Geeky WoW Post :P

http://the4thwall.livejournal.com/10749.html

Decided to just link it because well, it's a) picture heavy and b) totally geeky lah!

Fed Up

I'm just have had FUCKING it with the work politics.

The background...

I'm working in a pretty established and awesome company, doing events planning and management. I have a fantastic GM, and her dad who is the MD is prety nice too. I mean, he got a box of godiva chocs as a gift and proceeded to walk round the office feeding everyone! Lol.

But my peer, who is also the default head of the dept. , is a perfectionist bar none when it comes to work. I won't go into the little office politics she's done yet.

I engaged my best friend. Yes I can hear the choruses of "NOOOO!!!" coming from all you silent readers out there. I know the time worn cliches about "friends can't be colleagues" and all that. I still made the choice and was prepared to live with it. We both know and understand our shortcomings, he knows my temper and how I handle things and for me, I need a good friend in the office to back me up from time to time. He's creative if not derailed, hardworking if not stressed. Well, whatever.

My best friend was hired into a position I myself held 4 years back. I was prepared for him to stumble around for awhile before he eases into it. Despite him having had some background previously, I knew it was not as extensive as this one and I was prepared to make up for his shortfalls come whatever they may.

What I was NOT prepared for nor forsaw...

My fellow peer and manager, aka the Lesbian, making life hell for him. I mean, you put a perfectionist together with a scatterbrain like my best friend and all drama breaks loose. I should have forseen this right? In this case, frankly I'm being made to be the biggest fool of all.

It doesn't help that another colleague, hired into the same position as my best friend, has performed and outstripped him in every way imaginable. She's conscientious, bubbly, cheerful, initiative-driven, takes responsibility for her work, looks out for her manager (the Lesbian) and even takes the car out and drives round for events and such. Essentially, the dream executive one should have hired.

Things are coming to a head whereby reviews are pending. My GM told me expressly that my best friend goes (nobody is the office is wise to exactly HOW good friends we are) only on my say so. On the other hand the Lesbian is pushing to hire a new executive and has already started interviews!

One comment made by the Lesbian which was rather chilling, "He is pulling your peformance down".

I dread coming to work these days. Losing a big account over the weekend didn't help matters, but my boss was very reassuring and told me to overlook it, she definitely does. My position in the company is pretty much stable and I'm being tasked to plan somethig for next June.

But the tension between my best friend and the Lesbian is so palpable, get a headache just thinking about it. I know where she's coming from, she has every right to be as demanding and bitchy as she is. I can't really make a beef about setting high standards and structures. Unfortunately it's often seemed to be targeted at my best friend. And despite his constant assurances that he will do better, it's simply just not happening.

A good friend once commented "If you chose to hire your best friend, you have to face the fact that you have to fire him as well".

Transient Life

Just found out that 2 people I knew previously, one an ex-colleague/dance friend and the other my ex employer, both passed away recently.

It's a huge shock. Both were in the prime of their lives. One's a star performer, up and coming and the other has been credited with founding Fridae.

It really goes to show you shouldn't take those around you for granted.

In remembrance of Ishi.

In remembrance of Robert Yeo

Missing You, Mum

I remember when you used to tuck me in at night
With the teddy bear you gave me that I held so tight
I thought you were so strong you'd make it through whatever
It's so hard to accept the fact that you're gone forever

I never knew I could hurt like this
And everyday life goes on I wish
I could talk to you for awhile
Miss you but I try not to cry
As time goes by

And it's true that you've reached to a better place
Still I'd give the world just to see your face
And be right here next to you
But it's like you're gone to soon
Now the hardest thing to say is
Bye

Regret

At the risk of sounding emo, I will confess to something.

I broke down and cried in the shower today.

Exhaustion from 4 days out in the f**king field, haven't eaten all day today due to the craziness of out process, frustration from things on the work front, the pain of seeing my mum go through cancer & chemo treatments, the simple happiness of seeing my Ah Boy again, the solitude of being by one's self.. everything just broke through and I cried.

The past few weeks have been tumultous. I've experienced rage, disappointment and regret both in my personal life and at work. I felt achievement for my efforts during reservist, but prior to that I nearly screamed in sheer frustration while pushing myself to my physical & mental limits. I was proud over the change in me from what I was 2 years ago, I felt ashamed for my lack of progress (regress even) in other areas.

