Baby, I Miss You

For to lose I could accept, but to surrender, I just wept.
Baby, I miss you so much.

Sickening

I absolutely abhor people who trawl blogs to snoop and dig up information.
Do you have too much time on your hands?
Don't you have a purpose in your life other than to google to your heart's content?

If you're within the circle of trust, you would have the url to this blog delivered personally to you.

If you haven't been given the url since Day One, you are NOT welcome to feast your eyes here on a regular basis.

You know who you are.
There's more than one of you.

-rolls eyes-

Sayings

I said upon whimsical wishing had you arrived.
I said what we shared had bloomed and thrived.

They said it wouldn't last.
They said I was living in the past.

You said eventually you would go away.
You said not to be attached to the ensuing dismay.

We said what we wanted to say in words encrypted.
We said what we knew that enticed and addicted.

He said he would take me on a journey anew.
He said of your presence he knew.

I said a word I was waiting from you.
I said when I gave up, "I do".

It Happened Again.

Crusty crumbles.
Puffed imaginings.
In sight.
Exchange.

Fear.
Guilt.

Again.

Note to LLG

LLG
Stop this nonsense.
NOW.

Go Figure

17.
Epiphany?
2.
Listen?
12.
Rain?
21.
Tense?
300.
Again?

I Hate You

... For not fighting.
... For not trying.
... For not telling.
... For not admitting.
... For not denying.
... For the false hopes.
... For shattering me at the brink of it.
... For picking me up when you should have just left me alone.
... For leaving.
... For returning.
... For assuming.
... For manipulating.
... For being manipulated.
... For knowing.
... For feigning.
... For being close.
... For being distant.
... For the smudged boundaries.
... For the prattle.
... For the silence.
... For this.
... For naught.

I hate you because we knew.
I knew. You knew.

I hate you.
Because you meant all to me.
And you took everything from me
When you said nothing at all.

"I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all."[10 Things I Hate About You]

But mostly,
I hate you because I loved you.

Wakeboarding

This article from Urban bears the semblance of a family advertisement.

• Place of residence
• Ski 360: Cousin's baby
• Wakeboarding babe: Mich's second niece (she used to date our national wakeboarder)

Wakeboarding Babe : Julie

Urban article (part 1)Urban article (part 2)Mich & Julie
(same age, wonky family tree)Julie, Miss Temasek

Bedtime Story

Amative tussling languishes continually.

Inside.

Outside.

Postured.

Yielding.

Sipping on the nuances -

A cradled silence.

1800-Call-Mich

Chalked SMSes, missed calls & a sore thumb......

• Classsmates enquiring about Aw*'s party this Saturday.
  
• Queries on another party this Saturday.
  
• Greetings from my cousin who's just returned from Romania after participating in their film festival / competition. He's busy promoting his film which has won awards from Berlin to Zimbabwe (!!) and his next stop will be at WOMAD this Sunday.
• Aili's looking for videographers on behalf of her friend. Liased with a few on her behalf including John from Chris Ling Photographers.(I'm a huge fan of Chris Ling Photographers! Chris Ling is not known as "The Man" within the industry for nothing!). Pending her friend's choice now.
• Childhood friend's returned from Indonesia for a short stay in Singapore.
• Agony aunt to 3 friends with different life stories.
• Chit-chat with an ex-colleague.
  
• Calls from various friends asking for recommendations from hair salons to restaurants to tour agencies.

Phew!
I'm not complaining. Glad to be of help!
Just dial 1800-call-mich.
Virtually 24hrs, closed between 3-5am.
=D

Poor Mother Ducky!

Poor Mother Ducky! =(

What The....

Imagine this:

• XXX Bank calls you.
  
• You are told that payment has not been made for the last 2 months- July & August.
• A stickler on bill payments, such a lapse could not be possible on your part but XXX Bank insists that it is so.
• Stumped, you check your account transactions via internet banking.
• The pop-up statement clearly indicates that the monthly transactions have taken place.
• You are thrown into confusion.
• Worried that a gross error on your side may have occurred, you call up XXX Bank again to clarify.
  
