MEME | ONLY SONG TITLES

Something I was tagged on Facebook.

Using ONLY SONG TITLES from ONE artist, cleverly answer these questions:

My artist is SLEATER-KINNEY. (Surprised? If You are, you don't know me well enough)

ADDITIONAL RULE: You cannot use the same artist I did, or duplicate song titles even if they were performed by another artist. Make sure you send a copy to the person who sent you this.

(I listed the song title, followed by the album title)

1. Are you a male or female: "Be Yr Mama" / Sleater-Kinney

2. Describe yourself: "The Drama You've Been Craving" / Dig Me Out

3. How do you feel about yourself: "Let's Call It Love" / The Woods

4. Describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend: "Was It A Lie" / All Hands On The Bad One

5. Describe your current boy/girl situation: "I'm Not Waiting" / Call The Doctor

6. Describe your current location: "Living in Exile" / The Hot Rock

7. Describe where you want to be: "Taking Me Home" / Call The Doctor

8. Your best friends are: "Good Things" / Call The Doctor

9. Your favorite color is: "Milkshake n' Honey" / All Hands On The Bad One

10. You know that: "Burn, Don't Freeze" / The Hot Rock

11. What’s the weather like: "All Hands On The Bad One" / All Hands On The Bad One

13. What is life to you: "Not What You Want"/ Dig Me Out

14. What is the best advice you have to give: "What's Mine Is Yours" / The Woods

15. If you could change your name, what would it be: "Anonymous" / Call The Doctor

Did you know Sleater-Kinney has no song title with a colour in them? Amazing. Anyone wants to play?

MEME | The Letter W

Doing the Letters Meme, where I list 10 things I love that starts with the chosen letter. I asked for a challenging one, so Nymeth gave me "W". Ha! I laugh at you, letter "W". (This makes me feel like a character from Sesame Street.)

1. While My Guitar Gently Weeps: When I talk to my friends about the Beatles, they usually tell me how much they love the Sgt Pepper album. I'm not disputing that - but personally, the Beatles album that I love is The White Album. I believe The White Album is the best showcase of just how talented they are as song-writers. My favourite song from The White Album - and probably my favourite Beatles song - is "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - written by George Harrison, with Eric Clapton on guitar.


2. Winterson, Jeanette:  I quote a lot from Winterson's books and essays on this blog.


3. Washington Post Book World: Washington Post Book World will go out of print as a separate section in the Washington Post - but thankfully, it will still exist as an online entity. The Book World gave voice to well-read bookworms like Michael Dirda to chatter about the pleasure of reading - and re-reading. We need more newspapers to put this kind of focus on book culture.


4. Woods, The: The final album by my favourite band, Sleater-Kinney. Some bands stick to the known and the familiar. While some of them do find commercial success, and their music do find loyal fans - there are the other bands like Sleater-Kinney. They could have signed up with the more commercial labels, but they preferred to retain the creative integrity of their music. They never stopped challenging themselves as musicians, always mindful that they want to produce the kind of music that they can be proud of. They went a new direction for The Woods, with a new producer who was not familiar with their prior albums - who could therefore provide a fresh perspective on their work. The Woods irritated  some fans, who found it deviate too much from the music they loved - but they also earned some new fans.

   The Woods represent everything that is admirable about Sleater-Kinney: they never fell into complacency. They came to a point where they knew they were not progressing musically, and so they announced their "indefinite hiatus" in spite of all the fan-protests. They understood that life (and by extension, their music) is about moving forward.

5. Wanderlust: Wanderlust, a great book by Rebecca Solnit. It's a series of essays on the idea of walking, of wandering, of our relationship to moving, of time, of history, art, culture and politics. Solnit is as wiling to wander off in the middle of the essay to pursue a line of enquiry that interests her. I love her writings, because she exemplifies how we learn so much more when we are willing to wander off the familiar path to seek out the unknown. Wandering is to defy boundaries.


6. Willow Rosenberg: Who can resist the most powerful witch in the Northern Hemisphere on Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Dark Willow is cool too. :)
7. 
   Wild Thing: I was fortunate to have met some Anusara-inspired teachers, and they sometimes incorporate this backbend - known as The Wild Thing (show in the picture to the right) into the flow. The Wild Thing is one of my favourite yoga pose, because it allows me to play with the natural flexibility of my body. The asana is a great heart opener - therapeutic when I'm feeling lethargic or depressed.


8. Wit: Maybe it's because I'm the sort who prefers to mull things over, I find a person who can think fast on their feet very sexy. Especially if they can make me laugh.


9. Wikipedia: You don't have to know anything anymore. You can look it up on Wikipedia!


10. Walking: I walked a lot during my recent London trip, and I got lost A LOT. In fact, on my very last day, I was waking towards Brick Lane and ended up at the Tower of London - which was okay. I went in to see the Tower instead. Walking is the best mode of transport when you're travelling, and it's healthy. Walking is the best way to see a city, because everything is at the ground level, you see so much more. All of us who are able to walk should be grateful.