The shock of feeling the exquisite pain (of loss?) when confronted by my ex's flat when dropping off a campmate was not something I was prepared for. He committed suicide a couple of years ago and it was surreal walking up the stairs to his flat. Don't ask me what drew me there but facing that empty well of loss at my feet, I felt regret. I went home laden with heavy thoughts and feelings. Once again I asked myself what I could have done and that blank wall of non-answers was as solid as ever.

I feel like I'm desperately grasping for resolve & strength to push on, with anything but it's so tempting to just bow down, give up and just not be.

This is not a cry for help, but then again, if I needed to, would I know how?

Shut The Fucking Hell Up Lah!

Every local media is bombarding us non stop on why it's good to increase the fucking MP's salaries, we have our pathetic Teo CH's lame excuses and justifications on how the benchmarks are fair and "transparent", we have bootlickers like Irene Ng and Vivian gagging to praise their overlord to the fucking high heavens non stop, and we have the 147th describing in breathless detail on how our queeny PM "spoke in a choked and emotion-filled voice" to let us know if we don't pay his greedy cohort enough, he might be without a job?!

WHAT-FUCKING-EVER LAH!

As if we don't know it's a bloody forgone conclusion already. It was the same with the casinos (call it whatever they want, its a fucking casino at the end of the day!), it was the same with the HOTA & that poor Mr Sim's family issue, it was the same with the GST increase. IT WILL ALWAYS BE THE FUCKING SAME DEAL over and over again so shut the fuck up I don't need to hear any more about it.

But just for good ol' nostalgia's sake, here's ANOTHER exampled on how our idiotic despots have to eat their words over and over again.

"Political entrepreneurs needed for success : SM", 147th The Straits Times, 02 Nov 1994


Qute : "At the end of the day, it is $5 million more. What on earth are we arguing about?"

It was now time to abandon tradition and opt for a new method of paying ministers, he declared.

He predicted that in five to 10 years' time, the benchmark formula would have succeeded and would be accepted as conventional wisdom, just as other policies pioneered by Singapore ministers had been adopted by other countries....

....'There can be no end to this argument. I read what Walter Woon says - let's have a referendum.

"The people at large...Are they in a position to judge? Is it within their range of experience? I have been through this life and had I lived a different life in Lee & Lee, I would never have this experience.

"Because I have gone through this, I say 'do it'. I am in a position to judge.

"I say I am prepared to put my experience and my judgment against all the arguments the doubters can muster.

"In five to 10 years, when it works and Singapore has got a good government, this formula will be accepted as conventional wisdom."

---------------------------------------------------------
It's 13 fucking years later and your people are still not happy. Our elderly have to work as cleaners in public toilets, pick up cardboard and used cans to make a living, people are choosing to die on MRT tracks every other week because f your outdated conventional wisdom. You were boycotted by Australia's politicians and booed by cohorts of truly intellectual students. You are a has-been so shut the fuck up, Lee Kuan Fucking-Yew.

Fuck You, Advertising Industry.

Dear Advertising Industry,

I am the new consumer, and you are wasting my time.

You've been wasting my time for many years now, and I've finally gotten tired of it; so tired that the time has come to introduce myself to you, because it is clear you have no idea who I am.
Therefore, I'd like to take a few minutes to set you straight.

I don't care about you. At all.

Occasionally, you may amuse me with your clever commercials. Once, I remember pausing at a particularly beautifully-shot magazine ad... though I can't tell you which one it was, because every day I'm bombarded by beautifully-shot magazine ads, and they've all become a blur of nothingness. And that's the reality of it for you, right there in a cozy little nutshell: advertising is just one big blur of nothingness.

Your response has been at once predictable and utterly mystifying. You believe that shoving more and more advertising at me is going to make me sit up and take notice. It's such a flawed methodology that I can't help believing you are all out-of-touch dunderheads waving your arms in a hysterical frenzy of ignorance. Just who are you targeting with your ad-heaped-upon-ad approach? Surely not me, because I gave up paying attention a long time ago. I have far too many other diversions to capture my attention.

I am the new consumer. Ten minutes of searching on the web taught me more about the product you're flogging than entire campaigns you've created over a ten-year span. Did I spend those ten minutes combing through your minutely-designed interactive Flash website? Dream on. I went to the source: the people that have already used your product, and have something to say about it. And the really real kicker? It wasn't your ads that introduced me to the product in the first place!
Someone on a blog mentioned using it, and since she and I share a lot of likes and dislikes, I figured I'd check it out.

