The Pursuit of Capital Letters

dive for dreams
or a slogan may topple you
(trees are their roots
and wind is wind)

trust your heart
if the seas catch fire
(and live by love
though the stars walk backward)

honour the past
but welcome the future
(and dance your death
away at this wedding)

never mind a world
with its villains or heroes
(for god likes girls
and tomorrow and the earth) - E. E. Cummings

It has been nearly two weeks since the end of finals. And what a wonderful fortnight it has been. The Cheongs lead insanely exciting lives. On a typical weekday night, you would witness my brother slaying dragons on the PS3, as my sister and I battle it out for the computer, because we both have an imaginary kingdom to rule. On even more adrenaline-pumping nights, we would sit behind silver screens and ogle+goggle+giggle at adorable tufts of fur and dimpled gurgles. That is how time should be spent right? With people you love, doing the little things that you enjoy. Weaseling out of cumbersome outings to catch a (free) movie and ponder about the source of its popularity (Thor. Granted, Loki was magnetic.) Or walk around Orchard with nothing to do and wanting to do everything, and stumbling across a gorgeous shop, with rows and rows of vintage toys and ludicrously painted paperweights. Or simply, hovering over the other's shoulder, commenting about the city layout in Emperor or instinctual high fives when Mongo the next Dogwoggle levelled up to be Level 16 Paladin, with Grandmaster Archery. I am a homebody through and through.

( The days in greater boring detail. )

Tired of typing and itching for some kingdom-ruling. Had my first day as a phone surveyor yesterday, and I am hoping that it would be the last. If my other applications don't work out, I'd be content to be cooped at home, catching up with reading. Then again, I should earn some money. Decisions, decisions, we'll leave them to later, as always. Going to be without Internet for the next two weeks, because I am hoping that good karma will be equivalent to good CAP and will be lending it to my brother as he traipses around Japan. So long, farewell, till June.

In two days, I managed to purchase The Perks of Being a Wallflower and finish it. I was really looking forward to reading it, and what can I say now? It was honest, it was blunt, and it was a little underwhelming for me. The language was clean and simple, the characters were full and flawed and Charlie was someone anyone and everyone could relate to, the prose was rambling and talky which I usually loved. But I found it too precious, too twee and too carefully carelessly-written at times as well. I liked it, but I didn't love it. This teaches me that lower-case text and run-on sentences sound a whole lot more beautiful when posted in isolated chunks in Georgia font over tumblr than they do in black and white and solid before you. There were several beautiful quotes and paragraphs interspersed throughout, though. My favourite had to be "we accept the love we think we deserve", because it was so simple, yet so novel and true. It was what motivated me to buy the book in the first place. Haha, silly isn't it, to fork out sixteen quid because of a single sentence. Overall, it was an enjoyable book, a heartfelt story about the poignancy of growing up and coming-of-age. I love the latter phrase: coming-of-age. Those three words are filled with such hope and anticipation and off-topic, but I love the following paragraph to bits. It encapsulates the 'feel' of the whole book so well.

"As you enter the tunnel, the wind gets sucked away, and you squint from the lights overhead. When you adjust to the lights, you can see the other side in the distance just as the sound of the radio fades to nothing because the waves just can't reach. Then, you're in the middle of the tunnel, and everything becomes a calm dream. As you see the opening get closer, you just can't get there fast enough. And finally, just when you think you'll never get there, you see the opening right in front of you. And the radio comes back even louder than you remember it. And the wind is waiting. And you fly out of the tunnel onto the bridge. And there it is. The city. A million lights and buildings and everything seems as exciting as the first time you saw it."

( learning as we go )

And whoa, that was long and banal and it is seven in the morning, the sky is lightening, my stomach is growling, but I really should pay some attention to my glazed eyes and heavy lids, so good night world. But before that! A short snippet of Better Off Ted, one of the funniest shows I have watched in a long while.