MEME | What Do I Know

Took this from Stefanie. I'm supposed to list 10 pearls of wisdom. Let's see if I can make up 10...

1. There will always be someone born smarter and more talented than you. You have no choice in this. But talent is only potential. It's how you work with the gifts that you have that really matters. Hard and discipline - these are things we can control.
2. No matter how much we love somebody, we cannot live their lives for them. They need to make their own choices, their own mistakes.
3. Forgiveness is an act of grace. We can try to be worthy of it - but it comes in its own time, not because we will it - and sometimes, when we do not deserve it.
4. I decided a long time ago that we are never going to make perfect decisions. Mistakes will be inevitable. But I prefer to own my mistakes - I do not want to regret later in life that I allowed someone else to make the choices for me.
5. True patience comes from a place of love. It took me 30 years before I realize this is what my mother has been trying to teach me.
6. It's okay to be afraid. Fear doesn't have to stop you from trying though. This is the real test of courage - that we continue to try in spite of our fears.
7. The Dalai Lama said, "My religion is compassion." This is the only religion I can believe in.
8. There is always a choice. It's just that often we do not like the alternative, so we pretend we were forced into bad choices, when really, we just chose the easier way.
9. It is important to have friends that share your interests and values - most of all, we need friends who are willing to disagree with us, who are willing to tell us we are wrong and behaving stupidly. My best friends are the ones who love me enough to tell me when I am being pig-head, arrogant and down-right ridiculous. It has been very bruising for the ego.
10. I am as greedy, selfish and flawed as everyone else. But I do not have to give in to these baser instincts. I can choose to behave better.

MEME | One Book Meme

Because a meme is just another excuse for nothing to blog about. From Chris

One book you’re currently reading: Regenesis by C.J. Cherryh. I really want to finish this one for Carl's Sci Fi Experience.

One book that changed your life: Anger by Thich Nhat Hanh. When we talk about changing a life, it's a very personal thing. Even now, I find it difficult to talk about it to my friends. They know a few details, but not everything. 

The story goes like this:  one night, I was reading Anger, and something within me clicked. I put down the book to sit; I was meditating for the first time in my life. I sat in the "proper position" and counted my breath like I was taught in the book. At first, nothing happened. Then unexpectedly, my heart broke and I couldn't stop my tears. In that single, profound moment, I saw the damages I have wrought in my life. That I was as much to blame for the pain in my life. That was the first step to a kind of healing.

One book that you’ll want on a deserted island: This is a hard one. I would pick In Search of Lost Time – because it's really 7 volumes (depending on your translation) and that would mean a lot of toilet paper. Look - if I'm really stuck on an island, I'm looking at something practical.

One book you’ve read more than once: The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

One book you’ve never been able to finish: You all heard about my experience with the Big Whale Book. So I'll name Dostoevsky's The Idiot instead. 

One book that made you laugh:  A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett. Or Wintersmith. I know it's a one book meme – but does anyone remember which book was it that Tiffany Aching gave Granny Weatherwax the cute little white kitten? That was the sweetest bit in the whole Tiffany Aching and Granny Weatherwax relationship. 

It's A Hat Full of Sky, right? 

One book that made you cry: Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. There were a few other books that made me cry - but I wanted to single out Tigana, because it is a beautiful example of the excellent lyrical authors that work within the fantasy genre. Fantasy has been far too badly maligned, in my opinion. Tigana (as well as Kay's Fionavar Tapestry trilogy) is a beautifully written story. The language is lush, the characters deeply human and sympathetic. A world where there is no easy villains, and when all is done, there is just the taste of ashes in your mouth. It is not an easy book to read at time, and I wept for the characters, and what had been done to them. 

But if I was not restricted to just one book, I would pick Kay's Fionavar Tapestry as the series that made me cry. You have to read it yourself.

One book you keep rereading: It would have to be Jeanette Winterson's The Passion. Even after all these years, I read it with the memory of all my failed love affairs. Some books are just like that. They serve as a sort of bookmark to our lives.

One book you’ve been meaning to read: The Great War for Civilisation by Robert Fisk. I feel that I need to know more about the world.

One book you believe everyone should read: The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies. But then again, more people should read Robertson Davies.

Finally,

Grab the nearest book. Open it to page 56. Find the fifth sentence.

"I said get me another. …" 

Well, that wsn't very helpful. It's from Regenesis. Yes, the Cherryh book.

MEME | Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novels Everyone Must Read

From Carl. Bold indicate titles I have read, while italics indicate books I own, but have not found the time to read.

1. Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
2. Brian W Aldiss: Non-Stop (1958)
3. Isaac Asimov: Foundation (1951)
4. Margaret Atwood: The Blind Assassin (2000)
5. Paul Auster: In the Country of Last Things (1987)
6. Iain Banks: The Wasp Factory (1984)
7. Iain M Banks: Consider Phlebas (1987)
8. Clive Barker: Weaveworld (1987)
9. Nicola Barker: Darkmans (2007)
10. Stephen Baxter: The Time Ships (1995)
11. Greg Bear: Darwin’s Radio (1999)
12. Alfred Bester: The Stars My Destination (1956)
13. Poppy Z Brite: Lost Souls (1992)
14. Algis Budrys: Rogue Moon (1960)
15. Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita (1966)
16. Edward Bulwer-Lytton: The Coming Race (1871)
17. Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange (1960)
18. Anthony Burgess: The End of the World News (1982)
19. Edgar Rice Burroughs: A Princess of Mars (1912)
20. William Burroughs: Naked Lunch (1959)
21. Octavia Butler: Kindred (1979)
22. Samuel Butler: Erewhon (1872)
23. Italo Calvino: The Baron in the Trees (1957)
24. Ramsey Campbell: The Influence (1988)
25. Lewis Carroll: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
26. Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871)
27. Angela Carter: Nights at the Circus (1984)
28. Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000)
29. Arthur C Clarke: Childhood’s End (1953)
30. GK Chesterton: The Man Who Was Thursday (1908)
31. Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2004)
32. Michael G Coney: Hello Summer, Goodbye (1975)
33. Douglas Coupland: Girlfriend in a Coma (1998)
34. Mark Danielewski: House of Leaves (2000)
35. Marie Darrieussecq: Pig Tales (1996)
36. Samuel R Delaney: The Einstein Intersection (1967)
37. Philip K Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)
38. Philip K Dick: The Man in the High Castle (1962)
39. Umberto Eco: Foucault’s Pendulum (1988)
40. Michel Faber: Under the Skin (2000)
41. John Fowles: The Magus (1966)
42. Neil Gaiman: American Gods (2001)
43. Alan Garner: Red Shift (1973)
44. William Gibson: Neuromancer (1984)
45. Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Herland (1915)
46. William Golding: Lord of the Flies (1954)
47. Joe Haldeman: The Forever War (1974)
48. M John Harrison: Light (2002)
49. Robert A Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)
50. Frank Herbert: Dune (1965)
51. Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game (1943)
52. Russell Hoban: Riddley Walker (1980)
53. James Hogg: The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824)
54. Michel Houellebecq: Atomised (1998)
55. Aldous Huxley: Brave New World (1932)
56. Kazuo Ishiguro: The Unconsoled (1995)
57. Shirley Jackson: The Haunting of Hill House (1959)
58. Henry James: The Turn of the Screw (1898)
59. PD James: The Children of Men (1992)
60. Richard Jefferies: After London; Or, Wild England (1885)
61. Gwyneth Jones: Bold as Love (2001)
62. Franz Kafka: The Trial (1925)
63. Daniel Keyes: Flowers for Algernon (1966)
64. Stephen King: The Shining (1977)
65. Marghanita Laski: The Victorian Chaise-longue (1953)
66. Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: Uncle Silas (1864)
67. Stanislaw Lem: Solaris (1961)
68. Doris Lessing: Memoirs of a Survivor (1974)
69. David Lindsay: A Voyage to Arcturus (1920)
70. Ken MacLeod: The Night Sessions (2008)
71. Hilary Mantel: Beyond Black (2005)
72. Michael Marshall Smith: Only Forward (1994)
73. Richard Matheson: I Am Legend (1954)
74. Charles Maturin: Melmoth the Wanderer (1820)
75. Patrick McCabe: The Butcher Boy (1992)
76. Cormac McCarthy: The Road (2006)
77. Jed Mercurio: Ascent (2007)
78. China Miéville: The Scar (2002)
79. Andrew Miller: Ingenious Pain (1997)
80. Walter M Miller Jr: A Canticle for Leibowitz (1960)
81. David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas (2004)
82. Michael Moorcock: Mother London (1988)
83. William Morris: News From Nowhere (1890)
84. Toni Morrison: Beloved (1987)
85. Haruki Murakami: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (1995)
86. Vladimir Nabokov: Ada or Ardor (1969)
87. Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler’s Wife (2003)
88. Larry Niven: Ringworld (1970)
89. Jeff Noon: Vurt (1993)
90. Flann O’Brien: The Third Policeman (1967)
91. Ben Okri: The Famished Road (1991)
92. Chuck Palahniuk: Fight Club (1996)
93. Thomas Love Peacock: Nightmare Abbey (1818)
94. Mervyn Peake: Titus Groan (1946)
95. John Cowper Powys: A Glastonbury Romance (1932)
96. Christopher Priest: The Prestige (1995)
97. François Rabelais: Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532-34)
98. Ann Radcliffe: The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)
99. Alastair Reynolds: Revelation Space (2000)
100. Kim Stanley Robinson: The Years of Rice and Salt (2002)
101. JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997)
102. Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses (1988)
103. Antoine de Sainte-Exupéry: The Little Prince (1943)
104. José Saramago: Blindness (1995)
105. Will Self: How the Dead Live (2000)
106. Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (1818)
107. Dan Simmons: Hyperion (1989)
108. Olaf Stapledon: Star Maker (1937)
109. Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash (1992)
110. Robert Louis Stevenson: The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)
111. Bram Stoker: Dracula (1897)
112. Rupert Thomson: The Insult (1996)
113. Mark Twain: A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court (1889)
114. Kurt Vonnegut: Sirens of Titan (1959)
115. Robert Walser: Institute Benjamenta (1909)
116. Sylvia Townsend Warner: Lolly Willowes (1926)
117. Sarah Waters: Affinity (1999)
118. HG Wells: The Time Machine (1895)
119. HG Wells: The War of the Worlds (1898)
120. TH White: The Sword in the Stone (1938)
121. Gene Wolfe: The Book of the New Sun (1980-83)
122. John Wyndham: Day of the Triffids (1951)
123. John Wyndham: The Midwich Cuckoos (1957)
124. Yevgeny Zamyatin: We (1924)

