shock shock horror!

my English is apalling. when i speak, there are additional syllables floating around. when i write, my grammar is horrible - yesterday was today is happening. i hate this.

it would be a great time to start reading. these are the unread books that have been gathering dust, some for more than 2 years...

tuesdays with morrie (1/4 through)

design of everyday things (1/3)

midnight's children

the alchemist (5 pages)

im sure there are a couple more, i don;t remember them so they're not significant enough to mention. let's see how this experiment would help my English. ugh.

The No Excuses Policy

Since the 1st day of September 2010, the controller of Insee's Mindworks has decided to implement a no excuses accepted, "No Excuses Policy". (#Ref Article No. 0.0) Strictly speaking, no excuses will be entertained. You are recommended to always get to the point or get the job done.

Signed by Controller in Chief (Amelie) in the presence of witness (Insee).

PS: God have mercy on the innocents.

la mer est chance. non, non! mais je suis coco.

the intention was to reach home by 9 and go for a long run. just to let the legs go wild. then shower and sleep by 11.

obviously that didn't happen.

as random as it gets, i went for a hen party. crazy make up and bunny ears. very fun :) happy girly night out.

i come home and open up bonne 'chance chanel'. then i treat myself to a jar of miracles. ;)

gifts and gooodies like this are always welcome. the cosmetic junkie within has been satisfied thoroughly.

now i write, while my eyelids gravitate toward the floor. so bon nuit. a la weekend!

midnight rambles, tambles and toos

it's 3 am and it must be cold out...

clarke quay is eerie at this time. it's a monday. the night prowlers' day of rest. the worker bees shall work. be it late, early or whenever. we all need to get some honey. my brain is quite agitated with thoughts of being magnificent (a piscean can never be 'ordinary'). i didnt meet the moon today, mind you. i only saw the stars.

tomato face and rare steak...

i watched these birds in the day sky. clouds too beautiful to forget. and a lesson learned. changi beach area is the hottest place in the world (in a very myopic sense). i have a neatly carved burn on my nose, thanks to my shades. my shoulder on the other hand, feels like a piece of cooked meat. its looking like that too.

incoherence, ideatic.

i have this poem in my head. ringing a tune. maybe it's a song. i never made my music. i never had the tune. the words are playing and the sounds are mute.

my paintings waiting for a brush to move.

the camera's sitting, dehumidifying. waiting for its next holiday.

i'm watching my fingers type nonsense in front of me. it's quite fun. i hope you enjoy this as much as i did.

i bid good night, and good morning -- and leave you with something to chew on...

“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it”

Charles R. Swindoll

mascots, materialism and macarons

this blog has lost perspective. calvin doesn't jump off his swing anymore. i need a new mascot and spongebob doesn't cut it. i could try amelie, but she's nothing in black and white. what am i left with then, to fill the empty space below my idiosyncrasies?

apparently my horoscope said that since sept 2007 until early november, the stars have enjoyed messing around with my life. apparently for my good. unfortunately, i do feel this is true. if only they had the courtesy to tell me about these little drama scenes in advance, i wouldn't have gotten fussed over so many things in the first place. but for starters, i am thankful that the black septembers are over, and proudly, with the help of many many important people and my self, i have survived.

this also means it is time to adopt a new mascot, calvin was and will always be a special eccentric to me, but we need to move on.

here are a few suggestions:

1. phua chu kang - knowing how much i despise his mole

2. little miss sunshine - i could always use some cheering up

3. my blender -preferably in its immacculate form, it's lime green by the way

4. my lomo diana F+ - the poor things never been developed properly

5. an iphone - so that i can relish the things i don't have

6. mcdonalds logo - to remind me to stay away from that FAT and the coupons

7. ice cream - a long term relationship that hasn't managed to melt away

8. things in general - to remind me of my futile, utterly materialistic existence

9. a macaron - because you know how much i love this french stuff

10. coco chanel - not herself, but the tatou version, just because she used to be amelie

i would add rowing to the list, but i need to test the waters in terms of endurance. my best bets on the macaron, because ideally, that's my slice of life!

the mental blog

it has been a good so many months since i've visited my own blog. partly because i've been living in a whirlwind that is 'oh so totally' wrapped around me, me and me. this accentuated selfworth seems to originate from the time i have become too busy/tired to sleep, cook and some times eat. i do not condone such a lifestyle, but it has its rewards, even if it does not show up on the teller.

coping is quite difficult, as usual with a shrinking bank balance, hectic lifestyle and new abode. marking territories, boundaries and achievements hardly afford the time to write about the dialogues that run in my wired up mind. which is what brings me to the mental blog.

at the end of each day, i seem to need to 'wrap up' the events and conclude all the happenings on my way home. this monologue runs in my mind, right about the time i start to head back. sort of like a mental blog, with many many interesting and sarcastic jokes worthy of sharing. however the hitch is when i finally reach home, after the routine facebook and email checking, i shut down the computer and lie in bed. the interesting anecdotes of the day die an oblivious death as my eyelids drop and i fall asleep.

how many of you have got stuck in this infinite loop of almost non-existence? it is not something to be unhappy about, but i'm sure it is something of great concern to anthropologists and sociologists alike..

Who is Peter Walsh?

I am Peter Walsh. I am also Clarissa and Sally. I could be Septimus, but I would rather not be.

Mrs. Dalloway was not an easy book to read. At a maximum rate of 10 pages a day, it is finally back on the bookshelf. It took me a while to digest, fluttering through the characters' minds, confused as a reader, this book deserves (or needs) seconds. Apart from admiring the language, the wordiness and the characters (whom i think combine to form an alter ego of me) these are some excerpts that stuck.

"Rigid, the skeleton of habit alone upholds the human frame."

"What does a brain matter,.... when compared with the heart?"

"What is this terror? what is this ecstacy? he thought to himself. What is it that fills me with extraordinary excitement?

It is Clarissa he said.

For there she was."

from Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

there's planning... and then there is over-planning

planning has always been a good thing. having things to do or doing the things you have to do must always be planned. it helps to compartmentalise your life and get the best out of the activity or the task.

but, if you try to coerce a naturally messy person into planning, you might just get a very well planned mess.

that sentence looked nice on the screen so i decided to leave it there, although it does digress from my point. i think planning is essential, to a level where you know what needs to be done. somehow, anyone who has gone past 10 years of life will know plans don't always work out. you need to plan for mistakes, discrepancies, shortages, and all the what ifs and what nots. so basically, you need to plan with the possibility of it all going wrong. which to me, sounds terribly ironic. why plan at all, i would say...

as an individual, i never started out with a plan. i just followed my likes, dislikes, and skills. maybe i was lucky to be good enough to pursue whatever i wanted, so ultimately i am who i am based on a whim and a lot of effort... to breakdown this vague analysis, this is an essential checklist to understand where you stand

1. list down 5 things you love doing (in order of preference)
2. list down 5 things you are extremely good at doing or have received recognition for
3. list down 5 things you wish you could do or wish you could be better at doing
4. list down 5 things you want to learn in the next 5 years

voila! i think you might be able to see some parallels and get your life into perspective. writing things down has always helped me focus on the bigger picture. this technique helped me get through my olevels and alevels. pretty much so for university and now its helping me add the buzz back into my life.

with this, i take your leave.

aurevoir,
amelie