Spanning Across 4 Years in 9 Lines.

How can something so wrong
Feel so right all along?

Catch me, I’m falling for you

How can time be so wrong
For love to come along?

Catch me, I’m falling for you

How can love let it grow
When it has no place to go?

And I can’t go on pretending.

[ Catch Me, I'm Fallin' - Toni Gonzaga ]

What A Sunday!

Prego's at Fairmont melted our hearts.

Sandra (affectionately known as my Sista) and I trilled deliriously in between mouthfuls of distinctively delectable edibles. As we've been through thick and thin since our days in Anglican High, an afternoon together was much cherished. The bill of $120 was a tad pricy for lunch but the company was certainly worth it.

Towards the late evening, Esther caught up with me for a little window shopping which bubbled coincidences thereafter - walking into (literally) my Indonesian tai tai best friend as I yawned (I know. Incredulous, eh?), moving a few steps ahead only to have my Da-Ge ( Big Bro, a close friend who used to write 10-12 pages of letters to me) sneak up behind to tap my shoulder and break into a big grin.

I thought that Changi would spell a dry end to the spotted faces.

Boy was I wrong. Who should stumble across my path upon arrival but my fomer colleague-cum-Band Instructor?

Dinner was spent on ruminating frames gone by.

Post-dinner, Mich's feet pattered unconsciously to the place she loved - the Beach.

She stood and marvelled at the distant lights defining waters afar, her gaze transfixed upon the unknown stretch beyond.

A curve crept across her mien.

Then, she left.

Where were You today?
How was Your Sunday?
Mich would love to know. =)

In My Little Corner.

1. I've been asked to read and edit a script for a play. =)


2. Successfully linked up my Indonesian tai-tai best friend with my Associate Director cum Bigwig of Law Society chum.


3. Built bridges between my journalist friend and my Bank Economist pal for a newspaper article.

At the end of the day,

What about Mich?

*curls inwards*

If.

IF

You were my Reflection as it was deemed,

When I Hurt,

Wouldn't You?

Worn.

When these sheets that fall no longer thread pain, I will take my leave and not linger.

These steps, where have they led?

Clobbered stones lay carelessly scattered.

Mich is more than Tired.

She's Weary.

And she shall Hope no more.

2007.

A really old tune rustled the peace within.

Circling the tired what-could-have-beens, what I felt when I consciously pulled away from You corroded the pain from watching afar in muffled silence and tumbled into my lap.

I missed You then.

I miss You now.


Did You love her
The way You loved me?
Suddenly I'm back at the core
Thinking of her
Who had you before.
Were you as good, as good as we are?
Do You remember?

Did You love her
The way You loved me?
Is there a chance that there might be
Traces of her
That you carry under the surface?

[ Under The Surface - Marit Larsen ]

5 Cups of Coffee & A Lady.

I'm writing a brief note to note that I'm hyperventilating from being hyper.

Right.

Mich will now take a running jump and rustle the sheets for the night.

Tout à l'heure! =)

This Is Mich.

After 15 hours at work.
Meow!

Move Over, Pyramids. Here Come The Corals!

Colonies of gold coral Gerardia can persist for more than 2700 years.

Giant deep-sea corals don't get around much, but what they lack in mobility they make up for in longevity. A new study has discovered that some coral colonies can "live" for more than 4000 years, showing that the animals grow far more slowly than was thought.

It is this extremely slow growth that is the secret of the corals' long life, says Brendan Roark, at Texas A&M University.

The finding may have grave implications for the conservation of the corals' ecosystems. "Because corals are so big, they form the habitat for many other species in the coral bed and if you take them away, it will take thousands of years for similarly sized organisms to grow back," says Roark.

The gold coral Gerardia and the black coral Leiopathes both grow several metres tall, at depths of up to 500 metres in oceans around Hawaii. Whilst other studies had estimated their age at between a few hundred years and at most 3000 years, Roark argues that what had been considered "annual" growth rings actually take much longer to form.

Real slow

The polyps that form coral are able to create massive reefs of the mineral calcium carbonate (CaCO3) over long time periods by adding successive thin layers to the base of the "cups" in which they live.

Using high-resolution radiocarbon dating, his team first studied Hawaiian corals for traces of "bomb-carbon" – a radioactive carbon isotope produced during nuclear tests in the 1950s. They found it only in wafer-thin (10-micrometre) layers on the outermost part of corals' skeleton. This suggests that even these tiny accretions took decades to build up.

Further carbon-dating measurements from layers deep inside the corals then revealed the oldest Gerardia samples to be 2742 years old, while the Leiopathes had been growing for a whopping 4265 years. This doesn't mean that the individual animals that secrete the coral themselves live for so long, just that the hollow "skeletons" they grow.

Jewellery ban

Roark asks for a permanent ban on using Gerardia in the jewellery trade – there is currently a five-year moratorium on its use – and for protection of coral beds from deep-sea fishing.

"On a human timescale, there is no sustainable harvest of these animals", he says. "We know next to nothing about how they spawn, settle and regenerate, but I have seen very few younger and smaller colonies, so even slow regeneration might not be a very likely option."