• Upon further checking, you are told that all payments have been made.
• A big question mark looms in your head. Weren't you told a couple of minutes ago that you have outstanding payments since July?
• XXX Bank officer checks the transaction history from January 2006.
  
• You are in the clear.
  
• Now, you owe XXX Bank........$0.
  
• Apprehensive, you get XXX Bank to make a thorough check.
  
• XXX Bank replies affirmatively that you owe them N-O-T-H-I-N-G.
• Your "outstanding payments" have vanished into thin air within a few minutes. Even David Copperfield would not have been able to do that. "Impressive" indeed.
  

What the..... =(

candy cane girl

= candy cane =

Rui says: You look hot!

Crystal says: You look proportionate!

Alex says: You look fat!

Mich says: ...... (mental note to self : never go shopping with these three in tow!)

Yuffie! (Who's That?)

Disclaimer: Admiration of these well-drawn illustrations aside, I'm not a fan of anime & manga nor their affiliated games......and.....I'm nice! Trash this quiz! =(

About Time - Cassie

Cassie - An unfamiliar name that was thrown up while ploughing the web for Devics' lyrics. ( aside: currently awaiting the arrival of 2 Devics' cds from the UK...^_^ )

While she has had an instant Billboard hit with "Me & You" featuring Madonna since her album made its debut on 8 August 2006, "About Time" ups the slick factor with an incredibly infectious R&B groove despite its rather negative lyrics. Clubbers or booty groovers would love this track surfacing from the plateau of R&B.

Listen to samples of the tracks on Cassie's self-titled album here at Amazon.com.

Cassie isn't PussycatDolls-sexy nor Gwen Stefani-cool, but neither is she Mariah-cringeworthy.

= Currently on repeat mode ad nauseum on Mich's WMP =
(yes, I'd downloaded the mp3 instantly)

About Time

We've been through this a thousand times
And I've never been more sure than I am right now

Please don't say anything
It's just about that time

[chorus:]
I guess it's about time that I'm finally moving on
I don't really care if it's right or wrong
And in spite of the way I love your touch
You know it's going to be better for both of us
It hurts like hell but I got to try
You already know the reason why
So no matter who's right or wrong
I think its finally time that I'm moving on

Oh I can't stop the way ( I love you )
I've got to let this go
Although we've tried
Doesn't really matter no more
And I don't know what I stay here for
Especially when I know I've got to make a move

[chorus]

Don't tell me I should stay {It's too late now}
To think we can make this work somehow
You should know the truth {It's over}
Over and done
Oh and I can't believe
All of this time, you've had me thinking
Thinking you would call me late night
Knowing damn well you wouldn't do it
Telling me I was still on your mind
I don't know why you had to put me through it
And I'm thinking I'm still living for your love
It was all over and you knew it
Although it's going to be hard to let this go
Boy, this is something I've got to do

[chorus]

Gave you all of my heart
All of my body
All of my soul
All of my precious time
And you know it's so hard loving somebody
I loved you so good baby, you can't deny
You know this time that respect goes away

Let it fade away
And the only way to heal is to give me time and space

[chorus]

What Am I Doing?

Words.
Spaces between.

Past.
Interwoven.

Today.
I saw.

Today.
I felt.

Guilt.
Fear.

Maybe.

A tale to tell.
We know too well.

What am I doing?

Perhaps.

Swim - she could not. Erstwhile, steps beckoned towards the glistening water, remaining unfazed. A sight all too familiar, its mental imprint registered. Thrusting waves beyond her reach, a mere finger to stir the ripples. Contentment. Nothing but an odious latch, succumbing to its fruition.

Trepidation upon this insipid notion, in time to come, was a longing askew. The waves posed constant reminders. Daliaunce and twiddling aside, castigation had little bearing.

A finger. Ripples.
Contentment.

