| an assassin's eyes |

2003-08-06T23:05:00.000-07:00

And yes, after ages of an unchanging layout - Here is a new one, at last. *huge grin* This is Ewan McGregor, and this particular shot was taken during the Moulin Rouge shoot. Due to new obsession with The Phantom Menace fandom, he is here. *delighted*

2003-08-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

Legolas Fancier and Family stopped by yesterday – They were on their way back from the supermarket on an emergency shopping mission, and they bought us two cartons of Mocha Milk. Because their family loves it. ^_^

Legolas Fancier told me about Jedi Cheese.

^________________________________^

Turns out one of their family members has an issue with the way "Cheddar Cheese" is pronounced. Therefore we have Jedi Cheese.

We also have Jerry Cheese, but I know which one I found more fascinating.

Sibling decided at that moment to invent an Obi-Wan Kenobi Jedi Cheese Ad.

And perform it.

In front of the house.

Complete with lightsaber action.

2003-08-06T22:58:00.000-07:00

Had my Final Driving Theory Test yesterday. Spent entire afternoon studying (and procrastinating.) For the first in a very long time I had that “My Brain is Full” feeling. It happens and then I know I can’t study until I’ve procrastinated. Read TIME and Newsweek today while procrastinating, and saw a gorgeous ad for MTV Screen. I knew I simply had to watch tonight’s episode. ^_^ (I love MTV. No Thinking Required. And such pretty colours! And sometimes, even music I like! ^_^)

Oh, and MTV! MTV has Crazy Monkey!

Crazy Monkey is an MTV parody of those Fear Factor and Jackass shows. But this version features highly pointless and un-dangerous acts. Such as:

Driving Without a Seatbelt.
(Done in an empty parking lot, and at a speed which I estimate is 10 kilometres per hour.)

Swimming On A Full Stomach.

Eating Cornflakes Without the Milk.

Jumping on My Bed When My Stepdad’s Downstairs.

Running With Scissors.
(Down a patio with absolutely no one in the way.)

Prank Phone Calls.
(But ones done very nicely, as if they had mistakenly dialed a number. Complete with polite apology.)

Extremely Pointless Character Name Invented Today, and Why

Oh. I’ve invented a name for a character who does not exist! ; )

Chie Cross.

*evil smirking*

And then I saw one of LJ communities - marysues - had a Mary Sue Report with a character named Charisma Cruise.

Chie Cross is a perfect name! *dies laughing* It originated from my reading TIME today – It featured Japanese culture! And I was procrastinating from (Oh wait, that sounds wrong somehow – Word choice wrong, that is) studying for my Final Theory Test. So I read TIME. ^_^ I saw the name Chie in the report, and later, while hard at work with More Procrastinating, I was watching television and saw the name Cross. The surname of the lead character in a new series Based On the True Stories of an Indiana-Jones-esque type explorer. Except Modern Era. *cue slow, I Believe This Nodding*

It screams Mary Sue in all the High School Student in Deep Trouble ways! And with that name... ^_^

Pardon to all who read through that and had my deep insanity inflicted upon them. This is a seriously stream-of-consciousness thought.

Had massive happy attack while on way home from Final Theory Test. For one, it was over, and I was going home to watch MTV’s promo for How to Deal, Legally Blonde 2 and Down With Love. Goodbye, Brain – Hellloooo Fluff! *delirious smile*

(Oh, no, wait - I sound like a Warner Brothers' Animaniacs Character... I sound like Wakko and his "Helloooo, Nurse!")

(I loved that show.)

And it turned out that they showed a Pirates of the Caribbean short, sandwiched between How to Deal and Legally Blonde. (There is a joke in this, but I am too amused to see it.) And it had very short interviews with the cast. (This being MTV, their idea of a short interview is a gesture and some ten words from each actor.)

I SAW ORLANDO BLOOM LOOKING LIKE A GIRL!

*dies laughing*

*flees Orlando fans*

ALSO, I HAVE THE TAPE TO PROVE IT! I taped the whole thing!

(Pardon the all caps.)

And then of course, in the grand tradition of Shows Which Make You Wait Til the End to See What You Want to See, Thereby Forcing You To Watch the Whole Show, “Down With Love” finished the show.

In the advertisement, they used Nicole Kidman and Robbie Williams’ cover of “Something Stupid” as background music for this promo. And I kept thinking about how perfectly it fit.

2003-08-06T22:57:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 5th 2003

Went to JN’s house to cook! *wild glee* Got lost along the way, however. Took five buses when I should have taken two. *hides* That is all With Absolutely No Sense of Direction will say.

I arrived at 1.30pm, and we cooked all the way through to 3.30pm. ^_^ I made pancakes with sliced strawberries, chocolate chips. Oh, and I also used ~~almost~~ an entire canister of whipped cream.

And then there was the maple syrup. ^_^

We made sushi, spaghetti, and chicken chops. First time I’ve seen spaghetti sauce made with nothing but tomato ketchup and chilli sauce.

I would also like to know how a chicken chop can expand to three times its original size once it is cooked, and how to repeat this effect. ^_^ It will come in great use when I am a starving student in the UK. ; )

Also, I like decorating lunchboxes with sushi. With strawberries. ^_^ I must do it again sometime. It was very therapeutic. Especially with the strawberries as blossoms and cucumber slivers as blades of grass.

I wanted to add marshmallows, but felt it was a bit much.

*giggles at everyone O_O-ing me*

Ran into an ex-classmate on the bus. And apparently NUS has a bidding system for the modules. You’re given points, and you must bid for the modules you want to take. You only need one point to bid for a course in Econs (Where supply, ironically, exceeds demand - *is stoned by all who didn’t want to be reminded of Econs*) but for Philosophy, a student bid some 498 points out of her total of 600. Yes, it’s extremely popular.

Then I went to the library. Compulsively arranged all the Jedi Apprentice books. ^______________^ Made off with the Jedi Quest ones. To my delight, found Alan Dean Foster’s “The Approaching Storm”. Now do not have to buy it.

Alan Dean Foster novelized the Aliens movies. (I know that sounds grammatically peculiar, but it’s correct.) (For the record, I didn’t like the novelizations. The films were better. Much.)

Aliens was my first fandom. Yes, Aliens. Sigourney Weaver and acid-blooded creatures. I loved the second movie. And then I hunted down every single Aliens spinoff book and devoured them all. I didn’t know what fandom was at the time, but it was mine. My definition of fandom being something you obsess over, that you hunt down, that inspires you to write. ^_^ That was what led me to science fiction. And from then on, to fantasy.

2003-08-06T22:55:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 29th July 2003

Met Risa for lunch. ; ) Went to Delifrance. Iced lemon tea there is 40% ice. But I love their fruit tarts. ^_^ Then went to Kinokuniya, Borders, and Kinokuniya again. *happiness*

And the Finding Nemo Junior Novelization is back out in bookstores! ~~Fishing~~ Stocks were depleted two weeks ago, but they’re back!

Which begs the question (for people like me) – if there’s a junior novelisation, how about the Adult Novelisation of Finding Nemo?

Wednesday, July 30th 2003

Met up with Sparrow for dinner. Am very grateful to her for enabling me to meet a senior at the university where I will hopefully be soon. Had dinner at Tampines Mall. Saw a shop which did T-Shirt transfers. Saw an Attack of the Clones transfer which was Yoda-centric. Happiness attack resulted. ; )

Thursday, July 31st 2003

Met up with Sparrow for lunch, this time also with two more seniors. Much thanks again! *beams* After lunch, we headed off to Jasons’, but not before stopping by Out of the Pan for passionfruit sorbet (my fault), which Sparrow says wakes you up better than coffee. Is tangy. ; ) Also went to the Body Shop and spent a lot of time looking. I like the | Mango | and | Brazil Nut | moisturizers. (Which they call Body Butters.) Sparrow likes the Mango and | Grape Seed | ones. Naturally it being the Body Shop, they are wince-inducingly expensive.

Joined JN, Xiu and D for KTV at Cuppage Plaza. That place has the best KTV lounges I’ve seen so far. Then we went clothes shopping. U2 has a 20% discount at its Orchard Emerald/OG branch. Bought yet another article of black clothing to add to my collection. (I just like black.)

Then met up with my family for an extended-family dinner. Sibling and I wanted to go to “see fish”. This is in reference to the fish tanks with live fish which are in full view of the restaurant’s patrons. We asked Second Youngest Cousin along. (She’s seven next month, as she will tell you.) Youngest Cousin, who is five, followed enthusiastically. He reminds me of a young Star Wars: The Phantom Menace-era Anakin Skywalker. (Shh. I know I’m strange.) The fish tanks are two-tiered, so Sibling and I had to pick up a cousin each so that they could see into the top tanks.

Youngst Cousin proclaimed that the smallest luohan (Flower Horn) fish in the tank looked like Nemo. (Had been thinking the same thing. Go us!) And young children (when clean) smell nice. Like babies (when they are clean). Youngest Cousin, freshly-bathed, smelled like soap powder. Somehow, that was nice. ^_^

Also, Sibling and I were singing Evanescence songs at the dinner table. Started off with “My Last Breath”. And then we began assigning them to relevant characters and scenes in Carol Berg’s Rai-Kirah trilogy. Evanescence, to me, says/sings all the Pretty Angsty Things, and so very beautifully, too.

Somehow very appropriate to two of Ewan McGregor’s more high-profile screen roles in the Phantom Menace and Moulin Rouge.

It’s the death scenes in those films. Ewan as Obi-Wan Kenobi and dying Qui-Gon. Ewan as Christian and dying Satine. Disturbing parallels. Even the way he holds them is the same. Except the way he grieves.

2003-08-06T22:54:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 26th July 2003

Had predeparture session for UK Students. 30% of the talks were actually useful, but they freaked me out 200%, thanks to the You Must Do Well Or You Will Never Be Able to Work Back Home speech. Was with Risa. My freaking-out fit also painfully obvious. Am not cured of compulsive note-taking either.

Went to dreamcatcher’s place for a Writers’ Circle barbecue! *hugs dreamcatcher* It was utterly amazing. She made potato salad with green apples, hard-boiled eggs, and mayo. It was delicious. ; ) Our dearest Auntie Al baked a cheesecake for the first time (made me ashamed of own lack of baking talent). He used 1 3/4 pint cream cheese, and 1 pint of sour cream. (I had no idea sour cream went into cheesecakes. Score 1 Ignorance! Go me!) His cheesecake also had strawberries and a digestive biscuit crust, and looked wonderful for a first cheesecake. (My fifth would look half as good at his first.) And dreamcatcher bought whipped cream! *amusement* Which went wonderfully with the cheesecake.

aingeal, davidbard and the Professor were there too. Much amusement for the Rataliens resulted when dreamcatcher remarked, when asked why a chair wasn’t taken, that “The foil is sitting on the chair.” *elbows Ratal’s beloved werewolf and giggles helplessly*

And in true hobbit fashion, we were treated to fireworks! It was a National Day Parade rehearsal, and dreamcatcher’s place is near enough to the stadium for us to catch a fabulous view of the displays. Cheesecake, whipped cream, and fireworks. ; ) It’s hard to get much better than that.

But we did it ^_^ Had maniacal photo-taking session, then wrote trash. *smiles evilly* Trash is a Writers’ Circle tradition, passed on to us by our esteemed seniors. It is done with a fellowship of writers, who sit in a circle and pass a sheet of lined paper around said circle. The first writer begins with a line and a half, and folds his or her sheet backwards, such that the first line is concealed. The next writer then takes up from the half-sentence. Each writer leaves half a sentence, unfinished, for the next writer in the literary daisy chain. (Suddenly this reminds me of The Blue Room. All this talk of daisy chains.)

And we came up with very interesting stories. The following sentences are especially interesting and resulted from this exercise.

Do not know why I ended up chief noisemaker. Suffice to say that I was the subject of this sentence fragment. Different colours indicate different writers (writing completely outside the knowledge of each other).

“as she did not manage to keep the Plot Bunny population of the nation under control. So everyone heaved a sigh of relief when things were going well, but she still felt a need to reflect occasionally on where everything was going and how everything would change once they figured out how to set the right intelligence stats for her D&D character”

“where nobody has ever ventured before in the history of mankind, fraught with much war, chaos and grief, like the blood of the innocent and the grief of the guiltless, and immediately wept for shame as the cleric couldn’t resurrect their eight-day week, the resultant effect was that the currency exchange rate has rapidly increased due to the reason that everything was really going off and wrong and chaos reigned. The television set began showing the Power Rangers, who to the huge disappointment of the flock of following fangirls, did not resemble Aragorn. Instead the baby looked like a mix between Arwen and Legolas. Which was not a good combination at any rate, especially since he had gotten Arwen’s good looks but Legolas’ nancying tendencies to write long pieces of endless trash like this one. Oh it ended. Hooray.”

aingeal_isilme - I think the “secret code” business is about us. The rest… Suffice to say that I admit full responsibility for Darth Vader, but I had nothing to do with how the rest of the sentence subsequently turned out.

I believe someone admitted responsibility elsewhere ^_^ Thank you ^_^ I was delighted by the way it turned out. Evilly delighted yes.

“don’t make quite so much noise while taking photos and laughing in their secret code which could not be broken by even the most intelligent people in the kingdom of Rohan, which was about to fall into the hands of Sauron, who was the literary forbear of Darth Vader, who suddenly burst out into joyful song, serenading Luke Skywalker about Mirkwood and the enchanting delights of the National Day Parade”

Oh, and also - *hugs Serry*

Just because.

2003-08-06T22:51:00.000-07:00

Last made What Did I Do Today (Proper) entries on the 23rd of July. It is now the Seventh of August. *amusement* Let me begin again where I ended.

July 19th – Attended Dae’s birthday party. Found them after much wandering about HDB void decks in shadow. Also found them in playground. Birthday Ratalien was on the swings. ; ) D/E-ers would be very happy with the introduction she gave me. There was sparkling apple and grape juice – which in the semi-dark, looked an awful lot like champagne. Tidying up was faster than I expected. Had extended conversation that featured anime, Pokemon, slash, Finding Nemo (my fault, as everyone who will read this knows), and Final Fantasy. Did not know that fics were written as a form of payment. That is interesting. Must investigate further. Now if I could get Rataliens to pay me for not writing fic… *devious smile*

Also I would like to speculate that the birthday party preparations involved buying all the satay sticks/bamboo skewers within several blocks’ (and an MRT’s) radius. Went to two major supermarket chains at could not find any bamboo skewers. And then I went to the barbecue and found where they’d all gone. *amusement*

Sunday, 20th July 2003

(I would like to add here the Insufferably Random Remark of Day: Why is it that Sunday, 20th July 2003 sounds better than 20th July 2003, Sunday? [Waiiiit. That’s not a remark. That’s a question.])

Went out with family for lunch at the Marriott. Sibling and I were very amused by the price of chicken sandwiches. Or should I say horrified. I remember them as being $5, but it must be post-traumatic stress. The actual price of the sandwiches must have been $10 and/or (most probably and) above. Had the smoked chicken pasta and was ashamed of my own cooking. Then again, the Marriott is a hotel and I am not, so I must not feel too bad about it.

(This is beginning to sound very Bridget-Jones-ish. I would also like to take the opportunity to say that I read the VSDs before I read Bridget Jones’ diary. So the amusement occurred the other way around. I’d be reading Helen Fielding’s work and going, “This is so VSD!” whereas if I’d kept up with reading, it would have been very much the other way around.)

Was breaking in new pair of boots. Went off to Kinokuniya (which is a very long trek from the Marriott if it’s done in new boots, after lunch, in the heat) and headed for the Jedi Apprentice section. Was easily five years older than the oldest child in that section. Compulsively arranged the JA books until they were in order. Also did this to Tolkien’s books in bookstores. And to Robin Hobb’s books. I want what I like to look nice, darn it. And I’m saving the staff effort. ; )

Am steadily acquiring the JA series. Except the Ties That Bind arc. Was ~~rather violently~~ repulsed by the whole Qui-Gon/Tahl relationship. I like Tahl, who’s independent, spunky, sarcastic, and a lovely person (er, if that’s the word); and I like Qui-Gon, but the summary (I do not like “blurb”) at the back of “The Death of Hope” begins with an exchange of lines between those two that begin with “I pledge myself to you”. Wanted to be sick, but was in bookstore, so could not be. After which, studiously avoided that three-book arc. I only like the cover of “The Ties That Bind” because it has Qui-Gon and young Obi-Wan standing together before Yoda. Will avoid its contents assiduously.

*goes and reads “The Rising Force” and “Dark Rival”*

Dark Rival – has Xanatos. If Jedi Apprentice was Harry Potter, Xanatos would be fanon Draco Malfoy. But. Without canon Draco’s spiteful childishness, without fanon Draco’s leather pants, and without fanon Draco’s distressing tendency to redemption through Harry/Hermione/Original Character’s love.

Except, of course, Xanatos would be several years older, and at least three times more attractive than Tom Felton.

Though I saw the Prisoner of Azkaban pictures – Felton’s looking better than he did in the previous films. Or perhaps that was because I only saw his profile.

When I first saw Philosopher’s Stone’s Malfoy, I was – “He looks so sweet!” Hardly a thought to be associated with that particular Slytherin. [Although yes, ideally, Slytherins should look sweet, which would cause everyone else around to let their guard down. Perfect.

Also, I’ve read on LJs – “A Gryffindor is a Slytherin who understands PR.” I agree. ; ) Well, but only for the singularly cunning Gryffindor/Slytherins.

Bookshops and Other Obsessions

I can never spend enough time in a bookshop. I go in thinking twenty minutes will be enough (this is the Centrepoint Times) and it never is.

Also, the Centrepoint Times has no Jedi Apprentice books.

The Orchard Library also lacks a children’s section.

You know how I know.

2003-07-23T06:53:00.000-07:00

Most Hilarious Thing of Day: Finding Nemo Mary Sues!

*shrieks with laughter*

XJ, HY and KT came over yesterday. Besides playing Scrabble, we watched Yamakasi, A.I., and Moulin Rouge. Due to obsession with Jedi Apprentice, had a disturbing tendency to laugh with rather inappropriate enthusiasm at certain moments. Due to fanfic-reading, and general equating Obi-Wan Kenobi to Christian.

Also cooked pasta for them. Have begun to add light sour cream, eggs, and sherry to the pasta I cook. ^_^

Addictions begin so easily. It all starts of with what seems innocent. I’ll just take a look at this fic. I’ll just find out what this tastes like. I want to see what everyone’s crazy about. And then before you know it, you’re in the obsession with the rest of them.

In other words, I really like Coffee Bean’s raspberry mousse cake. ^_~

2003-07-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

Went for the prize presentation at my College Day. Discovered that I received Best in History as well as a VAC Academic Award. I thought the Academic Award was describing the subject prize. So did not realize that it was otherwise until I was told where to stand during the prize-giving ceremony.

My Civics Tutor is a grandfather! ^_^ He insists that we must all respect him on account on his Grandfatherhood. *giggles* He shares the same birthday as my mother, and his granddaughter shares the same birthday as my brother. *impish grin* I delight in finding connections with absolutely no meaning whatsoever.

Have Kinokuniya vouchers. Am going to use them on books that are fun and absolutely no help to my studies. Do not care. They will make me happy. They will make me very happy.

Wonder if it is an aftereffect of studying far too many serious books. Just like watching MTV. Is so fun to turn my mind off for a while.

That said, am now addicted to Jedi Apprentice books. Am making an utter idiot of self by wandering about the 9 to 12 Year Old Section of bookstores and the Young Adult Section of libraries. Still do not care. Am happy.

Very amused by Moulin Rouge now, on account of Christian and Obi-Wan Kenobi being played by Ewan McGregor. (Whom I think incredibly gorgeous.) Listened to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack and was endlessly entertained by lines such as:

"We should be lovers..."

"We could be heroes... Forever and ever..."
(Very Jedi Knight. *amusement*)

"Just one night... Just one knight..."

Oh, and Your Daily Randomness Quotient of the Day is fulfilled by this word:

ANemone.

Courtesy of ex-classmate GM, whom I was sitting next to. Did not notice this. Am delighted to find out. Very happy.

Made beef, mushroom and cream pasta today. Pasta much improved by addition of sour light cream. And eggs.

And CLAMP's X/1999 Book 6 is out! In English! *huge grin* Bought it. This was the book that first made me take a second look at X/1999. ; )

2003-07-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

Went to buy boots the other day. Do not understand why it is the Boots for Men which are all black and the Boots for Women that are red. The black boots look so much better than the red ones. *makes face* So much for equal opportunity clothing.

Anyway, got the black boots. *wild cheering*

Thursday, 17th July 2003

Went out with Sway. Went to Out of the Pan! ; ) Am addicted to the crepes there. Someday I will get around to trying the blue cheese crepes. They sound good. With raisins and apples! ; ) Had the Exotic Crepe. Essentially, whipped cream with a crepe over it - somewhat like an inverted sunny-side up egg, with passionfruit sherbert, dragonfruit, kiwifruit, strawberries, mango, and passionfruit. I loved the passionfruit sherbert! *delight*

Then went to the library. ^_^ The fountain there is beautiful at night! It's lit up, and the shadows the light makes through the water are gorgeous. The word for it was coruscating, I believe. ; ) Makes me think Coruscant. (Too much Jedi Apprentice. *hides*)

Today: Friday, 18th July 2003

Went out to Suntec today with my mom and bro. Giftland is closing down! :( That makes yet another Singaporean (was it Singaporean, Giftland?) shop to go bust. Wah. 50% off on all items. Eheh. Went and bought loads of wrapping paper. I adore wrapping paper! *cheers* Tried the new Chocolate Mint Pretzel at Auntie Anne's. I didn't like it. *makes face* Will not try it again. I go for the Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel!

Oh, and they opened the Suntec City fountain - they built a walkway in it, so you can actually go to the center of the fountain and look up. Will go with you if you want to check it out ^_^ It's kinda cool, to walk up there ^_^ Though of course, this being Singapore, the management put up a sign that says "Walk three times around the Fountain for luck and prosperity". Or something like that. Saw it last week, I believe. ; )

Made pasta today - cream sauce, with mushrooms, sausages, and bacon. I sliced the sausages diagonally. Put in lots of herbs. I don't think the meat will give it enough flavor. And I simply must learn to cook fried rice! *embarrassed laughter* *hides behind the wok*

Today, Life! featured Buying Nemo. Clownfish craze that's swept Singapore. And apparently one shop did especially good business by putting up clownfish in plastic bags with NEMO marked on them. Feel vague trepidation over the fate of those clownfish. *wonders sadly about the Porcelain Express*

And we have an excellent Public Utilities system. *smiles* Call them, and they appear in an hour. Amazing. Efficiency like this makes me - call me silly and materialistic - proud of my country.

Having a prize presentation at school tomorrow. Am getting a History prize. This would be completely impossible without Risa, who was an inspiration through those two years, often spent in the shadow of the mountains of History notes, and near-impossible essay deadlines. Thank you ^_^ I could never have done it without you.

Still cannot bear to discard History notes. Am a packrat. Must have developed an emotional attachment to said notes. *looks warily at cupboard*

Though does this mean that, as a Year Three at the presentation, I will have to be obedient and actually pay attention to what is going on? Most prize presentation ceremonies usually have me, er, falling asleep. And it being College Day, I do wonder if they will pull a stunt like they did on the last one, and have the Chinese Orchestra play songs like "Prancing Tiger, Prancing Dragon". That was the actual song title.

Consciousness, stay with me...

2003-07-17T02:25:00.000-07:00

More Current Update

Monday, 14th July 2003

Bro went back to school : ( Had driving. Could not see him off at airport. : (

Met Sparrow for dinner at Orchard. Did not manage to make it to the library as we intended ; ) Went to the Pasta Café – had the seafood linguine with white wine sauce. Not a choice I will make again. This white wine sauce was sour. Unless it’s intended to be that way.

Went to Kinokuniya, where I headed off to the Star Wars books. *hides in a corner* The “Intended for Ages 9-12” books. Am ashamed to admit that they involve me far better than the books written for older readers. Either that says something awful about the writing style for the adult books, or something worse about my mental age. *edges away* Am fascinated with the Jedi Apprentice series. If I’m in a fandom, it’s The Phantom Menace fandom, and the pre-TPM fandom. Do not get the whole Luke and Leia issue. Also do not get the Anakin and Padme issue. So, it’s Obi-Wan Kenobi for me ; ) Speaking of which, Ewan McGregor looked way better in Star Wars: Episode One than he did in Episode Two.

And also, speaking of which (Digression! *cheers*) I’ve seen the Down With Love posters. The new romantic comedy starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. Will watch said comedy if for no other reason than Ewan McGregor. *amusement*

Then went to the Coffee Club Xpress with Sparrow. Had a Hot Vanilla and a Viennese chocolate cake. The first time I ordered this, the lady taking my order warned, “There’s rum in it.” ^_^ I wonder how that is meant to be a bad thing. ; ) I like Hot Vanilla, even if it is nothing more than foamy, sweet milk. Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf does a good hot vanilla, too. And, er, Starbuck’s Hot Milk is just that. Hot milk. With foam.

Then went to Borders ^_^ Yes, it was a Major Bookstore Marathon for us! ; )

Also, both Kinokuniya and Borders are out of Finding Nemo books. I saw the junior novelization in MPH – and it was just the one copy. My notes on the Gill Front are better! ><

And does this mean there is an Adult Novelization? ; )
(I know! I know! Random Question of Day!)

*sidles off into a corner* I bought Jedi Apprentice books. The Rising Force and Dark Rival.

Tuesday, 15th July 2003

Saw Anya off at the airport. *weeps*

Went for a BK breakfast with skye. Then off to the Marine Parade Library. ; ) Haven’t done that for way too long ; ) At said library – ended up in the Children’s Section. Yes, I was going Jedi Apprentice hunting.

Very amused by the library shelves. At MPL, I walked past a shelf that read N-S. Then, at the Ang Mo Kio library, which I went to later, a shelf read L-S. *cheers* Yay for Fandom OTP-supporting shelves!

Went out with Xiu and Dulcia. JN couldn’t make it : ( We went to Far East Plaza. Met up with Alex there! *beams* Spent some three and a half hours in Far East Plaza, all told.

And when I was there... I acquired more Jedi Apprentice books. Much better to go to secondhand bookstores. Got two books there for less than what one book costs in a major bookstore. Granted, the selection is nowhere as wide.

