Doubles or Nothing

It begins innocuously enough at Settler's. The air is fraught with tension, if only because I am unable to speak, my hand flying across the page as I scribble triangle after triangle. In frustration at the cries of "Pyramid! Pyramid!" I spread my elbows out to indicate wider - Egypt is what I am looking for, and instead I create a brown Nile when I knock over my ice lemon tea and stain my grey corduroys. 

Nevermind that - Morphus insists, small comfort though it was, that she has been the perpetrator of such countless acts (of creating Niles and Amazons) and I shouldn't be too distressed. After moping up at The Cathay, we wander back over to PS for Cartel, where promptly, as the Leng decides to get up from the table for bread - my pasta fork flips from the table and splotches onto my white top. I do not think I've had so many accidents in one day - it's appalling. And I had to resist running into Cotton O. to get a new skirt - or - a new something.

It's been a long time since I spilled things down my clothes but at least the stain's mostly out. Good. 

Monsoon

I put up there 'Monsoon', but when I think monsoon I think of wet plantations, coconut trees lashing in a murky grey landscape with rain at a 45 deg angle - things which are not happening here. You'll be hard put to find enough land for major crop growing anyway, here in sunny Singapore-land. So, really, maybe this post has nothing to do with the geographical imaginings though because it is the tropics, the rain we're having is probably part of a common geographical phenomenon in these parts.

It has been raining. And I have been feeling lazy, partly because the weather is so lovely but also because for 12 academic years, whenever it rained, it meant holiday. I'm feeling the instinct of 12 years telling me in that insiduous whisper, "Kick back. Don't you hear us? It's the end of the year. Time to chill. Time to do the things you like again. No more obligation to textbooks." So yeah, when the North wind doth blow, I feel unaccountably willing to throw that book/essay/proposal aside. Holiday is in the air and I do so love it even though it won't, technically, be here for another month.

Welcome to the Land of TV Tropes

Click me! And I promise you, this site will suck your life in, twist it into multiple pretzels and you'll go away not being the same again.

No. Seriously.

The Beautiful Sublime

"When the starry sky, a vista of open seas or a stained glass window shedding purple beams fascinate me, there is a cluster of meaning, of colors, of words, of caresses, there are light touches, scents, sighs, cadences that arise, shroud me, carry me away, and sweep me beyond the things that I see, hear or think. The "sublime" object dissolves in the raptures of a bottomless memory. It is such a memory, which, from stopping point to stopping point, remembrance to remembrance, love to love, transfers that object to the refulgent point of the dazzlement in which I stray to be... Not at all short of, but always with and through perception and words, the sublime is a something added that expands us, overstrains us, and causes us to be both here as dejects, and there, as others and sparkling. A divergence, an impossible bounding. Everything missed, joy - fascination".

-- Julia Kristeva, Powers of Horror trans. Kelly Oliver.

The Week at a Glance

Bought stuff yesterday at the John Little sale at PS. A dress, and two tank tops, mine first in a long while. (The ones my aunt gave me came with other stuff attached to it) and which are justified by the heat wave currently sweeping through er, well just generally sweeping through. The next things I am determined to buy are Stardust by Neil Gaiman and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which seems to be an interesting parody of Austen's well-loved (and well other things, like winced at) novel. Yay! The annoying bit is that to utilise my Times membership fully, I shall have to go to their new branch in Tampines to fully utilise the in-store discount. Does anyone want anything? I feel like I'm on holiday already, which is kind of sucky because I still have a paper to write. Siggh. And if anyone can tell me where to buy cheap and nice wrap around skirts or regular ones will be endowed with my heartfelt thanks. I can't seem to find any anywhere, to my annoyance.

Winter Games

A cheery game for the season of festive damp.

http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/g3/bells.htm

Blognality

The Rhetoric Room according to the tests.

We think http://midnightmuttery.blogspot.com is written by a woman (67%).

link: Gender Analyzer

But according to their poll, they get almost as many misses as hits, so it's a debatable thing.

And according to uClassify, my blog is my evil twin. This would have been funny if it wasn't also just as distressing. Maybe I should stop laughing at engineers so much.

The analysis indicates that the author ofhttp://midnightmuttery.blogspot.com/is of the type:
ISTP - The Mechanics

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generelly prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts. The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

And it looks as though me, or rather my blog (I sound just like Wemmick), is OCD.

Attention to details? What? I wander around half blind, and I can never find the stuff I need after I dump them in my cupboard. And I have a goldfish memory. However, clearly the test says otherwise.

Creatively Written: Diary Entry

Welcome ladies and gentlemen! Step up this way to the first ever Borders Books and Movies Fair at the Expo!

