pulling, pushing

Couldn't pull my thoughts together enough to write a proper post so I'm gonna just pull this from my junk box archives. Wrote this a long, long time ago. It was back when I was just starting my first real relationship, and of course, this was the harbinger of how it was to be and how it would end.

pulling, pushing
know not where to go
wind is blowing
does the heart follow?
memory, dreaming
which is the echo?
pulling, pushing
bind my hands so

hither, tither
petals in the wind
bloom and wither
heart is wearing thin
wither my wandering
home, the next hill?
pulling, pushing
but only standing still

Better Be Home Soon

Stripping back the coats of lies and deception
Back to nothingness, like a week in the desert
*
I know I'm right for the first time in my life
That's why I tell you, you'd better be home soon
Crowded House : Better Be Home Soon

Can't believe how the project just drags on and on and on. At this rate, I'll be staying in this cowboy town on the wrong end of the bridge for half a year. This is truly sad.

True, there are perks. Allowances plus lower cost of living means I actually have more money then I normally do. Of course, increased liquidity also means I don't hesitate splurging on stuff like books, clothes and wireless coffee. Especially wireless coffee. I need my wifi fix more badly than I need caffeine. And that's saying a lot.

But I just feel cut off.

Cut off from my office, like I don't even work there.

Cut off from my friends, who give me a semblance of a social life (with Scrabulous becoming more addictive than blogging as a rather weak but offbeat way of waving hi to a few of 'em).

Cut off from my personal epicenter, my home.

Sigh. Just as well I have no one waiting for me back in the valley. I'd probably be dumped by now.

La Isla

My brain's on vacation, and my body's running purely on reflex and caffeine. Can't think, therefore can't write, so I'll just post some pics instead :P

Here's some glimpses I caught of an island I'm not exactly on... most of the time...

The Naza Hot L (or so it says on top of the building)

Boys riding into the sunset

A glimpse of bridge

Pavement outside a mall

Not too shabby camerawork, if I can say so myself, considering the camera was only a 2 megapixel camphone :P

Fatty Tuesdays Are Here!

Like, oh my gawd.

Like, this is so evil the Colonel must be deep-frying in his personal hell-vat, complete with his own secret blend of eleven herbs and spices, to pay for the sins he had unleashed on unsuspecting l'il me. And all the other good people of the world, of course. This isn't just about me.

Really.

*waves sadly goodbye to dream of having a nice, lean bod*

Some Like It Stiff

Reasons to watch Hairspray:

1. It's got John Travolta (most would know he did Grease) doing an Eddie Murphy (ie. dressing up as a fat woman).

But you'd know that already. Here are more reasons...

2. It's got Michelle Pfieffer (most may not know she was in Grease 2) in a deliciously catty role. Besides, I always loved her in singing roles (she did sing in Prince of Egypt, and she absolutely smouldered in The Fabulous Baker Boys).

3. The intro is reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast... gone wrong. Instead of "poor provincial town" we've got Baltimore. And the "Belle" here is short and overweight, if a little sweeter looking. Who, instead of meeting the baker with his tray (like always), meets the flasher who lives next door.

4. It looks like a Disney musical, but just listen to the lyrics and you'll know it's not.

5. James Marsden, if you're into him.

6. Queen Latifah, if you're into her.

7. Zac Efron. Didn't watch High School Musical, so didn't recognise him. Might not have recognised him anyway. But he looks rather cute. Actually, he looks rather like a much younger Lou Diamond Phillips as Rickie Valens back in La Bamba.

8. Elijah Kelly. Rather cute too :P

9. It's funny, and a whole lot of fun!

10. It's a musical!!!

Now go watch it now.

The Eye

Quite a while back, I ventured up into the overglorified ferris wheel called Eye On Malaysia. Never really knew why they called it that since, obviously, you can't see the whole of Malaysia up in that contraption.

Come think of it, I didn't get a good view of KL, either. Just a lot of water. I had a much better look back when I was up in KL Tower, and even up in the oh-so glam KL Hilton.

Still, it did provide a rather nice photo opp :P

Learning To Love Myself: Touchy Taichi

I love myself, I want you to love me

When I'm feeling down, I want you above me

I search myself, I want you to find me

I forget myself, I want you to remind me

The Divinyls : I Touch Myself

Here's a declaration: I just LOVE BodyBalance 38!

Ok. So I am rather partial to the BodyBalance programme, and I love most releases. But this latest one is definitely going back to the more relaxed tone of the older releases, as opposed to all the excitement we've had over the past year. Which, to me, is a darn good thing.

