Saturday, July 30, 2005

Let me rest in pieces

Let me rest in pieces
Don’t try to fix me, please
I am broken, I know
I am in pieces now
I really know

I will heal in time
It may take a long time
But don’t try to heal me
Don’t try, please
Let me rest in pieces

Look at my eyes
They have no lights for too long
I can’t fake for too long
I am shutting down
Don’t hold me, just go
And let me rest in pieces


I think this is the song that my computer is singing to me. I have a love-hate relationship with my computer and it seems like it has the upper hand for the last one month. I tried everything – sending it anti-virus flowers, whispering sweet nothings in its ears against the firewall, taking it for a dance in the defragment hall….

They all work well for a while, then a day or two later, some other problems would come up. It is so hard to please.

In comparison, relationships with boyfriends now seem much easier. Even when they give me problems, my female wiles seem to ease the problems in half the time.

My computer just won’t budge even if I am in my best behavior.

Sigh……

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Where a death could be a beginning of an eternity

Yesterday, when I was having dinner at Raffles City, a SMS came in and it said, “Grandma passed away.”

This is the third death in my family in the last two months. Before the church camp in June, it was my uncle and I arranged the funeral, single-handedly. Within two days, he was cremated.

I offered my organizational skills and put it to good use. That was the only thing I could offer to those who were grieving. I was clean, deft, efficient and fast. Everything went well and smoothly. There were no complications. I should be proud but I was not because I felt inadequate that the only thing I could offer was my management skills, which I have honed to perfection throughout my years of building a career, which helped me a few years back to be promoted twice within one year, which helped me to bring in some monetary rewards that allowed me to finance myself through an expensive US education.

Those skills were useless to my father, in helping him deal with his grief. Those skills are useless to me. I had given up that race a couple of years back - a wise move.

I saw my father called out my uncle’s name when we were collecting his body. He called out his name twice. I knew he was hoping that my uncle would respond, that he would sit up and tell him he was faking death and that the doctors had made a mistake. But my uncle didn’t. His body laid there still and lifeless. The body didn’t respond. My father placed his finger on my uncle’s half-opened eye and tried to close it. When he couldn’t after a few tries, he was a little upset and he asked the funeral director I had appointed who was standing nearby, “Why like that?” The director answered gently, “Don’t worry I will fix it.”

During that time, I ran through different images that I had conjured of what it was like for my father when he heard the news of my uncle's death. There was an image of my father sitting on the couch staring into space while other relatives were discussing on how the funeral should be done, another one of my father packing my uncle’s stuff and putting his things away, and another one of my father recalling the times he had with my uncle, and another one of my father…….

Throughout the two days arranging the funeral, I was with my father, I heard him relate one story after another about my uncle when we were taking rests in between arranging the funeral. I saw his sadness building up after each story, reaching new heights. I squeezed his arms each time and laid my hand on his arm and sometimes his shoulder, hoping that some kind of a diffusion would occur that some pain would be passed on to me, relieving him of some. But it didn’t occur. It was only my wishful thinking. It was only my utter ignorance of pain and its process. Pain, I realized, cannot be taken away, it can only be shared.

I was sorrowful, less so for the death of my uncle, more so for not bringing my father to salvation earlier so that dealing with my uncle’s death would be easier for him. Anything would be easier if you have God to lean on, like I always have for so many years. I didn’t share with him the best thing I have in my life – the perfect salvation.

Then I came back from church camp and I was told that my cousin’s husband had passed away. The cremation was over by the time I returned home. Again, there was nothing I could do.

I had the same regrets when I stared at my grandma’s body yesterday night. She was small, very small. I didn't realised she had shrunk to that size, like someone had drawn a significant amount of substance from her body, leaving us with her thin and frail. My grandma was not saved was the only thing that kept screaming in my head. She was not saved.

My mom looked a little sad yesterday. But when she saw me, she cheered up a bit and asked me about an interview I went yesterday morning. All she could ask was “Are you going to Beijing to work? Why not? How about Hong Kong?”