Dear blog-san,

Today, I went to the Borders Book (and Movie) Fair at the Singapore Expo. It was a lot of fun. In the morning, after eating a delicious breakfast which consisted of bread from the bakery downstairs, I flipped through the newspaper and saw the advertisement for the fair once again. After a few minutes of indecision, I decided to just go for it, since it was so tempting. Hoping to catch a ride in my father's taxi to the bus stop, I went down quickly after dressing to meet him at the carpark.

Upon seeing my father and his relief driver there, I greeted the both of them cheerfully and settled down for the short ride. However, upon nearing the bus stop, my father made a turn towards Hougang instead, and I was left stranded in the car and headed in the wrong direction. As if to dampen my trip further, my bus loomed up just after my father had passed the bus stop. Red with silent fury, I sulked while my father dropped off the relief driver. To my relief however, my father offered instead to drive me to the Expo! I nearly jumped for joy, but recalled in time that I was in my father's cab!

Stuck on cloud nine, I could not resist grinning from ear to ear all the way there. On reaching, I made a beeline for the fair immediately. All at once, I seemed to be wading against a sea of human bodies, and it was all very exciting. As I browsed through the varied selection of fiction, all priced cheaply, I even found two copies of a school text that I needed for the coming semester. How lucky!

Here is the list of books I bought*:

The Harmony Silk Factory; Tash Aw
On Friendship; Michel de Montaigne
The Ladies of Grace Adieu; Susanna Clark
A Clockwork Orange; Anthony Burgess
The Republic; Plato
Plays; Anton Chehkov
One Hundred Great Books in Haiku; David Bader
The Secrets of a Fire King; Kim Edwards
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell; Susanna Clark
Mozart's Journey to Prague; Eduard Morike
The Ingenious Edgar Jones; Elizabeth Garner
Perfume; Patrick Suskind

Two hours later, tired but pleased, I made my way out of the Expo with my purchases safely stashed away in my backpack. I love book shopping!

Lots of love,
XXX

*Somehow, I don't see the persona of the diary writer reading this kind of books, but nevermind
_____________________________

Now. Admit it. How many of the phrases did you come across in your youthful days of composition writing? I can't believe I have to teach phrases like "jumped for joy", "tired but pleased" and "grinning from ear to ear" in my classes. The cliches are threatening to make my eyes drop out from rolling too much. Also, I really must find something else to harp on other than tuition....

What my stomach told me

On Saturday, I watched kappa eat the delicious fish bee hoon from downstairs and felt hungry even though I had breakfast not an hour ago. It was a sign. Now there isn't anymore fish bee hoon downstairs. The entire store, fish and bee hoon have up and disappeared.

And then, another era fades away. Though, in this case, more like abruptly came to an end.

A Long Time Away

Hah! Realised that I haven't blogged in a really long while. As you can see, phone died, and I had to get a new one... A Sony Ericsson! Now, I've always been a Nokia user, and the switch is confusing. Apart from pressing the wrong buttons a lot, the charfer plu seems to like the switch at home a lot, and refuses to be unplugged unless extreme violence is undertaken by yours truly.

Apart from that, happier memories: cycling at Pasir Ris! Aside from getting midly sunburnt (ugh! have I been holed up fpr so long that i've forgotten what sunlight is??), it was nice just to go out and do so excercise. If I keep up the illusion that my tummy looks flater after all that biking around, I think I'll be cycling a lot more from now on. Now, if anyone were wondering what happened to the so called attractions on Sentosa, I can tell you where they moved to...
Pasir Ris Park!

No kidding, there has sprung up, among other things, a pony ride! I'm not sure how much it costs, but its conveniently placed next to this carpark, but not so conveniently placed for those coming from DE, as it's a good 15 minutes bike ride away (and very far by foot). It wasn't very amusing, but I suppose little kiddies would like the ponies very much, even if they pee and poop and all...

Still, it was a nice day out... Sigh... School's reopening in two weeks's time. Darn.

Whoop

I had something to say here... I can't remember what. So.. what you'll get instead a nice little happy post about how my exams end tomorrow. Or maybe, that is what I wanted to say.. really, about from gloating that I get free preview tickets to watch Vexille next week.

Greedy me wonders greviously why we don't get free preview tickets to Stardust, or The Golden Compass, or rather, when I want to watch something, it's the exams... or essays. Still, am super happy. I only hope it doesn't rain tomorrow, because if it does it totally ruins my plans...
This, people, seems to be the beginning of a beautiful holiday

Burnt out

Worked worked worked like mad today, shifting music scores in a certain new school library in a particular part of Singapore, descriptively speaking, it's somewhat near Little India, somewhat near Bugis and basically existing in Nowhere-near-anywhere.

