Mindless rhyme

Struck by inspiration (or perhaps boredom?) in the middle of my work day,
I start to write, keeping all thoughts of revenue modelling at bay.

But as I stare vacantly at an empty Notepad window,
I realise all my ideas have deserted me, uh-oh!

I wanted to write about celebrations in the week past;
Of friend's birthdays and office anniversaries and how at long last

I've figured out how to work my springform pan
(Yes, I know it's stupidly simple but let me see YOU try it, my man!)

But then I figure the weather outside, after heavy rainfall,
Is just perfect for a warm, hearty lunch and a lazy stroll.

So that, dear reader, is what I shall do now - get some sun,
Some human company and a whole lot of fun!

Happy birthday, UmaThurman!

Even if I say so myself, UmaThurman's no-longer-surprise birthday party was quite fun last night! After a near disaster with the birthday cake (and me threatening to fling myself on the floor and wail loudly), God decided to take my side and help me fix the flourless chocolate cake. Thank goodness for that. Otherwise, the birthday girl would have had to make do with no cake AND no dinner :-)

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In stark contrast to the near disaster described above, the cake that I helped the Thug bake turned out perfectly, without any drama. It was an eggless pineapple cake with some frosting on top, and it was positively yummy! That cake restored my faith in myself, seriously.

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The weather outside today is overcast and gloomy, and I'm tempted to run home right now, get myself a cup of chai and curl up on my chair with a book. I'm beginning to think more and more that a job with a 2-month break, similar to school teaching, is what I should be doing ideally. This 5-days a week, 52-weeks a year job is not what I'm cut out for.

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Finally, here's wishing a very Happy Birthday to UmaThurman. I'm hoping this year brings with it many, many happy beginnings, loads of smiles and a whole bunch of new and exciting experiences for her! Go on, go wish her :-)

Withdrawal pangs

Ideally, the day after you come back from a vacation should be for taking a holiday from your holiday. But I think my boss wouldn't approve of it.

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At the risk of sounding like a psycho stalker, I'd like to point out that the Internet has an interesting way of throwing up things about people that you would've never guessed. No, there have been no discoveries of earth-shattering proportions yet. I'm just saying that there is the possibility.

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House hunting is so much fun when it's not for yourself. Though there is still heartbreak involved, when you fall in love with the perfect house, but you cannot move into it because your lease hasn't expired yet. There are always complications, aren't there?

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Listening to Shakti or Bach make gentle, soothing music is like having joy rush all over you.

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Even though it's light years away, I'm awesomely kicked about Stomp coming to Singapore. YAYYYY!!!!

Yawn

It is easier on some days to have unpleasant conversations than some others. I'm glad I don't need to have one right now, because today would SO not be the day. Today, I would like to sleep for 12 hours at a stretch without anyone to disturb me, without any thoughts of work and modelling and figuring out how much to pay for that darned company, without the phone. But unfortunately for me, it is only a Monday. Clearly the weekend cannot be here soon enough.

It's surprising that I feel this way, because the last two days have pretty much been a black hole of nothingness. Yes, we did trek a wee bit, lie on the beach a fair bit and go on foolhardy crocodile-spotting adventures. But we mainly lolled and did nothing. Which is probably why I'm even more tired - when the body has known a little joy, it craves for much more. Sigh - can I repeat myself and tell you that I wish the weekend were here already?

End to whiney Penguin

Over the last month or so, I have been cribbing to anyone who's been (unfortunately, for them) willing to lend an ear about the bad dreams that keep me up at night, about various changes in my life which are taking some getting used to, about the fact that now I have to actually work for a living (as opposed to faffing before), about how my swimming lessons are scary, about... well, about anything under the sun. While all this while, there are people who I know are going through utter crap in life, only to be smiling every single day through all of it. I think that, truly, is the cue for me to stop whining and get on with it.

So here are my tips to a more cheerful me -
1. Flowers in the house - I realise simple flowers like daisies and chrysanthemums add peace and colour to a room without dominating it. And don't cost a bomb to replace every 3 days.
2. Baking - A friend's birthday this weekend and a colleague's inspirational cupcakes are the nudge that I've needed all this while to get me to warm up my oven, literally. Now I can only hope that particular friend doesn't hold me to this! :-)
3. Cleaning - People who know me know that vacuuming the house is a favourite pastime and a stress-buster. Supplementing this with cleaning out my wardrobe and giving away old clothes will hopefully bring smiles to many faces that I have never seen.
4. Travel - A trip to Kuching is coming up! Yayyy!
5. Mujik like this one.

Any others that you'd like to add?

The Eloquent Sounds of Silence, by Pico Iyer

"Silence, then, could be said to be the ultimate province of trust: it is the place where we trust ourselves to be alone; where we trust others to understand the things we do not say; where we trust a higher harmony to assert itself. We all know how treacherous are words, and how often we use them to paper over embarrassment, or emptiness, or fear of the larger spaces that silence brings. "Words, words, words" commit us to positions we do not really hold, the imperatives of chatter; words are what we use for lies, false promises and gossip. We babble with strangers; with intimates we can be silent. We "make conversation" when we are at a loss; we unmake it when we are alone, or with those so close to us that we can afford to be alone with them.

In love, we are speechless; in awe, we say, words fail us."

For the complete article, go here.

PS - I LOVE the last sentence. Don't you?

Relaxed Penguin

Listening to right now - Last Kiss, and Can't Help Falling in Love by Pearl Jam.

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After four nights of terrifying dreams, it was a relief to be able to sleep a dreamless sleep last night. I woke up in the chirpiest of moods this morning to brilliant weather (it had rained in the night, and the world was cool and breezy and absolutely beautiful) and the knowledge that the weekend was a day closer. I think playing variations of the D Major scale last night at my violin lesson really helped.

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I've been drooling over the MacBook for just about 3 months now, and I still can't make up my mind whether or not I should fork out that much money to replace a fully functional, sturdy Dell that I have currently. But then, the new MacBook comes with a new and improved GarageBand, awesome iPhoto and the new trackpad. Sigh - I think I'll drool for 3 more months before I decide. Why can't these decisions be easy, say?

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My exciting plans for this weekend (yes, I know it's only Wednesday, but I like planning okay!) include rearranging all my books in a way that I can see all of them at the same time. Right now, my books are two rows deep and all over the place. I don't know how I'm ever going to arrange them, but the excitement of doing it is enough to keep me going. I'm stupid like that.