Roark also hopes that preserving the coral could be useful for humans: "Given their slow growth, we may be able to use them as high-resolution records of past climate change".

Source : NS, 23 March 2009

Yielding Nought.

Miss Y and I spent hours tonight talking about You.

How You made me feel/felt.

How It began.

How I ran away from You.

How It has mapped out thus far.

I cannot say that I don't feel a thing, for I am only human.

Neither do I wish to remain trapped within the continuum infinitely.

We spoke of the Hows.

But nought resolved the singular Why.

And maybe, just maybe, You think of me as undeserving to have a proper Answer, a resolution of sorts.

Am I right?

The Surreptitious Escape....of the Nasi Lemak.

Have you ever had one of those days when the incandescent craving for a certain food rose to the orifice and little else would suffice?

Great! So you do know what I'm talking about.

Fancy mancy food aside, it was a nondescript day. Well, it was, until nasi lemak rendered other palatables as meagre foliage.

I had to have it.

And so, The Man drove Mich all the way to Changi where rudimentary ingestion awaited.

Snaking water hoses orchestrated disappointment. It was Washing Day!

And thus, The Man & Mich sank into the sediment of the adjacent edifice for chilli crabs instead.

Dang!

Nobody Presents Data Like Hans Rosling.

A global health researcher with a panache for concocting humour with "deadly serious" subjects, Professor Hans Rosling is, by far, one of the most interesting academics around.

He co-founded the Gapminder Foundation and developed Trendalyzer, an interactive software for statistics which Google promptly acquired. (Now, say "Wow!") The animations transform development statistics into moving bubbles and flowing curves that make global trends clear, intuitive and even playful.

If that doesn't whet your appetite, what about his sword-swallowing antics at TED 2007 to drive home the main message - "the seemingly impossible is possible"?

Watch the following video as he reveals New Insights on Poverty.
Be amazed, intrigued and awed. =)



More About Hans Rosling :

• Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institutet and Director of the Gapminder Foundation, which developed the Trendalyzer software system.
• On 21 August 1981, he discovered an outbreak of a formerly unknown paralytic disease and the investigations that followed earned him a Ph.D. at Uppsala University in 1986.
• He spent two decades studying outbreaks of this disease in remote rural areas across Africa and supervised more than 10 PhD students.
• He has been health advisor to WHO, UNICEF and several aid agencies.
• In 1993 he co-founded Médecins sans frontières in Sweden and since 2005, has been a member of the International Group of the Swedish Academy of Science.
  
• At Karolinska Institutet he was head of the Division of International Health (IHCAR) from 2001 to 2007. As chairman (1998-2004) of Karolinska International Research and Training Committee he started health research collaborations with universities in Asia, Africa, Middle East and Latin America.
  
• He started new courses on Global Health, co-authors a textbook on Global Health and promotes a fact based world view.

For his full bio, click here.

I Could Not Agree More.

"People trample on your soul if you are always so kind and lovely and helpful.
They will play on you."

A wry grin crept on my mien.
Haven't I been played on long enough?

Silently, I.

Today, The Man made me really, really Happy.

Another perfect day.

Yet, this begs the question -

What about You?

Littlewig Mich.

Littlewig is Fragile.

Handle with care.

"Umcolo uthokozisa abadabukileyo."

"Umcolo uthokozisa abadabukileyo."

This means, "singing makes all the sad people happy because it is the voice of happiness."

Do You sing?

When A Quiz Becomes A Launchpad of Sorts.

"What Kind Of A Woman Are You?"

A relatively simple quiz suffice to pique one's curiosity and occupy an individual for all of one minute. ( 60 seconds to the old man with the smoking pipe is but a regime of puffs while the cross-legged contortionist awaiting an occupied cubicle in the lavatory will gladly unravel a different tale.)

It would have been, simple, that is, had it not produced a blitzkrieg in rapid succession.

Perhaps it was in tandem with the mangle of crimson nets.

As a child, I recall with fervent glee that library visitations often resulted in the carting of numerous literary spines. Biographies were devoured along with the likes of Medical Encyclopedia, Teen Rebellion, Psychology and such. ( Yes, at the age of 10, I had taken to reading these. )

Framing the paradigm of fairytales was Lady Diana Frances Spencer, or Princess Diana.

An archetype of elegance, beauty, intelligence and kindness, she seemed to have it all. At the same time, she was incredibly sad and lonely.

Thrust in the limelight, she was the belle of the ball, her unhappiness shrouded with twinkling eyes and smiles. Alone, the masquerade fell apart.

Princess Diana.

Nicole Kidman.

Jennifer Aniston.

Women dedicated to being perfect under public scrutiny but crumbled piteously when the curtains fell.

Do the people you admire reflect who you are?

Are these figures an extension of yourself?

**For the record, Mich's results point in the direction of Coy.

Convergence.

They were facetiously composed and carelessly scattered.

Random faces perforated the building, occasionally giving rise to brushed elbows and clattering racks.

