Names

Today during bible study discussions, we started talking about names, and we found out that to our surprise, the name Simon (Peter's original name) actually means unloved, or hated. And Peter, of course, means rock.

And then we started saying how people should not call kids Simon, and people started sharing funny names. Like

A Nigerian football player called "Oh dear" or something that sounds like that

An American soccer player whose last name is Demerit :P

And a Singapore Prof who is called Chew Shit Fun!!!

Oh my gosh, that is a classic....

Movies!!!

Hi!!! Firstly, what am I doing watching movies when I should be busy working on the upcoming Energy Challenge Fair which has lots to do and settle, I don't know. Maybe it's precisely that stress which is driving me to relieve some of it in the big screen! And relieve it it did!!

I watched Robin Hood on a whim last Wed, and it turned out to be a totally enjoyable, immersive experience! I totally enjoyed this movie from start to finish. I am not a fan of Russell Crowe, but I am now! Although he is not what I would call good-looking at all, he just seems to command so much on-screen presence, and portray that battle-weary, understated, yet morally good, fight-for-justice hero that you find yourself totally sympathising with and rooting for him. I found the take on the storyline refreshing, and the historical background on a king taxing the poor too much, peasant revolt and the war between England and France lends a nice realistic feel to the whole movie, not to mention the stunning natural scenery at that time (do we still have such beautiful, idyllic places on earth?), a detailed, beautiful portrayal of the simplicity of life back then, and not to mention the strong characters and understated chemistry between Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchette. I love it! The love that blossoms between a guarded, strong and curt, no-nonsense lady and an strong, capable, righteous and responsible fighter.

I thought the kings were poorly cast though, as was Mark Strong, who didn't look very much like the bad guy. I was thinking he could easily be a good guy! But the French princess was perfect. She couldn't look more nubile and wilful. Besides Marion, the story also had other cute characters like the bee-keeping friar, and wonderful lines. All in all, I liked the entire movie as it had something to offer of everything. Some social justice elements, a budding romance, a weak king, a traitor, a tense battle etc etc.

I also rewatched gladiator last night (stayed up until 130am!) after I watched robin hood, and it's seriously awesome! I loved the wounded, intense look that Russell Crowe has. Makes you completely root for him as a believeable hero, and he has the build and the walk of a soldier, and wields the sword very convincingly too.

Let's see, my favourite scenes in Robin Hood: His interactions with Marion are all pretty funny and tense, the tension and dialogue between the two keeps you sitting at the edge of your seats wondering how it will pan out.

The funny scene when he sees his friends the next morning, and he tells them he is Marion's husband, and one guy who is drinking soup looks up in awe and goes, "Well played!"

Gladiator: The scene right after the battle, when he enters the tent still in his battle armour, dirty, grimy, and goes to wash his hands of blood in the basin. He casts a look at the celebrations ongoing. You get the feeling of a great battle won, the victory is sure, and the hero, the leader, when you expect him to be euphoric, lapping up the attention, is however looking weary, relaxed, glad it is all over, and yet kinda alone. You just feel for him!

The scene when after the war, he walks around the soldiers' tents on the outside, and goes up to stroke the nose of a horse. Again, the leader who is out walking the fields, taking care of business, instead of schnoozing and enjoying himself with the higher-uppers.

Books I've Read

Hello!

I have finished reading 2 books - The Time Travellor's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and Till We Have Faces by CS Lewis. These were books I borrowed recently from the Tampines Library. My verdict is: Time Travellor's Wife was a pointless book. I shouldn't have wasted my time on it, except for the fact that a well-respected friend of mine highly recommended it, together with his wife. Both said they cried at the end, and this friend of mine was a guy's guy. In the end, the book was so repetitive, the plot was so thin, and the characters so unmemorable and so myopically into each other and noone else (yuck), that I do not empathise at all with the characters and wonder how this book ever made it to the bestseller's list. The only redeeming point was that the 2 characters ended up waiting for each other their whole lives, even though one died. So, it's kinda touching, although as i said, I can't see what they see in each other. Both characters are very one-dimensional. THe only trait I can tell is their inloved-ness in each other. Bleah...

The other book, Till We Have Faces, is so much more promising. The plot is a Greek classical story, and has elements of the Arthurian age - sword fights, wars, sacrifices of pretty women to the gods to alleviate bad weather, falling in love with someone who is noble and true and honest, but the really interesting twist to this whole story is that it explores the fate of someone who is an ugly girl. In fact, the whole story is narrated from the point of view of this girl, who is sister to 2 really pretty sisters. It is an interesting situation, and how she is treated by all the men, even her own father. And how her love for her sister eventually drives her to do a crazy thing, and how she buried all these hurts and tormented doubts deep in her heart, but learnt a lot of skills and eventually became a ruler of the country, and how she is loveless all her life. It is bittersweet.

