TOP GUN

What a difficult week. Not in terms of stress, or lack of sleep, just in other general terms. Poor dad, he's got kidney stones, and my brother's struggling with another weekly crisis of identity. I think it's times like this I really wish I could drive. It would make things easier, and relieve some of the burden on dad. I think the only upside to it is that the report I've got to do for this week is only a letter, though there will be a full presentation to do. I've got to get started on that.

Today, I slept in super late. It was glorious. I spent all day just writing, and watching movies. I ended up watching the Other Boleyn Girl. It wasn't exactly a phenomenal movie, but it is inspiring in its own way. It really does show the power a woman can hold over someone... who knew that sex was such a motivating factor? How lucky, for us, to be psychologically more plastic in terms of our needs. Meaning... if we want it, we won't go through extreme measures to get it. I mean, the greatest art on this planet is typically dedicated to a woman, or is done in the name of getting a woman. I suppose this is supposed to be comforting. To know that all it takes is a little lust to get anything you want. I don't know, it makes me feel a little uncomfortable. After having used those kinds of wiles to my advantage all of last summer, I only found how empty things felt at the end of the day. The only guys that ever managed to really catch my attention were the ones who were immune to such things. Chasing the unattainable. Is it honest attraction, or just me being just... well, wanting someone that I can't have. Who knows? All that matters, I guess, is that if I'm willing to put aside happiness, I'll be able to get anything I want. But isn't that the case for anything, not just men?

I've made almond jello, and it's setting in the fridge, though I was a little sad to find out that there's no fruit cocktail to go along with it. I could try making something else to go along with it, like strawberries, orange and pineapple, though I suspect it wouldn't be as nice as the traditional. I'm thinking of making orange-walnut-almond salad for lunch at work tomorrow, which hopefully be enough. I'm trying to get off eating as much meat as I do. I mean... protein comes from other courses too. Hopefully the walnuts and almonds will do the trick. Must stay on this stupid diet! It's getting warmer every week, though today you would never know. It's so grey. I would have liked it if it had rained though. Maybe it will later tonight? I'm hoping to read on the couch with a pot of tea. I'm loving this new Rufus Wainwright phase. I miss this kind of moving music. Tomorrow's going to be a new week. We'll see how it goes!

CAN'T SLEEP ON THIS TONIGHT

I'm on the bus, and I'm watching the rain fall on the window, fat drops breaking to pieces on impact. I have a book open in my lap, It's a bit cold, and I'm hugging my sweater close, warmer, watching as the bus rolls to a stop, my stop. Only, I'm able to see the bus I need to take roll away, and I'm sighing in frustration. Fuck. Just to be sure, I run across the road to ask if the bus was too full or not. No such luck. I ended up walking. It was kind of nice, you know, just to walk along the road, even if it was a little windy. I stopped by a Tim Hortons because my hands were cold, and I wanted to get something to warm them. I ended up with getting a coffee, and while drinking it, I wondered why it had to taste so unbelievably sweet. Is that what coffee was really meant to be about? Did I prefer this, or black coffee? For that matter, did I only drink black coffee because I thought it was cool? One always has to wonder about how much of ourselves is really just... us. How much of it is the perceived... whatever it is that we're supposed to be. Is it what I think, or what I think others expect of me? I think I've dragged myself down because of this kind of thinking. I finished it anyways. It tasted good... maybe that's all that really matters. I'm kind of struck by how beautiful the day is, gray, with the rain just clinging to things. By the time I'm at the door of my work, the rain has stopped, but not quite, the wind spattering about what little remains. In that moment, I think I'm happy.

