You must be up to your eyeballs listening to me complaining that I am up to my eyeballs but, oh yeah, I still am. Went to college to mark today and I realized that I could have brought Q-tip with me so I can have an occasional pet therapy session every 4-5 scripts. I think she'd love the outing, I know I need the destressing. Maybe I'll do that Monday morning (if I can still wake up from Portugal vs Greece, heh heh!). I'm making full use of my coffee mug now, but must always remember that it's almost twice the size of normal coffee mugs so 3-in-one coffee must never be drowned in more that half a mug full of water, else bleeah!

Not many staff on campus today but Boon Sin was pretty hyper about taking some of the year 1s to the National Stadium for the Youth Festival thingy. It was tough eavesdropping on her conversation with Agnes about caps, sunshades and other solar protection when I'm stuck indoors and will most likely continue to be all through next week as well. Gripe, gripe, gripe. Don't know what I did to deserve it, seeing as I've been a bit grouchy recently, but Boon Sin kindly packed for me a mini curry puff, a samosa and a potato ball that had been left over from some function earlier this morning, for my lunch. Was quite touched at this unexpected kindness. Sweet kid, that.

June took advantage of the absence of that pest of her husband this morning to spruce up the house, including clearing out the fridge that probably contained stuff that expired in '02 or earlier. Correspondence that might have had some relevance a year or so ago dumped. Dog bathed. Floor mopped and vacuumed. 2 cycles of laundry completed. By the time I got back, she was wiped out. Poor thing. I think she deserves some appreciation. Any suggestions?

Update:
Heard strange industrial noises coming from the kitchen and went to investigate. Looks like June's got her second wind. It was the blender that was making all that noise. June's working on baking a Milo-banana cake using a recipe taken from Australian Women's Weekly (print version). I came out just in time to help her stir the flour into the butter-egg mixture which she had just blended. Now she'll work out the lumps left by my deft blending hand. Wonder where she gets the energy? Love the girl!

Still plodding along with scripts which come and keep on coming in a never ending stream. The deadline looms and I'm still so slow....

A quick note then about the mini staff 'revolt' I mentioned some time ago. Situation was that someone had observed that the driveway leading up to the roundabout in front of the Drum's main entrance took an awkward left turn for those driving onto campus. If either the driver or students crossing the road there were not careful, there could be a nasty accident. Not willing to take any chances, that someone (don't ask who, I don't know either) suggested that instead of turning left and circling the roundabout clockwise as usual, we should drive anti-clockwise around the roundabout, thus avoiding the awkward left turn. The wheels were set in motion immediately (who says the College doesn't move fast?) and we got arrows painted onto the road indicating the anti-clockwise direction for motorists to drive around the roundabout. Getting dizzy yet?

Problem was, most people ignored the arrows because the anti-clockwise direction contravened the general "keep left" rule of the road, while some obedient folks disobeyed road safety rules and complied with the controversial markings. Cars started to meet head-on in the crowded space in front of the Drum and thus a bigger problem started emerging.

To solve this mess, the decree was passed down from on high that henceforth, we would follow the arrows as laid down and paid for by the College fund. Thus began the revolt. The basic premise of the staff was that traffic laws must not be violated because even if staff complied there was no guarantee that non-staff driving into the College would likewise comply because they would not know to apply this esoteric rule and would naturally follow instinct and take the clockwise path instead. Moreover, by taking the anti-clockwise path, at the point that drivers switch from the usual "keep left" rule to "keep right" instead, cars would meet head-on again once they have negotiated the roundabout and had to switch back to normal "keep left" again.

If by now you have no idea what's going on, let's just simplify things by saying that the staff revolt was aimed precisely at avoiding this confusion for ourselves, parents, suppliers and guests, and of course our students. We felt that the awkward left turn was a small price to pay to keep this pandemonium from ever being created.

Today, during our 2-and-a-half hour long staff meeting at which this issue was an item on the agenda, the uppers confirmed that the issue has been resolved and the case is closed. The decision was ultimately based on a formal letter from the LTA which stated in no uncertain terms that under no circumstances are existing traffic laws to be violated. So that's that. The arrows have been washed off and we get to keep our safer, more sensible option, the awkward left turn. I hope everyone's happy now.