As long as water was present, this mirage eschewed the beacon of truth in her fractured mind.

The Euphemism

Aye, indeed. The euphemism thus far.

"Controversial Dialectic is the art of disputing, and of disputing in such a way as to hold one's own, whether one is in the right or the wrong - per fas et nefas. A man may be objectively in the right, and nevertheless in the eyes of bystanders, and sometimes in his own, he may come off worst. For example, I may advance a proof of some assertion, and my adversary may refute the proof, and thus appear to have refuted the assertion, for which there may, nevertheless, be other proofs. In this case, of course, my adversary and I change places: he comes off best, although, as a matter of fact, he is in the wrong." ---- The Art of Controversy by Arnold Schopenhauer, 1830 (Cognitive stimulation comes in 38 pages. It's worth the read!)

What You Can't Say - Paul Graham

A riveting dichotomy on societal decorum.

Snippets (click here to read the full article):

.....I don't think we need the viso sciolto so much as the pensieri stretti. Perhaps the best policy is to make it plain that you don't agree with whatever zealotry is current in your time, but not to be too specific about what you disagree with. Zealots will try to draw you out, but you don't have to answer them....

.....One way to do this is to ratchet the debate up one level of abstraction. Another way to counterattack is with metaphor. Arthur Miller undermined the House Un-American Activities Committee by writing a play, "The Crucible," about the Salem witch trials. Best of all, probably, is humor. Zealots, whatever their cause, invariably lack a sense of humor......

.....Time gives us such distance for free. Indeed, the arrival of new fashions makes old fashions easy to see, because they seem so ridiculous by contrast. From one end of a pendulum's swing, the other end seems especially far away.....

.....When you see statements being attacked as x-ist or y-ic (substitute your current values of x and y), whether in 1630 or 2030, that's a sure sign that something is wrong. When you hear such labels being used, ask why. Learn to recognize and discount the effects of moral fashions......

.....How can you see the wave, when you're the water? Always be questioning. That's the only defence. What can't you say? And why?......

Hey Baby!

Bleah!

Minnie Mouse

Baby Shower

Baby Booties

Bearly Swinging

Kitty Swing

Flower power

Bubble Bath


Bubbly Baby

Gaim Over!

After this morning's fiasco, I'm a self-declared bona fide expert in Instant Messenger clients.

In the wake of MSN Messenger (and it's evil twin Web Messenger), Gaim had been my best alternative. I've had to reinstall Gaim on a regular basis and I'd attributed that to a very wonky computer. (I was wrong). Still, it was a good IM client handling multiple protocols, including MSN. At the witching hour of midnight today, I'd ran the program as usual, only to witness multiple crashes. Frustration abound, reinstalling the program ad hoc did nothing to alleviate the problem. Scrutinizing the Gaim forum did little to help, although in the process, I'd picked up this nugget of information - Gaim was meant to run without a hitch for 49.7 consecutive days. ThaT explained the regular reinstallation previously.

To cut the long (and painfully flummoxing) story short, Mission MSN Rampage was on. For the next three hours, hope, suspense, disappointment and annoyance had a good brew when I downloaded and ran the following:

• Trillian - Unstable connection
  
• Gaim 2.0.3 beta - Stubbornly crashed
• MyJabber - Crashed
• Adium - Meant for Macs
  
• Odigo - Had a really cute interface of a remote control. Pity its plug-in for MSN isn't ready.
  
• Instan-T - Unable to run properly
  
• Gilly Messenger - Required some software pack from Microsoft's site. (no way!)
  
• IM2 - Website didn't exist anymore

Subsequently, I found Miranda. What a pleasant surprise! It had more functions than Gaim and was a breeze to use. More importantly, it logged onto MSN instantly. Happiness! Gaim over!

Time Slept: Sleep? What sleep?

Aww...

I Survived My First Pillion Ride!

