This post is akin to a tablet of Kordell's 1000mg Vitamin C with zink. It serves to revive and jumpstart this dying blog. The huge 1000mg dosage is a real shocker which revitalises the body and energizes the mind. Kordell's Vitamin C comes with effervescence and is really yummy. If I'm not feeling well (ie. the flue is coming), I take the whole 1000mg dose. If I feel just a bit tired or worn out, I break off a small piece and drop it in a cup. I pour a little cold water over it and hear it sizzle as it dissolves. Then I gulp it down, and feel better already. Well, I think this blog needs a whole 1000mg dosage. It is in dire need of revitalisation.
But I'm just not in the mood to do it right now :p
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
2nd Person POV
Your (last) summer adventure
You keep telling yourself that it is okay. That's what you've expected anyway. Who cares that you weren't chosen. You won't be living much longer anyway. After all, winter is coming! You know that you won't survive another winter. And you barely survived the last one. Although it is still summer, you can already feel the chill in your bones. This will be your last summer. So you decide to make full use of it. You say your farewells. Mom and dad are sad to see you go, but they don't stop you. You pack your stuff into a backpack. You don't bring much, just a few sets of clothes, a loaf of bread, some biscuits, dried meats and a few apples. Mainly just clothes and food that wouldn't go bad. And you bring Goldie for company. Goldie is your pet hen. You got her last year when she was still a golden chick. Although her feathers are brown now, you still call her Goldie. So, with everything packed, you set out eagerly for the adventure of a lifetime.
As you take those first steps, your mind is already going wild with all sorts of crazy thoughts. Who would you meet? A knight? That would be a dream. Thiefs? Hopefully not. Actually, you think that would be fun, but only if they weren't the bad type. You would like to meet good thiefs. The kind that robs the rich to help the poor. Perhaps if you arelucky, you would meet a Wizard who would apprentice you and teach you magic! Perhaps you will even meet a healer that could cure you! That would be awesome won't it? Then you won't have to die. Or perhaps you would meet a lion, who would eat you. Or perhaps you would just fall down a hole and die. So many thoughts are flying through your head as you head out of the village.
It doesn't take long before your feet start to ache. Your fail body is already trying to protest the adventure. Your shoulders feel tired and the backpack feels so heavy. You see a nice green spot of grass by the roadside and decide to take a break. You fling off the backpack and sit down on your backside. Then you take out a loaf of bread from your backpack and break it in half. You eat some and toss a few chunks to Goldie. She eagerly pecks it up. But Goldie wants more. The starts cooing, begging you fore more. But enough is enough, so you shoo her off instead. She squawks and begins pecking at the grass instead.
You have barely rested when you suddenly hear a rumbling sound. You turn and see a wagon rambling down the road. It has come from the village. You see that Master Aeries, the village blacksmith is driving the wagon. He stops the wagon when he comes near. You greet the old man with a smile.
"What are you doing here, boy?" asks Master Aeries.
"Just resting, sir," you say.
"You'd best be heading back," Master Aeries says. "It isn't safe out here. There are brigands about. Outside the village, it isn't safe. You should know that."
You do know that. After all, your father just told you this morning. But obviously, you don't listen to Master Aeries.
"I'm adventuring," you say instead. "Where are you heading sir?"
"There's a caravan carnival in Tinstletown. I'll be selling some wares there." Master Aeries said.
"Do you think I could hitch a ride with you, sir?" you ask in your sweetest voice. A wagon ride would certainly speed up the adventure. "I was heading there myself," you add.
Master Aeries eyes you warily. You just smile back.
"Pah! You should run back home now," he says instead. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
Without another word, the stinking old man cracks the whip and the wagon begins rolling down the road.
As you watch your ride disappear, you realise that opportunity should not be wasted. So you get off your backside, sling on your backpack, catch Goldie and dash after the wagon. And somehow, even though you are so weak, you manage to climb onto the back of the wagon. Not bad for a dying boy. So you sit there, with your legs hanging off the ledge, with Goldie squawking in your arms. You pet her and hope she shuts up. It won't be good if Master Aeries discovers you.
Sitting at the back of the wagon is rather uncomfortable. Your legs are already numb from hanging off the back, so you lift them onto the wagon instead. Bad mistake. Instantly, pins and needles strike and you almost cry out in pain. Once the sensation passes, you take out an apple from your backpack and nibble on it. It is a hard apple and it hurts your gums. You wish that you had a knife. It was silly of you not to bring a knife. It could come in handy if you meet some brigands. It would be good to stick it into their gut. You toss a piece of apple skin over to Goldie but she refuses to even look at it. She is still flustered. Just then, the wagon rolls over a stone again, and it sends a jolt through your backside. Goldie begins squawking again. So you put the apple into your mouth and begin coddling Goldie again with your free hands. At least you manage to quiet her.
