The Stolen Child
-W.B. Yeats-

WHERE dips the rocky highland
Of Sleuth Wood in the lake,
There lies a leafy island
Where flapping herons wake
The drowsy water rats;
There we've hid our faery vats,
Full of berrys
And of reddest stolen cherries.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

Where the wave of moonlight glosses
The dim gray sands with light,
Far off by furthest Rosses
We foot it all the night,
Weaving olden dances
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight;
To and fro we leap
And chase the frothy bubbles,
While the world is full of troubles
And anxious in its sleep.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above Glen-Car,
In pools among the rushes
That scare could bathe a star,
We seek for slumbering troutA
nd whispering in their ears
Give them unquiet dreams;
Leaning softly out
From ferns that drop their tears
Over the young streams.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

Away with us he's going,
The solemn-eyed:He'll hear no more the lowing
Of the calves on the warm hillside
Or the kettle on the hob
Sing peace into his breast,
Or see the brown mice bob
Round and round the oatmeal chest.
For he comes, the human child,
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than he can understand

Observations IV

There is this person in a long-sleeved shirt and pants snoring in the library. I can't concentrate.
Hungry too.
Why Why Why

Reading and Writing

MF:Gooood evening ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Ms Fickle's Mind Live! Interview, where you get to meet such extraordinary persons that you won't think to meet! (and will never meet, Peace be upon you) As for tonight, let's see just who we have tonight at the studio!
[camera pans right to cushy armchairs]

MF:Ah! I see that we have the excellent Master Reading here in the studio tonight with us! [chorus of excited murmur]
MF: So! Master Reading! What a pleasure it is to meet you in person! I am told that as it is the end of the semester, you have seen a slight dip in those who follow Readership.
MR: [Sourly] It is expected of course. But those who turn away ultimately return during the exams. I am not overly concerned by this.
MF: I see! How nice it is to see you so unconcerned... As a matter of fact, you have been criticised by some as being rather autocratic. Your followers complain that they have been often coerced into Reading textbooks and research.
MR: [waves one hand nonchalantly] I quite fail to see it as my problem. Insofar as I see it, they'll just have to deal with me in whatever way they can. [smirks] Seeing as they can't escape me anyway.
MF: Oh dear. Perhaps this might exlain why in the mean time, Readers have turned to your more charming cousin, Sir Essay Writing. I hear that at least he has been more democratic in dealing with his er. essayists.
MR: Democratic? I hardly think so. He may be as you call it, more "charming", but he is no less demanding than I am. Though I do admit that the effort put in on working on essays are strictly on a voluntary basis. Flattery may get you somewhere with him, but not me. I am not so two-faced. [looks at clock on the wall impatiently] Is it over yet? I did not ask for this ridiculous interview did you know? I am a busy person.
[link terminated]

Booklist

Revived an old list of "to read" books, and decided that I have to update it..

List of Books to read:
-Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman [finished!]
-The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro [finished!]
-The Magic Toyshop, Angela Carter
-The Gormenghast Trilogy, Mervyn Peake [it's STILL sitting at home]
-Gods Behaving Badly, Marie Phillips
-American Gods, Neil Gaiman [I never seem to get round to reading it]
-Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
-Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Marisha Pessl
-100 Great Books in Haiku, David Bader
-The Misanthrope: and other plays, Moliere
-The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
-Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders, Gyles Brandreth
-The Time Traveller's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

The Irrelevent Post

Hmm. So life continues on, without stopping (as usual) for a breather, while I sit back and admire the lovely mess I've created. Went back to school yesterday, forgetting it was a public holiday, and naturally, everything was closed, my readings stuck behind the wretched glass wall... No matter, I suppose, so I went back home, and scowled at the review I was supposed to be writing, while simultaneously planning this other essay I've got... the one of many other essays to come, but I needn't complain. I forsee all-nighters in the not too distant future. And I haven't finished reading Jane Eyre. And I have a presentation on it.

I do wish I can cough up 10 page research papers in a day... I hear you have to do something similar if you want your PhD... Incidentally, PhD; I don't know how many of you actually know, but it doesn't mean Permanent Head Damage as many of us know it as, but A Doctor in Philosophy. Weird, especially when there actually ARE doctors of Philosophy out there... i.e. the profs at the Philo Dept (where else).

Right then, back to my point about writing essays fast. I really don't have all day to sit around waiting to be inspired, but it happens, and I glaze over the essay/review/write-up/report/proposal/research paper and half the day is gone. Talk about time passing...

Lost lost lost

Why oh why can't I go through a semester without losing something?!
Last sem, it was my earring and nearly a textbook, and this semester it has to be my thumbdrive. The worst part is. I don't even remember where I lost it. Or HOW. Did I leave it hanging on a computer somewhere (most likely right). Mercifully, most of my stuff are in the other thumbdrive and my laptop, but still! Waaaaaaaaaaah.
Come to think of it, I also lost a newly topped cashcard too. All on campus. Damn damn damn!

Am feeling like an idiot. And miserable to boot. My faithful thumbdrive.. that saw me through the busted laptop period...lost. gone forever. taken by some twit. ungrateful twit at that.

Observations III

Well then. Where are my slippers? I can't go out without my slippers! Who has taken my slippers? Mom?! Have you seen my slippers?

And so. I wear my sister's slippers, which are a tad too big for me cos my feet are smaller than hers, and slip and slide all the way and frantically cling on to the staircase in case I fall down...

Where do I start?

I could start by burning all my books. And papers. Yes. In particular those. There's too much of them.

