Surfing On Caffeine

They just sit there, hour after hour, staring at the screen in front of them, fingers sporadically tapping, tap-tap-tapping on the keyboards. Next to their machines, cups of something sit - perhaps a soy chai latte?

Enter the curious subculture of hotspot cafes. Geeks like me have finally been persuaded to abandon our insular lifestyle of surfing the net in our bachelor pads, alone with our generic crackers and home-made mugs of milo. Instead, we now brave a world of surfing the internet out in public, occasionally alone still, but with upgrades to imported chips and franchised frappucino. Geeks will now be more social, perhaps even chatting with some cute teenage girl named sweepea90, blissfully unaware that sweepea90's actually that geriatric man sitting two tables away.

OK, I admit I actually haven't quite taken to this brave new world yet. Back in the days when my PC was constrained to sitting on a desk, I pretty much liked the idea of sitting in a nice cafe all by myself, just reading a book. But in truth, I've only done that a couple of times. It would have been different if I was in Melbourne where the neighbourhood I lived in had great little cafes just a block away that served cheap lattes. Here in the valley, going to a decent cafe would mean driving half an hour through horrendous traffic. And so expensive to have a drink there some more!

So I guess my notebook won't be going out all that often, the poor thing. But at least it's had it's first outing the other day when I was hanging out with Jon. Of course, prim and proper people like us don't surf porn sites (at least not in public). No, we were expanding our knowledge and wisdom by catching up on international current events.

Ah, mi petit notebook. Hope you enjoyed that taste of fresh air. It'll be a while before you get it again. A long while.

Like... Hel-LOOO?

I have to say I gotta take my hat off to those people who can just walk up to total strangers and start hitting on talking to them. Seriously. It must take a lot of... something... to do that. Could be sheer guts. Or a really dense epidermis. Or even a total lack of disregard for personal boundaries.

Whatever it is, I definitely don't have it. Only once in my life have I ever asked a guy I barely know for his number. And that, only after weeks of bumping into him (a few of those times quite literally) and exchanging nods, smiles and brief exchanges of words too stilted to be conversations. Honestly, I blog better than I talk.

So yeah, when someone approaches me out of the blue, I won't just tell them to fuck off. I have, after all, been brought up to be polite and gracious. I'll allow for some half-hearted smiles. I'll even try not to roll my eyes (especially if you're drop-dead gorgeous). I might even open up to you if you were my type and you manage to make the right connection.

But please, if I've parried your attempts at invasive small talk by giving you barely audible monosyllabic grunts followed by the prompt sticking of my nose back into my book, for like, ten times already... then please take the hint and make a graceful exit, no harm done.

Understand this: An unwelcome advance is not an offense.

Persistent interruption of my reading is.

[ haiku ]

like petals adrift
upon the wake of the stream
life is but a dream

Gaiman. Dreambook. VERY Poor But Still Happy

Since the day I first stumbled upon Neil Gaiman's Sandman among the shelves of the Rowden White, I've known if there was any comic series to collect, this was it.

Well, many many years after, I've finally bought my first volume. Not the regular first volume, mind you, but the first Absolute volume. Drooool....

I just have one gripe about this, so let me get that out of the way - it's fucking expensive! It practically costs double the normal collection, which, by the way, already costs more than other collected comic series. Man, when I say I'm paying for my indulgence, I mean it literally!

Yes, as Will had said, that's the whisper of very expensive pages.

So why did I part with my money so easily?

Other than the obvious 'fool' answer, of course.

The long explanation is this: This is definitely a collector's item, and being one of those many out there who consider this work as one that has taken the comics genre up to the hallowed status of literature, I simply had to have it.

The Sandman is oooh so good. With a great depth of emotion, layered storytelling, fantastic plot twists, and strands of world mythology weaved into something totally new, Gaiman did for comics what Tolkien did for the fantasy novel (though I kinda hate how he inadvertently started the whole trilogy thing which seems to be multiplying like rabbits).

I could go on and on, really. But either you already know of Gaiman or you don't, and if you don't, you could go sample Sandman by downloading the 1st issue for free here. Mind you, Sandman #1 was all about setting up the story and it's not nearly as good as what follows.

Besides being one of the best stories ever told (in my opinion, but it's also my blog so my opinion's the only thing that matters here), it's also packaged very nicely. Like, to make you think you're getting value for money and all that. And yes, in case it wasn't clear enough in my last post, I really am a sucker for pretty things.

Absolute Sandman Volume 1 really is as heavy as the name would suggest. Quality paper bound in a hardcover reminiscent of my mom's Encyclopedia Britannica set. A slip cover to protect the cover - it may only be cardboard but it's really thick cardboard. It's a wonder they didn't throw in a plastic sleeve to protect the slip cover - now that would be value for money!

To impress the collector even more, they've recolored it. And thrown in Gaiman's original proposal, evolution sketches of the look for Sandman, and the script for the award-winning Issue #19 with the original pencilling by the very good Charles Vess, who also did Gaiman's Stardust (check out his work for Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall).

So yeah, that was my long-winded explanation for getting the book.

Here's the short version - I'm a whore!

single tenant of a double bed

half-asleep
a hand slips under the corner of
a vacant pillow
feeling the weight of an absent head
waiting
to warm the curve of that neck
one morning (hopefully) soon

fingers missing the clutch of yours
they dream
of the warmth and the calm they’ll find
nestled snug in your palm
half-awake
oh how they ache for the return of
that tender grasp

Gayman. Toybook. Poor But Happy

And finally, ye olde desktoppe, being of the thirde in the generations of Pentium, hath croaketh.