The journey is rather boring and not turning out like what you had imagined. At the very least, you should have met some brigands by now. Several hours have passed, although you are not sure exactly how many. You can't tell because everywhere around you, is just greenery. You totally loose track of time. Conifers everywhere. So boring. You almost fall asleep. No sign of brigands anywhere. When you need to pee, you just stand up and do your business. But you are careful and hang on tightly to the wagon with your free hand. Your urine stream hisses as it hits the dusty yellow road below. After about the twentieth time squawking like a mad cow, Goldie finally gets used to the jolts. Instead of squawking here and there, she begins pacing up and down. She is bored, just like you.
Finally, when the sun is already setting, you reach Tinstletown. It is awkward watching the scene from reverse. You see the massive gatehouse first, then the twenty foot walls, then the dashing guards upon the walls. The guards look like knights! They are clad in black leather armor, and all have longswords hanging at their hips. There are about ten of them, and each carries a crossbow. You are quite impressed. Their crossbows are ready to fire! Perhaps there are brigands after all. The wagon rolls on, and soon you lose sight of them. Instead, you start seeing houses and other buildings. They are made of stone or brick, unlike the wooden houses in your village. And they are all painted. Most white or cream, although you do see some blue and green houses too.
Finally, your adventure truly begins. There are so many people in Tinstletown. And the people here don't even notice you when you stare at them. This is your kind of place. You could fit in here, blend in with the crowd. No one would recognise you as "The sickly boy" here. As the wagon rolls on, you hear music, shouting, laughter, grunting and all sorts of noise. You can't tell what is making it, but you conclude that it must be the carnival. True enough, you begin seeing some caravans, and just like that, the wagon stops. So sudden that you are almost jolted off. You quickly put on your backpack, pick Goldie up, and jump off the wagon. You don't want Master Aeries to find you here, so you quickly run into crowd.
With Goldie in your arms, you begin exploring the caravan carnival. You see all sorts of odd things, things that you don't know what they are. But you do recognise some things; jewelry, trinkets, tools, books, clothes, food. Each caravan has a table out with wares displayed. And each caravan is different. Even though they sell trinkets, but all are different. You look at everything but don't touch. You don't have any money anyway. The sellers are mostly adults, although you do see a few boys your age helping with the sale. Maybe you could get a job tomorrow. All in all, you count about 30 caravans. And so you continue your adventure, while taking care to avoid Master Aeries.
You stop to listen to a trio of singers sing a song. The music is odd, beautiful, but strangely haunting. Their voices, one low, one medium and one high, provide the melody and harmony. They don't use any instruments. It is unlike anything you have heard. So you stand there, like a moth drawn to a lamp, listening to them. After each song, you notice that some of the audience would toss a coin into a collecting dish. The collecting is nearly full by the time you come to the 6th song. It's a rather good business after all. And they don't even have anything to sell. Since it is getting late, you force yourself away and continue your adventure.
The tantalising smell of roasting meat lures you like a bull led by his nose ring. It is getting late and you are getting hungry. You wish you had some coin. You watch the skewered meat roasting above a charcoal grill. You see the fat dripping, sizzling onto the embers. Every once in awhile, the cook would fan, and the charcoal flares back to life. You force yourself away, it is too tempting. It makes your stomach rumble. what an adventure indeed. By now, it is already very late, and almost dark. You suddenly shiver. A creepy feeling creeps over you. Something sinister is near. Perhaps it is the clowns, or the freak show at the next caravan. Goldie eyes them suspiciously. Especially the dwarf carrying a battleaxe. You feel a chill and don't like it one bit. So you leave the caravan carnival.
You find your way to the townsquare. By now, the sun has already set, so the only light comes from the street lamps. It is dark, but at least not completely dark. You have dinner, some bread and some dried meat. You feed Goldie some bread too, and soon she is asleep in your arms. You try to find a place where you can rest, somewhere not too open. Somewhere safe. You manage to find a hole and you crawl into it. You feel so lonely and cold, and you hope to die. Your last thoughts are that you would surely die.
You keep telling yourself that it is okay. That's what you've expected anyway. Who cares that you weren't chosen. You won't be living much longer anyway. After all, winter is coming! You know that you won't survive another winter. And you barely survived the last one. Although it is still summer, you can already feel the chill in your bones. This will be your last summer. So you decide to make full use of it. You say your farewells. Mom and dad are sad to see you go, but they don't stop you. You pack your stuff into a backpack. You don't bring much, just a few sets of clothes, a loaf of bread, some biscuits, dried meats and a few apples. Mainly just clothes and food that wouldn't go bad. And you bring Goldie for company. Goldie is your pet hen. You got her last year when she was still a golden chick. Although her feathers are brown now, you still call her Goldie. So, with everything packed, you set out eagerly for the adventure of a lifetime.
