hello world

2010-03-01T17:02:00.000-08:00

2009-12-28T11:47:00.000-08:00

I'm slowly reading through Christoph Rehage's blog. It's so captivating I can't stop reading it, and dreaming about where my life could take me, where I'd like to go.

I watched this video clip recently, and it scared me.

2009-12-26T14:43:00.000-08:00

Reading 'The Notebook'' right now. Best described as boring! Bah! Can't wait to start reading my first Murakami book :)) ...also looking forward to ploughing my way through this awesome blog:

http://www.thelongestway.com/

2009-12-24T19:05:00.001-08:00

I can't bring myself to believe that it's Christmas day. A day that held such fascination for me growing up. I still remember the age when I was small enough to sit right under the Christmas tree. The age when I would wait till midnight and announce to myself that this special day had come again. The age when I would wake up early, not to open presents like most children, but to turn on the television and channel hop, looking at all my options for Christmas programs.

Now several years on, I once again realise that it's Christmas. My mail application tells me I have a new email. A Christmas message? Opening it, I smile as my university tells me that I only have 2 mb left in my inbox.

For the past few hours, I've been lying in bed, head in a book. The Shadow of the Wind is finished, The Surgeon is finished, and now The Notebook has been started. A whole pile more to be explored.

I don't want to fall asleep, I am scared of waking up and realising that another day has escaped me, waking up and only cradling half a day, usually feeling like I could sleep for ''another 5 minutes'', always for just a tiny bit longer. As days blur into another without distinction, I get scared that another day will seem to have gone by, almost unnoticed.

A remember as a child I'd stare outside into the early morning stillness and sense something different about this day. My excited and overly imaginative mind picturing endless possibilities, all with fluffy endings and smiles. Today I want to believe the same thing - when daylight peeps through my curtains, I want to open them and be transported back to another time and place, back to the small body of a child who pictured always a brighter future, and above all, someone who saw Christmas as truly magical.

So, to anyone who may read this, a very Merry Christmas to you all, however you chose to spend it :))

(Date of posting displayed is a lie. It is 3.21 25th Friday December 2009 now!! )

2009-12-03T01:36:00.001-08:00

About 1 minute ago, I decided to use the ''Stickies'' program on my macbook to write a to-do list, when I realised that it had saved my previous reminders from 1st year... so...here is one of them:

''JUNK FOOD IS A BIG MISTAKE. DON'T DO IT!!!!!!

MUST EAT HEALTHILY

MUST MUST!

VEGETARIAN!''

oh dear.

2009-11-29T00:42:00.000-08:00

Home at 8.35am? That is new.

Time seems to have flown past as I stood chatting with my wonderful friends...even though some of us were barely able to keep upright because of the fatigue, we didn't stop...all enjoying this wonderful moment of being together.

It was the first time in my life that I stayed up the entire night with friends till sunlight spilled through the windows and further illuminated a room already lit up by the bright lights above our heads. We are young right now, and perhaps freer than ever. For the first time in a while, I almost grasped what the author of the cult fiction ''The Perks of being a Wallflower'' meant when he described the main character as feeling ''infinite''...

For this reason, I despise myself all the more for letting all this time slip through my fingers like drops of water or grains of sand. Time I could have spent with these friends, many in their final year of study, I wasted away in deep dreams and bitter regrets. I would rather have a dreamless sleep than waste those hours tormenting my mind with images of possibly realities that I could never believe in at that moment in time.

I only hope right now that time has made enough allowances and that I will be able to see my friends for one more day, always just that...for one more day. Without people I have nothing...am nothing, and things start to become meaningless no matter how many material possessions I own.

NB* to self: If I am to be bitter about anything, I may as well swallow poison. There is no use in tormenting myself, only to grasp hold of the present and make the most of this interesting reality we all live in. Each day gives birth to over a million exciting possibilities. So why am I constantly stuck in one reality? A comfort zone that is neither beneficial, especially given the sheer number of outcomes presented before me...if I was only willing to take that one extra step...or to take a risk...to even say to myself...''Wake up...don't sleep 'for another 5 minutes...' ''... Those simple words could easily have set off a huge chain reaction of events I could easily have enjoyed recounting in my journal. Instead I am left to shout at myself as you can see.

So here goes another day, and, wonderful world, here goes a young mind just trying to keep up with you.

--------

Some 243 messages deleted - I live in the present not the past!!

2009-11-21T17:52:00.000-08:00

Wonderland...

2009-11-11T16:31:00.000-08:00

I have a great deal of work to do, but I still feel very warm and at peace; a feeling I want to hold onto forever. I will finish off my raspberry tea and get to work :)
Most important lesson I've learn this year: Do something as soon as you think about it(-that includes getting up right after you've woken up...)

