She is a peacock in everything but beauty.

Ah what a delightful insult, such room for imagination! Oscar Wilde is a genius.

I am back in The Land As Big As Lake Kenyir. Homesickness struck last night but I am back to my old indestructible self now. Am focusing full time (kinda) on my work, this paper has to be out by this week I swear, so that I can work on other papers in the pipeline. Just found a good paper so I am sprightly.

Chinese New Year found me coughing and hacking and not having any CNY tidbits, which is a horrid pity because that's reasonably the only time of the year when you get to have all the junkfood you can eat without the guilt, and I'd already missed it last year because I was in NZ. Ten thousand woes. Well there's always next year.

The lack of real food was supplemented by soul food. During the holidays I read Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde) and half of Emma (Jane Austen), which is still my loo-time reading now. Hooray for books you bought when you were young but never appreciated because when you get old and contemplative and boring you're bound to like them somehow. I suppose classics are classics for a reason. I still can't bring myself to read Great Expectations though. I think just by holding the book my cool factor would degrade by ten. Maybe another five years down the road. In the meantime I shall hunt down more of Oscar Wilde's books, I find his flamboyance really delightful and Jane Austen just pales in comparison.

Also I saw 2046 by Wong Kar Wai and I liked it. I liked the ambience, the storyline, and of course Tony Leung who was in it. I didn't like Happy Together (by same director) ten years ago when I saw it. Maybe I should rewatch it with my older, more contemplative and more boring soul.

Sharing with you this music video of "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. Love the travel vibes it's sending. My thoughts go out to Val who's right now wwoofing in Italy, lucky bastard, wish I could do the same but I shall keep focused and continue trying to get funding to travel.



OK back to academic reading, cool stuff on media and conflict.