I'm visiting my aunt in the hospital, and I'm struck by the desolate nature of it all. She's happy enough, able to communicate with the care staff. Somewhere within the hospital, my father, myself, and my two aunts can hear a woman screaming for an attendant to come see her, until another patient yells at her to shut up. I'm cringing. I hate the sterile environment here. I never want to end up in a place like this... it's a rehabilitation centre, but so many are here for long term care as well. I'm... scared. I dislike it here, and I sit at the end of my aunt's bed uncomfortably, helping her when she asks me to fetch things, and eventually, I end up taking out her dinner trey so that she has more room on her ledge, but when I go out to put it away, a woman stops me, pulling at my hand. I'm overwhelmed by how lonely she seems, and we talk. She mistakes me for being Japanese, speaking in a deep French accent. She asks if I'll see her again. I say yes even though I doubt it. I can't wait to escape from this place.

When we finally get home, my father hands me a plastic bag filled with food. My grandma made me some of my favourite dishes - I'm happy, leaning over the stove as I finish the cooking process. I'm reminded of when we were young, and she took care of us. The care she put into cooking, how... we hardly understood, enough to thank her, appreciate her. It's hard to look at her now, hands lined, body shaking and aching with every movement. I wonder what can be done. To make her happy... I'm left stirring the pot, eating, sleeping... then finally, watching a bad B-movie that I got from my dad's store, hoping to find solace in the small screen. Please, God, I want to see something else. I want to forget, and remember what it was like to be naive. If experiencing hardship and sadness make one an adult, why does anyone want to grow up? I feel a little sickened midway through the movie, and I have to set my head down. I remember why I use to smoke up. It used to drown out the noise.

The night before, this hour, B and I are together in my office at school, trading funny stories back and forth. We're supposed to be practicing. But B's laughing, saying 'fuck it all,', and I agree with him. We end up giggling over our mistakes. It's fun, and somehow, it makes us both feel better. When we saw one another, he only said 'shitty weekend?' and my response was the same. It felt so real. It felt good. Honest. It's why I'm happy to have class with him again. I miss that boy.

STEP BACKWARDS

It's late afternoon, and the sun is hanging lazily in the sky. The temperature is cool, but controlled, within my school building, and I'm walking along with a friend, talking, when I run into (finally) another friend, whom hands me my order from mapthesoul.com. I'm pretty excited. Beyond Epik High's status as one of my favourite groups, they have the kind of lyricism that brings me to my knees. I'm wondering how the book, both written by the group, and a separate one written by Tablo, will work out.

I'm on the bus when I finally read it. The first few pages are enough to literally bring tears to my eyes. I'm moved - there is a sense of love and loss in those pages that I haven't really experienced since I first started reading Cait's writing between R and M. It's a long bus ride - about forty minutes. I'm smiling one moment, choking on emotion the next. It's like opening your eyes again. When did I help to numb myself? I don't think contemplating such times really helps. But I'm happy, right here, right now, to be able to see clearly. My hands are shaking a little, and I'm wishing the day was warmer, and I was outside, sitting in the iron-wrought chairs of a cafe, drinking hot, black coffee and I'm dying for a cigarette for the first time in ages. I shouldn't have had that cigar with C a couple of nights ago. It's breeding bad habits.

I'm left longing for easier times, but embracing the hardships of the here and now. I'm feeling inspired in the deepest sense, and I'm hoping that it's here to stay, a driving force, a constant reminder that I'm here, living. Seeing this beautiful, ugly, twisted, wonderful world. The only way to truly experience it is to keep living, without fear, but sensibly. Only when this tiny thin line can be walked, can I be, heart and soul, an adult. Until then, I am a child feeling about in the dark, making mistakes and learning, so that I can reach that goal.

As Tablo wrote - my dream is the starting line and the finish line.


WORDKILL


Cuteness for the soul!




THE ANTHEM

These are songs that had a message, that inspired, or were just a great example of lyricism and artistry. The songs that make you believe in music again. Lyrics are given if available, but I definitely think all of these songs are more than worth a listen.