Thinking:
I am very lucky :)
I know too little, I want to learn everything :p :))
Reading:
Shadow of the Wind
Listening:
Forever~Stratovarius

I love making lists! [X]=DONE! =)
[X]Special Relativity Coursework
Other Courses
[X]Buy more postcards+birthday cards :)
[X]Speak to my granny
[X]Get Free Hug Photos!!
[ ]Reinstall macbook<--wonder when this one will happen hmmm (Still hoarding... :( ) [ ]Stop hoarding library books and either read/return them [X]Vacuum flat [ ]Order train tickets

Die Welle

2009-11-05T16:36:00.000-08:00

I have an overwhelming amount of work that makes me feel like a tower about to topple over and break into thousands of pieces. Stress used to keep me going, keep me up, and rule my life. For that reason I didn't do any work and watched a film I have: Die Welle. A German film, and one of the most interesting films I've seen in a long while. The film is about a teacher who has been given the unwanted task of teaching autocracy to a group of students. He decides to do an experiment to show the students what would happen in a system dominated by a infallible leader. A dictatorial system that is very reminiscent of Nazism. What follows are dire consequences that seem impossible to reverse.

It is very clear why the students feel the way they do about ''Die Welle'', and especially interesting how each student individually changes. The film becomes increasing disturbing with the teacher enjoying his new found power over his students.

The ending was far from happy, or desirable, but it was the best ending the film could have had in my opinion. It wasn't incredibly realistic, but equally not just ''another film'' like the American market continues to churn out.

http://www.welle.film.de/

This film was based on the fictional book ''The Wave'' that was inspired by a true social experiment. This experiment happened in America, but was poorly documented with most sources coming from the teacher himself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Wave

2009-11-04T11:55:00.000-08:00

Today I finally did the Free Hug Campaign, an idea that was planted into my mind many months before. After spending a decent amount of time trying to persuade people to go, as each day drew to a close and the day of the campaign crept up on me, I became more and more nervous. Why am I doing this? Will I make a difference? Does anyone even want to hug me...? What if people don't respond well?

Well, any negative thoughts I had were dispelled. My friend Dan wanted to ''warm up'' by doing the campaign at university. I hesitated but agreed, I started this campaign amongst my friends afterall...why should I be cowardly now?

In the first five minutes of standing outside the entrance to one of the main buildings, I received about six hugs...later on I got picked up a couple of times and had several group hugs...one girl in particular stayed in my mind...I may not be able to recall what she looks like, but she said that she had been having an awful day and would like a hug.

Dan and I were joined by more and more people and soon, more people stopped to give us hugs. It was the happiest moment of my week...maybe even month perhaps...seeing people respond so well...and even for those that didn't want a hug, it warmed my heart just to see them smile...I made that person smile!! That was a great feeling...

Later on a group of us went by bus to Piccadilly Circus where we gave more hugs...We even went into Burger King and gave many hugs out! Later on, we were approached by two cameramen working for the BBC who told us to dance around...I will be on BBC3...I am scared. We also hugged someone posing as a grim reaper...I felt a bit bad since we pretty much cornered him and he had no choice since he was busking as a statue!

Awkward/moderately funny highlight - Stopping a huge group of Germans in their tracks. They had no idea what was going on and pretty much all stood there near the crossing staring at us and speaking in German. One shook my hand, which is a start :p... Germans not keen on hugs? :p

I love hugs. I love making people smile. It was pretty successful overall, and I'm glad that I was apart of something bigger than me today. This was one of my ''to-do'' entries in my bucket list...

2009-10-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

Haha...today I broke my ipod charger by standing on it...from now on, I will make a lot more effort to keep my floor tidy! ! It's good that I am not too upset about it.

About a week ago, I watched one of my favourite films again, Amelie. At the end, the man with the ''glass bones'' says to her:

''...ma petite Amélie, vous n'avez pas des os en verre. Vous pouvez vous cogner à la vie. Si vous laissez passer cette chance, alors avec le temps, c'est votre cœur qui va devenir aussi sec et cassant que mon squelette. Alors, allez y, nom d'un chien!''

''My Little Amélie, you don't have bones made of glass. You can take life's knocks. If you let this chance go, in time, it is your heart which will become as dry and brittle as my skeleton. So go for it!''

''Nom d'un chien'' = ''name of a dog'' <--apparently a French exclamation to suggest surprise or annoyance according to forum.wordreference.com!...interesting! Wonder where that comes from. Someone posted that it is like ''Goodness gracious'' and someone else said that it is what a 60 years old would say instead of ''merde''...will try and find out!

...I really think everyone should watch this film...!

I bought another film called The Science of Dreams at the same time as Amelie so will try and watch that sometime!