Went off to the massive DFS store. It is very pretty, and also built entirely for tourists, which may explain it. Said store has an escalator that goes up four levels. ; ) To me, more impressive than the one at Shaw Towers. *smiles* We played Following Fish. *hides* It’s when you stand near the koi at the pond and see if they follow you. These ones did. And very responsively. The ones at the Fullerton can be responsive, but they’re erratic. Only if they wish to.

DFS store also has miniature microphones, loudspeakers and radios – the keyring variety. They can record and play back sounds. You could leave many interesting messages there. ; )

*reads what have written* Have sunk into randomness again. *hides*

Then went to Scotts Marketplace for dinner.

Wednesday, July 16th, 2003

Must have been something I ate. Had nasty episode involving what I suspect was food poisoning. Very ow. Played Curl-Up-On-the-(bathroom) Floor. *wince* But was better after medicine. Worst being not being able to sleep due to pain.

Went driving after that, as felt better. Some instructors at my driving centre are helpful. They praise you, and they don’t berate. Have had one instructor for several sessions (we get different instructors every time, purportedly. Though I do not know how I managed to get this particular individual so many times). And when this one doesn’t scold me, that is praise enough.

Then came home. Ate porridge. Safe Food time, it was.

Then joined Aingeal and Dae at Plaza Singapura. Dae couldn’t come find Nemo with us. *is sad* And I watched Nemo for the fourth time. Thank you, Aingeal! ^_^

Great show. ; ) Aingeal observed that the song the Fish Shoal sings - “Whale of a Tale” – is also a Disney song. Self-promotion! It’s a Disney Movie Month – even Pirates of the Caribbean is a Disney ride! Not to mention the movie ads which Disney so strategically aired before Nemo. Brother Bear and The Lizzie McGuire movie. I do not know how Lizzie McGuire could’ve been a successful TV series, but then it is unlikely that people like me made it so.

Then went to Secret Recipes for tea. ; ) Had a chocolate cake (again). Aingeal had a tiramisu that was 50% cream, and delicious. *smiles*

Came home and posted on Ratal. Another Long Overdue Ratal High update. ; ) *apologies to Serry*

Thursday, July 17th, 2003

Went driving in the morning. Went through two lessons today! *cheers* First of which was the Pre-Drive check. Apparently the car needs:

1. Engine oil
2. Brake fluid/ Clutch Pedal fluid (if car is not automatic)
3. Coolant (though tap water will suffice)
4. Battery water (this time, tap water will not suffice)
5. Water. For the windscreen jets.

You check the depth of the engine oil with a dipstick. For some reason, this made me think of the X-Files line which had Mulder saying that Krychek’s “moral dipstick is two drops short of bone dry”.

Very Random Happiness-Inducing Event of Day

Button Mushrooms have returned to the shelves of my Supermarket! *cheers*

2003-07-17T02:22:00.000-07:00

Much delayed update:

Wednesday, 2nd July, 2003

Found Nemo for the first time. Initiated a spiral of addiction that continues til tjis day. Watched it with Australian aunt. ; ) Which made the fish-shoal impression of the Sydney Opera House all the more interesting.

Thursday, 3rd July 2003

Went out with JN and KT for karaoke. *evil grin* Went to Delphi in Orchard, which has one of the best deals and rooms I’ve ever seen. ^_^

Met up with Sway for dinner, at the Dome near Plaza Singapura. Had the beef bowl, clam chowder, and the iced chocolate with gelato. Risa introduced me to the last food item on that list. Yet another addiction. ^_^ Which happens to taste far too good to give up.

Dome has a great pesto. I wonder if I can find it again. This somehow started a pesto-pasta making fascination. *hides*

Friday, 4th July 2003

Had strange dream of a Ratalien meeting. And that I was so delighted to see the Professor that I hugged her. And I woke up this morning to meet goldfish. And when I hugged her, it felt the same as in my dream. Exactly. It was great to see her again ; )

Went to Mos Burger for breakfast ^_^ They now serve apple pie as apple pie nuggets. *looks at said apple pie nuggets* Not bad.

*glomps goldfish* She gave me toe socks! *huge evil grin* Have never had toe socks with a different color for each toe! *happiness* And also a chef’s cap that reads “Noodles”. Thanks to recent pasta obsession. ; ) Thank you, goldfish!

^_______________________________^

Shall work towards deserving that chef’s hat! ; )

Went to watch The Twins Effects. Edison Chen was Kazaf, the vampire prince. He was immensely cute. *beams* Unfortunately,

Spoilers for The Twins Effects

Reeve, the vampire hunter, is almost completely useless. *makes face* Uselessness compounded by his fellow vampire hunter/girlfriend. He deserves the ridiculous girlfriend he hooks up with. *buries head in hands* How can fluff like that become a vampire slayer? And what’s with making mistakes like that? ><

Apparently, vampire hunters need to drink vampire blood to give them the powers needed to combat vampires. This can only last without ill-effects for one and a half hours, after which they are required to take an antidote lest they turn into vampires permanently. Said antidote is stored in a Banana Essence bottle. *thwaps makers of the antidote* You, readers, can see the problems coming a miiiile away, but this somehow eludes the vampire slayers. There must be a message in this.

So naturally, Reeve’s Token Girlfriend takes the antidote and makes banana muffins with them. This compels Reeve to go on a banana-muffin spree simply to avoid permanent vampirism. Of course, the antidote, in banana muffins, doesn’t take action so quickly. Thus we get to see Vampire! Reeve scoffing banana muffins.

Is it only Chinese shows that possess this particular brand of bang-head-against-wall, over-the-top qualities?

Kazaf being cute made up for the silliness, though said vampire prince had his own silly moments, such as making a date with his human girlfriend at 12 noon on a beach. And not realizing that his vampirism would make this impossible until his manservant, Prada (yes, Prada), pointed it out to him.

Cue sequence where Prada and Kazaf make suntan lotion. In a deliberate parallel to cooking shows. “First, you add the sesame oil...” starts the whole scene off. It doesn’t help that all the ingredients used in said suntan potion are all edible.

Wah. Prada was fun. But Duke finished him off.

Duke’s the requisite Evil Vampire who needs the “blood essence” of five vampire princes to open the book of Day Into Night, which is a heirloom in (you guessed it) Kazaf’s family. This book, once opened, enables a vampire to walk in day as if it is night, thus removing one of the key limitations to a vampire’s power. Naturally, Kazaf is the last Vampire Prince. (This reminds me of Christopher Pike’s The Last Vampire Series. I adored Christopher Pike, as a child/teenager. Only his books tended to go a little too heavy on making-out.)

Kazaf does have a girlfriend, though, who is far more fun and ten times more capable than Reeve’s. She helps her oftimes bumbling boyfriend evade vampire hoodlums, has the sense to procure blood intended for transfusion for him (since said prince refuses to drink from humans), and is a far better fighter than Reeve’s girlfriend. She at least gets to the point. And she has her own share of facepalm! moments, such as when she misconstrues a conversation where Kazaf reveals his vampiric nature to her as Kazaf wanting to break up.

Summary of the Ending: Duke kills Prada and allows Reeve to turn into a vampire. This forces Reeve’s girlfriend to kill her erstwhile love. Oh, and Kazaf’s girlfriend is also Reeve’s sister. So vampire slayer and vampire prince’s girlfriends team up to battle all the vampires, Kazaf being conveniently out of action, thanks to Duke’s acquisition of his blood essence. Reeve’s girlfriend (why? Why her? Why?!) gets to acquire part of the powers of Day-Into-Night while attempting to thwart Duke, and becomes a *facepalm* vampire. Nevertheless, the duo defeat Duke. And…

The Eventual Ending: All three survivors – vampire prince, vampire prince’s girlfriend, and vampire-slayer-turned-vampire, become a vampire slayer trio.

*drowns in parmesan*

I liked the show, though. ; ) There was a lovely English-speaking exchange between Kazaf and Duke that lasted less than five minutes and justified the price of the movie (for me). And Kazaf (Edison Chen) has a lovely non-Chinese-accented speaking-English voice.

And Kazaf’s name, while reminding me of a certain file-sharing software, is pretty cool, really. (To me.)

Then met up with Risa for lunch at Swensen’s. *beams* Had a Chocolate Malted Sundae. Which was really good. Also, all the sundaes that I order with Maltesers in them tend to generate Maltesers as if they’ve been hit by a Matrix-Reloaded Agent Smith-esque replicator. Which necessitates my needing help to finish them off. Had the salmon and mushroom baked rice. ; ) Yet another item I must learn to make for the time when I go overseas.

We were joined by goldfish’s senior, and were introduced togoldfish’s Three Mice In A Box. Reminded of Babe, Risa and I performed a rendition of Blue Moon. From the mice. *evilness* Was much interested in how the mice were named. *smiles at Anyaand waves to the Mouse in the Middle*

Then Finding Nemo!

^_______________________________^

As Risa says – Dory’s indestructible.

Had to leave to go for driving, and then to a family dinner. One of those massive outings involving the extended family and dinner commencing at 8.45pm. We were celebrating my Australian aunt’s visit, my brother’s return home, and my Malaysian cousin’s birthday. ^_^ Family gatherings tend to have their share of moments:

Joke told at said Gathering

“Why does the bride cry at weddings?”

“Because she can’t get the best man.”

Also learnt that cousin’s graduation involved balloting for the different colours of graduation gowns. (First I’ve heard of it.) And that his faculty ended up with, of all colours, pink.

*falls over*

Had mango pudding for dessert. This was the first restaurant I’d ever been to which gave you one of those tiny jugs of evaporated milk to go with the mango pudding. About two or three jugs per table. Which means you can add as much milk as you want. Which also meant that I went overboard. *evilness*

Saturday, 5th July 2003

Went to Anya’s house!

*huge grin*

Thank you, Anya

^_____________________________^

Met Risa and goldfish! *huge evil grin* dreamcatcher met us later – and brought Mrs. Field’s Brownies! *smiles* Thank you ^_^ Am of the opinion that Mrs. Fields does the best brownies. ; )

Anya’s place does the best barbecues! *happiness* I loved the mango salad. And Anya, your mom does the best sake-marinated cod I’ve ever had. *delight*

And many thanks to Anya for enabling me to see the Warcraft III: Frozen Throne opening cinematic. *dies of happiness* It was absolutely beautiful. As wonderful as the screencaps I’d seen. Do not care if Illidan is fat. *laughter* He’s still pretty impressive! ; ) And I loved the Naga. (If that’s how they’re spelled.) And I agree, they move like Hydralisks. Also adore the Hydralisks. ; ) *happiness*

Watched the Engrish version of The Two Towers. The very first line is out of whack – Gandalf’s “Fly, you fools!” has mutated into “Follow, you fools!”

*collapses laughing*

Cannot imagine the Fellowship plunging headlong into Moria after him. ; )

I also second Anya’s mom’s opinion of Legolas. *smirks evilly*

Got to see Anya’s Yami no Matsuei manga. She is right. Touda is very cute. Though she goes for him with the visor, while I go for him sans visor. ^_^ Makes him look like Cyclops, in my opinion. ; )

*flees Anya*

And Muraki is cool. ; )

Had a stayover at Anya’s place!

*cheers*

Got to see the Making-of Cakes Personified: New York Cheesecake! *cheers* In person! *huge smile*

Poor Risa had to translate Anya’s manga for me *hides from the both of them* Especially the… questionable scenes. *stays hidden*

Sunday, 6th July 2003

Woke up in Anya’s place. Thank you for the great stayover, Anya

^_________________________________________________^

And for lunch! ; ) Hadn’t eaten nasi lemak in ages. ^_^

Met up with Ratal in the evening. *huge grin* In the Hotel Intercontinental. Shall I proclaim it the most impressive Ratal gathering locale ever? *grin* Thank you, Isilme for the room! *glomps Isilme* Hope our gathering didn’t disturb everyone else on the floor ^_^

May have traumatized Elear with “Elear, I’m here” opening line. *goes hide*

Finally met Laire! *smiles* Half of Ratal’d just returned from a cosplay session. Sarah made a pretty cool Ringwraith ; ) Then again, am a Wraith Fancier. ^_^ It was great to meet someone who’s also into Mary-Sue induced amusement. ^_^ Me, I have the sinking feeling I write them, but they shall stay mercifully unposted. *glee*

Ended up half-strangled by Dae again. *glares at said half-orc* Why does this happen almost every time we get together? *amused*

Celebrated a birthday with mango and apple strudel. ^_^ Have now discovered a liking for mango strudel. Thank you cait for said strudel! *beams*

Isilme and cait stayed over. ^_^ cait and I wandered down to Bugis Junction to buy dinner back (at 9.40pm). *laughter* Ran into an ex-primary school classmate. *surprise*

Watched The Queen of the Damned over Yoshinuya and takopachi. *giggles* What a combination. The movie was better than I’d remembered it, but probably due to where I was and who I was with ^_^ Although I still prefer Tom Cruise as Lestat. And where was Louis? *weeps*

Also discovered strange property of our hotel room – the TV can be heard in the bathroom when it’s on. *stunned* Also, we discovered that it is not a very good idea to visit the bathroom if The Queen of the Damned is playing on television. This worsened by fact that we could not bring down the volume on the bathroom speaker.

Watched the Engrish version of Two Towers after that. *evil grin* (Yes, again. More. *smirks*) Then had to go to sleep as had driving the day after : ( But cait and Isilme were up : ) They managed to draw the map of Ratal! *cheers* And slept at 6am. Was vaguely conscious of them moving to the other side of the room in the middle of the ~~night~~ morning, but other than that, was out.

Monday, 7th July 2003

Woke up in the presence of elf and half-elf. Was only human. *amused* Had to leave for driving lessons : ( Last gathering before Ratal turns Ratal International. ; ) And we must learn to synchronise three countries with three different timelines.

After driving, wandered around in Takashimaya and succumbed to the cuteness. *hides* Also wandered off to Paragon (why did I accidentally type a “r” there? [wait, is it “an” r, or “a” r? – Snape references notwithstanding?]) and spent a great deal of time in Jasons Supermarket. Wandered off to the toy store and found a stuffed Nemo toy retailing at 10 cents shy of fifty dollars. *runs away*

Met up with family, then off to the Esplanade. Visited Thai Express ; ) The green mango salad is better than the green papaya salad. The latter is mostly tasteless. Then under my evil influence, family moved to Haagen Dasz, where they were persuaded to buy Midnight Chocolate ice cream and Bailey’s Ice Cream. ^_^

Later note: Ha! One sibling addicted to Bailey’s and the other to Midnight Chocolate. May also have converted my father. *cheers*

Tuesday, 8th July 2003

Spent much of time asleep, due to earlier Ratal gathering and two successive stayovers ; ) Made pesto pasta. With mushrooms, chicken, red oak lettuce (I adore red oak!) and grated mozzarella. *happiness* Poor family were subjected to my cooking. *hides from them*

Wednesday, 9th July 2003

Met up with Risa, goldfish and Skye for lunch. Was delighted to run into Anyaas well. *huge grin* So it was lunch for us ^_^ After which, went to watch Finding Nemo again, with Risa and goldfish. *happiness* Risa noted the pathetic fallacy in the rain falling after

Finding Nemo Spoiler

Marlin seeing what he thinks is Nemo’s death.

Then went to Kare Kano’s new location ^_^ But not before stopping for a break at McDonalds. *cheers hot fudge sundaes* Sundaes go well with French fries. *flees the disagreers*

Kare Kano’s now located in Sunshine Plaza, in a place with automatic doors. Would never have found it without goldfish’s guidance. The new shop is much better-looking than the last. *grin* Better lighting. More space. Everything. Unfortunately, the same erratic opening hours for different sections of the shop.

Thursday, 10th July 2003

Woke up to send goldfish off at the airport. :: tears :: Got to see Vee again! *cheers Vee* Found out about roller lint-removers. *laughter*

After driving, met up with cait. ^_^ Had lunch at Suntec, where I was shown a Spiderman comic that had me going on a hunt for the Spiderman movie VCD. *buries head in hands* To quote Jacques, “I am ashamed.” But... I still did it. *laughter*

Went to Shop-Which-Sells-Movie-Related-Merchandise near Carrefour. Why do all the shops that sell fun things always have strange opening hours and stranger opening practices? Bought a set of Finding Nemo postcards. ; )

Then went to the Esplanade ^_^ Poor cait had to endure my “I can move the bubbles”-ness at the reflecting pool outside the Esplanade. Also my horrible picture-taking skills. *flees cait*

Went to Haagen Dasz. *huge grin* Tried Toffee Crème and Midnight Chocolate. cait had a Hot Belgian Chocolate. *grin*

Had much fun! *beams*

Friday, 11th July 2003

Was exhausted by previous day, so spent lunch hour at home. Tried my hand at making Maggie Mee. Have concluded that:

1. I cannot live on Maggie Mee while overseas
2. I have no sense of proportion. (Conclusion brought on by fact that added too many peas to the noodles.)
3. I must learn to cook something else.

Left for the airport after dinner to see my Australian aunt off. Had the Venetian Chocolate Cake and Hot Vanilla at Coffee Club XPress. Chocolate cake had rum in it, and was 50% pure chocolate. The Hot Vanilla was just as good as the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf’s one. ; ) Yes, it’s essentially foamy, sweetened milk, but I like it. ^_^ The one at Starbucks, however, is just hot milk. With foam.

After the airport, went to watch Terminator 3 with the family. This was one movie I was always going to watch, whether or not reviews lambasted it, whether or not no one wanted to watch it. Because it’s a Terminator Movie. ; ) I loved Terminator 2: Judgement Day, although it scared me to pieces (I was a kid!).

John Connor is not cute. *massive protest* He was cute in Terminator 2. Edward Furlong! ; ) But in T3, he’s played by Nick Stahl.

Spoilers for Terminator 3

I had the sense that this movie wasn’t going to be anything near Terminator 2 from the trailers, but that wasn’t going to stop me watching it. : ) I suppose if you’re watching it for a sense of danger, an omnipresent feeling that fear’s all about – this is probably not the movie. (That, or I was an impressionable child for T2 to do that to me, whereas I’m several years older for T3.) It’s an action thriller, all right – a van-police car-fire truck-crane (don’t ask) chase of epic proportions takes place somewhere within the first hour.

I’d have to say the Terminator gets some of the best lines. I suppose the fun that originates in the incongruity of having this “killing machine” speak lines that are immensely human. “Talk to the hand.” *falls off chair*

Also the scene where he puts on sunglasses that have flower-shaped frames. Oh, and they’re glittery flower-shaped frames. My mind was thinking, “Icon! Icon!” *amused*

Strangely enough, the Terminator’s brusque, extremely business-like attitude to everything he deals with makes some scenes strangely humorous. This is probably the filmmakers’ intention.

The TX is pretty cool. Though I have the feeling the censors’ scissors took away quite a bit from the original film. T3 is R-rated in the States. There is no way the same film could be PG here without several cuts.

T3 also has Claire Danes. I was surprised.

Saturday, 12th June 2003

Went to see cait off at the airport. :: tears :: First step in Ratal going International. Hope you had a good trip ; ) And bring us back a Smith. Each.

*glomps cait*

Joined family for dinner at the Botanic Gardens. Had one very long taxi ride there. Also, Tyserall Road goes alllll the way to Farrer Road, and half of it (where I was supposed to be) is one-way. *cries* So guess which way I went. Yes, the wrong one.

It had just rained, and it was dark. The gardens are beautiful in the dark, with the lanterns and lights glowing in the trees and along the walkways. I crossed a path by a pond, which was lit from within. The water was a luminous green. ; ) And the air – it was like nothing else. It’s the scent of the air after the rain, when everything smells fresh, and yes, lush, though I try to find a better word. Either I was hungry, or it was the restaurant, but there was rum on the air as I entered the gardens, and the scent turned to mint when I approached the restaurant. ; )

Then wandered the Gardens with family after dinner. It’s so very different in the dark. Palm Valley had a giant TV screen, and it was showing, of all things, Chinese drama serials. *collapses* But the rest of the gardens were tranquil, save the pavilion which housed a (relatively) rowdy party.

Sunday, 13th June 2003

Spent a disturbing proportion of today asleep.

*unsettled*

Then saw part of “Dude, Where’s My Car?” on TV. My defense is that I was not in control of the remote. To my horror, said show was not as bad as I’d expected it to be. Which means that my taste is worse than I thought it was.

Also saw Viggo Mortensen in Daylight. ; ) He looks more Viggo than Aragorn in that show. But of course. ; )

2003-07-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

Due to complete obsession with Finding Nemo, have watched said movie three times, with copious note-taking each time.

Finding Nemo opened here on the 5th of June. It wasn’t until the mid-twenties of June did I finally manage to see it. Making up for lost time, I guess ^_^ But I adore this show. First watched it with the Australian aunt, which made watching the Fish School’s impression of Sydney somehow more entertaining. ; )

The day my family went to the airport to bring my brother home, my cousins and I were Counting Nemo in the airport fish tank. It was a massive tank, and housed, along with four sharks, some sixteen clownfish. ^_^

Pilot Pointless Observation (Prototype): When Finding Nemo opened, Lido had a fishtank in its cinema lobby put up especially to promote the film. And also fish food. Said tank, however, had no clownfish.

First Pointless Observation on Knick Knack, the short before Finding Nemo: Sunny in italics reads an awful lot like Serry.

Second Pointless Observation: I’m deranged.

Obsessively went to hunt down the Finding Nemo interviews. Check out this site for the Interview. Go to the Fishy Folk link. ^_^

Pearl the Octopus looks like a pink aquatic Boo (from Monsters Inc.). Not surprising. Both are Pixar films.

This film reminds me of a simile my sibling invented: “Her voice was like a Pixar film – entirely animated.” Was much amused.

Jacques the Cleaner Shrimp (I’dve said he was a Tiny Lobster, but apparently, no) is utterly hilarious. His answer to Gill’s admonition against tank-cleaning – “I shall resist”. His abashed answer to being caught cleaning – “I am ashamed.” It’s the perfectly clipped, formal tone in which he speaks that makes me laugh. ^_^ As this pretty cool fansite says, he “cleans and cleans with the fervor of a soldier in the French resistance”. *amused* *remembers learning the Napoleonic Wars*

Bubbles (the yellow tang) – immensely giggle-worthy. Utterly consumed by his fanatical obsession for bubble-capturing. This worsened by the fact that the Chinese subtitles for “bubbles” were pao4 pao4. *falls off chair* Somehow, reading it in Chinese made it doubly hilarious for me. Bubbles’ voice actor – Stephen Root – said, in the interview, "Bubbles is just plain nuts."

Bubbles’ line that made his character for me?

*possessively* "My bubbles."

And Gill. Gill. *falls at his fins* [ line used in homage to my Professor, who used this in relation to our Professor, substituting feet for fins ]

I name Gill the aquatic version of Snape, except this version has a reason to be slimy, and is much nicer. ^_^

(Would that make Nemo the aquatic version of Harry?)

Gill has this gorgeously smoky voice. *collapses* I am an utter sucker for these voices. As evinced by swooning over Alan Rickman (Snape in Harry Potter), Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter, but I liked him for his role as that savage Tavington in The Patriot [Was delighted to see Heath Ledger’s character wave bye-bye]), Jeremy Irons (As the Morlock in The Time Machine), and Willem Dafoe (The elder Osbourne/Green Goblin in Spiderman. Also, the voice of Gill in Finding Nemo). The moment I heard Gill’s voice, I was – “Okay, that’s it. I’m gone.” And I was. It was exactly like hearing Alan Rickman as Snape for the first time. Be still, my beating heart. *amused*

Producer Person I cannot identify: “Gill is this tough, scarred Moorish idol – a very proud-looking fish, inside this tank.”

Willem Dafoe in the interview: “Gill commands respect just out of sheer weight – and bravado.”

Gill!

His entire entrance won me over. Completely. He comes into the picture when Nemo gets stuck in the filter. In the midst of our clownfish’s cries to be freed, Gill materializes – and his first words are, “Nobody touch him.”

When Nemo asks, piteously, “Can you help me?”, Gill’s response is a seemingly-callous “No.” He continues, “You got yourself in there. You can get yourself out.” Dramatic change from Marlin’s overprotectiveness.

Nemo (almost-wails – he’s still stuck in that filter, after all): “I can’t! I’ve got a bad fin!”

And this is when Gill turns, allowing Nemo to glimpse his profile – and the Moorish idol’s mangled right fin, almost-twin (symbolic parallel?) to Nemo’s withered right fin. “Never stopped me before,” counters Gill, as he seals the I-Will-Be-Your-Mentor ritual.

The freed clownfish meets the rest of the aquarium’s inhabitants proper, while Gill and Peach the starfish hold back, observing the merry gathering.

“He’s from the ocean,” muses Peach. “Just like you, Gill.” She eyes him, and says, almost laughingly, of him, “Oh, I’ve seen that look on your face before. I know that look. What are you thinking?”

And Gill replies, “I think tonight we’ll give the kid a proper welcome.”

*dies*

Nemo’s startling innocence and naiveté, contrasted with Gill as the knowing/jaded voice-of-experience outlook. The same origins. The same handicap. They make a lovely pair. *smiles*

Appropriately enough, Gill resides in a skull.

I Obey!

I love Gill’s injunction on commencing the Great Tank Escape.

“Think dirty thoughts!”

[As tank escape is dependent on the aquarium’s inhabitants sabotaging the tank filter, and making the tank so filthy that the dentist-owner is forced to remove them from said tank to clean it, thus facilitating their escape plans]

“My first escape landed on dental tools.” That’s one determined Moorish Idol there, our Gill.

“Fish aren’t meant to be in a box, kid. It does things to you.” As evinced by Bubbles, Gurgle, and other tank inhabitants’ idiosyncracies. Were I in the tank, I’d probably be crazier than all of them put together.

When Gill catapults himself onto Fish-Killer Darla’s head:

Aquarium Inhabitants: *gleefully* “Smack her on the head, Gill!”

Darla Detestation due to her fish-shaking habits. Shook her last birthday present to death – said present was a fish – and her next present is to be Nemo. But our clownfish plays dead. *cheers* And wins his way to freedom. ^_^ Said escape owed much to Gill, who distracted Darla and flipped Nemo, with the help of dental tools, into the dentist’s washbasin. ^_^ *cheers Gill*

The Strangeness of Tankhood

As Bloat said: “Only the worthy may join our sacred order – in the fraternal bonds of… Tankhood.”

The entire Initiation Ceremony Incident. On Mount Wanahuckaloogie. Am very sure that the name for this aquarium’s underwater feature was not accidental. *stares at it suspiciously* Said Hazing Ritual involves swimming through the Ring of Fire (Dramatically lit bubbles from Mount Wanahuckaloogie).

