:: No hablo estúpido ::And not having a sense of humour is probably fatal. | |
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:: Sunday, July 31, 2005 ::
:: Thursday, July 21, 2005 :: How nice it is to discover, amidst the chaos, a moment where everything makes sense or just doesn't matter. To be able to laugh without thinking. To feel... peaceful. "That lovely bittersweet pain brings back fond memories. I want to make it last forever and I will do whatever it takes." - [english translation] Shigure, Fruits Basket It's been a rather mellow, whimsical day for me... but then, reading Fruits basket always makes me feel like that. I get funny thoughts, questions... Questions like... When was the last time you said sorry to a person? Or thank you? It's funny, but... I'd bet for most people, sorry isn't a word often said. For some, thank you isn't something often said either... And then there Touru (protagonist) is, thanking everyone and being grateful for every little thing; being able to smile through everything. And everyone asks themselves, how? How is it she's able to look happy and grateful even though she keeps giving and giving? Sometimes it makes me want to cry. It's quite a beautiful balance of humour and sadness. :: nimezs @ 10:57 pm [+] :: ... :: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 ::
 New debit card.  It's funny, but looking at it makes me feel slightly happy. =/ Even though it's not like I have a lot to spend. :: nimezs @ 11:24 pm [+] :: ... :: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 :: I concede that the older you are, the more experience you have but being older doesn't necessarily make you smarter or wiser. The arrogance of age is a terrible thing - it imposes views and judgements on others deemed "younger". The mere difference of a few years does not give you the right to rank yourself superior to all that you survey from your exalted pedestal. A 24 year old living in an ivory tower should not give advice to a 14 year old living in the streets on how to live life. How can one give advice for a life one has not lived? You're not qualified to tell others what to do unless you've been through the exact same situation. Easier said than done. :: nimezs @ 5:13 pm [+] :: ... :: Sunday, July 17, 2005 :: ...And I will probably die alone. Before you leap to any conclusions about my self-pity, I think this is an outcome that I would most prefer. Please let's not have every occassion in our lives turn into some photo-whoring situation. It's not all about the partying and how many people you can invite to your funeral. Metaphorically, that is. Of course, this is merely a view expressed by the cynical, hateful, misanthrophic person that I sometimes degenerate into if left alone long enough. It probably stems from my not being loved enough as a child and lingering issues of ostracism experienced at the onset of secondary school. And my condition is constantly being aggravated by my interaction with peers, most of whom I harbour secret fantasies of beating to a pulp. There may come a day when I completely lose it and go ape-shit on someone's ass. I eagerly await it with a lead pipe. I know I'm not being facetious enough for the sacarsm to be readily obvious, but you can set your pretty heads at ease. I am being flippant. But yes, everything is a popularity contest. Being the Singapore Idol, becoming the president of a club, that funny singing competition thingy on Channel U, birthday parties, graduation parties, Friendster.com, having people send you off, winning any kind of voted competition and having almost any kind of party....Popularity contests. What a funny world we live in now where we are judged by the length of our MSN list, where we name acquaintances as friends even when there's no feeling there. Perhaps in such a networked society, we hasten to call others our friends so that we may be remembered by those we know. Unfortunately the price paid for this is a gradual erosion of identity - we're not individual entities any longer, just someone's friend. And that's all. Because everything has become a popularity contest, it's no longer as important to know someone. You just have to be able to name the person and the situation through which you met. But really, how can you call someone a friend unless you know things about this person the average stranger doesn't? Favourite colour? Favourite band? What about their personality traits? Loyalty? Stinginess? Kindness? And the things they hate - litterbugs, Ashton Kucher? Any hobbies? Pet phrases? On that perfectly serious note, let me say to all "friends" and potential "friends": If you don't even know one thing about me that someone else could learn within a 5 minute chat, you can take your friendship and shove it. And don't ever, ever ask to be my friend if you're only ultimately interested in getting into my pants. Or up my skirt. Whatever. Respect if you're honest, lead pipe if you're not. :: nimezs @ 10:18 pm [+] :: ... :: Saturday, July 16, 2005 :: ***Rant-a-day week starts here*** Before you ask, no, I have not read the entire book. I have read enough, however to ensure that I'm not judging the book by its cover, which is entirely artistic and tasteful - I'm judging it by the last few chapters I speed-read through. If you're a Harry Potter fan or plan to read the book, I'd advise you to stop reading now. Because what I'm going to say will spoil your taste for it. As you probably know by now, I have developed a contempt for the series over its fourth and fifth books, and it is my belief that the characters, despite having survived several mishaps and misadventures, not to mention 6 fairly lucrative books - have hardly developed as people, if at all. In Book 5, Harry came across as a whiny little prat who thought the world of himself because he had been the only one thus far to face Voldemort, which really disgusted me. I felt that after all he'd been through, he'd want to stay *out* of trouble and at least be a little more grown up. I've no idea what Harry is like in book 6, but my main grouse here are the few plot twists I managed to pick up through my brief reading. Plot twist #1: Snape is the