid-week! not sure of the exact day yet, but likely wed or thu..

it's been a busy week, my whole sat was helping out at a children's home fundraising carnival and it was fun doing lelong-ing and serving customers! heh.. also helped with a game stall and others, but my fave would really be the jumble sale. even since uni days where our society had fundraising, i loved giving tips and ideas on how to use the stuff that we are selling.

i would be linking up with my other blog for random ramblings soon, as soon as i clean the page up a little!

oh yes, im actually thinking of changing OGM's name as it was derived from my pre-loved sale site and i've had a few new names suggestions which i like more than OurGlassMansion. but im just wondering if its a good time now to change names as it might confuse current customers, however OGM is not that popular as yet so it'll be easier to switch as well. any feedback from any ladies?

thank you!

OGM 3.0 Photoshoot

2008-08-28T18:45:00.001+08:00

Hi babes!

I've done the photoshoot for OGM 3.0 already and I would be launching it by this week (Sunday, 31st August 08, 5pm), will post a preview by ~~friday~~ saturday! There's gonna be satin mini maxis and dresses, ruffled spagettis, flower tees and more!

Tell all your friends about it!

Get ready!

In anticipation,

Festival Of Praise 2008

2008-08-03T12:26:00.005+08:00

How many of you were at/going to FOP??

I went last friday with my church mates and it was awesome! We were there 45 mins early to change our special passes, and about 10 mins before the event started, a sudden feeling surged inside of me that this place is absolutely full of faith. I can't describe what that feeling of faith is, but it filled my entire heart and there was an excited expectancy for more of God.

Indeed, when the event started with the video and praise and worship, I was all ready to adore God and receive from Him. I raised up my hands all the way to heaven and jumped for what what seemed like eternity, and it was at least a year ago that I had done that. It was simply awesome!

After God brought me out of my previous church at my peak of service and ministry (being so involved in church - singing support, playing the lead in a musical, leading worship in cell group, being discipled, attending prayer services and cell groups, going for mission trips, helping out in events, going to disciple a child, going to play keyboard in service), I had a hard time adjusting myself in my new church, having to know new friends, not serving in the area which I love and felt I was good at, in fact not serving in church at all, feeling lost in the midst of hundreds of people in church.

Nevertheless, I believe God has a greater purpose for me, for He is the Lord my God, and He knows the plans He has for me, plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me a future and hope (Jeremiah 29:11). Since attending my current church, I have gained new revelations and new ideas especially for use in my work. It is not just about what I am good at anymore, it is also about what I can practically do and teach youths and bring them to God.

I digressed.

God graced FOP and He has drawn me closer to Him again. If you've missed it this year, mark your calendar for next year from 31 July - 2 August 2009!

Sumptuous Breakfast

2008-08-01T10:02:00.006+08:00

Hi friends!

Thank you all for the wonderful emails you've sent! Do keep them coming in, I appreciate your encouragements!

Today is a day where I turned up real early at work and made sumptuous traditional breakfast in office! Well, almost.. I wanted to do hard boiled eggs mixed with yoghurt as a spread for toasted bread, but the eggs turned out to be 3/4 boiled eggs so I beat them with pepper and soya sauce instead. I could do with plain toasted bread, so that's fine. But what would traditional breakfast be without a cup of hot coffee or tea?! Well, I couldn't find milk tea in my pantry, but there's the all time favourite milo!

As the folks say, eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a prince, and eat dinner like a pauper.

I'm building the Kingdom!

PS: I took a picture of my breakfast with my treo 680, will upload this sunday!
(updated: they say a picture paints a thousand words, I can only say this one doesn't justify that!)

The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination

2008-07-20T11:41:00.006+08:00

I just watched the video of J K Rowling's commencement speech at Harvard University's annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association (5 June 2008).

I very much agree with what she has said. It is also very inspiring to hear about her personal life experiences, her learning over the years, the kind of love for people and for life that she has, and the hope for future generations to change the world "if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless".