Only 21 read. Not good at all.

MEME | 25 Random Things About Me

I was tagged for this meme on Facebook. So.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1. I hate snowpeas. It's ugly, it's flat and it's hard.
2. I was in kindergarten when I first tried beer (I was 5 or 6 years old?). My dad believes a girl should have a tolerance for alcohol so that they can take care of themselves later in life.
3. Hates it when people try to argue with me about my being vegetarian. It's my choice.
4. I am actually very shy. But people are often deceived into thinking otherwise. I wonder why?
5. I am no longer a fan of Angelina Jolie. After the Brangelina rubbish, she just grew boring.
6. My mother wanted to name me "Wanjun" when I was born. Thank god my dad intervened. I will always be grateful for my Chinese name, because I know the alternative - and I hate it.
7. I share the same birthday as Alyson Hannigan, who plays Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
8. I absolutely love the Rachel Maddow show. It's current affairs delivered smart and sharp.
9. I could never finish "Moby Dick"
10. I almost failed English in school when I was 10.
11. Once, I sat right next to Neil Gaiman for lunch. He offered me his fish.
12. The one band I really want to see "live" in concert (preferably upfront - within groping distance) is Sleater-Kinney.
13. I never got to vote in my entire life. Oh, the beauty of our country's democratic system.
14. I think being allowed to just sit in a cafe and read is one of life's greatest pleasures.
15. My earlobes have never been pierced.
16. I don't make my bed when I wake up. Why bother?
17. I bought my first mobile phone when I was 25.
18. I can't drive. Don't have a license. Not interested in getting one.
19. I think spiritually I am a red-head.
20. I have just reached Level 184 on Mob War
21. I would like Tracy Chapman's "Say Hallelujah" to be played at my funeral.
22. When I was younger, I thought Patti Smith's "gloria" was the anthem of my life - especially with the opening lines, "Jesus died for somebody's sins/But not mine." Now that I am older, I think I prefer Patti Smith's "dancing barefoot" - for the way it celebrates life.
23. I have been a vegetarian for 5 years, but from time to time I do miss a good beef steak, fresh salmon sashimi and fresh oysters. But the feelings will pass.
24. I think the person who loves me the most in this world is my mother.
25. Hates to tag people for meme.

MEME | First Lines

From Melanie, where we list the first sentence of each month's first post. My comments in italics.

January
The Objective: From 1st January 2008 to 31st December 2008, to (re)read anything Russian, or Russian-related - from any genre, any subject, any period, any author, any length.

~ Ah, where I start on the Russian Reading Challenge - which I didn't complete!

February
A reading list on spirituality and spiritual practices around the world.

~ My reading list on spirituality. I do enjoy making lists.

March
I would like to regal you with fascinating stories and insights from my recent reading of The Histories.

~ Just me being bored with The Histories and a little bitchy.

April
Hello all.

~ Post-surgery post, to tell everyone I'm still alive.

May

For those who read the Rebecca Solnit essay, "Men Who Who Explain Things", I would like to point you to this post, by gartenfische.

~ All this, because of a Rebecca Solnit essay. The world needs to read more Rebecca Solnit.

June
For the past month I've been meddling with the items on my sidebar.

~ Where I pretend I was organizing, but really, I'm just setting up a new blog to make more lists, because the lists on my sidebars are getting too crowded.

July
Today is 1st July, the start of July WoYo where we practice every day of the month.

~ A WoYoPracMo post, where I complain about not having time to practice, because I'm moving to Dubai.

August
All day I think about it, then at night I say it.

