23 June 2009
I caught Frida on tv last night and enjoyed it so much. I also thought Tina's toast at Frida and Diego's wedding might be the best one anyone can possibly give...
And now, I came across this set of wedding pictures and they've got me all misty-eyed and completely beside myself with envy.
I don't believe in marriage.
No, I really don't. Let me be clear about that. I think at worst it's a hostile political act, a way for small-minded men to keep women in the house and out of the way, wrapped up in the guise of tradition and conservative religious nonsense.
At best, it's a happy delusion - these two people who truly love each other and have no idea how truly miserable they're about to make each other.
But, but, when two people know that, and they decide with eyes wide open to face each other and get married anyway, then I don't think it's conservative or delusional. I think it's radical and courageous and very romantic. To Diego and Frida.
And now, I came across this set of wedding pictures and they've got me all misty-eyed and completely beside myself with envy.
William + Penelope
20 June 2009
There's something about the conviction with which these characters speak that makes my heart swell. It's been years since I've first jotted these words down, but reading them again brings up that same sort of fierce pride they had inspired then. Short of going to a shrink, sometimes a book can provide more support than you imagine. Although it'll be nice if a real-life person with such an attitude and such principles could speak to me like this.
Kundera, whether you liked him or not, whether you liked him then, but no longer do, you cannot say Kundera was the eighties. Steinbeck wasn't the thirties and Dickens wasn't the eighteen-hundreds. They were of their times but for the ages. Their writings are not products marketed for a brief time until they're out of vogue and discarded on the scrap heap. They're not silver scooters or hoola hoops, slinkies, Rubik cubes or breast implants. They're not trivial pursuits to be enjoyed when you think you need something new and amusing to fill the emptiness of your pointless job and your sham of a marriage.
- Seven Types of Ambiguity
Elliot Perlman
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"That's just stupid, that kind of thinking," I said, nailing her with my eyes. "Instead of regretting what you did, you could have treated him decently from the beginning. You could've tried to be fair. But you didn't. You don't even have the right to be sorry."
Yuki looked at me, shocked and hurt.
"Maybe I'm being too hard on you. But listen, I don't care what other people do. I don't want to hear that sort of talk from you. You shouldn't say things like that lightly, as if saying them is going to solve anything. They don't stick. You think you feel sorry about Dick, I wouldn't want your easy regret. I wouldn't want people saying, "Oh, I acted horribly." It's not a question of manners; it's a question of fairness."
- Dance Dance Dance
Haruki Murakami
18 June 2009
This song here has been a friend. It has sat here with me at my desk, while I scribble down madly all that it has got to say, in a frantic pause-play-pause sequence on youtube. It has given me a reassuring pat on the shoulder as a good friend would. And it has given me food for thought as a friend older and wiser would. Where the silence had, at many points, gotten so deafening while the chatter in my head persists, it has been a soothing antidote.
I'm not sure if I should translate it entirely because too much nuances gets lost in the process, and we know I live for these nuances.
Just these lines then...
在必須發現我們終將一無所有前
至少你可以說 我懂 活著的最寂寞
before we inevitably realize that we will eventually end up with nothing
you can at least say...I've known life at its loneliest
11 June 2009
For the first time in my life, I don't know what's ahead of me and I cannot be happier. All that's officially in the works now is the commencement ceremony, after which I'll be launched upon the world as a fresh graduate (a very jobless one). For now though, days pass by in a hazy blur of outings, sleepovers, late-night shopping jaunts, 5am swims, and anticipated overseas trips!
(pic credit: Zee)
07 June 2009
These are from the roll I took with a new toy camera in Australia and recently had developed. Though they didn't all turn out how I had wanted them, I guess the element of surprise is what keeps people addicted to film.
05 June 2009
We hit Bunker's Bay on the last full day of our trip, had some cakes and coffee before joining our trio of die-hard fisherman and women on the beach. The sunset was arresting and added to our sadness at having to leave.
Just a short ride away from our cottage is this magnificent place known as Wyadup Bay. It can be said that when confronted with the infinite, the human soul either expands or shrinks in fright. I belong to the camp that will always be on a hungry search for the sublime, even if only to be reminded of my own insignificance.
01 June 2009
Living together in the cottage was an unforgettable experience. To sum it up, it's basically that warm, fuzzy feeling you get as people bond over building a fire, cooking dinner, and drinks on the porch. Even the things that might irk people, like there being only one bathroom, or the footsteps that run up and down the stairs (right above the ground bedroom), they don't distract from how much fun it is to spend time in a gorgeous place with all these friends that you love.
keeping the fire going
the perfectly-appointed kitchen meant we could make just about anything we want
many helping hands!
Max busying himself at the grill
dinner was a cozy affair (before they decided to head out to the forest out back and got drunk on red wine!)
the perfectly-appointed kitchen meant we could make just about anything we want
many helping hands!
Max busying himself at the grill
dinner was a cozy affair (before they decided to head out to the forest out back and got drunk on red wine!)
spied Sarah reading in a little nook early next morning
catching the morning sun and lots of fresh air
and breakfast that Max made!