As you take those first steps, your mind is already going wild with all sorts of crazy thoughts. Who would you meet? A knight? That would be a dream. Thiefs? Hopefully not. Actually, you think that would be fun, but only if they weren't the bad type. You would like to meet good thiefs. The kind that robs the rich to help the poor. Perhaps if you arelucky, you would meet a Wizard who would apprentice you and teach you magic! Perhaps you will even meet a healer that could cure you! That would be awesome won't it? Then you won't have to die. Or perhaps you would meet a lion, who would eat you. Or perhaps you would just fall down a hole and die. So many thoughts are flying through your head as you head out of the village.
It doesn't take long before your feet start to ache. Your fail body is already trying to protest the adventure. Your shoulders feel tired and the backpack feels so heavy. You see a nice green spot of grass by the roadside and decide to take a break. You fling off the backpack and sit down on your backside. Then you take out a loaf of bread from your backpack and break it in half. You eat some and toss a few chunks to Goldie. She eagerly pecks it up. But Goldie wants more. The starts cooing, begging you fore more. But enough is enough, so you shoo her off instead. She squawks and begins pecking at the grass instead.
You have barely rested when you suddenly hear a rumbling sound. You turn and see a wagon rambling down the road. It has come from the village. You see that Master Aeries, the village blacksmith is driving the wagon. He stops the wagon when he comes near. You greet the old man with a smile.
"What are you doing here, boy?" asks Master Aeries.
"Just resting, sir," you say.
"You'd best be heading back," Master Aeries says. "It isn't safe out here. There are brigands about. Outside the village, it isn't safe. You should know that."
You do know that. After all, your father just told you this morning. But obviously, you don't listen to Master Aeries.
"I'm adventuring," you say instead. "Where are you heading sir?"
"There's a caravan carnival in Tinstletown. I'll be selling some wares there." Master Aeries said.
"Do you think I could hitch a ride with you, sir?" you ask in your sweetest voice. A wagon ride would certainly speed up the adventure. "I was heading there myself," you add.
Master Aeries eyes you warily. You just smile back.
"Pah! You should run back home now," he says instead. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
Without another word, the stinking old man cracks the whip and the wagon begins rolling down the road.
As you watch your ride disappear, you realise that opportunity should not be wasted. So you get off your backside, sling on your backpack, catch Goldie and dash after the wagon. And somehow, even though you are so weak, you manage to climb onto the back of the wagon. Not bad for a dying boy. So you sit there, with your legs hanging off the ledge, with Goldie squawking in your arms. You pet her and hope she shuts up. It won't be good if Master Aeries discovers you.
Sitting at the back of the wagon is rather uncomfortable. Your legs are already numb from hanging off the back, so you lift them onto the wagon instead. Bad mistake. Instantly, pins and needles strike and you almost cry out in pain. Once the sensation passes, you take out an apple from your backpack and nibble on it. It is a hard apple and it hurts your gums. You wish that you had a knife. It was silly of you not to bring a knife. It could come in handy if you meet some brigands. It would be good to stick it into their gut. You toss a piece of apple skin over to Goldie but she refuses to even look at it. She is still flustered. Just then, the wagon rolls over a stone again, and it sends a jolt through your backside. Goldie begins squawking again. So you put the apple into your mouth and begin coddling Goldie again with your free hands. At least you manage to quiet her.
The journey is rather boring and not turning out like what you had imagined. At the very least, you should have met some brigands by now. Several hours have passed, although you are not sure exactly how many. You can't tell because everywhere around you, is just greenery. You totally loose track of time. Conifers everywhere. So boring. You almost fall asleep. No sign of brigands anywhere. When you need to pee, you just stand up and do your business. But you are careful and hang on tightly to the wagon with your free hand. Your urine stream hisses as it hits the dusty yellow road below. After about the twentieth time squawking like a mad cow, Goldie finally gets used to the jolts. Instead of squawking here and there, she begins pacing up and down. She is bored, just like you.
Finally, when the sun is already setting, you reach Tinstletown. It is awkward watching the scene from reverse. You see the massive gatehouse first, then the twenty foot walls, then the dashing guards upon the walls. The guards look like knights! They are clad in black leather armor, and all have longswords hanging at their hips. There are about ten of them, and each carries a crossbow. You are quite impressed. Their crossbows are ready to fire! Perhaps there are brigands after all. The wagon rolls on, and soon you lose sight of them. Instead, you start seeing houses and other buildings. They are made of stone or brick, unlike the wooden houses in your village. And they are all painted. Most white or cream, although you do see some blue and green houses too.
Finally, your adventure truly begins. There are so many people in Tinstletown. And the people here don't even notice you when you stare at them. This is your kind of place. You could fit in here, blend in with the crowd. No one would recognise you as "The sickly boy" here. As the wagon rolls on, you hear music, shouting, laughter, grunting and all sorts of noise. You can't tell what is making it, but you conclude that it must be the carnival. True enough, you begin seeing some caravans, and just like that, the wagon stops. So sudden that you are almost jolted off. You quickly put on your backpack, pick Goldie up, and jump off the wagon. You don't want Master Aeries to find you here, so you quickly run into crowd.
