Take Note

Hello - please note that all pictures posted here belong to me, unless otherwise stated. So, if for whatever reason you'd like to use them, do let me know. And use appropriate citations - nothing short of APA style, please! ; )

Cereal Inspiration

"The landscape of the quaint town was changed by the ubiquitous rivulets that formed after the deluge, and the pugnacious townsmen reacted in an insolent way when they saw this."

The words that have been italicized were randomly generated over several weeks, as part of a breakfast-game that we played at camp. One morning, over cereal, I suddenly thought of these words, and a sentence formed itself in my head. Those words must have been playing up there for a bit. huh.

Good Vibrations

The feel of really clean teeth: $20.00

A saved trip to the dentist: $300.00

The look on your sister's face when you trick her into thinking that's your vibrator: Priceless.

BERSIH - syioknyer.

The article & all pictures in this post were ripped-off Malaysiakini.com. I hate to rip-off their work, but this is for the benefit of all those who don't have accounts there. This will not be a common occurence, so, do yourselves a favor, and subscribe to malaysiakini.com

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40,000 protest for free and fair elections Nov 10, 07 8:16am

Tens of thousands of protesters massed outside Istana Negara this afternoon, facing off against riot police in defiance of a government ban on the rally calling for clean and fair elections.

The demonstrators, an alliance of opposition parties and civil society groups, had marched in the driving rain to the palace, chanting "Election Reform" and "Justice".

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had vowed to suppress the demonstration, backing police who said they feared riots could break out.

But the rally went ahead despite efforts to close down the centre of Kuala Lumpur, with a heavy police presence and roadblocks that caused traffic snarls.

"There are close to 30,000 protesters here at the moment. We have agreed to have them sit down in front of the palace and have four representatives present a petition" to the palace representative, a senior police officer told AFP.

Bersih: 40,000 at palace gate

Organisers of the rally said that at least 40,000 had turned up for the rally.

Some 400 police in riot gear were deployed at the palace, including dozens armed with automatic weapons and several with tear gas launchers. Two water cannons were set up behind police lines.

"The Malaysian public must be allowed to express their opinions and views," parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said at the palace gates before going in to deliver the petition.

"It is not fair for the government not to issue a permit for this rally to take place as it is only the voice of the people being expressed here," he said.

Organisers had planned to hold the rally at the city's Dataran Merdeka but were forced to shift the venue after police sealed it off.

Anwar made short speech

Anwar Ibrahim, who was heir apparent to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad until 1998 when he was sacked and jailed for sodomy and corruption, was only allowed to make brief remarks at the rally.

He yelled out his slogan of "Reformasi" or "Reform" and thanked the crowd for coming.

"We want free and fair elections and clearly Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and his cabinet are complicit to the crime of cheating Malaysians from having free and fair elections," he told reporters later.

Anwar's sodomy conviction has been overturned but the corruption verdict stands, barring him from standing for public office until April 2008.

Protests are rare in Malaysia, and the last major rallies were seen in 1998 during the "Reformasi" movement that erupted after Anwar's sacking.

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The pictures below are that of my family - ah, riot police, tear-gas, 40 000 protestors. A normal family gathering. ; )

Mary, Mary, quite contrary...

I love grocery stores.
I love grocery stores, and fresh food markets, and fish stalls and butchers. I love the way time slows down in my mind as I peruse the aisles, taking in labels and colours, smells and textures. I love the way the names jump out at me...fig-almond butter, olives stuffed with goat cheese, sesame & soy glazed slow roasted duck, rasberry-wine vinegarette.

But it isn't just the gourmet grocery stores that I love. I adore the sight of fresh vegetables and fruit, the vibrant colours and the marks where little insects nibbled a little on them, proof of their freshness. I love holding the fruit, smelling it for it's true essence, unmarked by the spray of fertilizers.


Mary, Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?

I live with my brat,
In a high-rised flat,
So how the hell should I know?

(Pic: Garden of Eden gourmet market, Brooklyn, NY)

I walked by a fish market today, and overheard two teenage girls complain about the smell. 'It smells so...', - alive? real? like home? I thought to myself. There's something to be said about standing in water that has been muddled with fish guts, being bumped about by aunties and their pasar-baskets and brushing the dirt of the sayur...it's grounding and incredibly real.
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Below: Pictures taken from my trip to Wholefoods (love it!), on a rainy NY evening.

Empire State Building

Union Square Park

Homeboy Got Game

On my way back from a fantabulous dinner with Rubi & Medina @ Africa Kine (gorgeous Senagalese food ; i had thiebou yapp, mmm), I had several hillarious encounters with some...'interesting' strangers-on-public-transportation.