There were some new poses thrown in, but nothing so complicated that it would threaten to blow one's mind (or break one's leg). No strange, twisting (and tendon-spraining) poses. No back-breaking bends. No oh-my-god-we're-only-halfway-through eight minutes of standing strength. No can-I-die-yet abs track.

No Seal.

This time round, it's back to basics. Long, deep breaths. Easing into positions. Connecting with yourself. And, of course, more beautiful music including one of my all time faves - The Pretender's I'll Stand By You (yay!) - and a really cool cover of Phil Collin's In The Air Tonight.

Oh, who am I kidding. I love it only because right from the word go, the taichi warmup just put me in a real happy mood - one hand running down the opposite arm all the way across the chest, repeat on other side. Boy, did that feel good!

...

Obviously, I haven't been laid in quite a while.

I Smell A Rat

Oddly enough, it seems rather fragrant.

Of course, I'm talking about that animated chef of a rat, Remy in Disney-Pixar's Ratatouille. And for a dish that sounds disturbingly like some guy hawking up and spitting out a huge wad of phlegm, the movie just makes me want to fly off to France just to eat that "simple peasant dish".

It's really a wonderful movie, one of the best I've seen this year, also one of the most original (not that hard, actually considering the whole string of disappointing sequels that got trotted out this year). It's everything you expect from a Pixar movie - cute, funny, entertaining, and full of heart. If the story of a country rat who dares to dream, chases that dream, and changes everyone's lives in the process doesn't get to you, the amazingly rendered fur just might.

But just try to ignore the fact that one of the characters is ridiculously named after a cheesy Italian pasta, which, somehow, seems less believable than a cooking rat. Perhaps Pixar had decided it was payback time for all those years of unfortunately named talking clocks and teapots.

Ratatouille is a movie best served warm, cuddling up on a comfy sofa with your loved one, with a cup of hot chocolate near at hand.

Have can you not want to go see such an adorable rat?

I'm loving it so much I wouldn't mind watching it again. And maybe one more time after that.

By the way, the short that precedes the movie is excellent (as usual).

Teruk Things On Tuesday

The hash brown in the morning was probably the last happy thing to happen to me yesterday. After that, things just went downhill (figuratively) as I headed north (literally).

First of all, I hate the north stretch of the highway. Construction going on for most of the way, so traffic can be bad, and so can be the road itself. Worse still, none of these contractors nor the highway authorities give a hoot about safety and housekeeping, essential (though, in Malaysia, oft ignored) parts of any construction work.

Barricades not being lined up properly, insufficient notice of narrowing of lanes, dirt, stones and debris all over the place... the wonderful gray tarmac highway of Bolehland is now a national hazard traversing at least three states.

Anyway, somewhere along the way, on one of those single-lane stretches, a random stone flew off the wheel of the van I was stuck behind. It hit my windshield with a loud kuh-rack! And crack, my windshield did. Fuck. I've been only driving my baby for less than a year!

Luckily it was just a rather small crack, which didn't crack through, nor has it cracked across the windshield. Which means I can still drive my car around. Still, I still need to replace my windshield and we all know how much large pieces of good glass cost, especially bent ones. This is where I'm heaving a sigh of relief for having the foresight to insure the windshield and windows.

I thought I'd snap a pic of the crack on my handphone to show the insurance people. That was when I noticed the screen protector I had just bought for my phone on Sunday, was coming off. Damn! I'd be perfectly within my consumer rights to walk back to the shop and demand a free replacement. But then, I was halfway to the north and wouldn't be heading back to the valley for a few weeks. Grr...

Small problem compared to my car, though.

Well, I do have to give my thumbs up to the people of Perodua, from the salesman who had sold me my car to the staff at the service center. They were actually helpful, willing to answer questions, willing to consider options, and didn't give me the run around. Unlike so many companies in Malaysia who have no concept whatsoever of customer service.

So, despite not having all my car and insurance docs, they still managed to check my records out and will even help submit my claim. Now I just have to wait for the windshield stock to come in and get the repairs done.

Somewhere in all this, I totally forgot that bad things always come in threes. Well, I just noticed today that my back windshield wiper is gone. Not just the wiper, the whole arm contraption thingy.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

Drowned World

Why is my reflection someone I don't know?
Christina Aguilera: Reflection

Through The Looking Glass. Mirrormask. Stories that seem to ask - what places exist behind the mirror's keep?

Looking at the water, I sometimes do wonder - does it see a world that's different, mirrored upon its deep?