2009-09-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

A terribly addictive game!! :

Fulfillment

Old list of books that I will slowly get through !! :
The Big Read Top 100

AMAZING:

In case someone HAPPENS to want to buy these as well and doesn't live in France:
Les Papillotes

Today I got a scam letter from ''Euro Million Lottery'' telling me I had won £500,000. Ink jet printing, standard quality paper, poorly made payment form asking me for bank details, spelling mistakes, fuzzy pictures, and 2nd class postage made it far from convincing...but...it is nice thinking that you have won £500,000 haha ! :)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

''Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.''
-Carrie Fisher

27/09/2009

About to go with my father to buy a much needed bookshelf!!!!!!!

Argh...allergic reaction.
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Wow...I want to see them live again... :

2009-09-21T12:20:00.001-07:00

Read a list of hilarious names of actual bands yesterday, these included: Dananananaykroyd, Gay for Johnny Depp, and Paracoccidioidomicosisproctitissarcomucosis.

Link: http://oddee.com/item_96817.aspx

When I can, would like to make these :)
I found this several months ago and thought it was really nice: http://englishrussia.com/?p=2082

Today: sleeping too much, dreaming too much, doing too little!

I miss you France and Germany! I was about to upload a photo. Unfortunately it froze...it's times like these when I feel glad that each of the google chrome tabs work independently so the crashing of one doesn't affect the others.

2009-09-16T03:54:00.000-07:00

Didn't go to the cathedral, feet hurt and shoulders hurt a little too much, want to be a bit more rested before I walk to the train station with everything. Might go to Poland soon, would be so lovely...

Yesterday, after coming back from Germany, I stayed in for a bit before going to meet people at a pub - friends of my friend. It was pleasant, the atmosphere was nice and the drinks weren't too expensive...picon for 3 euros isn't that bad. I am silly, and will annoy people sometime for sure, but everytime I meet someone nice and he/she smokes I always feel that I have to say something. I know, they are intelligent people and they know what's bad for them, but I just feel uncomfortable. I met a nice French boy and he just laughed at me :)

After we got home, my friend and I just spent about an hour talking before going to sleep.

Now I'm here, it's 1pm GMT+1 and I think I might go to the corner shop and get a packet of crisps or maybe some soup...I'm quite hungry...I am getting a bit scared about the journey to the train station, which is why I'm setting off about 3 hours in advance!! :)

It's going to be weird being back at home, I think I will have fish and chips or something after I get back to my flat...it's so strange how everything is closed in Strasbourg...there is NO WHERE to eat at night...I was lucky that a kebab shop was even opened at midnight. In London you are spoilt for choice!

I really want to go back to Kehl and go on the play area, or cycle around Kehl and go further into Germany. I checked on the map and it would have taken me much longer to go to the next German town by foot.

It was very enjoyable speaking French and experiencing the culture...I really want to go back and see the Rhine from that wooden building again...I think the name of it was ''Panaromic View'' or something...

-----------

So I'm finally home. I thought that I wouldn't make it back to England...next time I will take a suitcase...my shoulders aren't feeling too great at the moment. I decided to walk to all the stations with everything instead of getting potentially ripped off by taxi drivers, besides, I knew I had enough time, although I took many breaks along the way :)

It took me an hour to walk there as oppose to maybe 10 minutes if I hadn't been carrying anything!

They only announce the platform number about 20 minutes before each train leaves it seems and I kept worrying that I would miss the train since I'd been crawling to every destination with my luggage.

On the train I sat next to a lovely German man. He is an equity analyst...he was really lovely! He started talking to me after I offered him chocolate from Germany. I didn't actually know what to say when he asked me about ''the economical situation in London.'' It was really nice talking to him, he offered to help with my luggage but I said no. Guess I won't see him again. It's really nice meeting nice people randomly :p

After arriving in Paris, it took me about 30 minutes to get to Gard du Nord...again...I pretty much crawled there, like a really big snail, but because I had NO CLUE where to go, I had to ask about 5 people before I got there! Then I sat there for nearly an hour after finally going through check-in...

I got on the train and sat near a group of 3 people who, by the sounds of it, had been interviewing potential applicants in Paris. It was interesting the comments they made about the applicants, but I really didn't like it when one of them started talking about how one of the applicants, a private banker, had weird eyes and how it was hard to focus on what she was saying since her eyes were so weird. Then they all started laughing at her :( I don't want to apply for a job for people to laugh at my face behind my back!