Scene 1: Mother & child at the bus stop.

The little girl (about 3 years old) fixated all her energy on hitting the poor, innocent billboard (I usually hate ads, but this was a public service ad that read "can one person change a city?"). The mother, tired from telling the child to stop, decided to take disciplining-through-truth to a whole new level.

Mother: "You have to stop that. It's glass. Glass will cut you. And you will start to bleed. Blood will come gushing out of you. Blood will be everywhere. Then I'm going to have to take you to the doctor. The doctor is going to give you the needle. The doctor will then tell you that you can't go home, ever."

I think she was a breath away from telling her child that if she didn't stop her vandalistic-attempts, she would DIE.

Scene 2: Subway station with an old man, a young hatted man & me.

Old man: Woah, homeboy got game. Bringin' out the moves!
Young man: Oh yeah, he's pumpin out the rythm alright.

These two strangers were observing a young chinese chap practice dance steps (we couldn't hear any music). They were right, he really was breaking down the funk...that guy was going to town with the shakestepswaypumptwisturnshimmy. Hilarious sight, especially sans music. The young hatted man observed "this is what i love about noo-yowk, you can do anythin and nobody gonna mind ya".

Scene 3: On the bus back home, a young couple cut in front of an old man

The old man, although right to be annoyed that the line was cut when entering the bus, really took anger to a whole new level. He decided the best way to teach the young missy & lad a lesson in manners would to yell at them from the opposite end of the bus. How glad were we, the innocent bystanders, to be privy to this man's wise words of advice on etiquette & decorum.

Sir Angry Augustus: Where yall get off cuttin the line like that?! No manners! Didntcha mamma teach ya no manners? So rude! So rude! No Manners!! No manners!! You dont go cuttin peoples lines! So rude!

-No, it doesn't stop there. and yes, he had a penchant for being repetitive, as you'll soon see. Here's the real clincher, the real manners-momento-

Sir Angry Augustus: F***in' A**holes!! F***in' A**holes!! F***in' A**holes!!

He then continued to repeat "F.A" about four thousand times, louder and louder. By the second hundred yell of F.As, the whole bus started cracking up. Nobody could contain their laughter anymore. One guy had tears streaming down his face from laughing so hard. Now, it's not as if we were all foul-mouthed people who laughed at vulgarities. It was just hillarious that a man who would get so upset over people getting rude would scream curses at them as a way of teaching! Oh...*sigh.

The world is full of funny sights. Keep your ears and eyes open. There really is never a dull moment.

"Life is real! Life is ernest!"

Excerpt from Notes from the Park (Maliamauv, 2007)

4.10 pm - November 7th, 2007, Bethesda Terrace, Central Park

I'm sitting on a bench, in front of a gorgeous fountain, eating an empanada. It's cold, about 3 degrees celcius. In the background there's an opera recital going on. I can't see them, but their voices ring clear against the acoustic canvas of the fountain. An old man sits on a bench a short distance from me, a black umbrella his lone companion. Near the lake, a photographer snaps, shoots and directs a couple - standard actions before he Photoshops out the dull depths of the man's eye and the over hopefulness of the lady's fifth avenue smile.

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Excerpt from Being Whimsical by the Water (Maliamauv, 2007)

If I ever marry someone painfuly wealthy, I'd love for my wedding reception to be in The Boathouse, facing The Lake in the park. While guests sway to the soothing serenade of sparkling champagne & a string quartet, we'll steal away for a private moment for a row on The Lake - a ridiculous but charming sight we'll be; me in my wedding dress, he in his Neru-tux, laughing & reciting our private vows in an old, rocking, wooden boat.

KatFact #3: The Half-Conscious Self

The period of time after I lay my head down on my pillow & before I fall asleep is when I'm at my most creative - I compose the best letters, think up really creative story lines, form poetry, solve math problems, come up with great decorating ideas, create new recipes...etc. The magical combination of pure exhaustion, a half-conscious state and a pillow never fails me.

Could this be why my I perform best on assignments & papers when running on 2 hours of sleep, almost no food, a pillow behind my back and the deadline coming at me quicker than a Japanese bullet train controlled by a driver running on E & an adrenaline high?

Is the state of half-consciousness my point of optimal performance?

Pic taken from...aih, I don't know. I Googled it. *malu

Lady Liberty

From my walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (Nov 5th '07):

“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles.
From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!"” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

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KatFact#2: I really, really dislike the sight of people chewing gum - As prissy as I sound, I find it distasteful & rather uncouth. The worst is when they snap & pop the gum incessantly. *shudder.

