Discovering

Please read Exhortation: The Disadvantages ofan Elite Education

"The ability to engage in introspection, I put it to my students that day, is the essential precondition for living an intellectual life, and the essential precondition for introspection is solitude."
- William Deresiewicz

I found some reassurance in my lonely life.

Of Yearning

ひまわりの家の轮舞曲
向日葵之家的圆舞曲
Waltz of Sunflower

もう一度自由に歩けたら
假如能够再一次自由行走的话

思い切りお扫除をして　お洗濯をして　お料理を作って　お散歩に出挂けよう
想要立刻打扫，洗衣，做料理，出外散步

晴れた画なんて　明るいんだろう　お日様を笑っている
天气明媚如画 对着太阳公公微笑

雨の日も好きおしゃれは雨伞（あまがさ）连ことも着て歩こう
即使下雨的日子 也喜欢穿着漂亮的雨衣 出外漫步

お迎えはまだ来ないから　その间にちょっとだけ歩かせて
但是那样的日子还没有到来 现在只能这样一点一点的移动

もう一度だけ踊りたい　そうよ风になって
只是想要再一次起舞 就像风儿那样

クルクルまわる　手をつないで
飞快的旋转着 也不用手牵

背筋（せすじ）を伸ばして　膝（ひざ）を伸ばして
背能够伸直 关节能够舒展

足を跳ね上げて　スカートが吹くなんて
轻身一跃 裙子吹了起来

みんなニコニコ笑は出る
大家呵呵的笑

お迎えはまだ来ないから　窓のガラスを拭くだけっていの
但是那样的日子还没有到来 现在只是这样擦拭着窗户的玻璃

もう一度だけ踊りたい　そうよ风になって
只是想要再一次起舞 就像风儿那样


mo i chi do ji yuu ni a ru ke ta ra
o mo i ki ri o sou ji wo si te
o sen ta ku wo si te o ryou(lio) ri wo tsu ku te
o san po ni de ka ke you

ha ra ta ra nan te a ka ru in da rou
o hi sa ma mo wa ra tte i ru
a me no hi mo su ki o sya(∫a) re na a ma ga sa
re in koo to　mo ki te a ru kou

o mu ka e ha(wa) ma da ko na i ka ra
so no a i da ni tyo(t∫o) tto da ke a ru ka se te
mo i chi do da ke o do ri na i
so yo ka ze ni na tte

ku ru ku ru ma wa ru te wo tsu na i de
se su ji wo no ba si te hi za wo no ba si te
a si wo ha ne a ge te su kaa to ga hu ku ran de
min na ni ko ni ko wa ra tte ru

o mu ka e ha(wa) ma da ko na o ka ra
mo do no ga ra su wo hu ku da ke de ii no
mo i chi do da ke o do ri na i
so yo ka ze ni na tte

Forgotten Youth

J: remember we used to write poems
J: i can still remember one of your lines
Me: what?
Me: u remember all the stuff i forget
J: "I smile not moan
The silence is great"

It is probably not that funny to you. But I find it hilarious.

Youth, forgotten?

Crushes of my Past

Argh, I found my old crushes on Facebook. My secondary school crushes! They are as cute as I remember when I was 14 years old.

I can't bring myself to add them. They must know I was/am so fond of them!! I love Facebook. Why can't my crushes be searching for me on Facebook and adding me instead!!!

I miss being 14 and crazy. OF is being parental and oh-so-mature!!!

Me: i like guys easily
Me: -_-
Me: but only have gross guys ard now
Me: ARGH. i found my sec 2 crush on facebook!
J: i think u are really mad
J: u not happy in ur current r/s meh
J: as in u've committed to it liao..then still keep finding old crush to relive crushing memories

...

Me: my life is so sad
Me: i am drunk on depression
J: ??!?!
J: u have a date
J: u will have a gd job
J: u will have a house
J: u are NOT in spore
J: ur life where got sad?
J: even my life is not sad..and i dun even have wat u have

I am still crushed by the fact that I am not Facebook friends with my crushes. Argh!!

Common Bad

I dislike traffic. I cannot understand why no one enforces traffic rules in NYC. Vehicles park randomly in the middle of the road with drivers nowhere to be found. Sometimes the drivers are even happily unloading goods off the back of the truck while remaining blissfully unaware/unconcern about the traffic holdup that they are causing.

So my dear bus has to take one massive loop around this stationary-gas-emitting vehicle before it can proceed with its slow crawl to my apartment. Why are there no loitering tow trucks to haul these vehicles into oblivion?

