Anyone knows if there are any averse effect of mixing alcohol with curam (a sort of antibiotics)?
Okay, I've been a bad puppy. I was at a publisher's dinner tonight and there was some good white wine being served. I took a glass, then some more - until a colleague asked me, "Should you be drinking when you're on medication?"
Uh hmmph. Forgot about that.
I should be fine, right? *sheepish grin*
I wonder sometimes, if there really is such a thing as karma. I hope karma exists, because there are some bastards out there who deserve some major payback.
As the cyclone situation in Myanmar gets worse, the military junta continues with their referendum to consolidate their power. What's more, they are using the foreign aid packages for the people as part of their propaganda campaign.
"We have already seen regional commanders putting their names on the side of aid shipments from Asia, saying this was a gift from them and then distributing it in their region," said Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, which campaigns for human rights and democracy in the country.
"It is not going to areas where it is most in need," he said in London. [source]
How do these people live with themselves, with the things they do?
As usual, I have been daydreaming and thinking about the story and the characters. I'm still vacillating on the name for one of the main characters.
Meanwhile I was at the library today, trying to do some research on organic farming. As I've mentioned in my earlier 'Fess Up Friday, the currently unnamed main character is an organic farmer.
One of the books I had in mind is The Art of Simple Food - which the local library does not stock.
Why is this important? It's totally random, just something I have been interested in for a while. I thought I could combine the two interests.
I'm thinking about motivations here. Why do people make the kind of choices - and mistakes they do.
Meanwhile, I have been writing random scenes in the story, trying to get a sense of things. This usually means I'm writing a lot of stuff that I will probably not use.
Jeanette Winterson once said in an interview, that she never start a story at the beginning. She usually starts somewhere in the middle, and sort of work her way around it.
Not that I write like Jeanette Winterson. It's just comforting to know you don't have to work linear - because if I have to follow the straight and narrow, I need alcohol.
I am angry. It is the sort of anger that comes from your own sense of helplessness in the face of injustice and stupidity. Why? I just read this:
The UN food agency on Friday suspended all aid flights into Myanmar over "unacceptable" restrictions by the junta, which has refused to allow foreign relief workers to help desperate cyclone survivors.
...
Kaye said two aid flights had arrived in the country's main city of Yangon but that their cargo had not been unloaded. He did not specify what restrictions the government imposed.
The impasse came shortly after the junta, which has a long history of thumbing its nose at the international community, announced in the state-run press that it was "not ready" to allow foreign experts in.
"The international community can best help the victims by donating emergency provisions such as medical supplies, food clothes, electricity generators, and materials from emergency shelters with financial assistance," it said.
"Myanmar will wholeheartedly welcome such course of actions. The donors and the international community can be assured that Myanmar is doing its best."
...
Critics of the regime have warned relief organisations that if they do not supervise the aid supplies handed over, they may be snatched by the generals and never reach the victims in Myanmar, one of the world's poorest nations.
Excuse me while I try to process this.
Dear Friends, I hope no one wouldn't mind it if I keep this post sticky for a while.
Update 7th May 2008: It seems the Myanmar government figures on the casualty toll differs from the figures cited by US diplomats in the country:
"There may well be over 100,000 deaths in the delta area," Shari Villarosa, the US charge d'affaires in Yangon, told reporters in Washington on a conference call, citing a non-governmental organisation she would not name. [Source]
Right now, the Myanmar government and their visa restrictions are making it difficult for the foreign aid workers to enter the country. During the earthquakes in 2003 and 2005, Iran and Pakistan waived visas for aid workers. The Iranian and Pakistani government understood what was at stake and adapted accordingly.
It makes me angry that the Myanmar junta is more concern with control than the lives of its people.
*******************
Some of you may be aware of the recent Cyclone Nargis that devastated Myanmar earlier this week. The Myanmar government has raised its death toll to nearly 22,500 with another 41,000 missing. More than 1 million are currently homeless.
If you're outside Asia but is interested to help, you might like to contact any of these organisations:
More links at Network For Good
If you're from Singapore, you can contact:
(All Singapore aid contacts provided by Channelnewasia.)
