A long awaited update

I know I know. This place has been barren for some time.

Been busy with other stuff and I have to proudly declare that THAT was a tremendous success, seeing that the Girlfriend is no more.

No, don’t start reporting me to interpol yet.

I’ve just managed to convert the Girlfriend into the Fiancée (or is that fiancé? I’m never sure…). Yeeeeesh…I’m still trying to wrap my mind around calling her that…

We’ve already heard from many reliable sources that getting married is a big logistical and administrative nightmare, so we had a discussion and decided that the best thing we should do is to take things methodically, categorizing all the things we need to do into order of importances, creating spreadsheets of check off lists, and listing down the names and contact numbers of important people…right after we catch the leprecaun ridding on the unicorn in Atlantis.

Seriously, at the moment, it seems like such a monumentous task that we decided we should start by taking small steps and begin work on the most important task at hand…setting up a “Getting Married” blog.

And like all good endeavors, we’re stuck at the most important part – finding a name for the blog.

We’ve already cross veto-ed and exhausted options that sound cool (The Very Cool Married Blog, The Super Cool Married Blog, The Too Cool for School Married Blog),  Punnishly funny (get it? get it?) ones (The Tohst, The Jolly Tohst), obscure movie/cultural/music references (Till you Ring it Till you Sing it, Buying a 747 for the Peanuts, Filling Each Other’s Gaps <NO! FOR THE LAST TIME, IT IS NOT PORNY, IT’S ROCKY!!>, the ominously sounding Life Forever More) but so far, nothing seems to fit. 

We’ve dedicated the first few weeks of the engagement in this pursuit and danggit, we will not move on until we get this done.

Watch this space for updates

P.S: don’t worry true believers, this site will still be maintained if only to share my brilliant thoughts on love, life, movies, comics, music, insane human experiments and anything else in between. I just have to do the other site for my new life now. *cue awwwwwwwww*

The Camel’s Back

I’m back!

Been back for some time already,in fact.

The Girlfriend actually asked if i’ll be continuing with this when I get back. My answer then was quite a firm “no” since it seems like time will be a premium when I get back. So far, I’ve not been proven wrong.

So work started and I got into the flow of work. It was a new challenge and everything was really exciting, but I just can’t help feeling that there was something missing.

Cue back to the Girlfriend. We were just walking around when she commented that she “seems to be planning her life around weekends”. We laughed about it… sortof… It was only later that I realised how deep a chord that struck.

One of the reasons why I took on this job was because it was not your standard 9 to 5 deskbound job. But now, increasingly, I’m finding myself working late hours and a lot of times even staying overnight at the Workplace. Not really what I signed up for. But for now, I’m attributing it to the steep learning curve. And like I’ve said, the challenge is still pretty enticing… For now…

But such long hours mean that sacrifices must be made…I’m meaning blogs and stuff, of course… And for the most part, I was ok.. I thought. Like i’ve said, I figured it would be a temporary thing and I was still relatively happy.
This is where the Girlfriend comes in. After listening to what she said, I’m starting to question, “Would this be worth it?” This blog is an ok sacrifice. I don’t think I am much of a writer to begin with. Then I started thinking of other stuff.

For the most part, I try to have dinner with the parents much as I can. But now it’s increasingly becoming a conscientious effort. I needed to make sacrifices on other fronts just to accommodate these meals. Ditto for friends. Ditto for hobbies. And ditto for gaming. I think that for the first time in my life I’m having the feeling that there ain’t nearly enough hours in a day.

But the straw that broke this camel’s back is when I came to the stark realization that it’s been 2 weeks since I bought some books from a local book sale and I’m not even a quarter way through them yet! Granted it was nearly $200 worth (DEFINITELY a story for another time), but for some reason or other that SERIOUSLY upsetted me. It has never happened before!

So, seeing that I have a big presentation on tomorrow, I guess this is my little “Damn you” to the system. Yeah yeah… I know it’s not much, but every little bit helps… Or so the old woman says as she pees into the sea. (an actual folk saying if Neil Gaiman is to be believed) (further re-enforcing my belief that comics are an educational medium)

So there!

Ermm… “Damn you, System”

*I am not a Camel*

Not another quote….

I was watching this program on Nat Geo Adventures (fantastic fantastic channel) this morning. It’s about a group of strangers backpacking together in Italy, which brought back tonnes of memories… It’s not just the places, but also the people they met on the streets, the endless amount of wandering around aimlessly, the food, the ambience of the places, and more importantly, the group dynamics…. great stuff…

Anyway, towards the end of the program, one of the backpackers was asked about her motto in life, she said:

“Live like you are dying. Dance like no one is watching. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Sing like no one can hear you. WORK like you don’t need the money”

Not a bad one to live by…. but for me. IF I sing, I’ll make sure EVERYONE’S listening… no matter how off key I might be.

That’s just me, of course…

But the rest of the stuff is pretty good

An ill wind bloweth…

Tis a black season. I believe that things come and go in cycles and this seems to be an especially bad period of time for many people around me. Friends are getting hurt, friends are hurting others and worst of all, friends are hurting themselves.

I don’t post things that’re too personal in this space. Especially things that are personal to people that are close to me. But I just want to say to all you guys who have been hurt and say that “Time will numb the pain”.

Don’t let it.

Do not let yourself be numb to the pain. Pain hurts but pain is what makes us human. Pain takes but pain gives as well. You will not enjoy the pain, because who does? Pain can break you. Pain can leave you on your knees. Pain can make you wail like a little baby. Sure, if you let yourself be numb to the pain, you’ll grow stronger. But you’ll be strong in all the wrong places. You’ll reach a point where you do not know if you are numb to the pain or you are numb by the pain. You’ll be strong in all the broken places… There cannot be any rainbows without rain. Pain makes us appreciate the good times so much more.

Bah… I’m not good at this, so I shall steal a quote from Jim Morrison:

People are afraid of themselves, of their own reality; their feelings most of all.

People talk about how great love is, but that’s bullshit.

Love hurts.

Feelings are disturbing.

People are taught that pain is evil and dangerous. How can they deal with love if they’re afraid to feel? Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they’re wrong.

Pain is something to carry, like a radio. You feel your strength in the experience of pain. It’s all in how you carry it. That’s what matters. Pain is a feeling. Your feelings are a part of you. Your own reality. If you feel ashamed of them, and hide them, you’re letting society destroy your reality.

You should stand up for your right to feel your pain.

Hope this season ends soon…