saturday....

Getting up at 720am is a sin.
Getting up at 720am ON A SATURDAY MORNING is a bigger sin.

Dragged myself out of bed...did the rounds...munched on a hotdog...
And got out of house at 805am.
Waited 5 minutes for a cab and was soon whisked off to....
Woodlands Community Centre...

On duty for the whole day at a roadshow.
Kinda shiong. Was shouting half of the time.
Competing amongst ourselves (staff), competing with the customers, competing with the speakers at the event, competing with the background music...
Man...I went through 3 or 4 mineral water bottles by the time we hit 430pm.

Staggered to the MRT station after the event...Wanted to catch a bus ride home..
But...the mind was weak...and I finally gave in...
And hopped into a the 1st taxi in a long line of waiting taxis...
Bleah...

Reached home at 530, threw everything off on the floor..and just plonked into bed...
Got up at 645...munched on dinner...and here I am.
Sticky...havent even showered...

So.......
Am gonna bathe now...and head out for my last minute movie date with ahboy...
Guess I am not forsaken afterall haha..

Adios...till here..

Friday oh Friday...

Was stuck in a mind-boggling course in the afternoon.
Excel course.
1st half of the course was okay.
Cos I already knew some of the things.

Then came the second half...
Kaozzzz...
Conditions, formulae, parameters & criterion.
Felt like as if I was back in school and learning math.

Had a headache after the course.
Nto kidding..it was throbbing...

==========
Met up with Ginger, Selin & Lydia for dinner.
Thai Express at esplanade. Been a long while since I've been to Esplanade.
Not that much has changed...

On my way to find the restaurant..was waylaid by a Chinese..
Seemed like he was in his earlyy 30s..wearing one of those blue-tinted specs.

Guy: *pops up out of nowhere* Hi! You're looking for a place?
Me: Err..yah. But I know where it is already. Thanks. *walks off*
Guy: *catches up with me* So, where are you working at?
Me: *stares at him* You don't have to know that.
Guy: Can I have your card?
Me: You don't need that too.
Guy: Oh but I need it to contact you! I wanna ask you out for lunch!
Me: *gives him a duh look & a fake smile, says nothing and walks faster*
Guy: *catches up again* Aw come on! Be a sport!
Me: *steps on the escalator going down, gives a fake smile & waves goodbye*

Back to topic at hand...had a nice dinner with them..
Madcap laughter, madcap laughter and more madcap laughter.
Popped by Glutton square for some horrible tasting Ice Kachang..
And left them at 9-plus to adjourn to Liang Seah Street...

===========
Liang Seah Street...met up with PQ, TH, Teck Kong & Jeremy...
Kat was there as well...hmm..been like 3-4 years since I last saw her?
And Jeremy brought his hmm...is it wife already or fiancee? Damn...can't remember her name as well...
But she was a nice girl...from Shanghai I think.

Had my 2nd dessert for the night...
Mango & Pomelo Ice...*slurp* =)

Didn't stay out long though..
Reached home at 11-plus...

Woot,, should be going karaoke or clubbing with them next friday after Ally's ROM thingy...

in riddles...

I am holding out well I think.

Absence does not makes the heart grow fonder?
Guess it also makes the heart (and mind) grow stronger...

=========
I need to hide in my little corner for awhile..
Till I grow out of it.

Else I will definitely feel like slapping you..
The short exchanges we have...
Seem to irritate me 4 times out of 5.

=========
I have been forsaken.
Yet again.

I am free on Saturday night.
And I have nowhere to go.

What an irony.
I have 3 different appointments on Friday night.
Turned down 1 and going to 2 of them.

But I have been forsaken on Saturday night.
TMD.
Brought me to a crest and then pushed me into a valley.
Ain't the 1st time my man...ain't the first time..

=========
So many "F"s...

Falsehood
Fallacy
2-Facedness
Fake-ness
Fraudulence
Feigned
Forged
F***
Fony...(ok, I cheated...meant to be Phony)
Fhore...(ok, I cheated AGAIN..meant to be Whore for those who comprehend the private joke..)

Revelations II

Ah...the tyranny of one's mind...

Seriously din know that a person can be capable of such actions.
Or perhaps I knew that there are such people around.
Just didn't think I would get to know one of them...