If you can, please spread the news. See if anyone is interested in helping.
Thank you.
I took the day off for my follow-up with the Handsome Doctor. For a consultation that's just there to reassure me everything is fine -- even the severe cramps is considered "normal" -- it's costing me a lot of money.
I shouldn't be complaining. I am luckier than most, because thankfully, my company insurance promise to cover most of the hospital bill, as well as all expenses 3 months following the operation. Except it has been a month since the surgery and I have not yet seen the reimbursement for my medical bills. Then I read this piece of news, and I go, Hmmmm.
I'm currently reading two books: Rebecca Solnit's Storming the Gates of Paradise and Patrick O'Brian's The Surgeon's Mate. Both are interesting and absorbing in their own way.
In The Surgeon's Mate, the British is now at war with the Americans, so the action is picking up. I find the Aubrey/Maturin series very soothing. Like a musical composition, it thrives on patterns and repetitions, with dramatic highs and lows at strategic moments.
It amuses me that in the film version of Master and Commander (the one with Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany), they changed the enemies from the Americans to the French. I liked the film, and because of it, I read the series with the image of Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany as Aubrey and Maturin. I imagine their manner of speech, Crowe's swaggering manliness when he takes charge of his ship, Bettany's pale reserve with blue glasses as he plays spy.
Storming the Gates of Paradise is more political than the previous two Solnit titles I have read (Wanderlust and A Field Guide to Getting Lost.) In Storming, Solnit is interested in exploring the political in landscape and space itself. Along the way she also discusses her own political activism, migration, art, culture, history - and even a meditation on astronomy and the constellation. One of the things I admire about her essays is the breadth of her interests, the way she is willing to wander off a topic to explore a related idea within the same essay. Where you first started might not always be where you end up, and so it is more interesting that way - because in it is a sense of discovery, by being willing to be lost, you allow yourself to find something new.
She discusses her literary wandering in the introduction, which is symptomatic of her distaste for fences and boundaries, especially fences on thoughts and ideas. This compartmentalizing of ideas - where we see can only see one facet of an idea - limits us. Ultimately, everything is linked: nature, culture, landscape, politics, the city, the country, are all inextricably interfused. Storming the Gates of Paradise asks us to take that leap of the imagination, to see how the world is larger than we realise - and to love it, and to do something about it.
I just re-read what I wrote about Solnit, and I realise how this book affects me. It is beautiful, and it is affecting. The case studies that Solnit cites are depressing, because it tells you how much injustice there is in this world that has been allowed, often sanctioned by the government against the interest of her people. Yet - I feel a possibility of hope in her writing. Injustice will always be there, which is why we have to do what we can against it.
Can I just end by telling you I am enjoying this book? :)
Well, bye. I'm off to the library. Books to return. Reservations to pick up.
Thanks to Carl, who started it with his fantastic post on The Swell Season in concert. He mentioned the duet performed a Pixies song, and I (the Pixies fan) - just had to know which Pixies song. Mary saved the day by revealing it was "Cactus". Ahhhhh. Thank you, Mary. :)
Here's the YouTube video, link courtesy of Carl, of the Swell Season performing "Cactus" - from the Pixies album I alway remember as "The One with the Flamenco Dancer with the Bare Boobies."
I smiled at Glen Hansard's little shout-out to Kim Deal (bassist and back-up vocals for The Pixies), who was apparently there with The Breeders.
Glen Hansard: "This is a Pixies song. In honor of Kim. I hope she's here. I hope she's listening."
They are a great pair. I ended up buying the "Once" soundtrack this afternoon. I am glad to say I enjoy it tremendously.
Big thanks to Carl and Serene for recommending great music that I must have!
This is for those of you who LURVES Anthony Bourdian to pieces.
*straight-faced* Click to enlarge. (Don't be disappointed if it isn't as big as you would like it to be.)