With Goldie in your arms, you begin exploring the caravan carnival. You see all sorts of odd things, things that you don't know what they are. But you do recognise some things; jewelry, trinkets, tools, books, clothes, food. Each caravan has a table out with wares displayed. And each caravan is different. Even though they sell trinkets, but all are different. You look at everything but don't touch. You don't have any money anyway. The sellers are mostly adults, although you do see a few boys your age helping with the sale. Maybe you could get a job tomorrow. All in all, you count about 30 caravans. And so you continue your adventure, while taking care to avoid Master Aeries.
You stop to listen to a trio of singers sing a song. The music is odd, beautiful, but strangely haunting. Their voices, one low, one medium and one high, provide the melody and harmony. They don't use any instruments. It is unlike anything you have heard. So you stand there, like a moth drawn to a lamp, listening to them. After each song, you notice that some of the audience would toss a coin into a collecting dish. The collecting is nearly full by the time you come to the 6th song. It's a rather good business after all. And they don't even have anything to sell. Since it is getting late, you force yourself away and continue your adventure.
The tantalising smell of roasting meat lures you like a bull led by his nose ring. It is getting late and you are getting hungry. You wish you had some coin. You watch the skewered meat roasting above a charcoal grill. You see the fat dripping, sizzling onto the embers. Every once in awhile, the cook would fan, and the charcoal flares back to life. You force yourself away, it is too tempting. It makes your stomach rumble. what an adventure indeed. By now, it is already very late, and almost dark. You suddenly shiver. A creepy feeling creeps over you. Something sinister is near. Perhaps it is the clowns, or the freak show at the next caravan. Goldie eyes them suspiciously. Especially the dwarf carrying a battleaxe. You feel a chill and don't like it one bit. So you leave the caravan carnival.
You find your way to the townsquare. By now, the sun has already set, so the only light comes from the street lamps. It is dark, but at least not completely dark. You have dinner, some bread and some dried meat. You feed Goldie some bread too, and soon she is asleep in your arms. You try to find a place where you can rest, somewhere not too open. Somewhere safe. You manage to find a hole and you crawl into it. You feel so lonely and cold, and you hope to die. Your last thoughts are that you would surely die.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
First Person POV
My (last) Summer Adventure.
I kept telling myself it was okay. I had expected it anyway. It didn't matter that I wasn't chosen at all, I wouldn't be living much longer anyway. Winter was coming! Another winter. Could I survive another winter? The last one had nearly killed me, and I was even weaker now. This coming winter would surely be my last. I could feel the chill in my bones even though it was still summer. My last summer. So I decided to make full use of it. I said my farewells. Mum and dad were sad, but they let me go anyway. I forced myself to gather my stuff which I packed into my backpack. I didn't bring many things, just a few sets of clothes, a loaf of bread, some biscuits, dried meats, and a few apples. Just clothes and food that wouldn't go bad. And I brought Goldie for company. Goldie was my pet hen. I got her last year when she was just a chick. Her feathers were gold, that's why I called her Goldie. So, with everything packed, I set out eagerly for the adventure of my lifetime!
As I took those first steps, my mind was already going crazy with all sorts of thoughts. I wondered who I would meet. A knight? That would be a dream. Thiefs? Hopefully not. Actually, maybe that would have been fun, as long as they weren't the bad type. Good thiefs. Yes, I would have liked to meet them. Perhaps if I was lucky I would meet a Wizard who would apprentice me and teach me magic! Or perhaps I would meet a healer that would heal me of my disease! Yes, that would be the best. Or perhaps I would meet a lion, who would eat me. Or perhaps I would just stumble into a drain and die. So many thoughts going on in my head as I headed out of the village.
It didn't take long before my feet started to ache. Already my frail body was trying to protest my adventure. My shoulders felt tired. The backpack was so heavy. Seeing a nice green spot of grass by the roadside, I decided to take a break. I flung off my backpack and sat down on my backside. I took the bread from my backpack and broke it in half. I gave Goldie a chunk and she gladly pecked it from my hand. The rest I ate. Apparently, that huge chunk wasn't enough for her. She began cooing, begging me for more; but enough was enough. I shooed her off. She squawked and instead began pecking at the grass.
I had barely rested when I heard a rumbling sound. I turned and saw a wagon rambling down the road. It had come from the village. I saw that driving the wagon was Master Aeries, the village blacksmith. When he saw me, he stopped the wagon. That made me smile. I greeted the old man.
"What are you doing there boy?" asked Master Aeries.
"Just resting, sir," I said.
"You'd best be heading back," Master Aeries said. "It isn't safe out here. There are brigands abound. Outside the village, it isn't safe. You should know that."
I did know that. My father had told me also, but it didn't stop me. So obviously, I didn't listen to Master Aeries.
"I'm adventuring," I said instead. "Where are you heading, sir?"
"There's a caravan carnival in Tinstletown. I'll be selling some wares." Master Aeries said.
