I like...part 3

1. The Standard article on women who don't want kids. It's refreshing to have our point of view out there.

2. Vitamin Water Formula 50.

3. Post-its. They're a brilliant invention.

4. Reading newspapers from cover to cover, even browsing through sections I don't really care for like sports. One of those die-hard Kenyan habits!

5. The sound of the saxophone. It's very sexy to watch a man play one.

6. Lounging in pajamas on my days off.

7. The fact that summer break is less than a month away and change is in the air.

Get-Away II

Just returned from the mountains. What's the point of Spring Break if you don't have a change from routine? Sometimes, you need a change of scenery. Unlike a previous trip , this one was spontaneous.(I've been accused of not being spontaneous). I took part in activities I haven't done in a long time: hiking and biking. My muscles are still aching from one of the hikes we took: it wasn't that long, approx. 3 miles--but we were going up a steep rocky mountain. I thought I was fit coz walking is part of my daily activity, but this was on another level. There were lot of families there and we'd see some small kids going up with ease--that time you're thinking "how can a kid who's 5 or 6 yrs old handle this and I can't?"

We also biked down a rocky, unpaved mountain road with multiple twists and turns. There were several times I was sure I'd fly over the handlebars. Like lots of people out there, I have a fear of heights. Now and then I have morbid thoughts. I pictured myself being thrown off the rocky cliff and dying--then people would be asking what killed me. The answer amused me: "she was mountain biking." Well, it wasn't that extreme, I just have an active imagination. I have renewed respect for outdoorsy people who hike and bike on a regular basis. The food was tasty and healthy plus we had a campfire with s'mores of course! (S'mores are toasted marshmallows smooshed between chocolate and graham crackers--they're so sweet that 1 or 2 is enough for me.) Most of the travellers were the young international crowd which is fun to hang around. You learn about culture and other ways of life and compare them to your own. I'm impressed with the travelling culture that people from other countries have: of course finances and visas determine freedom of movement. Travel seems to be a rite of passage in parts of the world, so even people who aren't super-wealthy go places. I think it's an excellent idea.


Watching: The Original Kings of Comedy (one of the few dvds I own)

Listening to: Furahiday by Nonini feat. Nameless

Experience

by Emily Dickinson

I stepped from plank to plank
So slow and cautiously;
The stars about my head I felt,
About my feet the sea.

I knew not but the next
Would be my final inch,--
This gave me that precarious gait
Some call experience.

On Writing

WARNING: Long ramble ahead....

This time tomorrow, I'll be done with a major test and the essay I'm supposed to be working on right now. I've been trying not to be such a procrastinator. Got most of the studying done and even started on the paper but it's still incomplete. I aim for quality work but need motivation for dull topics. I prefer to write about stuff I feel passionate about. Which is one of the reasons I blog. However, I stay away from talking about work and my personal life. Not that I have lots of deep dark secrets, but some things are confidential, irrelevant, or just meant to be memories. This gives me space to express myself. I have lots of opinions on all kinds of things and can ramble on and on. I'm not super-talkative off-line. I usually listen and observe more during daily interactions and it's amazing how much people reveal. In the first half of my life, I used to be really shy. Then I went to boarding school where I had to speak up in order to navigate my way around. Became much more outgoing after high school. I envy some people's ability to put themselves out there so confidently.

That's part of the allure of the web, books, and movies: you peer into people's lives and even share their experiences. They can give you a glimpse of a world you will see. On the other hand the writer could be telling your story. I haven't written any books, but if I did, I wonder whether I'd use a pen name or my real name. It would probably depend on the topic. There's an appeal to being anonymous; you won't feel like you're being personally judged. Yet perhaps your identity adds to your work or is directly relevant e.g an autobiography. And there's that thrill of seeing your name in print! I got an article published once and actually got paid for it. Had to make a copy for my scrapbook coz who knew when it would happen again?

But in this world we live in, expressing personal opinions can be a dangerous thing if it threatens mainstream views: journalists and bloggers have been jailed for this. It happened to an Egyptian blogger. Then there was that infamous Standard Raid. Even in the Land of the Free....there's this guy called Josh Wolf who was just released from prison. Why was he even there in the first place? Because he refused to turn in a video tape of protesters to the police and to testify before a grand jury. The debate on rights goes on.

Some of my heroes are writers.

"Going Under"

by Evanescence

Now I will tell you what I've done for you -
50 thousand tears I've cried.
Screaming, deceiving and bleeding for you -
And you still won't hear me.
(going under)
Don't want your hand this time - I'll save myself.
Maybe I'll wake up for once (wake up for once)
Not tormented daily defeated by you
Just when I thought I'd reached the bottom

I'm dying again

I'm going under (going under)
Drowning in you (drowning in you)
I'm falling forever (falling forever)
I've got to break through
I'm going under

Blurring and stirring - the truth and the lies.
(So I don't know what's real) So I don't know what's real and what's not (and what's not)
Always confusing the thoughts in my head
So I can't trust myself anymore

I'm dying again

I'm going under (going under)
Drowning in you (drowning in you)
I'm falling forever (falling forever)
I've got to break through

I'm...

So go on and scream
Scream at me I'm so far away (so far away)
I won't be broken again (again)
I've got to breathe - I can't keep going under

I'm dying again

I'm going under (going under)
Drowning in you (drowning in you)
I'm falling forever (falling forever)
I've got to break through

I'm going under (going under)
I'm going under (drowning in you)
I'm going under

Lyrics courtesy of www.azlyrics.com