Oh well...
Wonder how some can speak like as if they are the best in everything...
Whilst in the meantime belittling others without batting an eyelid..

Do you really think you're that great?
If it ain't for the help of unsuspecting souls...
If it ain't for the help of really helpful souls...
Do you think you could have done some of the things which you have achieved?
Consider it your blessed fortune that you've met these people in your lives..
Wonder if it's their fortune though...

Turn around and bite the hand that feeds you.
Especially when it no longer serves you purpose.
That sounds almost like the slogan you wear around your neck.

Sure, you possess that knack or skill to manipulate others..and have them feed out of your hand.
I consider it a precious survival tool...
But hey....use it correctly please...
It disgusts me to see how you treat some people.

Got to know of some stuff said behind my back by you...
It's enough if you do it to me...
But to watch you do it to others...
It just hmmm...puts me off.
I choose to just hide in my own corner. I can't do much else.
Period.

I look at you now and I wonder..
You are smart...but sometimes..too smart for your own good.
I now wonder how sincere you are when you ask me "how's things?"
I don't feel I can bring myself to be truly open with you anymore.

Bitch is a toned down ubiquitous word to use...
Guess it ain't up to me to peruse the term "Whore".. haha..
Shall leave the honours to someone else.
You know who you are.. haha..

=========
From lemons to jockeys..
From horse riding to bolsters & rapists..
From whores to bitches to 2-faced peeps...

From altered minds to warped minds..
From parasites to rich Indonesian Chinese ladies & LV bags...
And a whole load of other things...

What an interesting tripartite conversation..
Haha...
Sometimes...you just need one of these conversations to end your day on a high note...

========
signing off...
damn shack...

Revelations I

Tired as I am...couldn't help but muster some energy to log in here... haha

Some posts back..I asked...are bitches born or trained?
I got a good answer today...

Bitchiness is trained.
Bitches are born.

Spot on. Simply spot on.
Luffed out loud when I saw the answer on my SMS screen.. hahah...

==========
Got another 5 words today from Lemon.. haha...the Mutated Lemon...or perhaps Mutant Lemon sounds nicer...=p

Sensible, Hormonal, Emphathetic, Lively, Linguist..

Kaozz...Hormonal? macham I'm menopausing or in puberty...haha..

Nevertheless, it's a good effort bro..=)

==========
Got another 2 words 2day from Purpleskies..

Cautious & Loyal...hehe...coupled with Paranoid & Indecisive...so that means...
One more word to go...hiak hiak..

==========
Man..my mood at work is getting from bad to worse.
Come in late, leave on the dot or slightly after...
MSN during office time...

Unmotivated is the word?

Saturday's Recruit is calling out to me....

==========
Tomorrow is gonna be a "cut hair" day.
The last time I cut my hair was 6 months ago.. haha...
It's high time. It's high time.

Hope Jasper's doing okay...Will gossip with her tomorrow...=)
Wonder if she has gone on more overseas hair assignments..

And here's a tribute to E.T.

Eddie my man...
Seriously...we've been friends for 7 years...
Haha...and you have always managed to put a smile on my face every time we meet...

I was tired..I was zonked out...
I was not in the best of moods last Wednesday...

But having dinner with you just brightened up my day...
Haha...=))
And you nver fail to bring out the crappiness in me...
Allow me to put forth a hypothesis..
That it's cos you're equally crappy as well!! haha...

Cheers to our friendship!
From those notes-writing days in lectures..to the FYP days...to the bedraggled days in hostel..
Till now...
Appreciate you being there...
Huggies!

p/s: still remember your rennug nick in a particular forum...=)

thoughts...from a wary, weary soul...

I admire you in a way..
For having the people skills & the charm to have people gravitate toward you..
You get along with most...
Admire your energy to keep up appearances & masks...

On the flipside...
I disapprove of the way you are so chummy with some...
Yet spill negativity about them when their backs are turned..
Wanted to use the word despise (instead of disapprove)..but felt it to be too strong..

You use the words...I cannot stand her! She is stupid! She is dumb!
She gets on my nerves! She irritates me! She is an idiot!
And when the other person faces you again...you're all smiles & jokes to them...
Tell me...how do you make it seem so effortless...to upkeep such hypocrisy?