[Thanks to Hezbollah Tofu, who proves that vegans have a sense of humour :)]
As I mentioned earlier, I am currently compiling a "Wrist Cutting Music" Playlist for my new iPod Nano. I just happened to come across this: Sad Kermit singing Elliot Smith's "Needle in the Hay". Sad Kermit even acts out a parody of the scene from the Wes Anderson film, The Royal Tenenbaums. [thanks Chad]
It's an awesome video, done by some obviously gifted people with very warped sense of humour. May you guys use your powers for good and not for evil!
Sad Kermit even has his own MySpace page, where it was explained:
"Soon after the death of Jim Henson, Sad Kermit spiraled downward into a life full of addiction, romance and pain. The songs and videos on this webpage shed light on Sad Kermit’s descent into his dark, hurting world"
Oh, you poor thing, you green thing.
Go to http://www.myspace.com/sadkermit , where you can listen to Sad Kermit sing his versions of Radiohead's "Creep" and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".
LMAO!
PS: I've decided I need a "Muppets" label for this blog. Yes, there will definitely be more Muppet posts to come. ;)
According to this article, Ellen Page will be working with BBC Films for a new adaption of Jane Eyre. I kid you not.
Can anyone see Ellen Page as Jane Eyre? Her smart-ass persona in Hard Candy and Juno still sticks too closely in my mind. I don't see Ellen Page as a Victorian protagonist. I don't see Ellen Page in any period drama at all.
But then, she might surprise me. I am hoping she will surprise me, because a bad adaptation of any Bronte novel is a bad thing.
This is on top of the recent casting of Natalie Portman as Catherine in an upcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights. [via]
Here's a shot of Natalie Portman as Queen Amidala. You like?
I love Ellen Page and Natalie Portman. No debate about that - but something about these star-stubbed casting of the Bronte novels make me suspicious. Perhaps some movie executives decide they will milk the works of the Bronte sisters as the next cash-cows. They probably figured they were onto a good thing with Keira and Austen. Next thing you know, they will be calling the Bronte novels - "chick-lit".
I am cynical, aren't I?
I really hope they don't mess these up.
I went for yoga class this Monday evening. It wasn't a particularly tough class. Teacher M led us through the usual Krishnamacharya Vinyasa, with the emphasis on balance and strength.
But one month's absence from practice, with no exercise – my body felt the difference. I felt a dull tugging pain at my navel when I moved into a Cobra Pose. Perhaps my stitches still have some healing to do. Then come Tuesday, my shoulders and thighs ached. These are muscles soreness that will go away eventually, so I'm not too worried. It's that pulling pain when I stretch my abdomen that I am concerned about.
So I skipped the Tuesday Ashtanga class. Went to watch Iron Man instead. My goodness, I loved it. Did anyone else stay till the end, after the credits? I was so happy to see Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.
Right now I have to decide if I should go back for yoga class on Wednesday evening, or rest a few more weeks. Some friends told me to rest a few months before resuming yoga. I don't think I can bear that.
To be honest, not practicing yoga allows me more time for other things. My social life is healthier, I have more time to read, to write, even time to catch a movie. These are things I enjoy – but I would just as easily set them aside just to be able to resume a regular practice.
It's odd, isn't it? I spent the first 26 years of my life oblivious to yoga – yet it has now taken over my life so thoroughly.
From BBC News - 1st May, 2008:
Campaigners on the Greek island of Lesbos are to go to court in an attempt to stop a gay rights organisation from using the term "lesbian".
The islanders say that if they are successful they may then start to fight the word lesbian internationally.
The issue boils down to who has the right to call themselves Lesbians.
Is it gay women, or the 100,000 people living on Greece's third biggest island - plus another 250,000 expatriates who originate from Lesbos?
If they win, what are lesbians going to call themselves?
Oh. Elaine Dundy, author of The Dud Avocado (half-read on my TBR stack), passed away on 1st May 2008.
A Different Stripe has a write-up here.
I've just signed up for Literate Kitten's 'Fess Up Friday. It's a public declaration, where participants will "confess" to what they did (or did not) do for their writing goals for the week.
Of course, I don't expect deathless prose. I am not a natural writer; for me, writing requires great effort, and lots of editing. However, I thought I will do it just for fun.