"Aaaahhhh!" I shrieked momentarily as the bike jerked and Tianxiang chuckled. Grasping onto Tianxiang for dear life, I survived the first pillion ride of my life. After a while, I must admit that weaving through traffic and feeling the wind in your face literally is rather.....S-H-I-O-K. It was an unexpected experience as Tianxiang offered to pick me up from my home. "Eh, today's mode of transport is different from the night at the Altivo. Bike!" he cautioned and hey presto, he was here in a flash.

I think I'm hooked to the adrenalin rush.
More rides! More bikes! =)

Proof that munchkins should not steer a bike

This looks better. Heh.Aaaah! Not ready! -click-Thanks for the ride!
Back to Sanity. =)

Aren't These Weri Weri Kewt?

Simon Webbe - After All This Time

Daniel introduced this great song over class 95 in the still of the night. Thanks, Daniel! =)

View Simon Webbe's music site on MySpace here.

Watch the video on one of the following links:
(1) Real Player (High 240 kbps)
(2) Real Player (Low 34kbps)
(3) QuickTime (file format may be unsupported, resulting in the streaming of audio without image.)

To download the mp3, click here.

Simon Webbe - After All This Time
After all, the broken stones
That were thrown, for no good reason
Inside, she's loving him still
After all this time

And though her heart bears the scars
No sign of healing, it's all right
She's loving him still, after all this time.
Oh yeah

[Chorus:]
Trying to push the past away
Still waiting for the lights to change
Try, try for the sake of their pride, pride
Learning to barely feel the pain
Thicker the skin the less the strain
And though it's really hurting
She ain't breaking, breaking, breaking
Coz she's loving him still, after all this time

Now he knows his weakness shows
Selfish soul, never changing
That's fine, because she's loving him still
After all this time

And to the outside eye
You see a family getting by
And it all seems perfect, and that's how she wants it
Coz she's loving him still, after all this time.

[Chorus]

After all this time....
After all, after all, after all this time

Bones have to grow, and age it shows
Though we try and hide it
Inside, she's loving him still
After all this time

And behind his tired eyes, she sees the boy with his arms wide
Who made her feel like an angel
Oh that's why she's loving him still
For the rest of her life, she's loving him still
For the last of many miles
She's loving him still
After all this time.

In Memory of Whim*scal.

Goodbye whim*scal.
In your place is whim*scalfantasies.

It has been a good 1 yr 4 mths. With "whim*scal", there have been tremendous joy and extreme hurts. "Whim*scal" is not just a user identity, a mere mash of alphabets. It represents memories deeply entrenched, unscathed by the circumstances which forges a new identity today.

I thank all who have contributed to the times spent with Mich and encapsulated with photographs under "whim*scal". Letting go has never been my forte. A user identity is easily replaced, but memories evoked from it are indelible imprints which can never be eradicated. I will not forget You.

Regardless of the identity assumed, the user is still Mich.

(Note: An asterisk is used in place of the letter "i" in this entry to deter pesky traces from you-know-who.)

Dinner at the Altivo

"Lunch", in yesterday's context, morphed into a day's event.

Munch. -guffaw- Chomp. -giggle- Slurp. -burp-
That pretty much summed up our activities in a nutshell.

Presumptuous on the proportion attributed to the beef brisket noodles, clever me promptly requested for a double portion of noodles and iced milk tea while Diana was contented with her share of seafood rice noodles and lime juice. Striding out of the restaurant and straight into an ice-cream joint, wholesome sin came in double-scooped vanilla and cookies & cream. Less sinful was Diana's single scoop of yam.

To burn off the calories, my mission was to hunt down the latest Devics cd. Sembawang. CD-Rama. That CD Shop. Gramophone. HMV. It cumulated to naught. By the fourth shop, I was on the brink of throttling the next person who threw me an incredulous look upon the utterance of "indie band" and thereby mistaking it for "Hindi band" or "Indian band", either of which was irrelevant to my search. Is our nation strictly spoon-fed on bubblegum pop or what?

