The Dysfunctional Pilgrim

I get a lot of forwarded email, mostly on politics. And they can be rather nasty. This was just something I thought while scrolling through my inbox: To everyone who forwards emails on politics, I have absolutely no intention to be rude or disrespectful, but i genuinely wonder how all these "hate mail" would benefit the country. Positive change is not based on negative words, I think. I have tried to be fair and read these emails, but it just makes me feel sick and unhappy. I don't feel inspired to do anything apart from being angry at the world. Not to mention that the emails usually contain hateful comments against certain individuals, calling them names or insulting them. I understand the anger at someone misusing power or doing a wrong, but I don't think this the right way to handle the issue.   Of course, no one is saying turn a blind eye, or believe all the lies. Yes, spread awareness (and please check if they are true to begin with; sometimes I question the...

When Prof. Dr. Shirley Lim (writer of Monsoon History, among others) came to our uni to share on Asian American Literature, she shared this poem by William Carlos Williams with us: I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were so delicious so sweet and so cold When she taught poetry to students (under the Budding Poets Society) in Hong Kong (I may be wrong about this information, it was a long time ago), she instructed them to use that format in the poem and come out with their own version. She actually wanted to do that with us but we ran out of time.  I took it on myself to give it a go, but there were two problems. First, I was writing it during a boring athletic lecture, and second, I was starving. As in, really, really, REALLY hungry.  And so I ended up with these two variations: This is just to say (V1) I have eaten the stray cat that walks around our five-f...

Tell me my name Tell my story Tell me my past and what you have in store for me Because my pride blinded me My fear swayed me My apathy lied to me and I rested in ignorance But now I sense of longing from deep within to know who I was, who I am what I'm called for, who I am to be I want to know Your reason for creating me of placing me here, of my name my life is no longer a game Tell me my name Tell me my story Give me a reason to live for Your glory Something i thought of after watching Rise of the Guardians. I love the deep themes amidst all the fun. Soundtrack was awesome too. No need to mention that the animators are GENIUS. If i had drawing skills, i would want their job.  I've actually written a lot of random nonsense while i was busy with assignments and whatnot. Most of them are poetry because when i'm short on time, or lazy, i'd just cram it into some short ....thing. I suppose i have the time to du...

“November is the most disagreeable month in the whole year,” said Margaret, standing at the window one dull afternoon, looking out at the frostbitten garden. “That's the reason I was born in it,” observed Jo pensively, quite unconscious of the blot on her nose. "If something very pleasant should happen now, we should think it a delightful month,” said Beth, who took a hopeful view of everything, even November. November is here....I remember Guy Fawkes (but unfortunately not too familiar with him, i have to google him after this), but more importantly it's the birthmonth of Louisa May Alcott, one of my favourite authors, and Jo March, one of my favourite fictional characters. Jo March is apparently Alcott's description of herself, so that means....she and I are quite alike. It's kinda eerie that I'm in a way, trodding the same path as Jo now. She wanted to be a celebrated authoress, someone great and famous and rich, and in the end she became a teac...

Uni life has begun, and my kiasu-ness has been coming out of the closet. This is strange, because I’m a laid-back type who wouldn’t be too bothered with results or competitors etc. Ok, so maybe “ laid-back” is an understatement. I’m downright lazy. But laziness seems to be taking a backseat these days. For example, during orientation they were introducing us to all the elective and minor courses we could take and immediately the desire to take ALL of them (well, almost all) popped up in my head. I don’t know why. Also, we were grouped together in our respective courses during orientation and I was constantly trying to check out the competition. I had to rein my kiasu-ness in and remind myself that these people are going to be my course-mates, not my rivals. I’m supposed to be making friends. But friends can be rivals, right?  Shut up, kiasu.  During classes, if I notice someone being outspoken, my inner hackles will start to rise. I won’t challenge the ...

Did I say something about blog posts coming more frequently? I must have been high. It's been three months since my last post and I apologise to my non-existent followers (lalala, i like to kid myself). Anyway, I have nothing to say (or perhaps too much to say but too little time to put into words), so here's some words of goofy wisdom wrapped in nerdiness from the ultimate Wes Chan from Wongfu Productions.  I love writing down words spoken in movies or lyrics of songs for some reason. It's a weird hobby of mine (yes it is a hobby; when I have time I'd write down lyrics of songs instead of looking them up). This is called dictations right? I use to love having dictation tests in school. There you go, something new about me! I love doing dictations/dictating (which is it??? I'm not sure...) This is my biggest project ever, so effort went into this, mind you! I got it off the video, wrote it all out, did some research so I know I got all the college re...

Whoa...I had no idea that my last post was my 100th until I checked my list of posts by complete accident.  Hm....I guess it was rather fitting that on the 100th post I would look back into the past. Or was it fitting?  Anyway, here's a thank you to those who have followed this blog since the beginning, and those who just started, or randomly popped by, anyone who decided for some reason, to click the link to read more of me.  Big thanks to those who commented, encouraged and pushed me to keep on writing. I hope you all found something a teeny-weeny bit meaningful here. Otherwise, I apologise for wasting your time. Oh, and thanks for putting up with my grammatical errors and typos.  I have to say, I did have a blast writing here. It's probably because I don't push myself to write much, so it doesn't feel like a chore or anything. And it's also probably why I've only reached a 100 now...after..give or take..FOUR years. FOUR. my goodness...that...