"Do you think I could hitch a ride with you, sir?" I asked meekly. It would certainly speed up my adventure. And I added a little white lie. "I was heading there myself."
Master Aeries eyed me warily.
"Pah! You should run back home now," he said. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
Without another word, he cracked the whip and the wagon begun rolling down the road.
As I watched the wagon role, I decided that I wouldn't let opportunity slip away so easily. I quickly got off my backside, slung on my backpack, caught Goldie and dashed after the wagon. And somehow I managed to climb onto the back of the wagon. Not bad for a dying boy. So I sat there, with my legs hanging off the ledge, with Goldie in my arms. She was squawking again, so I petted her, hoping that Master Aeries would not hear us.
Sitting at the back of the wagon was rather uncomfortable. My legs begun to numb from hanging off the back, so I lifted them onto the wagon. I was rewarded with painful pins and needles stabbing into my legs. Ouch. After the sensation passed, I took out an apple from my backpack and nibbled on it. It was hard, and bitting into it hurt my gums. I wished I had a knife to cut the apple. I should have brought a knife. For safety reasons too. I bit off the apple skin and tossed it to Goldie but she refused to even look at it. She was still flustered. Just then, the wagon rolled over a stone again and I was jolted on my backside. Goldie began to squawk again. I put the apple into my mouth, and with my free hands, began coddling her again. At least that calmed her down a little.
The journey was rather boring and not turning out like I had imagined. At the very least, I should met some brigands by now. I think several hours had passed, though how many for sure, I couldn't tell. Around me, was endless green scenery. Conifers everywhere. Boring. No sign of brigands anywhere. When I needed to pee, I simply stood up and did my business, though I had to be careful, and I hung on tightly to the wagon with my free hand. I watched as my urine hissed into steam as it hit the dusty yellow road below. After about the twentieth time squawking like a mad cow, Goldie finally got used to the jolts. Instead, she began pacing up and down, though she still squawked every once in awhile. I guess she was as bored as I was.
Finally, when the sun was already on it's way down, we reached Tinstletown. It was awkward watching the scene from reverse. I saw the massive gatehouse first, then the twenty foot walls, then the handsome guards upon the walls. The guards were almost like knights! They were clad in black leather armor, and they all had longswords hanging from their belts! There were about ten of them, and each was carrying a crossbow. Ready to fire! Perhaps there were brigands after all. The wagon rolled on, and soon I lost sight of them. Instead, I started seeing houses and other buildings. They were all made of stone or brick, unlike the wooden houses in the village. And they were all painted. Most were white or cream, although I did see some blue and green houses too.
Finally, the adventure begun, I thought. There were so many people in Tinstletown. There were people everywhere, and they didn't even notice me when I stared. This was my kind of place. I felt I could fit in here, blend in with the crowd. Here, no one would recognise me as "The sickly boy", as they called me in the village. As the wagon rolled on, I started hearing music, shouting, laughter, grunting, and all sorts of noise. I couldn't tell what was making it, but I came to one conclusion. The carnival. We had reached! True enough, I begun seeing some caravans and just like that, the wagon stopped. It was so sudden I was almost jolted off. I quickly put on my backpack, picked Goldie up and jumped off the wagon. I didn't want Master Aeries to find out what I had done, so I quickly ran into the crowd.
With Goldie in my arms, I begun to explore the caravan carnival. I saw all sorts of odd things, most things I couldn't even tell what they were. But I recognised some things; jewelry, trinkets, tools, books, clothes, food. Each caravan had a table out with their wares displayed. Every caravan was different. Even though they sold trinkets, but the trinkets were all different. I looked but didn't touch. I didn't have any money to buy, anyway. The sellers were mostly adults, although I did see a few boys my age helping with the sale. All in all, I counted about 30 caravans. Careful to avoid Master Aeries, I continued my adventure.
I stopped to listen to a trio of singers sing a song. The music was odd, beautiful but strangely haunting. Their voices, one low, one medium and one high, provided the melody and harmony. They didn't use any instruments. It was unlike anything I had heard. I stood there, like a moth drawn to a lamp, listening to them. I noticed after each song, some of the audience would toss a coin into a collecting dish. The collecting dish was nearly full. It was a rather good business after all. Since it was getting late, I forced myself away and continued my adventure.
The tantalising smell of roasting meat lured me like a bull led by his nose ring. It was getting late and I was getting hungry. If only I had a coin. I watched the skewered meat roasting above the charcoal grill. The fat dripping from the meat, sizzling on the embers. Every once in awhile, the cook would fan, and the charcoal would glow back to life. I forced myself away, it was too tempting to resist. What an adventure, indeed. By then it was getting dark. I suddenly shivered. A creepy feeling overcame me. Something sinister was near. Perhaps it was the clowns, or the freak show at the next caravan. Even Goldie eyed them suspiciously. I felt cold and I didn't like it one bit. So I decided to leave the caravan carnival. I found my way to the townsquare. By then the sun had set, so the only light came from the street lamps. It was dark but at least there was light. I quickly had my dinner; bread and some dried meat. I fed Goldie some bread and soon she was asleep in my arms. I tried to find a place where I could rest, somewhere not to open. Somewhere safe. I manged to find a hole and I crawled into it. I felt so cold and lonely, and hoped to die. My last thoughts were that I would surely not make the next morning.