“No I am not going. I don’t like Beijing. I don’t like Hong Kong.”

“No mom, I am not going. The interview went well today. Thank you.”

“Yes, they asked. I said no.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to, mom.”

“But YH is there now in Beijing reporting for the newspapers. She is having a good time there. Why don’t you go? Good for your career.”

“Yes, mom. But I am not going. Please.”

Because mom, you are too important to me. I want you to know God, so that a death could be a beginning of an eternity and not the end.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

helllllo nurse!

Hi! This is The Rust. I was invited to be a contributer to this blog. Here's a story for you. The names are 'made up' and the story could have been real.

Richard started a job at the hospital as a nurse. He wanted to help people. However, after a couple of months at the hospital, he realised that life had more unexplainable mysteries than a season of X-files.

His boss, Carol, didn't like him. At a meeting, Michelle, a staff nurse, suggested that Richard take care of this special patient who needed extra attention. You see, Michael was a 13 year old boy with autism. Carol turned to Richard and asked, "what qualifications do you have to do this job?" Richard replied meekly "I have a brother who is 8 and also autistic. I also did a module studying autism in poly." Carol replied with a sneer and a look that read 'big deal'.

Can you tell me, what's the moral of the story?

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Blowers daughter

Because of Damien Rice's Blowers Daughter, I decided to watch Closer one more time, this time actually finished it.

Since the day the mp3 found its place on my playlist, I have listened to it for more than 20 times, all in one day - 20 times of it. Each time when the voice of the girl came on and sang "Did I say that I loathe you? Did I say I want to leave it all behind?", I felt someone gave my heart a tight squeeze so much so that I couldn't breathe, so much so that I felt my body thrust forward because of the pressure of that squeeze.

When things end, they end. They just end, much to the reluctance of my melancholy self, much to the reluctance of my heart which was yelling out loud for me to stop, to ask me not to do it, to ask me to consider its pain that it would have to go through. I looked at it with great sympathy and I said sorry.

And so it is. Just like you said it would be. Life goes easy on me, most of the time.


And so it is
Just like you said it would be
Life goes easy on me
Most of the time
And so it is
The shorter story
No love, no glory
No hero in her sky

I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes...

And so it is
Just like you said it should be
We'll both forget the breeze
Most of the time
And so it is
The colder water
The blower's daughter
The pupil in denial

I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes...

Did I say that I loathe you?
Did I say that I want to
Leave it all behind?

I can't take my mind off of you
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind off of you
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind...
My mind...my mind...
'Til I find somebody new

Monday, July 18, 2005

For the love of writing

I love writing. It is my avenue to release bits of me out in the open, in the open for all to see. I use it to draw out perimeters of a space, to block out an area which is to be my seclusion, an exclusive space, available only to me. No one is allowed to enter. No one is part of that space. I will never let them in. It is my world, my creation. No one enters. Others exist only as onlookers.

If one day, I find a stranger wandering on my land, I will ask him to be mine.

Ending

Ending. What is the best ending you have ever read in a book, or watch in a movie?

I am reaching the end of my story. There are a few endings I have in my mind. But I am sure whether I want to end it. I fell in love with Elizabeth and Trent. I fell in love with my story. I fell in love with the world I created.

This is chapter XXX......

"Hey Liz, I am done. I am done with the song. Please listen to it on the plane. And let me know." Trent said, passing a tape to her. Then he turned and left.

*******

Elizabeth looked at the tape which Trent gave her. She put on the earphones and she hit the play button.

The music flowed. The drum beats were slow. And Trent sang....

Don’t let go
Keep me close
Cos this time I know
Hope's within you, you assure
This time I want to be sure
You won’t go
That I know

Keep my soul
Somewhere it can’t be sold
Keep it safe
Keep me safe

Stay with me
If only you’d see
The face I keep in me
It’s the hardest thing I am sure
This time I am sure
I need your help
So, please

Dig me a bigger hole
I am losing my hold
I feel I am gonna go
So, please, don’t go

Stay with me….