Students, do us a favour now: try your very best not to get KO'ed by a car anywhere near the roundabout area, please.

I am officially on strike! I refuse to mark another script. I am going absolutely potty making judgments on other people's written work and making decisions that they are not likely going to be happy with. Over and over again. For hours on end. I want a break and I'm claiming one now!

I'm sitting in front of Watson now, having spent the night far, far away from any comprehension script. I'm wearing a blue t-shirt that June bought for me from Bossini last week. At the bottom left corner of the t-shirt is a plastic label with a little red spider motif embossed upon it. I'm wearing it today for the first time, and for a special occasion. June bought a similar t-shirt for us to wear to watch Spider-Man 2!

SM2 is gorgeous! A roller-coaster not in the sense of thrills and spills, but rather of emotional responses to the conflicts the characters (yes, in the plural!) go through. While the main focus is of course on Peter Parker, each supporting character is similarly under one crisis or another that is neither overplayed nor overblown but realistic and believable within the context of their situation.

What works is that the superheroics and colourful costumes only play on the edges of the story and are really a metaphor for the internal battles that rage within each character. The story is a human one. It's about Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborne, and Otto Octavius. Even the villain, Octavius, has a reason for being, a conflict triggering his madness. I've never seen Doc Ock in this light before -- a noble, brilliant man struggling for control over the amoral technology of his own making. Ock's robot arms likewise almost have a personality too, and a primeval motivation for their actions: fight to survive, kill or be killed, fulfill your raison d'etre. Each arm can act independently but always in concert with its partners; which must be hell to choreograph but such a marvel to watch.

The Parker-type is a character usually played as a buffoon and a loser by the likes of Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller. Sam Raimi's Parker could have been played that way for laughs too, but there is a fine line between the clown and the tragic hero. The difference lies in the character's mortality, and not their pain. Pain is comedy, death is tragedy. Sandler and Stiller are clowns because despite the pain their characters endure at no point in their movies is there any actual danger to their mortal being. Parker's motivation is in constantly fighting death (his own and everybody else's); heck, it originates in the death of his mentor and father-figure. The driving force is darker but the stakes are higher and it's what makes Parker a hero.

The lofty "messages" such as "we are responsible for the choices we make," and "we are responsible for the gifts we are given," are balanced out by "we don't have to face our responsibilities alone." The latter is a message that is so important but we always neglect to consider it whenever we focus on just carrying out our duties, responsibilities and obligations, and we think it's all so overwhelming.

Watch SM2 for a morale uplift! Don't waste the weekend!

On a slightly different note, here's a link to England's Euro Cup hopes which I place here to commemorate their fighting exit from the tournament.

I'm just a kid
And life is a nightmare
I'm just a kid
I know that its not fair
Nobody cares
'Cuz I'm alone and the world is
Having more fun than me tonight
-Simple Plan, "I'm Just a Kid"

OK, I'm being childish. June's gone off to watch the Moscow Circus in Woodlands, and I'm stuck at home with papers to mark. No, not that she wouldn't let me go, but I knew I couldn't make it. It's quite different from when I took my 'O' Levels. Then I really was a kid, and I really got left behind to study whenever my family went out. Fat lot of good it did my grades... but I'm not bitter.

So now I'm >ahem< more mature and I've got my priorities aligned with my responsibilities, but it doesn't matter; being left behind still sucks.

Guys, after you take your last paper tomorrow, have a great long weekend! Enjoy on our behalf, can?

Forgot to mention: I discovered what a 'vegetable dosa' is from the prata shop downstairs of my place. It's a dosa that comes stuffed with coleslaw! Yuck! Next time I'm sticking to my usual masala dosa. The potato stuffing tastes much better, and it's cheaper too.