Got to St. Pancras and just sat there for ages because my shoulders were in bad shaped...haha...clothes ripped, bag broken, jeans dirty... Getting the tube was very tiring, but then it always is when you have luggage. Waited for the tube to Wimbledon at Victoria for AGES, realised it wouldn't come so went to Earls Court. I made the flatmate who I've never talked to properly, my new flatmate, leave his girlfriend and help me :(( Feel so bad...but got home after midnight and did not particularly want to crawl home with so much stuff especially since I've been hassled in the past. Anyway, home now...eating instant noodle and drinking coke...this is disgusting!! I will be healthy after this week...tomorrow going home home, Friday is my friend's 21st...Saturday is the birthday dinner of another friend (it's her 21st)...Sunday I might sort out my room...will probably come back to London early...I can't stand being at home, too noisy :(

2009-09-15T12:09:00.001-07:00

Yesterday and today I walked to Germany. The only difference is that unlike yesterday I didn't decide to get the tram back to the apartment :) It takes a lot longer by foot...nearly 3 hours by foot one way...but that includes all the minutes I stopped to take pictures...Kehl doesn't get many tourists aside from the French who have crossed the border from Strasbourg...

Yesterday everyone looked at me when I spoke English, that was before I realised that most people working in the shops could understand/speak French. After that I decided to just use French like the other days, and it was lots of fun.

I heat up very quickly and got stopped by a French guy who told me I was going to get ill and who asked me why I wasn't cold. It was funny. I took many pictures of swans.

Oh! Near the border, they have the best Children's play area!! It is SO great!! I think it's probably aimed at older children/adults because you had to climb quite high up and walk along a rope about 5 ft above ground to get to a slide, etc...it was very fun though...Once again, for the 3rd day in a row...I walked up the wooden building which has a magnificent view of Germany...it was wonderful and it makes you feel so at peace. I guess it was either today or yesterday that I thought about living in Kehl later in life. It's incredibly safe to cycle to and from France, and a lovely journey as well. The people in Strasbourg are lovely, and in Kehl the food is great. When I went with George, the Greek guy, we were lucky enough to arrive in time for some sort of festival...maybe I will go to that same festival again some day... I definitely want to go back, even if it's just to climb those steps to the top of that wooden structure and once again feel as close to being ''on top of the world'' as I've ever felt.

I feel like I've taken a shop back with me...I bought so much...mostly German chocolate :) I've decided I want to learn German and Italian...and Mandarin of course...but that won't be as hard...

2009-09-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

Today I got up reasonably early, got ready, had something to eat for breakfast (Brioche but the less sweet version), then we arrived at the youth hostel that George the Greek guy was staying. He was having a bath, so we waited for a bit before seeing him. Then we rented bikes, he put his card details down for deposit, and I felt really bad. We then got bikes, but the bikes that we got given weren't that good. He sorted it out showed me how to adjust the bike seat...it was funny because I kept thinking that there was no way I'd be able to get on it.

So we set off to Germany. I nagged him a lot, e.g. ''Can we stop here and take photos? Please please pleaseeeeee??!!'' ''...fine...'' ...must have been annoying! When we crossed over to Germany it was lovely, I loved it so much. It was beautiful, the people were wonderful, the food was excellent, the views amazing, everything was just great. They have excellent pork and pies!!!!! Some how George managed to get some German beer for free...maybe he lied so that I wouldn't pay him back, or he forgot to pay and ran off :)

So we hung out in Germany for a bit. We didn't shop much because it was Sunday and pretty much all the shops were closed. It's not like England... We found a shop that sold German beer and bought several bottles...we paid about 17 Euros which wasn't bad at all.

I want to walk there maybe this week, since Germany was so lovely! Either that or I might go to Paris with George and stay in a youth hostel. It'll be really interesting, because I've never stayed in one before, and also I'll be with a friend. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Anyway, after we came back from Germany, we went straight to a picnic and met the Italians followed by others. It was really nice, the picnic. Lots and lots of food, and Nicoletta made a LOVELY tray of brownies that were absolutely wonderful!! I also met some other of my friend's friends, like the lovely Polish girl.

I also got to row for the first time. My friend says I have the body type for rowing...I have a lot of muscle on my arms and legs despite not e.g. lifting weights regularly, etc., so I guess that is why it was very easy for me to cycle fast. I haven't ridden a full sized bike for a long while - the bike I have in London, is, I'm pretty sure, a children's bike :) It's pink and purple too!

My lovely friend said she'd walk to the youth hostel after George and I got there so she could walk me back... I was sad to say bye to George, because I'm scared I won't see my new friend again.

Anyway, after we got back, we just watched videos of Leona Lewis singing :) I might have a shower in a moment, I don't know if it's because of the weather here, but my hair has been very, very well behaved - not greasy at all, very soft, etc..

