I was feeling a little displaced this morning, due in part to a disturbing breakfast conversation and also because of the unnerving feeling that i've somehow forgotten to do something important. After changing money at M&S (I didn't know they had a bureau de change, and with one of the best rates around too) I went to my favourite coffee spot to regain a little composure. I remember reading Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go and writing down a few thoughts about it while sitting at that spot by the window, in the first few days alone in Birmingham when daddy had just gone back and I was still staying at the backpacker's place. I had a hot chocolate and a piece of carrot cake then, but today I had an ice blended latte instead. Yeah, the weather has changed a little. My weakness for carrot cake has not, though. My coffee, though it wasn't very good, was free. The cashier girl keyed in a loyalty card redemption free coffee by mistake, so I had a free coffee. This has served to further entrench my affection for the place. It gave me a little sense of completeness, as though it were some sort of coming full circle. I guess i'm just weird that way.
I went for a slow jog today, to all my favourite haunts. The flowers are out, and they sure are pretty. I've been so used to seeing all the trees bare, dry and dead looking, black and snow-covered, that now that some of them are starting to bud, indeed flower; profusely! it comes as a little bit of a surprise. When I come back, everything will be green. Smashing =)
I want to sit on the grass and have a picnic, play guitar and sing songs. Unleash my inner hippie.
This used to be a popular song in primary school, for me, my polka dotty days in st. margaret's.
What a wondrous time is spring
When all the trees are budding
The birds begin to sing
The flowers start their blooming
That's how it is with God's love
You want to sing, it's fresh like spring
You want to pass it on
touch my cold heart and renew Your love for me, Lord! things are not as dead as they seem.
Au revoir! I'm off to Paris tonight!
the four right chords can make me cry
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Parting with Kuhn was hard, but I returned my copy of the Structure of Scientific Revolutions today, because I knew that I wouldn't read anything else (i.e. stuff i'm actually going to be examined on) if I didn't.
Although my MSN doesn't work while i'm in manor, it works on the school wireless network. I got a chance to chat with Fadz today! It reminded me that there's at least one thing to look forward to back in NUS; lunches with Fadz.
Also got a chance to have a nice chat with Dr Leadbeater =) I've been invited to his house for dinner after the exams because his wife would like to meet me too. If the weather's good, i've been promised a barbeque! It's always nice to talk to someone who's interested and curious about something you can tell them about. I wish I had such a nice supervisor in NUS.
I'm really savouring every dinner in manor as though it were my last. The food today was quite crap, but I lingered on and ate slowly to maximise hanging out time.
Unfortunately, that meant that i was away from my phone and uncontactable when Lilian Summer and Kaiwai were trying to jio me for dinner at Nando's. They managed to get me in the end by calling Vanessa and though the wait was long, the spiciness was quite shiok.
On the way back i ran into Josh who was quite hyper having just watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He leapt around, hummed the tune to the Nutcracker, sang the dentist song from Little Shop of Horrors and told me all the things he did "for Sparta!" after watching 300, like crossing the road "for honour and glory!" all in the space of the walk between the bus stop and manor.
In case you didn't know where I was going with all this; I'm going to miss all these people when I go traveling. yeah its silly i know, it's just a month.
A decision needs to be made about Glastonbury!
Although my MSN doesn't work while i'm in manor, it works on the school wireless network. I got a chance to chat with Fadz today! It reminded me that there's at least one thing to look forward to back in NUS; lunches with Fadz.
Also got a chance to have a nice chat with Dr Leadbeater =) I've been invited to his house for dinner after the exams because his wife would like to meet me too. If the weather's good, i've been promised a barbeque! It's always nice to talk to someone who's interested and curious about something you can tell them about. I wish I had such a nice supervisor in NUS.
I'm really savouring every dinner in manor as though it were my last. The food today was quite crap, but I lingered on and ate slowly to maximise hanging out time.
Unfortunately, that meant that i was away from my phone and uncontactable when Lilian Summer and Kaiwai were trying to jio me for dinner at Nando's. They managed to get me in the end by calling Vanessa and though the wait was long, the spiciness was quite shiok.
On the way back i ran into Josh who was quite hyper having just watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He leapt around, hummed the tune to the Nutcracker, sang the dentist song from Little Shop of Horrors and told me all the things he did "for Sparta!" after watching 300, like crossing the road "for honour and glory!" all in the space of the walk between the bus stop and manor.