Today's entry is in recognition of the Toilet Uncle who keeps the public toilet next to our NTUC Fairprice open. He also accumulates used cardboard boxes and sometimes currently-being-used cardboard boxes, and roots through garbage bins for recyclable stuff to sell to supplement his income. You could say he's one of the catfish in our pond.

Smokes too much, drinks too much Guinness and many a night stares out at the world through a haze of mild intoxication. White-haired (though not always looking elderly), skinny, and walks with a limp and in possession of erratic interpersonal skills. A friendly enough fellow with a lot of angst kept mostly under control. Mostly.

We are quite wary of him because his behaviour can be quite unpredictable. When we walk down his corridor we don't know if he's going to wave and smile, or pretend to threaten our dog, or pretend to be terrified of her (or pretend that he's pretending), or complain about his life with statements that make us feel guilty about ours.

Uncle: Hello! Chi4 bao3 le4 mei2 you3? (Usual greeting in Mandarin)
Us: Hello! Chi4 bao3 le4! (Usual cheery rejoinder)
Uncle: Wo2 zhen3 tian1 hai2 mei2 chi1... ("Well, I haven't eaten all day...")
Us: Oh...! >blink, blink<

We just don't know how to respond after that. If we knew it was a one-time thing we wouldn't mind helping him out with a meal, but we know that we are going to see him every day so are we meant to invite him to dinner with us night after night? Being sympathetic can lead to such an undesirably complex relationship.

Anyway, I mention him today because after tomorrow he will be replaced by someone whom, he says, did him out of his job. Today he was clear, lucid even and he wasn't pretending. Despite everything, he's become a part of our daily routine and we are sorry to see him go.

We've managed to keep our relationship as minimally simple up to now. For that, he deserves a place in my memory (no, it's not like he's going to die or what!), so here's to our Toilet Uncle! Cheers!

OMG so little time, so much to do. And I'm moving so slowly too. It's like that when you first start marking, you never know what to expect in the answers you read. It takes time to see the various permutations that are possible, and once a pattern starts emerging then things can go much faster. But for the moment I'm still at the feeling swamped stage. And tired. Oh, I mentioned that before, didn't I?

Glad I only had one relief invigilation. It was this afternoon during the math paper. 1 hour relieving Fook Khim the next relieving Weng Heng. It is so hot in the 3rd floor classrooms. The heat reflects off the sunshade over the gallery and bounces directly into the room. Even the fans going at full blast can't do much about it. Hardest thing about invigilation is staying awake. The students have their minds at full steam working out answers to their test questions, the invigilator has no stimulation at all, whatsoever, nada. Just stand, sit, walk around and constantly watch whatever non-activity is happening, or rather not happening in the room. There are occasions when you black out for a split-second -- your head jerks backwards because your neck muscles no longer function, or if you're standing you suddenly pitch forward as your mind forgets to fight gravity while it reboots.

I had to keep myself awake repeating song lyrics in my head. Today it was "Truly, Madly, Deeply" by Savage Garden and "Song for Whoever" by Beautiful South. It just so happened the latter song was what Cara insisted on playing in her car as we drove to our unofficial staff canteen for lunch with our usual lunch crowd. The song stuck in my head for a while. I also had to imagine wild but impractical lesson plans for my classes just so I could keep the mental gears going to stay awake.

Oh yeah! Cara let me drive her car back onto campus after lunch. The controls are so sensitive and I had quite a time getting a feel of how much pressure to apply to the accelerator, the brakes, and trying to remember my driving theory at the same time. Just before the college gates, Anthony remarked that I must be getting the hang of it 'cos I just hit 40kmh. Idiot.

OK, wasted enough time... back to marking!

Bad news: Mimi went home today. Good news: Q-tip's no longer limping. No, good news and bad news do not always have to be related.

Our new vicar preached at our service for the first time but I'm sorry to say I fell asleep through most of it. Guess he didn't leave much of an impression on me. It's just that I've been tired over the weekend and I'm still tired right now. Building up the energy to go back to disciplined routine is part of the problem and maybe the other part is insufficient sleep due to too many late nights these past few days. And I don't have to study for exams, so I really do sympathise with the students. But I have a marking pile that is no joke either. Marking is almost a routine, assembly line job except that it also requires exceptional creative thinking and interpretive skills as well as an evaluative mind that can decide whether the words written (sometimes deciphering the handwriting is an additional task) can possibly make any sense in relation to the question being asked, and how well, before allocating a quantitative value on the latter.

