Tuesday, October 31, 2006
I realise that some people actually read what I write.
Darn! Must edit bad english!
Like a flasher, I show some skin and then want to cover up and run away.
I knew that post was a bad idea...
Ah well. At least my inner exhibitionist gets a kick out of flashing.
Stop now before you embarrass yourself.
Pass me the paperbag.
planted @
10:20 PM
Monday, October 30, 2006
Now here, now there.
With twisted words, threading
Through I shall finely
Twist again.
Layers - what fun!
Shades - how lovely!
Gradient, softly
I delight in ambiguity.
Now a playground in my head
Plays carousel music all the livelong day.
A fish gulps air.
Moisture melts on skin -
So pale!
Fingers tingle
With glee or frostbite
And can't stop stroking the keys.
An anthem march, a marching beat,
A beating drum, a drumming, pounding, hounding sound -
There goes the parade.
The white man with a white face
Bleached blank like the moon
Shoots fireworks into the sky -
Scorch it! Torch it! Watch it burn!
The night is red and set ablaze.
Smoke mingles with mist, mist with vapour,
Vapour with fog and rain -
All finely falling.
And to the blind, the homeless, the destitute,
To those left in the dark in the street,
Cold, cold, cold,
Shiverers and quiverers all.
To the frozen and numb,
Beaten down and dumb,
Add a touch of melancholy -
Glory in your tragedy.
There, it is finished.
The wind wrenched the last leaves
From the trees today.
Their bodies are completely bare.
planted @
3:53 AM
The Wanderer
The lonely wanderer prays often for compassion
And for mercy from Lord God; but for a long time
Destiny decrees that with a heavy heart he must dip
His oars into icy waters, working his passage over the sea.
He must follow the paths of exile. Fate is inexorable!
The wanderer's mind moved upon adversity
And savage slaughter and the ruins of kinsmen. He said,
'Time and again at the day's dawning
I must mourn all my afflictions alone.
There is no one still living to whom I dare open
The doors of my heart. I have no doubt
That it is a noble habit for a man
To shroud all his heart's feelings with silence,
Whatever his impulse, his inclinations.
The weary in spirit cannot withstand fate;
Nothing comes of rankling resentment.
For this reason any man ambitious for renown
Confines his unhappiness to his own heart.
So ever since the day I covered my gold-friend
With dark clods of earth, I have had to keep
My thoughts to myself, and this despite my grief,
Cut off from free kinsmen, so far away
From my own dear country; for I left that land,
Ploughed the icy waves with winter in my heart;
Depressed and despondent I journeyed far and wide
Hunting for the hall of a generous gold-giver...
For a man who would welcome me into his mead-hall,
Give me good cheer, (for I boasted no friends)
Entertain me with delights. He who has experience it
Knows what a cruel companion sorrow can be
To any man who has few loyal friends.
For him are the ways of exile, in no wise twisted gold!
For him is a frozen body, in no wise the fruits of the earth!
He remembers hall-tretainers and how in his youth
He had taken treasure from the hands of his gold-friend
After the feast. Those joys have all vanished.
A man who lacks advice for a long while
From his lord and friend lives thus in his loneliness:
In restless sleep he dreams that he clasps
And kisses his lord, and lays hands and head
Upon his lord's knee just as he had done
When he approached the gift-throne previously.
Then the lonely wanderer wakes again
And sees the dark waves surging around him,
The sea-birds bathing and spreading their feathers,
Snow flakes falling mingled with hail.
Then his wounds lie more heavy in his heart,
Aching for his lord. His sorrows are renewed;
The memory of kinsmen sweeps through his mind;
He welcomes them with songs, eagarly scans
His comrade warriors. Then they melt away again.
Their sprits do not bring many old songs
To his lips. Sorrow and care constantly
Attend the man who must send time and again
His weary heart over the frozen waves.
And thus I cannot understand why in the world
My mind is not tormented
When I brood on the fate of many brave warriors,
How they have suddenly had to leave the mead-hall,
The bold friends and followers. So it is this world
Day by day dwindles, and passes away;
For a man will not be wise until he has suffered
His share of winters in the world. A wise man must be patient,
Neither passionate nor hasty of speech,
Neither rash nor irresolute in battle;
He should not be timid, despairing, grasping,
And never eager to boast before he can implement it.
When it is his turn to boast a man must bide his time
Until he has not doubt in his brave heart
That he has resolved upon the right action.