~ I started August with a Rumi poem.

September
Forty boxes and the bulk of packing up my life is pretty much done.

~ Yet another post about packing and moving to Dubai.

October
Today is Friday, which should be a weekend in Dubai -- but guess who's working?

~ Over-worked in Dubai

November
Finally managed a bit of breathing space this week.

~ Still over-worked in Dubai

December
Life as I know it right now is: Work – Home – Late Dinner – Working at Home – Sleep – and the cycle begins the next morning

~ I think you get the idea.

So, in a nutshell, the year started with me making lists, making grand, ambitious plans. Then surgery, then stressed out about moving to Dubai. Followed by exhaustion when I am finally in Dubai.

Sounds right. That's my 2008.

MUSIC MEME | Randomness

1. Put your iTunes (or any other media player you may have) on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?

"Skinny Love" - Bon Iver

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?

"Anyway But Here"  k.d. lang

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

"I'm You" - Leona Lewis

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

"Fingers" - Pink

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

"The Air That I Breathe" - k.d. lang

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

"It Was You" - Sharleen Spiteri

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

"Sunday Morning" - Velvet Underground

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

"The Blower's Daughter" - Damien Rice

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

"The Remainder" - Sleater-Kinney

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

"Mississippi Goddam" - Nina Simone

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

"Mandy Goes to Med School" - Dresden Dolls

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

"Don't Dwell" - Tracy Chapman

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

"The Consequences of Falling" - k.d. lang

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

"Fallen from the Sky" - Glen Hansard

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

"Number One Enemy" - The Slits

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

"Home" - Persephone's Bees

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

"The Summer Wind" - Madeleine Peyroux

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

"Before Easter" - Tracy Chapman

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?

"Just One of Those Things" - Patricia Barber

HOW WILL YOU DIE?

"Blue and Gold Print" - Mates of State

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?

"Falling Slowly" - Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?

"Come Ye" - Nina Simone

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?

"The Sound of White" - Missy Higgins

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?

"Hop a Plane" - Tegan and Sara

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?

"I Don't Want to Wait" - Paula Cole

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?

"Scarred" - Johnette Napolitano

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?

"Ridiculous Thoughts" - The Cranberries

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?

"Here No More" - The Breeders

MEME | Unspectacular Me

Long overdue meme that Ovidia tagged me for. (Sorry, work has been a virtual state of war over here in Dubai)

I'm supposed to state 6 unspectacular things about myself - but I find myself trying to think of 6 unspectacular things about myself that's outstanding. Heh.

Six Unspectacular Things About Myself:

1. I alway order a Tall Cafe Latte at Starbucks
2. If I had a choice, I would prefer to listen than to talk
3. I prefer animals to humans in general
4. I have too many Batman T-shirts for someone my age
5. I am ignorant on a lot of things
6. I tend to be more flexible than strong

There. Nothing spectacular.

MEME | VGT Omnivore’s Hundred

I found this meme at Yogamum's and I had to do it.

Yes, some of you may remember I'm vegetarian. But I'm a vegetarian only for the past 4~5 years (I think. I lost count). Before my salad days, a lot of rubbish went into my mouth.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile - It was on the menu, so I tried. No big deal
6. Black pudding - I am indifferent to it
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari - oh please. it's just sotong where I come from.
12. Pho - it's just glass noodles
13. PB&J sandwich - Yes. It'only Peanut Butter and Jelly
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart - There's no hotdog street carts in Singapore, and why would I travel just to eat hotdogs?
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes - I think I had strawberry and cherry wine before.
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes - Only the imported type.
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras - Again, before I turned vegetarian. Don't tell me it's inhumane, because in my meat-eating days, I had shark's fin soup.
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters - I love them cooked or raw.
29. Baklava - I vaguely remember having them in Turkey, and later back home in a Greek restaurant
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas - I could eat a whole bag of them
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi - I always order it when I'm in an Indian restaurant
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float - A&W used to have them in those big frosted glass mugs. Loved them
36. Cognac with a fat cigar - Nope. I will try it but I don't think anything of it.
37. Clotted Cream Tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O - OMG. I want to try
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects - Those deep-fried crickets you can buy from the streets of Bangkok. They just taste - deep-fried.
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk - Usually from the Indian store
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more - Too expensive
46. Fugu - Okay, never. Only because it's too expensive
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel - From Japanese sushi places. Many times
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut - There is no Krispy Kreme in Singapore!
50. Sea urchin - Yeah. Many times
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone - It's staple for Chinese New Year
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal - That's before they downsized the Big Mac
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV - I think it's illegal here.
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin - I do not eat dirt
64. Currywurst
65. Durian - Hello? I am Singaporean. We eat durians. It is the King of Fruits.
66. Frogs’ legs - I love frog legs. Er - this is before my salad days.
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis - I really want to try haggis. *sigh*
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe - I think it's banned here.
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill - All the flesh I eat are killed with intent.
76. Baijiu - Yes. It's just Chinese wine.
77. Hostess Fruit Pie - I have no idea what it is.
78. Snail - Yes, the buttered kind from French restaurants and the Chinese kind that's cooked in chilli-oil and you suck the bugger out of their shell. I LOVED THEM.
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini - Just cocktail
81. Tom yum - of course. But the best tom yum is of course in Thailand itself
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant - one day, when I have money
85. Kobe beef - Only because it's too expensive.
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse - If I wasn't vegetarian, and if it's affordable, I would eat it.
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee - Only because I haven't looked for it intentionally
100. Snake - Oh yes. We skewered the meat and made satay