Do not understand why Nemo had to thwack against Gill as he emerged from said Ring of Fire.

Dory, Dory. What can I say? ^_^

Situation: In lightless trench with Marlin (Nemo’s father). Due to her catastrophic short-term memory, she forgets Marlin’s presence.

Dory: “Something’s got me!”

Marlin: “It’s me!”

Dory: “Are you my conscience?”

Marlin (exasperated/patronizing): “Yes, Dory, I am your conscience. We haven’t spoken for a while. Is there anything you’d like to tell me?”

Dory: “Not much. Can’t complain.”

Marlin: “Tell me, Dory – what do you see?”

[ A light illuminates the darkness ]

Dory: “I see a light!” *pause* “Hey, Conscience! Am I dead?”

[It’s an angler fish. And a particularly vicious one, at that.]

After trapping said angler fish:

Dory and Marlin’s Victory Chant: “No Eating Here Tonight! *whoop* Eating Here Tonight!”

Dory: “No Eating Here Tonight! *addresses angler fish* You’re on a diiiiet…”

“I suffer from short-term memory loss. It runs in the family. Or I think it did. *pause* Where are they?”

Dory Talking In Her Sleep: “The sea monkey’s got my money.” [ I think this is ’s favourite line ]

“Are you gonna eat that?”

And my favourite: “Yes, I’m a natural blue.”

Dory’s Numerous Nemo Misnomers: Fabio. Elmo. Cheeko. Harpo. And Bingo.

Why, why not Bilbo and Frodo?! Don’t they rhyme with Nemo?
Dory’s reaction to (lethal) baby jellyfish: “I shall call him Squishy, and he shall be mine. And he shall be my Squishy.”

*apologies here owed to , , , the Professor, aingeal, Dae and everyone else who had the misfortune to witness my Laptop Squishy routine. Especially to . I fear I have blasphemed your Smith. :: weeps :: *

Dory and Marlin hanging off a whale’s tongue. *meeps* Marlin is hanging on to Dory’s fin as this is happening.

Dory (according to whale): “He says it’s time to let go!”

Marlin: “You can’t! You think you can do these things, but you just can’t, Nemo!”

*Freudian-slip and Emotional Climax/Psychological Denouement Moment*

Marlin: “How do you know something bad isn’t about to happen?”

Dory: *with complete, guileless innocence* “I don’t!”

And Marlin lets go.

I thought that scene was at the emotional heart of Finding Nemo. It didn’t give me the glee of the Gill scenes, but I was still thrilled, but this time on a Literature-student level. *laughter*

Gurgle: Aquarium inhabitant consumed with cleanliness.

“Sharkbait! You’re covered – with germs!” The last said in a tone of absolute revulsion.

I did not think Peach was voiced Allison Janney. Was quite surprised when heard that Peach the Starfish was female. Could not quite decide whether Peach was male or female. Save for fact that was pink. (Should have been big giveaway, but not with a voice like that, it wasn’t.)

Filthy Tank! Peach – “Look! Scum Angel!”

Peach cheerfully discloses her origins as: “Starfish from Ebay.”

*hysterical laughter*

Carnivorous Sharks Anonymous Pledge: “I am a nice shark, not a mindless eating machine.” “Fish are friends, not food.”

Marlin at said meeting: “I don’t have a problem!”

Bruce, Anchor and Chum: “Oh.” They exchange knowing looks. Then, in unison, they declare, “Denial.”

I think the humanity in these fish is what makes Finding Nemo so very amusing. From Dory’s frustration with Marlin’s refusal to ask for geographical guidance: “What is it with men and asking for directions?”, to the baby that falls off a coral and immediately bursts into tears – it’s all so human. Will not bother to muse on the anthropomorphist tendencies of the film. Am too busy enjoying it.

I loved the references. Bruce’s chase was highly reminiscent of a creature flick. Like Aliens 2 or Deep Blue Sea. *smirks* The whole floor-grills-dislodged-as-ravening-beast-pursues-defenseless-protagonists routine. Much amused by The Shining reference – Bruce wedges his head past a shattered submarine door and yells, “Here’s Brucie!” in a nod to Jack Nicholson’s infamous (and ad-libbed) “Here’s Johnny!” in The Shining. ; )

Crush and His Whole Surfer Dude ‘tude

“Kill motor, dude.”

On Marlin and the jellyfish: “You got serious thrill issues. *pause* Awesome.”

The Nemo fansite described Deb and Flo (a black and white humbug and her reflection) best:

“Probably a Gemini at heart, Deb and her identical twin sister, Flo, are like two peas in a pod. They do everything together: swim, laugh, share secrets... They are a perfect match. And it’s for this reason that the rest of the tank gang does not have the heart to tell Deb that Flo is merely her reflection on the tank glass."

Occurred to me that “Deb and Flo” is phonetically similar to “Ebb and Flow”. Sea puns, anyone? ; ) *eyes dreamcatcher warily*

Squirt and Nemo are voiced by children. Crush, Squirt's dad, is voiced by the Finding Nemo director, Andrew Stanton. And Anchor, one of the sharks is voiced by none other than Eric Bana. Yes, the Incredible Hulk. ^_^

I adored this show. But I suppose you can tell. ; )

2003-07-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

These quizzes from the Professor!

You represent... hope.
You're quite a daydreamer and can be a hopeless
romantic. You enjoy being creative and don't
mind being alone at times. You have goals, and
know what you want in life... even if they are
a little far fetched.

What feeling do you represent?
brought to you by Quizilla

Take the Spirit Quiz and visit Castle Diqueria.

2003-07-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome back, goldfish and cait!

*cheers*

2003-07-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

Last thing I cooked - sausages. And I fried them with sugar. It's a trick I learnt from Serry. ^_^ I was rather startled when I heard of it, as you probably are, but I tried them and they are good! ^_^ Only I tend to put a little too much sugar for a little too long, and it looks like a sugar-coated sausage lollipop - but I will try! *puts on best earnest smile*

I conclude that Serry still does it better.

I believe I'll be going to the UK. Shall now have to refuse NUS. I actually want to turn up for the first two weeks of school, but my mom thinks it's a bad idea. She thinks I'd be better off staying at home, cause those weeks are gonna be a waste of time. Seeing as how most of it is going to be orientation, I kind of think she's right.

But then I think of how horrifically my mind has atrophied since the End of the A-Levels, and I rather think I need the work. My concentration span for Things I Have to Do is absolutely abysmal.

My mom was just saying today that my apartment in the UK is gonna be tiny! (Student hostel, what can I expect? ;) ) So she says that I should get practice in sleeping in small quarters - by sleeping in my bathroom.

Went out with my aunt, mom and brother to Orchard today. Had slipper lobster (really tiny crayfish) in tomato cream sauce linguine. I wish I could cook crayfish that well ;) My mom tells me it's practice, but I have the sinking feeling that my practice will involve an awful lot of wasted food. *hides behind the garbage disposal* A Cool Station's opened in Takashimaya. It's selling Rose Bubble Tea. *laughter* And Blueberry Ice. ;)

I Think the Information Below Is Useless.

As you may have heard, the $1.99 shops have gone bankrupt. The Watsons in Takashimaya is now considerably expanded.

2003-07-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

Where I prove that not only do I get onto bandwagons late, but also that I cannot even ascend said bandwagon well. Am currently sitting on the step that leads to this particular bandwagon.

In other words, I’ve bought The Sandman Companion, by Hy Bender. (Lateness of my step up the bandwagon is proved by the date this book was published, which was in 1999. Still, it’s all new to me.) Which states that it features “In-depth interviews with Sandman writer/creator Neil Gaiman".

It does more than that, really. Bender’s writing what is an excellent introduction to the Sandman series. (Well, if you like your introductions with all the spoilers in. Which I do, as I like to know how everything ends.) He prefaces the interviews with a summary of the events in the particular book, follows with an analysis of the elements and plot developments in the story, and ends with the interview with Gaiman himself. This is interspersed with interviews with the artists who drew for that particular installment, or extracts which expound on the themes (oh, how my Literature teachers hated that word) and references in the series. (Like a really interesting cookbook. Oh no. Now you know what else I read.)

One thing I really like about Bender is – wait, there’s more than one. His obvious passion for the Sandman series comes across very clearly. Another is the detailed research he puts into his interviews. You don’t get stock questions like, “So, when did you start writing?” You get questions that show that this man has really been looking into everything Gaiman’s done so far, everything that’s been said about Gaiman, and best of all, Bender’s been looking into Gaiman’s influences. Bender knows what he’s talking about.

He asks questions such as, “Is it true that Season of Mists almost didn’t happen because someone else had independently come up with a similar idea?”, “What went into Lucifer’s appearance?” and “Right after the various siblings arrive, though, something unique in the series occurs – you break the action to provide six short text essays. What led you to do that?” Incisive questions. (For an utter newbie like myself.)

And what’s better is that Gaiman himself is as involved as his interviewer. Gaiman offers insights on his work, anecdotes on what inspired him – he’s amazing. Even if you let his work alone speak for him.

Oh, and there’s a sixteen-page color section. Glossy. Cover art for the original version of Sandman, insets of the Endless for the trading card set, and a rejected version of the trading card Desire. (Personally, I think the Book of Sandman Quotes had better selections of color art, but The Sandman Companion has some excellent choices of black-and-white art, including concept sketches of the Endless.)

I would like to say that I like the Ramadan version of Dream quite a bit better than the versions.

I would also like to respectfully disagree with Mr. Gaiman when he says that “Dream is the least introspective character I’ve ever written.” (Then again, I view angst as introspective. And Dream’s the one who spends days and days angsting on his balcony, in the rain he creates, over his lover, who left him. As Mervyn Pumpkinhead says, “he’s gotta be the tragic figure standing out in the rain, mournin’ the loss of his beloved… In the meantime, everybody gets dreams fulla existential angst and wakes up feeling like hell.”

Oh, and speaking of Merv:

Heresy Approaching. Sandman Art Lovers Beware.

I’ve never much cared for the Sandman art I’ve seen so far. I’ve loved the ideas. But the art was usually a major detraction. I favour idealized art (which I know is not intellectually correct. I’m supposed to go for groundbreaking concept art, stark and existential. No, wait, I’m supposed to support every form of art there is. [No sarcasm intended. I simply feel that that’s the way we’re supposed to react to works of art nowadays, sophisticated consumers that we’re intended to be. I’m not quite there yet, and I don’t expect to get there anytime soon, if at all.]). I favour conventional art forms. And I love colour. I love illustrated men and women who are beautiful. I go for landscapes and architecture and – I’m more an Impressionist than a Cubist, in my tastes. (Yes, I know, I can find all that in Sandman, but what I saw, for most part, wasn’t that.)

*is stoned by legions of Sandman fans*

The art was more of a barrier than a bridge to Gaiman’s work, for me. I have a better feel for concepts. Gaiman, give me your words. They are more than enough for me to create a vision of your worlds. (And he wrote Sandman in concept. Other artists [with a lot of his help] drew the pictures.)

I devoured this book with more enjoyment than with which I’d read his comics. I respond better to ideas than to images. I know for a certainty that I would (rather childishly) have disliked Merv the Pumpkinhead on sight, if I’d seen the art. But my first encounter with him was through the words he spoke, the words that Gaiman wrote for him. And I liked him upon hearing what he had to say about Dream and existential angst. It was only later that I saw what Merv looked like, and I was grateful that I’d seen what he was before I saw what he looked like.

(Please tell me Gilbert looks better than Merv. I like him very much in concept. Gilbert is actually Fiddler’s Green – a place, rather than a person (this paraphrased. Bender said it better.) – he sounds beautiful as a land (“an especially lovely and peaceful stretch of trees, mountains, springs, meadows and green glades” - sounds better than quite a bit of the Dreaming), and beautiful as a personality. I know when I fell for him – when he said, “I remember when I was a young vinicity”.

(Also, *tears* over what happened to Gilbert.)

Also, there were times when I could barely make out the words due to the font in which they were printed. I know this probably doesn’t count for my reluctance to really get into something as wonderful as the Sandman series, but I find my enthusiasm for anything rather tempered when I’m struggling to make out what it’s even saying.

My take on Orpheus and Eurydice

Slightly Controversial Opinion (In my opinion):

I’ve always felt Orpheus was rather silly, really, and reading Gaiman’s portrayal of him has only reinforced my (mis)perception. I agree with what Destruction says about Orpheus being more in love with the idea of his dead love than he “ever was with the girl herself”. My agreement probably due to perverse reasons of my own (I also believe that Romeo and Juliet’s love would never have survived, even if they had). I find it hard to see Orpheus as anything more than an excessively angsty, moody teenager.

Though I’m extremely interested in acquiring “Fables and Reflections”. Why?

1. Werewolf Tale. (Honestly reminded me of Faol. I have Ratal on the brain.)
2. Robespierre. And Orpheus’ singing head. I have to see his song. Read, I mean.
3. I want to see what’s so beautiful about Ramadan, which is apparently the most popular of the Sandman stories. I saw some of the art – it’s lovely. The minarets of Baghdad – just as intricate as St. Peter’s Basilica. And that (I suspect it’s just that particular panel) in black-and-white. But the story doesn’t hook me all that well, so far, except for the ending. But that one’s a real kicker.
4. Two words. The Chibi Endless. Waiiiiii… And the description of Dream tripping over his own robes and Death attempting to restrain her giggles – priceless. And there are two pages of this?!

2003-06-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

Last I was online was 9pm Friday night, two nights ago. *whistles* In these weeks, I've never spent so much time away from my computer.

Reasons abound, first of which being my brother's return from Australia on Friday night. *happiness* Played the usual game of "Who Sees Him First" at the airport. As usual, Mom won. I've only won once. Mom's won all the other times. *weeps* Guess I'll have to wait for his next return to try my luck again.

Second reason being my Australian aunt's arrival. She's staying over at my place for the time she's here, which means I'm sharing a room with her. She bought me a lovely trivia book which I feel I won't be able to put down for quite a while. Book quotes Nietzsche and Homer Simpson. *amused*

Also:

Welcome back, Anya!

*throws a celebration*

Went out for a walk with both my brothers this evening, after dinner. Came back realizing that it is brothers who do the most to add to your I Really, Really Didn't Need to Know That List.

Also came back from walk laughing harder than I'd been in days.

Also, I've found a Dark Elven Dictionary. ^_^ I like their Dark Elven Phrases. With proverbs like "All trust is foolish", "The best knife is the unseen one", "Do as you are ordered, and live", as well as several rather simple, but elegant curses - what's not to like? ^_^

(Although I do have doubts about one of the Dark Elven curses so closely resembling a rather common human vulgarity.) [Then again, that robot in Unreal 2 cursed like this, too... *weeps at the end of that robot*]

2003-06-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 24th June 2003

Awoke shamefully late, thanks to Sentosa trip the day before. Finally collected my A-Level result certificate! After some wrangling with the Umbridge-like clerk in the school office. Apparently you need your IC and the card they send you to tell you to get the results. *makes face at the pointless Evil that is Bureaucracy*

Went to the library to get more books. *beams*

Wednesday, 25th June 2003

More driving! Have the sinking feeling that the more I drive - well, put it this way. The more bad habits I lose/ the better at certain skills I become (i.e. learning to change gears without losing it on the steering wheel), the worse I become at other aspects of driving (such as forgetting to take my foot off the accelerator when changing gears). *thwaps*

You need to take your foot off the accelerator before you change gears (you have to do this while depressing the clutch allthewayyy. But when you want to release the clutch, you need to step on the accelerator at the same time, so that the transition won't be jerky.) Wah. Cannot think. Wah. *buries head in hands*

Thursday, 26th June 2003

Went out for lunch with Mom and bro. First in ages I've eaten at Pizza Hut. Then went to Robinsons with Mom. They're having a sale. I spent a long time staring at orange-and-lime patterned chinaware and a hyacinth-print set of crockery. I feel... Domestic. *startled*

Also saw a pestle and a rack for jars. Jars included.

Made seafood cream linguine for dinner. *weeps* It tasted so much of seafood. *hides in garbage disposal* But my family seemed to think it was fine. *continues weeping*

Cleaned squid. So much ink. All over the sink. Even in their eyes.

I have difficulty synchronising pasta-making and sauce-making. I'd attend to one and leave the other. Need practice.

The next thing I make will be mushroom pasta. Or a bacon carbonara-esque pasta. No seafood until next week.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is on now! ^_^

In the Sorting Hat scene, everyone looked so innocent! So young and so immensely sweet. Even Draco Malfoy. First thought on seeing Malfoy? *eyes widen* He looks too good to be Malfoy!

I remember my first look at Daniel Radcliffe as Harry. I thought then, and I still do now: This boy is perfect. I never had an idea in my mind of how Harry should look like, but one look at Radcliffe and I knew - He is it. This is the Boy Who Lived.

Also Hermione is something like four times better-looking than she's described in the book. Where are the buck teeth, for one thing?

Oliver Wood talks like Pippin. It must be the Scottish accent.

Snape. Snape. Snape. *collapses*

I love his voice...

Bro asked me why Hogwarts has Dungeons. Made Freudian slip. Intended to say, "The Dungeons is where they have Potions", but said, "The Dungeons is where they have Professor -"

Interesting Quizzes from Anya!

What color are you? (Anime Pictures)
brought to you by Quizilla

What rating is your journal?
brought to you by Quizilla

You like fluffiness and romance. You don't want to
see your characters unhappy (even if they
aren't ACTUALLY yours...you remembered that
disclaimer, didn't you?). You don't care what
the pairing is, so long as the fic's two
central character ride off into the
metaphorical sunset together. Your stories are
often full of huggles, kisses, and annoyingly
sweet baby talk. Sometimes, they're
unrealistically romantic. That's just fine with
your readers, though; your stories, with their
cavity-inducing sweetness, are more addictive
than heroin. In fact, you're probably a really
good writer and have got a rather large
following.

What Kind of Fanfiction Writer Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I was angst the last I took this quiz!

You're Blaise Zabini! You're hardly noticeable.
In fact, some people aren't even sure of your
gender. But no worries, it's all part of the
plan. Nobody ever suspects the quiet boy next
door until it's too late.

Which Slytherin are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

2003-06-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

Had fourth driving lesson today. Got my Provisional Driving License! To own shock, instructor said I was ready for the road. And off I went.

I vote those darn birds as more unnerving than the Weaving Motorcyclists, Sudden Overtakers and Vans Who Go Against the Traffic Lights. Yes, those birds - mynahs, ravens - who wander out in the middle of the road when I'm driving. My mood then can best be described as: !!!

Instructor noticed and reassured me that said birds are very smart. And will fly away when the car approaches.

(Somehow that makes me sound six.)

Then went out for lunch with Mom, bro, grandparents, and Legolas Fancier. Crystal Jade in Taka! LF and I went for the fried ice cream as dessert. Bro deplored our teamwork in chasing the ice cream all around its plate.

I think it was chempedak ice cream.

Then off to Dhoby Gaut to meet KT, NG and HY! My first ride on the NorthEast line, to HarborFront! Then to a Sentosa bus, and off to Sentosa!

Spent a great deal of time in Siloso beach. Attempted to skip stones and went shell-hunting with HY and NG. HY finds the most amazing shells - a perfect set of the tiniest translucent pink shells, like butterfly wings (they were still attached at the hinge). And whelks. HY can find whelks in Sentosa. *whistles* KT immersed self and I soon followed. Ended up swimming in clothes. Startling how the water near the lagoon floor can be so cold simply because it's out of the sun.

Then KT and I went off to bike, while HY and NG went round and round (and round) Sentosa on the monorail. After said bike ride, KT and I went on the Beach Train. Ride to nowhere, essentially ^_^ Both of us were immensely pleased by the fact that we managed to get the last compartment on the train. Gives you an unhindered view of the road behind (sort of. There are the guard rails). And then we changed compartments when the train was moving. By walking on the step that runs along the side of the vehicle. Bad. Do not care. ^_^ Fun.

(Those last three sentences(Ha) sound so much like Crazy Monkey. It's a MTV Program that I think is meant to be a Jackass parody. Sample "stunts":

1. Running with scissors outside the house.

2. "Jumping on my bed when my stepdad's downstairs".

3. Prank Phone Call. Wait. Which goes along the lines of:

Prank Caller: "Can I have two teaspoons of pork, please?"

Prank Callee: "Two teaspoons of pork? I'm sorry, you have the wrong number."

Prank Caller: "Oh, I see. Thank you."

*Prank Caller puts down the telephone*

Yes. How incredibly dire. )

Met up with our monorail enthusiasts at Palawan Beach. Which makes me think of Padawan. Which makes me think Star Wars.

Totally Boring You-Didn't-Need-to-Know-This, But I Found It Really Amusing Warning

Bought a Lemon Cheesecake slice at the 7-11. It was really good! Had the graham cracker base and all ^_^ Cheesecake also came in Tiramisu, Mango, Passionfruit, Vanilla and Chocolate flavours. I remember. I had a tough time deciding. ^_^

Then we went around the island. It's lovely by night! Especially the Fountain Gardens, when they're all lit up! Saw the laser-eyed Merlion. (It's eyes emit laser beams.) It sounds tacky when I describe it like this, but to see it from a monorail in the dark, and when you're looking right up at him - that's *hides* pretty impressive, really.

And then it was the bus-MRT journey back to civilisation. It was 8pm when we left Sentosa. *laughter* Had lunch at 9pm, in Plaza Singapura. Yoshinuya. ^_^ And now I've learnt to ask for more salad cream. ^_^

2003-06-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

Went to the zoo today, with Mom, bro, Legolas Fancier, and Non-Legolas Fancier. NLF is a pretty good kid, really. Doesn't make much fuss. Much better than I was, as a child.

Did not eat breakfast, so had it at KFC. Just as well, cause there Mom ran into a colleague who told her that all healthcare workers going to the Zoo, the Birdpark, and Night Safari go free, where their party members get half price. That's til September. ^_^

The zoo's been renovated, so it all looks good. The entire front entrance has been revamped. No more squawking macaws or algae-filled pond. Just a fountain, and a new coffee joint next to the KFC. The whole look is very Balinese. Open air, space, and wood.

I believe that the zookeepers try extra hard on Sundays. Never have I seen so many animals as on today. And for the first time in years the chicks were free for handling. Was quite worried about the chicks, seeing as they were being held by kids whose attention span seemed to be some five seconds, at best.

The new elephant enclosure is up! It has an elephant hide. You can climb up and look around. ^_^

2003-06-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

*glomps Claire*

(So yes, this is a For Claire post)

Quote, "Ohyeah, Angelus and Chris -- Alan Rickman is quite alluring in an old kind way. uh. i meant it as a compliment."

*goes off in a delighted daze*

Claire used alluring as an adjective as regards Alan Rickman!

*happy happy happy*

And your comments box and I have an eternal war - entirely one-sided, I maintain it started it, and that I am innocent! - here's where I reply to your posts:

I completely identify with your thoughts about Dr. Jekyll and Miss Hyde. ^_^ I have evil thoughts myself, too. And sometimes am utterly ashamed of them. But I suppose that's what civilization is - it's about hiding the savagery and cruelty that lies underneath us all. It's about finding a safe way to express whatever horror is within our psyches. And most of all, it's about not hurting people. I guess I get out of my evil thoughts by considering what I'd feel like if I was the person being thought of in such an awful manner. Usually wakes me up. I don't think any of us can avoid having malicious thoughts about other people. Especially for the people you already dislike. True, some of them do earn that dislike, but still. I guess I've no courage to be evil, even if I wanted to. I don't like hurting people.

I like your idea of "or would we rejoice in the fact that we are all hypocrites under 1 sky?". I'd never thought of it that way, but that outcome is certainly comforting. *smiles* I lean towards horror, myself, but the alternative you present is rather appealing.

It was great having Ratal and our friends over! And you both times! *hugs you* Thank you for that lovely Two Towers calendar! *smiles*

*smiles* We watched the Making of Harry Potter during the Ratal gathering, not with Ailin and Huileng. I would have been murdered for showing Harry Potter then...

You don't like LOTR anymore? *cries*

But - you're listening to "In Demand"!

*glomps you again*

2003-06-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

This songset would not have been possible without nixxie_, Uruviel's Argonath and the galleries at War of the Ring. And of course, this would never have come into being without arwen_elvenfair, whose songsets and icons are, as ever, an inspiration.

Brought on by watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer's "Once More With Feeling". (Yes, where I am, we get it this late.)

This songset is Giles' "Standing in the Way". For Elrond and Arwen.

1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8.

9. 10. 11.

12. 13. 14. 15.

16. 17. 18.

19. 20.

21. 22. 23. 24.

25. 26. 26a. 27.

28. 28a. 29.

2003-06-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

Went driving again this morning. Since it was a Saturday, the circuit was unseasonably crowded. Discovered to my horror that am not good in the presence of many other vehicles. I start to panic, if subconsciously. And there were... cars to the left of me, 'cycles to the right...

*laughter* Right in line with my first driving lesson, which began in the rain.

Just am thankful that the second driving lesson occurred on a relatively quiet morning.

Achievement! Only stalled the car twice today! *laughter* Though demonstrated a shameful level of anxiety on the road, and an equally painful lack of coordination.

Went to Great World City to watch the Matrix Reloaded on IMAX. Dad and Mom hadn't seen it. and Dad had been talking incessantly about it ^_^ It was wonderful seeing Agent Smith again! ^_^

In my opinion, however, IMAX only makes the digital scenes more impressive, such as the scrolling code shots. For most part, it was just like a big movie screen. Oh, and the fact that you get to see the uncensored version, which is only more of Neo and Trinity than you'd ever care to see. Than I'd ever care to see, that is. You're not missing anything if you don't see the full version. Unless you'd care to see Keanu and Carrie-Ann in the buff. *winces* Me, I'd rather not.

Had dinner at Great World City, then came home. En route to parking lot, heard kids outside the pet shop. Very disturbing. They were looking at a window-ful of rabbits and hamsters, and I distinctly heard one of the kids demand, "Who said they were poisonous?"

Did he mean poisonous hamsters? Strangely, that thought amused me to no end.

Biggest Irony of Day

The car park signs read "Exit: Zion Road".

Repeatedly.

Welcome Back, Harry!

Spent a delightful 9 3/4 - 9 = 3/4 of an hour today at Borders, evilly scanning Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to find out Who Bought It. I didn't think I'd be so delighted to see the book, but I was. My idea of an excellent book is one that you fall into the instant you pick it up and turn the pages, where the story builds up around you and draws you in. That's what a good book is, for me. And after a time, you become so engrossed that you just keep on reading. That's why the fantasy section at Borders is such a minefield for me! *laughter* I go there, look at one book, read it, then catch sight of another, which looks equally interesting, and then as I bring myself to put it down, I glimpse yet another. *laughter*

For anyone who's interested, the book's available in Borders in all three covers. And it's sold at what MPH calls the "pre-order price". So there was no need to pre-order. Did not bother, in any case.