Anthony David with India.Arie - Words
Asheru - Revolution
Asheru with Talib Kweli - Mood Swing
AZ with Rakim - The Format
Basic Vocab - Come Get With It
Black Star with India.Arie - Hopelessly
Black Star - Respiration
Busta Rhymes with Mary J Blige, Jamie Foxx, Common and John Legend - Decision
Coldplay - Yes
Common with Bilal - Black, Maybe
Common with Will.i.Am - I Have a Dream
Common - Nag Champa
Common with Lauryn Hill - Retrospect for Life
Common with Dug Infinite - Infinite State
Danger Doom with Talib Kweli - Old School
Death Cab for Cutie - Soul Meets Body
Death Cab for Cutie - Brothers on a Hotel Bed
Epik High with 김연우 - My Ghetto
Epik High - Wordkill
Epik High with 나윤권 - Ignition
Epik High with Itta - 거미줄
Epik High with DJ Zio - 선곡표
Epik High with MYK - Map The Soul
Esthero with Jellie Stone and Gemini - Fastlane
Fiona Apple - Criminal
Jamia Simone Nash - Raise It Up
India.Arie - Get it Together
Jamie Cullum - Oh God
Jill Scott - Golden
John Legend - Ordinary People
John Mayer - Belief
John Mayer - Gravity
K Sparks with Julius Francis - Sunshine
Kanye West - All Falls Down
Kid Cudi - Higher Up
L.E.G.A.C.Y. - The Trail
L.E.G.A.C.Y. - Two Sided Coin
Lily Allen - Everyone's At It
Lupe Fiasco - Hip-Hop Saved My Life
Lupe Fiasco with Nikki Jean and Bishop G - Little Weapon
Lupe Fiasco - The Coolest
Lupe Fiasco with Matthew Santos - Streets On Fire
Lupe Fiasco - Kick, Push
Lupe Fiasco with Jill Scott - Daydreamin'
Mary J Blige with Big Boi - Something's Gotta Give
Moka Only - Search
MYK - Dazed and Amazed
Nas with Alicia Keys - Warrior Song
Outasight with Ced Hughes - Radio, Radio
Outkast - Church
P.H.E.A.R. - I Love Her Again
Phene - The Spokesman
Pocket Dwellers - Anoxia II
Pocket Dwellers - Shine
Rascalz with Esthero - Priceless
The Roots with Wale and Chrisette Michele - Rising Up
The Roots with Erykah Badu - You Got Me
Rufus Wainwright - Going To A Town
Rufus Wainwright - Memphis Skyline
St. Laz with Geolani - Dolla Circulate
Talib Kweli with Kanye West, Roy Ayers - In The Mood
Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation
Tribe Called Quest - Find a Way

IGNITION

Yesterday at work, I had an interesting conversation with a series of customers. It was about the amazing impact that freezies had on our childhood. How the best ones were always the orange, red, white, and blue ones. How it sucked that most of the places you bought them from replaced them with Mr. Freeze, which were never as good. Now, I know it sounds crazy, but just think: think about all the wonderful times that are associated with those horribly sugary treats.

I'm talking about fireworks, hot sticky nights, mosquito bites, laughing with friends, running around in fields, getting sick and dizzy riding the 'spinner', getting sleepy as it gets dark, running to parents for quarters, crying when you scraped your knees... I loved these things. I really want to get some. So I'm declaring that the next person who I get to have freezies with will be my hero, in the childhood sense. The girl I was talking to said that Walmart was selling them for pretty cheap. I'm thinking that I'm going to call up a friend, go for a drive out to Walmart, buy a box of freezies, watch a movie while they're... well, freezing, and then have them while we hunt for a park that has a swing set.

I miss experiencing those things. I miss how the smallest things used to make me gape with amazement. When did the world lose its sparkle and I become so jaded? I think I need to reversal of sorts. because you know, it will always be that the small things in life are what will make you the happiest. No matter how many shoes, how many purses, how much money in the bank I have nothing will compare to the feeling to lying in the arms of someone you love, to having breakfast with your family, or to playing games with friends. Somehow... the world isn't as important as we make it out to be. The people, the things that matter? They're typically always around us. We're just too blind to see.