Next on the list was a large iced lemon tea for me. Diana and I yada-yadaded (ie. chatted incessantly in Seinfeld speak), with Tianxiang arriving at Takashimaya at 7pm. Currently a Keppel scholar serving his bond, it was a rare chance for him to knock off in time for dinner. I thought he was acquainted with another friend of mine, Rongxing, the current assistant chief financial officer at Keppel but I was wrong. Our island isn't that small after all.

Understandably famished, his suggestion to grab a bite "out of town" translated into dinner at the Altivo which was at the peak of Mt Faber. Frequented by ministers and celebrities, polished accents and crisp shirts dotted the place and I felt crummy in my simple gear. Nevertheless, the resplendent view had us welling in our own private conversation of ghost stories, college nostalgia and trivial matters. Bloated with a good grind of food and talk, we left three hours later. As I drifted in my own world briefly while lingering at the exit, a man walked towards me and came a tad too close for comfort. That sent me scuttling towards Tianxiang who was peeved at this display of inappropriate behaviour. After a few last shots, Tianxiang drove me home after 11pm and the night ended with two egg pratas consumed by yours truly.

Diana & Mich in the afternoon

Welcome to the Altivo.
Thematic inclination primarily inclusive of maple leaves.Diana & MichTianxiang & Diana
Three cheers! =)From the plates of TianxiangAdjacent to the Altivo was the Jewel Box
Buh-Bye!For the lazy loungers in the......lavatory!.....with a pretty fish tank to boot! Loo-ks fantastic!

Hysteria - A Classic Verse by T.S. Eliot

Hysteria
As she laughed, I was aware of becoming involved in her laughter and being part of it, until her teeth were only accidental stars with a talent for squad-drill. I was drawn in by short gasps, inhaled at each momentary recovery, lost finally in the dark caverns of her throat, bruised by the ripple of unseen muscles. An elderly waiter with trembling hands was hurriedly spreading a pink and white checked cloth over the rusty green iron table, saying: "If the lady and gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden, if the lady and gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden ..."

I decided that if this enchantment could be stopped, some of the fragments of the afternoon might be collected, and I concentrated my attention with careful subtlety to this end.

- Thomas Stearns Eliot
  (1888 - 1965)

 

Devics - Alone With You

Please download this song here. It is meant for You.
Read the lyrics. Listen to the song.
(Click and select here if the above link fails.)

Mystifying and haunting, lead singer Sara Lov's voice blends well with the echo-laden soundscapes.
I've listened. I've wept.

A tear drops, enough for a flower to grow.

Devics - Alone With You
Something has to change,
Something has to give.
I could rearrange my mind
And what I did.

If I were to choose,
Either way I lose.
I could be alone
Or be alone with you.

Empty space
To fill an empty place.
Everything I see
Is meaningless to me.
If it's how you feel,
Then it's real.

Was I wrong
To just go on and on?
You never knew that I was gone.
What does that say of me?
You never thought that I
Only needed you more than a little while.

Empty space
To fill the empty place.
Everything I see is meaningless to me.
You make me tired,
Life wants to live,
You just want to watch it.

Devics - A Secret Message To You

= Compounding a guileless impetus with acrid poignance =

Devics - A Secret Message To You
(scoured from Grey's Anatomy)

This is what I made
Made it just for you
It’s better than a letter
I’m sending it to you

It is made of wood
Mud and salt and glue
I wanted to build it big
And sail away with you

This is where the wood
Started to get loose
And this is where I painted a little deer
A secret message to you

It’s a tiny sail that I cut from a magazine
With the letters of your name
I want to see it go
It wishes it was in the sea tonight

And I weighed it with an anchor
Just an eraser
It is really much too small to use
I ran out of glue

You could put it in the water
And pretend that I am there with you

Sailing in the sea together
Me and you…

DC al fine

Life.

DC al fine unavailable.

These Actually Existed....

Etiquette Instructions on Appropriate Public Behaviour
American Treasures of the Library of Congress
1912