It's such a paradox how mentally taxing this mindless exercise can be. No wonder I'm zonked...

That's the best I can do for a group shot! Seldom is everyone in the same room together. 

June's day must have been terrible. While I was on campus entertaining myself invigilating the GP mid-year exam, June took Mimi and Q-tip out for their daily constitutional. It was a little too late for Mimi 'cos she had a diarrhea problem from the beginning of our corridor all the way to the elevator, much to June's horror when she discovered why Mimi seemed to be dragging herself when she's usually so eager to get out. After locking up the 2 dogs again, June spent most of the morning armed with kitchen towels and a bottle of water trying to clean up the mess and trying to look inconspicuous to our neighbours. Stuff of nightmares, but one she couldn't wake up from.

Last time this happened, it was Q-tip who couldn't wait to get downstairs. She left a neat little pile in front of our neighbour's front door. After cleaning up, June bought a 4D ticket with the number on the front door and guess what? She won $4000 on that ticket! Doubt we'll be so lucky on this transaction. And no, June says, it wasn't funny.

Got some interesting feedback over the mid-year paper. There were 2 camps with widely differing opinions: one thought the paper was "quite fun" and the other thought the questions were "weird," particularly the AQ. Let's just say that students who prepare to answer GP questions by some magic formula are generally going to be disappointed because no such formula exists. Besides, if there was a formula to the AQ, then the purpose of the test would be self-defeating. A question requiring the use of flexible thinking is hamstrung if the answer was a formulaic one. Let's hope more students are in the "quite fun" camp.

Got so much marking to do now, with so little time to do it in. No way I can procrastinate because these deadlines are cast in stone. If I can't meet the line, I will definitely be dead, and not just me but there will be a cascading effect on the other markers as well. Can't afford to be the weak link in the chain so back to work I go!

England!!! The Brits put up quite a show, full of fire and guts. Unfortunately, the game was soccer and the better team won. Portugal looked like they were playing with extra players, so able to gain ball possession they were. They had better passing, they intercepted better and they had much better ball control than the Brits who couldn't string a series of passes together. Individually, the Brits have brilliant players -- Owen's first goal took a really deft touch -- but as a team they just don't work. However, it really adds excitement to the umpteenth power when in the dying minutes of Extra Time, England, trailing by a goal, still manages to unexpectedly pull back one to equalize and push the game into a penalty shootout. Gutsy, but futile, considering that the team by then comprised players that are better suited to defending than scoring goals, whereas Portugal had by then brought on a strike force in force. The result was almost a foregone conclusion with Beckham messing up his penalty shot yet again. So some big names are gone from the competition: Italy, Germany and now England. It was still a great match to stay up for. Excellent drama.

When I regained consciousness, I decided that Q-tip's limp looked worse than before so we made an appointment with our family doctor at Namly Animal Clinic. The charges are a bit high there, but the service and care are worth it. We couldn't leave Mimi behind or she'll get jealous of Q-tip's "outing" so I brought her with me as well. One guy, me, with 2 dogs, trying to get a taxi in the mid-afternoon. It's an exercise in frustration what with a never-ending stream of cab thieves and anti-canine cab drivers and 2 squirmy dogs in their carry-ons. Good thing I left early.

Dr Chan met us as usual and heard the story of Q-tip's flying leap off the bicycle at ECP. She poked and prodded around Q-tip's forelegs and observed her running around. "Nothing to worry about," was her diagnosis; perhaps just a bit of post-traumatic pain (translated in English: a sprain). So we're to give Q-tip lots of rest and she should be ok pretty soon. Plenty of rest is not a problem, she sleeps about 20 hours a day on average anyway. She also got a couple of anti-inflammatory tablets (liver flavoured) for the pain. So as not to waste Mimi's trip, Dr Chan gave her her long overdue shots, for which Mimi was grrrr...ateful.