In case you didn't know where I was going with all this; I'm going to miss all these people when I go traveling. yeah its silly i know, it's just a month.
A decision needs to be made about Glastonbury!
I love this man.
I worry, I weigh three times my body
I worry, I throw my fear around
But this morning there's a calm I can't explain
The rock candy's melted, only diamonds now remain
By the time I recognize this moment
This moment will be gone
But I bend all the light pretending
That it somehow lingered on
When all I got's
And I will wait to find
If this will last forever
And I will wait to find
If this will last forever
And I will pay no mind
When it wont, and it won't
Cos it can't
It just can't
It's not supposed to
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
my ignorance is abysmal!
i was just reading up a bit about Paris and France, just so that at least a few of those sights in the most touristy place in the world would mean something to me. and there is just so much that i don't know.
i did manage to find out that Calvin and Hobbes were named after John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes though. and on that basis alone, i've decided that like this Bill Watterson man very much. that and his resistance to merchandising.
don't ask how i got from Napoleon and the French revolution to an American comic strip. just blame wikipedia.
i was just reading up a bit about Paris and France, just so that at least a few of those sights in the most touristy place in the world would mean something to me. and there is just so much that i don't know.
i did manage to find out that Calvin and Hobbes were named after John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes though. and on that basis alone, i've decided that like this Bill Watterson man very much. that and his resistance to merchandising.
don't ask how i got from Napoleon and the French revolution to an American comic strip. just blame wikipedia.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
300 was a very hyper movie.
First of all, the overt hypermasculinity. From lingering shots of a nude king in the moonlight to the apparent cloth shortage plaguing the whole of Sparta to the dyslogistic attitude towards the "boy-loving" Greeks to the strange and excessive facial hair (i could go on forever); the whole movie seemed like a propaganda vehicle for the Greek ideal of masculinity. Ideals of honour, valour and pride were very poorly developed and fuzzy at best, and yet expected to be enough to motivate the whole plot. I found it particularly interesting how the King Xerxes was portrayed as this bisexual being; at once massively tall and well-built but with kohl-lined eyes, bedecked in jewelry and a voice that reminded me of the sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania (Rocky Horror Picture Show). In fact Rocky himself was built from the model of a Greek god, so these two movies make for very interesting contrasts.
Secondly, the use of hyperbole. This was very in-your-face, given the comic book sensibilities of the cinematography. Not surprising for an adaptation of a graphic novel though, especially one of Frank Miller's. The slow-mo action, the way that the lighting was so dramatic, all the blood and gore and chopping heads off stuff and the amusing war beasts, made me feel like i had to flip the pages sometimes. Life imitates art, 3D imitates 2D. I still haven't watched Sin City yet, but there might be some interesting comparisons to be made there too.
Lastly, what amused me most of all, was how hyper li lian was after the movie. The rest of the night was filled with cries of "I spartan you!!!" and various assaults on wei min. LOL.
So yeah, go catch the movie! Not the best movie in the world, but very interesting for a "guy movie". Comments and discussion welcomed!
First of all, the overt hypermasculinity. From lingering shots of a nude king in the moonlight to the apparent cloth shortage plaguing the whole of Sparta to the dyslogistic attitude towards the "boy-loving" Greeks to the strange and excessive facial hair (i could go on forever); the whole movie seemed like a propaganda vehicle for the Greek ideal of masculinity. Ideals of honour, valour and pride were very poorly developed and fuzzy at best, and yet expected to be enough to motivate the whole plot. I found it particularly interesting how the King Xerxes was portrayed as this bisexual being; at once massively tall and well-built but with kohl-lined eyes, bedecked in jewelry and a voice that reminded me of the sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania (Rocky Horror Picture Show). In fact Rocky himself was built from the model of a Greek god, so these two movies make for very interesting contrasts.
Secondly, the use of hyperbole. This was very in-your-face, given the comic book sensibilities of the cinematography. Not surprising for an adaptation of a graphic novel though, especially one of Frank Miller's. The slow-mo action, the way that the lighting was so dramatic, all the blood and gore and chopping heads off stuff and the amusing war beasts, made me feel like i had to flip the pages sometimes. Life imitates art, 3D imitates 2D. I still haven't watched Sin City yet, but there might be some interesting comparisons to be made there too.