I have Spoilers! If anyone'd care to know, just let me know ^_^

2003-06-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

Second driving lesson today! (Or rather, as I write, yesterday.) Made the circuit at last! Somehow managed to clock up 65km by simply driving round and round for a hundred minutes.

Met mom, bro and grandparents for lunch at Jack's Place. It's been ages since I was there! Tried the kiwi fruit juice, which was... Like drinking jam. Seriously. Also, restaurant was so busy that it ran out of glasses. I've never had that happen to me before. *eyes widen*

Then off to the Ang Mo Kio library. ^_^

After a short spell at home, went back to the driving centre for the Final Theory Revision. Very strange. Instructor would not let me take notes. As am compulsive note-taker, you can guess what this meant to me... *laughter* Halfway through the lesson, I was falling asleep (notes are a fantastic way of keeping you awake). And hearing Weird Al Yankovic's rendition of "American Pie" in my head. Is probably a bad idea to read Star Wars fanfic in the early morning. Still, the sleepy spell passed. Much relieved.

Oh, and if anyone reads this: Borders will be having a 20% discount on books and VCDs today. Celebrating Harry Potter! *beams*

And, at time of writing, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be released in three and half hours' time! What's three hours to three years? *laughter*

Still, Borders will be open at 6am today. *smiles*

take the "How Angsty Are You Quiz" @ undead friday.

2003-06-19T08:12:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, June 18th, 2003

After the Ratal Stayover, went to join JN, XJ, HY, NG, KT and WB for karaoke. At Delphi. Was mildly horrified to discover that I remember 90% of the lyrics to that... that... Ah Niu song. Yes, that one whose English title is "The Girl At the Opposite Block Looks This Way". But it's such a bouncy, chirpy song!

And Robbie Williams' "Eternity" is a very good Ratal fandom song for my OTP. *evil grin* Another of his songs - "Let Love Be Your Energy" - is a lovely song for One inTeresting Pairing that I, in all likelihood, will never write.

Ate my dinner in the karaoke room. (Shhhh.) Balancing a plastic sushi carton, with soya sauce, on my knees.

I had no idea that "One Night In Beijing" was sung at such a high pitch. Also did not know that it was sung in such a dramatic fashion.

HY and WB ended up ... Suffice to say it involved a so-yellow-it's-chirpy star cushion. Was very much amused. (That is quite sad.)They forcing poor JN to move. Else she was trapped in the midst of their mock-acrimonious exchange.

After which, we left for Scott's Picnic. Sat and watched everyone have dinner, as had eaten already. HY lent me her copy of Charles' Dickens' "Hard Times". Will probably make one attempt at reading it and then give up ^_^ I remember mauling it in Practical Criticism.

Wednesday, 19th June, 2003

Spent most of day clearing up my sleep debt, as dreamcatcher calls it. ^_^

Watched the later half of "Once More With Feeling", as Mom fortituously changed the channel. *beams*

Then went off to doom self.

Have a good trip, Mae! We'll miss you! *cries*

Take lots of pictures! *evil grin* Photograph all those immensely cute guys I hadn't the guts to look at for very long (am terrified of people noticing me looking at them. Strangely enough, most of the people I look at tend to notice it sooner or later).

2003-06-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

2003-06-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

Doom.

There. I've done it. I've said yes to NUS.

2003-06-18T00:27:00.000-07:00

I feel Loved.

There is definitely something to be said about hugs. *beams*

Tuesday, 17th January, 2003

Why Did It Have To Rain On Me?
(Not That I Minded)

Had my first driving lesson this morning. Woke up at 7.30am. (A complete break from the normal Wake Up Near Noon habits.) And it began to rain on my way to the driving centre, and did not stop raining throughout my entire lesson. First time being Useful (Though not very) in the driving seat! There's something to be said about practicals. In the lessons, I can never remember (when I read the book) about where the clutch, break and accelerator are. But somehow, once I was in the car and had to learn them - I knew them.

But heavens, there are so many steps to starting a manual car like that one! Ignition, handbrake, shifting gears, clutch, brake... And we learn on manual cars, which means we have to depress the clutch, start the ignition, then release the clutch until the car comes to the "biting point" - which means it begins vibrating. (I am very bad at sensing this biting point.) And then you take your foot off the brake (that is, it was on the brake allll the while) - and then you move.

And then there was starting the car, stopping the car, reversing, moving forward, turning, the headlights, the high beam, the windscreen wipers, adjusting the steering wheel...

Went home, and then out again for the Ratal Gathering. Sallied forth to meet a half-elf, a werewolf, an elf, and a half-orc at Toa Payoh MRT station. *much amused* Was delighted to learn that an elf I'd never seen before would be joining us! *beams* ^_^

The Professor and I went to the Toa Payoh Library in search of an Alan Rickman tape. Was thwarted by our Library's singularly Byzantine and wholly perverse classification system, which claims that our tape was "For Reference" when in fact it was not available at all, due to the fact that the Toa Payoh Library has no Reference section! This despite the fact that the tape is listed as being at said Library's Reference Section!

Met Hyanda at last! *beams* A revelation, to say the least! ^_^

Came back to my place, where we played Cluedo. With X-Men figurines from Elear's X-Men Monopoly set. Was extremely out of it. (And Dae won again. And Mrs. White was guilty again. *takes notes and wonders if should take bets the next time*) Then got out mahjong paper and began a massive Ratal Mural. *beams* Serry, Hyanda, Isilme and Elear did beautiful art! Faol did an AR/Snape sketch! *beams* And Dae... Dae... Well, just... >.O Is all I have to say. As is not artist, calligraphed the Ratalien names. And began a singularly amusing exchange with Dae on mahjong paper.

Random Vegetables Gracing the Ratal Mural: Eggplants, carrots, watermelons, mushrooms.

Random Plant that is Not A Vegetable On the Ratal Mural: Toadstool.

Levizt came over too! *delight* Ratal is as complete as it is as likely to be! Save for Laire and Illiriel.

Went up to watch the WarCraft 3 cinematics after dinner (and requisite sofa session). Beautiful. ^_^ My favourite: Naturally, Arthas' Betrayal, and Eternity's End. (Latter is sad to me, somehow.)

Made cream of chicken soup for our Ratalien Hobbit. ^_^ Also had several spates of photo-taking. Again, I dread to think of the blackmail material Elear has accumulated.

Watched Dogma and Dragonheart, thanks to the Professor! *smiles happily at the Professor* Thank you! *delight* Dogma was lovely! Jay reminded Elear and I of... Legolas. Silent Bob reminded me of Gimli. *whistles innocently* And of course: The Metatron! Alan Rickman! Adored his voice! And the whole attitude!

And Dragonheart - *evil evil grin* Lucius Malfoy with his pants down. How much better can it get?

So we get Snape and Lucius with their pants down. *is so evil*

Our Ratalien Hobbit is most definitely Silien.

As for Dragonheart... *melts* Had so many bad ideas while watching the film. Suffice to say that dialogue always, always drives me off into the deep end. ^______^

Then I discovered I was not alone.

*throws a celebration of unprecedented proportions*

Went up to room - and actually managed to sleep! *deep surprise* Though not before watching the Making of LOTR and Wolf's Rain.

Woke at 10am ^_^ But Isilme had to go at 11! *tears*

Made chocolate chip pancakes. (Ratalien Stayover Staple, it seems!) Also, Serry makes absolutely fabulous sausages! Have never had sausages with sugar before, but Sery makes them taste incredible! ^_^ Also had mushrooms - yet another Ratal Stayover Staple. ^_^ Elear made a Mickey Mouse pancake. And then a Clownfish pancake. *amused* Sent me off singing something that involved "M-I-C-K-E-Y".

*has now frightened off everyone reading this*

Once again, a huge thank you to the Professor for that lovely Alan Rickman poetry reading. *beams* I loved hearing him sing "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore".

Oh. And hugs are really, really good.

*goes off in a delighted daze*

2003-06-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

Just cut bro's birthday cake. *laughter* He asked, "Why does your own birthday cake always taste better?" All of us spent some time hiding from Dad's incessant camera action. Mom hid behind unused plate. *envies Mom's quick wits in snatching plate up*

Much hysterical laughter later as we went to look at past holiday snapshots. Laughed especially hard at pictures where all of us looked bad. Quite a few pictures where I looked terrible, but they'll keep. Shall laugh at them when I get older.

Happy birthday to aingeal's Brownie, too! *beams*

Tales of Parental Pranks - Of my father, that is. Had dinner out, as it was bro's birthday. On observing a drumstick that bro had given to me sitting quietly in my clam pasta plate, my dad immediately began speculating on how it got there. He began with, "A chicken fell into a river, and was eaten by a clam. The clam was caught immediately, and..."

*slides off chair and under table* *stays hidden under table*

~Nerd~ You love fantasy. Chances are you are
involved in some kind of RPG, whether it be
Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer, or Online
Rpg's. You are very witty and your intelligence
attracts people to you. It's too bad most of
them arn't worthy of you, muaha! ^^;

What Type Of Girl Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

It must have been that Long Sword.

What NERV Child Are You?

What Anime Vampire Are You?

What Anime Art Style Are You?

Book Worm Meter for AE

Shut In 71%

29% Out Of The House

Intellectual 95%

5% Moron

High Attention Span 95%

5% Low Attention Span

Bookitude 96%

4% Book Burner

Book Worm 89.25%

10.75% Bug Stomper

Take your bookworm readings.

Hello, Weird Quizzes!

What Anime Stereotype Are You?

What San-X Character Are You?

Don't ask. I don't know.

*inches away from that unnaturally genki-coloured creature*

2003-06-16T03:10:00.000-07:00

Bro's birthday today! Gave him his birthday present last night. An extremely hinted-for present. *mutters something about all the subtletly of a jackhammer*

Went to watch "How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days" with Risa. SW couldn't make it :( I hope your grandmother's all right?

Movie was immensely fun. Spent quite a bit of time trying to hide my face. Yes, it was one of those incredibly wince-eable comedies. Wincy bits (My heavens. What am I saying...) chiefly consisted of Girl trying to make Guy drop her by committing all the supposedly "feminine" dating mistakes. Was personally much horrified by the name-calling. One does not call a man "Muffin" within earshot of his entire workplace. Said woman also named his... ahem... "Princess Sophia". All in the name of annoying him away - to write a magazine article.

Hit Kinokuniya with Risa right after. *beams* Said store is offering a 20% discount on items - if you bring the coupon they print in the papers. Bought Patricia A. McKillip's "The Book of Atrix Wolfe". I adore her descriptive skills. I'd buy the book on the strength of those skills alone. Such as:

"He had seen Pelucir in fairer days, when the massive, bulky castle stood surrounded by flowering fields, the slow river running under its bridge reflecting such green that drinking it would be drinking summer itself."

*smiles*

Had a long and essential discussion on what to tell NUS, and what to tell the UK.

I hate decisions like these. I honestly do. I want to go, and I want to stay.

Well, better get self sorted out before the 20th of June.

2003-06-15T06:42:00.000-07:00

Sleepy once again. *laughter* Slept at 4am ~~last night~~ this morning, which may be part of the problem. Was up at 9am to give Dad his Father's Day presents. *smile* Then... trooped off to kitchen for first Horrific Food Experiment of Day. Made Fruit Batter Fritters. Note to self: Blueberries usually end up falling off. Also they end up very fried.

Off to more theory lessons after lunch. A long break really destroys your attention span. Mine's better than it used to be, but not by much. Attended 200 minutes of lessons, which means I was in the same classroom from 12.45pm to 4.20pm. With one wander out of class during the break. By 3.15pm my mind was having trouble staying where it was. *laughter* Spent my Mind is Not Here moments making several laughable attempts to create character names. Definitely not my forte. *makes face*

Came back home - with a detour. Went off to the supermarket to buy More Food. Had evil plan to cook steak and potato fritters with cheese. *beams* Could not have done it without bro and maid's help. ^_^ Am vaguely proud to say that I did the steak all by myself.

What I Put in the Marinade

Mustard, dark soya sauce, sugar, sesame oil, rosemary (the scent of rosemary reminds me of my aunt's garden), basil, dill (I adore dill), light soya sauce. ^_^

Made enough potato fritters to not need rice for dinner. *slightly alarmed* Three large potatoes make an unconscionably large number of fritters.

Watched Pitch Black after dinner. Bro, I and maid watched it several years back. At the time, was deeply into Magic: The Gathering - bro and I watched the movie primarily because the monsters in it looked a great deal like Slivers. The Mercadian Masques expansion. I loved those cards.

And they're still using Slivers in 2003. *beams* I love unblockables.

Last Night (And Morning) Update

Went out for dinner last night, with the family. Restaurant had the best bread I'd ever tasted. Mom thought there were poppy seeds in it. (Which I thought was technically illegal, but which Mom says is fine as long as you get a permit to import it.) We had the most beautiful full moon last night. Utterly gorgeous.

(Which may explain why Faol was so extraordinarily frisky.)

The Professor sent me a lovely recording, last night - Rowan Atkinson's "A Warm Welcome". To Hell. Utterly hilarious.

Praise the Professor!

Ooh, Rowan Atkinson's middle name is Sebastian.

Also went to Borders, last night. Fantasy section is my personal... suffice to say that when I go there, I cannot keep my eyes off the books. As soon as I put one back, I spy another. And it goes on and on. ^_^

Saw Robin Leong there last night. Mom saw him first. As bro says - "Just an ordinary guy."

Also ran into Jonathan on the way to Borders. Rather, he saw me. When am thinking am extraordinarily unperceptive.

2003-06-14T02:21:00.000-07:00

I passed my Basic Theory Test!

Got the letter in the mail today. ^____^

Along with a second postcard from Sparrow, who is in the UK at the moment. *envies* That postcard took three days to reach me. Which is amazing, considering that Singapore Post takes 10 days, even if the material is for time-sensitive University Applications. *makes face*

Sparrow says that the UK is full of ironies. "Piccadilly Circus is not a circus, but a fountain. Covent Garden is not a garden. The bus-stops here are built backwards." Supposedly for to prevent water being splashed on unwary bus-waiters.

Feeling generally exhausted in the past two days. Mom thinks it's because I haven't been getting enough sleep. *Cue James Marsters' "Let Me Rest In Peace"*

Went out to the Marina Square/Suntec City area with Mom and bro today. Main motive was getting Dad's Father's Day present. I hereby nominate fathers the most difficult people to get presents for, next to teenage boys. It is so much easier to get presents for girls. I got Dad was presents in three different shades of blue. Light, Dark and Transparent.

Bro says Todd Lockwood's first art compiliation book will be out soon. "Transitions".

Am quite amazed by bro. He can kill off Tomb Creeper (Lut Gholein boss)at Level 76 while carrying on an involved conversation on D2 - Which characters have it easy starting off, which class gets easier the higher you go, and about how we both hate Lighting Enchanted-anything.

Goodbye, Gregory Peck. My mom and I watched "To Kill A Mockingbird" - and both agreed that at that age, he possessed a maturity that distinguished him. And, for my mom, Mockingbird's most memorable line was Scout's "I'm a ham."

Life! wrote:

"Like Stewart and Cooper, Peck on the silver screen radiated effortless decency, goodness and virtue. He did it with such dignified nobility that being good became awe-inspiring rather than blandly boring.

But in Peck's best roles, he confronted and fought the world's injustices with anguished heart, guided always by an unimpeachable sense of right.

That combination of patriarchal authority and impassioned morality glowed truest in the role that won Peck his sole Oscar for Best Actor out of five nominations: Atticus Finch in 1962's To Kill A Mockingbird.

His portrayal of the upright Southern lawyer who defends a black man accused of rape is such a shining beacon that the American Film Institute named Finch the greatest movie hero of all time early this month.

The man lived up to the title of the greatest movie hero of all time.

Off-tangent on reading material: My grandfather was always a step ahead of us in reading. When I was in Primary Two, he wanted me to read "To Kill A Mockingbird". Now my cousin (Legolas Fancier) is Primary Five, he wants her to read Jeffery Archer's short stories - "Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less".

2003-06-13T03:59:00.000-07:00

*falls off chair* Extremely tired. Had five hours of sleep last night - yes, own fault. Was up late, and then changed LJ style. Took a while, and before I knew it, it was 5am. Got up at 10.30am this morning - family outing. Grandparents, aunt, and two cousins. One the Legolas fancier, who is on to me for Elrond pictures. She wants to mutilate them the way she did the HP pictures. Where she gave Snape golden locks and pink ribbons.

Picked up aunt and the Non-Legolas fancier (who is six) - then went off to my grandparents' house. Made a puzzle with the Non-Legolas Fancier (heretofore known as NLF). She's much better at it than I am. Possibly because was staring at puzzle upside down, but still, she's better. Her parents are good at jigsaws, too. According to my grandmother, she's already helping with the 500- and 1000-piece puzzles. *falls off chair* In all likelihood, will never touch a 500 word jigsaw puzzle with any intent of fixing the thing. The one we were working on was fairly small - perhaps some 50 pieces. And - *shame* - I felt accomplished when I was done with it.

Off to school to pick up the Legolas Fancier, then to Seoul Garden. Twice in one week! *beams* Not that I mind! And this time, for once, they had twice the number of ice-cream flavours, and ice cream that one could actually get at with a minimum of ice-pick activity.

Then off to Kinokuniya. Was assigned to look after the kids. Legolas Fancier went, "Okay! I leave you with her!" and left me with NLF. Smart kid. Legolas Fancier, that is. Went off to the Kids' Section with NLF. Eventually took A.C. Grayling's latest book - Genius - as well as several other books on psychology, off to the Kids' Section. Genius basically an account of several literary greats and their work. Good for an introduction, I suppose - but I thought it was far too brief. That reading done between sporadic dashes after NLF, to ensure that she didn't get lost when she wandered off to look for books to read. Distressed that she is still reading Maisie.

Then to drop my grandparents off, and off to home with NLF and Legolas Fancier. Will never cease to be amazed by how easily children are amused. They spent a great deal of time enthusiastically de-fluffing my jacket. Told them that there would never be an end to it, but it didn't discourage them.

We ended up drawing in my bedroom. We always end up drawing in my bedroom. Usually their idea. It's just about the closest I come to making my own art (aside from layouts, which don't really count.) Never was an artist and never shall be. Did teach Legolas Fancier to draw steak, which doesn't count. She thinks I draw food well. *falls off chair* Realised today that Legolas Fancier (heretofore known as LF) knows what pointillism is. And she's in primary school. Also refers to Picasso as "Pablo".

Met the McDonalds' Toys Dory and the Glittery Squid. Dory emits whale echolocation when fin is depressed. (Why did McDonalds make its dories emit such sounds?) Also, Glittery Squid glows and functions like a super soaker. *IQ Level sinks*

Also painted both LF and NLF's nails, after permission was granted from their mother. Pink glittery polish. I had no idea children's nails were so very small. Yes, am ignorant much. LF also much amused by MAD magazine. Mom and bro got me the FOTR and TTT versions.

Bro came home and had a massive bolster-Iggy-Cushion-Tare Panda fight with LF and NLF. Much shrieking involved, though not on bro's part. Oh yes. And fight occurred in my bedroom. Bro said was not as bad as time that they cornered him in the living room and went at him with the sofa cushions. Poor boy.

Are kids this exhausting, or is it just me?

And it's Father's Day on Sunday, and I haven't got anything!

2003-06-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

Risa, Zorro's Hapless Victim, Claire, Huileng and Ailin came over today. ^_^

A huge thanks to Claire for the gorgeous Two Towers calendar! It's beautiful! She got it for me in Australia. *glomps Claire* *stares dreamily at calendar*

Made spaghetti. Second time I've tried this version. Was the same one I made when Sparrow was over, but this time on a larger scale. Thrice the scale.

*hides* Did not cook mushrooms as thoroughly as should have, but Risa said that they were all right - though could have done with finer slicing. *busily takes note*

Claire taught Huileng to play Diablo 2. *smiles*

Massive Spoilers for the Animatrix

Watched the Animatrix, which Zorro's Hapless Victim kindly gave me. *beams* Thank you! *huge grin* It was lovely! ^_^ There seemed to be an awful lot of cats in the Animatrix - said felines had promiment roles in two of the shorts. There were two shorts which did not make 80% sense:

Namely, the psychedelic "Let's Show Off Our Animating Skills!" (Risa's words - wish had thought of them) Matriculated. As Risa says - "Nice pun."

The entire Come Over to Us sequence had us going Huh? for most of it. The realisation only comes to you when you see the short in its entirety.

Also, the "What on Earth was the Ending all About?" World Record. Not so much that I/we did not know what was going on, but they don't give you a conclusion.

Very edgy art style. Involving story. But - What on earth happened? You know in the end that our world-record breaker managed, through the intensity of his determination and of his experience, to break through the barrier that keeps humans from being aware of their existence in the Matrix. But what happened to him after that? The agents took him down, but he was able to break free for the final moment of the short. And then... Nothing.

I liked the last short - "Kid's Story" - although it screamed Neo Fanboy! That plot was easy to comprehend, and the animation was good. I loved the shot of the ravens against the sky. The boy's fall reminded Risa and I of Icarus.

The two-parter short on the Renaissance was a lovely account of how the Matrix came to be. Though the animators are in love with dismembering people and machines alike.

Naturally, the Final Flight of the Osiris had beautiful animation - very much in the style of Final Fantasy. Visually spectacular. Though you already know the ending from the title.

I loved Program. Beautiful animation. That one was highly reminiscent of anime. And, as Risa said - very Chinese drama/gongfu serial. The colours were beautiful. Stark reds, grays, blacks and whites. And they did so much with so little colour.

Detective Story was another beautiful short. It was done in black and white, but had delightful animation. I especially liked the way they animated snow falling. Risa, Zorro's Hapless Victim and I all had the same thought - Layouts. *huge grin* I like the detective's cat. ^_^

This short featured Trinity directly, and I have to say that this portrayal of her is far more flattering than the one we see in the Matrix Reloaded.

Risa said that the main character reminded her very much of John Constantine. The whole cigarette-and-wisecrack in the face of death style. Oh, yes, and the trenchcoat.

Beyond reminded me of Hayao Miyazaki's work. It was the rounded edges! Said short was done by Koji Morimoto, though.

As usual, Risa sussed this out faster than I did. It's about what happens when code breaks down in a specific part of the Matrix. Reality Bends, specifically. It's about these kids who find the damaged code and what they do with it. (Risa's so much better at expressing it than I am. I can only take notes.) The kids were having amazing fun with the code. That's when the laws of reality break down. They were breaking bottles and reversing the shattering process (Yes, highly complicated way of saying Putting It Back Together with the Power of Their Minds), watching feathers turn into birds - like magic, in other words.

But of course, the Agents came in and Paved Paradise and Put Up A Parking Lot. Literally.

(Heavens, I didn't think of the literal meaning of the song until I wrote it down.)

That's why I like people to make comments while I'm watching shows. Because:

1. They make sense of parts of the show I don't understand.

2. They express my feelings/thoughts about the show better than I do.

3. I realize that I'm not the only one to feel the way I do.

4. Basically, I love funny comments when I'm watching shows.

So if you ever watch a movie/video/anime with me:

Talking is highly encouraged.

Though I know my view is hardly shared by all. Talking is highly discouraged/hated by quite a number of people, but for me - I welcome it. *beams*

Risa, Zorro's Hapless Victim and I all want to watch "How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days". When I first heard the show, I thought - "Oh jeez. Not another chick flick." But then I heard the plot synopsis, and found it interesting. Yes, it's still a chick flick. But it goes:

She is a columnist working for a newspaper, who must lose said guy in 10 days by committing all the "female mistakes" in a relationship - such as, being clingy, being overly affectionate - what have you. He has to win her over to win a business contract. His conspiring colleagues set them up, knowing that theirs is a romance doomed to fail. As Risa says, it's all about ulterior motives. Risa also says that the trailer has him saying, "I just love her!" (I have not seen trailer.) But it does sound fun. ^_^

I firmly believe fluff is good for you. *beams*

Then we trooped off to watch the Two Towers. Yes. The Engrish one. Zorro's Hapless Victim caught the first howler of a Spoiler - the Gandalf Falling to Shadow scene -

"Follow, you fools!"

*hysterical laughter*

Suffice to say it just got better. My version has several of the highly hilarious Engrish lines. It doesn't have Eomer's "Too Long Have I Wanted My Sister" line, but it does have "the strength of the ring barrel", "Fire advise goggle", "home of the ghost lords" (My personal fantasy favourite - it's just full of potential!), "this is old frog food", Gimli's "toast me" and Gimli's disturbingly distorted line about his @$$.

It was immensely fun! *huge grin*

Risa tells me that there's a Weird Al Yankovic version of NSync's "It's Gonna Be Me" - by Bush and Al Gore.

*hysterical laughter*

2003-06-11T06:54:00.000-07:00

Had a wonderful stayover at Dae's place! *delight* Thank you, Dae! ^___^

Watched several extremely entertaining cosplay, J-Rock, and Matrix XP videos, courtesy of Dae and Elear. Also saw... very interesting... LOTR art. Very pretty.

Watched the extended version of LOTR. *grin* Always fun. No matter how many times I watch it. (Yes, I've watched that movie 20 over times. Last count - 24. Oh. Make that 25.)

Made a Ratalien dinner! Three different kinds of Campbell's soup, sausages, Mae's omelettes - you take so much care with them! *grin* - Serry's sausages with sugar - pretty good! I know, I had that reaction too! But it was good! - as well as bread and alphabets. *happy grin*

Elear, I dread to think what your camera caught us up to.

Played Cluedo - first in my life! Said game thanks to the Professor. ^_^ Said game was rife with a great deal of innuendo, especially as regards the lead pipe and candlestick. *averts eyes* *smirks maliciously*

As cait said, the point of a sleepover is not to sleep. ^_^ Had an hour of sleep. *laughter* Spent most of the night singing with the Rataliens who were awake. ^_________^

Was given an extremely Dae-esque wake-up.

*eyes said Ratalien*

*curls up under blanket obstinately*

*muffled* Both the Es thank you for the blanket, Dae!

*mutter* But the wakeup, it could be improved.