Anyway, I probably won't do much tonight. I read about 1/2 of Breakfast at Tiffany's on the TGV, but I was very tired throughout that journey - haha...big shock when I arrived in France and EVERYTHING was closed, until we found a kebab shop and had the Ramadan special :)

2009-09-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was great!! I woke up early and by about 8.30am had said bye to my friend and was setting off. I decided that I wouldn't use any English and it went well - was lots of fun! I took lots of pictures, especially of people...I don't know why, I just felt like it :)

Strasbourg is pretty expensive, I didn't buy that much but still spent about 100 euros...! I got some DVDs - finally have a DVD of Amelie, one of my favourite films :) I wanted to buy Jeux d'enfants as well, but didn't have any money left! I also got an interesting film called the science of dreams in French. I found a really cute street with some interesting shops, the most interesting being a shop that sold only tea. Tea from all over the world. I got 2 packets of tea, will be trying those some time :) They had Earl Grey there and many different types of Chinese tea. What else? Oh, bought some stationery :)

Gallerie Lafayette was very boring, not even any food let alone icecream :) The one in Paris was really nice :) By this time I had talked to several French people, people in Strasbourg are so lovely and helpful. I really loved meeting the people I did! It was especially cool to talk with them in French even though I haven't used my French for over 3 years now. Hoping to learn more by speaking it....

Later on, I went back home and chatted with my friend for a bit. We both fell asleep because today was tiring for both of us. My friend has to work during the day, and I'd been walking since before 9am. We went out later to meet her friends, and I decided to wear the high heels that I got...big mistake! They were so comfortable at first, but after about 5 minutes walking with them, it was clear that I did not know how to walk with high heels/could not. Was it worth it being a few inches taller? Hmm :)

Well, we arrived and saw her friends, Nicoletta and Guiseppie. Then we walked to a restaurant and were joined by many other Italians, an Australian, an Albanian, an Armenian and a Greek guy. I couldn't remember the name of most of the Italians, but they are so lovely and friendly. The Albanian girl looked like Sinead O'Connor, and all the Italians were really beautiful :) The Australian guy was travelling around Europe as was the Greek I think. They were both very cool. The Australian was called Aslam (!) My friend couldn't stop getting over the fact that he shares the same name as the lion from Narnia haha!! He didn't actually have an Australian accent. It was very faint anyway. The Greek guy told me he'd cycled to Germany this week, at this point I got very excited!! Later on we shook hands, actually no, we shook hands multiple times over the same agreement, we are going to cycle to Germany and ''take the Germans by surprise with our bikes''...

After we left the restaurant, we went to a pub that was on a boat. It was really cool! I wanted to take lots of pictures, but it was dark and I don't think anyone would have appreciated the flash. The Italians speak pretty good French as well, and very good English. The Albanian girl was fluent in Italian, English, Albanian and could speak French well too.

Everything was just lovely, and afterwards we walked home and fell asleep quite quickly, despite saying that we wouldn't :) The Greek guy, George, said that we should have a picnic in the weekend, so could be nice :) Hope to see Aslan again since he is leaving on Monday. I'll be leaving sometime Wednesday...wow...it's been a lot of fun already, and I only got here about 10.30pm on Thursday :)

2009-09-10T07:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I am at St. Pancras at the moment and it was so cool, because I met two really nice guys there from Belgium, and we had a nice conversation so that was good. I was a bit scared about travelling by myself, but it isn't anything scary at all, although my heart probably skipped a beat when I thought that I'd left my passport in my flat... :o

The plan was that yesterday and today I'd majorly brush up on my French, but that never happened. I got lost in London by getting myself confused and walking around in circles. I don't mind walking so wasn't that annoyed. Then I fell asleep, I always fall asleep when I don't want to and can never sleep when I do! How annoying! Probably won't blog my whole journey, but will try and buy a nice journal or something when I get there!

I will arrive in Strasbourg near 10.30pm GMT+1, my friend said that she'd trapped a spider in a jar, a spider which I could hopefully be kind enough to take outside. Haha, funny, I miss her, not seen her in a while, so it's great seeing her in France :)

Hopefully this weekend I will be seeing another friend, I've not seen her in near 3 years, maybe longer. Wow.

I must remember to add those two guys on facebook, it's so lovely meeting people from all over the world! They said that their part of Belgium is rather boring, but what was interesting is that they live in a German community so they can speak fluent German and French. Their English was very good as well. Would have been nice to have talked to them for a bit longer.

So I'm sat next to a guy intensely doing sudoku...think I might read my book or perhaps look through the grammar section of my dictionary. Oh, the guy next to me started speaking! Sounds like Finnish or something. Should I ask? It sounds really lovely either way, Might ask after he stops speaking on the phone. Wow, I'd really like to speak this language.

This is weird, he's sat RIGHT next to me and I'm blogging about him.

Anyway...I'll probably write more a bit later. The wireless connection isn't very strong here.

Update
I just asked, it was a Flemish dialect. Sounds SO nice.

2009-09-09T14:48:00.001-07:00

Sitting and staring outside is not for me, or at least it shouldn't be.

