46. Blog about each book read or re-read (5/50)

1. The Law of Love by Laura Esquivel

   • Genre: New Age-sci-fi-magical realism
   • Comments: In two words, sappy and strange. I do give props though for its unique use of words with music and images. I think what Esquivel was trying to do here was help with the mood of the story. Innovative ? Yes. Effective ? I’m not quite sure. My confusion over many parts of the book led me to wonder whether something was lost in the translation but I can hardly imagine this crazy story making sense in ANY language. Often while reading I had the feeling that Esquivel wrote herself into a corner, then created a goofy new invention or outrageous plot twist in order to extricate herself. Piled on top of a wildly spinning plot is a new-age philosophy concerning the law of love — something about radiating peace, a pyramid, and crystals. Perhaps this book’s secret is not to take anything it says seriously, but rather to sit back and enjoy the wild ride.

2. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

   • Genre: Fiction
   • Comments: A story beautifully written and sadly tragic. If you read this book expecting answers, explanations, or any kind of analysis on how five teenage sisters ended up commiting suicide, one after the other .. you’ll be disappointed. After you reach the last of the 250 very well written pages, you’ll realise that Jeffrey Eugenides hasn’t revealed anything more than you knew from page one: the only thing the reader knows is that the five blond, almost indistinguishable Lisbon sisters commit suicide one by one.
     A black, glittering novel that won’t be to everyone’s taste but must be tried by readers looking for something different

   Continue reading ‘#46. Blog about each book read or re-read’

31. Try five new coffees (5/5) (13th June 2008)

1. Ristretto / Short black from Gloria Jeans : * disgustingly bitter with a disturbing aftertaste
2. Iced Americano from Starbucks : *** yummy but nothing special
3. Vivalto from Nespresso varieties : Eh.  Alright. < Instant coffee
4. Volluto from Nespresso varieties : Same response as above. Tasted the same / similar ! Obviously I don’t drink much “real” coffee though X-DD
5. Decaffeinato Lungo from Nespresso varieties : This was a really nice — my favourite from the Nespresso varieties

32. Compile a list of easy meals I can rely on

Breakfast

1. Wholemeal pancakes
- - - - - - - - how long it takes before you can dig in : 15 minutes
- - - - - - - - ingredients : 100g wholemeal self-raising flour / 1 medium egg / 300 ml skim milk
- - - - - - - - instructions :
1. Place flour in a large bowl, mix in the egg & gradually whisk in the milk to give a smooth batter
2. Heat a little oil in a small frying pan and pour a round circle of the batter onto the pan. Remember that it will expand so you don’t need to put huge dollop of it.
3. Cook for 1 minute until golden brown, turn with a palette knife and cook for 30 seconds to one minute.
4. Lift the pancake onto a plate & keep warm over a pan of hot water, covering the pancake with a clean cloth [so you can cook the rest & the earlier ones you made will still be warm & crispy]
5. Repeat to make however many pancakes you want
6. You can serve them with jam, cream cheese, maltesers, bananas, lemon juice, whatever really.
- - - - - - - - calories : 200

Continue reading ‘#32. Compile a list of easy meals I can rely on’

52. Write twenty new poems (4/20)

#1

05.02.08

I remember
letting go of your hand
was like choosing the narrower road at the crossway

I denied
every missed connection
was an abstraction of our differences

I reflect
that recollections of a happier past
were mere illusions fabricated in my mind

And yet
all feelings of consciousness
dissipate ..

as you go.

#2

07.02.08

Brushing her shoulders with another
Another savours her touch and his coffee,
Coffee emanating soothing aroma
“Once I’ve had a taste of it, there’s no going back”
James Morrison sets the scene

Strangers classically become lovers
Lovers consistently naive
Naiveté blinds him artlessly
“The strong will never fall”
Sade sets the scene

Three dates later she falls out of lust
Lust dispensed him, mind, body & soul, to her
Souls were supposed to be undying
“A little piece of you, the little piece of me, will die”
David Bowie sets the scene

A stench of drudgery and the noshery
The noshery discords her stately home
Home is where it all would unravel
“Land der Berge, Land am Strome, Land der Acker, Land der Dome”
Wolfgang Mozart sets the scene

She called him pie-eyed, he called her angry
Angry, foe of adulation
Adulation became a bloody curse
“Death call arises, a scream breaks the still of the night”
Iron Maiden sets the scene

His name was Robertson
Robertson turned twenty four
Twenty four bullets were found in his body
No lyrics
No music
Only the noise of bluecoats arriving at the scene

Continue reading ‘#52. Write twenty new poems’

63. Write 10 snail mail letters to someone, just because (9/10)

Call me old-fashioned but I love snail mail. Ever since my aunty, & please erase that old woman sitting in a rocking chair I know you’re imagining in your imagination [she's one year older than I am], started writing to me a millenium ago, probably before you were even born *points*. There’s something just so personal about them that you don’t get with emails or tele-communication or even face to face. Plus it’s so liberating .. for me anyway. So if you’re one of the people who 1) I know offline 2) I know online STALKER-well [jk, durr] & want me to write to you, let me know ^.~ it’s so fun hehe ^^ [cause' my letters are always so prettiful & sprinkled with glitter]

I snail mailed to:

1) Tawnie
2) Mell
3) Tina
4) Nikki
5) Ching-Sin
6) Kathy
7) Nikki [again ;-b]
8) MR ! ;-DD
9) MR [again <333333]
10)

12. Make a list of CD’s I’ve bought & build up my collection to 100 (22/100)

This is a list of CD’s *aye* bought, excluding my sister’s & mum’s collection. I haven’t finished yet. There’s heaps more.