Had lunch at Cafe Cartel with Kappa, which incidentally is also my day-at-the-new-swanky-better-than-nus-looking-library mate. Not bad and all, only it was quite a walk to get there, the nearest being at Doby Ghaut and neither Bugis or Little India.

The good bits were having a preview of a swanky new school, before it becomes infested with students, and of course, having HP 7 returned to me, which I happily hugged protectively for a few seconds (seconds, people. It was a public bus stop for crying out loud. Exposing my precious for longer than neccessary might entice robbers), and of course, discussing the various things there are to discuss in the aftermath of reading. The library had aircon, so that was ok. The work isn't however, and for what must be the umpteenth time, I wonder why there aren't more guys who work in the library because the scores are heavy, and the shelves require self-assembly (already done thankfully when we arrived), and the scores were heavy.

whinewhinewhine
whinewhine
whine

In any case, time seemed to fly when you're having fun, in spite of yourself and the work, and we discovered that it was already waaay past 4 when we left. The library continues to be in a state of shambles, but I suppose they'll be done by the end of the week... hopefully. I miss the library. And to think I used to shelf books as my CCA...

Baking disaster

Ok, so... the chiffon cake was stuck to the cake tin. Any ideas anyone? Had to use a knife to scrape it out. The cake had the wrong consistency too. Maybe whisking by hand wasn't good enough? So, how did people bake chiffon cakes then, before the days of electronic beaters? Hmm? Hmm?

I feel ill. Over indulged on cake.

Bed Breaking Work

Oww oww oww oww. My new mattress came in today, which means removing the old mattress, and putting in the new mattress, which is heavy. To my utter horror, the new mattress is waaay taller than my old one, and now I feel as if I'm miles away from the ground. The new mattress is also a lot heavier, which makes this somehow...tragic. I feel as if I've been heaving dead bears about, (which to all intentions and purposes I might as well have). Then, of course, I'll have to forget to put the mattress protector on first... and have to remove my beautiful work and start all over again.

Hail all hotel room service. Those beds are NOT fun to change on a daily basis.

Train

After sulking all morning and letting myself getting all pissed for stupid reasons, I'm feeling better (and benign), hence I might as well blog about the mime performance I went to watch and was blown away by...

First things first, The Train, by Dramatic Company Cho-In is a South Korean mime performance brought in specially for... you guessed it, the Singapore Arts Festival! Wheeee! When I first saw the poster and it said "festival outreach programme", I was convinced and prejudiced (with reasons of course) into thinking it was a kiddy show... The poster showed a bunch of mime artists typically painted inn the usual clownish manner and that the programme said it featured a "magician couple" made me think: this is for kids. The number of kids being brought by their yuppie aunties and parents to the show didn't make me feel any better, not to mention, instead of distributing the programme at FOH, they were giving out fliers for other shows... I had to go to the flier rack at the sistic counter in Esplanade to get it. =(

In any case, The Train is for kids the way Spirited Away is for kids. In other words, you wouldn't feel as embarrassed as you would normally feel if you were watching, say, Ronald MacDonald on your primary school stage... Speaking of Spirited Away, does anyone remember the faceless train conductor from the film? There are some eerie similarities between the conductor and the station master in the mime act... Both of them were stern sorts.. and faceless. If I happen to find a picture of the station master from The Train, it'll go up here and you all can compare. There must be something universal about train conductors/station masters...

Note: The picture on top isn't the train conductor from Spirited Away, but this is the closest I could get to finding a match....

See the resemblance?

Apart from that, the performance was really good... Not one word, but my attention was gripped throughout the whole show. Then, there was the scene where it snowed, well, fake snow of course... but still, it was very pretty. And you wouldn't believe the acting... I think it's pretty hard for a girl to play a bratty little boy. Yup. Not easy at all, but you'll believe that it was a boy and girl on stage where they are still obviously female actors...

The Booke Faire Chronicle

Day 1: Sat, 26th May
In which one meets one's new colleagues and seizes up the competition

The morning shift included some rather eclectic people. Curiously, we were all from a so-called arts background. I suppose only us will be stupid enough to take on this job. Our booth had two open sides (one length and one breadth), since we shared two walls with an electronic goods booth and a myopia education booth, i.e. we are a corner booth... On both side of us were our 'friendly' rivals, and truly, they are friendly indeed, since they can't stop smiling: apart from being book fair veterans, they quite outnumber us greenhorns. Was rejected by every customer when attempting to entice them to look at our products.

Friendly rival 1: the Reds. Weapon-of-choice: professional looking and loves to shake hands. Has Rita Skeeter.
Friendly rival 2: the Greens. Weapon-of-choice: hard-sell, jerseys, balloons and a walking vacuum cleaner like thingy that is not a vacuum cleaner.