I kept telling myself it was okay. I had expected it anyway. It didn't matter that I wasn't chosen at all, I wouldn't be living much longer anyway. Winter was coming! Another winter. Could I survive another winter? The last one had nearly killed me, and I was even weaker now. This coming winter would surely be my last. I could feel the chill in my bones even though it was still summer. My last summer. So I decided to make full use of it. I said my farewells. Mum and dad were sad, but they let me go anyway. I forced myself to gather my stuff which I packed into my backpack. I didn't bring many things, just a few sets of clothes, a loaf of bread, some biscuits, dried meats, and a few apples. Just clothes and food that wouldn't go bad. And I brought Goldie for company. Goldie was my pet hen. I got her last year when she was just a chick. Her feathers were gold, that's why I called her Goldie. So, with everything packed, I set out eagerly for the adventure of my lifetime!
As I took those first steps, my mind was already going crazy with all sorts of thoughts. I wondered who I would meet. A knight? That would be a dream. Thiefs? Hopefully not. Actually, maybe that would have been fun, as long as they weren't the bad type. Good thiefs. Yes, I would have liked to meet them. Perhaps if I was lucky I would meet a Wizard who would apprentice me and teach me magic! Or perhaps I would meet a healer that would heal me of my disease! Yes, that would be the best. Or perhaps I would meet a lion, who would eat me. Or perhaps I would just stumble into a drain and die. So many thoughts going on in my head as I headed out of the village.
It didn't take long before my feet started to ache. Already my frail body was trying to protest my adventure. My shoulders felt tired. The backpack was so heavy. Seeing a nice green spot of grass by the roadside, I decided to take a break. I flung off my backpack and sat down on my backside. I took the bread from my backpack and broke it in half. I gave Goldie a chunk and she gladly pecked it from my hand. The rest I ate. Apparently, that huge chunk wasn't enough for her. She began cooing, begging me for more; but enough was enough. I shooed her off. She squawked and instead began pecking at the grass.
I had barely rested when I heard a rumbling sound. I turned and saw a wagon rambling down the road. It had come from the village. I saw that driving the wagon was Master Aeries, the village blacksmith. When he saw me, he stopped the wagon. That made me smile. I greeted the old man.
"What are you doing there boy?" asked Master Aeries.
"Just resting, sir," I said.
"You'd best be heading back," Master Aeries said. "It isn't safe out here. There are brigands abound. Outside the village, it isn't safe. You should know that."
I did know that. My father had told me also, but it didn't stop me. So obviously, I didn't listen to Master Aeries.
"I'm adventuring," I said instead. "Where are you heading, sir?"
"There's a caravan carnival in Tinstletown. I'll be selling some wares." Master Aeries said.
"Do you think I could hitch a ride with you, sir?" I asked meekly. It would certainly speed up my adventure. And I added a little white lie. "I was heading there myself."
Master Aeries eyed me warily.
"Pah! You should run back home now," he said. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
Without another word, he cracked the whip and the wagon begun rolling down the road.
As I watched the wagon role, I decided that I wouldn't let opportunity slip away so easily. I quickly got off my backside, slung on my backpack, caught Goldie and dashed after the wagon. And somehow I managed to climb onto the back of the wagon. Not bad for a dying boy. So I sat there, with my legs hanging off the ledge, with Goldie in my arms. She was squawking again, so I petted her, hoping that Master Aeries would not hear us.
Sitting at the back of the wagon was rather uncomfortable. My legs begun to numb from hanging off the back, so I lifted them onto the wagon. I was rewarded with painful pins and needles stabbing into my legs. Ouch. After the sensation passed, I took out an apple from my backpack and nibbled on it. It was hard, and bitting into it hurt my gums. I wished I had a knife to cut the apple. I should have brought a knife. For safety reasons too. I bit off the apple skin and tossed it to Goldie but she refused to even look at it. She was still flustered. Just then, the wagon rolled over a stone again and I was jolted on my backside. Goldie began to squawk again. I put the apple into my mouth, and with my free hands, began coddling her again. At least that calmed her down a little.
The journey was rather boring and not turning out like I had imagined. At the very least, I should met some brigands by now. I think several hours had passed, though how many for sure, I couldn't tell. Around me, was endless green scenery. Conifers everywhere. Boring. No sign of brigands anywhere. When I needed to pee, I simply stood up and did my business, though I had to be careful, and I hung on tightly to the wagon with my free hand. I watched as my urine hissed into steam as it hit the dusty yellow road below. After about the twentieth time squawking like a mad cow, Goldie finally got used to the jolts. Instead, she began pacing up and down, though she still squawked every once in awhile. I guess she was as bored as I was.