And now it is my honour to declare the month-long vacation period officially over. >muted cheers all round< Hope you guys are ready for tomorrow's GP mid-year, and for the subsequent papers next week. Best go sleep right away, you'll need it when you see what we have in store for you. Heh, heh!

Mom-in-law's gone to Kukup for the weekend so Mimi's back with us again! 

I am 29% evil.




I try to stay away from evil deeds but succumb to temptation every once in a while. I'm not quite on my way to hell but I certainly have some explaining to do.


Are you evil? find out at Hilowitz.com


Evil laughter index rates a 'Heh heh' and still not quite a 'bwa ha ha!'

I am so dumb. England vs Portugal is tonight -- early Friday morning! That means I can stay up to watch the game after all! This deserves one big DUH from me. *DUH*

Heh. This is one instance when my stupidity works for me rather than against me. I feel so embarrassed. Lucky I don't teach math.

Hmm... I'll miss the France vs Greece game then. French class vs Greek tenacity. Maybe this one will prove to be the better game to watch. Limited supplies, unlimited wants.

Looks like everyone's hard at work and even I'm trying to get back in the swing of things again. That's right, all the last minute work, all the anxiety that everything I wanted to get done isn't going to get done after all. And it's just so aggravating that the Euro Cup matches are going to keep me up all night so that when morning comes, I'm too grogged out to focus on getting my stuff done. Something's got to give pretty soon and I hope I can make the right decision as to which one.

The great tragedy is that England plays its quarter-final match on Friday night but we've got to report back in College at 7am the next morning, so there's no way I'm going to be able to watch it 'live.' Next best thing: tape it and watch the match in the afternoon, all the while avoiding like mad any news about what the final score is. Good bloody luck! Avoid Anthony, avoid Vince, avoid, duck, cover... OK, so I do fancy England, but I seriously doubt their chances of going much further, Rooney notwithstanding. He's just one kid after all, and now everybody's going to be on their guard against him, shutting him out like they're doing to Owen.

On the homefront, now that Q-tip's been shaved again, it's become obvious that she's limping as she is favouring her front right foot when she walks. She hasn't been complaining of any pain, even when we conduct a hands-on examination on her and there doesn't seem to be any swelling, so I hope it's something that will take care of itself soon. She's still capering and running about quite happily so maybe there isn't really anything to worry about.

One of our missing strays, Lung-Lung, has turned up again and she's been taken for neutering by someone other than us! Her ear's been "tipped." It's encouraging that other people in our neighbourhood are doing their part to care for our strays too.

Have also got to mention this one little girl who looks Malay and who has a real affection for our four-legged friends. Reminds me of Elmira from Tiny Toons. Tonight she was running around with Flirt in her arms. Flirt loves the attention apparently, and didn't seem to want to be rescued. The kid had a long, nasty scratch down the side of her right arm but it didn't deter her from looking for more cats to hug and squeeze. Scary thing is, she's got a thing for Q-tip as well and insisted on carrying her for a while. Q-tip's a bit afraid of her rough handling, but I'm more worried about how her parents would react to her proximity to our dog if indeed she is Malay. She's such a cute kid, but another one to tiptoe around if we spot her from afar.

We haven't seen Joyce in such a long time. It was nice to see her again seeing as how our schedules are so hard to coordinate and we've had to call off some of our previous meetings because of this or that.

We finally met for dinner at Ikea, which is convenient for her as she lives close by, and by unofficial tradition, it's where we usually meet for a Christmas meal, though we haven't done so for the last couple of years. I don't know how the 'tradition' started. Maybe it's because the first time the three of us had a meal together there, it happened to be around Christmas time. It was also the first time June encountered Swedish meatballs and was horrified to see how many of them Joyce and I put away together. Back then, Ikea served plates of 10, 15 and 20 meatballs. I would systematically demolish the 20 while Joyce scarfed down the 15. June played safe and had the salmon instead.

