A street laid out with pebbles She started on her way up the dark and crooked lane or street not made for hasty progress; a street laid out before inches of land had value, and when one-handed clocks sufficiently subdivided the day. - Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy Six months ago, I had a very clear goal in mind. Change for myself in every aspect of my life – career, attitude, personal life, environment. Today, the changes have happened, but not always in the way I saw it. All this was meant to open me up to more experiences, to open me up to the world and to make my self more accessible. In many, many ways, that goal has been achieved. However, it would be wrong to assume that I have changed my personality in any way. While I have become more open and accepting of difference and strangers, I have also developed a keener quiet that has dominated my thoughts. Today, I speak to strangers and find out that they’re celebrating their parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. That others have been married 5 years and look forward to the next fifty. I allow children to pull on my pinkie and I compare their pretty pink shoes to their pretty pink drinks so their mothers than shove their little pink feet back into their little pink mary-janes. I have conquered my fear of strangers. At the same time, I have withdrawn into my mind more fiercely than before, protecting the thoughts and opinions I have in the matters that matter. For no reason other than self-preservation. Perhaps it is because I have uprooted too strongly, or perhaps the extroversion is exacerbating the introversion. Being aware of this opposing pull brings me comfort, and I find no need to stem its progress. Part of this retreat into myself is an inability to divulge information in a public domain anymore. My status updates on Facebook are a web of incomplete lyrics and mindless observations of emotion, frequently occurring after the fact. I haven’t written in WordPress for the same reason. So while the cobwebs gather, I’ll let the air get musty in this little corner here. There isn’t anything else to see here now, move along. Posted in Thoughts Come away with me and we’ll fly Happy Birthday =) Posted in Life When I don’t pack my table This is how it can end up looking Posted in Musings Munchies Well, technically it's lunch, not a munchie. A heart-shaped schnitzel and over-fried dumplings...A long way to go before I get to say I can cook. Posted in Musings Coming into your own (aka It’s OK) “It dawned on me so clearly in that moment that while I can only be who I am, I can also choose to look at others and be inspired by their achievments, or sense of style, or personal drive, or sense of humor or ease in social situations. Or I can try to tear them down (mentally or by being bitchy and rude). I don’t have to be someone I’m not, but admiring someone else for their talents doesn’t minimize all the wonderful things about me” – Suburban Bliss Posted in Feelings Delusions I saw a leaf on my towel and tried to pick it off, but it wouldn't budge. So I took my shower with a leaf on my towel. Posted in Musings Mid-Autumn madness I cooked. I actually cooked a decent dish/meal. Chicken rice. Brought to you by Primataste, and other instant snacks my friends brought. Haha Posted in Musings Life is just as cool without Photoshop Because nature provides its own palette and you need not fret for lack of variety Posted in Photography Oh noes! Where iz mah buildinz?! Posted in Photography Age Everything decays, beginning with beauty and ending with memories. Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel’s Game Posted in Thoughts Art He started yesterday and he was almost done today...I hope to get a shot of it tonight when I go home, when the streets are devoid of footsteps. Posted in Photography Drifting in and out Even the clouds want to barge into buildings from time to time Posted in Photography Upside down Sometimes it feels like you have to look at the world through another medium to appreciate it more Posted in Photography Details, details Love the detail on the feathers of these little fellas Posted in Photography Today, for ever. 09.09.09 It’s scary to think that at one point in time, the now-Ex wanted us to get married on this date because in Mandarin, this date meant you would be together for a long, long, long time. And that my best friends would have cooked up various excuses to be out of the country so they wouldn’t have to watch that train wreck. The latter still smarts so badly. Never. Again. Posted in Feelings, Musings Paddling in the sky Someone once told me a good marriage is like the little duckie over there. Looks completely calm and unruffled, but underneath the water, he's paddling furiously to stay afloat. Same goes for love. Funny that marriage does not necessarily equate love in my books. Posted in Photography Favourite pastime My newest favourite pastime. In the park near the city, with a book, in the sun. Posted