Day 2: Sun, 27th May
In which one is rejected yet again

The title speaks for itself. Sunday morning was quiet. The same group of girls came in to do a spot of colouring (Finding Nemo colouring book) again. No idea where their parents are. Things only began to pick up after lunch, or at least, slightly before lunch. Everyone going up the escalator to the convention centre seems to be going to Aquarama instead, or maybe it's my imagination. On the way to lunch, met Aaron, who told me he had a set of Americana at home. After lunch, I discovered that our rivals were giving it away for free as a prize in a lucky draw.

No luck still with customers. None of them came into our booth. When I mean none, I do mean none that I approached of course. It doesn't help when our booth is shorter on one side, so the opposite camp can grab the customers first, not to mention their aggressive tactics. By mid-afternoon, it is clear that book visitors have wisened up to our tactics and are avoiding the lanes occupied by us. Rita Skeeter is still annoying.

Day 3: Mon, 28th May
In which nobody comes

A slacky day. Enough said. I can't remember whether i pulled anyone in. Probably not. There weren't many people walking about in the first place. It was the day of the bratty kid, if I'm not wrong. If he isn't lying, he's from Rosyth. Has the attitude of a financial CEO, and is probably not even 10 yet. He said he would have to "consider" buying our product. Good grief. Most of our part-time colleagues have disappeared. Without a trace.

Day 4: Wed, 30th May
In which customers defect to the other side, and one reflects sadly on the gimmicky state of our booth

Back from one day's rest. We chatted to this father-son couple who seemed really really interested in buying. He said he'll consider, and then LATER, they got dragged into opposite camp. (The Reds) The father looks apologetic. At least he did.

Day 5: Sat, 2 Jun
Success at last, and mistaken identities

Our booth has been re-arranged. Now, we have more posters up on the wall, and half of it has become a section for people to sign up language courses. The booth looks tidier, and ever since a large board was placed outside letting people know we do langauges, more customers have been streaming in. Yay. Unfortunately, we were unprepared for talking to them about lang courses (as we weren't taught how). I must have lost a hefty bit of my commision telling them to go back to HQ...

After sitting for 3 hrs (i think), we closed a deal. Not bad, the commission will be split 3 ways. Finally, towards the end of the day, one family came in. They were eager to buy our most expensive set, but the price was a problem... They never came back. Sigh. In any case, for some odd reason, the entire family claims that i look familiar... Maybe that's why I got them to sit down so easily...

Day 6: Sun, 3rd Jun
Closed 2 more deals

The title says it all. It's the end to an exhausting week. ZZZZZZ... Pre-ordered Harry Potter at the same time. Got a second book (worth $15) free.

Thus, my one week stint at the World Book Fair has come to an end. Ugh. I've tried two of the worst jobs anyone could take, apart from cleaners and sweepers i suppose - waitressing (more like odd-job labourer actually) and selling encyclopedias. Up till now, I tend to talk like a salesman and smile too brightly. Hopefully, it's not permanent.

The Dutiful Review

Year Four, and still not graduated I suppose, what with us coming back to watch yet another NY drama performance. It was Othello. Shakespeare's. Not the game. Duh. I remember watching them rehearse. Up till the week before, lines were still being forgotten, and I was wondering if I'll be getting my money's worth. On the whole though, it was clear that the cast and crew had put in their most, and even if I was sleepy (no thanks to medicine), and I didn't half catch what they were saying, I think anyone would agree with me when I say that for any school production, it's the journey that counts. Not the money. Ok... maybe the money too, but sheesh. There was an interval, which was merciful for some (since people who didn't do lit/Othello couldn't understand what they were saying), and not so for others, as they had to keep playing interval music which was oh so helpful when the lecture theatre was so noisy already. Huh. The lt did look really good however...even though the dragon banner on stage was ugly. I mean, seriously, that dragon looked...wormy. A pity. Still, I wonder how much longer we'll be coming back to watch NY drama stuff... It's been 2 years already.

Cockroach Update

The cockroach died. My dad sprayed it, and it zapped about in its upside down way. In a misguided attempt to spare the critter its pain, I tried to concuss it with the newspaper. It didn't work, and it was only after smacking it (with little effect as far as I can see), it dawned on me that this was a creature that could still be alive if its head got chopped off. There is no concussing of cockroaches. I mean, they are still alive, headless! What's the use concussing them? Cockroaches are a do or die sort. None of your shilly-shallying with the question of health. Darn. You should have seen my sister's face when I told her what I did. Sometimes, kid sisters seem to possess all the sense while keeping none of it for themselves. A pity.

Sparkles

Indulge my obession.. This is soooo pretty!

A Reminder that there is life beyond exams

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantmentit is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.


Max Ehrmann, Copyright 1952.