Small Things

Having decided finally what topic I want to do for my Japanese film paper (hail all Ghibli fans), am feeling much better. The vague sense of anxiety which has plagued me for the last two weeks is over (for now), and I can move on to other matters that as time passes, become even more and more pressing, thanks to time's ability to move forward without you noticing. This means datelines loom forever closer, even as I space out thinking of smart things to say in my ultra smart Romanticism class, whom some are already marked out for not being appreciators of Coleridge. Mwahahahaha. The reason that I'm wrecking things to say are twofold:
One, which is also the most pertinent, is that my CA grade depends on it, and Two, because umm. come on, one must defend what one likes even at the great risk of looking stupid. Then again, I am not sure I like critiquing what I like in the first place... I mean, I'm not even sure I like doing lit this way, which is to say, critiquing it. I feel like I'm not up to it, not to mention, these are great writers. How the hell do you criticise them and where do you start???

Life is beautiful.

The Incoherent Raving Review of Ratatouille

Oh my god it was soooooo cute my goodness the animation is absolutely brilliant did u see that did u see that? it's amazing what did they to the fur it looks like real fur for crying out loud i mean seriously it waves, the action is so smooth and the way the mouse i mean rats move! they are sooooo fat and tubby and just sooooo cute! aieeeeeee!!
It's a very simple story.
Of course it is! the best stories keep things simple sniffle i love it how touching...
alfredo linguini did u know you can order alfredo linguni for lunch? alfredo is a triple cheese spaghetti and if you prefer linguini you can actually order an alfredo linguini hahahahaha how weird is that?

Well.

If you made it through all that.. not bad. Pity. Because here is the coherent version, which you can actually read.
An excellent little film and all that. Pixar-Disney have done it again. Personally, I thought, with the Incredibles (I hated Incredibles. Who hates Incredibles too?) and Cars, they were on a downhill... but yippee! It seems they have found the right ingredients for the perfect Disney flick again! Whee and whoop and all that. Apart from all that raving, let's see if I can get a proper review done up...

Ratatouille is a cute little film indeed. The animation is absolutely world-class, if it can even be classed as such. Perhaps a more helpful description would be to say it was first rate animation that did justice to one of the mightiest animation houses. The fur looked real. The hair looked real (you can actually see the maroon highlights on one of the characters) and the food. I felt like chewing the screen. Apart from the tech involved, story-wise, it isn't quite anything new, but then who needs new? Chock-full of silly witty puns that actually work and lovable characters, the film would win over the sourest critic. Which goes to show, really, how important being earnest is, and a timely reminder that brilliant animation is nothing without content. (Think Incredibles... or any really lousy animation you had just watched)

Observations II

The best way to stop your nose from dripping like a leaky water-tap is for some complete stranger to offer you tissue.

____________________

Of course. It rains when I'm wearing jeans and freezes when I'm in skirts or berms.

Theatre

Oh spare me. WHY is there a couple two rows in front of me???? As if what I'm watching isn't sappy enough... Plus, she's blocking half the stage (leaning heavens knows where (and you know too)), and creating a gulf between every on-stage couple. Love. can be so selfish.

Observations

me: Excuse me, do u have the Studio Ghibi box set?
salesperson: Hah?
me: Studio Ghibli box set.
salesperson: .... Studio Jimmy?
me: you know. Japanese animation? Spirited Away? Howl's Moving Castle?
salesperson: We don't sell here...
__________________

salesperson: Oh. sold out.

.............

Good grief. And that is why, ladies and gentlemen, mini skirts are a stupid invention. (You'll never see me in one) You can't run for the train with them. Well, maybe you can. propel yourself forward by kicking out stiff-kneed without your feet actually leaving the ground. Think can can with reluctant leg kicking.

.............

The fickle mood strikes again

Once again decided to give blog a facelift. As if I haven't a ton of other things to do...

School. That ominous word.

Oh poor me with poems to read
Oh poor me with films to heed
Oh woe me with too much on my plate

What do numbers mean?
Word-counts of course, to take away hope's gleam
Whinewhinewhine: school life takes away all the fun
Even though woe is still miniscule
Compared to others and what's to come.

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...

Readreadread

Reading list for next semester (not including the various poets)

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man -- James Joyce
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit --Jeanette Winterson
The Bloody Chamber --Angela Carter
To the Lighthouse -- Virginia Woolfe
----
Wuthering Heights -- Emily Bronte
Jane Eyre -- Charlotte Bronte
3 Gothic Novels -- 3 different people

SEVEN BOOKS! HOW am I supposed to finish them?!

HP 7

Msfickle would like to extend a warm invitation to you all who would like to join her in salute of the Boy Who Lived for the very last time...

The seventh and final book is out and surprisingly, there're still copies floating about out ther in shops.

NO SPOILERS, IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING...

Have just finished the final book without hearing a single wretched spoiler from anybody! Wheeeee!!! There was a moment there, in Chinatown... but I heard wrong (by accident), so yay for me!!

The ending is silly. Just so you know what I think about it, and do read past volumes, if you haven't heard any spoilers yet. Very very worthwhile to do so.

Am now unable to sleep. Too excited. Go. Sleep.

5 Dollars

Watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix today at the very cheap price of $5 at PS. Feel envious. mwahaha. Well, thanks to the movie, am now dying for next Sat to come. You know... 21st July. =D =D =D =D =D =D =D

Eternal Sleep

And there goes another one... to doze in the fields of eternal sleep.

Actually. What happened was this. We needed to bury our poor hamster that had died. There was a cleaner in the way, which meant playing a game of dodge and peek and discreetly standing around until he has left. Then, hastily dig a hole in public grass and bury the poor bugger. I've never been so pissed at a cleaner before for being diligent.

Perhaps I ought to be weeping distraughtly, but.. it's the eighth one that went, and the 6th we've buried. I'll miss them all. Somewhere out there, they're happy. Or at least, it's my hope that they aren't sad.