Finally, when the sun was already on it's way down, we reached Tinstletown. It was awkward watching the scene from reverse. I saw the massive gatehouse first, then the twenty foot walls, then the handsome guards upon the walls. The guards were almost like knights! They were clad in black leather armor, and they all had longswords hanging from their belts! There were about ten of them, and each was carrying a crossbow. Ready to fire! Perhaps there were brigands after all. The wagon rolled on, and soon I lost sight of them. Instead, I started seeing houses and other buildings. They were all made of stone or brick, unlike the wooden houses in the village. And they were all painted. Most were white or cream, although I did see some blue and green houses too.
Finally, the adventure begun, I thought. There were so many people in Tinstletown. There were people everywhere, and they didn't even notice me when I stared. This was my kind of place. I felt I could fit in here, blend in with the crowd. Here, no one would recognise me as "The sickly boy", as they called me in the village. As the wagon rolled on, I started hearing music, shouting, laughter, grunting, and all sorts of noise. I couldn't tell what was making it, but I came to one conclusion. The carnival. We had reached! True enough, I begun seeing some caravans and just like that, the wagon stopped. It was so sudden I was almost jolted off. I quickly put on my backpack, picked Goldie up and jumped off the wagon. I didn't want Master Aeries to find out what I had done, so I quickly ran into the crowd.
With Goldie in my arms, I begun to explore the caravan carnival. I saw all sorts of odd things, most things I couldn't even tell what they were. But I recognised some things; jewelry, trinkets, tools, books, clothes, food. Each caravan had a table out with their wares displayed. Every caravan was different. Even though they sold trinkets, but the trinkets were all different. I looked but didn't touch. I didn't have any money to buy, anyway. The sellers were mostly adults, although I did see a few boys my age helping with the sale. All in all, I counted about 30 caravans. Careful to avoid Master Aeries, I continued my adventure.
I stopped to listen to a trio of singers sing a song. The music was odd, beautiful but strangely haunting. Their voices, one low, one medium and one high, provided the melody and harmony. They didn't use any instruments. It was unlike anything I had heard. I stood there, like a moth drawn to a lamp, listening to them. I noticed after each song, some of the audience would toss a coin into a collecting dish. The collecting dish was nearly full. It was a rather good business after all. Since it was getting late, I forced myself away and continued my adventure.
The tantalising smell of roasting meat lured me like a bull led by his nose ring. It was getting late and I was getting hungry. If only I had a coin. I watched the skewered meat roasting above the charcoal grill. The fat dripping from the meat, sizzling on the embers. Every once in awhile, the cook would fan, and the charcoal would glow back to life. I forced myself away, it was too tempting to resist. What an adventure, indeed. By then it was getting dark. I suddenly shivered. A creepy feeling overcame me. Something sinister was near. Perhaps it was the clowns, or the freak show at the next caravan. Even Goldie eyed them suspiciously. I felt cold and I didn't like it one bit. So I decided to leave the caravan carnival. I found my way to the townsquare. By then the sun had set, so the only light came from the street lamps. It was dark but at least there was light. I quickly had my dinner; bread and some dried meat. I fed Goldie some bread and soon she was asleep in my arms. I tried to find a place where I could rest, somewhere not to open. Somewhere safe. I manged to find a hole and I crawled into it. I felt so cold and lonely, and hoped to die. My last thoughts were that I would surely not make the next morning.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Third Person POV
Thim's last days.
It didn't matter much to him that he hadn't been chosen. He had already expected it. Thim had always been a sickly little boy. No one wanted a sickly young apprentice. It didn't matter that Thim was smart, hardworking, polite and sweet. In fact, the list of his positive attributes went on and on, but still, it was too risky for any Master to choose Thim. After all, Winter was coming and the chances of Thim surviving another Winter was very low. So, after kissing his parents goodbye and with nothing but his backpack of supplies, and his hen Goldie, Thim set out on his adventure.
His first steps were eager. It was the culmination of a boyhood dream. Who knew who he would meet, what he would discover, when he would die. The adventure of a lifetime. After about a mile on the road, just after he had left the village, his feet started to ache. The bagpack started feeling heavy. So he took a short break. He found a nice green spot of grass by the road-side and sat down cross legged on it. He took his loaf of bread and broke a small piece for himself. He threw a few crumbs to little Goldie, who eagerly pecked it up. She begged for more, but he shooed her off. She squawked and instead began pecking at the grass where he lay.
It wasn't very long before a wagon came rambling down the road from the village. It was Master Aeries, the blacksmith. The wagon came to a halt.
"What are you doing there boy?" asked Master Aeries.
"Just resting, sir," answered Thim.
"You'd best be heading back," Master Aeries said. "It isn't safe out here. There are brigands abound. Outside the village, it isn't safe. You should know that."
"I'm adventuring," replied Thim. "Where are you heading, sir?"
"There's a caravan in Tinstletown. I'll be selling some wares." Master Aeries said.