Lastly, what amused me most of all, was how hyper li lian was after the movie. The rest of the night was filled with cries of "I spartan you!!!" and various assaults on wei min. LOL.
So yeah, go catch the movie! Not the best movie in the world, but very interesting for a "guy movie". Comments and discussion welcomed!
I've just booked my return flight from Faro and sent my aunty an email letting her know when i'll be there. Doing practical things like that makes it seem more real.
I leave in just 5 days!
Excited but also numb, so surreal and so sudden.
France, Spain and Portugal!
I leave in just 5 days!
Excited but also numb, so surreal and so sudden.
France, Spain and Portugal!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Friday, March 09, 2007
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
William Wordsworth, 1804.
Rebecca Tan leaves for the Coniston, Cumbria, in the Lake district tomorrow at 4pm, almost exactly 100 years after Wordsworth's poem was published. Maybe she'll write a poem or two and do some sketches. See how she feels.
Bet this will make Wei min feel jealous because they only spent 3 hours there:
Coniston is a popular spot for hill-walking and rock-climbing; there are fine walks to be had on the nearby Furness Fells and Grizedale Forest, and some of the finest rock in the Lake District on the eastern face of Dow Crag, three miles from the village.
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
William Wordsworth, 1804.
Rebecca Tan leaves for the Coniston, Cumbria, in the Lake district tomorrow at 4pm, almost exactly 100 years after Wordsworth's poem was published. Maybe she'll write a poem or two and do some sketches. See how she feels.
Bet this will make Wei min feel jealous because they only spent 3 hours there:
Coniston is a popular spot for hill-walking and rock-climbing; there are fine walks to be had on the nearby Furness Fells and Grizedale Forest, and some of the finest rock in the Lake District on the eastern face of Dow Crag, three miles from the village.
Labels: Travel
I close my eyes and try to remember the houses spreading out under my feet at the top of Merrit's hill. People going about their daily lives, families and pets and gardens.
How the cold air fills my lungs and my head, how the sunshine feels on my face.
As I struggle up the slope to reach Isaac Tongue Junction, I think to myself: It feels good to be alive.
It's a beautiful day, don't let it fade away.
How the cold air fills my lungs and my head, how the sunshine feels on my face.
As I struggle up the slope to reach Isaac Tongue Junction, I think to myself: It feels good to be alive.
It's a beautiful day, don't let it fade away.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
This is how it works.
On the radio
We heard November rain
That solo's really long
But it's a pretty song
We listened to it twice
Cause the DJ was asleep
This is how it works
You're young until you're not
You love until you don't
You try until you can't
You laugh until you cry
You cry until you laugh
And everyone must breathe
Until their dying breath
No, this is how it works
You peer inside yourself
You take the things you like
And try to love the things you took
And then you take that love you made
And stick it into some
Someone else's heart
Pumping someone else's blood
And walking arm in arm
You hope it don't get harmed
But even if it does
You'll just do it all again
And on the radio
You hear November Rain
That solo's awful long
But it's a good refrain
You listen to it twice
Cause the DJ is asleep
On the radio
On the radio
We heard November rain
That solo's really long
But it's a pretty song
We listened to it twice
Cause the DJ was asleep
This is how it works
You're young until you're not
You love until you don't
You try until you can't
You laugh until you cry
You cry until you laugh
And everyone must breathe
Until their dying breath
No, this is how it works
You peer inside yourself
You take the things you like
And try to love the things you took
And then you take that love you made
And stick it into some
Someone else's heart
Pumping someone else's blood
And walking arm in arm
You hope it don't get harmed
But even if it does
You'll just do it all again
And on the radio
You hear November Rain
That solo's awful long
But it's a good refrain
You listen to it twice
Cause the DJ is asleep
On the radio
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Friday, March 02, 2007
2 skipped lectures
1 missed potluck
and half a box of chocolates later
becky has finished her essay.
and managed to catch Volver too!
1 missed potluck
and half a box of chocolates later
becky has finished her essay.
and managed to catch Volver too!
Thursday, March 01, 2007
tapioca. sweet and mushy or crispy and bland. depending on how you cook me.
About Me
- Name: beckyboo
- Location: Singapore
i am extraordinary, if you ever get to know me, i am extraordinary, i am just your ordinary average everyday sane psycho supergoddess
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