[FAQs]

I pretty much will eat anything if I can afford it - although these days, as a matter of principle, I am vegetarian. That fact as it stands, has not diminished my curiosity about how the food taste.

Clay and roadkill however, are not food. I'm not sure which is worse - eating clay or roadkill?

Anyone else want to try?

MEME | Seven Songs Meme

[From Moyen Age]

Rules:

• List seven songs you are into right now.
• No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring/summer.
• Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs.

1. "It Was You" (acoustic version), from Melody, by Sharleen Spiteri:
   I prefer the acoustic version over the album version because it italicizes Sharleen Spiteri's sultry vocals.


2. "The Story", from The Story, by Brandi Carlile:
   Everybody probably heard the song a hundred times since it was featured on the "Grey's Anatomy" soundtrack. It's still a favourite of mine, and I especially the part towards the end when she cast her voice for the high notes - and it crackles just a little.


3. "Where I Stood", from On A Clear Night, by Missy Higgins:
   A more mellow piece by the Australian singer. I was listening to this song a lot when I was writing my novel-in-progress. It's about giving up a relationship that you recognise has helped you grow, yet knowing in the core of your heart that it is time to move on.

   And I won't be far from where you are if ever you should call
   You meant more to me than anyone I ever loved at all
   But you taught me how to trust myself and so I say to you
   This is what I have to do
   
   'Cos I don't know who I am, who I am without you
   All I know is that I should
   And I don't know if I could stand another hand upon you
   All I know is that I should
   'Cos she will love you more than I could
   She who dares to stand where I stood
   Oh, she who dares to stand where I stood
   

   The pain of trying to do the right thing, even when it tears your heart trying to walk away. Knowing that though you are the one who chose to give her up, you can't ever bear to see her with somebody else.

   We are fools that way, us creatures of love.



4. "Jumpers", from The Woods, by Sleater-Kinney:
   I've been playing Sleater-Kinney heavily on the iPod these past two months. Their songs are visceral and intense and they never fail to lift me out of a dark mood. "Jumper" has that perfect opening to how I've been feeling these days:
   

   I spend the afternoon in cars
   I sit in traffic jams for hours
   Don't push me
   I am not OK
   
   The sky is blue most every day
   The lemons grow like tumors they
   Are tiny suns infused with sour

   "Tiny suns infused with sour" - the visual and gustatory bursts in that single line. Their songs are meant to be felt.


5. "What's Mine Is Yours", from The Woods, by Sleater-Kinney:
   I always pay attention to Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein's alternating guitar licks at the start of the song. It's a good example of just how in sync Tucker and Brownstein are with each other, how each compliment the other in spite of their different vocal qualities and guitar styles. To paraphrase Janet Weiss, the sheer chemistry between them help them reach for the moon.


6. "You're No Rock n' Roll Fun", from All Hands On the Bad One, by Sleater-Kinney:
   It's a happy, popsy tune, a little playful even, especially if you watch the MTV, where the girls ham it up.


7. "One More Hour", from Dig Me Out, by Sleater-Kinney:
   Perhaps my favourite Sleater-Kinney song ever. But you may like to check in with me a few years down the road and we'll see how I feel about it. I love the background story behind the song.

   It's a story about breaking-up, as one half of a failed relationship is moving out of the place they used to share. The girl who is leaving has trouble letting go. She leaves some stuff behind for her ex. Suddenly she cries, "Oh, you've got the darkest eyes." In the profound shade of her lover's eyes, she saw all that she once had and lost.

   I guess at one point or another, we all know that feeling of not being able to let go. This is the last song Sleater-Kinney played at their final concert - right before they went into "indefinite hiatus".

   
   

   i know it’s so hard for you to let it go,
   i know it’s so hard for you to say goodbye
   i know you need a little more time

   These lines sum up how I feel about "indefinite hiatus".

Meme of Fives

The rules:

1. Post the rules of the game at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing five years ago?

I think that was when I knew I was serious about yoga. I quitted my gym and went looking for a place that teaches yoga exclusively and properly. Other than that, I was pretty much learning how to pick up after myself. Much like what I am still doing today.

