Votive Candles

Ranunculus blossoms in votive candle glasses

I have a weakness for candles. As a result I have a collection of burnt out votive candles gathering dust on a shelf. I have ruled out scraping the residual wax with knives because of the possible scar marks on the glass. One day, I come across a how-to guide on Martha's blog on cleaning votive candles.

I cannot believe the solution is this simple. Pop the candle in the freezer for a few hours. The rationale being the wax will contract in the cold and it can then be removed without any scraping.

I am pretty sure the glass will crack under the cold temperature but I decide to try it out anyhow, so I put two candles inside the freezer. After four hours I take the frozen votive out. I then use a knife to tease the wax around the glass, all the while remaining highly skeptical of my little experiment. Then I hear a tiny pop sound. I realize that air has been sucked in, meaning a vacuum is created between the wax and the glass.

This is the moment of truth. I turn the glass upside down and give the bottom a few knocks. The wax plop out with a thud on the kitchen counter. The glass is clean and gleaming with no trail of wax whatsoever!! I stand rooted to the spot holding the frosted glass, until the numbing cold from my fingers wake me from my trance. It works!!

My freezer is crammed with a dozen candles now. This simple tip has taken care of a problem that has been irking me for a long time and I am looking forward to a variety of glass holders. Above are the two votive candles from the experiment and they make such perfect vases for solitaire blossoms.

What a great tip from Martha!!

Unconditional Love

Homeless man cuddling his dog

Porky has been limping recently and it has worsened considerably over the week. On top of that I am a bit worried about his bladder. So off we go to our neighborhood vet. While waiting for our turn, a man comes in with a big dog in a diaper. The dog is skin and bones with bald spots instead of hair and clearly in very bad shape.

Out of suspicion that the man is mistreating the dog I ask him point blank what his dog is in for. He says she is suffering from a bad case of diarrhea, hence the diaper. He then tells me she is 17 years old, which is 119 in human years. She could barely see or hear and her sense of smell is almost gone. The amazing thing is the dog has been walking around all this time instead of wimping and whining.

After a 30-minute wait it's finally Porky's turn but looking at the poor dog, I ask the man to go ahead. Thanking me profusely all the while, he struggles to carry his dog into the consultation room. It is not a big clinic. The consultation room is just behind the reception with the waiting area right next to it, so you can pretty much hear everything being said. The vet asks the man about the general health of the dog. Except for the diarrhea, the senior lady is in mighty good shape. Her senses have deteriorated but she has a strong will to live. Bear in mind she is 119 human years old.

Further questioning from the vet has prompted the man to remember the dog has stolen a sandwich from the coffee table couple days ago, corn beef with egg to be exact. Having identified the sandwich as the culprit I expect to hear the usual lecturing from the vet. To my utter surprise the vet's advice is to give her whatever she wants. The dog is in her twilight years and every day is a miracle.

I am truly humbled by this man and his dog. This is unconditional love and commitment, through sickness and health. Porky's only seven but I know one day he would be showing all the signs of the aging dog we meet that day. I dread the day but my consolation is knowing I would be with him every step of the way, just like he's been with me all these years.

Change of Scenery

Poems by Walt Whitman with a bouquet of pale pink roses

I have experienced countless writer's blocks since I begin to write in earnest. Some days my mind would be a total blank. Some days, I would be muted by a lack of words to express my intended meaning. Most days, I would be editing myself to death by rewriting a paragraph over and over again. It is not pleasant to say the least.

I have recently subscribed to a mobile network which gives me the freedom to take my laptop everywhere but the downside is the battery lasts two hours at most. Under this very real time constraint, coupled with a heightened self awareness that I have just ordered a coffee occupying someone's table for a lengthy time, work has become more productive. The mind works in mysterious ways. For some reason, this two hour deadline has given me a purpose to finish or polish whatever piece I am working on. Words simply flow.

Not that writing at the usual desk is a bore and a chore, but a change of scenery has really worked wonders. The people watching is a great distraction but the best thing is taking off the pressure of writing in a relaxed environment. I would definitely do it more often from now on.

Luminous Makeup

I am fortunate to have a big window spanning an entire wall, with a panoramic view of some magnificent trees on the street opposite. Spring is definitely in the air. The flowering trees are sprinkled with pink and white blossoms. This time of year is much treasured as come summer, the pinks and purples will be replaced by a monotone green.

Spring is also the season skincare brands start pushing their whitening products. Whitening is taken to a new height this year by the many brands introducing the "luminous look". Having a flawless complexion is simply not good enough, the skin should be glowing with light. Right.

Amongst the onslaught of catalogues, the one that has caught my eye is the meteorite pearls by Guerlain. It's a finishing powder that promises to bring a pearl like glow to your face. The pastel pearls come in different tints. All it takes is swirling the makeup brush to pick up the brightening hues to bring out a glow not found in ordinary powders.

I would love to try the new powder, though it would have to wait till my quality of sleep improves, because no amount of makeup could cover the the sallow complexion of fatigue. My luminous equation~ 70% good night's sleep+20% good skincare routine+10% makeup. When the 70% finally happens, I will definitely go to the Guerlain counter to see if the meteorite pearl lives up to its promise.

The Alienist

I have donated more books than I want to admit to the library. The fact that I can part with the stacks so easily means I have been buying indiscriminately. After heaving the latest bulk to the library's reception, I have made a solemn promise to myself to think through before buying and pick only those that hold the promise of immense satisfaction after reading them.

I am patiently waiting for The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown to come out in paperback, still no sign of it. Feeling disappointed I am about to get "a book" to fill the loss when I remember my promise of no splurging. I come out of the bookstore empty handed. Being a voracious reader and book lover it's no minor feat. Itching for something to read one sleepless night I succumb to combing my bookshelf. I am about to give up when my wandering eyes stop at the spine of The Alienist.

Armed with the musty paperback I turn the yellowing pages to the preface where I write down the date for every read, October 2, 1995. Whoa, this is a 15 year old book! A even more surprising find is a boarding pass stub from Los Angeles. Huh, Los Angeles, 1995? I have racked my brain to place the trip but so far it has eluded me.

Well, it's been quite a while since I devour a book with reckless abandon, reading into the wee hours of the morning. After two consecutive nights of marathon reading, by the time I put down The Alienist the following night it's 4am.

I am drawn to detective and crime novels, especially those with historical settings. Aside from the riveting guessing of who-dun-it, I love to see how the author interweaves the fictional characters within the context of true events into a seamless plot. I am always awed by the research behind the writing, the imagination of the author and the technique to place fact and fiction together.

Set in New York 1896, the story follows the cracking of a series of grisly and gruesome murders of young boys. The alienist, Dr. Kreizler has taken a personal interest in the case and along with his team, has managed to construct the profile of the killer, a method rarely used in those days.

Psychology is a relatively new science back then and criminals have two fates awaitng them, that of the gallows or the asylums. They are either born bad, therefore sane or born crazy, therefore insane when committing the crimes.

Dr. Kreizler has an alternate belief that murderers are molded from childhood nurturing. People are not born bad by nature. As the story pans out you will find yourself sympathizing with the murdurer, the torturer has been a tortured child once. The piecing of the missing puzzle is gripping till the very end.

All in all, it's a page turner. Since I don't recollect the details after a fifteen year span, it is a brand new read, well except for the musty smell. The case is solved but I am still perplexed as ever about the 1995 trip.