MAP THE SOUL

I'm feeling pretty good today. Today, I had a written report due that I had to have finished before I went to work, but I was so tired once it was all done, and went through the day with hardly any sleep in my system. To top it, my bad health compounded on itself and a caught a cold. Bleh. I come home, and my visa application process was changed, and now I have to redo it. I'll have to write it again tomorrow, and have my dad send it in the mail Thursday, so that it can reach Hong Kong in time for me to go. Complicated!

All the same, I'm feeling nice. I came home on the bus with a girl named Alison from school, who actually is quite nice. I came home, dinner is ready, I curl up, warm up, and enjoy watching the news with my dad. I think tonight I'm going to just relax, enjoy myself, sleep... really just try to feel better. Tomorrow it'll be work, application, aikido (which hurts! I have to find some athletic pants...), and maybe even writing a little. I miss writing. Hahaha, I remember the amazing stuff I would come up with Caitlin and Krista. Oh my god. The plotlines, the angst, the love. I miss it. I'm the kind of person that needs a good muse to write. And man. Caitlin could rouse some amazing flows from me. But, now we're both so busy - her with graduate school, and her final exams, and me with work and school. I miss reading her writing, sometimes. I look back on it from time to time, and find it all so fantastic. Emotional stuff, you know? It was a great outlet. I think I need another one, muse, outlet, whatever, since I have to just get some of it OUT.

I'll be going home to Toronto in two weeks. I'm happy, I want to go find some new books. I like sitting in cafes during the summer, reading outside. There's something terribly lovely about it all. Something warm... with a good book! I can't wait. I'm hoping the Canadian release of the new Dexter by Design book is out. It's out so far in the UK, but wasn't here when I checked in February. I'm hoping to also read some more Brett Elis. God, his books are great - but I'm hoping he has something in him other then how deprived pretty, rich people are.

I'm re-listening to all the Epik High albums. My god, if you actually translate the lyrics, we're talking heavy, wonderful, well-thought out rhymes. I'm in love - I can't tell you how I miss that kind of stuff. Well, I have, haha, but you know. I enjoy it a lot. It's about the music, the lyrics, the music rather than the image. And in the end, isn't that what's the most important? That, and I went back to listen to, haha, some John Mayer. I really like his music. He's a bit of an asshole in person, but the songs have this sense of longing to them that I just love. From seeing clips of him playing live, he's actually just a great artist. I'd love the opportunity to see him play sometime.

And to end things, here's a little light cuteness, a dedication to how love can change you!

TWO-SIDED COIN

Hmmm! It's been a while since I last wrote. I deleted all of my older posts, since... well, I ended up being a lot sadder in them then I really wanted to seem. It's summer now... and I'm so happy. I got accepted to Hong Kong! It's always been one of my life goals to go to Asia and visit the place my dad was born in Sibu, Malaysia. Going on exchange to Hong Kong will allow me the opportunity to do that. I've always seen that house in pictures... seen his room pointed out to me. Heard all about how I still have family there, in that house. It's touching in a way I don't quite know how to put into words. I suspect that I might even cry seeing it. It seems the older I get, the more connected to my heritage I feel I have to be. It brings a sense of love and comfort that I don't think I could have comprehended when I was younger. I feel so... incredibly loved, knowing and discovering my family. Because I can see that they will always be there for me, that love will not fade. Eventually, even my own father will pass... but the love that was there, the memories shared, the crying, the fighting, the laughter, the lessons... they'll always endure. And I'm not quite sure what to say other than I'm so happy that this exchange will help me along with this. I want to grow up from this exchange - to become a worthy person. It's not as if I lack worth now... it's that I feel I shouldn't be satisfied with just being. Nor should I just change for the sake of change! It's... well, you have to always try to improve. Be a better person. Distancing myself from my current surroundings might be the shock I need to my system to help myself along. I'm still young, after all, and some things come more difficult now then later. Perhaps this is one of them...