A single figure turned her head. The familiar mien was that of YL's.

Nettles nodded and shadows spawned.

Such leagues apart, there and then, the street sounded to their tread.

As thaw followed froze, Mich averted her gaze and walked away.

Unknown.

To tell that which is Untold
Of furtive glances to Unfold.
Sweet syllables bound, Unrolled.
The porcelain cracks, Unsold.

-- Mich

These Sad Things.

It was 4am.

I logged into my Flickr account.

Yellowed memories refreshed delicately.

Unbothered by the kaleidoscopic drapes, each word, each moment danced and twirled in their own special way.

In a similar vein, boxed-up Yesterdays marked crisp corrugation.

I logged out.

These sad things, how well I know them.

To : She Who Sleeps In Yonder Grace

In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead; short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe!
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high!
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

[ John McCrae, In Flanders Fields ]

Condolences.

With due respect to the prevailing circumstances, I shall refrain from listing the details.

It's not your fault.
Please stop blaming yourself.

Paper Cuts.

He would not stay for me, and who can wonder?
He would not stay for me to stand and gaze.
I shook his hand, and tore my heart in sunder,
And went with half my life about my ways.

[ A. E. Housman, A Shopshire Lad VII ]

Sara Teasdale - By The Sea

When the day is rough, iambic pentameter nurses the festered wounds.



Beside an ebbing northern sea
While stars awaken one by one,
We walk together, I and he.

He woos me with an easy grace
That proves him only half sincere;
A light smile flickers on his face.

To him love is but an art,
And as a flutist plays a flute,
So does he play upon his heart

A music varied to his whim.
He has no use for love of mine,
He would not have me answer him.

To hide my eyes within the night
I watch the changeful lighthouse gleam
Alternately with red and white.

My laughter smites upon my ears,
So one who cries and wakes from sleep
Knows not it is himself he hears.

What if my voice should let him know
The mocking words were all a sham,
And lips that laugh could tremble so?

What if I lost the power to lie,
And he should only hear his name
In one low, broken cry?

[ Sara Teasdale, By The Sea ]

A Ring of Thorns.

Would it be fine to indulge in a memory gone by?

Of You hanging Your head by the roadside after my cab pulled away and I turned back to look at You.

Through the glass, I saw what I knew I would regret letting go.

The place of That Night has ceased to exist but the indelible imprint is transfixed within.

How could I ever let you go
Is it too late to let you know?

I tried to run from your side
But each place I hide
It only reminds me of you

My heart lied while you cried

[ MYMP - Only Reminds Me Of You ]

Do You Believe In Magic?

I do.

Tell Me.

Was that Your way of giving me The Answer?
Or did it have traces of other connotations?

Why did You initiate the conversation?
Was it Your way of engaging sweet syllables while knowing jolly well that Mich would counter with That Question of her own?
Why pursue the vein of dialogue?

I don't understand.
I'm not pretending nor am I in denial.
In all honesty, I have no idea what You meant.

Is that Your way of saying Yes but it isn't quite enough?
Or is that Your way of letting me down?

What did You mean?
Will You tell me again?
Tell me where it hurts now, Baby.
....and if You let me stay,
I'll love all Your hurts away
[ MYMP, Tell Me Where It Hurts ]

You.

All that I need is Time & Affection.

Make me smile, even If it's just for a while?

March 4, 2009

Yes, it was a precarious balance indeed.

• Worked till 7pm.
• Battled a 39.5 degree fever.
• Did not make a trip to the doctor's.

Pretty amazing?
I think so too! =)

**Mich thanks everyone for their well wishes.

Let's Talk About You.

Now that I've said my piece about Him, let's talk about You.

I'm Hurt that You appeared to care when the void had been filled.

Why then, do You appear sporadically and often in times of Mich's happiness?

Running away from You for a year did not work. It was with sheer fortitude that Mich fought with the pain of being the silent observer.

Do You care for Mich?
Are You genuinely concerned about her well-being?

Or, is she a mere pawn in Your hands, subjected to the master's manipulation?
Do You keep her around to inflate Your ego of immeasurable proportions?
Is it because You know that Mich will not abandon you when You're down with a whimper?

Mich isn't Stupid. Oh no, she isn't.

She just chooses to be oblivious to the gnawing notions which plague her.

Because she wants to Believe that You won't Hurt her.

Not this time.

Nor the next...

Oh well.

Bummer!

On Monday, Mich had the rare opportunity to knock off at 6pm.

With The Man in tow, our arrival at Suntec proved to be a waste of time (and money) as the Man deliberated over the floundering draws within the concrete towers. Nary a foot had landed on the carpark grounds when The Man decided to leave Suntec and head for Marina Square.

Dinner was at Kenny Rogers. The Man loathes Kenny Rogers but settled for it anyway as he knew that Mich had a weakness for cheese macaroni. When queried, his reply was, "I just want to make you happy."

And happy Mich was, as The Man made her laugh while they tarried at Marina Square.

Perfection was, however, marred with an unruly fever of 39.5 degrees.

Bummer! =(