I feel compelled to introduce myself and drink tea with the seemingly anti-social people that have moved into the flat below.

Tomorrow, I will make at least 10 people laugh/smile.

Tomorrow, I will be in France.

Tomorrow, I will try and smile no matter what.

Tomorrow, I will get up early and use my mat.

To organise free-hug campaign or not?

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Today is 09/09/2009 nice numbers...

Incubus Cover

2009-09-09T14:38:00.001-07:00

2009-09-02T06:40:00.000-07:00

Source: http://www.ordinarycomics.com/

2009-08-31T08:01:00.000-07:00

''For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of each of your arms.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years.''

Written by the late educator-humorist Sam Levinson for his grandchild and read by Audrey Hepburn on Christmas Eve, 1992.

Picture Source: Found via Stumbleupon... ...

Marriage Proposal

2009-08-30T11:48:00.001-07:00

Marriage Proposal

Aww...

Across the Universe

2009-08-29T02:25:00.000-07:00

2009-08-27T02:08:00.001-07:00

:)

Pirate Bay + Flowers

2009-08-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

I'm wondering about several things right this minute. I'm wondering whether this blog is contributing to anything useful rather than a vent for emotions that I feel I can share. I'm wondering whether I'm really here, whether everything I've done in the past means anything. Did it make me happy? Probably not. It was probably done just because this is the reality I was born into. I was not born into a place where I have to walk miles to get something even remotely close to clean water...or a war torn country stricken with poverty...

Does anyone that I have met even matter anymore? Everyone is too drowned in their own problems, their own existence to have time to worry for others. Adverts pleading for money, people needing help, all swiftly ignored for one reason or another.

People will just be footsteps left behind in a couple of years time, these people that I know now, the people I meet in 2010...2015...all but a few will be just distant memories that I will only have vague recollections of...and I'm afraid that those most deeply etched in my memory, will be those that I regret most...caring too much about a specific person only to realise that I wasted my time for example. Time is too precious to waste.

We get chances, and sometimes we take them, sometimes we don't see them, and sometimes we see them and wave them goodbye...only to deeply regret them in the future.

Picture Source: Unknown

2009-08-13T07:11:00.001-07:00

All fears have evaporated regarding the collapsing of my room. I have moved 90% of my book collection downstairs. This took nearly 2 hours - a good work out...! All I could do was give my lovely gran the biggest grin ever when she repeatedly evil-ed me upon my entrance into the living room holding yet another box of books. Haha lovely and evil don't really go together do they :) I know, I know...I have a lot of books, I'd give my granddaughter evils if she shifted half her possessions into the downstairs living space. I need a shelf now... ... hmm... ...

Time for work soon, oh man, today I get an email making everything official.

My sister is upset all the way in China because she did something dumb and doesn't know why. She also refuses to believe me when I tell her that she isn't in trouble. She is back on Saturday...wow...time does fly.

Update: I feel dizzy, power working starts after my shower, since I didn't power work at all today but mostly sat in one place with a heavy head. I talked to my sister today and suddenly realised that she will be back home in less than 2 days...

2009-08-12T04:38:00.000-07:00

My blog is over saturated with embedded youtube videos.

Today is a really nice one, if I get most of what I want to get done done today, I think I might walk to the local playground and play on the swings. It's weird, there are lots of small children there all the time, all of them with their parents, and I'm just happily swinging away...a giant amongst them all. (A giant? Haha...) I don't really mind, but man, I really do want to live my life again sometimes. Well, time to move forward.

I got a book several months ago that is basically all about the Trans-Siberian railroad! Need to read that sometime, but also need to get my room sorted. I am very scared, and this is just me being silly, but I have so many books in my room that one of my worst nightmares is the whole room collapsing...so in September, maybe, I will get a bookshelf to house all my books downstairs.

I really want to start writing a book as well. I have a couple of ideas, some that I had when e.g. randomly staring out of the car window when I was about 15 and it was raining outside. Can't believe how different I was and how much time I wasted before I was 16! Even if I have a set back now, I feel happy that I came a long way from what I was.

I just want to sit here, listen to random saxophone pieces and read Dostoyevsky, or walk to the park. Haha, having said that, I would also easily trade all that for sleeping the entire day.

The flow of time, always flowing. It's like a glued down, permanent sand timer. I hate those moments where you are sat there, clock in front of you, just watching the minute hand moving away, as each second, each hour goes by, and you wonder what someone else is doing somewhere in the world; whether there are other people watching time like you are.

It's almost a luxury, I'm sat here watching time, and someone else is suffering a great extent due to some cause I may have no experience of, just because when they entered the world, that was what they were born into. It's really sad.

Just remembered a very nice passage about a man recalling a childhood memory where he pictured a nice concept concerning infinity:

''I do not know if this is of interest to you or not but here is a thought-experiment of mine, probably around the age of 7-8, for sure after 6 and before 10.

