whimsy

Text reads: Deodo-rant. Background contains a woman showing her armpit.

Deodo-rant (aka I may or may not have crafted a blog post based on a pun)

I don’t know who needs to hear this but your natural deodorant does not work. Everyone is just being exceedingly polite to you.

Okay, I’m sure natural deodorants do work really well for some people. As in, work right away – when they’re supposed to. None of this “you need to detox your armpits for 7 to 28 days” BS. Seriously, do y’all not have jobs or classes or literally anything that requires you to interact with another human?

But if you’ve found a winning natural deodorant, more power to you. I’ve just encountered a lot of natural deo wearers who somehow managed to reek every day by 9.30am whilst working in an air conditioned office. Obviously I never said anything to them, since I’m all about that “avoid conflict in the moment and just post passive aggressively on the internet many years later” life.

I’ve also tried a couple over the years, but they gave me dermatitis before I even got to the stage of testing it during an intense workout or stressful situation. Plus, they left an annoying residue everywhere.

But I’m more open than the tone of this blog post might suggest.

Personally, I’d love to find a reliable natural deodorant that doesn’t burn my skin, stick to my clothes or leave white marks all over me.

Not because I have any concerns about putting aluminum next to my boobs or on my pores or whatever. “Natural” doesn’t automatically equate to “good”, and I’m perfectly happy to roll on some antiperspirant for the rest of my life unless my actual physician tells me I need to stop.

My main interest in natural deodorant is that a lot of them seem to come in packaging that’s either biodegradable or easily reusable and recyclable. And that’s something I can definitely get behind.

Just not the stinking and burning.

Just Feb 14 things

I’ve never been much into Valentine’s Day. Maybe because I’m a perennial spinster at this point. Which is not a bad thing – I fully intend to rock some silver pigtails like an ageing Wednesday Addams someday.

But I will happily take your heart-shaped chocolates. Or any shaped chocolates. Mama don’t discriminate. 😉

No V-Day celebrations for me though. I just had an ordinary day at work. Busy and okay. Chocolate-less apart from my morning mocha.

February 14 is also the Australian Library and Information Association’s Library Lovers’ Day. Since working in academic and special libraries, I haven’t really celebrated it, other than to pop into local public libraries to see what displays they’ve got. “Blind date with a book” is always a winner.

Just get a library card, folks. It’s a great gift to yourself. Once you get the card, you don’t even need to physically enter the building if you don’t want to because, hello, eResources.

You can read up on interesting tidbits like how Captain Cook was stabbed to death after attempting to kidnap the ruling chief of Hawai’i. On February 14, 1779.

Or that YouTube was launched on February 14, 2005. Unfortunately too late to save me from horrendously cutting my hair. These days I could just search “how to cut your own emo fringe” but alas, not in the 90s and early 2000s.

I guess what I’m saying is February 14 is a lot of things, and means a lot of different things, and also nothing at all.

Probably didn’t warrant a whole-ass blog post but if you’re down here, you still read it. 😛

PS. 9 years ago, I wrote The History of February 14, a flash fiction story for Every Day Fiction. It’s not necessarily something I’d write now… I penned a whole bunch of second person stories around that time because I was trying too hard to be edgy or something… but this was probably one of the better ones. You can check it out on the Every Day Fiction website and let me know what you think.

November, schmovember…

Another year almost gone and still no hand sanitiser sponsorship. C’mon, how much alcohol does a girl need (to rub on her hands) to get a break around here?!

But in all seriousness… it’s late November. Already.

November always ends up being pretty busy despite my best intentions. I guess it’s been like that since I was a student and most of my final exams would be in November (in Australia, the school year lines up with the calendar year). Now that I’m a professional (ha!) it seems to be the time of year where everyone starts realising they need XYZ before Christmas. And then there’s preparing (physically and mentally) for the end-of-year events that come thick and fast in December.

I actually had the first of my end-of-year gatherings over the weekend just gone, but it was just a small picnic in the park, nice and chill.

I’ve never liked crowds, even pre-pandemic, but I did go see Guns N’ Roses recently (masked up). And I’m glad I did – it was a fun Friday night. I mean, it was freezing… even in my hoodie, raincoat, hat and mask. There was also a sprinkling of November rain, but not during the song of the same name. Bruce Springsteen still holds the record for the longest concert I’ve ever attended (3.5 hours), but GN’R were pretty close.