A wise man must fathom how frightening it will be
When all the riches of the world stand waste,
As now in diverse places in this middle-earth
Old walls stand, tugged at by the winds
And hung with hoar-frost, buildings in decay.
The wine-halls crumble, heartbroken lords
Lie dead, all the proud followers
Have fallen ny the wall. Battle laid claim to some,
Leading them on long journeys; the raven carried one
High over the waters, and one the grey wolf
Devoured; a warrior with downcast face
Hid yet another in an earth-cave.
Thus the Creator laid this world waste
Until the ancient works of the giants were deserted,
Hushed without the hubbub of milling inhabitants.
Then he who contemplates these noble ruins,
And who deeply ponders this dark life,
Wise in his mind, will often remember
The countelss slaughters of the past and speak these words:
Where has the horse gone? Where the man? Where the giver of gold?
Where is the feasting-place? And where the pleasures of the hall?
I mourn the gleaming cup, the warrior in his corselet,
THe glory of the prince. How time has passed away,
Darkened under the shadow of night even as if it had never been.
Where the beloved warriors were, the now stands a wall
Of miraculous height, carved with serpent forms.
The savage ash-spears, avid for slaughter,
Have claimed all the warriors - in exorable fate!
Storms crash against these rocky slopes;
Falling sleet and snow fetter the world;
Winter howls, then darkness draws on,
The night-shadow casts gloom and brings
Fierce hailstorms from the north to frighten men.
Nothing is ever easy in the kingdom of earth,
The world beneath the heavens is in the hands of fate.
Worldly possessions are ephemeral, friends pass away,
Here man is transient and kinsman transient,
The whole world becomes a wilderness.'
So spoke the wise man in his heart as he sat apart in secret thought.
He who is wise adheres to his beliefs; a brave man
Will not reveal the torments in his heart
Before he knows their remedy. It is best for a man to seek
Comfort and compassion from the Father in Heaven where we will all find security.
planted @
3:16 AM
Sunday, October 29, 2006
it's halloween - the ultimate party season in north america. woohoo.
i went to a party hosted by mcgill's ssmu (student union) which had dance floors on two levels and a steamy little bar (for people to hook up and/or make out) in the basement.
almost got trampled getting in cos there was a looooong queue leading to the entrance of shatner and the mob was drunk and rowdy and agressive. we were pushed around so badly we lost control over our feet and were compelled to go with the crowd. there were some really BIG people at the back pushing their way in front to get ahead of the queue, which pissed of the rest of the people, which resulted in everyone shouting and swearing at each other. i felt like i was in a mosh pit, pressed up against all those sweaty bodies, at the mercy of momentum. some people took the moshing in their stride, using the time to chat up other girls/ guys. others engaged in opportunistic groping. one guy gave up queing half way, yelled himself hoarse trying to sell his ticket and actually managed to make a 2 dollar profit from his enterprise. i think someone puked/ wanted to puke. two girls fainted out of cold/ exhaustion.
i got separated from my group in the queue somewhere along the way cos some people from the back had managed to squeeze pass the surrounding mass and wedge themselves in between us. my friends were pressed up against the building wall and rapidly swept towards the entrance. they ended up far ahead of me. i was dragged to the opposite side of the queue (roughly 6-7 abreast)which moved at a slower pace.
i started queuing at 11pm and only got through the doors at 12 plus. grr. was in such a black mood that i ended up screaming too. i screamed at the people behind me to STOP PUSHING because i had really had enough. it was so embarrassing to see how educated men and women (students!!) were behaving so immaturely.
inside the building, i rejoined my group somewhat placated (excited that i had finally got in) and we headed for beer in an attempt to enjoy the atmosphere. someone then proceeded to knock into sylvia spilling beer all over her jap school girl costume (white shirt). i ended up gulping as much of my beer as i could to avoid spillage so i didn't really get to enjoy it slowly.
that said, i did enjoy looking at people in their costumes. there were lots of wierd and wonderful things ranging from kinky little numbers (catwoman, cabaret girls, cleopatra, medusa) and sexy uniform-themed pieces (nurses, french maids, school girls, pilots in short short skirts), to cheesy (duh!) things like geek boy - complete with bow tie, nerdy glases & pocket protector, construction-worker girl, danger! caution tape-guy, spongebob & the FORK and the SPOON - two guys with a metal fork and spoon respectively taped to their foreheads.