I started thinking about death and wanted to convince myself I would never die, instead of thinking about life after death… So I started thinking about an infinity in this way: first, I assumed that my entire life was only one dream in one night in another life where I am still the same person but could not fully realize that a full life goes on in each dream (an interesting point about personal identity, I guess). Now, that other life would be finite and have only a finite number of nights. So, I thought further that in each night there must be a finite number of dreams, encapsulating a finite number of lives. This was still short of infinity, so I started thinking that in each of these finitely many dreams of the finitely many nights, I would live a life that would in turn contain finitely many nights, which would contain finitely many dreams, and so on. I was not so sure that I was safe that way (i.e. that I would go on living forever), but I convinced myself that these were enough lives to live, so that even if the process would end, I would still have lived enough, and stopped thinking about it.'' ~ Mathieu Marion

Well, that was random, but I liked it very much when I first read it.

Update:
Oh dear, I am feeling rather unwell, and the sky is dark now. No walk today I'm afraid. Taking time-out and writing a ramble on here.

2009-08-11T02:21:00.000-07:00

Highlight of the week: Finding out the hands of my watch glow in the dark...

I also watched this in the early hours of this morning...how many humans would do this for each other?

Some people are so...
Cause: World of Warcraft

I thought it was just a set up, but then I watched this...unbelievable:

Oh dear...

2009-08-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

I wanna play the saxophone!

Careless Whisper

Nothing Gonna Change My Love for You

After my mission... :)

2009-08-02T04:55:00.001-07:00

What are you doing now?

Panicking about my life.

Listening:

Praan ~ Gary Schyman

Reading:

Pirates and Emperors, Old and New ~ Noam Chomsky

Current favourite Youtube video:

Across the Universe ~ The Beatles

Current regrets:

Caring too much.

Craving:

More time :) ... ...

Things to do today:

Walk in the park...work...emailing sister...Seinfeld chains.

Need to:

Focus! Care less! Live more!

The language of autism

2009-07-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

I found this again when I was looking through my saved delicious.com bookmarks. It's one of those things that makes you realise how narrow minded the world can be.

Original Source

2009-07-26T06:59:00.001-07:00

Sounds so nice:

''Livin' la vida loca'' on the dance mat almost killed me...shower and then I will really begin the day! :p

Later, I am talking to my brother (aged 6), when I suddenly decide to play dead...just to see what he'd do next. I put on my best ''I am dead'' impression, complete with tongue sticking out...he just walked off and went ''It's a busy day today.'' Hmm. To be 6 again, how cool would that be.

when we have setbacks...

2009-07-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

A random comic I sometimes read

Kseniya Simonova

2009-07-24T04:47:00.001-07:00

War is evil.

Dear Environmentalist

2009-07-24T02:47:00.000-07:00

“Myth: we have to save the earth. Frankly, the earth doesn't need to be saved. Nature doesn't give a hoot if human beings are here or not. The planet has survived cataclysmic and catastrophic changes for millions upon millions of years. Over that time, it is widely believed, 99 percent of all species have come and gone while the planet has remained. Saving the environment is really about saving our environment - making it safe for ourselves, our children, and the world as we know it. If more people saw the issue as one of saving themselves, we would probably see increased motivation and commitment to actually do so.”

— Robert M. Lilienfeld, management consultant and author (b. 1953) and William L. Rathje, archaeologist and author (b. 1945)

Today

2009-07-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

Just do it!

Today I watched part of Michael Palin's BBC series where he travels through 20 countries in Eastern Europe. In the episode I watched he traveled through Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia and Albania!
http://www.mytvblog.org/?p=68

Boy do I want to travel...and learn about all that history! :))

I'm still pretty tired-I'm getting very sick of this, but trying to implement something new right now.

I found this...it's so dumb and so funny...Twilight spoof :
Original Dumb Trailer:

Spoof:

Found this nice list of travel books done by The Guardian newspaper:
Click! :D

Wow, time does fly!! 20:18 now... My sister is still on a train heading towards Suzhou, China...they have beds on that train, but she will be getting there in a couple of hours...

Might charge my camera, then go to my local park and take pictures early tomorrow. There are sheep and deer there. The scenery is very lovely, and I feel so lucky to live so close to such a beautiful place :)

Ha...just changed my blog address to shining-wit.blogger.com ... I'm not being arrogant, it's actually a spoonerism that I find amusing...
Update: Changed it to Hello World in 1337 speak.
Funniest/randomest thing that happened today...: My dad just ran in half naked and stole some of my orange to eat.

2009-07-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

This made me smile so much... One of my favourite Beatles songs...

If by Rudyard Kipling

2009-07-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

2009-07-22T08:23:00.001-07:00

What the ...??!