A lot of us writers also attempt NaNoWriMo in November. I didn’t give it a crack this year but if you did, I hope you’ve made some progress on a manuscript.

For this writer… well, my firstborn novel, Black and Blue, turned one at the beginning of the month. Doesn’t seem that long ago but they grow up so fast, don’t they?

A paperback copy of Black and Blue by Lee-Ann Khoh stands next to a powdered sugar layer cake decorated with flowers and birthday candles. — Book and cake! All the important things.
Image credit: AllAuthor.

And yes, I’m being facetious – I know books are not the same as actual children, calm your farm. 😛

But yeah, it’s been a nice year of… not being a liar if I decide to set my Facebook page and Instagram profile categories to “Author”. 😄

Book 2 is coming… eventually. A few people have asked me about a sequel, but this one’s a standalone at this point in time.

Other formats of Black and Blue are also on the horizon but I don’t have release dates yet.

50 cups of coffee can’t be wrong?!

Y’know, I never used to like coffee.

Yeah, yeah, sacrilege, whatever.

I think the first time I tasted it was when I took a sip of whatever my dad was drinking at my grandmother’s house in Malaysia. It was probably Kopi-O or something like that. Regardless, it was too bitter for this little Aussie girl’s palate.

Aside from coffee cake and various coffee flavoured things that were more sugar than coffee, I don’t think I had coffee again for over 10 years.

I started drinking it a bit when I was pulling all-nighters to finish assignments. Which I don’t encourage, of course, but it’d be hypocritical of me to tell you not to do it.

When I started working at my current job, I was mostly opting for a hot chocolate and the occasional mocha. Post-lockdown, the balance tipped towards the mocha and now the barista no longer needs to ask me what I want.

I mean, it’s basically the best of both worlds (espresso and chocolate). Can’t overdo it though – too much caffeine is bad for my anxiety and gives me heart palpitations. 😛

But I feel vaguely incomplete if I don’t have one in the morning. Kinda like when I want to read on the train and realise at the station that I’ve left my book or eReader at home.

(I did just google “caffeine addiction” and I don’t get the listed withdrawal symptoms that came up if I don’t have a morning coffee, so I think we’re good for now.)

I’ve seen some writers define themselves as creatures who turn coffee into words. Some replace “coffee” with “tea”, but it’s rare to find a writer/author who drinks neither. I’m partial to both at different times of the day.

Honoré de Balzac allegedly drank 50 cups of coffee a day and was crazy prolific in his lifetime. That lifetime was only 51 years but the average life expectancy in 19th century France (or 19th century anywhere) wasn’t terribly high. But the rumoured Balzac method sounds like an excellent way to break your toilet and die of a caffeine overdose. Do not recommend.

Besides, I can honestly say I haven’t noticed any difference to my writing output or quality from caffeine. It might help me feel more equipped to deal with certain social or professional situations, but I don’t think it’s made me a better (or worse) writer. Your mileage may vary. 😉

Anyway, if you’re looking for some reading material over your next coffee/tea break, there’s a teeny mention of me in Books+Publishing’s recent Hybrid publishing in Australia article — and a fair bit about Book Reality and Leschenault Press, i.e. the publisher of Black and Blue. Definitely worth a read if you’re a writer who’s interested in going indie. And I’m happy to chat to anyone about my own experiences. 🙂

Stuck in a rut

I’m in a bit of a rut.

Not a “depressed” rut (been there). I’m actually pretty good.

My job fulfils me. My family is great. My circle of friends is small but meaningful and that’s how I like it. And NCIS, a show I’ve grown up with and is basically a family friend at this point, just got renewed for Season 20.

In short, I’m happy.

It’s more of a “why aren’t I achieving more with my life?” rut. A “someday I’ll be old and I want to be better than I am today” rut.

I’m often tired.

I’m not reading anywhere near as much as I want to or should. (Related to the tiredness thing.)

I feel like I’m not making progress on Book #2.

Sometimes I think it’d be cool to take up [insert hobby here] but then I don’t get started or follow through.

Or I think about how I wanted to be a cartoonist with a syndicated comic strip when I was a kid and wonder why I stopped drawing altogether.

Rut-a-tut-tut.

I’m sure I’ll get unstuck but right now, I’m just typing it out.

And maybe taking a nap.

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