Beaten
s t a r m | s t January 28th, 2005
People change, but I wish you won’t. Not like this, not this way.
Archive for January, 2005
She Walks in Beauty
s t a r m | s t January 24th, 2005
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meets in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow’d to that tender light
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair’d the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
Or softly lightens o’er her face,
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek and o’er that brow
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,—
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent.
Bad for Health
s t a r m | s t January 18th, 2005
As if it wasn’t bad enough that the JC gang got me hooked on the wonderful (-ly addictive) game of mahjong, evil Dumbo decided to unload her entire collection of ‘Naruto’ on me, causing me to have less of a life than I already have.
For the anime-ignorant, Naruto is this wildly popular japanese anime following the lives of a young boy named Naruto (duh!) and his fellow ninja-in-training friends and enemies.
10 reasons why Naruto is such a good anime :-
1) The animation is probably one of the best I’ve ever seen, with great character designs.
2) It has plots, good ones (yes! finally an anime with good plots!).
3) It is so thrilling that the suspense at the end of each episode simply kills me. Next episode, quick!
4) Some episodes give me food-for-thought, or are inspiring.
5) It doesn’t forget to be funny.
6) There are many intriguing characters and they are developed well as the series progresses.
7) The music that accompanies the anime? Excellent.
All that ninja knowledge is fascinating.
9) Who can resist stories about battles between good and evil? heroes against villains?
10)It has cuties (little Konohamaru) and handsome, cool, powerful guys (Kakashi sensei and Sasuke-kun)!
This is Sasuke-kun and I’m smittened/enamored with him.
Naruto the anime is filling up my days and nights. It’s been 5 days since I first started on it and I’m already on my 70th episode (there are 118 episodes and counting) now. It is so addictive, I’m keeping up late nights to watch it. I don’t wish to go out cos I want to watch it. I even dreamt about it whilst I was asleep - of Kakashi and his cool fighting moves, of the scary Gaara, of Sasuke and how his name rhymes with Bakuteh or is similar to Sakae Sushi (that’s really out of point and spastic but hey, I can’t control my dreams!) and of ninjas. Gosh. I suspect it’s an evil ploy of Dumbo to prevent me from sleeping - doing the ’since-I’m-having-insomnia-I-won’t-allow-you-to-sleep-too’ routine.
Should have listened to Beebs about the dangers of Naruto.
Enough is Enough
s t a r m | s t January 17th, 2005
For the past three weeks, I have been woken up earlier than usual due to the upgrading going on in my neighbourhood. The drilling started with the block in front of mine, progressed to the blocks diagonally beside, and then to my block itself. At one point in hell time, my days were filled with surround sound drilling; a cacophony (Beebs said it was a symphony because of the different types of drilling sounds from different blocks of flats) of noise so messy I couldn’t even hear myself think.
And so I was really happy to see all the drilling equipment being moved to Vincent Ng’s block on Saturday and I thought I could finally get some proper, undisturbed sleep.
To my absolute horror and chagrin, my sleep was rudely disrupted this morning by the all-too familiar jarring sound of drilling. No, it has not abated. Instead, it was so loud this time that I thought the drilling came from the unit beneath mine. The floor shook, my bed shuddered, my books slipped to the floor, my mum and I engaged in shouting matches in order to be heard over the noise (and no, I am not exaggerating!). I even know where exactly the drilling is being done as the intensity of vibrations can be felt through my feet (that sounds so Lord of the Ring-like, detecting movements from the ground).
This is madness. Absolute madness. The onslaught of noise is giving me a headache. I can’t think. I can’t write. It’s drilling driving me crazy.
Unhappy, Incoherent Words
s t a r m | s t January 11th, 2005
Sometimes I wish it isn’t this way. I wish I don’t have to share, because I don’t want to be just one of the many who gets the same thing. I wish the glow is reserved only for me, because that way I know I’m lighted up differently. I wish there is more balance, because the glory is seen by others but the darkness is given to me. I don’t want to share, it makes me sad that I have to. Sometimes I entertain these selfish thoughts. They get me down. Or maybe it’s the other way round; the lousy feeling, thus these thoughts.
