Embrace love and life.

I decided to put aside my BGS textbook for the afternoon and in exchange, I devoured Margret Atwood's The Tent in two hours, That said, the layout of the 155page book can be condensed into about a 80 page book. Every short story was enigmatic, her sharp wit was a breath of fresh air for the soul. I miss reading poetic prose, I miss reading.



I came across this second-book store located inside Parklane Shopping Centre, a rundown looking mall which is a stone's throw away from school. I was supposed to be on a food trail, sussing out gastronomical delights that are friendly on students' pockets, for the school's editorial. The books that covered every inch of the walls, lured me in. I tip-toed, I crouched, I strained my eyes to find the titles I have been wanting to thumb though. I traded stories with the bookstore's owner over Austen, Atwood and other writers.  Triumphant after half an hour, I emerged with 7 yellowing, musky books; covers on the verge of tearing with a slightest tug or mistreatment, but the pages were still intact, words stringing into sentences, waiting for me to pick them up and read every one of them.

Farewell To Arms, Lolita,To Kill A Mocking Bird (!! I finally found the book after so long!), Bodily Harm, Bluebeard's Eggs and Other Stories, Mrs Dollaway, Midnight's Children.

I think it's becoming a little obsession. This obsession of walking into bookstores and buying so many books at one go, at a rate faster than I can read them.

*

Waikiki at Sentosa yesterday. The morning drizzle put a little dampen on our spirits, but after seeing Tanjong Beach still buzzing with activity, we started getting hyped up. Played touch-rug 'competitively', Frisbee with Run Team and dragged Yu Pei into playing Pushball with Farid and me. Pushball was rough! I felt like I was completely sandpapered. Or exfoliated, for a better word, and now I have funny scratches on my arms and legs.



OK, back to school tomorrow. It didn't really feel as though it was term break, having to go back to school 4 times! So insane. BUT.. I'm looking forward to COLOURS Week at Frujch! :) 

Some things have become a yearly tradition, like our JC Christmas gathering. Not everyone turned up but it's the good times as usual. Reks, Arina, Steph, Simin, Ches, Adiba, Mel, Ank, Ivan, Amos: You guys are missed! Thanks Si for opening up your house to us, and for the great dinner of sushi, potato salad, sweet fruits and chicken which for obvious reasons, I didn't eat. (More photos soon!, photo credits to Sher)

This week has truly been a week of gatherings, catching up with old friends.

We had our Primary 6 Reunion Dinner @ Purvis Street/'Field Trip to Zouk' on Wednesday evening. The songs played while I was there sucked, it was mad-ass packed so it was hot, sweaty and gross, but my companions on the podium were great. HAHA we didn't even touch much alcohol but man, our moves were groovy baby! I'm going to do a collage of photos (addicted to ComicLife), thanks to Milene and Jeanne who took most of the photos.

Yesterday night, I accompanied Tallie to the airport to pick her exchange buddy up. Her name's Janine, 23, and she's born in the Ukraine, raised in England, and is currently studying in Germany. After checking into a hostel, we brought her to Sophia Road which is just a 5 ninute walk away from school to view an apartment. It's so crazy; one bedroom with attached toilet costs S$1200, or S$1300 with utility bills like electricity, water and gas included. Per month. Guess that's because it's on prime PRIME land. It's a nice place though. Texted her today but she hasn't decided. (P.S. The South-Korean guy who rents the place out is hawt-cute and I don't actually pass these type of comments often. He is epitome of sporty-toned-tanned-geek chic and I am not kidding you. Friendly too. Too bad he is returning to his native country in March, and he just completed his exchange at SMU. Tallie and I were like, DARN, we missed him! HAHA. ;D)

I'm so, so tired. Averaging on 4 hours of sleep a night for the past week; starting the days early at 7am as driving practicals were at 8am (about 5 more lessons to go and I am done, I just need to pass the practical test!), with the nights stretching till 1,2 am. But I know when school starts proper (I really don't want!), I will become a dork again. 8-) I really need to work like triple-super-duper-hard this semester. I don't want to let myself down again. I can do this!! And I'm going to write a resolutions list for 2008. I need take some time to think of several realistic resolutions.

On a side note, I visited the school library today after my CIP meeting (more changes, but the team's getting closer) cos I needed to print some stuff (BGS course outline cos our prof wants us to read up before first lesson) and I realised that the library stocks some pretty cool books. I'm not talking about the journals or reference textbooks, but like a Jamie Oliver cookbook, 300 pages thick, full-colour and costs 15 pounds! I promptly borrowed it. And they have Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs and To The Lighthouse by Virgina Woolf!! and many more. I am so excited. I love love love reading books.

Eyelids are heavy....zzzz

'She hoped that under his careful cloak of cheerfulness, he housed a living, breathing anger against the smug, ordered world that she so raged against.

She hoped it had been him.

She was surprised at the extent of her daughter's physical ease with him. Surprised that her child seemed to have a sub-world that excluded her entirely. A tactile world of smiles and laughter that she, her mother, had no part in. Ammu recognized vaguely that her thoughts were shot with a delicate, purple tinge of envy. She didn't allow herself to consider whom it was that she envied. The man or her own child. Or just their world of hooked fingers and sudden smiles.'

*

... their world of hooked fingers and sudden smiles.
Where a slight upward twist of the mouth corners with the meeting of eyes signalled more than just an enjoyment of the other's company, where there is a clamour for entertainment and words to be expressed.

Lately, there are times when I feel so detached and unemotional, a person with a cold mien. I am one who fiercely guards her heart. It works sometimes but other times, it works against me. I want to be a person who lauds her smiles as gifts of hope and happiness to strangers; I want to smile from the heart, and where the smile will reach to the eyes, to smile without the need for a specific reason, 'oh just because I feel like doing so', where others will be wondering if there is a shared secret behind that curtain of happy-ness. I want those who envy to be surprised when I smile a smile of 'oh just because I feel like doing so' in their direction.

And I will start practising this habit today.

Truth be told, I love to hide myself in a bookstore, or any library, scan the shelves, and pick up a book to browse. Especially when I feel totally anti-social, and just wanna spend some 'me' time. I love books with deceivingly pretty covers albeit substance may be lacking, I love descriptive-narrative prose that has a way of meandering around and striking the core of my heart, I love picture books, illustrations that are unconventional, I love classics, memoirs, any thought-provoking, exhilerating read!

"Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but
more important, it finds homes for us everywhere."
        Hazel Rochman 

"The greatest gift is the passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it
distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience
of a wide kind.  It is a moral illumination."
        Elizabeth Hardwick  

So, any books that really left any impression on you? Books that you would re-read, over and over? Recommend me! :)