What are five things on your to-do list for today?

1. Must write something for my novel-in-progress.
2. Must iron work-clothes.
3. Must buy the magazines reserved for me.
4. Must start researching for New York trip
5. Cook and pack lunch for work

What are five snacks you enjoy?

1. Berries: Blueberries. Raspberries.
2. Danish butter cookies
3. Goat cheese on crackers.
4. Nuts. All sort: Almonds, Walnuts, Hazelnuts.
5. Cherries. Or any other small fruits that you can pop into your mouth.

What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?

1. Buy a house and stock it with beautiful bookshelves for all my books.
2. Finally adopt a doggie and love it lots lots
3. Quit my job. Read and practice yoga full-time.
4. Open a cafe where my friends can hang out, and I can kick out asshole customers when they disrespect my staff.
5. Vagabond around the world until the day I decide to stop. That's when I will settle down and open that cafe

What are five of your bad habits?

1. Swearing. Alot.
2. Surfing the net obsessively
3. Procrasinating. Alot.
4. Narrow-mindedness. Yes, it's a habit. And like all bad habits you can kick it if you make an effort.
5. Bad temper

What are five places where you have lived?

I've lived in the same place my whole life.

What are five jobs you’ve had?

1. Cashier
2. Secretary (okay, I was a glorified clerk) in a French Bistro. I actually liked this job. Too bad the restaurant closed down
3. Relief Teacher (Hated this job.)
4. Buyer for a bookstore
5. Full-time student of the world

Sorry. Not going to tag anyone. Feel free to pick this up if you wish.

Meme | How Privileged Are You?

Swiped this off Imani's blog. The original authors of this exercise are Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, and Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate, PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.

Bold the true statements. You can explain further if you wish.

1. Father went to college
Father left school when he was 15.

2. Father finished college

3. Mother went to college
Mother left school when she was 16.

4. Mother finished college

5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.

6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.

7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.

8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
When I was growing up, we used the library a lot. It was only after I started working that I could afford my own books. So maybe I'm just compensating in my adult life.

9. Were read children’s books by a parent

10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18

11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18

12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Actually, they tend to be portrayed as unpopular, angsty losers.

13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18

14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs

15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
My father is not rich. But he believed in providing his children with a good education - as far as we can go. So we never had a car, and we never went on a family cruise - but my dad made sure I never had to worry about the money for my education.

16. Went to a private high school

17. Went to summer camp

18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18

19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels

20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
Actually, I bought my first pair of jeans when I was 14. Until I was a teenager, I wore a lot of hand-me-downs from my richer relatives.

21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
My parents never owned a car.

22. There was original art in your house when you were a child

23. You and your family lived in a single-family house

24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home

25. You had your own room as a child
I shared a room with my brother until I was 13 - because after puberty my dad thought it wasn't right for me to share a room with my brother anymore.

26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
Nope. In fact, I bought my first mobile/cell phone when I was 25.

27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course

28. Had your own TV in your room in high school
My dad used to be a TV repairman, so we had about 6 TV sets -- he bought broken TV sets and repaired them.

29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college

30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16

31. Went on a cruise with your family

32. Went on more than one cruise with your family

33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up

34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
Oh, if the bills are high, we would know. Dad would make sure we know.

After doing this meme, I suddenly feel very working class.

Soundtrack to Your Life Meme

Swiped this off ghetto of our mind.

If your life had a soundtrack, what would the music be?

1. Open your iTunes library
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool…

I think I'm self-assured enough not to lie about my taste in music. :)

Opening Credits
"Nemo" – by Nightwish, from Once

Waking Up
"Harbor Song" – from The Best of Suzanne Vega

First Day of School
"All My Stars Aligned" – St Vincent, Marry Me

Falling in Love
"Heartstopper" – Emiliana Torrini, Fisherman's Woman

Breaking Up
"The Taxi Ride" - from the Jane Siberry Anthology

Prom
"Free Man In Paris "– Sufjan Stevens from A Tribute to Joni Mitchell

Life's Okay
"Rock N Roll Nigger" – Patti Smith, Land (1975-2002)

Mental Breakdown
"elegie" – Patti Smith, Horses

Driving
"Game On" – from Catatonia Greatest Hits

Flashback
"Boy and the Ghost" – Tarja Turunen, My Winter Storm

Getting Back Together
"Rhythm of the Night" – from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack

Wedding
"Mr Grieves" – The Pixies, Doolittle

Birth of a Child
"Run Run Run" – from The Velvet Underground & Nico Deluxe Edition

Final Battle
"Untouchable" – Garbage, beautifulgarbage

Death Scene
"Imaginary" – Evanescence, Fallen

Funeral Song
"My Last Cigarette" – k.d. lang, drag

End Credits
"'Cuz I Can" – Pink, I'm Not Dead

Hey, at least I have a cool Death Scene. And I don't mind the End Credits at all.