Capitalism and the rising cost of living

Today as I was riding in the car on my way home with my hubby, he said his life wasn't fun enough, and I mused that I never felt that way. He asked me how I had fun, and I said I have fun thinking about my day, reflecting on perhaps the sermon that was preached on Sunday, and the friends I met, the conversations we had, what went wrong at work and how I can solve it... and all these things are fun to me.

I started talking about how I really am annoyed by capitalism, which causes the widening income-gap divide, and the rising cost of living in Singapore now (people now find it hard to afford HDB flats, cars, and I am sure the price of food, transport, movies, everything is just more steep now). A colleague in his late 40s/early 50s told me life used to be so much slower in the past, and people with a civil service job could afford a lot of things. I guess it's still true today. But even more so in the past. People could buy more with their meagre paycheck and lead more relaxed lives. Things just didn't move so fast and there weren't so many things to have to settle.

Then I was musing today that today it is unthinkable for a couple to share a laptop. You MUST have 2 laptops, one for each. Then I thought, it wasn't that long ago that a family would only have 1 computer! And if you needed to check your email, it was once in a while, and it was a big deal, and you logged on just for a while and then logged off cos there was nothing left to check and you had better things to do. What a different world this is from now! I am sure with iPhone, soon everyone will need their own computer and iPhone! And be online all the time...

This girl I have been mentoring just blogged that she realised upon reflection that she has been leading a rather mindless, escapist life and not been giving 100% because she did before and failed, and it was fear of failure.... What a shocking revelation, and you know, it's kind of true. I have noticed that she is tend of... mediocre when she could be fabulous! It's like, she's afraid to try and give it a heroic attempt. I wonder how to get her to do so... to encourage her to be serious about something and go for it! I have no such problems. In fact, I almost give everything my best. If I gave a half-hearted effort... unless it was something i really didn't care about (even then), it just would feel too weird.

I was counselling someone not to worry about money and the future, because our security should be in God all the time, and not only when we have a huge nest egg stored away (especially not then, as money can vanish anytime), when this was one of those bizarre right-back-at-you moments, and I realised what I was mouthing applied right to me too, in terms of putting my security in God. I realised I do feel insecure sometimes, because I compare subconsciously with others, and with my own expectations of what I thought I ought to have achieved by now... but all that is just illusions and transient stuff. What matters is what God wants for me, and what God has planned for me. And I know I can count on this verse "'I know the plans I have for you', declares the Lord, 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you..." and "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" 1 Cor 2:9.

Mandy Moore!

Hello!

Have just watched a lovely Mandy Moore movie - Because I Said So. It is now one of my FAVOURITE MOVIES, because she looks so fresh and beautiful in every scene with her in it. She is utterly loveable in that movie, and yes, I can totally identify with the overprotective-mother and daughter-struggling-to-retain-some-control-over-her-life storyline. She is also so talented as a singer! I love her songs "Only Hope" and "Extraordinary". And I recall her movie "A Walk to Remember" brought tears to my eyes.. so I'm gonna go back and watch it when I get the chance. She is like, Winona Ryder or, Lindsey Lohan but better. She is like another Taylor Swift - a wholesome Hollywood image with some nice singalong songs :)

Story Inspired by the Freshman

This is a storyline inspired by a line in the song "The Freshman" by Verve Pipe years ago. It says "we always talk of our lack in relationships."

Scene in Pulau Ubin. A girl and a guy sitting under a tree, just before the beach, in the day, looking out at sea, very relaxed and talking. They are very good friends. They joke about their lack in relationships. But nothing serious. They are now parting and saying goodbye to each other, going to join/back to the real world. They know they connected on a very real and deep level all along, in their earlier, teenage years, or through some incident, but now they have to part. But what they had would never be erased. I could almost feel the salty sea breeze, see their dangling brown legs, their hands cupping a steel mug of coffee or hot beverage, hair tousled, slightly tangled cos they are washed without conditioner, skin slightly salty and sticky, but both are healthy, relaxed, happy and intensely focused on the conversation, which has taken on a deeply personal and philosophical tone, the stuff of sharing dreams, things deep within their beings. They feel they have committed some part of themselves with each other, shared this deep part of themselves, and found a liking for each other, an easy companionship at the deepest level. It is like, both know they identify with each other in that particular area, that noone else in the world has yet been able to. Both have a carefree, noble feeling, of uprightness, of non-materialism, of easily looking for and valuing things deeper than beneath the surface, indeed, almost scoffing at things on the surface. They know the moment they open their mouths, there is instant if not almost immediate understanding, and support, and empathy. Both are brave souls. Both dare to be different.

But now they know their honeymoon period is over. Whatever it is, they must now say goodbye and enter the harsh and less than perfect world. And years later, when they meet again, they will both be successful, have the veneer of success on them, but when they glance at each other, there is that instant connection again, a tug recalling them to where they were before, and a return to reality, the core them that never changes, except God who changes people. I don’t know, would this make for a good story?

Story!