Still, I look back to more than a year ago, and I'm surprised by the changes that I've seen in myself, and those around me. My dad asked me today if I ever thought of the first boy, and only boy, I ever loved. It was a bit of a surprise... But the answer was yes. But now, the feelings there were much different then they had been before. I think of him often... almost everyday. I love him still. But it's not the sick, unhealthy, so-in-love feelings that were there before. I still couldn't say how I would feel if I were to run into him today. I always... think about what would happen if I did. Would I cry? Smile? Speak to him? Pretend as if he wasn't there? I don't know. I'd still be sad... but it wouldn't be for the lack of apologies, for what he did, for the end of that long, painful, beautiful relationship. I would never want to be with him again - it's not that kind of love that I have anymore. It's a simple fact. You can't easily forget the ones you love, right? Haha, at least I hope so. I'm okay with things being different. I'm much happier with who I am, and my situation. I'll always love that boy, and think of him. Sometimes fondly, sometimes not. Memories have that kind of strange tendency. I'm happy I won't forget. There are lessons to be taken and learned from every love in ones life, I hope. The greatest sin would have been to have not learned anything at all... I asked my dad if he ever thought of mom still. The divorce started when I was eleven, ended when I was seventeen. It's been three years since... and I was happy to hear him say no. Because watching him be so sad, that was too much for me. I wish, then, I had been stronger to help him through it. He must have been lonely... and I only wish there had been someone there for him, in a way that my brother and I couldn't be there for him as children. I want him to be happy, more than my own happiness... is that love?

But yes! It's summer! The time of class, of work, and of... well, extra lessons. Haha, I want to work hard, to make the money needed to travel, travel, travel. I'm so excited for the exchange. I want to see so many places. Today was mother's day, and we took out my grandmother out for lunch, along with my aunts. We ran into her friend from church, CK, who I last met at the last two funerals I attended. Sigh. Not a nice place to meet, but I digress. He sat with us while he waited in the (ridiculously) busy restaurant for his friends to arrive, and it seems he has family in Hong Kong to introduce me to. I hope they'll show me around! His niece is only a year older than me, while his nephew is a year younger. It will be good to have someone there that I could hopefully rely on if I were lost, or needed some help. I look forward to it! I also was surprised by a trip to the movies with my dad. We saw Star Trek - pretty amazing, if you ask me. It was really well done. I was excited through a lot of it, since I could vaguely remember some of the Star Trek episodes from my childhood. There were so many people in the theatre for a Sunday for this movie, the line snaked outside of the building, and around two corners of it. Some people near us were smoking unfortunately, and I got a horrible sore throat from it. Looking back, I don't know how in the WORLD I ever used to have that habit - it completely chokes me up because of my asthma. Ah... chalk it up to youthful indiscretion? But I'm happy I saw the movie. My dad liked it as well, which is great since he remembers watching it all. The hype was worth it! I'm hoping that means JJ Abrams is considering a sequel. I would definitely go for that, haha!

Sigh, and tomorrow is Monday! Or rather, is it today? I have to stop staying up this late. That means work... and I have my first Aikido class. I'm pretty excited for that! I've never done martial arts before. I'm going to have to work on, and finish, my report for my Presentations class as well, since that's due Tuesday for me. I'm going to have to also work on my student visa application, on making an appointment for all my vaccinations, and also, will have to make a lunch for tomorrow. Aiiiiiii... I'm tired thinking of it all already. I'm thinking that maybe now would be a good time to sleep. So, I leave it at that, goodnight!

About Me

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Toronto, ON, Canada
"Me" is a changing concept. Not because I don't know who I am, but rather I try to be a better person. Believe me when I say I know I don't always get it right. But I'd rather spend my time trying to learn from it then give an empty apology.