Trent sang. Trent sang tunefully. He sang slowly. His voice was slow and steady and melancholy. His voice was heavy with emotions.

Elizabeth's world came to a standstill.

After a long moment, she seemed to come to her senses. She stared at the tape player. She rewound and hit the "play" button.

Then, Trent's singing came on. Her world began to revolve.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Heaven is long gone

CC told us that he pole danced so that he could continue scruba diving on an island. He was running out of funds. We all laughed. And then I asked, "So, have you found the meaning of life?" CC stopped laughing and looked at me as if he was stripped naked by my question, "Why do you ask that?"

I answered, "Because most often when a person does things that are out of boundaries of an ordinary living, it is usually because he is searching for the meaning of life."

He answered,"I found it but I lost it when I was 15." He was not casual when he answered that question.

I sighed silently. Another person in emotional pain. Another person who is lying by the wayside, waiting for the devil to sweep him up if he is not strong enough.

He said something else yesterday. In a very low breath, he said, "For me, heaven is long gone." That was stuck on my mind for a while and was still ringing in my mind today. There are millions of things I wanted to say to him at that point to make him believe in heaven again. Didn't I have a "slice of heaven" just last month? For a while, I wanted to be Trent, that dweeb from my story that I am writing, that earnest boy who believes that he owns the power to change the world, to change the people around him. But I didn't. I didn't tell him about the meaning of life. I didn't tell him that it could only be found in something eternal. If you try to find it outside of what you are being created for, you will always be lost. He told him he used to be a church choir boy. And I told myself, ah...there is hope. One day, he will know and one day, he would be found. For now, he is in my prayers.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Plodding on

Plodding on. More to go. At chapter eight. I don't think I will be able to finish the story before Wednesday. At least, I have in mind an ending.


Chapter 8:

It was Saturday morning. Ophelia had gone for her tennis match.

Elizabeth laid on her bed. Outside the window, the Flame of the Forest tree had shed off fully its scarlet flowers. Stripped naked of its glorious red, the tree stood in reverential pity at 30 feet tall.

Elizabeth sat up on her bed, drew her knees close to her chest, hugged her knees together, curled in her body, dropped her head and buried her face between her knees.

The wind blew in from the window and whispered in her ears. Faintly, Elizabeth thought she heard the tree, her Flame of the Forest, said, “I’ll be back with the next bloom. I will give you again that kick-ass view.”

The next bloom? I hope I can live to see it. For now, I feel like dying.

She rolled out of bed and walked to her desktop. Well, it was not her desktop anymore. Ophelia shared it with her. She powered up the desktop and logged on to the internet. She wanted to write another entry for her blog, to offload the intensity she had been feeling lately.

She clicked on Internet Explorer. An unfamiliar web page appeared. It was someone’s blog . It was Ophelia’s blog.

...........

Sunday, July 10, 2005

A story and a deadline

Three more days to go and I am still half way through my story. I am not anywhere close to ending the story. I need to write a few more twists before the story can end. Should it be a happy ending? Should Ophelia leave? Should Elizabeth accept that Ophelia has taken over her life and move on? Will Trent eventually like Elizabeth? I haven't decided. I will let the characters develop the story. I will let them decide the ending.

I am at chapter 5.

~five~

Irony. The use of irony in music.

Elizabeth loved General Paper. It had always been her favourite class. But today, she found it hard to concentrate.

Today, the topic of irony brought about mixed feelings. She wrote:

"Irony is an implied discrepancy between what is said and what is meant. There are two types of irony. There is the verbal irony where what is being said is what is not meant. There is the dramatic irony where the listener perceives something in the song which the song writer doesn’t know."

Elizabeth thought, “This is my irony. My parents’ attempt to make good another person’s life has made worse their only daughter’s life.”

She tore a piece of paper from her writing pad and wrote:

"Who can understand?.
My acrimony is unintended.
A Shakespeare’s invention
Stole my heart’s adoration,
Though I understand not
The charm she got"