What better platform to share of humanity, hopes and burdens for a better world, than these Harvard graduates who will very likely be the change makers of their nations and effect the entire planet?

It is a must watch/read. The transcript is provided on the website, which I've also included below.

Get blown away!

**********

Copyright of JK Rowling, June 2008

President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates.

The first thing I would like to say is ‘thank you.’ Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I’ve experienced at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. A win-win situation! Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and fool myself into believing I am at the world’s best-educated Harry Potter convention.

Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility; or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in writing this one, because it turns out that I can’t remember a single word she said. This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in business, law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard.

You see? If all you remember in years to come is the ‘gay wizard’ joke, I’ve still come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock. Achievable goals: the first step towards personal improvement.

Actually, I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today. I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation, and what important lessons I have learned in the 21 years that has expired between that day and this.

I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called ‘real life’, I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.

These might seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but please bear with me.

Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become. Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.

I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that could never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.

They had hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature. A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parents’ car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.

I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Of all subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom.

I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. What is more, I cannot criticise my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience. Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools.

What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure.

At your age, in spite of a distinct lack of motivation at university, where I had spent far too long in the coffee bar writing stories, and far too little time at lectures, I had a knack for passing examinations, and that, for years, had been the measure of success in my life and that of my peers.

I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted and well-educated, you have never known hardship or heartbreak. Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment.

However, the fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you are not very well-acquainted with failure. You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success. Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average person’s idea of success, so high have you already flown academically.

Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.

Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. I had no idea how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.

So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.

Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above rubies.

The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.

Given a time machine or a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.

You might think that I chose my second theme, the importance of imagination, because of the part it played in rebuilding my life, but that is not wholly so. Though I will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp, I have learned to value imagination in a much broader sense. Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared.

One of the greatest formative experiences of my life preceded Harry Potter, though it informed much of what I subsequently wrote in those books. This revelation came in the form of one of my earliest day jobs. Though I was sloping off to write stories during my lunch hours, I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International’s headquarters in London.

There in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. I saw photographs of those who had disappeared without trace, sent to Amnesty by their desperate families and friends. I read the testimony of torture victims and saw pictures of their injuries. I opened handwritten, eye-witness accounts of summary trials and executions, of kidnappings and rapes.

Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to think independently of their government. Visitors to our office included those who had come to give information, or to try and find out what had happened to those they had been forced to leave behind.

I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness.

And as long as I live I shall remember walking along an empty corridor and suddenly hearing, from behind a closed door, a scream of pain and horror such as I have never heard since. The door opened, and the researcher poked out her head and told me to run and make a hot drink for the young man sitting with her. She had just given him the news that in retaliation for his own outspokenness against his country’s regime, his mother had been seized and executed.

Every day of my working week in my early 20s I was reminded how incredibly fortunate I was, to live in a country with a democratically elected government, where legal representation and a public trial were the rights of everyone.

Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans, to gain or maintain power. I began to have nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard and read.

And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before.

Amnesty mobilises thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.

Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s minds, imagine themselves into other people’s places.

Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathise.

And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.

I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.

What is more, those who choose not to empathise may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.

One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.

That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people’s lives simply by existing.

But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people’s lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden.

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.

I am nearly finished. I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. They are my children’s godparents, the people to whom I’ve been able to turn in times of trouble, friends who have been kind enough not to sue me when I’ve used their names for Death Eaters. At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.

So today, I can wish you nothing better than similar friendships. And tomorrow, I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom:
As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.
I wish you all very good lives.
Thank you very much.

Opening of MyGlassMansion!

2008-07-20T00:42:00.002+08:00

I've finally launched my blogshop, MyGlassMansion, on 1st July 08 after thinking about it since from the beginning of the year at least! It's where my pre-loved clothes/items can find new owners!

However, coming from a perfectionistic background, I was editing and fine-tuning for about a week before I decided to just go ahead and advertise on SGFleaMarket as it will never be perfect!

And now I've also decided to launch a blog to share some nuggets of my life with friends of MyGlassMansion and basically anyone who is interested!

So do bookmark this page and check back weekly!