*laughter*

Hunger eventually drove me to the kitchen ^_^ Where I made chocolate chip pancakes. Again. *laughter* And in a lovely accompaniment to breakfast, we watched Interview with the Vampire. Reminded me once again why Lestat and Louis are cool. *happiness* After which, proceeded to look through Dae's Vampire Chronicles books. *huge evil grin*

Serry... *cries* You're good. And it isn't just the art. It's the words, too.

*continues crying*

Keep drawing!

A huge thanks to aingeal for giving me the first manicure of my life! ^_^ Was more than happy to be your Third Guinea Pig! *squeaks obligingly* *giggles* My nails have never had, and never will have, in a year, as much attention as you gave them in the three and a half hours we had today. ^_^

And thank you to aingeal's parents for lunch and for taking me home! *huge grin* All the best for the exam! ^_^

2003-06-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

Woke up late for meeting today *weeps* Off to Orchard with Sway and Alex to watch Bruce Almighty! ^_^ Alex and I agreed that Jim Carrey is actually cute. Is just that he keeps making faces with that pretty face of his.

I confess I watched that show just to see Morgan Freeman as God. *cheers Morgan Freeman* He is so cool!

The conditions of Bruce acquiring Godhood were these:

1. Can't tell anyone he's God.

2. No tampering with free will.

My idea was that the movie was actually about learning to be happy with what you have. ^_^ Even if it is a (by others' standards) a mediocre life. Still. That mediocre life is what you make of it. And life's all about what works for us. Not about what works for the rest of the world.

Morgan Freeman as God: "Parting your tomato soup - that's a magic trick. But a single mother who holds two jobs and still finds time to see her child's soccer practice - that's a miracle. A kid who says no to drugs and yes to an education - that's a miracle."

*agrees adamantly*

Also, Lido has an aquarium set up to promote Finding Nemo. Said aquarium has no clown fish at all.

McDonalds also has static displays for Finding Nemo promotions, which, distressingly, are about fish caught up in nets. Looking quite dead. Hardly what Finding Nemo is all about.

Bro does not hold my views on Finding Nemo being a touching story about how the father clownfish goes through so much just to find his baby.

Went to Seoul Garden for lunch. Was there for an unbelievably long time. ^___^ And as always, when I hit SG, all I eat is beef and squid. Immensely unhealthy, yes. But as always, incredibly good. ^___^

Then from Takashimaya, we walked all the way to Fort Canning. Past the Somerset and Dhoby Gaut MRT stations.

Bought the Iced Chocolate Gelato at Dome. I miss the Dome at Orchard Library. That one had the most amazing cream of mushroom soup! :( And now it's replaced by that Gailieo Cafe that has a horrible salmon set. *makes face* Said horrible cafe is also at the National Library.

Sway had an interview at Cox Terrance, so the three of us climbed the Hill together. ^_^ Alex and I wandered about Fort Canning while the interview proceeded. There is an archaeological dig site at Fort Canning. It's been built up fairly well - with sturdy varnished wood planking and a well-lit and diagrammed display case for the artefacts they've unearthed. Pottery jars, glass bottles, glass beads, and the usual. Apparently, their glass beads were made by wrapping a thread of molten glass around a wire, then cutting the glass beads.

Sway led me to the music shop where I bought a Vertical Horizon CD! First time in my life - the Gramaphone staff recommended RadioHead - and the Music Junction staff recommended Coldplay. *laughter* Gramaphone didn't have it :( But MJ did! *beams*

Have disturbing habit of reading graffiti. Though I remember one I read in Melbourne:

"I'm not crazy. The walls just keep talking to me!"

Came back home to find parents watching The Mummy Returns. I would like to say:

Ardeth Bay (Leader of the Med-Jai) = Egypt's version of Aragorn.

Also, that I adore the lenses our modern cameras have. Right after that show, my parents flipped to "My Stepmother is An Alien" - yes, that show they've rerun countless times - and the difference was so marked. Our lenses and film now are so much brighter, the colours so much warmer.

Random Unrelated Comment: And those warm colours were why I liked Ally McBeal.

2003-06-09T07:42:00.000-07:00

I would like to say that I am:

Not a Legolas fan: You're not a Legolas fan, nor do
you want to be. You prefer the more mature,
experienced elf. Good for you.

What type of Legolas fangirl are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

*shrieks* Is that Elrond smiling?

Oh, and that quiz, it is fun, too. ^_^

2003-06-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

There are writing moods, there are I Want to Do Nothing moods, there are Making Icon moods, there are I Just Want to Sleep Moods, and there are I Want to Do Nothing But Take Quizzes Moods.

Yes, that's my mood right now. *unholy smile*

And this is the Randomness of Yesteryear (or rather, Day):

The Infinite Teen Slang Dictionary.

In a Distinctly Ratalien Direction

Run Serry's primary identities through this site. They are eerily appropriate.

Levizt, when run through the site, gives a result that makes me want to apologise to him for finding the site in the first place.

Dae, when run, gives a result that is strangely appropriate for RHS.

Do not. Not. Not. Run Eleris through this. I did.

Also, you might want to not run Daemonsson through it. It isn't as bad as Eleris', but well.

Danyel and Amarus, strangely enough, mean the same thing.

And if you mislike this completely elliptical approach, read on. I just didn't want to spoil it for those who wanted to see it firsthand.

Enough of this already! Give me what the Ratalien names meant!

So you want to see it already?

You asked for it...

serry
adj. more pleasant than usual.

kaimelar
v. to behave in an old manner.
"Boy, I really need to kaimelar."

erindele
n. a person without a friend or close acquaintance.
"So I was like 'erindele?', and Jesse was like 'yeah', I was like 'so?', and Frank was all you know, and they were so, like, yeah." "Er, what?"

dae
adj. likely to shout at school.
"I'm feeling dae tonight, Reggie."

levizt
adj. of an irritating nature.
"I wish my skateboard was levizt."

*apologises compulsively to Lev, who, IRL, is not like this at all*

elear
n. an old-school term for music.
"All your elear are belong to us, officer."

isilme
n. snacks belonging to a friend.
"Bud, can I hide some isilme?" "Sure you can, Sabrina."

silien
n. an exclamation of surprise.
"Silien!"

amarus
interj. an exclamation used in celebrating a victory.
"Amarus! I knew you couldn't dance with my female!"

danyel
interj. an exclamation used in celebrating a victory.
"Danyel! I knew you couldn't kiss my vehicle!"

hyanda
n. a person without a drink.
"Want to dance with that hyanda, boy?"

laire
v. to cheat on alco-pops.
"Brian, wanna laire?"

scara
n. 1. a small female. 2. an ostentatious mobile phone.
"This is a small scara!"

faol
adv. used in conjunction with another word as an intensifier.
"That family member is faol-irritating, old chap."

daemonsson
adj. addicted to ecstasy.
"That teacher is so daemonsson!"

And including Eleris would make my entry NC-17, so I shall not.

Also, this completely vindicates Those Who Kick Blogger. And this is what it is:

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers error '80004005'

[Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][TCP/IP Sockets]SQL Server does not exist or access denied.

//global.asa, line 15

I have never seen an error on the scale of that one. An online site-accessing error, that is. This error was true of Blogger for the past two days.

You excel at History of Magic. You seem to have
the mind for history, while everyone else is
getting a little shut-eye you're alert and
taking notes.

Which Class at Hogwarts Would You Excel at?
brought to you by Quizilla

Which Lord of the Rings Soundtrack theme are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

You are Chanel!

What (non drugstore) Makeup Brand Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

You are: KETCHUP! A good loyal friend with a
sense of humor.

---What fast food condiment are you?---
brought to you by Quizilla

Might as well up the randomness quotient of this post.

And here it is: The Poem whose best line (In my opinion) is "Where Are the Snows of Yesteryear. It is also it's most famous line. Which may be it.

I was first consciously aware of it when I read Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" - one of those plays I'd always heard about and had always wanted to know about. ^_^ That line was like that play was to me - likewise, I'd heard of it, but never knew more than its name. This poem, Ballard of the Ladies of Bygone Times, is by Francois Villion.

Tell me from where I could entice
Flora the famous Roman whore,
or Archipiada or Thaïs
who they say was just as fair;
or Echo answering everywhere
across stream and pool and mere,
whose beauty was like none before -
where are the snows of yesteryear?

Where is the learned Héloïse
for whose love Abelard became
a gelded monk at Saint-Denis,
yet still could not put out his flame?
And where now is that royal dame
who had men for three days with her
then had them cast into the Seine?
Where are the snows of yesteryear?

Queen Blanche who had a siren's voice,
white as a lily on the plain;
Big-Footed Bertha, by Heaven's choice
mother of great Charlemagne;
and Joan of Arc from proud Lorraine
the English burned from cruel fear -
where are they, where, O Mother of Men?
Where are the snows of yesteryear?

Don't ask,Prince, in one month again,
nor yet in twelve where they all are;
I'd only give you this refrain:
Where are the snows of yesteryear?

I found this poem here.

2003-06-07T04:29:00.000-07:00

Thank You, Serry!

^________________________________________________^

*glomps Serry and refuses to let go*

Went over to Serry's place for the Ratal gathering!

Lost all sense of time there. Turned out it was 9pm when I thought it was 7pm.

As of now, am functioning on 45 minutes sleep in 31 and a half hours. Somehow, I can't feel it.

Turned up in a certain outfit with a green-and-white striped tie. Did manage to attract attention of little girl at MRT station. She must be a HP fan. En route to Serry's place, a lady asked me if I was an exchange student. And if I was Japanese.

Watched Once More, With Feeling, which Faol so kindly taped. ^_^

1. There is material there which could make a Spike/Buffy 'shipper out of me.

2. What on earth am I saying?

3. Spike doesn't look so bad...

4. See (2).

5. There were some really good songs there. My favourite has to be Spike's. He sounded like a vampiric version of Creed, 3 Doors Down, or NIN. His song was Rest In Peace:

I died
So many years ago
You can make me feel
Like it isn't so
And why you come to be with me
I think I finally know

You're scared
Ashamed of what you feel
And you can't tell the ones you love
You know they couldn't deal
Whisper in a dead man's ear
It doesn't make it real
That's great

But I don't wanna play
'Cause being with you touches me
More than I can say
And since I’m only dead to you
I’m saying stay away and
Let me rest in peace

Let me rest in peace
Let me get some sleep
Let me take my love and bury it
In a hole six foot deep
I can lay my body down
But I can't find my sweet release
So let me rest in peace

You know,
You got a willing slave
You just love to play the thought
That you might misbehave
Till you do,
I'm telling you
Stop visiting my grave
Let me rest in peace

I know I should go
But I follow you like a man possessed
There's a traitor here beneath my breast
And it hurts me more than you've ever guessed
If my heart could beat, it would break my chest
but I can see you're unimpressed
So leave me be and

Let me rest in peace
Let me get some sleep
Let me take my love and bury it
Im a hole six foot deep
I can lay my body down
But I can't find my sweet release
Let me rest in peace
Why won't you
Let me rest in peace?

Sounds absolutely wonderful when Spike sings it.

Also, I really liked:

Walk Through the Fire

I touch the fire, and it freezes me
I look into it, and it's black
Why can't I feel?
My skin should crack and peel
I want the fire back
Now, through the smoke, she calls to me
To make my way across the flame
To save the day
Or maybe melt away
I guess it's all the same

So I will
Walk through the fire
'Cause where else can I turn?
I will
Walk through the fire
And let it...

What's it going to take to strike a spark?
It's what they have inside
She will come
These endless days
Are finally ending in a blaze

And we are
Caught in the fire
The point of no return
So we will
Walk through the fire
And let it burn
Let it burn
Let it burn
And let it burn!

Finally saw Levizt. *smiles*

It was good to see everyone again ^_______________^

Did not sleep at all. *wide-eyed expression* If Serry, Isilme and I weren't talking, we were singing, or they were drawing, and I was writing. Serry turned translator and made an entire manga comprehensible to Isilme and I. Said manga has some of the most beautiful art I have ever seen, and bishonen even prettier than Chiho Saito's (Utena). *starry-eyed*.

Serry's stick insects... *gazes at them with interest* Have never seen any quite so big. They're twice the size of those I see at the zoo. Was seized by strange impulse to let them walk over my arm. Did not succumb to said strange impulse.

We were in the kitchen at 8.30am, making pancakes and sausages. Very hobbity. *sunny smile* Made chocolate chip pancakes! (The ones I make taste better than they look. *thinks* Also, if you put in enough chocolate chips, you can hardly taste the pancake- *covers mouth*)

And Serry:

You do amazing art.

*still dazed*

*smiling dreamily*

In such a state, I wonder how I managed to get home at all. *amused*

Had a cooking course with Mom in the afternoon. Went to said cooking course after 45 minutes of sleep. The food was fantastic. Tomato, watermelon and mozzarella starter, with a squid linguine, and the most gorgeous tiramisu I have ever eaten. ^________^ Naturally the cook makes it look so easy, but I know the instant I try any such stunt in the kitchen... A comedy of errors will ensue.

And then I came home. And was still not tired. It must have been the food.

And, Because I Was High:

I made icons.

Also, have the distinct feeling that I was more than slightly insane. Listening to the Animaniacs theme song at Ratal gatherings at 7am in the morning, when you haven't slept for 20+ hours, did that to me.

Serry has really interesting icon ideas, by the way.

Which are also very fun to make.

2003-06-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

Went out with Risa, Claire, Huileng and Ailin today. SW couldn’t come :( Tried the high tea at Taka’s pasta shop. Not bad! Learnt that will never be a lady, as had the messiest time with my Napoleon. Like a strawberry strudel with cream. Then went to Kinokuniya, Gramaphone, and Marche, in that order. ^_^

Glad to learn am not alone in my views on horror ^_^ I don’t read it – don’t watch those books, or watch such films. Much to own misery. The stories are lovely, and the movies sound immensely interesting, but own mind is too weak for the psychological onslaught. Will spend time in bathroom looking over own shoulder, or get up in bed to check that there’s nothing by the foot of the bed, and other assorted paranoiac tics.

Saw one of the Kino staff with an OoTP shirt! *envies*

Seating in Marche now Nazified. You aren’t admitted in if you claim to have friends on the inside. You must summon them for admittance. Or maybe is just that it was unusually crowded tonight.

Sibling made extreme hints as to what he wanted for his birthday present. Got it today.

2003-06-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

you are a..MODERN vampire. you are pretty much in
the middle of good and evil. you dont mind
humans, but you like going along with your
insticts as well. you show your opposite sides
at very different times. you can be kind and
merciful, but suddenly harsh and cold. you
sometimes make a game of it. are you kidding?
are you serious? one wrong step and who knows!
you love tranquill water, going with the flow.
you are pretty nutral

what kind of vampire are you?(hellsing pics)
brought to you by Quizilla

This quiz thanks to Anya. Who had a lovely Integra result. ^_^

You are Puella angstia, the Angsty Sue.
Nobody understands you. Nobody at all. Your
life is bitter and meaningless. Alas, your
ostentatious suicide attempts are always
stopped just in time.

What Species of Mary Sue Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I always seem to be Angsty Sue ^_^

2003-06-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

Sparrow came over to my house today ^_^ Introduced her to CLAMP. ^_^ We watched the first set of the X anime. She agrees on Fuma. *sparkles*

Made spaghetti. With minced beef, Chicken Viennese sausages, and mushrooms. And Prego's Meat-Flavoured Pasta Sauce. (Yes, that is what they call it.) Since Sparrow brought linguine, and I had spaghetti, we had what you could call a Mixed Pasta Dish ^_^

And then made chocolate chip pancakes. Amazed to hear that Sparrow'd bought another 1 kg bag of chocolate chips. If anyone's interested, they're from Red Man, were bought at Giant Supermarket. Also, that 1 kg bag of chocolate chips is the same price as a 340g packet of Hershey's chocolate chips. ^_^

Have idea for dark AU Ratal fic. Shall be nasty and put Britney Spears lyrics into dark AU fic.

Now it will be Truly Dark. *laughter*

Due to Anya, I have discovered that:

You're an Anime Zodiac Quiz!
You have a taste for astrology, predictions of
the future, Nostradamus and pretty pictures of
whatever your representative animal is!
Although it's a bit scary to get an accurate
prediction of your Self from an astrology book,
there's always something different. Don't let
random star patterns rule your life.
[pic: Aries]

What Anime Quiz are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

^_^ Pretty quiz! And Anya did all the art! ^_^ I especially liked Sepiroth! He looked gorgeous! He was, however, on the Yaoi result, which I did not get.

2003-06-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

Monday, 2nd June, 2003

First day of non-working life. Four months in the office ;) Strange how not working feels so natural. *laughter*

Went to celebrate JN's birthday today, with Xiu and Dulcia. We met up in Far East and did a great deal of wandering around. Made history by actually purchasing a new wallet. Last one's been with me since I was in Secondary Two. Am of the If It Ain't Broke, Don't Get A New One school.

Dragged them to Out of the Pan. Am so evil. ^_^

Ran into an ex-classmate in Out of the Pan (heavens, that sounds so odd.) And then ran into my cousin in CityLink.

Spent seven hours out in Orchard and Suntec. Entertaining exercise.

Today's Entry

Took my Basic Theory of Driving Test! Must confess it was rather difficult. *hides* I know it shouldn't be, but it was for me.

And visited the Ang Mo Kio Library. First time for me. It's amazing. Will make attempt to study Ancient Greece and Rome. Must admit that I lean more towards Ancient Rome than Greece, as I'm more fascinated by fighting than philosophy.

Sad to hear that Serry was assaulted by the air-conditioner :( Hope it gets better soon!

Isilme did an wonderful quiz on Ratal! ;)

Even halfway through the quiz, I knew I was going to get this:

Eleris (Human)

A sweet, loyal girl, with a burning secret...
Literally.

Which Ratal girl is right for/are you? (with images)
brought to you by Quizilla

2003-06-01T06:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 31 2001

Went for a medical checkup in the morning. Why do I always see so many babies at Gleneagles?

Massive queue in front of hospital due to SARS screening.

That said, we're off the WHO list.

*celebrates*

While at hospital, saw what have to be the silliest signs ever:

[With the exception of the one at the Dhoby Gaut MRT station, which is a massive sign, tacked up on a wall, which says: Beware of Wall.]

"Please Wait For Lift."
(As if we have a choice?)

"Beware of Door Opening."
(Doors must have Another Purpose of which I am yet unaware.)

Then went to Suntec City with Mom and bro. Ate pumpkin soup at Soupworks - that is, I smuggled it into Subway and ate it while Mom and bro did the Right Thing - eat where you're seated ;)

Went to wander about and bro called me to let me know that Carol Berg's Song of the Beast is out in bookstores!

*delight*

I loved her Rai-Kirah series, so I went to look at this book and bought it :) This is a book about a man who can create music from dragon song. I never thought to read a book about dragons, but for this author, I'll make an exception.

Did the usual - when book got too exciting, I skipped until I managed to resolve my panic. *laughter* For some curious reason, I cannot enjoy a book until I know how it will end. I'd be panicking and not reading the lines. ;)

Then went to dinner with the extended family. Legolas-liking cousin gleefully brought me a doctored Harry Potter picture. She gave Snape long golden hair and a pink bow, McGonagall a jester's cap, Ron Pebbles' Flintstone's hair (Considering his hair is fiery, and so is hers - it's appropriate), and gave Harry a blue Viking helmet with a scarlet heart upon it. Derived much glee from my ensuing shrieks, so I dutifully entertained her with my indignation. She says half the fun of making/thinking up such things is anticipating my reaction. I wonder why.

Sunday, 1st June 2003

Quiet day at home today. Spent most of it finishing the 8,185 word Ratal High fic. I had no idea fluff could be this exhausting.

I seem to do most of my intensive writing on Sunday afternoons. And evenings.

I wrote most of this fic on a Chamber of Secrets Poster. I wonder if this had anything to do with the content.

*smiles and glomps ranchelle for making this lovely quiz.

That said, I must be being influenced by Serry. How else could I have gotten this result? ;)

Levizt, half-drow

A witty and sarcastic person, his wry sense of
humour seems to bring some spice into what may
seem to be a very boring orc army camp. He
also has a tendency to be knocked on the head
by message orbs sent by the people on top.

Which Ratalier male is for you?
brought to you by Quizilla

2003-05-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

*deeply worried* *weeps* *apologises to Rael for the fact that my utterly evil layout is giving her bad dreams.

*stunned*

That's an amazing coincidence! Recently, I've had a series of very bad ideas to write a LOTR-universe AU in a high school setting! It's called Ratal High. I've written a 2000+ word beginning.

lacewood... This *points at abomination of plot above* Is what has summoned the Brick of Plotting Abilities to gather its compatriots and launch the Rain of Pain upon my head.

*flees the combined attack of the Bricks of Plotting Abilities...*

In fact, it's the Brick Wall of Plotting Abilities.

Last day at work today!

And the Five? :)

Supervisors/Colleagues gave me presents - *stunned*:

1. A Teddy Bear
2. A Bible
3. A birdcage (My fault, when I was out for lunch with a supervisor, I mentioned that it was cute, and without my knowledge, she bought it *happy smile*)
4. A bookmark
5. Bananas. (The gift! Not me! I know I'm nuts sometimes, but... It's an office thing. Every month, they give us a fruit. Or several. When SARS broke out, they gave us apples. Several weeks later, they gave us oranges. And this time, it was bananas.)

I do not know what alliterative entity is watching over the gifts I've given, but it's got an interesting sense of humor. :)

Due to delight at bear and birdcage, I put said bear in said birdcage and wandered over to bear-giver's cubicle, with birdcage-giver in tow, to exhibit the Bear-In-Birdcage. Bear-giver was mildly horrified. "Imprisoned!" she said.

Looked through the Bible (Have no idea why I was given the Bible, as I do not have the slightest affiliation to Christianity or Catholicism (save the fact that I spent ten years of my life in one convent school or the other). I was given a New Testament version.

Warning: Following paragraphs may contain heresy, sacrilege, blasphemy, or all of the above at once:

I loved Revelations best as a child, when I read the Bible in Primary school. (It was a sunny afternoon. And... yes, I read the Bible.) The other chapters/sections just didn't appeal to me. I put it down to the overall mood they gave me. Which was:

Doom.

But flipping through Revelations again, I realised why it was my favourite. It is the closest the Bible comes to fantasy. It has amazing imagery and symbolism, and the most dramatic turns of phrase. The seals, the lanterns, the prophecy, the horsemen and armies - it's ancient fantasy.

Stayed til 6.45pm today at work (which ordinarily ends at 5.30 :) ).

Dad bought a new gadget. Do not know how he manages to figure it out.

Would also like to know why both my parents like Ronan Keating's music, but perhaps there are some things we were never meant to know.

Just as there are some things we are better off not knowing.

Mom told me the entire saga of how I ended up being not able to use my own bathroom for what bathrooms are meant to be for. Suffice to say that I have not been able to use the shower in my bathroom since 2002's Chinese New Year. But as they say, it is not the tale, but she who tells it. Somehow I ended up laughing hysterically. ;)

Also listened to a great many Air Supply Songs.

*complete evil*

I want to write a Musical entry now. Wait. I want to write a Ratal High entry.

*everyone flees*

Am busily proving why I earned that particular nickname on Ratal. :)

cait made a What Kind of N-S Relationship Do You Have? quiz.

Yep! She made this! :)

Had a great deal of fun doing it ;) Was even more amused by my result, which tells me the most intriguing things about my purity.

Love has never been more interesting! It is so pure that the gazes you exchange with him sizzles. There exists a prevenient connection, based on movie-verse dynamics, between the two of you that cannot be easily defined in human words and terms.

Which Neo-Smith Relationship Have You?

Take the quiz @ here.

I like it. In fact, <3. Also because I am deeply amused to see <3 anywhere near lines that mention "Mr. Anderson". :)

Aingeal did a lovely CG: The Matrix: Ratal-Loaded.

I hereby declare that Serry is to pretty to be the Keymaker.

Also: Fear the Spoon of Doom! :)

I love the glow! :)

2003-05-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

*cries* Claire, your comments box still is in deep loathing with me, after so long... In other words, it is still adamant in refusing my comments. So here's my reply to your post on the 28th of May:

I liked "I've Never Been To Me" a great deal when I was younger :) I still do. ;) I responded to the singer's voice more than I did to the words, although the lyrics were certainly lovely. But it's the tender air to the song that I remember. Although, yes, I'm supposed to note that it's wry, bittersweet, etc. - but I don't feel that. All I feel is how amazingly gentle this song is.

You do sound busy! *smile*

Orchard Road skyline? ;) Am usually too busy scurrying from one place to another to notice it :)

As for the religion question: This is why I believe that it should be all about What Kind of Person You Are, not What You Believe In. (Though sometimes the former does tend to influence the latter, and lots of people believe that the latter influences the former.)

As for the friends and groups question - it really depends. Say you're in a group of 11 people - it happens - naturally, it might be difficult to get along with the group as a whole, as opposed to individual people in it. Then again, I'm of the mind that people behave differently when alone than when they are in groups. Well, not everyone, but a fair number of them do.

*looks at the Professor* Dancing Bear? Would this be due to any Ratalien influence, by the way?

Oh, and I was looking through the Longman Contemporary English dictionary tonight, so you're not alone. :)

To deep horror, have discovered that all of my LOTR layouts so far have involved the Nancing One, or at least, part of him.

By Accident, Not Design!

*weeps*

2003-05-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

*delight* Finally discovered how to use background-attachment and overflow!

*happy smile*

Since there is no links sidebar:

Why This Layout?

No One Can Save You Now
Do. Not. Look. Back.
Run, Baby, Run!
Up 28th May 2003

Of course, this layout would due to the release of the newest set of Return of the King images. The original image for my layout was this one. I thought the Nancing One looked an awful lot like Josh Hartnett in that picture.

It's the most visually basic layout I've done so far, but in terms of html headache, it's gotta be the biggest! *laughter*

To own shame, could not get the apostrophes to work in html. I read online in a 2001 article that it's a Microsoft glitch, but it has probably been fixed by now. (So I hope.) Til the next layout, then ;)

This layout's literary influences lie in:

*weeps*

Britney Spears' "Boys" - From the Austin Powers Soundtrack
Sheryl Crow's "Run, Baby, Run"
Brave Sir Robin from Monty Python.

Now comes the updating!

Monday, 26th May 2003

More... Matrix Madness

Went to catch the Matrix for the second time with Risa and SW. *happy smile* Was much delighted to do so. Lots of things made more sense after the second viewing. Unfortunately, I still didn't manage to catch:

Spoiler Alert:

Bane = Agent Smith

Until SW explained it to me. It was all due to the fact that I was too busy gazing at Agent Smith to actually pay attention to what he was doing. Yes. Ironic. :)

Speaking of which, I found this lovely quiz off Cait's LJ.