Today, Ikea only serves the 10. No 15, no 20. Wonder why? Anyway, the 3 of us had a plate each and they still are really very good. The dish is simple in presentation: just the meatballs covered in a brown gravy with what tastes like a cranberry sauce dip. We also ordered 8 chicken wings perfectly fried -- juicy inside, crispy skin with some substantial nibbling on the tip as well. June doesn't eat skin and Joyce was aghast at how much skin June was discarding from her wings. She even discarded the tips, disregarding Joyce's cries of "sacrilege."

Beware of Ikea's soft drinks fountain. The drinks are pretty fresh and froth up easily, leaving you with what you think is a full glass but is actually half effervescence. This is especially true of the root beer, the froth of which takes quite some time to dissipate. It's also easy to overflow your glass as you're filling it up and leave an embarrassing mess on the counter, not to mention making your fingers unpleasantly sticky. The drinks come cold enough already so don't bother wasting an already small glass capacity with ice cubes.

Managed to grab a slice of apple pie and the last chocolate truffle cake from the dessert counter. I don't like cooked apples but I downed the apple pie remains after the 2 girls refused to eat another bite due to their being overstuffed. This was after I polished off the chocolate truffle cake which I hadn't realized was meant for sharing. >burp< It was rich, moist and deliciously chocolatey and which, I'm sure, June would have collapsed from if she had even one bite. Too rich, too smooth, too much of a good thing. >contented sigh<

Ikea furniture is nice, but it's the cafe that keeps us coming back.

Guess who's got a haircut today? 

Gaiman's "Neverwhere" was a fun read. With Gaiman you play the game of "spot-the-myth" as he throws in elements of familiar old stories in an interesting plot of his own. The "melting plot," so to speak. Let's see... Alice in Wonderland, though London below is much darker and more dangerous; the Marquis of Carabas is a common pen name derived from "Puss in Boots;" Mayhew undertakes a spirit walk with the prerequisite spirit guide; and there's even a unsubtle reference to the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, though the Marquis can hardly be considered "Christ-like." Messrs Croup and Vandemar, Victorian assassins, are dangerously humorous, displaying intelligence, ironic wit and a sense of pride in their own malevolence, akin to that of Jack the Ripper. There is a sort of Blyton's "Magic Faraway Tree" likeness to the Floating Market; and Perseus' labyrinth is guarded by a centuries-old escaped pig rather than the Minotaur. London below comprises the literal manifestations of the quirky place names of London above. I may be stretching things a bit but the description of Down Street reminds me of how the impact crater looks like in Final Fantasy 7. There is also the gathering of the Fellowship as every quest requires the different abilities that each member can bring to the party (although we can only guess at what Mayhew's abilities are, "normal" as he is); the betrayal of the Fellowship (never fails); and when Mayhew returns to familiarity again he does so a la "Wizard of Oz" style.

It's great fun that Gaiman is able to take bits and pieces of all these old familiar stories and integrate them with icons of popular culture of our contemporary period although the environmant created is dangerous, chaotic and insane. Yet, it's the promise of adventure and the idea that anything's possible that make London below so much more preferable to mundane, predictable, well-planned and organised reality. At the end, the Marquis stands at the door and invites you [wow, another Biblical allusion] to come live in the realm of fantasy and chaos. Don't always take the realistic, pragmatic route but be free to choose freedom. I think that's Good Advice. We need to acknowledge that life is more chaotic than we admit and when we can do that, then things become more possible for us, and Doors open!

eeps... my book review just turned into a sermon.

A minor argument over queue jumping results in the stabbing death of a man who had gone to place a bet on a Euro Cup match. The perp was caught on CCTV and is now being sought by the authorities. Who needs terrorists when there are crazies who commit murder over such a petty incident? This story was in yesterday's news but the link won't last the week so if you must read the story, read it fast.

Well, I can say I bought my first 4D ticket today. No, it wasn't for myself but for my mom-in-law who usually gets June to make the purchase 'cos it's more convenient for us to do it for her than if she was to do it for herself. Today, however, June was right in the middle of preparing our dinner when the call came through. Being unable to turn her attention away from the sizzling, bubbling pots and pans on the stove, the next best option was to send the more dispensible of us to the Turf Club outlet to acquire the precious ticket.