But what if I’m not being selfish at all?
What if this is how I’m meant to feel?
Your Spirit and My Voice, In One Combined
s t a r m | s t January 10th, 2005
And so I finally managed to catch The Phantom of the Opera the movie after (emotional) blackmailing Iv bro to accompany me for it. For those who know me well enough or have read Oct 8th entry, you know that I’ve been waiting with eager anticipation for it.
Sad to say, the movie was kind of disappointing. It was a tad too draggy and Schumacher did not really follow the original story. Also, the Phantom was not mysterious enough (unlike the original Phantom) and the singing was… mediocre. The worst part of it was that the actors were obviously lip-synching (badly, sometimes) to the songs. Urgh. Now, I do not have anything against lip-synching - afterall the people are more of actors than singers (why does this sound so weird?) - but the lip-synching compromised the quality of the acting; emotions projected were not strong or powerful enough.
Or perhaps I expect too much from it, having seen Phantom the Musical and experiencing that magical, goosebumps-and-shivers feeling everytime the performers sing.
Still, Phantom the Movie was not all that bad. It was funny at times, and at the end when the Phantom asked Christine to make her choice, I cried. His desperation, his loneliness, his anguish and heartbreak - I felt it all, it was so real, intense.. and raw.
My movie partner, however, was only interested in one thing. In one scene where Christine was at the cemetery, he commented ‘Her boobs seem to be getting bigger as the movie progresses’.
And later on in the night when I spoke of Christine, he blankly asked me ‘Who is Christine?’.
Sale of a Different Kind
s t a r m | s t January 5th, 2005
There is a NLB Book Sale this weekend at Suntec and I’m getting all excited over it!Now how nerdy can that be?Anyway.If anyone wants me to keep a lookout for certain books/authors, please let me know before Saturday k?(Last year’s NLB sale saw books going for $1 and $2, can’t confirm the prices of the books for this year’s sale though.)
MJ, Accidentally
s t a r m | s t January 4th, 2005
1 year of Singtel days didn’t do it.
3 years of hanging around Iv bro, Mrm, Al, Gene, Glen the Man, JerryQ, Meimei and Dee, and seeing them play, discuss, eat and breathe it didn’t work.
22 years of Chinese New Year gatherings at my maternal grandmother’s place didn’t influence me.
And being the other half of him, he who plays like a professional and wins everybody’s money, didn’t do it either.
But now I’m hooked on it. Mahjong, that is.
No thanks to Beebs, Dumbo, Rouyi, King and KK. *accusing glare*
I came by it accidentally; they were short of a player and I was to stand in til Lou turned up. One thing led to another and suddenly… I found myself in the clan. Yes, clan. It wasn’t just the mahjong that was fun, it was what happened during those sessions that made things so memorable; Rouyi on his winning streak, the other half making them bankrupt, Dumbo shouting ‘you bad, bad man’ over and over again, me concentrating so hard on the tiles that I had no idea what else was going on, King trying to intimidate people with his sinister laughter, Dumbo who zha hu while talking over the phone, KK (literally) throwing tiles at King, the girls distracting Beebs with questions about her scandal and making her lose…
Mahjong is fun. Mahjong is good. Play mahjong.
Hardly Dare to Hope
s t a r m | s t January 1st, 2005
This new year…
Will things get better? For me and for the people around me?
Or will the status quo remain?
Or will life simply just spiral downwards?
Different Frequencies
s t a r m | s t January 1st, 2005
Passing my dad in the hallway
Dad (sizing me up): Aren’t you cold?
Me (puzzled): Yeah, that’s why I’m dressed like this? (Gestured to my really-thick, long-sleeved top and denim jeans)
Dad: Better wear more! You’ll catch a chill if you go out dressed like this!
Me: ???
Dinner conversation
Mum: It’s getting colder and wetter these days…
Me: Yeah, there’s snow in Dubai!
Dad: Let’s all buy winter clothes to wear. Or, better still, get some from sister [who is happily trampling around in Canada]. Each of us must wear at least 4 layers of clothings.
Mum, Bro and I: …….
Oh yes, Happy New Year everyone!
