Sometimes you cannot find the books you need in your local bookstore, so what do you do? You do a world wide web search. Go local first such as ACMAMALL, MPH, KINOKUNIYA. Then compare with other online bookshops before you make your purchase.
Sometimes I am spoiled for choice but only have so little cash, what do I do? I would have a peek inside the books to make my decision with the help of Amazon's "Look Inside" feature and through Google Books. If the book is easy to read and understand and its contents meet my requirements, that's the book I'd choose. Which company I buy it from depends on the shipping rates. Amazon and Alibris are great but shipping is expensive especially to Malaysia. Book Depository has FREE shipping and the prices are also reasonable.
You can also check out noqstore which is a little closer to home. Be warned, shipping can be a bit costly as well. Selection is great though.
If you aren't looking for academic books, booksgalore is my favorite; plus you can give her titles you are looking for. You can opt to buy new or pre-owned.
So, start your book search now and good luck!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Doing Ph.D - I am not alone; You are not alone
I have just begun my doctoral pursuit at the end of December last year...and now 3 months into the programme, I feel I am nothing. I am but an empty vessel. In education, they say no student is an empty vessel, but not this student! Whatever knowledge I have accumulated over the years seemed to have left me the moment I signed up for Ph.D - Permanent Head Damage, that's what people say it is an abbreviation for. I never thought I would fall into this 'damaged head' category but here I am, feeling precisely that.
But here's the thing. Apparently it is normal. You will feel like an empty vessel at the beginning, grasping for straws, putting them together to form a theoretical framework, then a conceptual framework. You don't know if you are doing anything right. And by the time you are doing your analysis, you look at the result and you think your work is rubbish or too simple, and depression sets in. This is not for the faint-hearted.
That is the process. If I think I am struggling, there are many more like me thinking the same thing. So I am not alone, and neither are you. Just reach out and talk to someone else who is also doing Ph.D or who has journeyed down that road, you will feel better.
But here's the thing. Apparently it is normal. You will feel like an empty vessel at the beginning, grasping for straws, putting them together to form a theoretical framework, then a conceptual framework. You don't know if you are doing anything right. And by the time you are doing your analysis, you look at the result and you think your work is rubbish or too simple, and depression sets in. This is not for the faint-hearted.
That is the process. If I think I am struggling, there are many more like me thinking the same thing. So I am not alone, and neither are you. Just reach out and talk to someone else who is also doing Ph.D or who has journeyed down that road, you will feel better.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Guys don't want things they can easily get
Well then I am smokin' hot! Coz "Guys want things they CAN'T get!"
I know this doesn't make any sense, and it's funny that I'm this cryptic after such a long time not blogging. But beginning to blog again is my new un-new year's resolution. Sounds reminiscent of Alice in the Wonderland and you don't get it? Lemme rephrase that to "first quarter of the year new resolution". :)
I realise my writing is getting rusty and it didn't use to be when I was blogging. Words are coming harder now; so, it takes longer to write. So my plan is to write an hour of non academic writing a day and an hour of academic writing a day. Hopefully that improves both writing genres.
So what's my free advice? In a way, there are two. The most obvious one is that writing needs practice and I am attempting to get back into the habit of writing.
Number 2 is that sometimes guys take things for granted and when I say things, I mean us wives, girlfriends, life partners. It could happen the other way round also but to get back to what I was saying. We CANNOT BE TOO NICE to our idiotic other half. Give in all the time or give them what they like. It's too easy and they like a challenge.
I know a lady who took such good care of her husband right down to ironing his socks and breakfast in bed. Maybe I am exaggerating with the socks but what did the man do? Did he stay true? No, he sought challenges outside. What did she do? She questioned 'why me?' coz she was the perfect wife.
...and there I was, snuggling up to my husband and he pushes me away. I gasped in surprise. The gall! You don't push me away once coz I don't go for seconds. I turned away and I called him a "Wife rejector! and to keep it simple, i gave him a taste of rejection. But the rule is never to go to bed angry, so we made up (not so immediately coz we have to make them beg) and men say it's the women who like to pick fights but look who started it.
Anyway, somehow, the next day we were talking about stuff and the issue of him being a wife rejector came up. The reason? Well, apparently, guys don't want what they can easily get. Is that so? I asked. In that case, many guys would want me coz I am hot and I'm married. Guys WANT what they CAN'T GET, right?
I've seen 2 colleagues leaving their spouses to marry each other. Guys want what they can't get! That could happen for me as well. The only reason I am not hooking up or considering it is coz I love my husband. So if my husband want to destroy that love, I don't mind finding some one else who'd appreciate me and not take me for granted.
So seriously, "Please be nice but don't be TOO nice!"
I know this doesn't make any sense, and it's funny that I'm this cryptic after such a long time not blogging. But beginning to blog again is my new un-new year's resolution. Sounds reminiscent of Alice in the Wonderland and you don't get it? Lemme rephrase that to "first quarter of the year new resolution". :)
I realise my writing is getting rusty and it didn't use to be when I was blogging. Words are coming harder now; so, it takes longer to write. So my plan is to write an hour of non academic writing a day and an hour of academic writing a day. Hopefully that improves both writing genres.
So what's my free advice? In a way, there are two. The most obvious one is that writing needs practice and I am attempting to get back into the habit of writing.
Number 2 is that sometimes guys take things for granted and when I say things, I mean us wives, girlfriends, life partners. It could happen the other way round also but to get back to what I was saying. We CANNOT BE TOO NICE to our idiotic other half. Give in all the time or give them what they like. It's too easy and they like a challenge.
I know a lady who took such good care of her husband right down to ironing his socks and breakfast in bed. Maybe I am exaggerating with the socks but what did the man do? Did he stay true? No, he sought challenges outside. What did she do? She questioned 'why me?' coz she was the perfect wife.
...and there I was, snuggling up to my husband and he pushes me away. I gasped in surprise. The gall! You don't push me away once coz I don't go for seconds. I turned away and I called him a "Wife rejector! and to keep it simple, i gave him a taste of rejection. But the rule is never to go to bed angry, so we made up (not so immediately coz we have to make them beg) and men say it's the women who like to pick fights but look who started it.
Anyway, somehow, the next day we were talking about stuff and the issue of him being a wife rejector came up. The reason? Well, apparently, guys don't want what they can easily get. Is that so? I asked. In that case, many guys would want me coz I am hot and I'm married. Guys WANT what they CAN'T GET, right?
I've seen 2 colleagues leaving their spouses to marry each other. Guys want what they can't get! That could happen for me as well. The only reason I am not hooking up or considering it is coz I love my husband. So if my husband want to destroy that love, I don't mind finding some one else who'd appreciate me and not take me for granted.
So seriously, "Please be nice but don't be TOO nice!"
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