I now doubt the sincerity you have when you laugh with me, when you joke with me.
Who knows what you might say when you bitch to others about me?
Am I being made out to be a bimbo if not a hypocrite?
Am I being made out to be an idiot as well?

I cannot help but feel suspicious...when you are on such good terms with hmm...certain people..
Forgive me but I cannot help but think...are you looking for something useful out of this?
Are you fishing for some good use somewhere?

Lately, bitchiness is overflowing..
Jibes, ribs and jokes are conducted in a manner not too nice..
Oh, call me sensitive. But I can't help but feel like it was purposeful and of intentional malice..

Fine. You are the goddess and I am the peasant.
If it makes you feel any happier.
*rolls eyes*

Oh such negativity....
Hmm..not healthy at all..haha...

Memoirs of a Road Trip

*pitter patter*
Was how we started our road trip to Desaru.
Ahboy picked me up from Eunos MRT at 1030am..and it drizzled and drizzled...and drizzled....

Causeway wasn't much of a problem and we reached JB before 1115am.
Fumbled with road signs, street signs, and a scanty map...which seriously wasn't of much help.
Took a wrong turn within JB itself..and discovered it only when the road signs were leading us back to Singapore again!!

Managed to get back on the correct route and off we went...
Guess we did some silly things to entertain ourselves..
Sang (or perhaps screamed) at the top of our lungs to the music we adored...
Talked crap to each other...
Moments of silence when our throats took a break..and we started the cycle all over again...

Some of my companions during the ride to and from Desaru...








Yellow Monster is his name...
Looking mean is his game...






The long long road ahead...









One thing I learnt. "Kurangkan Laju" means "Reduce Speed". hehe...
Finally reached Desaru around 1plus...Checked in, dumped our bags...and ordered room service.
Bad choice, totally bad choice.

Food came in plastic tupperwares like those you get when you dabao from food stalls.
Food was mediocre..and I spent 17RM on a dumb beef burger...with a few onion slices in the burger and nothing else.
Dinner was better...zi char...thought we had lots of mozzies and insects for company.
Went on a tour to view fireflies after dinner. Didn't know that fireflies were the size of mozzies...haha..din manage to catch any with my hands though..Some others on the excursion managed to..!!

2nd day morning was spent soaking in the pool..
Why not the beach you wonder?
Cos it's dirty, unkept and full of dry leaves and dead twigs...

Went horse-riding..woo!!
Went to an ostrich farm too.. haha..drove 25 minutes to get there...Educational tour man.. haha..
Damn, pics function aren't working again and I am lazy to start a PhotoBucket account.. haha...
Load it up another time...
Pics of me on the horsey and the ostriches!

All said n done...am not going back there again....
Ever....haha...

maggi mee is the greatest invention on earth...*burp*

Have I asked this before?

Is bitchiness an inherent nature or a trained one?

There's an overflow of bitchiness recently...and it's fucking hell getting to me.

==========
Meeting up with Eddie tomorrow.
My good buddy..we don't talk much anymore...
In fact the last I saw him was in October last year when he came to visit me at home after my op.

But. I know I can count on him.
Anytime I need a helping hand. I know that he's available.

Bringing him to Creation.
Haha...i think they should pay me an endorsement fee or whatever you call it.
I have brought countless peeps there eversince someone introduced the place to me...

==========
XP oh XP...
The next time we meet.....I've a question to ask......
Remind me yeah....remind me... haha..

==========
Sleep beckons...
zzzZZZzzz

Tuesday blues.....bleah....

Finished with "To Kill a Mockingbird" last friday.
I shan't rave about this book the way I rave madly about Sex and the City.

Rather..this book, in all its simplicity, frankness and innocence...simply wows me.
There are no thrilling scenes. No ghosts, no mysteries, no murders and no psychopaths to keep you enthralled.
Instead, everything is written the way the situations in the book unfold. It is written just as it is.
Simple everyday scenes from going to school, to playing with your mates, to arguing with your dad...

Yet, each incident or circumstance..has an underlying meaning and perhaps profound lesson to be learnt.
Morals and values are questioned.
Harsh facts of life are presented.
Different facets of conventions and societal norms are explored.

The way the characters are written, makes you question yourself and the people around you.
You can see a little of each of the characters in either yourself or that somebody next to you.
As you read, you can find yourself feeling like how they would.

Little wonder the book was used as a Literature text.
Not too sure if it's still used now though.