Just because we can't all be Roger Federer, doesn't mean we can't enjoy tennis, right?
From the words of Patti Smith: "In art and dream may you proceed with abandon."
So, with abandon, here's my late entry for last week's 'Fess Up Friday:
I daydream a lot. It's probably my favourite past-time, and it helps me through long bus-rides and other long stretches of boredom. Recently I decided to pick up on an idea that came to me during a daydream. I decided that I want to write a romantic comedy. in novel form. It's chick-lit fluff, hardly the works of grand literature. Why? Because I want to write a simple love story, where we work with the best of intentions - but still screw up along the way. Most of all, because I thought it would be fun.
I spent several hours last week trying to name my characters. The naming is important, because with the names, you give them form. It's all about background at the moment, giving the characters relationships, careers, aspirations. One of the main character is the owner of an organic farm, the other just happens to be a cute red-headed sous chef. One is definitely vegetarian - but I'm wondering if the other should be as well.
Both characters however, wear sensible shoes.
I think I need to read Alice Waters's The Art of Simple Food for research.
Oh, and I was also compiling a Playlist of "Wrist-Cutting Music" - the soundtrack to write to. List includes Sarah Maclachan, Rachael Yamagata, The Cure, Patsy Cline - and Serene recommended Nick Drake. (Anyone else has any other recommendations?)
The May issue of The Believer has a write up on Elizabeth Hardwick.
How did I manage to miss it until now?
In Sleepless Nights, her best novel, a meditation close to autobiography, Hardwick ponders a life she never could have had: that of a bachelor. This was, in extremis, another character she often wrote about, a cad, like Samuel Richardson’s Lovelace or Brontë’s Heathcliff, equally forbidden and fascinating to her. This is not surprising, in a sense, as she knew one intimately. "I often think about bachelors," she writes. "A life of pure decision, of thoughtful calculations, of every inclination honored. They go about on their own, nicely accompanied in their singularity by the companion of possibility. For cannot any man, young or old, rich or poor, turn a few corners and bump into marriage?" It is tempting to wonder what Elizabeth Hardwick’s life might have been like if she had had the option of pure decision, if she had remained an unmarried Bohemian. What if she had not bumped into marriage (into that marriage), if she had turned the corner toward Baton Rouge and the Southern agrarians instead of New York (a real choice she faced), if she had been content as a mere poet’s wife with a rotten life? Would she have been happier? I think not. And the world would be a lot poorer in prose.
The desire to go home that is a desire to be whole, to know where you are, to be the point of intersection of all the lines drawn through all the stars, to be the constellation-maker and the center of the world, that center called love. To awaken from sleep, to rest from awakening, to tame the animal, to let the soul go wild, to shelter in darkness and blaze with light, to cease to speak and be perfectly understood.
~ Rebecca Solnit, from Storming the Gates of Paradise
To "cease to speak and be perfectly understood." That sounds wonderful indeed, like a place of peace.
Did anyone else catch Feist being interviewed by Colbert? I love that red tie and the vest by the way. :)
Updated: For Chris, here's the Colbert interview, in case you can't find anyone who Tivo-ed it.
Here's Feist performing "I Feel It All" on acoustic.
I heart.
I will admit it: Sex and the City was one of my guilty pleasures. The writers and producers created four distinct and beautiful women, all likeable in their own ways. Personally I like Miranda -- not just because she is a red-head. She is also probably the most intelligent of the group, the one with the cynical humour. It also helps that one of my friend insisted that watching Miranda on Sex and the City reminded her of me.
My friend Ted prefers Samantha, because: "She fucks like a man!"
What was amazing about Sex and the City was how it made you noticed the women, their styling, their fashion. Well, it made me take note of how the four women were styled so distinctly from each other. I can't remember any other TV series that made me notice fashion styling.
I'm not ashame to admit I want to watch this movie.
Dinner with the ex-classmates went pretty well. The place we originally arranged to have dinner actually closed down. So, we made contingency plans on the spot and stuck with them. We are not good planners but we are good at spontaneity. Maybe it's better when we are not allowed sufficient time to waver and second guess.
