Why Would I Write

Category: Random

  • The Internet

    The internet is a wonderful tool. Because of the internet, I can work from anywhere. From the office, from home or from my favorite cafe. In a car, bus or plane – the internet allows me to get my work done. I just get online and I’ll be able to download the files I need to work with. I can send out emails on the go, all I need to do is get online by connecting to my phone’s hotspot or a public wifi network. It’s wonderful – when you realize that you need to make some changes to a document while on the commute to your next meeting, or while taking a shit in the toilet. The internet makes all this possible.

    No more expensive phone calls when you need to speak to colleagues or clients who aren’t in the same country. If you want videos or photographs to make the message clearer, that works too. Just launch your camera and hit send. The internet makes it all possible. I can work from anywhere.

    The internet is a wonderful tool. Because of the internet, I am expected to work everywhere. Even while I’m on holiday a thousand miles away from the office. If there’s a deadline, it doesn’t matter what time zone I’m in. The recipient will be able to read what I send them immediately because they’ll have access to the internet on their phones too. In a car, bus or plane – the internet requires me to get my work done. I’ll get online and send them the files I’ve been working on, no excuses. If there’s no internet connection where I am or I don’t have access to a local SIM card, there’s a thousand free wifi hotspots I can access to make sure my work gets sent out on time. It’s wonderful – when you realize in the middle of a nice dinner that you’ve forgotten to make some changes to the last revision you sent out. You can easily change it and send it out again. The internet makes all this possible.

    No more expensive phone calls means that colleagues or clients will want to get in touch with you, even when you aren’t in the country. And there’s no reason to miss a call because you’re always connected. You also have videos and photographs to make your message clearer. The internet makes all this possible. I am expected to work everywhere.

  • The Little Prince – an imaginary person or undead space traveler?

    Note: this post contains spoilers for the book The Little Prince.

    So today I finished reading The Little Prince for the very first time. It was an enjoyable read, filled with words of wisdom throughout its pages. Also, like Adventure Time and Spongebob Squarepants – it has something for everyone.

    I loved how the writer managed to invoke the feelings of childlike wonder with his choice of words and writing style. The cute illustrations accompanying the text are also a treat to look at. I will never view a drawing of a hat the same way again. However, the end of the book raised some questions for me.

    (more…)

  • Let’s do it again

    2 years ago, I didn’t know what to expect when I decided to join Big Bad Wolf Books as a purchaser. It turned out to be one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Scratch that – it became my life. Nothing prepared me for the job. I didn’t have any experience purchasing books in the past, and all I knew about books were my limited knowledge of authors in genres I was familiar with and some of the bigger names. I had to learn everything from scratch.

    It was a trying time in my life. I ended up sacrificing a lot of personal time in order to finish my work, and while I don’t regret it, I realized that it wasn’t something that I wanted to do anymore. Also, the thought of going through sales data to see whether a book was worth purchasing didn’t exactly pique my interest after the first year. Still, I held on and decided to see if things would get better.

    2 months ago, I decided that this was it for me and I didn’t want to continue working in the industry. It’s not that I don’t love books, (fun fact, I love books but haven’t had the time to read much since I started working with books) but I realized that purchasing them wasn’t my thing.

    I’m a fiend for creating stuff. Be it random blog posts like these, song lyrics or stories in general. Heck, even writing press releases and speeches were the most interesting part of the job for me when I was working in PR.

    I’m going to miss the purchasing trips to the UK and US. Despite not having free time to do any exploration or touristy activities, remainder book suppliers are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. I’ll miss the nice dinners and drinks with them. Easily the best part of the job.

    Thursday was the last day of my tenure at Big Bad Wolf Books. It was a pleasure to meet and work with you guys. All the best to the you guys and all your events in the future. I’ll definitely be dropping by the KL sale to restock my library that I’ll have time to actually finish the books I’ve bought from the sales over the past 2 years.

    Today marks the return of my Lubuntu laptop (farewell office laptop, you were a wonderful machine to use).

    Also, this blog post is all over the place, but whatever. Treat this post as a free-writing exercise I’m doing. I haven’t sat down to write in a long time and this post marks my return. I’ll definitely have more time to collate my ideas and write more meaningful posts starting again (at least until I get another job).