A good read. Couldn't peel my eyes off it for long.

Funny thing is...Enigma bought the same book! Coincidence...

=========
Have embarked on the book Ah Lian lent me.
Probably the only story book she's gotten for a long long time. haha...
Said she was inspired by me...and decided to get one.

"Empress Orchid" by Anchee Min.
A tale, told in 1st person.
Of a girl's life...from poverty...to being chosen as a concubine..to finally being an Empress and ruling China.

The intricate narratives and descriptions of the court officials, eunuchs, the Forbidden City itself...
Of the Majesties, of the mythologies, and of life in China in the 19th century...
Paints an interesting scene in your mind.
You can almost picture yourself as a spectator on the bylines, watching a scene unfolding before you.

===========
Chee Kam called today...
Surprise surprise... haha...he found my blog...!!
He asked me about it and I went like "Har? How you know??"

Nah, lemme rephrease that...it was like..."Har? How you know???????????????????"

Hahaa...guess the Internet ain't such a vast porous space afterall. =p

===========
It is dumb to hold a briefing at 7pm, after working hours. I had to trudge down to OMB from work.

It is dumber to arrange refreshments and let people eat and only start the briefing at 715pm.

It is downright dumb to arrange a briefing at 7pm.., I repeat, after working hours...when the briefing is only 15mins long!!!!!!!

And it is outrageously stupid of me...to have gone there at all.
Should have just gotten the self-explanatory slides from them.

Argh.
The gargantuan frustrations of the working world.

transitions

Sometimes.
You walk on and on.
Then you realise that hey...you've reached a new part of the field...
You wish to backtrack abit and savour what you just left behind on the same field a few steps back...

You turn around and retrace your steps...
But dang, the rain has washed away your footsteps..
You don't know where you stepped previously..

Sometimes...you just can't turn back time and retrace your steps aye?
You just can't...
That part of the field's off limits to you already.

And so you just walk on...
Walk on, with hope in your heart...

My hope's fizzling though...
Not sizzling...
Man, need some motivational speaker to feed me with some motivational juice...

the weekend

Tiring weekend.

Saturday...spent 2 hours at the Book Fair in Expo
And ended up with at least 10 books to my name.
Good things is that I was less than $50 poorer after that escapade.

Popped by Guanyin Temple to pray...Spent quite awhile there...

Then popped by Parkway to meet ahboy.

==========
Sunday...hmm....

Dimsum at Yan Palace at Hong Lim Complex.

Then a 4-hr karaoke session with PQ, TH & Eug at Tjg Pagar's PartyWorld.

Then a 2-hr stint of shopping at Orchard...then home...
Bleah..more like...escorting PQ on her quest for a bag.
Me & TH, guardians of the princess....giving views & opinions...
haha....

Anyways...Am kinda tired...
One more post...and I'll call it quits for today....

bro kel

Went on a munching dinner date with Kel just now.

Went Soup Restaurant cos I was salivating for its signature dish...Samsui Chicken.
Sat down, ordered and then 10 minute slater they came back and said the chicken was sold out...they were making a new batch...and could only be served 40 minutes later..

So we said we still wanted it..Decided to pop by to Jack's Place while waiting for the chicken to be ready...
They were nice enough to keep our table for us whilst we were away..our tea and cutlery were untouched..ditto for the braised peanuts left on the table.

So we had Lobster Bisque with garlic bread over at Jack's Place...you can consider it an entree I suppose...
And then went back to Soup Restaurant for our main dinner...

T'was 9pm already when we feasted on the chicken...sambal kangkong and ginger/onion venison...
Lovely meal...=)

Chatted on a range of stuff....
From cancer to Neanderthals to food..
From Egyptians to the Forbidden City to eunuchs...
From plain gossip to pure observations...

haha....
my bro kel..

Hammie

Hammie has moved on.
Just discovered it less than an hour ago around 1110pm.

And I guess he passed on about an hour or so before that.
Judging by the state of his body.
Well...simply said...he wasn't that stiff yet.

Found him lying just outside his wheel after I got out of my bath...
Mouth slightly open..Eyes half open..
Right foreleg was curled close to his body...
Left foreleg and both hindlegs were splayed out..