in Photography The Booklover Nerd Got this sling satchel with a Penguin Classics image on its front when I went to my favourite hangout - the bookstore. I love that it slings around my body and can carry A4 sized documents. Worth the kitschy nerd factor. Posted in Photography Stomping giants Love the interesting, old architecture here Posted in Photography Within another building Sometimes I look up and for a moment, cannot figure out where one building stops and the other begins Posted in Photography Within a building I love trapping a building within another Posted in Photography The Name of the Wind You meet a girl: shy, unassuming. If you tell her she’s beautiful, she’ll think you’re sweet, but she won’t believe you. She knows that beauty lies in your beholding. And sometimes that is enough. But there’s a better way. You show her she is beautiful. You make mirrors of your eyes, prayers of your hands. It is hard, very hard, but when she truly believes you… Suddenly the story she tells herself in her own head changes. She transforms. She isn’t seen as beautiful. She is beautiful, seen. - Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind) I can’t help it. The first time I read this, I was absolutely gobsmacked by the imagery that flowered in my mind. I’ve gone back to Tetanus’s blog time and again to read this passage. It is utterly, devastatingly beautiful. I’m still in awe. Posted in Feelings Sunset from my window Turned around and saw this Took a snap and filed it away Posted in Photography Improvisation: Not just for comedy (Part IX) And this is the final product Obviously I realised only halfway through that I had no string with which to secure both ends of the bolstercase. Which of course meant cutting the seam off the remainder of the flatsheet. Thank goodness someone stitched THAT properly. Posted in Improv Being late Posted in Life Improvisation: Not just for comedy (Part VIII) This is the bolstercase in all its raw, unstitched glory. Materials: - One bolster. It doesn’t matter how distorted it may be, because you’re customising a bolstercase. - One flatsheet. Because fitted sheets rule and flat sheets need to be burnt off the face of this planet. - Sewing implements - Scissor for trimming the flatsheet to size. - Pen and ruler – because agar-ation can only bring you so far in life, and yes, pen because I have no chalk and pencil markings are too faint. This means no room for error!!!! (alternatively, it means heck care even if you make a mistake) Mass production of this prototype will be coming to an NTUC near you under the label “Maimed by Me“ Posted in Improv Deflated Last night, I got into the worst temper I’ve had since I came here. I was a Complete Bitch™ to my family over the phone. I hung up in a huff and took a long time to get to sleep. But I woke up this morning feeling rather sad. I did what they wanted my help with, but I still don’t have the guts to say I’m sorry. Posted in Feelings Improvisation: Not just for comedy (Part VII) A Franken-stitch to save Jack Skellington Here’s a close-up of the Franken-stitch. It’s not even because, gawd, have YOU tried stitching in the round? Try it. I neglected to mention, your thread should probably match the colour of your casing. I had three spools of black thread and none of white; it wasn’t a difficult choice. I did contemplate doing a hemming stitch to keep the thread outta sight, but I realised Franken-stitch matches my obsession with Jack Skellington much better. Next up: the bolstercase. To be made from the blue flat sheet used in the pics. (I hate flat sheets! but they will make the ultimate sacrifice this time.) Hopefully no Franken-stitches this time. Or at least, less crooked ones. The stitches on the inside of the bolster that reduced the width of the pillow were much, much more even, but that’s because I was stitching on the straight. And since it’s on the inside, you’ll have to take my word for it =p Posted in Improv My friend Posted in Life Improvisation: Not just for comedy (Part VI) They don't sell bolsters here. At least not at Ikea, BigW, and other furniture stores I've visited. Sick of waking up in the middle up the night with nothing to hug back to sleep, I decided to make my own bolster. Materials: - 2 pillows, preferably cheap. (check!) - Needle (check!) - Thread that actually threads into needle (check!) - Ruler and pencil for marking (check!) - Total agar-ation (triple-check!) Method: 1. Cut off one end of each pillow and remove stuffing. Invert empty case. 2. Reduce width of each pillow to 30cm by sewing in. That makes a circumference of 60cm for the bolster. 3. Invert pillowcase back and Franken-stitch the two open ends together, leaving a fist-sized opening for stuffing the innards back. 4. Complete Franken-stiching to close up the opening. 5. Tadah! Bolster! Uhm, it’s a tad bit long though. And a tad bit thin. But it’s ok, some like them thin and long, some like them short and fat. How do you like yours? ;) Posted in Improv