SOL:7 days
Saturday, June 10, 2006
♥ Saturday, June 10, 2006
Crap, i meant to keep it a low-key thing. But, shit happens.:)
7 days, 1 wkend, 3 books, 5 day field camp, 1 DVD, and 1 helluva movie.
Stardust by Neil Gaiman(220506) is probably the first magic-fantasy book i read. Din enjoy. I realised i like my imagination to run wild on my own. Directing creativity in imagination is kinda hindering it. Watched Mirrormask awhile back with my bro. Book was by him. About dreams, visions. Quite abstract. I think, its in abstractness that artists seek to tell the truth- this quote i learnt from the awe-inspiring V for Vendetta.
All hail the great Jodi Picoult. I think i am about to make a resolution to read ALL her books. Finished Mercy (020606). Not as fantastic as My Sister's Keeper, but still great read. About euthanasia, and how correct it is to take the life of another, upon their request. I fancy the american lawsuits. Sure more absorbing than Singapore ones. Especially with a jury. The way one plays with emotions, as in the book, or with colour, as in the movie A Time To Kill written by John Grisham, or with sex, as displayed in North Country starring Charlize Theron (nominated Best Actress). The psychology behind these mind games is super intriguing, toying with language, with the law, with people's prejudices. The ugly side of society is also its fascinating side.
I had a few good ephiphanies, few good moments of lucidity in my field camp and sol. Its weird how good things come as if they were both causes and effects of other good things, while bad things just come altogether. Its SOL on a timely occasion (if there's such a thing), and then it came in with good BMT buddy Shanker who' s also serving his SOL for his hilarious stupidity, and then it came in with this book The Saint, The Surfer and The CEO by Robin Sharma (080606), and then we watched V for Vendetta again, packed with the punch of reflection, a great friday to top it off (a good run, Daphne's party, a slightly drunk me, fun dancing, and cool company) .
About the drunk part, dont read too much into it, though i enjoyed the part where i was completely not self conscious anymore. I think there's a certain art to living in not being self-conscious. Its freedom! No reflections, no intentions, no fear, no awkwardness, no nothing. Just dancing. You know you're there, and you relish the moment, you savor the taste and flavour of being- soemthing i learnt from Robin Sharma. I hate the term self help. But thats the genre of his book, and tonnes of stuff i learnt from it. About life, again. :)
Am gonna tell Val all about it when we hit out salad buffet at Sizzler's!
V for Vendetta. I know i blogged about this before. But just doesnt do justice to the genius of the movie. How do they do that, you ask. They use the term phenomenon because it dont happen so often! With The Matrix trilogy and then, this! Granted, its from a graphic novel. Still! Feels like a timeless,
timeless classic. The kind that the more you watch, the better it gets. And hell yeah to hugo Weaving as Mr Smith and V. "Remember, remember the 5th of november...the gun powder treason, i dont see why the gun powder treason should ever be forgotten" The movie is a
victory with a capital V.
5 days field camp. 4 days of rain. Lim Chu Kang. As a recce. You get the pic.
I never penned down much about my NS. Maybe cuz its not done and im a little superstition about penning things down, before its over. But wad i learnt, is that its all about attitude. To be happy, and to enjoy and to endure.
We all must know what we have to do. Our lives are too short to let it be meaningless. And we must not fear our light. The light of doing what we want, of being who we are. Life is not a school to learn. Life is a big reflection of who we are. We must relish every opportunity to love and care. Give, give and give. No longer me, but you. We must know that we can be bigger than ourselves. No one has power over us, more than that which we give them. Who has the right to say what is mine and what is yours? Hasnt all been given by that which is above? No regrets, only release. We must not look back sad. We must look back glad. Let the past serve, as they only can. Mistakes only are mistakes when we repeat them. Remove all prejudices at once. We are all flowers on the same meadow, basking in the same sunlight, that shines on all. What good does it do to say one is more colourful than the other, or one serves more purpose than the other. All for the greater beauty that life is. We are big and we are small. We can move mountains and we are only a speck in the universe. A single thread in the tapestry, though its colour brightly shine, can never see its purpose, in the pattern of the grand design. Shall we not know how to love? And so we shall not know ourselves either. But, and there is
always a but, if we love, we undo the knots and we wipe the wounds, we create smiles from tears and peace from war. We must be free. In the land of the free, i stand in awe. In the land of the wise, i bow humbly. And in the land of love, i dance carelessly.
Whooh! Now thats soemthing of an epiphany. :)