I know it sounds ridiculous but it seemed like as if he'd been crying..
There were tear streaks from his right eye..something like the fur around his eye was matted and "wet"

Hope he went peacefully...
Became a member of the family on 6th September 2003. Bought him when he was a month old.
And left us on 8th September 2006.

He's the first pet I shed some tears for.
I was sad for the rest of the hamsters I had before...but well..
Guess Hammie was the only one who survived for so long...to the grand old age of 3 yrs & 1 month.

Shit. Wonder how Adrian's gonna tell little Mark about it when they come over this Sunday for lunch...
Mark always spends a few mimutes each week saying "hi" to Hammie...

Hmm...hope Hammie's gone somewhere nice...
Where he can chew on lovely nuts everyday and have wheels to run in again...
Hope he has his fav cotton bedding...and well...hope he has watermelon to munch on...

TGI....F....coming coming

Had a weird dream on Monday night..or was it Tuesday?
Dreamt I was back in school. I was in a school uniform...it was the present me in a uniform...hmm..
Was in a school compound..deserted except for the occassional person walking about...
Then quite suddenly Siva morphed into the scene..and we were in a canteen...
There were others around...one of which was supposed to be my bf...
Though his face wasn't clear...
Siva was complaining..about how the stall owner got her food order wrong...tapioca balls she ordered...but rice balls came instead...

And it moved onto another scene...which I can't remember already..

Liewzz...bizarre...

==========
Went for dinner with XP last night...

Discovered some confirmations to my past suspicions.. haha
Discovered some new stuff...
But well..these are all in the past...
Though it led me to some thinking...

Of well, how there really are different people in the world...
Some who would just...well use another for fleeting if not momentary satisfaction of wants...

Anyway, the place we went for munchies was great..
Jap rest at Odeon Towers. Buffet...
Sashimi, teppanyaki, sushi, side snacks tempura...

Woohoo...ate quite a bit...was still feeling full this morning...=p

of sighs...and well...helplessness

It's confirmed.
Auntie Violet has gotten cancer.
Cancerous tumour found just above her anus.
Measuring 4cm by 2.5 cm long.

Has to go for chemotheraphy.
Touch Wood. But if that fails to work.
Then she's got to have her anus removed.
And well..for the rest of her life, waste will be passed out via a tube into a bag she has to carry around.

Did a scan and they found a shadow in her liver.
Not sure if the cancer's spread.
Need to go for more tests to be able to confirm.

Sigh...
Someone of so pure and simple of mind..
A devout Buddhist...
Full of laughter & chirpiness..

Is this why I have been feeling uneasy over the past 2 weeks?

==========
MJ just called me.
Had a major quarrel with Evelyn again.
Major quarrels every fortnight ain't such a good sign.

Sigh...Can't do much to help him out here..
Don't even know what to say...

~luna sea~everything's spoiling!~

I feel burdened by some unknown thing...
Haha...not too sure how to describe it..7th month maybe?

I keep dreaming at night...
I don't sleep well..
And so I feel perpetually tired...darn..

I feel moody and depressive...more so than usual...
I am irritable..
I am morose..
And well..I nitpick..

I imagine...
I keep to myself...
I am more emotional than usual...
Bleah...I am kinda lost...

My skin looks patchy and tired..worse than last time..
And I can't remember the last time I had so much zits on my face...
Over the weekend about 6 or 7 popped up..

Stomach is spoiling again..once every few months this happens...
Feel bloated yet at the same time hungry...haaha..even my stomach is a paradox in itself..
kaozz..skin spoil, stomach spoil...even my air-con is still spoilt...

Or have I been reading too much thriller novels?
Haha..

=============
Dreamt of Red Biscuit last night.
We were staying in hostel again...
Rearing guppies in my room. Luffing at dumb things.
Eating home-made pasta with mushrooms in it. Sitting on the floor watching TV.
And it was exactly how it was in Yr 3, my room above his.

It was surreal..part imagination, part reality...
Some forgotten snippets from the not-too long ago past...

I was driving at a point...Just driving...to nowhere in particular...
I remember it was at night...on a straight road...with yellow lamps lining the roadsides...
And trees on both sides....
On hindsight, it now reminds me of ECP...except that in the dream, it was nowhere in particular...
And I was going nowhere too...the road kept going on and on...

And quite suddenly, I was back in my hostel room...
Can't remember much after that though...