This late in the afternoon, the line at each counter is long and the evening sun shines directly into the betting store making it a hot, tedious shuffle towards the clerk. Meantime, I'm flipping the betting slip to read the instructions on how to place a 4D bet and trying not to look like such a virgin at the same time. The instructons were clear enough and I've seen June fill in the form once or twice so I got the hang of it pretty easily.

I went to join the line, which by that time had already spilled onto grass. As I did so an elderly uncle-type collided with me. 2 pairs of hands immediately went up and a barrage of profuse apologies erupted between the both of us. I guess I'm not the only person today who read yesterday's papers.

I successfully purchased my ticket (0220, Big, $5; what kind of number is that?) and now I just hope that win or lose mom-in-law isn't going to conclude that her son-in-law is either a charm or a jinx. I only went to place a bet because it was an "emergency" situation. I hope "qing3 jiao4 Min bang1 wo3 mai3 ma3 piao4" isn't going to be a regular occurence from now on. *fingers crossed*

Had dinner at Jen's place. Simple affair, well, relatively simple as Jen's house is a major crossroad for assorted drop-ins ranging from family to neighbours, to friends of various family members. Our party comprised me and June, Adrian and Mary (who brought her dog, Millie to see her mom, Ashley). Adrian is now obsessed with deciding which car to purchase, having test driven his latest 3 options (a BM, a Lexus and a Merc) this morning. He is now canvassing our opinions on which car we think he looks best in. I told him I think the BM, since the other 2 seem more like the type elderly gentlemen would drive, but then I could be wrong. >shrug< Don't know much about the car market 'cos I'm not in it. My cars are virtual.

June brought over the agar she made today in teddy bear and rabbit shapes. Simple pandan flavour in the first layer and a hand-squeezed coconut milk base layer. Nice, firm consistency and not too sweet. Jen's home-made guacamole starter was delicious -- so good I took some home on my t-shirt. Last time it was Ragu sauce. My t-shirts get nervous every time I take them to visit Jen.

We discussed how antisocial June and I are with our neighbours. It's true. We'd climb the stairs if we see our neighbours get in the lift before us, we quickly and quietly slip into our front door to avoid attracting attention from our neighbours who always keep their doors open whenever they're home, we check if the coast is clear from our door peephole before we leave our house. When we do these things, it doesn't seem so wierd to us, but talking about it, it really does seem that we are a pair of neurotics. Definitely not kampong-like behaviour but more consistent with city dwellers from NYC. June says she wasn't like that before she met me, and I believe her.

OK. You must think I'm totally nuts, but I make no excuses for my behaviour. My social circle is small, tight-knit and I like it that way. As I experience life, I sense that when people treat you well, it's because there is a potential in you that they think they can exploit in return. I hate being evaluated in terms of how much profit I can make for others and therefore how much they are prepared to invest in me.

It was like this when I was working in the private sector, then I got tired of providing service so that people like Ong Beng Seng and Kwek Leng Beng could get richer and richer. Actually I hardly made them a cent, but it was the principle, you see? It was so pointless helping someone already rich get richer, when I thought the right thing to do was to help those who were not yet rich create opportunities to become rich for themselves. So, among other things in my life, I decided to dump the private sector and teach instead. Great. Big philanthropist I am. Besides, it's fun and there's holidays and stuff.

Funny how your mind wanders, jumping from topic to topic like this. Oh well, this blog is supposed to be self-reflective anyway. Ended the evening watching "Along Came Polly" which was sweet and funny, light entertainment for all. A pleasant evening.

Ravenclaw! Some might see you as a bit haughty, but
that's just because they lack the intellectual
capacity to be worthy of your presence. You see
little difference between enlightenment and
entertainment; learning experiences are
tremendously enjoyable for you. And remember,
kids: just because you're brilliant doesn't
mean you're studious!