And what lousy timing it was.

I knew it was time to replace my computer. I've had it for seven years, and the coming of XP way back when had already made it outdated as it was. The advent of dual-core simply ensured it was obsolete. Besides, you know your computer's expiring when it has to go for annual hospitalisation.

So yes, I've been gearing myself up to buy a new computer but I was holding out for the year-end promotions. No such luck, though. Last week, my PC decided not to start. At all. I turn on the power, the CPU energises, then... nothing. Not even the bloody initialisation screen which shows the processor and RAM details.

Don't ask me what happened. Since I was going to get a new computer anyway, I never bothered to send the old one in for a check. I think the motherboard or the processor gave out or something. Come to think of it, my computer gave up on the same day I had brought K's spanking new HP Pavillion over to my place to finish up some stuff Jon, Jaq and I had been working on... Maybe my computer had simply expired out of embarrassment.

So anyway, that was why I had to spend a whole week offline - my PC was down and I was busy shopping for a laptop. After looking around, getting opinions from friends (which ended being so varied it didn't help me very much), and of course, checking specs and prices, I finally settled for this baby:

The Compaq Presario V3119AU

Here's what made up my mind:

1. It's the best value-for-money notebook in the market right now. None of the other branded notebooks gave specs as good as this one for RM3000. I'd probably find cheaper deals next month but I really couldn't wait for that now, could I?

2. I got to upgrade the RAM to 1 GB for a pittance.

3. It's... so... PRETTY!!!

Okay, so #3 would have ensured my buying it even without the advantage of #2. And maybe even without the good sense of #1.

But I'm sure anyone would understand. After all, it really is lovely for a mid-range notebook (and lovelier than some of those costing twice as much).

So, Jay, NOW I can go sit in a cafe and bum off their wifi to update my blog :-)

And The Heavens Did Give My Car A Good Wash Today

On the other hand, it was hell manouvering through a 10-kilometer, three-lane car wash with about a thousand other cars in there at the same time.

Back On The Blog

Rancangan tergendala seketika. Harap maaf.

Due to unforseen circumstances (to borrow the words from an announcement at the gym last weekend that saw the place being evacuated), I've been kept offline for a whole week. Okay, so it's just one week. But it felt like a lifetime!

Worse than coming off ciggies, I tell you.

It wasn't all that bad though. Shopping and gymming kept me busy enough. And I happened to have a really good book to keep me company through those lonely nights. In a way, it was kinda nice to spend the nights listening to whisper of turning pages rather than to the click of the keyboard, for a change.

But I'm so happy to be back now, because (as Will would know) it implies something more than just getting back in touch.

More about that later. There's too much to do right now - email to check, blogs to read, stuff to download, anonymous online personas to flirt with...

Be back soon ;-)

dislocation (heartache)

Something about angles that dangle
in isometric triangles
And now I'm in a tangle
'cos Teacher asked me something
(and I slept while she was talking).

The bell rings - I'm saved!
My indiscretions waived.
"You owe me," Teacher said,
but I was off to home and (more importantly)
bed.

To do or not to do
my homework after school?
Or do I heed the call
To lepak in the mall?

What to wear? How do I look?
Do I look like I bought off a pasar malam hook?
Should I care if they look at me funny?
Not as long as no one laughs at me.

In the mall it's a regular carnival.
The girls watch the boys who stare at other girls.
See couples on parade, hand in sticky hand;
The rich (and not-so-rich) kids flash their fashion brands.

Hi there, how are you? Oh, hi! So, so.
Here with somebody? Well, actually... no.
Heh heh. Goodbye, Then they speed away.
Lonely and embarrassed, what a perfect day.

Home again, home again, jigetty jig.
Father's looking furious, must be something big.
My report card, oh oh, looks as if he's seen it.
Guess it's time to face hell for three hours and a bit.

"Everyday you sit around, watch TV and you laze.
How do you expect to make it through this paper chase?
You throw away chances I did not have, to do what I could not do."
Only he doesn't realize, I never wanted to.

I'm sorry I wasn't born to live your life again
To make the choices you did not make
To dream the dreams you did break

Who am I? Where am I going?
Why so hard to heed my heart's yearning?
What do I want in life? Where do I belong?
What is right and what is wrong?

What is wrong you ask?

It is wrong to speak when not spoken to
It is wrong to be spontaneous, out of the blue
It is wrong to be wild, wrong to be mad,
Wrong to fail and make you look bad

It is wrong to dream, wrong to be angry
Wrong to scream out my soul's agony
Wrong to harbour a child's ambitions
Against your hopes and expectations

So simple, too simple, it would be to slip and trip
and stumble and fall
Off the top of a tall, tall...
"GOODBYE ONE AND ALL!"
then thud... then blood... then
nothing at all.

Forgive me

though what I say is true.
Do I disappoint you?

The morning comes, a new dawn breaks.
One more day of heartache.

the spider speaks out

There once was a lady of epic proportions,
Who'd heave and puff with the slightest of motions.
And, I, the narrator,
a humble Spider,
Find her stomach as wide as the oceans

Sometimes she'd say (with genteel dismay),
"Mah name's not 'Muffet', it's Moo-feyh!"
Hearing her grumble,
I'd always mumble,
"Yes, it sounds just like 'buffet'"

Her critics had called her dastardly;
From spiders like me she was supposed to flee.
But I disagree,
It's simple you see.
Get off her fat arse? Not she.

There once was a girl as wide as a tree,
Whose curds and whey made her no less hungry
'Twas a mistake, one day,
I had wanted to play;
Now I spend my remaining life in her belly.