Notes to Self: Next meet-up, we do it last minute. No planning. Do not allow anyone to change their mind.
We moved on to coffee after dinner. Ted left soon after -- not before we talked about the next meet-up: which is supposed to be at Ted's new home. He moved into a snazzy new pad last year but the man absolutely refuses to invite us to his place. It's like we are vampires. But finally, the man relents, so coming June, we're going over to Ted's Place for "Movie Night."
After Ted left, we started talking about Ted, and how he was suddenly willing to invite us to his place. We wondered if it was because he was finally at ease enough with his homosexuality -- and with us -- to allow us into his private space. While Ted had not denied outright that he was gay, he had been evasive. Once, at a friend's wedding, Ted was so drunk, Cindy decided to ask him directly if he was gay. He replied, "You really want to know?"
Everytime we meet up, The Lawyer would try to rattle Ted with gay innuendos. Some are funny, but sometimes they can also be pretty below the belt. Ted had always dodged the verbal attacks with his wits and good cheer -- but I suspect even he has his limits. Maybe that is why Ted limits the time he spends with us -- so that he would never have to be too emotionally invested in us, in case we prove disappointing. I can't speak for Ted, of course. I just wonder.
After Ted left, we collectively told The Lawyer that his gay cracks at Ted are discriminatory and downright bigoted. You do not call your friend an "ass bandit" and get to laugh it off as a joke. It is not funny. Just because Ted chooses not to acknowledge these derogatory remarks, doesn't mean it's permitted.
"The minorities have no right!" The Lawyer insisted. Oh, and he just happened to be pointing at our Muslim friend, Nabs, when he said that. The Lawyer is a real charmer, oh yes. In less than 3 seconds, he manages to insult both the gay man and the Muslim man in the group. At least The Lawyer had the decency to look sheepish for a few seconds. He pointed at me instead -- the vegetarian -- as an example of a minority that has no rights.
So, it's okay to insult the Salad-Eaters now?
I know I'm not making The Lawyer look good in this post. In his defense, I have to point out that he is a good friend, the loyal, steadfast sort who will drive down to a neighbouring country to bail a friend out. He has never failed to help a friend in need. He is capable of immense compassion, especially with children. He is all sound and fury, but he has never really laid a hand on people. He is a good man at heart. He just has all these issues.
I'm trying to reconcile these mixed feelings: I know The Lawyer, and I love him like my brother -- but I hate it that he behaves like a bigoted, racist, homophobic asshole. I also know, if I am ever in any serious trouble, he is one of the first people I will turn to.
It would be easy to dislike The Lawyer for all his very obvious flaws -- but I can't overlook all his goodness and kindness, so evident to me through the years I have known him. That would not be fair. He is the sum of all his parts. You have to take him as he is.
We talked a little more about Ted, and his taciturn about his love life. I reminded our friends that in Singapore, sex between men is still illegal. So if Ted wishes to stay in the closet, he's just being prudent. We all know about Ted, but we have all openly acknowledged our acceptance of Ted as who he is. If he still feels uncomfortable coming out to us, perhaps the only thing we can do as friends, is to just respect his privacy.
Somewhere along the way, the conversation drifted to children. That so many of our friends have children. Then I was asked if I wanted children. I have to confess, I don't feel any powerful maternal instinct in me.
Then we asked Alice and Wilkie if they wanted children. Alice just off-handedly remarked they are expecting their first baby this December. It took us a while before we caught on: Alice is 2 months pregnant.
OMG! YAY!
For those who read the Rebecca Solnit essay, "Men Who Who Explain Things", I would like to point you to this post, by gartenfische. It is her response to Solnit's essay, with a personal story of how she came to be told one day, by the people at her workplace, that she was an unreliable witness to her own work performance, and her own worth. They tried to short-change her, and then worked to discredit her.
What was admirable was how she challenged this unfairness -- in spite of the great strain on her and her family. I wondered if I would have the courage and mental endurance to do what she did?
Virtues like moral courage are taught by example, not by mere preaching. For what it is worth, I think her daughter has a great example to learn from.