Which Agent Smith are you?

By Madeline Elster

I like it. :) Doubtless many people would not be surprised at this result.

More on the Matrix! aingeal did a lovely Ratalien Twist on the Matrix. Fear the Spoon of Doom! *giggles*

On Writing

Now I discover the problem with writing (comparatively ordinary/normal) pairings. I ~~You~~ Oh, darn it, I want to write about the kids. *weeps*

Net Cluelessness - One Down!

Have discovered what BNF means!

A bit of a letdown. Big Name Fan. *makes face* I expected something more glamorous.

Now to find out what t00b means.

*laughter*

Kitchen Misadventures

After several more ~~disasters~~ attempts at cooking, I have discovered:

*utterly intrigued expression* *takes notes*

1. Water, whatever its' temperature, when added to hot oil, makes the oil react. It spits and it splatters all over the... You get the (very messy) picture.

So if you roll chicken in flour and then put the floured chicken in hot oil, it won't give you the same explosive reaction as, say, freshly-washed vegetables would.

2. Am utterly stunned by how much sugar is put into the Chinese mushrooms when they are fried. All these years I've eaten them I never knew there was any sugar involved.

3. I vote whitebait the Longest Cooking Food Item Ever. Ever.

4. To own shame, did not realize quite how much water was involved in cooking. Even in frying.

5. I thought only onions made your eyes water. Either it's me, or it's... me. But garlic makes my eyes water, too.

2003-05-25T19:34:00.000-07:00

>< Following the dental visit, I developed what my parents think is an immune response and now am on antibiotics.

Sunday, 25th May 2003

Went out with Xiu, Dulcia and JN. It was Xiu's birthday! :) Met at Orchard, then headed off to Plaza Singapura's Pasta Mania for lunch. ;D Finally found a *hides* Neoprint machine that didn't cheat us of our money. Mrs. Fields had a brownies offer: 3 for $5. *smiles*

Was taken home by parents, but not before they stopped by a bathroom fittings showroom. (Yes, they exist. The one we went to was near Little India. Near Rochor Canal.) There were triplets in attendance. All boys, about five or so, dressed in identical blue shirts, khaki pants, and sandals. At one point in time, all three of them claimed a display shower stall each. Was rather like walking into a little Matrix episode. I walked past the first shower stall: One boy in blue. Walked past the next: Another boy in blue. Walked past the third: Wait, didn't I see him somewhere before?

*amused*

Went on to Ratal and was amazed by the utter deluge of posts.

Serry and Isilme did lovely art ;) Much amused by the Ratal Matrix *smiles evilly* And also amused by the Lev-Serry art. *smiles* The Eleris and Danyel meet Serry was cute, too. :)

2003-05-24T00:53:00.000-07:00

*worships arwen_elvenfair*

Who made these utterly amazing icons.

I'll put some up - All hers.

This is so good:

The last line of the tag on this icon is just perfect:

And this one would be for Mae, Serry - since the both of you love this phrase so very much, as well as Isilme and Faol, for the times we have been subjected to this:

Our doom! >:(

(Serry, I do think this is at least partly your fault. ;) )

*smirks evilly* Maybe this will remind me to write for the Ratal Musical:

You are...Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing!!!
You meanie. You hate men for no good reason
(and believe me, we are all wondering why).
Your entire family thinks you are a silly
goose, even your skanky maid. Get over
yourself and marry that handsome devil
Benedick...;)

What Famous Shakespearean Lady From A Comedy Are You? (10 Possibilities!!)
brought to you by Quizilla

You are a fluffy bunny.
Either you are not evil at all, or the perfect
killer in disguise.
I'd rather not stick around to find out.

Which Cool Evil Guy Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

*weeps*

Well, I was either that or:

You are Grima Wormtongue.
In LOTR you may be just a lesser evil minion, but
your squeeing fangirls find your leechcraft
better than anyone else's.

Which Cool Evil Guy Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

And no. I didn't write the text. Maybe goldfish did.

2003-05-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

Went to the dentist to get a cyst lasered out of my mouth today. A salivary duct had gotten blocked. Burning flesh smells awful. And then the doctor and the nurses kept talking about what they were doing. I didn't want to know. Doesn't help when they're working in your mouth and you can hear, "Can you see it bursting?" Also does not help when they ask other people in to take a look. There were two assistants and the dentist, and then later even the receptionist and the other doctor came in to take a look. The dentist asked my mom in, cause she took me there, and I asked my mom to go. I don't like people looking at me in those situations. Mom told me later that sometimes in the course of her hospital work, the kids who undergo procedures with their parents in the room with them become more fractious. I felt like a circus exhibition. And now I have to take a painkiller every five hours. The underside of my tongue looks like it's been in a war zone. Can you believe... I'm going to get even more graphic - the flesh under my tongue is charred. And it still is.

And after that, I felt like a small, wounded kitten. All I wanted to do was to curl up in a corner. But no. I had to go for my blood test. But this time I had to take the full battery, so after the dentist episode, I was in the hospital where they drew six tubes of blood from me.

The nurse was nice, though. She was a staff nurse under my dad when he was an MO, and she was telling me about how the night duty staff used to spend their time cooking to while away the hours. And it was over fast today.

2003-05-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

You are Beauty.

You are beautiful, whether it be on the inside, the
outside, or both. People are drawn to you as
strongly as you are drawn to the beauty in the
world around you.

What Emotion Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Lucifer: Angel of the starlight, you are often
confused with being evil in your quiet
contemplations... Underneath it all you are
actually the most beautiful angel of all, and
God likes u more... the others are just
jealous. What do they know anyways.

Which Angel Lays Within You?
brought to you by Quizilla

2003-05-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

Met up with Sway and Alex today, for Genki Sushi, and after that:

The Matrix Reloaded!

Not-So-Massive Spoilers for the Movie

They really should have put up a credit that said, "Co-Starring Keanu Reeves' Trenchcoat".

There is not enough Agent Smith, darn it.

One Word: More.

Heard "married" mentioned four times in the entire movie. (Audience comments, that is.)

All I have to say for the ending is:

?

Also. Agree with Telanu's opinion that the Oracle is the best actress in the entire film. Far and away the best.

The KeyMaker had a much better voice than I thought he would.

Hellooooo stereotyped accents! *makes face*

There is no subtext.

*innocent expression*

Sway said of her own volition that AS was the coolest guy in the show.

*looks completely vindicated* See? Am right! ;)

Oh yeah. If you're gonna watch it, sit back after the credits to watch the Matrix Revolutions Trailer.

Here There Be Major Spoilers

Keanu Reeves/Neo = Fawkes

Morpheus + KeyMaker = Harry, Ron + Gilderoy Lockhart.

Oh My God.

Smith will suffice.

Matrix Revolutions Trailer

"We missed you".

Obvious.

*hums "Singing in the Rain"*

2003-05-18T02:49:00.000-07:00

Simply fascinated by Cait’s art.

Much wonderful.

Cait's Hugo Weaving, dual.

Or, as I like to think of it:LOTR Reloaded, or Of Agents and Elf-Lords.

Fabulous concept. *delight* Much adores.

Love the way she draws Elrond. Perfect. He looks utterly gorgeous.

2003-05-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

Matrix Mania

Telanu, if you were a god, I'd worship you, and since you're a goddess, I'll do the same.

Why?

Warning: Avoid if you mislike spoilers and sarcasm. Personally, I have an unhealthy addiction to both.

Her absolutely gorgeous summary of The Matrix Reloaded.

As for writing:

Return to Ratal

Finally broke my more-than-a-month absence from the Ratal log.

This return would never have been possible without my absolutely amazing Professor. Without the Professor's ideas, a central aspect of the Ratal entry would never have even occurred to me. And without the Professor, a large part of my impetus to return to Ratal log writing would have been gone. Also, own ignorance of the medical properties of plants would have been all too glaring.

My latest post speaks HP in a LOTR accent.

*evilness*

*showers the Professor with a lifetime's worth of Potions equipment*

*makes sure said equipment does not hurt Professor*

*happy grin*

Thank you, Professor! ;)

Said absence was due to excessive activity on the Ratal Community. *evilness* Last posted to the log on the 7th of April. Finally posted again on the 17th and 18th of March. If anyone wonders why am repeating this, it is to a kick-self reminder for being mono-site-ist, utterly preferential, and wanting to write AUs instead of Us.

(I can AU AUs. Isn't that incredible? ;) )

Back to Reality

Went out with JN, Xiu, and Dulcia for the better part of eight hours today. We hit City Hall and Orchard. ;) *happy grin*

Esprit has yet another cosmetics sale. 3 for $10. Unfortunately, I succumbed, along with Xiu and Dulcia. Went to the new Sakae Sushi near City Hall for lunch (it's opposite the City Hall MRT station entrance/exit nearest Breadtalk). We found a lovely seat in Marks and Spencer, with a view of the St. Andrew's Cathedral grounds and the fountains outside Raffles City. ;)

Went to Orchard ;) Sat and watched the rest have dinner at BK as was still full from lunch. Identified all the songs on Dulcia's CD with the help of Xiu and JN. :)

Did the Orchard dash from Orchard Emerald to Orchard MRT. Yes, the Somerset-to-Orchard sprint. ;) Had to get to Popular before it closed at 9pm. :)

2003-05-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

Try this out.

It's a site that takes any webpage and converts its contents to poetry.

My blogs create the strangest poetry. Ever.

My afternoon, it but laughs
Er, what read are you?
And a raging fire, mysterious as the powder with the Day...
Now evilly take Mary Sue.

[ *is disturbed at this* ]

And its worthiness was in any moral authority of newest Art
Sakura Petals in your comments box for the decor.
Green tea the age of detail about (the) HP fandom, Sometimes scarier than the Ratal (fandom)

[ *deeply amused* ]

Due to you by sheets of Imladris

[ Extremely amused by this. ]

Jeremy Irons In all the Moment

Three Britney CDs doing research, and the cups and passionfruit tart, (ande) Chocolate bread - they hadn’t worr(ied)

LaMuerta The Fallen

[ *apologizes* ]

laughter going: "What the evil grin?"

Curious reason, in Demand.

Fall into the History of the Fool

Nighteyes, Aleksander, Seyonne, (and) Lord Elrond are Gremio & McDohl Of Middle-Earth, by Quizilla - The story of Blind Guardian, a(n) Ombria in Ratal.

Fell into dreams of beautiful brilliance. Some might even start living?

Is (it) due to you need(ing) a god? A half circle around the LOTR...

You('re) down in a theme here... ,

Portkey Out! Slytherin Rules!

[ *agrees vehemently* ]

Robin Hobb: The Light at the plaza, the guild (of) The Fool, Nighteyes, Aleksander, (and) Seyonne

[ *agrees fervently again, save for the fact that it was Carol Berg who wrote Aleksander and Seyonne* ]

[ And my personal favourite: ]

Lord of the Things She Said

History is So S(Elf) (Centered?)

[ *very amused* ]

would disagree with a New Age Dawns

Just Give In a fantasy art site.

Check out of the words - still LOTR territory.

Yes, again: I was From Sauron,but they involve Orcs, an Eyes

[ *How did that happen?* ]

2003-05-16T08:05:00.000-07:00

This layout is here purely for fun!

For Tolkien, I guess? *evil grin*

Huge thanks to Dream^Weaver for putting up the lyrics for "Carrot Juice is Murder" on her site. Was inspired, that very evening, to write LOTR/Carrot Juice is Murder fic, with more than a nod to hobbits of the VSD variety. ;) If anyone would like to read it, let me know. I have already inflicted said fic on Ratal. ;)

Was re-reading the beginning of FOTR last night to write the LOTR/Carrot Juice is Murder fic. Had to read A Long-Expected Party, of course - that's Hobbit Primer 101 if you want to write Hobbit Atmosphere (for me). I was actually looking for technical terms to describe the different ages of hobbits, but all I found was "gentlehobbit", which doesn’t quite do it if you want to write about all hobbits – children to adults. I used "Gaffers" as a noun.

*hides from LOTR fanatics and Tolkien Purists*

Sometimes it does help to read before you write. It makes you get a sense of what a completed fic is like, and it makes you - makes me, at least - get a sense of the flow of words, and how a story should be complete in and of itself.

I found the Fireworks scene.

*collapses*

My heavens. That scene. I had to read it more than once - at the first go, all the words were so beautiful that I focused on them individually before I could read the scene as a whole. It’s gorgeous. Tolkien did take time to get around to what he was saying, and it takes effort (for me) to visualize the image he wants to create with his words, but when I do, it is beautiful.

It is on page 27 of the 3-in-1 LOTR Trilogy - my edition has Ringwraiths *evil grin* on the cover. It goes:

The fireworks were by Gandalf: they were not only brought by him, but designed and made by him; and the special effects, set pieces, and flights of rockets were let off by him. But there was also a generous distribution of squibs, crackers, backarappers, sparklers, torches, dwarf-candles, elf-fountains, goblin-barkers and thunder-claps. They were all superb. The art of Gandalf improved with age.

There were rockets like a flight of scintillating birds singing with sweet voices. There were green trees with trunks of dark smoke: their leaves opened like a whole spring unfolding in a moment, and their shining branches dropped glowing flowers down upon the astonished hobbits, disappearing with a sweet scent just before they touched their upturned faces. There were fountains of butterflies that flew glittering into the trees; there were pillars of coloured fires that rose and turned into eagles, or sailing ships, or a phalanx of flying swans; there was a red thunderstorm and a shower of yellow rain; there was a forest of silver spears that sprang suddenly into the air with a yell like an embattled army, and came down again into the Water with a hiss like a hundred hot snakes.

Thanks to Reading Group Guide's LOTR.

The imagery blew me away. (Oh dear. Was that a pun? ;) ) I'm just one among the many maniacs raving about Tolkien, but these passages were beautiful. And in A Long-Expected Party you see all the lovely delicate touches he had - this is from that chapter:

There were three official meals: lunch, tea, and dinner (or supper). But lunch and tea were marked chiefly by the fact that at those times all the guests were sitting down and eating together. At other times there were merely lots of people eating and drinking — continuously from elevenses until six-thirty, when the fireworks started.

< / Gorgeous Wry Generalization + Characterization >

That slightly-mocking sense of humor. That incisive observation. And yet, his affection for the hobbits comes through. I missed this treatment so much in the whole Council of Elrond scene. In that one, he seemed to want to get the information out as quickly as possible, and it was an awful lot of information. This reminds me of a discussion I saw on a HP LJ that said that Hermione and Dumbledore were used as instruments of exposition. That is how I feel Tolkien used his characters in the Council of Elrond scene. Skimped on the characterization to get to the information as quickly as he could. I know, he had a vision, and it was - it is magnificent. Sometimes - ooh, heresy! - I think there are the more drawn-out scenes.

Say it...

Alright! Alright! He has longwinded scenes! Sometimes I wonder if he didn’t create the Ents as a parody of his own writing skills -

*muffles self before can put foot in mouth any further*

But sometimes characterization can do a lot more to endear a writer to me than vision can. But it’s just me ;)

I adore the Lothlorien poem. The one about the Falls of Nimrodel and Amroth. The one that has the lines:

A star was bound upon her brows
A light was on her hair
As sun upon the golden boughs
In Lorien the fair.

Of old he was an Elven-king
A lord of tree and glen,
When golden were the boughs in spring
In fair Lothlorien.

Unfortunately, it is recited by Legolas, but is a beautiful poem nonetheless.

This from someone with the LOTR Trilogy at her computer table, with every one of her favourite poems bookmarked by LOTR trading cards.

;) Reminds me of the time the wonderful Anya lent me her LOTR books before I got the Trilogy for myself. I ended up copying the poems. *laughter* Because there is simply something about writing something beautiful, even if it is not yours. I wrote the poem on the Fall of Gil-Galad. (Who, I sincerely believe, was much better-looking than he was in the movie. >< )

Oh, and before I get caught up in Tolkien again:

Exposition for this Layout

"Stars of Lothlorien" was a phrase I came up with before the A-Level Prelims. This image you see above is from the Lothlorien scenes in FOTR. For some odd reason, I watched the extended Lothlorien scenes on the DVD incessantly. No idea why. Also got bitten by a fic idea while watching said scene, and scribbled it all on several sheets of paper. Curious.

(So much for me wanting to avoid getting into Tolkien again.)

Sign-off lines inspired by the discovery of Blind Guardian, who wrote lyrics inspired by Tolkien. "Fall Into the Light" is a song from their album Lost in Twilight. Though my personal favourite is The Curse of Feanor. It's a gorgeous anti-hero poem. I know it's meant to be a song, but they say, all good song lyrics are poetry. ;) Feanor was an ghastly b*stard of an elf, but this poem almost makes me like him. ;)

I wanted a layout like this long before I’d even heard of Blogger ;) And finally, I’m able to Bring it to Life. ;)

Current Fic: Ratal. Again. That place is making me write more consistently than I ever have in my entire life. It is giving me conscious challenges. It is making me write more angst than I was comfortable with, it has made me write humor, it is now making me write a technically difficult fic.

After I have written it I shall probably write a one-liner about the difficulties of handling mutism in a fic.

Oh heavens. I sound like I’m regurgitating Regeneration.

But it’s made me realize just how much we take dialogue for granted. Once the dialogue’s gone, you have to go to the gestures, the looks, the simple things, to get your point across. And so far, it is not easy.

There is so much to dance I knew nothing about. Normally, readers would go – Oh, dancing. Hello, Mary Sue.

But it is hard to write dancing. I’ve gone to all the books I know that even mention the word dancing. I’ve gone online to do research on what dance steps go into the waltz and the foxtrot. I’ve learnt about arch turns and half-turns, and am going half-mad. (Shh. And no. I was not half-mad before this.)

Was re-reading David Gemmell’s White Wolf to learn about dancing, and ended up having curious thoughts. It spoke of fear, and what fear is.

It made me think of the last time I was truly afraid – and the A-Level results were a different kind of fear – but I don’t remember that time as heart-sick, soul-wrenching fear. That I remember as the time my brother came home late. He was out canoeing, and he was due to return home at 9pm. My mother called home at 9.30pm to ask if he was home, and he wasn’t. I was so frightened for him then. I went to the front door and turned the lights on for the porch, and waited for him until he came home. At 10pm. But he was home. And we couldn’t call him because he didn’t have a handphone, before that. The minute I heard the doorbell and saw him at the gate I was on the phone to my mother, to tell her that he was safe, and that he was home. I don’t remember feeling even half as relieved or at ease when I got my A-Level results. I was more glad to see him home safe. I don’t quite understand it myself.

I have cried only once in my life for joy. This was when I saw my youngest brother (not the one above) win a – of all things – sack race. I didn’t expect to feel much of anything, really. But when I saw him cross that finish line hopping like a rabbit in that sack, I was so happy I cried.

I have no idea why these moments of extreme emotion involve both my brothers. Not exactly inclined to find out more.

2003-05-13T05:08:00.000-07:00

Monday, 12th May 2003

Ran into Risa while at Orchard. Yay coincidence *huge grin* Went to Sakae Sushi in the Heeren with her :) We saw a gummy bear sitting on the sushi conveyor belt. *face-faults* Guess it'd just have to bear with it. *laughter*

Headed to Gramaphone :) I'd bought two CDs for my brother's birthday there already in the early afternoon, but we hit it again *laughter*

Tuesday, 13th May 2003

Went back to VJ with Risa. Much amazed to find school not as changed as I'd expected. Met up with every teacher again :)

Food for Thought

*Me, expressing amazement at raven picking up plastic bag in beak and flying away*

Mr. Cook: *sarcasm much* "I've missed this level of trivia".

Mr. Harris gleefully proclaimed that everyone peaks at JC, and thereafter, declines.

*waves* My stress levels have declined. Much happy. :)

Then Risa and I went to the library. Picked up a magazine. Then went to Starbucks for lunch. :) Had fish and chips (again, and very predictably) at school. :) Tried the steamed milk. I declare Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf's version to be far superior. ;)

Went for a driving revision session in the late afternoon that went at breakneck speed. Much like a crash course. During said driving course, had Even Worse Ratalien Plot Bunnies, involving Mandy Moore songs and titles for D/E fics (though sadly, not the ideas themselves). :(

That said *gloats* am now known as You Know Who on Ratal.

*glee*

The instructor was bringing us through a series of MCQ questions. Some of the wrong answers were so obviously wrong they were hilarious.

Please Don't Drive With These Thoughts In Mind

Sign with a white walking stick

Actual Meaning: Caution: Blind Persons Crossing

Wrong Answer: Beware of Lamp Post.

Zebra Crossing

Actual Meaning: Obvious

Wrong Answer: Animals Crossing

Absence of Speed Limit Sign

Actual Meaning: Average Legal Speed Limit applies: 50 km/h

Wrong (and seemingly obvious): No Speed Limit

*falls off chair laughing*

2003-05-11T07:37:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 8th May 2003

Went for my first theory lessons for driving today! Had hilarious instructors, which were a great help in my sitting through two 100-minute sessions straight. Was in the classroom from 6.55pm to 10.30pm. *huge grin*

We went into an awful lot of detail about drunk driving.

Which was good, as it inspired a major Dae-related plot point on the Ratal Musical.

I was sitting there in the classroom when the instructor was talking about the legal limit for alcohol in the blood, and scribbling lines like, "said Dae darkly", "How could I forget?" and several extremely embarrassing things that would have had me laughed out of class if anyone'd seen. Also scribbed lyrics for Sarah McLachlan's "Building A Mystery" and "Right Kind of Wrong". Unfortunately, used neither in the fic. :( Am surprised by how much I remember of "Building A Mystery". I seem to take to writing this song's lyrics in classrooms. Last I did it was during a Chinese test, where I copied out the entire song on a spare scrap of paper. Surprised the girl next to me. Poor KT.

frayed! *happy grin* Great to hear from you! *smiles* Hope to see you soon :)

What a Weekend! :)

Shall start with How It All Began: On Friday night.

Friday, May 9th, 2003

Utterly delightful. Went to aingeal's house for dinner! Thank you, aingeal! Your mom makes great multi-course dinners! I love the minestrone! :) As well as the cups and bowls at your house. *guilty* I stand accused of liking Many Random Things. ;D

Thank you, Ange|us and Claire :) Poor the both of you, having to wait for me while I bought the Suntec Soup... *hides* Am glad the cake didn't melt :) Thank you for the lovely slide of Germany, Ange|us! And for the lovely souvenir from Australia, Claire! :)

And Claire: You and I need a D2 session. Now. *grin*

That said, Sorceresses! They rule. :) Yay for Warmth, Glacial Spike, and Blizzard! *rejoices* You can clear Kurast faster than anyone.

*evil grin* In my opinion. :)

Though methinks the hardest race and time to play would be the Necromancer in the very early stages, when you've only got Teeth. Ghastly. :(

Had most interesting discussion with aingeal, Ange|us, Claire, and aingeal's cousin Lydia about HP, LOTR, the HP Worst Pairings List Ever, fanfic, CassandraClaire, and fantasy. Completely amazing. *huge grin* Discovered another HP inner-circle member who's Singaporean. *stunned* That makes three Singaporeans in the HP slash fandom's inner circle. Worldwide. I can't believe it.

Discovered that not only do aingeal and I possess the Disney Sing-A-Longs, we also possess more than one. *giggles* And that Claire, aingeal and I like Norah Jones' Don't Know Why.

*hides from Risa* See your influence on me? *hides again*

Thank you for the gift from Australia, aingeal! You choose delightful presents! *huge grin* It was a lovely necklace! :) Am amazed by my inability to recognize candles :) That was gorgeous. :) I love the way you assembled all the gifts! *hugs you*

And for that, Stayover at My Place! I shall inflict Warcraft 3 and Soul Reaver cinematics on all of you, as well as Wolf's Rain! *grins evilly at goldfish* I shall inflict the extended DVD of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets! I shall inflict my room and my awful Wallpaper! I shall inflict... *dramatic pause* My chocolate chip pancakes!

*laughter* Oh, I can't wait.

Saturday, May 10th, 2003

Alex and Sway came over to my place :) *bright smile* My Mashi Maro in Gryffindor colours has a new admirer! Sway! *huge grin* Alex named Iggy a blue... not-Peapod. *cries*

Spent the entire time talking. Was regaled by tales of Alex's Architecture Interview. *huge grin* And laughing. Sway had a great deal of Me Time, to Alex and my amusement. :)

And I made them my Chocolate Chip Pancakes! *huge grin*

And I did not poison them - they are still alive.

Headed for dinner at Serangoon Garden Circus after that :) Went to Cafe Cartel. Choc Chip Pancakes had filled me up, so sat there while Sway and Alex had their dinner. :) It was a lovely day. :)

Sunday, May 11th, 2003

Mother's Day! *grin*

Woke up shamefully late. :) Had a takeout lunch at home, then presented Mom with her presents. :) Yay :) Got her a tiny handbag - which she says matches the scarf I also gave her :) Could not decide on which Mother's Day card to get her, so got her two. Dad, bro and I wrote them :) Also got mom two fluffy hairclips. *giggles* Am always of the opinion that besides the serious gifts, parents should get the Silly Gifts as well. :) Dad got her illustrated poetry books. :) Gorgeous, especially since she wanted them. They use Metropolitan Museum of Art and National Gallery pictures in combination with classic poems. :) Mom says they're prettier than the conventional pictureless poetry books :)

And then, after lunch, hit the computer to finish up the Fic Which Has Consumed Most of My Non-Everything-Else Mind for the last five days - the Ratal Musical. Also known as the one constant in my life through the days from May 7th to May 11th:

I have written a 5,420 word h/c fic.

This fic took five days to conceptualize, plan, and finish.

*collapses of exhaustion*

Thursday's Drunk Driving exposition during my theory lesson inspired a major Dae scene.

The Dae/Elear scene is all of 1,768 words long. Out of the total 5,420. In writing, it was the most complex scene in the entire fic. And one of the toughest scenes in the entire entry.

The easiest scene? Elear/Isilme. Strange, eh?

This fic would not have been possible without my brother, who took me through the entire Dae-and-the-second-man fight scene. Am completely useless when it comes to fight scenes, and my bro isn't. So I took my scenario to him, and he gave me Dae's counter strategy. We sat at the dining table and used a sunblock bottle as a makeshift sword. He showed me two ways for Dae to deflect a sword attack, and taught me how to break a man's neck.

For anyone who is interested, it is not possible to hold a man's chin and break his neck by jerking his chin upwards. The most efficient way is the way I have written in this fic.