This is my first attempt at typing out one of my old stories, written when I was in Sec 2. Yes, I was quite a prolific writer then, often writing about my friends, who brought me so much joy. Some of the characters are based on real friends, some are from my imagination, combined with characters plucked from books I've read. I must apologise for the Western names and setting. Back then, very few Singaporean fiction authors were around (maybe Catherine Lim and Adrian Tan? But I hadn't read any of their books yet), and my staple consisted of mostly American and British authors. So anyway, I shall be uploading parts of the story as I go along. I am hoping to transfer all of my pages into soft copy, and hopefully continue the story I left off in JC 1 and give it a proper ending :)

CHAPTER ONE

Sharon Loh gulped as she stepped into the classroom. They were receiving their Year 1 examination results that day and she already felt like she wanted to go to the toilet.

In the classroom, everyone was as rowdy as could be. Boys shouted and laughed, girls giggled and chattered excitedly. She couldn’t believe it.

“Hi!”Julie Ong, her best friend, suddenly appeared out of nowhere. “You look ghastly!”

“Of course, I almost couldn’t sleep last night worrying about my results,” Sharon said. “Why isn’t everybody nervous?”

Julie laughed at the expression on her face. “Not everyone’s like you, Ms Brainy. Now you’ve got to hear about the party. It sounds like a fireball of fun.”

After the long, hard examinations, her class was organizing a party to enjoy themselves and they were planning to make it a school celebration. Almost the whole Junior College was invited and they had even asked the school principal for permission to occupy the school compound on the day of the party. As far as Sharon knew, the principal had granted it. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to think about the party until the results were out.

Just then, Mrs Ho strode into the classroom with a huge stack of papers. Sharon gulped again.

“Good morning, Mrs Ho,” droned the class, standing up.

“Good morning, please be seated,” Mrs Ho took out a hanky to wipe her face. She was a plump lady with a bulbous nose and a warm smile, well-liked by her students. The students sat down with much scraping of chairs.

“As you know, you will be receiving your papers back today, and I will be pleased to tell you that though none in this class has got outstanding results, all of you passed and did well on the average.”

That was not what Sharon wanted to hear. A chatter rose among the students, but soon subsided when Mrs Ho started giving out the papers.

Sharon clasped her hands together and hoped. She was so nervous she could scarcely breathe.

When Julie received her paper, she shut her eyes for a second, then looked. She stared at her paper for a long time. Before Sharon could ask Julie her grades, she received hers and her heart nearly flipped. She took a long time calming herself before looking at the results.

She had an A for everything except History and Art. She heaved a sigh of relief. The weeks of studying had at least paid off. But Sharon knew she was not going to get away from a nagging session. Sharon’s parents had high expectations of her when it came to her studies.

Meanwhile, Julie was still staring at her paper. Sharon had the sudden thought that Julie had somehow scored all A’s and felt a poisonous pang of jealousy. Julie suddenly swirled around. You couldn’t imagine a wider grin.

“I can’t believe it! I scored a B for my English essay! I’m in heaven!” She flung her arms around Sharon in an impulsive hug. In fact, she looked so gleeful that Sharon could've kicked herself for being so small-minded.

Picking up Sharon’s paper, Julie gasped. “Eight As! Wow! That’s super! Congrats!” She pumped her hand enthusiastically. “Come on! Let’s celebrate!”

Gary Teo, who sat behind Sharon, giggled. He was a boy who was definitely on the round side. Giggling was one of his favourite pastimes , usually at nothing. He got along quite well with Sharon and Julie.

“Stop jumping around, you look ridiculous,” he said between giggles.

“Oh yeah, that’s because you’re jealous you can’t do that without causing a mini-earthquake,” Julie teased, still grinning her head off.

“Stupid Charlie,” Gary said quite pompously, wagging her finger at her. He called anybody whom he didn’t like Charlie. That was another of his little habits, which as usual, made no sense.

Sharon smiled at their teasings. They never got tired of it and could never spend a day without snapping a saucy remark at each other. Sharon usually joined them and ended up laughing her head off, but today… She sighed again, glancing at the offending grade sheet. All because she had been best student last year. If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t have cared how may A’s she got. One of life’s ironies.

The bell rang and Mrs Ho dismissed the class. There was an air of gaiety everywhere. Students packed their books, talking with one another. Chairs were pushed in and someone cleaned the blackboard, bringing out clouds of dust.

“Lunch?” Sharon asked listlessly, dawdling over her books.

“Of course, I feel like a Botak Jone’s Supreme Pepperoni Deluxe, chicken wings, cheesy nachos, not to mention a root beer float!” Julie always developed an usual appetite when she was happy. “How about you?”

“I’m not hungry, why don’t you go first?”

“No problem, call me later ok?” Julie bounced out. Sharon smiled at her friend. She always seems so easily happy. While me, I’ve got so much and yet I’m not satisfied. I’m sick.

Feeling all the more miserable, Sharon stepped into the corridor and just started walking. I feel like I could use a Mickey Mouse right now, she thought.

“Sharon!” Someone called her from behind. She turned.It wasn’t Mickey Mouse. It was someone better. It was Winston Chia.