A More Unique Hogwarts Sorting Quiz
brought to you by Quizilla

Thanks 'sif!

So much for taking my time with DVC. It certainly is a page turner. The plot is like a scavenger hunt leading from one clue to the next and is full of puzzles that the reader can get caught up in and try to solve for himself. The puzzles are relatively simple -- anagrams, riddles and substitution codes -- easy enough for the reader to be intrigued with yet solvable within the scope of the reader's abilities, if he had the time and inclination to do so. DVC keeps you hooked because you have to find out if your guesses were "correct."

The material in DVC may be disturbing to the more religious of us, but there is no new information that is presented (which was mainly what I was looking for). It's essentially a mystery story enveloped in the familiar conspiracy theories of secret societies with hidden agenda, using material from already published sources. The Code itself has little to do with Da Vinci himself, but refers to the clues left behind by a murder victim for our protagonists to follow through (so don't be fooled like I was).

Some character names are literally applied, like Fache, which means "don't f**k with me or I'll tear your head off" or something like it, although the word won't translate in Babelfish. Maybe it's an outdated usage. Sauniere is a name closely related to the Grail legends, and Sophie (as in "Sophie's World") means "wisdom," which is itself a clue to one of the major puzzles presented.

The suspense is created the usual way -- hunters being hunted, needing to finish their quest before they are stopped by one force or another. Their mandatory betrayal should also come as no surprise since there are few suspects to eliminate in the first place. Brown plays the so-near-and-yet-so-far game of "pass the parcel", a childishly simplistic, yet effective means of maintaining intrigue. Each layer either reveals a reward (plot progression) or a forfeit (a setback or obstacle to overcome). Either way, you just have to keep unwrapping the parcel until you reach the central prize. Yes, Brown does provide a final payoff although he also provides enough clues for you to guess what it is one or two layers too early before the end.

The Grail theme is used in games like the Broken Sword trilogy and in "Gabriel Knight: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned." It's fun to mess around with mythology and try and tie the old legends into our own lives. I just wish I had known DVC fell under this category before I bought the book. Duh, the book's spine says "Fiction".

Went absolutely stir crazy. Got fed up with my pasty self cooped up in my musty old room indulging my obsessions and trying to get some work done at least. Bored out of my skull, which is strange because once my idea of perfection was being solitary but now, solitary has become so booooring! Does this mean I've become more mature... or less?

Too much electronic stimulation, can sense my brain turning into total slush. Just had to get out and do something, buy something. But it's hard to be creative in your activities when you're so out of touch with what's happening in town. So I went to Kino at Bugis Junction to look for some reading material for a change. Why there? I swung by Sim Lim (again) to see what's up first. Staggered through SL Square with an armful of Xeroxed flyers advertising the best buys of the day but there's still nothing I want. It's impossible to avoid the people (I'm being charitable, they're touts actually) hanging around the escalators and escape without being handed something. While you're trying to avoid one, another will stick a flyer in your hands when you're not looking! The establishment should scatter recycling bins around the mall where we can stuff all these unwanted materials. I just folded my stack up and dumped them in the trash. A serious shopper KNOWS what he wants.

Thankfully, Kino stocked the books I was looking for, Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" (DVC) and Gaiman's "Neverwhere." I didn't expect to find the latter since I've not been able to find it before on other book shopping expeditions, but there it was sitting in the Fantasy section instead of Fiction (interestingly, Kino displays all fiction titles under the Literature section, how undiscriminatory). Brown was so much harder to find. I thought there would be piles of his book around since it's such a bestseller, but it wasn't in any section I looked. Then I happened to pass a restocking trolley just about to be wheeled away by a Kino staff and there it was! I grabbed a copy before it disappeared from sight. Now, I'm not so sure about DVC. My interest perked after Broken Sword and it's allusions to Templar mythology, but Brown is starting to read like a crime mystery novel although I expected more. Well, I'm committed already and I'm determined to finish DVC before I begin on "Neverwhere." It could take weeks since I can only read while in transit. Whatever. I need the stimulation of the written word every now and then.