Most Awful Realisation of Week: Dae is what my family calls the brother who is three years younger than I am. Same brother who helped me with the fight scene. May explain part of my difficulty in writing the fic.

Total Songs Used: 14.

3 Doors Down: When I’m Gone, Sarah Yellin’, Life On My Own, Duck and Run

Evanescence: Bring Me To Life

Garbage: Till the Day I Die, Vow, Can’t Cry These Tears, Untouchable, Temptation Waits

Cher: Fire and Rain, Half-Breed

Cameron McGill: Overboard

Mary MacGregor: Torn Between Two Lovers

*hides from Elear, Isilme, and Elear/Isilme fans*

Oh, on the Ratal Front... *waves and grins at Faol* Good to see you! :) *happy grin*

On the Fiction Front, Temptation Waits. Condemnation, the third book of the War of the Spider Queen series, coming up! I and my brother have resisted the onslaught of Dissolution and Insurrection, so far. There are six books in the series. Do not know if can hold out. Those books are $45+ per book. Bro was planning to wait till they came out in a compiliation, but I don't know if I can. Insurrection had a beautiful cover that featured draegloth art, but in my opinion, Dissolution had a more involving storyline.

*sinks into the Pit of Voles*

Am terrified. Of turning into Pervy Drow Fancier.

And.

It's Menzoberranzan.

2003-05-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

Oh. *bounce*

Watched X-Men 2 with Risa, Claire, and SW today! :)

Orchard Updates: The Pizza Hut at Wisma is gone. Replaced by a KFC. First two-storey KFC have seen in my entire life. Saint Cinnamon is gone too - and replaced with the Eternally Everywhere Breadtalk.

X-Men 2! Spoilers Ahead!

Now I know what Mae means when she says that the end of X-Men 2 is slashy. Also know what was meant when she said that Cyclops was in both of the pairings.

*wanders off meeping softly*

He Clung to Me and Cried, and all that.

To clear horrible thoughts, shall think worse thoughts: I think that psychologically, the most interesting slash pairing would be Nightcrawler/Pyro. Obviously they’re not gonna look like the best couple in X-Men 2, but mentally, it’d be fun.

And to make matters worse, I would like to add that all the HP pairings I go for involve a Potter and a Slytherin.

I like Nightcrawler the best!

Maybe because I like him the best, also, in the comic-verse, he was more fun than fundamentalist. But always, in movie and book alike, he's very sweet.

But Much Better Looking in the Comic, Darn It!

When Gandalf spoke, I – er, I mean, every time Magneto spoke, I couldn’t get Gandalf out of my head. He doesn’t look much like Gandalf, but that voice is completely unmistakable. Like the time I watched From Hell with bro and Dad. I was…

From Hell Spoilers:

Bilbo…? At Jack the Ripper.

Especially when Magneto said, “Old friend”. Sent me straight into LOTR territory.

I would like to say:

Phoenix.
Bro thought last image looked like a bird.
I was… Ooh, that could be a Fan-Shaped Whale!

I know a common insult is "you scream like a girl" - but they seem to have taken it literally in Banshee's case.

A Little Girl at that.

Yay Colossus! Peter Rasputin. Only when was older realized that that was not the best name they could have chosen for him.

Rogue. Is. Not. Good. Looking.

Pyro looked so cool when he was blasting the cars.
Ooh, wrong choice of adjective, quite.

Ha ha Hank McCoy being sarcastic on TV. He looked much cuter here than in the comic book. (And yes, even when he looked human. He looks better here than the drawings of him as a human. Hakkai-esque, almost. Except without the incest angle.)

Nightcrawler and Mystique… *conspiratorial smirk* He has some pretty good lines with Mystique in the comic book. *grin* Very amusing. ;)

Major spoiler, but not for the movie.

Him: “It’s cold in here.” [ or the equivalent ]
Her: “I go through all the trouble of finding you a father with fur in his genes, and still you complain.”

I know a common insult is "you scream like a girl" - but they seem to have taken it literally in Banshee's case.

Yuriko... In the comic-verse, she died in a really silly (to me), dramatic way. *sigh* Puffer fish poison. Right. Not.

Kitty Pryde :) Liked bit where she went right through the guy's body.

Me, I've somehow always preferred the Jubilee with the yellow trenchcoat and cool shades, probably because that's what I grew up watching. :)

Long live Saturday Morning Cartoons!

I would also like to say: Stupid Metal Helmet. It's really odd, but to me, in the cartoon, Magneto looked fine with the helmet on. And he had it on all the time. Here, he had it on just the once, but boy, did he look Silly.

2003-05-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

I've finished the first part of my contribution to the Ratalien Musical! *glee*

I am grieved to announce that this particular contribution to the Musical has shown me that I was capable of an awful more Dae/Elear than I previously thought.

My contribution to the Ratalien Musical is titled: Of Drow, Despair, and Duets.

Beg pardon. Was bitten especially hard by atrocious alliteration.

*smirk*

Might I also say I did not put the drow there, I did the best with what I was given.

A huge thanks goes out to the lovely Isilme, for helping me vet sections of this story, pointing out the Kaimelar to Dae/ Serry to Elear divide I carelessly forgot, and for being a great source of encouragement for this series.

*glomps Isilme*

Hope your VSD went well! :)

2003-05-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

*doleful expression* Claire, your comments box is still firewalling me. We cannot interface.

Shall leave my comment to your post tonight here:

*hugs Claire*

You've been wonderful to me too :)

*hugs you again*

About our memories fading... True, it may make our good memories harder to remember - but hopefully, it'll make the painful memories easier to forget, too. There's a lot of pain in our pasts that we are better off forgetting.

To some extent losing the people you know is inevitable. But just make sure you hang on to the ones that matter ;)

Guess maybe it's good to make new memories :) And to find good people to make them with? :) So that way, you won't really need to hang on to those memories - because you're making new ones all the time, and you're living in a present that is happy.

Take care!

2003-05-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

*agrees emphatically with Risa* Shippers are most definitely the most dangerous creatures in any fandom. Sometimes scarier than Mary Sues, because shippers don't come alone. Also, shippers have a Cause/ OTP to rally behind, and are far more formidable. :)

*giggles*

2003-05-04T06:21:00.000-07:00

You're the mysterious gothy, Rogue. You're a loner
and rather sarcastic, but deep down you have a
heart of gold. You don't connect easily with
people, in fear that you'll hurt them. But deep
down you wish you could be close to somebody.
You're one tough cookie, and you'd like to keep
it that way.

Which X-Men Evolution Girl Are You??
brought to you by Quizilla

Yay for you!! You're Kurt Wagner, everybody's
favorite mutant. You're funny, kind, and
sensitive, but can also be a flirt, too. You're
the joker to most people, always having fun and
wanting to have a good time! You live your life
to the fullest, even though you do hide behind
a mask to hide who you really are to people.

Which X-Men Evolution Guy Are You??
brought to you by Quizilla

Yay!

2003-05-04T06:20:00.000-07:00

Law Test: Ten minutes into the whole shenanigan, I realized that the test assumed that everyone who took the Law Course was going to be a lawyer.

*stormcloud*

*wry grin at machine music* Seems like a Scathing Law Interview is the norm for most who enter the Gates of the Law Fac... Was for me, and to almost everyone else I spoke to after my interview.

I agree wholeheartedly with you. Kenshin would never call Kaoru a goddess. The horror!

Saw so many ex-St. Nick's girls.

KT cut her hair! Ran into Stephanie, Huiwen, Amanda, Gwendolyn, Melissa Marie from my primary school... The mind boggles.

That was yesterday. As for today:

Went for lunch at Pete's Place, at the Hyatt. With my uncle and his family. The food was great. ^_____________^

Truly Terrifying What I'm Going to Write Next Section:

Well, Dae my dear, look what you've done to me. Now I've been bitten by an especially savage plot bunny of the Musical genre. I have completely evil ideas for my part of the Ratal Musical Round Robin. I ~~gleefully~~ sadly announce that they involve All-Singing, All-Dancing Orcs, an awful lot more Dae/Elear than I thought I was capable of, a Britney song and not one, not two, but Three Disney Songs. I have sacrificed my afternoon listening to ~~three Britney CDs and two Disney CDs~~ doing research, and ~~plotting~~ planning. Furthermore, the Disney songs have been completely mutilated to ~~read~~ sing "Kiss the Elf", and -

Oops. I think I've frightened everybody away.

Anyway, til later! ^.~

2003-05-04T06:17:00.000-07:00

You have chosen Harry Potter. LOTR may be cool but
to you, Harry, battling Voldemort alone is
much more exciting than Hobbits, Elfs, Man, and
Dwarfs battling Sauron the Dark Lord of Middle
Earth.

Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings??
brought to you by Quizilla

I knew it. As have said, my heart belongs to Harry.

Also I would much rather live in Hogwarts than Rohan or the Shire. In the first place, Rohan has that annoying Eomer.
Also would Not want to play Either Arwen Or Eowyn. Eowyn annoys me to an unbelievable degree, and while Liv Tyler is pretty, Peter Jackson's Arwen is a Screaming Mary Sue.

Your Ideal Guy Is Aragorn! Rough, wild, windswept
and rugged, you have a taste for royalty, and
you'll go to any lengths to get him - even boot
that Arwen-gal off her horse! He's tall, dark,
handsome and a deft-hand at Orc slaying. What
more could a girl ask for?

what Lord of the rings man gets you hot?
brought to you by Quizilla

You have chosen a sword for your weapon. This is
the race of Men's choice of weapon.

In Middle Earth, What weapon would you choose?
brought to you by Quizilla

Morally, a bow is a cheap, dirty trick, but in warfare, it makes an awful lot of sense.

Speaking of which...

LEGOLAS
Die Legolas Die!

Which member of the Fellowship (LotR)'s Ass would you like to kick?
brought to you by Quizilla

Shall evilly take advantage of my ability to manipulate HTML to my own evil ends.

2003-05-02T03:18:00.000-07:00

Why this layout looks this way

Anya. Again. :)

For this.

How did you know I would be so unconscionably affected by it?

Also, there's Legolas. Surprise, he's Cover Elf!

Well, one of the Cover Elves, to be precise. *amused*

I could always do another... *laughter*

Have to confess that I didn't think of Elf Centered :) The comic Warped, which
was until recently serialized in Life!, did.

Also, this is my first LOTR layout!

After four HP layouts, it was about time!

This layout also due to the influence of my fandom icons.

It would have been far too much to fit into a single static icon. Hence, a layout was needed to do it justice.

2003-05-02T02:57:00.000-07:00

Claire! *wails* Your comments mislike me! Despite multiple attempts, I couldn't get them to work! :( It may be my computer *cries* It's crotchety with reviews and comments at times.

Here's my reply to your post on calling people 'good friends':

I take a very long time to call a person my friend, let alone a "good friend". :)

And as for people who we like and get along with... For me, it isn't easy finding people whom I like and who like me, and people I get along with. :) But that's just me.

In truth, I think - it doesn't matter what you call your friends or your close friends. Because the terms/names don't matter. What matters is what is - whether they'll be there for you when you really need them, whether they care, and whether the friendship will last. I think time is the best test of a friendship. Give it six years. (I know it's not instantaneous. But it's surefire.)

I don't often think much about the philosophical issues of friendship. I use time to tell who my friends are. :) In time, the troubles will come, and that will tell whether the friendship can last. And it isn't just external problems a friendship has to weather - there are also internal problems, like quarrels and misunderstanding. So - time will tell, for me. :)

Hope D2 works soon!

2003-05-02T02:16:00.000-07:00

Had to attend the first of the elections focus groups at the office today. They mentioned "red alert", and the first association that came to mind was, "Command and Conquer". *laughter*

I had to wait at the lift landing to escort the focus group participants to the room, and one didn't arrive - in other words, had to wait there for an hour for a no-show. But since had read Ratal's first set of VSDs, I sat there plotting. And scribbling. Attended the second half of the focus group, after helping to bring in the food. I sat there scribbling, "pervy elf fanciers", "Will never look at carrots the same way again", and "Did not understand what I meant when asked him if he would like to explore the Underdark". Yes, I've been writing Levizt's VSD. *smirk* Well, continuing from what Elear left off. All the while when the elections group was talking about elections in 1959, intimidation by dressing, and queue jumpers. Thank heavens no one saw what I was writing. *smirk*

Had a fascinating taxi ride today. The driver told me about hiragana and katakana, and how the Japanese pronouncation of words originated from the Chinese. He told me about how acting is a total profession - that every single movement, and every single inflection, has to be perfect. He used to teach biology in an ITE. He spoke about China and its art. He was taught by Liu Kang. He paints scenery. When he was a child, his school teacher used to take the art class out to Singapore's districts to paint. He told me about the three large entertainment centres that used to be before Independence - Great World, Gay World and New World. And this entire conversation was conducted in Chinese.

MITA is lovely. It looks really old on the outside, but inside, it has all sorts of beautiful fountains, a skylight almost like a covered shopping mall, and sculptures surrounded by sheets of water. And their lifts are full of mirrors. :)

Went for the NUS Law Interview today. Ran into three VJ students and a Whole Lot of ex St. Nick's students. Was wandering about, trying to leave NUS, when Amanda and Huiwen came up - In A Car. Huiwen was driving. Was so stunned. Huiwen was wonderful and drove us to the Buona Vista MRT station. *smiles* Would never have gotten out of NUS without her. Apparently, she started learning driving in January, and passed the test on the first go. And she drove with such confidence! And she began driving in March! :) She drives her brother to school every day. Practice? :)

Law interview was the usual Trying to Trap You In Your Own Words game.

2003-05-01T11:04:00.000-07:00

*glomps Anya*

How did you know I would be almost unconscionably pleased by this?

Alright, time to come clean :) Remember your Insanity In General fic part one? Remember when I said your writing is very inspirational? These two were connected. ;)

*hides now*

*re-emerges*

*hugs Anya*

Also, I would like to add: *terrified expression* Draw Hioshi in Sakura Dreaming one more time, and I fear I will turn into a Hioshi Fangirl.

2003-04-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

*collapses* I. Finally. Finished. Shadow. Of. Innocence. Two hours at the keyboard, from 11pm to 1am. But It is Done! It took me one and a half weeks for 3,649 words. *falls off chair*

*evil grin* I love writing the Warning! Shadow of Innocence's warning was:

Gratuitous L/S references, equally gratuitous LOTR references, and especially gratuitous Legolas insults. Also gratuitous HP references. Implied Haldir/Legolas not intentional.

It really wasn't intentional. It just... came along with the L/S.

Most of the office was out at the zoo today. It was one of those Group or Team exercises. And it rained, rained, rained in Buona Vista today. I hope it didn't rain in Mandai. Learnt from a colleague that they went to the Bird Park last year. *falls off chair* However, three out of four of my supervisors were not at the Zoo today, so there was still Work!

Office has given us thermometers to take our temperatures ourselves. Twice daily. And we make the report ourselves and hand it in and the end of the week.

*collapses*

Went out with JN tonight! *grin* Met her at Paragon, then walked All the Way to Meridien, to eat at Genki Sushi. Yes, the Meridien next to Plaza Singapura. We walked two MRT stops. *laughter* But it was worth it! I had:

Salmon sashimi
Chawan mushi
Salmon sushi
Sweet prawn sushi
Ebi Tempura sushi
Squid sushi
Smoked Salmon and Mayo sushi

For $13. *grin* Oh, and this place serves up three salmon sushis when you order a plate. And it's $1.50 per plate, compared to the $1.90 at Sakae Sushi. Also, the sashimi is $3.50 a plate, which is half the going rate at All The Other Sushi joints! *laughter*

Ran into Jasmine from VJ when I was there. :)

Genki Sushi doesn't give out teabags for green tea the way Sakae does. It has a tiny container of green tea powder, with an equally tiny wooden spoon for you to scoop the powder into your cup with. *grin* Was so amused it was pathetic. *slinks away*

Good to see JN again :) Also got to go into the Centerpoint Hush Puppies shop after closing. *laughter* Cheap thrill yes! :) It was all dark, and the grilles were down, but since she works at Hush Puppies I get to sneak in after closing. Also learnt that Hush Puppies make their workers take Vitamin C tablets. And it's compulsory. *wince* Me, I hate my vitamins.

2003-04-27T05:38:00.000-07:00

Went out with my family for lunch today at Seoul Garden! *huge grin* I adore that place. It brings out all my carnivorous instincts. *laughter* I eat nothing but beef and squid over there. Singularly unhealthy, but it tastes so good. :)

Went to Borders, too. Split the cost of David Gemmell's new Drenai book, White Wolf, with bro. Yay for siblings with similar literary tastes. :) Thank heavens it's a Drenai book! I disliked the Rigante intensely. That series ended with Stormrider, which wasn't so bad. Despite the cover, which pictured Gaise Macon (that name makes me think that it's an attempt to combine the names Blaise and Malfoy. *hides for the HP intrusion*) looking an awful lot like Legolas. And I can't believe the Moidart's soul name was "Hawk in the Willow". That man is the coolest individual in all of the Rigante books and he gets a name that's reminiscent of Wind in the Willows? And Gaise gets Stormrider? >.o

White Wolf - I suppose it's a sign of my deepening Wolf's Rain obsession when my first association with "White Wolf" is Wolf Rain's Kiba. *hides* But the book's good, from what I've read of it. :) It's with bro now, as it's a Sunday, and he's got school tomorrow. This is one of the few free days in his schedule. :) White Wolf features Druss the Legend. :) Probably a draw, though I feel that Druss was written best in Legend. There was another book that featured Druss in his younger days - that makes it two now, with White Wolf - but I didn't care much for it. And the book states that it's "Book One of the Damned". *grin* That means more to come!

I've always liked David Gemmell's Drenai series better than his Rigante (or any other series), despite the fact that the Drenai series has more place names, thus making it harder for you to get a bigger picture of who's fighting whom. It doesn't matter much for the Gemmell series (in my opinion), since his books are centered more on characters and individuals. If I've got anyone to thank for the way I write, it'd be David Gemmell.

Actually, to be perfectly accurate, I've to thank my brother for the way I write :) It was through him that I began reading David Gemmell, and my fantasy leanings solidified into the heroic fantasy/ sword-and-sorcery path. I'd been heading down the fantasy path from reading science fiction (it was those fantasy and science fiction compiliations that did it). But it was Gemmell that set me to prefer character-driven fantasy books. The fantasy books I read are mostly character-driven. (And that's how my writing became so narrative-driven. *hides*)

2003-04-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

*looks at blog* It looked perfect here.

Meep.

2003-04-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

Just watched Wolf's Rain 12!

*huge grin*

Once again, thanks to the goldfish. Bro agreed that WR 12 was much better than the previous two episodes. But hey, give me Tsume, Toboe, good art, and I'm happy. *smile*

I still think Toboe is a girl.

*laughter*

I wish Harmona would put on some clothes. She's the archetypal "Perfect ~~Goddess~~ Girlfriend the Villain Longs for But Can Never Have".

She's even blonde.

Darcia's kinda cute.

And I hardly think Tsume is a "boy". He seems much older! :)

2003-04-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

New layout! *grin*

Why this layout looks this way

Isilme, who did such a beautiful picture that my L/Sness went off into the deep end, through no fault of hers, of course :)

The poor, beleagured Levizt and Serry themselves, subject to much innuendo and outright allegations and speculation from the Ratalites.

Also! This layout would not have been possible without Adobe Photoshop Brushes. *smile*

A final credit must go to the Indigo Girls' "Ghost". To me, that is the best of their songs. I don't care for the melody, but the words... Amazing.

And there you have it. I change layouts more often than the seasons. *laughter*

2003-04-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

A Moment of High Emotion

*glomps Isilme*

Sempai, I officially adore you forever!

*starry-eyed*

All because of this gorgeous picture!

*hugs*

I love that picture! *dreamy gaze*

I love the way Laire's hair looks! :) The sunset image is a lovely idea! :)

*huge delighted grin* And. I love the L/S picture. Serry's hair is gorgeous! :) I like what you did with Lev's chainmail greaves and his cape! :)

*grins at the Dae/Elear picture* Ooh, Dae looks like he's in pyjamas. *evil grin*

*smiles* That's such a sweet Isilme/Elear picture! :) I like her hair! :)

And... I love Eleris' shirt. :) It reminds me of Serry's. And I like that her picture is directly below the L/S one.

*happy grin*

*hugs Isilme again*

That was absolutely beautiful. I adore it, and I adore you.

2003-04-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

Finally tried the Fullerton's Chocolate Buffet. Went out with Sway today *huge grin* Thank you for making that reservation! :)

This is what was there:

Meringue and passionfruit syrup, in an egg- made to look like one :)
Passionfruit tart
Chocolate bread and butter pudding
Crystallised chestnut, alcoholic cream brulee, topped with chocolate
Oreo Cheesecake (Pretty universal :) )

And, the most interesting bit of it was:
Hot Chocolate, made on the spot with milk. There were five different types of chocolate to choose from. And they whisk the hot chocolate. :)

Atmosphere: They have a jazz singer, a piano player, and a double bass player.

Met Le Xian and another VJ schoolmate there *waves* They were sitting behind us. Have to thank said VJ schoolmate :) If she hadn't gone to get more food, Le Xian would never have seen me. :)

Also had:

Haagen Dasz's Midnight Chocolate at the Esplanade.
Thanks to Risa for the introduction. :) Now I think I'm obsessed with that ice cream.
(And I can't seem to find it in any Cold Storage :( )

Review of Esplanade's newest Art installation: Revolting.
Bambis. In rainbow fabric.
Four of those monstrosities, suspended above the floor, so you can't help but look at them.
Equally revolting goats with orange horns.

Also, have discovered that the luminous spheres floating on the pools outside the Esplanade actually move. They're lit up and anchored by means of three cables, but they can be pushed and batted around.

*looks innocent* Did I say it was from personal experience?

There's a walkway across both the Esplanade pools, made by slabs of rock laid at intervals across the width of the pool. :)

Walked into My Humble House simply to see the decor. Green hangings. Blue lights on the wall. Pink feathers on nylon at the doorway. Scarily high-backed chairs.

Oh, and if anyone's planning on going to the Esplanade soon, there's 15% off the bill at the Esplanade restaurant next to the tatami shop.

Sway read a men's magazine which had instructions on how to make an Origami Boulder. Directions: Crush up a piece of paper :)
*laughter*

I learnt more about the social strata at the California Fitness Gym today than I ever thought I'd know.

Could not believe how fast time passed tonight!

Sway and I have scarily similar thought patterns. We passed by two guys walking together, and an identical thought took form in both our minds. o.O... Either that, or those two were really obvious.

Oh, Professor! Snape had exactly the same role in the stories we wrote. I conclude that we Snape fans think alike. ;D

2003-04-25T01:58:00.000-07:00

Hobbits Eating Tofu!

Went out with the bhb gang on Wednesday, 23rd April. Went to Sakae Sushi at the Heeren! Almost murdered JN, who said I should be murdering WB.

SY was estranged from chopsticks from the entire night. @.@ And how. Also took especial delight in rearranging the strawberry tarts to their best advantage.

Oh, and Sakae Sushi now puts fruit and cakes on the conveyor belt.

KT had an ice cream tempura, much to our amusement.

JN and I were the only ones who agreed that “parading” was a suggestive word.

XJ… I have nothing to say to you… and your fascination with the darker aspect of chain bracelets. O.o

There was no mushroom tempura. HY and I were :(

Ended up playing our usual involuntary game of Broken Telephone. That’s how “hobbits eating tofu” and other howlers came about.

*shifty-eyed expression* I wasn’t completely responsible for that one.

Took 10 minutes to decide whether or not to take a Neoprint.

Saw a cute guy in HMV! ^____^ Although *glares* HY and XJ said he looked girly. *wails* He did not! He looked like a gorgeous combination of HP and DM!

*imagines the Professor’s horrified expression*

Was especially good since all of us managed to come. It’s amazing how difficult it is to synchronise 8 schedules, especially when 2 of the 8 are working on schedules that are only revealed to them week by week! :(

But it was great. :)

2003-04-24T19:49:00.000-07:00

This morning, of all mornings, the memories of Sabana Cove are strongest in my mind.

I remember the bicycle rides from our room to the main hotel, the pool, the grassy fields, the orchard visit, how honey rose apples are the euphemistic name for the fruit we would otherwise call the jambu, the morning sea, whose surface crinkles the way I imagine cream would, the docks that ran all the way to our room, the way you could look at the bay from the swimming pool, the spider on the wall the last day I was there, the pier deep within the mangroves, the lighthouse, the tiny emerald of a pool outside our row of rooms, the way the sky looks of an evening, the climbing flowers that twined across our trellis. I don’t know what brought it on. I think it was the light falling across my office this morning, much the same way light looks where the mangroves grow and children skip stones across rivers. That’s why I remembered it. Odd to think of it now, because where I am is as far from where I was as I am ever going to get.

First Ridiculous Observation of Day

Last night, when I was planning for Shadow of Innocence, for some curious reason, I kept thinking about the Backstreet Boys’ “As Long as You Love Me”.

Especially the part that goes, "I tried to hide it so that no one knows, but I guess it shows, when you look into my eyes... What you did and where you're coming from, I don't care... As long as you love me, baby..."

*smirks* Considering it’s partly L/S implied, the "what you did and where you're coming from" is pretty appropriate. :)

2003-04-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

I Solemnly Swear I Will Try My Best To Write a Proper Entry.

Fiction Updates

Have now partly bastardized my blog and made it part writing-record.

Fic I Really Must Finish, Darn It

I have to finish this fic for Ratal, named, most unoriginally, “Shadow of Innocence”. It is going to win a slew of Badfic! Awards.

If we have a Ratal Writing Contest, I vote my fic for:

1. Longest and Most Unnecessary Title
Its full title is: (say it all in one breath! I dare you!)

The Deepwood Years: Shadow of Innocence (Don’t Know Why)

*counts* That’s 9 words! A title!

*laughter*

2. Most Gratuitous References
Contains, besides Endless Characterization, Never-Ending Angst, Pity the Protagonist stunts, gratuitous L/S references, equally gratuitous LOTR references, and especially gratuitous Legolas insults, also a gratuitous HP reference.

3. Most Sustained and Adamant Lack of Any Action Whatsoever
It begins with someone in a tree. It ends with said someone still in the tree.
An awful lot of beating around the bush, wouldn’t you say? The readers would put down roots! That is, if they hadn’t wilted by then.

4. The Treebeard, Shepherd of the Forest Award for Endless Dialogue and No Action Whatsoever

I also vote the final product Highly Horrifying, as I took a week with it and still came up with this drivel.

