Redbull 4

CS References I may leave:

• He didn't do the dishes. I punched him in the face.
• He was a nice person but very quiet. He only said "Ja" and "Nein" and occasionally "Affe".
  
• She drew a mural on my wall of aliens invading the earth. My wall scares me now.
  
• She had a five-feet rule. I respect her need for privacy but mostly the tazer that she held.
• He dreamt that I violated his innocence. I did not. He continued to dream.
• They fought and she threw his wig out of the window. I could have been fined.

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.

The Bet.

My palms clammy and cold with sweat
Preparing to walk the plank.
To win myself the fateful bet
Though I can't swim, to be frank.

Thousand miles below it seemed
My cousin grinned slyly.
How I longed to scream at him
But the voice wouldn't come out of me.

At the edge of the plank I trembled
Wavering slightly, I shut my eyes.
Taking a step as I shuddered
I plunged down, preparing to die.

Down and down and down I fell
Holding my breath in terror.
My fear was more than I could tell
The feeling was indescribable.

It seemed like hours till I hit the water
As cold as ice to my skin.
I splashed onto the surface and spluttered
Safe and sound as I'd been.

I shook off the water after a pause
Recovering after the fall.
Cousin asked me how it was
I replied, "No big deal at all."

----

Dug up some rhymes I wrote 10 years ago. Typing them out for my mum, so just post one of them up for you guys =)

Indigestion slowly recovering, thanks for checking in on me!

12 Butterflies

Butterfly #1 brushed its wings against his favourite silk pillow, upon which he laid his lifeless head.

Butterfly #2 made its way around the funeral, drinking in gossip in hushed tones by relatives.

Butterfly #3 observed his wife and children weeping disconsolately as they gathered around his coffin, and his sister nodding off during the ceremony.

Butterfly #4 hovered above his youngest grandson who was fumbling with his shoelaces.

Butterfly #5 circled the prized stamp collection that decked his study, result of a lifelong hobby.

Butterfly #6 unravelled the mystery of the howling ghost - it was his neighbour singing in the bath.

Butterfly #7 followed the only woman he had ever loved while she shopped in the supermarket, blissfully oblivious of his demise.

Butterfly #8 landed on the Sudoku puzzle he had left undone the night before the night.

Butterfly #9 was fascinated by the soft glow of a lamp.

Butterfly #10 crept towards the old suitcase where he hid his life savings as he was suspicious of banking institutions.

Butterfly #11 visited his old foe who teared, surprisingly, when speaking of him.

Butterfly #12 flew tirelessly up a hill to see the last sunset he ever would.