MEME | The Five Kind thing Meme

Stefanie tagged me for a meme. It's actually a good question to ask myself -- have I done enough kind things for myself and those around me?

The Five Kind Things meme:

1. List five kind things you do for yourself.
2. List five kind things you do for your closest friend, partner or child.
3. List five kind things you have done for a stranger.
4. Have fun!
5. Tag five people.

List five kind things you do for yourself.

1. Forgive myself for my mistakes. This is one of the most important steps I had to learn to be happy. I am a highly critical person, and my expectation from myself and others is high. Learning to allow myself to make the occasional mistakes helped me gain perspective. What I also learned from this is that someone who is willing to forgive herself will find it easier to forgive others.
2. Signing up for the membership at my yoga studio. My 2-year contract at the yoga studio is expensive, and there are some things with the administration that could be improved. But it allows me to learn from some very experienced and inspiring teachers. It has also helped me build up a regular practice.
3. Taking leave from work. When I first started working, I was the kind of employee that did not take leave unless I had to. I brought work home and I would even come back to work on my off-days. In a nutshell -- I had no life. These days I allow myself "Mental Health Breaks" when things feel too stressful. And I travel. I am A LOT happier.
4. Wear only shoes that I am comfortable in. I'm on my feet a lot, so footwear has to be comfortable. I have seen too many pairs of feet murdered by high heels for the sake of vanity. Why? If those shoes are not sensible, they are not touching my feet. I have Feet of Gold.
5. Walking away from toxic/abusive relationships. Sometimes I need to remind myself that I deserve to be treated with respect and kindness -- and find the strength to talk away from emotionally draining relationships.

List five kind things you do for your closest friend(s). I'm going to answer for several of my closest friends. No names mentioned though.

1. Pay attention to she has to say, especially when she is angry. I don't do it enough though. Sometimes my friend seems unreasonable, but somewhere in the "unreasonable" demands is a need or pain that has to be addressed. Often, I have to read between the lines to find out what she is really asking for.
2. Watch her company's plays. When she was working for a theatre company, she was always asking her friends to come to their productions, and to bring friends. I don't always like the stuff I watch, and I am not trained in drama. But at least I know what she's talking about when she talks about her work -- which she is passionate about. And sometimes, I actually learn a few things.
3. Telling her she has bad breath. I know this sounds horrible of me – but she needs to know. Usually people finds it embarrassing to say it directly. I try to break it to her as gently as possible, so that she can do something about it.
4. Change seats during a film. This happened during a film where my friend and I bought tickets separately and we were sitting at different rows. Before the film started, she messaged me out of the blue and asked to change seats. As it turns out, her ex's girlfriend is seated near her, and that girlfriend was staring daggers at her. So we changed seats.
5. Sticking around even when she is more than 45 minutes late. Actually, I have a few friends who are chronic late-comers, so this applies to more than one person. I am not a patient person, so I guess by making me friends with these late-comers, the universe is trying to teach me patience. The truth is: I will wait because I believe they are worth waiting for.

List five kind things you have done for a stranger.

1. Help a child find his lost parents. Well, the child knows where he is. It's the parents who are clueless.
2. Act as an impromptu "translator". Domestically, it's usually for an elderly person who might not know English. When I was in China and Tibet, I had the opportunity to serve as a translator for a number of English-speaking tourists who could not communicate with the locals.
3. Brought someone to her job interview. I was on my way to meet some friends one day when I overheard a lady asking for directions from a group of young men, who gave her the wrong directions. I decided I couldn't just walk away, so I approached her and ended up bringing her personally to the place. Turns out she was going for a job interview. It would have been bad to be late.
4. Talked someone into coming back for yoga class. There was a girl who attended a Hot Yoga class for the first time and she threw up. Later I happened to talk to her in the locker room and she told me she wasn't going to come back for yoga anymore, not when she felt so bad. We talked, and I shared with her my own early experiences with yoga, and how maybe she should try other classes to see what suits her better. It's been about a year and I still see her around the studio from time to time.
5. Help them find a book. Technically, it's not part of my job description. But I feel good when someone manage to find the books they have been looking for. On another note, I don't like it when staff working in bookstores misinform their customers.

Okay, if you're interested, please go ahead.

“10 signs a book has been written by me” meme

1. At least one of the characters will be into punk-rock. Or the cello.
2. At least one of the characters practice yoga or is a yoga teacher.
3. There will be at least one beautiful red-head.
4. There will be pain.
5. Characters will have unusual or exotic names like Bodhi, Autumn Dusk, Allegra, Midnight Blue, Radha.
6. The story will end with someone losing or letting go of someone they love.
7. It will be an epistolary novel.
8. There will be lesbian(s). With tattoos.
9. There will be reference to some kind of myths or Greek plays.
10. There will be at least one appearance by an existential vampire.