You Can Have it All!

Thank Ratal. Due to it, I’ve posted my first *cough* fic, my first wedding fic – I solemnly swear that they are completely unrelated… oh wait, they are related, but only in name. *smirk*

Uncomfortably True Prediction of What the Fanfiction and/or Fiction Police Would Do To My Stories
Inspired by Risa. You rule. You also made my day. *huge grin*

“This plot is not moving.”
“Do you mean you’ve only noticed now? We’re in a Narration Rut. Can’t you see the Pity the Protagonist signs a mile away? Prepare for reams and reams of Completely Gratuitous Backstory.”

And Now You Are Prepared…

I wrote that. *points*
This makes a drabble look like a full-length novel!
(And look! There are three of these creatures today!)

#1: “No,” she said, eyes flashing, “I’m going online. I’m going to wallow in other peoples’ misery and feel much better about myself, thank you.”

#2: After all my years alive, I have come to the conclusion that life is much easier if you treat it as one huge cosmic joke.
(wait. This sounds familiar. Am I plagiarizing unconsciously?)

#3: “Destroying the hen-house. Frightening farmers. Loosing thirty shafts without hitting a single target. All in one afternoon’s worth of archery practice.”
The culprit remained silent.
“Is there anything you can’t do.”

2003-04-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

An Owl for the Professor, Coming Right Up!
(Only the Professor could decipher my horrible scrawling)

*embarrassed smile* Professor? When I first saw SugarQuill linked on your site, I thought you were a R/H fan.

*flees down the corridors, trips over Mrs. Norris, runs into Filch, gets detention! Ha ha he thinks he’s being evil when he consigns me to the Dungeons! He is so wrong!*

Harry Potter RolePlaying.
With LiveJournals.

I have never seen any RPG so complete, so in character, so downright funny, as this one.

Go read the Weasleys! Better than Zonko’s Joke Shoppe any day!

Oh… Poor Arthur Weasley! That is so damn sad!

*worships Arthur*

Which suddenly brings to mind Arthur Weasley/Lucius Malfoy, which exists, and yes, dating back from their Hogwarts Days.

Ah, Professor, you see my favourite preoccupation coming to the fore again: the compulsion to make a comprehensive HP Worst Pairings list!

*Everyone else flees in horror, except the Professor, who has a cast-iron constuition, and an iron will. If the Professor flees - the Professor does not flee. The Professor merely takes her leave. The Professor is merely annoyed at my insufferable youthful enthusiasm, and extreme childishness, and is wise enough not to put up with it.*

Also, Snape/Nazgul exists, much to my intense horror. I like them both very much (apart, thank you), but the thought of it just… just…

Reasoning circuits fused.

Anyway. There’s Nazgul/Dementor.

Hey, who says opposites attract?

I have come to the Very Sad conclusion that Arthur Weasley is the kind of father a child will love passionately from the ages of 0 to 10, and promptly, upon the age of 13, find a penultimate embarrassment.

Completely Bizarre Connection of the Day
(Pardon the sacrilege, Professor)

What do Severus Snape and Legolas, son of Thranduil have in common?

Screaming fangirls.
Mary Sues All Over Them in the fandom.

*giggles*

Professor! Here I come telling tales like a good little Slytherin! *points* The Harry Potter Blame Somebody Else Challenge!

Oh, by a Slytherin's honor!

I have the ultimate Humiliating Erised Moment for Draco!

He Looks In and Sees The Weasleys!

*screams* *shock* *horror*
(All mine. Not his. He'd just go a little paler.)

"Never enough money, but more than enough love.
And what kind of clothes you wore never mattered, because there were people who would love you for what you were, not for what you wore."

(And yes, I know people don't love people for wearing clothes!)

[And yes, this bad idea is All Mine, too. As are many of my bad ideas.]

Professor, my profuse apologies. You’re probably the only one reading this who understands the sacrilege this is.

I Blame It All On The:

ATTACK OF THE RABID PLOT BUNNY!

You are the killer rabbit of Caerbannog. You are a
foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent who
attacks all who approach with intent to kill
and who strikes fear into the hearts of men.

Which Monty Python's Quest For the Holy Grail character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Oops, sorry, wrong bunny.
Anyway, time for a Totally Useless Fact of Day!

Rabbits are Rodents!

Even More Useless Fact of Day

I didn't Know That Til skye told me.
After a Monty Python episode.
Which was Fun. *evil grin*
And the rabbit is so unbelievably fluffy. I mean, freaky.

This is the Bunny!

(sounds like an Official Fanfic U motto, alright! :) )

*pets the Nuzgul*

It's a Ringwraith Bunny!

*intolerable perkiness*

Oh, how I found it?

*evil grin*

I christen myself the Worst (as in most Obsessive) LJ/Blog Stalker among Anyone I Know, and hereby present the evidence:

Camilla Sandman’s LJ! Yes, she of OFUM fame! *smile smile smile*

Awwwwww! Look at Cam’s icon! A Nuzgul!

*cuddles it again*

To round this off:

Weird Thought of Day

Sharity Elephant is like the Singaporean Barney the Dinosaur.
Except with a social conscience and more pastel-coloured friends!

Now I bet that looked normal next to everything else in this post.

2003-04-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

Reality Intrudes
Or, What I Did At Work (and Out of It, although a great many people would say I am Always Out of It)

My Name Is (Rhymes with Tallulah)

“Hello, good morning. This is Rhymes with Tallulah from [Where I Work].”

“Hello, are you Rhymes with Tallulah?”

*falls over* Isn’t that what I just said?

Quote of the last 24 Hours

“When you come home, you’re so tired that you end up watching TV. After a while, instead of you watching the TV, the TV is watching you.”
- SS (from my workplace)

Hell Just Froze Over, or, The Day I Felt Sorry for Legolas

It hurt reading this fic. Or rather, the parts of it that were put up on marysues. Don’t worry, they’re the PPC (Plot Protectors Continuum). So they’re anti-Sue.

I felt sick.

Reading that fic.

And I don’t like him. >.o

But ow…

I may not like him, but he’s part of a world I love.

No one deserves that fate.

Not even him.

< / dramatic drivel >

2003-04-24T07:46:00.000-07:00

Fandoms Inflamare

Caution: The following post mentions slash, rape, incest, murder, and my completely unwanted views on people who are involved with writing and criticizing them.
(Oh, what a hypocrite I am.) Also, feel free to flame. My observations on the LOTR and HP fandoms are half-baked, and the flames would most certainly make them well done.

Personally, I think: once you write rapefic, or anything non-consensual – you’ve lost any moral authority you have to object to Weasleycest.

I cannot see how consensual Weasleycest is worse than a rapefic.

I cannot see how slash is worse than murder, which is written about with impunity.

At least slash is consensual. (And I said slash. Not rape.)

I do not care if you, as a fanfic writer, want to write about Legolas/Aragorn or Boromir/Faramir or Theoden/Denethor, Weasley/Weasley or Weasley/Weasely/Weasley, as long as you warn the reader. I also do not care if you wish to write about a sapphire-haired princess with golden eyes who saves Legolas, Aragorn, Faramir, Frodo, Gimli, Smeagol, Boromir and any Random Orcs from certain doom (all the while getting rid of that Ring). It rocks somebody’s boat, so somebody wrote it. And some will read it and like it.

Dumbledore’s socks. Was that a rant?

But I also think Mary Sue should be a genre.

But is this the literary equivalent of recognizing Palestine as an independent nation if all it did to justify its worthiness was terrorist attacks? There is a lot of similar imagery in the MS-critique-dom. “Hijacking canon”, “invading a fandom” – battle imagery.

Also I would like to say that the HP fandom is much more interesting than the LOTR one. The LOTR fandom makes me laugh harder, but the HP fandom makes me laugh and makes me think.

[Note: A comparison of the HP and LOTR fandoms is not and should not be taken as a substitute for a comparison of Tolkien and Rowling. Yet.]

My problems with the LOTR fandom

Far too many character-based fans, and not enough Tolkien/LOTR fans. There is a vast difference. (My heavens, what a hypocrite I am.)
Far too many hardcore Tolkienites, and not enough people who want to have fun.
Comparatively stifled views on fanfiction and other creativity. Relative to the Potter fandom.
Major qualification: Either that, or I’ve found the fun people on HP and have not seen the good LJ-ers in LOTR.

I’ve stopped reading LOTR fanfic.

How the LOTR fandom is better than the Potter fandom

1.Tradition.
2.Intellectual authority. (Of which I have none. And also I do not think that it matters.)
3.Way cooler LJ icons.
4.People who know how to take Mary Sues apart. And they have very good ways of teaching you how Not to MS, which is absolutely invaluable. I love this fandom for that.

Cons of the Potter Fandom
Some of the ugliest flame wars I have ever seen.

But pardon me. Am probably biased here as am both a Potter and LOTR ~~obsessee~~ fan.

Also am sure that if I think for longer I will be able to find more LOTR pros and Potter cons, but not right now.

Also, this is fandom only. Movies are a completely different thing. I’ve watched FOTR more than twenty times, TT five times, but I’ve only caught the first Potter movie thrice, and the second once only. So all in all the total number of LOTR viewings far outnumber the Potter ones. All my viewings for any one LOTR movie outweigh all of my Potter viewings.

Strike Two for the Master
Tolkien writes fabulous poetry. And he has better names.

Final Question: Tolkien or Rowling?

My mind knows I should say Tolkien.

But this is what I think:

My answer is a resounding Rowling.

Because I am in love with LOTR, but my heart belongs to Harry. And to his fandom.

2003-04-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

Completely Bizarre Reason for Putting This Quiz Up

My grandfather once had this exact picture up on his bedroom wall. Next to the picture of my mom and I feeding ducks.

Noon - You are pleasant, friendly, and an overall
nice person. You enjoy the energy and activity
of the daytime, and tend to be very productive.

When are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Intellectual-Sexy....
You are the brains behind every operation, and it
shows. The the precision in which you lure the
boys in is unsurpassed. You need someone as
intelligent as you, which seems to be your
greatest problem, as noone is THAT smart.
Maybe you should lighten up and simply enjoy
things, like the rest of us neanderthals.

What's your brand of sexy?
brought to you by Quizilla

2003-04-24T05:53:00.000-07:00

You are a famous historian. While making a
documentary about King Arthur and the quest for
the Holy Grail, you were unexpectedly slain by
a random knight.

Which Monty Python's Quest For the Holy Grail character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

*falls over laughing*

The Master of Puppets (The art of making people
believe what you wanted was their idea)

What Type of Slytherin Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

As if.

Hidden Genius

What Type of Gryffindor Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I wish.

Legolas - Huzzaz

Which of the Seven Deadly Lord of the Rings Sins Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Ha ha ha. Pick the most Stupid Answers in the quiz, and you get this!

2003-04-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

*giggles* Because am singularly evil, I made icons.

Iconifying is immense fun. :)

I adore ImageReady! :)

*giggles*

2003-04-20T07:27:00.000-07:00

*grins at Ange|us* Yeah! We should start 9 3/4! And we'd have 2 times the brains 5566 and F4 would! *grin* Oh, they should have a group named after Napier's constant: e=2.718. (Courtesy of the handy scientific calculator next to my computer. *pats calculator* )

*consoles* I can see your blog, though. Blogger's as erratic as Moaning Myrtle's moods! ... But if Avada Kedavra worked on blogs - the Net would die! *horror*

Even More Quizzes...

Which Plant Are You?

this quiz was made by Erin

You are Sirius Black! The dead sexy ex-convict. You
like long walks on the beach and possibly hate
Snape with a passion^^ Go you!

Which of the marauders are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

But… I don’t hate Snape with a passion… What I feel for him does involve passion, but not in that sense! *laughter*

The Lupin image on this quiz was cuter, though. :)

I was Nothing on the Which Enemy of the Christian Church Are You? quiz. Apparently, I am one of their Worst Enemies - as even scientists, philosophers and atheists can with time be converted, but I am Utterly Untouchable.

*laughter*

Oh my God. I’m a… true-blue Apathetic Singaporean!

I was a Geek on the Which High School Stereotype Are You? quiz. Considering I have a scientific calculator on my table at the moment, even as I am not going to school, says one, or both, of two things:

(1) I'm asking for this result.
(2) I am extremely lazy about clearing up my table.

*laughter*

2003-04-20T06:31:00.000-07:00

Music of the Moment:

Three Doors Down, “When I’m Gone”

Totally Unnecessary Explanation of Day

I think I love this song because I first saw a LOTR Haldir icon with these lyrics. I thought they fit Haldir’s situation perfectly. And adored the icon. I didn’t know the lyrics were a song then – but I found out later. :)

Thank you, Isilme! *hugs* It was amazing being at your place today! :) Your mom made wonderful chocolate chip cookies *arch expression* *giggles*, kiwi and mint konnyaku, fairy cake *grin* (That’s what I’ve called it :) ), as well as corn ice cream, lychee and honey dessert! *delight*

Had a wonderful day today! Saw Elear, Serry and Daemonsson for the first time in my life. Elear and Dae ended up in a series of compromising positions, much to my delight. Serry has a beautiful voice. And I was amazed when I heard Elear’s voice for the first time. It was lovely. :) Oh, and Dae has a delightful laugh.

Day ended up with Dae in my pants - literally, though she didn't fit quite well, Serry in hobbit clothes, Elear with an Elvish braid in a magenta ribbon, Isilme gorgeous, and me in an Elrond dress. *laughter* We wrote extremely romantic trash *giggles*, strangely synchronised!

Serry did a hilarious sketch which had Hyanda and Laire sailing off to Valinor to escape Eleris’ fangirlism, and Lev and Serry anxious about their Fangirlisted Fate. *giggles* And Serry, you can draw.

All the best with BoroLeggy, cait! :)

*grins at Ange|us*

(Yes, I know that's sashimi, but it looked really tasty) Anyway, I like salmon sashimi ;D

*giggles*

What can I say, Professor? You're an inspiration to me :)

2003-04-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

*grin* Happy Birthday, Anya!

*whimpers* Though it is belated here...

2003-04-13T11:54:00.000-07:00

Look of the Moment:

Wonder

Mood of the Moment:

Glomp-Happy!

*glomps Isilme, goldfish, Serry and Daemonsson*

Music of the Moments (Cause I keep playing it over and over again)

Mario Frangoulis and Sarah Connor, Naturaleza Muerta

Huge thanks to Risa. Listened Mario Frangoulis’ CD on her recommendation, and I’ve fallen in love with Track 5: Naturaleza Muerta. He does a duet with Sarah Connor, and her voice is like sunlight. It’s a perfectly radiant song, and it doesn’t matter if I don’t know the words – it’s beautiful.

Note to self: Must trust Risa's taste in books, music and guys more often. Her taste is pretty good. It's just that I happen to take a long while to come around to her point of view. Michael Vartan is cute, Mario Frangoulis has great songs, and Badly Drawn Boy's "You Were Right" is good. *grin* Thank you, Risa. Also must visit bookstores with her more often. Will read books that are interesting and will actually improve thinking. *grin*

Went out with her this afternoon ;D Tried the garlic and lemon mussels at Mos Burger. Could taste neither garlic nor lemon, but a whole lot of breadcrumbs. Just as well. I like breadcrumbs. ;D Went to Kino with Risa and hit the history/philosophy section. Rued not reading all these books when was studying history. Saw a gorgeous book on the Roman Empire. *cries* But the price... Bought a book by Bernard Lewis, "The Assassins", which states that " 'Assassin' is now a common noun in most European languages, but it first came to the West from Arabic around the time of the Crusades, when it was the name given to a secretive Islamic sect feared by the Crusaders and the Muslim establishment alike. The Assassins were the first group to make planned, systematic and long-term use of murder as a political weapon, and their ideals and methods have since found many imitators."

Went to Gramaphone, and bought the Chamber of Secrets DVD! *huge grin* And that Mario Frangoulis CD. *smile*

Ran into some S44 students, and then went to talk to XJ at Kino. *grin* She's observant. *laughter* Quite so. :)

I officially proclaim Ange|us my Potter and AR Professor! *applause* Thank you for the HP tutoring session :)

And about the guys we like dropping their trousers? *giggles* Guess it's just the sex appeal. *giggles*
Now I've read what you wrote about Lupin abusing Lucius, I'm annoyed with myself for not watching that show. *laughter*
It's going to be even funnier after watching Prisoner of Azkaban. *huge grin*

Ooh, aingeal *grin* I love your oekakis. Especially the Elear in the Bath. ;D He looks gorgeous there! :) Heh, both in the bath and in the art ;D And chibi-Elear plushie is adorable! ;D Thank you for being an amazing inspiration to me - and a fantastic source of support *hugs*

2003-04-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

| Noise | : Hysterical laughter, by Bro and I

Mood of the Moment:

Deeply Amused

Bro found this at blacksway.net. It's a D&D-style guide to Barney.

Barney, Purple Dinosaur

Special Qualities: Aura of intolerable idiocy; +10 resistance to all spells; Power word: I love you

Climate: Hell and N-America (basically the same thing)

Barney is a demon from the lower planes, a great purple and plush deformed dinosaur. It is the enemy of intelligent lifeforms, eternally seeking out small children and feeding on their natural intelligence and curiousity.

Combat

Barney will normally attack with it's two great paws, each inflicting 1d20 points of damage. If a victim is struck with either paw and fails a FORT roll, they are dragged to Barney and may be hugged next round. A hug inflicts 3d10 points of damage each round until the victim or Barney is killed.

Barney may also utter a 'Power Word: I love you' once every three rounds. Any adults hearing the power word make a WILL roll or flee in terror for 1d6 rounds. Any child hearing the power word must make a WILL roll or be controlled by Barney. He or she will thereafter follow Barney's commands with a delightful smile, and is subject to continued brainwashing. Each day that a child is in Barney's control they may be taught another lesson by Barney, decreasing their intelligence and wisdom by 1. When either statistic reaches zero, the child becomes a mindless Barney zombie! Barney zombies follow his commands with love and a delightful smile, and eagerly spend gold coins on Barney merchandise.

Barney is constantly surrounded by an aura of intolerable idiocy. Any individual within 20' must make a WILL roll once per round or lose 1 point of intelligence. When intelligence reaches zero, the victim falls to the ground in a quivering, gibbering wreck. Intelligence may be regained at the rate of 1 point per day afterwards. In addition, the aura tends to make spells go awry, tactics to fail, and mundane items to become intelligent with their own insipid personalities.

Habitat

Barney resides in a great temple and television studio on the lowest plane of the Abyss, with areas extending into every lower plane and prime material plane via transdimensional gates. He is constantly surrounded there by 1d100 Barney zombies clutching plush dolls and lollipops, which they may use as +2 maces in combat.

All too true. *smirk*

2003-04-12T03:35:00.000-07:00

Mood of the Moment:

Evil

Dad's birthday was yesterday. Bro called back from Australia to wish Dad Happy Birthday. Dad was amazed that he rememberd, til bro told Dad that it was actually bro's friend who'd reminded him. *falls off chair* Why does my brother's friend know all this?

Heh, goldfish, rest your feet! ;D

Have you ever wanted to write something because the idea was so strong in your head, and yet paradoxically not wanted to write because what you saw on the paper never matched what you saw in your head? :) I get that all the time.

2003-04-11T23:38:00.000-07:00

Music of the Moment: Suzanne Vega, "Tom's Diner".

Thank you, Risa! ;D I've been looking for this song for years! :) I never knew who sang it, or what it was, I just knew I liked it. :) Thank you. You have solved a mystery for me :) *grin*

*evil grin* Yay Ratal! Levizt/Serry forever! :)

And, Ange|us:

*evil grin*

This is for you.

*grin* ;D From taradiane's L J.

~~In other news, I think I'm turning into a Toboe/Tsume 'Shipper.~~

Oh yes! Watched Wolf's Rain #10 last night! I adore that series! ^______________^
Tsume is so cool! Toboe is so sweet! :) And that owl is a scary as that darned Rabbit from Monty Python! :) Thank you, Shuwen *grin* Love that series! :)

2003-04-11T03:28:00.000-07:00

Music of the Moment: Kasey Chambers, "Not Pretty Enough"

*grins at Ange|us* Thank you for the tip-off! *grin* I hadn't known that :) Once tried to watch Armageddon for Jason Isaacs, but by the time I looked, his part had come and gone. [ Yes, it was that tiny. ] ;D

Oh, yeah. ;) Yay CoS! You have to watch the Apologetic!Lucius and Harry scene on the tape I've got! :) And Jason Isaacs got an awful lot of interview time on that Making-of. ;D Apparently he's a really nice guy in real life. *laughter*

Oh, and thank you for introducing me to ~~Alan Rickman's~~ Texas' In Demand. Bro now likes the song. *giggles* Even if he isn't an AR fan, he thinks the song's good! :)

Heh. Revelation time. *looks at Ange|us* Truth is, I started out on H/D. Though for some reason I became tired of it quite fast. I guess I'm not a One True Pairing Person *laughter* Er, what I read now is distinctly embarrassing. *dark laughter* I like Harry. I like Snape. And... (I think you've figured it out by now.) Eek.

2003-04-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Mood of the Moment:

Enchanted

Ecstatic

Music of the Moment:

Donny Osmond, "I’ll Make A Man Out of You", Mulan OST

Sample lyrics:

You must be swift as the coursing river
With all the force of a great typhoon
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

Thank you, Aingeal! Just learnt what the Rectangular Marquee Tool in Adobe is for. ;D What I *don’t* know about that program could fill books!

Discovered what Jelita in Buona Vista is really like on the inside. ;D I thought it'd be as boring as the shops that were in front, but I went in today and had a pleasant surprise. The stores in there are beautiful! Well-lit, and one furnishing store, especially, is the kind you could spend hours in. :) Bought Dad's birthday present. *evil grin*

Curious (and Irrelevant) Fact of Day

Discovered that Singapore has an embassy in Kazakhstan today. *eyes widen*

The odd things I find out at work.

2003-04-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

*smiles at Ange|us* And people do read what you write! ;D Self included! ;D Congratulations on Chapter 11 ;D And writing because you like writing is what writing is all about. *huge grin*

*hugs Claire* Hang in there! House arrest has gotta end soon!

2003-04-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

My heavens! Just keep following this link warren. It's an entire L J community of HP Roleplayers! From Draco, Snape, Harry - it's amazing! Mrs. Weasley is there, as is Ginny, Fred, George, Ron... and they're all scarily in character. All the time. There is not one personal post up on all those L Js. Whoa...

2003-04-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

Yay! A Wolf's Rain L J Community! ;D

... and Someone... has started writing Kiba/Hige.

2003-04-09T06:33:00.000-07:00

Song of Moment: Shania Twain, "Ka-Ching!"
(not joking)

*grins at Ange|us* Now, I would never have thought of those pairings. ;D Your sis is *whistles* ;D

Tales from the (Office) Cube!

The Auditors Are Coming!!!
*panic panic panic*
If only I knew what that meant. :)

All I know is that I suddenly have an awful lot of documents to shred.

Later:

Did You Know?

That 1 Bag of To Be Shredded Paper takes one hour to shred?

Especially when said shredder only takes 3 or 4 pages at one go?

I had two bags of said paper…

I made friends with the shredder. But my computer was lonely :(

I and the shredder became very well acquainted.

Every 15 minutes, I would have to clear out its innards because the box for the shreds frequently spilled over and sent the whole machine into paralysis. Climbed into said box and stepped on shreds to crush them down.

Several times.

Is this what making hay is like?

Noteworthy Person of Day

My Shredder Cheerleader, a lovely colleague who, when seeing just how much I had to shred, said, “Enjoy”. *smirk* Then came in and encouraged me. :) Twice after.

There was a massive queue for lunch at the canteen today, courtesy of an out-and-out thunderstorm. It snaked past the entire canteen. Was unfortunately on tail end of said queue. Thankfully, managed to get food.

At 1.37pm this afternoon, a horrible smell of something burning filled the air.
People started popping out of their cubicles, going, "What’s that smell?" "What’s burning" "Is there something on fire?"
Totally irrelevant and unwarranted "Hot in Herre" quote - "The roof! The roof! The roof is on fire!"
Anyway, it was popcorn. Someone had been heating popcorn and overdid it.

*smile smile smile* Found Monty Python and the Holy Grail's script!

Shall now evilly quote!

"Come and see the violence inherent in the system. Help, help, I'm being repressed! Did you see him repressing me, then?"

What an Insult

"You mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"

I taste like Bread.

I am a staple in almost everyone's diet. Friends like me are a complement to any other friends I get on with almost everyone, remaining mostly in the background, but providing substance when it would otherwise be lacking. What Flavour Are You?

2003-04-08T05:57:00.000-07:00

Mood of the Moment: Cheerful

Icon either from draco//noctis or iconify!.

Music of the Moment: 3 Doors Down, "When I'm Gone"

Sample: "So hold me when I'm here
Right me when I'm wrong
Hold me when I'm scared
And love me when I'm gone"

Singularly Cheesy Line

"What you don't understand, Jake... is that love is like a wildflower... on the edge of a cliff."
- Simone, Simone. (yes, peculiar)

The long beans at today's dinner were flash-fried, not fried.

...

*slinks away behind the gas canister*

Question of Day

What on earth are dialogue tags?

A delegation from China was at my workplace today. Entire second level was off-limits til it was disinfected. And they’re not allowed to use the lifts. Thank heavens for palatial staircases.

My supervisor gave me chocolate teddy bear cookies *smile smile smile* Because we were not gonna have tea-break today, due to said Chinese delegation’s visit.

Completely Pointless Quiz of Day

You are Chicken Ramen! Though you have friends, and
are somewhat sociable, you see people around
you that are always better than you in one area
or another. Though mostly happy, This often
causes you to be resentful of those people and
of the world for not giving you one thing that
you're good at. Being somewhat overambitious,
You often focus more on your schoolwork and get
good grades, from your drive to be the best.
You have a great work ethic, however. Keep
looking, and don't get discouraged!

What Flavor of Ramen Noodles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

One-off Observation Post

As Regards Religion
(Scroll down past this, it might be advisable. Go read hp100. ;D )

I think of religion sometimes as the ultimate kiasuism. Making sure you get into Heaven. (If there is a Heaven.)

My ideal religion: You are judged by your intent and not your results. Everyone has a chance to redeem themselves, but with adequate penance done. There is no such thing as, believe and you will be redeemed. It’s repent, and take actions to show your repentance, and you will be redeemed. If you do not believe, you are not damned. You are judged by the good and the evil you have done, not by your beliefs.