Honeymoon over

Guys, it finally happened to me: I met one of those people so devoid of conversational topics and firmly entrenched in their conservative mindset that the first thing they ask a newly married person is why haven't they had kids yet. Because fuck you, that's my business, that's why.

I mean, ask me how married life has been, what it's been like using "we" instead of "I", or how many carats my ring has, even (I don't remember where my ring is, I hate jewelry, tqvm).

Of course, I'm not the only person from my generation to not have kids within 7 months of getting married (if you do, rest assured I can do the math for that, hur hur hur, but I won't judge you), so I sympathize with my friends who are in the same situation.

For those who can't imagine WHY baby-making isn't a priority for us, please consider the following:

• We might not want kids yet. 
• We're might not able to afford kids yet. 
• We might want to live together alone for a while, enjoying and luxuriating in each other's company. 
• We might want to travel together lightly, and get into trouble without worrying whether there will be someone left to raise the lil 'un. 

I just realized: once you have kids, it's you with them forever. You can only be alone with your spouse for that short time before that. So fuck you, biological-clock-is-ticking lecturers, it's for my husband and I to decide how we spend our life together. Or shall I ask YOU when your next kid is coming, or why you aren't trying for a boy after all girls you've had?

Unfortunately, I still have to see my uncle's father-in-law at family gatherings, so I just smiled and said we wanted to get as much practice as we could.

Sweet discovery

Guys, as you know, honey can be used as a quick face mask. It's supposed to be anti-acne, its humectant profile pulls in moisture, and it's good for treating small wounds (at least as far as wounded rodents in those preliminary studies have demonstrated). Some say that raw unprocessed honey is the best, better still if it's organic (eh?), but as long as it's actual honey and not syrup + honey, you're okay.

You smear it on with your fingers, avoiding the eyes, and leave it on for 10-20 minutes before rinsing it off in the shower, right? At least, that's what I've been doing.

The fiddliest thing has been getting it into a smaller container I can just stick my fingers in, as I didn't want to contaminate the stock container that contains the honey meant for eating. Unlike Pooh the Bear, the jar of honey is not for me alone.

I finally realized that I can just swipe as much honey as I need for my face from the spoon I use when I'm making my coffee in the morning. After all, my hands are clean, the honey in the jar stays clean, my black coffee is sweetened, and no one else is up early enough to comment on how oddly dewy my face is. Win-win!

Two sides

"Always look out for others."

"If you can't take care of yourself, how will you do the same for other people?"

Things learnt from mountain biking

1. If you're going to crash, aim for a small tree or bush. Big trees will hurt you worse, or kill you.
2. If you and a small tree are being inexorably drawn together by the charisma of your careening bike, put your head down and let your helmet take the brunt of it (learnt from experience).
3. When riding through a sandy, twisty trail lined with thorny bushes and/or whippy plants, lean forward and keep pedalling to prevent the bike from swerving.
4. In the kilometer 30 under the unmerciful blaze of the afternoon sun and with lunch another 15 km away, use your damn gears and keep pedalling.
5. Visualize that cool drink and keep going.
6. A warning shout to the stray dog(s) napping in the middle of the road is always good.
7. When keeping clear of a larger, faster vehicle, it's better to just ride through the muddy puddle than steer along the extreme edge of the track. Dirt washes off (a very good mantra for everything); broken bones don't.
8. Use rear brakes more than front brakes to avoid flying over the handlebars.

Aw-koon (thank you), Cambodia!

Editing: USA vs. the rest of the world

The most common would-be freelancer question is "Where/How do I find a job?"

Typically, they would be pointed to freelancer marketplaces such as Elance, Freelancer.com, and the like, where you bid for gigs, or jobs. Complaints of undercutting by South Asian nationals abound, perpetuating the stereotype of the region as an international sweatshop both on- and offline.

However, I'm not here to grouse about that, or even gigs with paltry budgets (just say no and tighten your belt). Rather, I want to comment on how the beta versions of some freelancer sites limit registration to people living in the United States or Canada.

I'm not saying they're wrong in doing so. Certainly, it's their prerogative, and it might offer potential clients a semblance of security. I do think that in doing so, they limit their talent pool, and there is no guarantee that freelancers from these regions are necessarily better.

There's also nothing stopping a person with a legitimate US/Canadian address from successfully establishing an account with the site and subsequently farming the work out on other freelancing sites (!!) to people living outside North America.

Likewise, I don't think they have safeguards against a person who obtains a fake US/Canadian address and registers anyway. After all, there are mail forwarding services that cater to shoppers when an online shop in the US/wherever doesn't ship internationally, so why not freelancer sites?