Monday, February 28, 2005
How do you tell a certain story, be it about your frustration at work today or maybe about something humorous in the littlest amount of words possible, yet able to effectively convey the message. That as the reader, who has settled himself comfortably in the chair, starts reading a story written in simple sentences yet compelling enough to keep him craving for more. And the reader's imagination is further pique and he cries or laughs at the story his own imaginings has created. But most of all, the story gave him the ability to feel and to think beyond what was put before him in the first place.
I think, that's what makes a good story teller.
Friday, February 25, 2005
Sometimes, or most of the time, I feel like I'm addressing a problem/situation in circles i.e., without any clear decision in mind. What should I do? Embrace the life of uncertainties or to lead the kind of life propagated by society? I have ambitions too btw. Right now, I feel like taking a long break and backpacking around the world. Yes I know that's not easy since I grew up in affluent PJ, have never lived anywhere but in the comfort of my parents' home, have no prior experience of any survival skills and no financial means of doing so. My parents would be in constant anxiety on my whereabouts and safety. Boon will be, well I think it will break his heart to see me leave. And anyone else that matters will think that I'm being rash/stupid/ignorantly courageous in that order. In short, everyone will say I'll never make it out there on my own. I want to prove them wrong but funny, I seem to share their thoughts.
Maybe I should start by camping out in my garden tonight. If I survive this, I'll start planning.
Note to self: Never make decisions when the mind is in a state of mess. But at the same time, do not be afraid of the outcome. Don't complicate something simple. Have strong faith in self. And if all fails, remember that there are people who still loves me. Myself. Mom and dad. Boon. and a Higher being. Yes? No?
Life's learning curve is getting steeper, sigh welcome to reality.
Friday, February 18, 2005
Today, I can solemnly declare that I'm going bonkers over work.
Sometimes, I really do not understand why bad things happen in succession. And we wait for tomorrow longingly in hopes that things will finally work out. I give my best, but sometimes my best isn't just enough. It depresses me so. The good Lord says, do all you can and worry not about tomorrow. As long as you've done your best, it is already enough. Lord, how can I not worry when work is not right? Files are wrong, everything in a mess. And the fault lies not with me but yet I have to bear the burden because it's my project. I do not want to give up, give in. I'm hanging in there as long as I can. I refuse to quit because I believe tomorrow will be different. Yet, it is so difficult. Lord, I'm at my wits' end. I do not want to press on further anymore in my job. I feel that I've given all I could give these past two years. I want to move on, move on to something new and different. Yet, I'm too scared, too tired, too disillusioned.
Help...
Starbucks music series kicks off!
Sunday, February 06, 2005
At about noon yesterday, we drove to Malacca town where Boon was going to play at Starbucks at Makhota Parade. We had chicken mayo and turkey ham sandwiches in the car, mm yumyum. It was a hot day and needless to say, an hour later I dozed off in the car.
We reached Malacca town and drove around a bit, confused with the place since all roads have been made into one way streets. Went into Jonker Street and the quaint little shops are still in tact. We decided to come back later in the night after the show. We finally reached Makhota Parade at 2.30pm, walked around since it was still early (show was only going to start at 6pm), other friends came by, had two vouchers for any Starbucks drink for free, decided to order one Frappucino Rhumba first and get an espresso later for the drive back home. The crowd started to get bigger. Starbucks was actually giving out free drinks between 4 to 6pm since it was their opening day. Some patrons actually came back for second rounds, talk about being greedy eh? Malaysians
lah.
The other two bands that were going to play in the show arrived soon thereafter. About 5pm, everyone sound checked their guitars. Then the show began and lasted for about 40mins. I took some pictures, but sigh my hands shook everytime so most of the shots came out blurred. The show was ok, Boon and Dave played really well. The crowd?
Oh, it sort of disappeared after there were no more free drinks. We sat around for awhile and all of a sudden, this Starbucks waiter walked so fast and into the glass door!
Ouch! It had an imprint of his nose on the glass. He must be reeling in pain, poor thing. We decided to order cafe mocha with our second voucher before leaving.
Me and Boon drove down to Jalan Bukit Cina to have
satay celup. It didn't taste that good, the meat wasn't that fresh. Later we walked around in Jonker Street. It's like a quaint little
pasar malam. And we tried this sausage waffle (sausage wrapped in waffle batter with mayo and chilly sauce all over it) which tasted good. Quite inventive. We also tried a stick of fruits dipped in sugar which dripped all over. It was sticky gooey and nice, reminds me of a little girl having a lolly. There were a lot of other nice food around, which we didn't feel like having since we were very much tired.
There were street performances at both ends of the street. On one side was a guy performing on a trapeze. At the other end was an elderly man showing off his
qi gong strength. Nothing amazing actually. It was kinda lame to think about it.
Tired and sweaty, we decided to head for home. It was about 11pm when we started and between two stops, we reached home at about 2am. We had to practically forced ourselves to talk and laugh in order to keep awake.
Verdict? Everything turned out great! Boon will be playing three more Starbucks shows in the Klang Valley in two weeks time. In fact he is going to play for 'Louder than Love' tsunami charity fund drive at Zouk, KL later today at 3pm. I won't be following him, place too smoky and stuffy. Ah that's another story...
Saw
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Yesterday, I watched the most mentally disturbing psychological thriller that left me clutching my face in horror 10mins before the show ended. - Saw. It was grotesque, gory, violent, mind numbing and scary. But it was good. (: No, I'm no
sicko but I enjoy watching psychological thrillers. This B-grade flick directed by first-timer James Wan (who? - a young Aussie Chinese guy) was really good though there were a few loopholes. But who cares, it was a good movie anyway. Scary part occurred when a mechanical puppet who looked like a clown with horrible cheek bones came cycling slowly into a room with bicycle cranky sounds accompaniment. yuck.
A good psychological thriller should have the following effect on the person watching it.
1. You feel mentally numb after leaving the cinema.
2. You occasionally look behind your back when you're walking to your car in the parking lot.
3. You get nightmares while sleeping.
4. You get shivers down your spine.
5. Drops of water falling sounds eerie.
My thumbs up so far
1. The silence of the lambs (jonathan demme 1991 : anthony hopkins, jodie foster)
2. The hand that rocks the cradle (curtis hanson 1992 : rebecca de mornay, annabella scioria)
3. Single white female (barbet schroeder 1992 : bridgitte fonda, jennifer jason leigh)
4. The sixth sense (m. night shyamalan 1999 : haley joel osment and bruce willis)
5. What lies beneath (robert zemeckis 2000 : harrison ford, michelle pfeiffer)
6. Inner senses (law chi leung 2002: leslie cheung, karena lam)
7. Gothika (mathieu kassovitz 2003 : haley berry, robert downey jr)
8. Identity (james mangold 2003 : john cusack, ray liotta)
9. Taking lives (d.j. caruso 2004 : angelina jolie, ethan hawke)
10. Saw (james wan 2004 : cary elwes, leigh whannel)