You people make no sense to me. Are you really that entrenched, that disconnected from reality? How do you manage to convince companies that they need you and your idiotic, pointless, instantly disposable ads? If you're so elite, so godawfully cool, how is it you've managed to drift so far from the cutting edge of culture? Is it possible that you're pretty much the animated corpse of years past? A ghost of 1950, come to haunt the people of the present?

I am the new consumer. I only buy the things that matter to me, the products that speak to me. Do you want my business? I believe you do not. If you did, you would come searching for me - and you would find me. In this hyper-connected world, there is absolutely no excuse for the inability to discover and ferret out people like me, the new consumers. What excuses do you offer for failing? If I can find you when I want to, why can't you find me when you want to?

It is my opinion that you have become meaningless in today's cultural climate. You, the advertising industry, are a dinosaur past your time on earth.

Not only are you meaningless, you're far too cocky for your own good.

You waste my time, yes; but that isn't so horrible by itself. Lots of things waste my time. I waste my own time... but I do it on my own terms, because I enjoy wasting my time, and I waste my time by doing the things I like to do. On the other hand, you waste my time... and in the process, you treat me like an idiot, which only goes to show just how out of touch you really are.

I guess I'll be the one to announce it. I am far from the mindless sheep you expect me to be. I am savvy. Sophisticated. Networked. I know more about what I want than you do, and your attempts to force-feed me crap do not work. No ad you create is going to sway my opinion. I might chuckle; odds are, I won't pay any attention. Do you want to know a secret? If I'm not TiVo-ing, I'm muting when the commercials come on. And I'm not watching much TV anyway, you'll notice. There are far too many other interests for me to pursue, and television is just a mindless exercise in winding down before I go to bed. Emphasis on the mindless; I am divorced from television, and don't really care about those ads.

You don't provide me with anything. Your advertising may as well be a void to me. Do I come to you, asking about the products you're hawking? Do you really think I remember the products you hawk in the first place? Please. Give me more credit than that; I am an active consumer, and haven't a bit of passivity left in my pinkie to offer you. Feed me your lines, and I'll just puke them back up, covered in vitriol.

You are out of touch, advertising industry. You show no interest in moving on, of adapting to my needs. That is why you are failing. I am the new consumer, and if you want me, you have to engage with me. You have to come to me, and you have to do it on my terms. I am far more intelligent and informed than you, and I am in control. Until you believe that - until you own that - you are worthless.

You want me to buy things. You tell your clients that you can convince me to buy. You lie to them, and they pay you for your lies.

Products have become extraneous. This is a me-too climate, where everything looks the same and does the same thing. Your response? To promote that mentality by producing even more me-too advertising. You talk of differentiation, but you don't walk the walk. You aren't willing to break out of the me-too mold, and that is why I do not care about you. I am an individual, but you can't grasp the concept of the individual, much less the reality of the individual. When will you learn? "Lifestyle branding"? Puh-leaze. You can't even be bothered to talk to me about my lifestyle, much less provide me with anything I want. You still think showing me pictures of pretty girls wearing pretty clothes is going to make me buy a watch, or a bottle of beer, or a new pair of pants. You have never been so wrong. I'll look at the pretty girls, I promise. But when I'm done, I'm going to go and search for the pretty girl in your ad, not the product you're selling.

Bombarding doesn't work; pushing your products on everyone from trailer homes to multi-million dollar mansions is not effective. You want me? You have to come and get me, and that means a radical shift in the way you do things. Until you can admit that we are a fragmented marketplace, that we are individuals who are only interested in dealing with other individuals who share our interests and likes and dislikes, you are doomed to our hatred.

But have hope. I am the new consumer, and I am forgiving. If you can impress me, in my own arena and on my own terms, I can warm to you.
But my time is precious, and my interest is fleeting. Offering me a cup of air will get you nowhere. I demand substance for my time, and I demand it now. Not tomorrow, when you've gotten around to researching me and pegging my profile. And to make it harder - to make it more interesting - I am not going to be forthcoming with my information.

This has nothing to do with CRM. It has nothing to do with swooshing logos, or spectacular websites.

It is your job to reflect my passions, my ideals, my interests. Gone are the days when you could expect my attention, or at least trap it.
I am the new consumer, and I have become more sophisticated than you ever were. You may pretend to understand me. You may coddle me, tell me I'm beautiful and worthwhile. You may... because I will see through you in an instant, and it really won't matter to me because I will dismiss you just as quickly. Unless your approach is genuine, and genuinely aligned with my approach, you will fail utterly and miserably.

You have to work for my attention, because you know what?

I am the new consumer, and I am in the driver's seat.


Yours sincerely,
The New Consumer