The One With The Finger Joke

So I promised a joke about a finger sprain last week. But I did some research (yes, my cartoon strips go through stringent fact-checks!) and realized that finger sprains are usually caused by impact during ball games, which means I have little chance of ever suffering that. Finger injury due to overuse (such as typing) is known as finger fatigue. Now, between me and Bonnie, she is the one who's more likely to suffer from finger fatigue due to her crazy and incessant typing all day long. Interestingly, her finger tends to cramp up after work, usually as soon as she finishes her dinner at home. She'd grab her poor little index finger and go "Oooh....painful...can't do the dishes...dearie...can you? Pretty pleeease?"

Slow and Steady

If you've been following the comic strip for the past few weeks, you may be wondering if I've turned into the male version of the weight-obsessed, self-conscious Cathy. I know I've been focusing a lot more on my weight loss and fitness regime and less on my "job", but don't worry, I'm not about to go on a shopping spree or a blind date yet. The truth is, weight-loss jokes are funnier than video editing jokes. Don't believe me? Stay tuned for a video-editor-with-a-finger-sprain joke next week...

Oh, and another truth -- I've lost more than 1kg since I began hitting the gym! 

Mindreading

It's a good thing the real Bonnie never surprises me or tests my observation skills with a new haircut. She always has to ask me a bunch of questions before going to the hairstylist, "Should I get a haircut? Or should I keep it longer? Should I curl it? Should I color it? Should I have bangs? Or should I not?" She'll ask me a similar set of questions before she buys any shoes or clothing, or gets mani pedi, or decide which food to order. I think I know what to get for her next birthday. A couple of dice.

Postcard from Terengganu

Friday the 13th

Did you know that many people are so afraid of Friday the 13th that they avoid their usual routine and choose to stay at home where it's supposedly safer?  Extreme cases of fear for Friday the 13th even has a name -- Paraskevidekatriaphobia. Bet you didn't know that! According to Wikipedia, an estimated US$800-900 worth of business is lost on this day because fewer people are out and about. Interestingly, according to another report, statistics reveal that less accidents happen on Friday the 13th because people are generally more careful than usual! I guess it's a lesson for all the safety committees out there!

A Lazy Post...

Sorry people, no Pepper strip this Friday. My excuse? Well, if I were Joey from the old sitcom Friends, my excuse would have something to do with a raccoon that ran into my room and bit my finger. If I were Phoebe though, it would have been a talking pigeon that knows how to leave phone messages. Being neither, my real excuse is rather boring -- plain laziness.  But to make up for it, I've posted a picture of Pepper with what appears to be a mini guitar. If it still doesn't amuse you, try imagining a giant Pepper next to a regular sized guitar. There you go! Funny, right?! 

Of course, that's not a guitar, but a ukelele, a four-string instrument from Hawaii that's become very popular in recent years (just search for ukelele on youtube). The ukelele pictured belongs to my younger sister, who has been practicing hard to master it. So now both my younger sisters have learnt to play musical instruments (my other sister plays the piano), completely destroying my belief that musical talent doesn't run in the family. My own musical talent is thus far limited to humming-to-the-radio (I can't even whistle!). Perhaps it's time for me to pick my own instrument... Will it be the trumpet? The drums? Or the good old recorder?

Fatigue

This week's Pepper comes to you from Seoul in Korea, where I'm taking a short break. Glad to report that I've kept up my exercise regime by making full use of the hotel's gym facilities. I've also opted to walk around the city instead of taking the subway, which is a great way to observe Korean life at the street level: squads of tough looking police officers (out in full force for the Nuclear Safety Summit in town), elderly street vendors selling an assortment of local snacks, roaming Christian evangelists on street corners with large sandwich boards yelling "Jesus loves you!", sharply dressed office dwellers with their cups of takeaway hot coffee and slim cigarettes, a Buddhist monk chatting on his Samsung Galaxy (maybe speaking to a monk brother?)...

I also visited the old palaces, strongly influenced by Chinese royal architecture, but more modest in scale. I strolled around Gyeongbok Palace and Deoksuk Palace, imagining life in the ancient courts. Officials rushing for morning assembly, guards at every door waiting for the change-of-guard ceremony, court maidens rehearsing their dance and song, the royal kitchen steaming with pots and pots of delicious food...

Then, there was Jongmyo, one of my favorite spots -- where the royal ancestral shrines are. With visitors limited to guided tours only, the Jongmyo grounds is especially quiet and serene, the high walls blocking out the sound of traffic and keeping within a haven for birds and trees. Right down the middle of the path was a slightly elevated path with a sign in English and Korean: Please do not walk here. For spirits only. It is comforting to know that in the middle of this modern, fast-paced city, powered by high-speed satellite internet and intelligent computerized toilets, ancient royal spirits still lived among its people (albeit behind stone walls), strolling around in Jongmyo every day, perhaps amusing themselves at the sight of camera-wielding tourists trying to distinguish the words "Confucian" and "confusion"...