Across the Universe - Soundtrack to the Motion Picture
Alice Cooper - Beast of Alice Cooper (Best of)
Ataris, The - Welcome the Night
Bat For Lashes - Fur & Gold
Ben Folds Five - Self-titled album
Big Change: Songs for FINCA
Bjork - Post
Coconut Records - Nighttiming
The Dandy Warhols - Welcome to the Monkey House
David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
David Bowie - The Platinum Collection
Hairspray - Soundtrack to the Motion Picture
Killers, The - Hot Fuss
Killers, The - Sam’s Town
The Lucksmiths - Where Were We ?
M.I.A. - Arcular
M.I.A. - Kala
Melbourne Shuffler - Andy Maurer EP
Muscles - Guns, Babes, Lemonade
Muse - Absolution
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
Placebo - 1996-2004 : Once More With Feeling
The Ramones - Ramones Mania

Travel - General

95. See the ocean - don’t care which one (25th November 2007)

I went to Torquay with my friends for a couple of days. Goods times & here’s the blog from AGES ago :

28th November 2007 ++ @ Torquay AND IT’S COLD.
I KNEW A MAN BONJANGLES / & HE’LL DANCE FOR YOU — IN WORN OUT SHOES / WITH
SILVER HAIR, A RAGGED SHIRT & BAGGY PANTS / HE WOULD DO THE OLD SOFT SHOE /
HE WOULD JUMP SO HIGH — JUMP SO HIGH / & THEN LIGHTLY TOUCH THE GROUND ..

This is a stupid, make-fun-of-ourselves / parody entry ! : — written by around .. 4 people. X-DD.

As Sharanya’s dancing to Enya’s Flora’s Secret and the rest of us, including Jess, Megan, Amanda, Grace, Shirley, Susanne, Yasmin [the only one with a car and thus is esteemed and much appreciated as a nineteen year old P-plater] are deciding what to eat, I can’t help but wonder why the beach is so great. We’re back having spent approximately 56 minutes at one of Torquay’s many beaches and tired and moodier than ever.

1. L-R: Janine, Jess W, Van, Grace 2. Van’s hair, Janine, Jess W, Grace 3. The group of us ; I’m at the end wearing a black hoodie cause’ it was freezing >.<

Continue reading ‘#95. See the ocean’

44. Read or re-read 50 books (6/50)

Here’s the list of books I want to read & it’s going to be a list of 100 to be flexible ! ;-)

100 Books I Want to Read

1. 50 Things You Want to Know About World Issues … but were too Afraid to Ask by Keith Suter
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (banned)
3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
4. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (banned)
5. The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World by Alan Greenspan
6. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (banned)
7. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
8. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
9. Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
10. Behind the Bestsellers: The Stories Behind the World’s Favourite Books by Jenny Bond & Chris Sheedy

Continue reading ‘#44. Read or re-read 50 books’

35. See a movie by myself (4th December 2007)

I’ve always thought that those strange ones in our society who watched movies — as in went to the cinemas alone — were always just that: strange. But I also wondered what it would be like myself. I wrote this goal down with all my childish curiosities but also with a mentality that I probably wouldn’t be fulfilling this goal for awhile. However, no sooner had I thought that, that I found myself sitting at the far end of a dark cinema watching a thousand and one gory scenes from Halloween, Rob Zombie’s new & horrific [in quality] movie. All in all, it was an “interesting” experience and I actually did see someone else watching it on their lonesome too [and I kept trying not to make eye contact with him because he looked all scary and hulk-like]. But I don’t think i’ll be doing that again .. at least not for a long time. If I had time to kill, I’d rather read a book or drink an Americana. Especially because everytime there’d be something stupid in the movie [& this was often] my natural reflex is to turn to the person next to me & whisper something improbably sarcastic, cynical or witty. Anyhow I would not have ended up in such a predicament if *someone* had not felt the need to clean up his room & go to the gym. *Sigh* On that topic — so sick of brawns over brains guys .. *rolls eyes*.

81. Identify 101 things that make me happy (101/101)

Here’s my list ! (in no particular order; just what came up at the top of my head !)

1. Feeling good about my body
2. My BFF & my BBF <333333 roflmao = Tan & Sars [NB: BFF = best friend forever & BBF = bestest best friend -- i just made that up ;-b]
3. These friends in particular : Cait & MR.
4. Getting an assessment back with a D / HD
5. When my feet and fingers are warm when blood is actually circulating around to them
6. Discovering new sounds
7. Eating at Le Quatre or Cinq
8. Lovefoxxx <333333
9. Zining & RTA’s in general
10. D&M’s & quirky moments with my sister Continue reading ‘#81. Identify 101 things that make me happy’