half-blood prince. At least I think he is. Well. As if he wasn't a complex enough character. Only, as you'll learn later, he's less complicated than that. Oh yes, J.K. Rowling makes up for that by making him less complicated. This twist I feel, is hardly exciting nor ... interesting. Snape as a character torn between his past and present as a reformed Death-Eater was interesting enough. Snape, a reformed Death-Eater AND a half-blood prince is just... too much. Which leads to plot twist #2 - Snape is a double-crossing double-crosser. I had no problems with Snape in all the books despite his sneering and oiliness because ultimately it seemed like he was making an effort to turn his back on his past. Oh well. Guess that got thrown out the window because Snape kills Dumbledore (Plot Twist #3). That's right. As if not enough people had died already - I'm wondering if Rowling thinks killing off characters will make the book sales increase. I'm all for a little drama, but 2 main characters in 2 books? That is just too much, and at this point I feel a little sorry for Harry. Come on. Two of his closest and dearest die - BOTH are parent-figures and mentors. Rowling seems determined to make Harry out as a really tragic hero. What makes Dumbledore's death worse was the gratuitously dramatic sequence before it. As far as I could tell, Dumbledore was on the brink of death, but was brought back by some very impassioned spell casting by Harry. Right, fine, so the reader thinks .. Hmm. Guess it's not Dumblefore that dies after all. Then ... Snape happens. I'm sorry. I think I'll have to go into Emo-mode to fully express my rage. OMFG. WHAT THE **** IS THIS?! How can you play with your reader's feelings like that? It feels my soul with indescribable sorrow and rage. JK Rowling doesn't love us anymore - she only loves the money, and she thinks outrageous plots like these will sell. Harry should just kill himself because he's got nothing left to live for - Hermione and Ron will end up together ANYWAY. And Snape! Far from being an interesting character he's now dull and completely evil. For crying out loud. The world isn't a black and white place where all evil is evil and all good is good - where's the tension and the maybes? Harry potter isn't worth living for anymore. The magic has gone out of this relationship and ...and.. I hate it! It's no good. I don't hate the original series enough. I'm just filled with utter contempt because I have experienced the glory that is Cassandra Claire's fanfic, and nothing else will suffice. *mournfully* If that series ever ends, I shall cry. If I ever read the book I'll reassess... but... I don't really want to sully my image of it any further. :: nimezs @ 11:32 pm [+] :: ... :: Sunday, July 10, 2005 :: Remember this question? Well, it's "Is it better to be hypocritically nice or brutally honest?" If you say hypocritically nice, does this mean you only whisper 'brutally honest' (as nice a euphemism I can think of) things behind someone's back? And if you say brutally honest, could you really say these things to a person's face? Which begs the question, Is it better to voice your criticisms to someone's face or voice your criticisms to someone else, where the information will hopefully filter back slowly to the object of affliction, if at all? As far as I can remember, King Duncan probably never knew what (or who) hit him. ('Twas a stab in the dark, you see.) As for Caesar, we all remember his response... Ah, so, if you're going to stab someone, would you do it in the dead of the night without anyone knowing, or in front of everyone in broad daylight? Please realise this is merely an analogy - if you stabbed someone in broad daylight you'd be clapped in irons faster than your victim can scream "Arghhh!!". Then again, if enough passers-by (it's the plural of passer-by. Trust me.) are around, it's possible that nothing might happen at all. All of them would not only be so affronted that you perpetrate like that in front of everyone! but also would do nothing, believing someone else would do it. Anyway, I digress. Sort of. The question still remains, however - which would be preferable, even suitable behaviour that should govern a principled person every time? Or does it, like most economics students will tell you, "depend on the situation"? And on the other hand... Certainly, it's quite enjoyable to engage in a little gossip and bitching behind someone's back - though certainly not as enjoyable for the gossipee in question. Well, even if the gossipee were included in this gossip, likely results would run along the lines of the same person still being uncomfortable. Here we are presented with an interesting conundrum - your gossipee is unhappy whether you tell him/her to the face or behind the back. So folks, what should someone do? There's always the third option of shutting up. But oh dear, not sharing information is selfish and unhealthy for the person who's learnt some exciting new things and is bursting to tell. And of course, being able to dish out the bad stuff on someone makes you feel, in a tiny way, superior. Coming back to our analogy, Brutus needed to dispose of a possible tyrant. *stab* Problem averted. Macbeth wanted to be king. *stab* Wish granted. Now, if we were to really relate this analogy as closely as possible to my question, we would come up with this: That in order to prevent people from becoming tyrants, we stab, I mean... criticize them to their face. And in order to take power from others, or well, just diminish them, we stab them in the back. And in order to become an immortal daughter of the air, we stab no one at all and throw ourselves into the sea (10 points if you can get the reference.) No matter what choice you make, someone gets hurt. Sort of. I'll just end off with something my boyfriend has taken to saying : Ignorance is bliss. That's also a subject of contention, but never mind. :: nimezs @ 11:27 am [+] :: ... :: Friday, July 01, 2005 :: Removes plaque 51% more effectively. Than what? Next leading toothbrush brand? A standard toothbrush? Not brushing? :: nimezs @ 4:01 pm [+] :: ...
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