We are nowhere close to Pareto efficiency. 1 (or 2 or more) inconsiderate driver/s versus a street cramped with vehicles. Hello? The darn traffic is severely lowering my utility!!! I am sure those people can drive/walk/park somewhere else. Please, at least give them a ticket so that the city has more money to hire more traffic cops.

Singapore's practicality is sorely missed. The lovely ERP ensures smooth traffic. Let the rich pay! I am sure I can accommodate one or two or even ten limos on 42nd St. Just get rid of all those trucks/cars and the other economically unviable stuff.

Oh, and I cannot understand why garbage is thrown out onto the sidewalks in NYC. Does the garbage truck come around and pick up bags of trash off the sidewalks? And it is not just the dubious chinatown stores with such nasty habits. Starbucks, Burger King etc, everyone does this garbage on sidewalk thing (in broad daylight). Why why. I simply cannot comprehend.

Big Eel

This is the tale of 2 fishermen.

One lazy Saturday not too long ago, 2 fishermen decided to go fishing. Like in all stories, the fishermen were very different. One fisherman was tall and strong (aka himbo), while the other was easily rattled and had a "weak constitution". They went out fishing together, each with a different objective. The himbo fisherman was generally dismissive of fishing. He found fishing to be a mild sport, deemed uncharacteristic for someone with his sculpted physique (insert appropriate puking sound). The other fisherman had high hopes and brought along ziplock bags with dreams of bringing home the prize catch.

And so they went to Hudson River to try their luck (because it was free).

It wasn't long before a fisherman (guess which), caught something. It was an American eel. The lovely people at Big City Fishing provided the rods, bait and even helped handle the kamikaze crazy eel.

The eel was pure slime and pure muscle. It wasn't very bright though (somehow resembling the himbo fisherman). It swallowed the squid bait, hook and all. Now all it could do was to pray hard and cross it gills and hope that the sea water would corrode the iron hook in its tummy.

Eel: Watch me spin. I bet if I spin a few times, you would be so impressed and let me go...
Eel: If only I'm an electric eel, your fishermen would be so so afraid of messing with me. Grrr!
The fishing trip ended with 2 more catches. The eel-less fisherman caught 2 sea grapes. One of which was classified by the Big City Fishing people as the grossest sea grape ever. It squirted. Congratulations Sea Grape Fisherman!

Big fishes caught that summer. Notice, no tracking of sea grapes.
The 3rd American eel caught.

The total catch in 1.5 hr: 1 American eel, 2 sea grapes

The sea creatures were finally returned to their rightful place in the polluted sea, to allow other fishermen to try their luck. The ziplock bags were unused. Anyway, the sandwich size bags were far too small for the big eel.

Then, the fishermen felt hungry and went off for food at Union Sq Cafe.

The loveliest rabbit ravioli ever! The butter, the corn, the rabbit. Yum!

The loveliest mash potatoes ever. Ooo.. Those fried onions...

And large crunchy prawns...

Note: No unagi (or should it be anago... Hm...)

Dream Job

Every time I tell people that I plan to retire young at 30/35 (or even earlier), I get this: Won't you be so bored?? + *appalled look*

For one, I am bored working. I don't see why work boredom doesn't count as real boredom. Anyway, I rather be bored doing nothing (or thinking of things to do) than be bored at work.

My dream job is to make myself happy. Well, it takes a lot, a lot of time. I'm terribly pessimistic and very highly strung. I need time to soothe my discomfort and fluff up my life (with lots of pillows and a hot mug of milo). It is a legitimate full time job.

I love weekday afternoon shopping, lazing in bed, having time to read... And yes, to placate and uhlala those people who have to work oh-so-hard.

I feel so acknowledged knowing that there are people our there like me. See here. It is on CNN. My dream kind of life is almost main stream...

Not what they had in mind...

Oh.. Vancouver Winter Olympics are in 2010. They have the cutest mascots ever (unlike the B. Olympics with its 5 ugly mascots...).

They have really fun games online. Addicted!

Oh.. But check out the e-cards and what one can do with them:

Ahh... The wonders of deforestation... The scent of freshly cut wood.

General Rot

Someone's grandpa is dying of general rot. He is 86, going on 87.

He is really cool. He does "dangerous" things such as cycling with his grandkid to the market. But that was many many years ago.

He seems really interesting. He probably has lots of stories to tell. But I won't have the chance to hear them. His stories would probably be forgotten with time.

General rot. How horrid. When your body fails you; when time takes away your mind; when you slowly forget. When would it come for your soul?