Revelation

I've decided that every day -ok, woah, too big a commitment-, scratch that, as often as possible, i shall include a little 'fact' about myself.

It shall be a process of self-discovery - hopefully.

So, with great pleasure & much excitement, I bring you, KatFact #1 *curtains open, elephants ride unicycles up & down the stage, circus music plays, I trampoline off a platform & land on one knee on the middle of stage, hands stretched open (jazz-fingers), ending it with a theatrical "Ta da!!" *

The first diary I ever owned was a pink & purple diary that came with a little plastic 'heart-shaped' lock (with one of those dumbarse keys that give the illusion of safety & privacy). I was 9. I liked the idea of writing in it more than the actual act of doing so (not much has changed). I made several entries in it, only to then have my privacy ripped from me - my siblings, being siblings, read it. As a further act of precaution, I started to write my entries in code.

I then forgot the code.

So, the secrets to/of my heart shall be locked away forever. Even from me.

I like you, Like You.

I caught a bit of a David Duchovny interview the other day, and something he said struck me. The interviewer asked him what the secret to his successful marriage with actress Tea Leoni was ; his reply, although simple enough, was rather striking. "We still like each other".

How many people can say that about their partners, years down the road of marriage?

We still like each other.

Huh.

Pic taken from duchovny.net

HeartSmiles

I don't know if anyone knows this about me, but I Love relfecting...I reflect on everything, almost to the point of obsession. My best moments are when I'm travelling....on the bus, train, car; for whatever reason, moving in some sort of vehicle enhances my capacity for relfection.

As I've been travelling quite a fair bit of late, I've inevitably started reflecting a lot more. In these past few weeks, theyS've turned almost solely to the thought of what makes me happy, where do I find joy, the little things that make my heart smile. As such, I've compiled a mini list here...now, this list is only a fraction of the thousands of things that make me happy. So, lets just say, at the time of posting this, these are the few random ones that sprung to mind.

1. Making someone laugh.
2. Perfectly buttered toast.
3. The air in Manhattan after 8 pm on a crisp autumn night.
4. My dog sleeping on my tummy.
5. The sight, smell & sounds of my home on Christmas Morning.
6. The remembrance of laughter - "re-laughing".
7. Receiving packages.
8. The awareness of being loved.
9. Liva.
10.Eves-dropping on conversations among strangers.
11. London.
12. People doing unexpected things: I saw a lady skip to the train in Grand Central; a child squeeling "this is so exciting!" at nothing in particular..
13. A baby clutching my finger / falling asleep in my arms.
14. Looking up at the person across/next to you & realizing you have a friend for life.
15. Dimple (the person).
16. Dimples on guys (the facial feature).
17. 3/4-boiled eggs (yes, I detest 1/2 boiled, while full boiled just isn't perfect enough).
18. Christmas Carols.
19. Private jokes.
20. The surge of energy as a crowd of people cross the street when the 'Walk'-light flashes green.
21. Books that make me warm in the middle & my toes curl with delight.
22. Random conversations with strangers.
23. Receiving letters / emails (that are Not 'fwd:..."s) .
24. Taking a really good picture.
25. Having dinner with my entire family.
26. The air inside places of worship, especially churches.
27. Cooking for others.
28. Conversations that are deep, silly, fun and precious.
29. Black & white pictures.
30. Giving a damn good presentation.
31. Singing with a church full of people.
32. Friends.
33. Replaying conversations in my head.
34. Correctly saying something in a foreign language.
35. Bemidji.
36. Romantic poems...not corny B.S, but really, Really good stuff (re: kahlil gibran, ingrid trobisch, rumi...)
37. Dogs.
38. My dog.
39. A well-dressed man.
40. Daydreaming.
41. Lines (from a book/movie/person/song) that make my heart pause for a second, while my mind attempts to grasp the greatness of it.
42. Singing along to songs.
43. Learning something new about myself.
44. Laughing till I'm out of breath, my sides hurt & my cheeks ache.
45. The feel of really clean teeth.
46. Good perfume.
47. A smile from a stranger.
48. Being proud of my work.
49. Hugs.
50. Walking down the street with music playing in the background that matches my mood perfectly.

What makes Your heart smile?

Deep Meaningful Insight Into How The X-Files Contributed Positively To My Life (The title also known as "TXF-Rox")

This is in reaction to Franpei's "An-X-Phile...? you've got some explaning to do, tootsie". Now, I'm not exactly sure what it is she wanted explained, but it got me thinking, and then it got my typin...so here's a few -albeit long- explanations...