Cadbury Eyebrows - The best free videos are right here

Later on:

How adorable and talented he is!

I like how music brings people together :) :

2009-07-21T16:18:00.000-07:00

There is so much to learn...

Anyway...today I finally watched that Friends episode a good friend of mine kept on telling me about..the one about Onagi. I did embed it, but due to copyright, once again, it has been removed.

I'm staying at my friend's flat whilst I sort a bunch of stuff out...it's so great having friends.

Also, my friend told me about her friend's travel blog. Wow...to travel...that would be incredible.
http://robintino.co.uk/

This guy is traveling Asia alone though. What an experience.

2009-07-19T08:02:00.000-07:00

It's raining outside and England is living up to its reputation! Today I came across a youtube video, 1 of 3 parts, about a Norwegian lady who moved to HK many years ago and learnt to speak the language fluently. For those that understand Cantonese, you might find it very inspiring. She speaks with a heavy accent, etc., but it's very impressive nonetheless!

After about 15 seconds googling, she is called Cecilie Gamst Berg. Her personal website is: http://www.happyjellyfish.com/index.htm

haha...man..does anyone even read my posts? :) Oh well...something to look back on later :)

Click to view full size

2009-07-18T06:11:00.001-07:00

Why is it always pi/2?

Everyone needs to watch this...I want that to be me someday, maybe with a different dance though... ;)

Update: Just read another funny one...

2009-07-13T15:39:00.001-07:00

2009-07-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

13 July 2009

''Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.''

— Christian Larson

''But to risk, we must,
Because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing
The man, the woman, who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.''
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

2009-07-13T13:45:00.001-07:00

2009-06-26T06:20:00.001-07:00

If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is the man who has so much as to be out of danger? -Thomas Henry Huxley

2009-06-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

This made me smile so much!

2009-06-14T13:53:00.001-07:00

I've decided, I won't buy another book till I've read 10 of the ones I've already bought. I'll give myself till the end of June for this. I can think of 8 at the moment.
(1) Three men in a boat by Jerome K Jerome
(2) Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
(3) for one more day by Mitch Albom
(4) Let the right one in by John Ajvide Lindqvist
(5) The god delusion by Richard Dawkins
(6) Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky <--might be a bit too ambitious putting this in...we'll see.
(7) My brain is open by Bruce Schechter (biography about Paul Erdos that I've wanted to read for a while)
(8) Killing time by Paul Feyerabend

Update:
Due to personal difficulties, I did not do the above. It will go on my updated to-do list... :(

Second Update:
Well this all went out the window, since I went crazy buying books in France and Germany :)

2009-06-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

I don't really understand why I like this song so much. I am part of the bandwagon that discovered this song after reading the book ''The Perks of Being a Wallflower'' by Stephen Chbosky.
Asleep ~ The Smiths

2009-06-11T22:10:00.000-07:00

Taken from a book I'm reading now, Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome:

"...the sight of another man asleep in bed when I am up maddens me. It seems to me so shocking to see the precious hours of a man's life - the priceless moments that will never come back to him again - being wasted in mere brutish sleep.

There was George, throwing away in hideous sloth the inestimable gift of time; his valuable life, every second of which he would have to account for hereafter, passing away from him, unused. He might have been up stuffing himself with eggs and bacon, irritating the dog, or flirting with the slavey, instead of sprawling there, sunk in soul-clogging oblivion.''

2009-06-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

I watched this a while ago. Incredible and awful what is happening:

Language Death
This video features a speaker, K. David Harrison, author of ''When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge''

In this video, the author discusses language death - how there are almost 7000 worldwide, but by the end of the century most of them will have become extinct, with many of these languages never having been written down.

Language Death

2009-06-10T03:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I watched 1/5 of a documentary that was released in 1985 by an American television channel. In 1968, a school teacher decided to show her third-grade class that was made up of white children, the meaning of discrimination. This was following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. It is very moving, but also very interesting to watch.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/view.html

Steve Jobs

2009-04-29T12:32:00.001-07:00

''Stay hungry...stay foolish''

My favourite XKCD

2009-02-21T11:16:00.000-08:00

About Me

2009-02-21T10:58:00.000-08:00

A Child Stuck in a -Twenty-Something Body

I like hugs, smiles, laughing, people, books, musical instruments, tea, parks, films (especially foreign language films!), stationery, drawing, languages, winter, autumn, flowers, googlewave, animals, soup..........

~Tokidoki~

"Tokidoki means "sometimes" in Japanese. I chose "sometimes", because everyone waits for that moment that changes one's destiny. By simple chance or meeting a new person, tokidoki is the hope, the hidden energy everyone has inside that gives us the strength to face a new day and dream something positive, that something magical will happen to us.''

Simone Legno