I have not dreamt so much in the past few weeks than in the past few months...
Grrrrr....

... ... ...

silent tears..
running forth..
wherefore do you come from?
wherefore do you go?

thoughts overflowing
strangling each other
over what?
i know not too

i sit alone
trapped in my own skin
lost in myself
edge of an abyss

H-E-R-M-I-T

The hermit in me has resurfaced...
And it's been there for quite a few weeks...or month-plus perhaps?

Walking paradox...I want company..
But when I'm in company, I long to be alone..

Bleah...

I relish the times spent alone..
Whether thinking about things..
Doing my crafts...
Or reading or listening to music or just vegetating...

But then there's that sneaky feel at the back of my mind asking...
"Eh, you're missing out on all the action outside!!"

Not been going out for quite long...
Hmm...

Last night..of literary highs & other babbles..

Was all alone in the office till 830pm yesterday..

Seems a tad boring to be at work till that time on a Friday night..
But well..guess it was one of those days when you just wanna get things done..
Was going to stay longer till I spooked myself by imagining things..
Kinda upped and left after my imaginations got the better of me and after my mind started to stone too...haha...

Trundled home..
Met Purpleskies & Peter Pan at Tjg Pagar MRT...They just had their gym session and were popping by Bugis for their (weekly?) dose of Jap ramen...
Reached Tampines at 915pm and still didn't feel the least bit hungry.
Decided to pop by Times Bookstore on a whim.

Spent some time satisfying my curiosity about how Fabrice A. Marie looked like..
Checked out Her World magazine and lo and behold..
He was right in there..just as Doodle had mentioned..

Wohoho...not bad siah...he's a professional IT hacker...and a security consultant...
Who'd make a better IT security consultant than a hacker himself?
Perhaps I'll drop him a note on Monday.. haha

And then I did what I told myself not to do...
I couldn't resist and got myself 2 books.
Thank God my pockets were screaming at me...
Else I would have just grabbed more books...

When you're presented with people like Arundhati Roy, Sophie Kinsella, Anne Rice, Cecilia Ahern...amongst a host of other less well-known names...
And others like Paul Coelho, Nora Roberts, Danielle Steel, Dean Koontz..and even errr...LKY..
Haha...it was like a literary high...
Couldn't decide what to get...I wanted them all!

Ended up with these two:
1. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Oh well...a long time classic...just that the movie is probaly more famous than the book..1st published 46 yrs ago in 1960...
2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time - Mark Hadden
Couldn't quite figure out why there was a buzz sometime back about this book...Decided to get it..an extremely thin book...
But filled with interesting puzzles and mathematical equations..good to get some of those brain juices flowing....They've been stagnant for awhile.. haha

Was looking for those plastic wraps for the books...
But Times didn't have them and all the other shops were closed by the time I left the store..

Was walking back to the Interchange when I came across a Malay lady kneeling on the ground near the MRT..
She held both hands out and bowed her head at every passer-by..
She looked clean and normal, decked out in a white and black baju kurong..
Another 2 Malay ladies stopped by her and spoke to her..

And that was the moment when I walked past.
And I overheard her speak...She could speak proper English..
She's perfectly normal, she speaks okay. I wouldn't say it was perfect English but I'd think it was enough to get by in our society

And I thought to myself..
Why was she begging? It was not the 1st time I'd seen her begging..
Was finding a job that difficult? Did she have other reasons?
Guess I won't know...
Am not in her shoes...

Of givers and takers

When a giver gives and a taker takes
When a giver always gives and a taker always takes
Will there come a point in time when the giver grows tired and well...gives up?

Why would the giver feel tired after awhile?
Because he is discouraged by the lack of reciprocation?
That things are always going on a one-way street?
Would he feel better if he did not expect anything in return?

The more you expect, and when the more you don't receive..
The more disappointment you'll get
And the more you'll grow disenchanted

Then again, how many of us can say we are selfless beings?
Prone to giving our all without expecting anything back in return?
I suppose it's part of human nature..to hope to get something in return..
Even when you give a dog a pat on its head, it wags its tail in response..

And so the cycle continues..
You give..but you don't get..
You grow tired and give less..
And when you give less, you get even lesser..
And when you get even lesser..you grow more tired..
And yada yada...
Is this how we've grown into a more self-centered group of people?