1. At the ripe old age of 11, I was a pro at surfing the net, changing all my computer settings to x-files related themes (sounds/pictures/...my computer would say "they are shutting us down, scully" as Windows shut down), improved my typing skills...and many more. Hence,it honed my IT skills.

2. I read...a Lot. It doesn't matter that it was mainly XF- related material...the point is, I was a kid hooked to reading, and learning...yes, it made me a Geek, and how proud I am of that!

3. I learned self-censorship. Haha, yes, if any of you have checked out x-files fanfiction, you know there's lots of stuff 12 year olds shouldn't be reading. And having only myself to restrict what I was reading, I was careful not to read
things I thought I shouldn't. (Ok so basically, I stuck to UST and didn't venture into RST till I was in my later teen years).

4. I developed a deep attraction to clever, passionate guys. Unfortunately,they also tended to carry around alot of emotional baggage (which has made me worry about myself)...this is evident in that all my "fictional-character-crushes" tend to have a similar profile; brilliant, passionate, angst-heavy, emotionally scarred....; Mulder (duh), Dr. Carter (ER) Jack (Lost) & perhaps even House (ahem).

5. Clever women kick ass, and are damn sexy (have you met Scully?)(Btw, I'm the 'clever woman' in this. So spot the lesson?).

6. Where else would I have learned words like "syzgy", "prometheus" "autoerotic asphyxiation" and 'azygus_nexus' (my screen name on an XF board when i was 13)?



Why did the chicken cross the road?

Cigarette Smoking Man :::blows puff of smoke::: There was no chicken.
Fox Mulder: No government agency has jurisdiction over the chicken. The chicken is out there, Scully, and we will find it.

7. Developed a love for science...although I'd never grow to be good at it, TXF drummed into me a deep love for learning about science ; reading the real scientific explanations behind TXF episodes taught me ALOT.

8.Insight into Native American life; because of episodes like Anasazi and characters like Albert Hosteen, I learned about Navajo life, 'code-talkers' that were used in WWII, Native American religious practices & way of life...this would later lead me to do a project on NA-religions in Uni, a paper & presentation that turned out to be ass-kickingly good.

9. Humor - some of the funniest lines ever to be said on TV came from the x-files. I have no doubt that my sense of humor has been influenced by dialogue from TXF.

10. Research: As a kid, I didn't understand alot of what went on in TXF episodes, so, being an "X-Phile", as soon as the episode was over, I'd go online & read up as much as I could about the focus of that week's episode.

11. Fixing the VCR: I taped every episode of TXF, and became pretty much the only one who could figure out the VCR at home, hooking it up to the TV, changing the settings...(it sounds simple, but it is NOT when you are a kid!).

12. Cataloguing: Developed a system for organizing my XF tapes.

13. Saving money: I'd save money so that I'd have enough to buy blank tapes for my episodes...note: my allowance wasn't exactly huge.

14. Inspired my writing...when I was 10 I wrote a short story called "Beyond Comprehension", about alien abductions; when I was 16 we had to write an English essay that ended with the line "and together they accomplished it", my essay turned into a 3000-word story that involved the characters of Mulder & Scully on a case,
where the last line was meant to reflect their complex & absolutely fantastic partnership; In my last sem of university, my final paper for Psychophysiology/Perception was written as a part of a scene for TXF (no, it was Not plagiarized!).

15. XF-fanfic definitely formed my perceptions of love & romance. Some people have "Sweet Valley", others have Mills & Boons, I had writers like Leyla Harrison/Anne Haynes/ Sheryl Martin...sigh, good times.

16. It has made me a sucker for clever-subtle innuendo & witty comebacks.

17. Patience: Do you know what torture my soul went through knowing that the new
season of TXF would only be released in Malaysia one year after it's US release? Do you? Huh? DO YOU?!

18. An appreciation for private/in-jokes...ah, the bond that is the X-Phile community. The subtle comments, glances, every little detail nit picked, enjoyed and laughed/mused over...

19. Memory skills: Although I could never memorize anything relating to Kimia, or
whatever subject I loathed but had to learn, I could still easily memorize all episode & character names & details from every season.

20. Memories.

I'm sure there are a thousand other ways TXF inspired me, changed me, entertained me...and for all you skeptics out there who think its just another show, I want you to think about books that have affected you profoundly, music pieces, conversations, people...and think about the effect of that on someone at the age of 9, an effect
that 13 years later, is still so strong. Sure, it's crazy...but aih,
it's good-crazy, I say.

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How many X-Philes does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
- 23 to look at the bulb and get distracted because they realize it reminds them of a scene from The X-Files.