some people came dressed in mcgill lab coats, some in surgical scrubs (lawyers were surprisingly unpopular). there was an uncanny harry potter look-alike (fully robed), an elvis presley (no michel jackson?), austin powers, dorothy (from the wizard of oz), snow white, cowboys and cowgirls, mexicans (with oversized sombreros), the generic witch, wizard, vampire and bride of frankenstein. i saw at least one flasher (wearing only a thong), a number of cross-dressers (two in jap school girl uniforms who posed for a photo with sylvia), 70s inspired disco get-ups, marilyn monroe amd many more.
the people at the coat check misplaced my coat and took a good 15 min trying to locate it. they found it lying on the floor.
i only got out of the place close to 3am. couldn't take the metro home so i crashed overnight at sylvia's place and borrowed a toothbrush.
university party. woohoo.
planted @
12:58 AM
Thursday, October 19, 2006
McGill University.
i realize now that i haven't taken any photos of mcgill. hah! shall be cheapskate and borrow photos from estella's photo album!
The Roddick Gates - McGill's Main Gateway to its Central Campus
i've been here for 2 and a half months now and i still can't stop marveling at how beautiful mcgill is. maybe i'm biased, but i think it beats the U of Toronto's campus hands down for its old-world european charm. i've fallen in love with it's college vibe and student life-pulse.
everywhere you look, you'll see students on the field - reading, chatting, napping, eating, playing and even painting!
Architecture Students at Work
Each faculty has it's own distinctive "look". I'm just going to give a quick tour of my "chill" places and my "class" places where i get down to serious business.
This is my number one favourite place to catch lunch: The MacDonald-Harrington Architecture Building! It boasts a cosy little student-run cafe in the basement which serves GOOD food for cheap(er). Bring your own mug, and you can get coffee for only 50 cents. They also sell great calzones, pizzas, pitas and a tantalizing assortment of baked goods - chewy fudgy cookies for only one looney a pop:)
Up next, Redpath library - what would i do without tim hortons?
planted @
3:06 AM
Friday, October 13, 2006
i feel empty.
planted @
10:48 AM
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
back from niagara falls and toronto :)
took a night coach to the falls, arrived early in the morning on saturday and had mooncake by the falls at night, watching the water change colour.
stayed over saturday night at a motel. there were 9 of us booked into 2 rooms: one six-person family suite and a two-person private (exclusively for our very lovely couple). the Motel Man suspected that we were sneaking in more than the permitted number of people. we would have paid for the extra person to stay in the 6-person room, but he wouldn't allow it - told us that if we had more than 6 people in the 6-person room, we would have to split into two 4-person rooms instead or risk being evicted. in the end, we staged a (hilarious) distraction involving two groups of people walking out of the room and coming back at separate times and snuck skinny jl in wearing wj's jacket. actually i think the Man knew what we were up to all along but just decided to close one eye to our antics. sometimes you have to resort to sneaky little alternatives to beat the Man when the Man gets unreasonable.
sunday morning was spent grabbing coffee and cookies and riding the rickety greyhound to toronto. our group had split (with three going to buffalo) and then we were four (not counting the couple in room 2 who said that they would sleep in and join us later). our happy little group took a long-ish time wandering around downtown toronto (gawking at the eaton center mega mall) looking for our hostel. the walking directions i printed out were smartly THROWN OUT by mr. arora before he realized that small streets did't show on the free map we got from the subway station control.
three full days of walking the streets really killed my feet and calf muscles. nevertheless, we did most of what we aimed to do in downtown toronto - visiting CN towers, the rogers center, the harbor front (and its associated shops, art exhibitions and museums), trawling the sprawling university of toronto campus, devouring dim sum in chinatown, exploring cheese, chocolate and little jamaica in kensington market, concussing on the rosy grounds of casa loma... my favourite experience was catching the stand-up comedy at yuk-yuk's. 5 acts and one awesome headliner (who verbally assaulted mr. arora for trying to be funny with him). good stuff.
and yes, i finally finally finally had japanese food that looked and tasted reasonably like japanese food.
planted @
2:05 AM
Friday, October 06, 2006
It's thanksgiving.
I have so much to be thankful for.
Been blessed beyond all measure,
Given so much.
I'm ashamed of my selfishness.
Lord, help me to give
Just as you gave me.
planted @
8:14 PM