"Do you think I could hitch a ride with you, sir?" Thim asked meekly. "I was heading there myself."
"Pah! You should run back home now." Master Aeries said. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
Without another word, Master Aeries cracked the whip and the wagon begun rolling down the road.
But Thim wasn't so easily defeated. A wagon ride would be so much faster. Tinstletown wasn't a bad destination either. Better than having no destination. So Thim gathered Goldie, and ran after the wagon. He managed to climb onto the back of the wagon and seated himself there, his legs hanging, his arms coddling his panicking chicken.
After what felt like several hours, Thim started feeling bored and restless. The wagon rumbled on and on. It wasn't even comfortable as he had expected. Everytime the wagon rolled over a stone, he was jolted. Goldie would squawk. The scenery was nothing special. An endless green. A forest of conifers, split by the yellow dirt road. No sign of brigands anywhere. He took out a small red apple from his backpack and nibbled on it. It was hard, and it hurt his gums biting into the apple. He wished he had brought a knife. The wagon rambled on. When he had to pee, he simply stood up and balanced himself. Then he peed, his urine dripping like rain onto the dusty road below. The wagon rambled on. He was getting extremely restless. Likewise, Goldie was pacing the narrow ledge where he sat. He prayed she wouldn't fly off.
The sun was already on the way down when the wagon finally reached Tinstletown. Thim watched from behind as the wagon rolled through the walled gates. There were several soldiers pacing on the walls. So perhaps there were brigands after all. His adventure was shaping up nicely. Thim had never been to Tinstletown before, nor had he seen a real soldier before. He looked at them in awe. They wore tightly fit black leather, with longswords hanging from their belt, crossbows in hand. Ready to fire.
There were so many people in Tinstletown. Everywhere he looked there were people, and they didn't even stare back or notice him. This was his kind of place. Somewhere he could fit in, and not be the sickly boy that everyone knew.
He started hearing music and shouting, laughing and all sorts of noise. Must be the carnival, Thim thought. True enough, a short while later, the wagon came to a halt. Not wanting to be discovered, Thim quickly gathered Goldie and jumped off the wagon, quickly disappearing into the crowd in case Master Aeries should somehow see him.
At first, he just walked around, looking, looking at everything. Everything was new to him. The carnival was set in a large field. There were about thirty tents. Most tents had tables set out with wares set upon the table. There were all sorts of things for sale. Jewelry, trinkets, tools, books, clothes, food. All sorts of things. He looked but didn't touch. He stopped to watch a trio of singers perform some folk song. After each song, the audience would applaude and some would toss a coin into a collecting dish. Further along, there were also clowns, acrobats and even a freak-show.
The tantalising smell of roasting meat soon lured him. He watched hungrily as the cook fanned sticks of skewered meat roasting above a charcoal grill. The delicious aromas filled his lungs but alas, he had no coin. He forced himself away. What an adventure, indeed.
Soon it was evening. He had his dinner, bread and some dried meat. It was hard and tasteless, nothing like the delicious skewered meat he had seen barbecuing. Then it was getting darker. He couldn't tell why, but the carnival area started giving him a cold- almost sinister feeling. He quickly left it and found his way to what seemed like the town square. By then it was almost dark. So he found a hole, crawled into it and hoped to die.
It didn't matter much to him that he hadn't been chosen. He had already expected it. Thim had always been a sickly little boy. No one wanted a sickly young apprentice. It didn't matter that Thim was smart, hardworking, polite and sweet. In fact, the list of his positive attributes went on and on, but still, it was too risky for any Master to choose Thim. After all, Winter was coming and the chances of Thim surviving another Winter was very low. So, after kissing his parents goodbye and with nothing but his backpack of supplies, and his hen Goldie, Thim set out on his adventure.
His first steps were eager. It was the culmination of a boyhood dream. Who knew who he would meet, what he would discover, when he would die. The adventure of a lifetime. After about a mile on the road, just after he had left the village, his feet started to ache. The bagpack started feeling heavy. So he took a short break. He found a nice green spot of grass by the road-side and sat down cross legged on it. He took his loaf of bread and broke a small piece for himself. He threw a few crumbs to little Goldie, who eagerly pecked it up. She begged for more, but he shooed her off. She squawked and instead began pecking at the grass where he lay.
It wasn't very long before a wagon came rambling down the road from the village. It was Master Aeries, the blacksmith. The wagon came to a halt.
"What are you doing there boy?" asked Master Aeries.
"Just resting, sir," answered Thim.
"You'd best be heading back," Master Aeries said. "It isn't safe out here. There are brigands abound. Outside the village, it isn't safe. You should know that."
"I'm adventuring," replied Thim. "Where are you heading, sir?"
"There's a caravan in Tinstletown. I'll be selling some wares." Master Aeries said.
"Do you think I could hitch a ride with you, sir?" Thim asked meekly. "I was heading there myself."
"Pah! You should run back home now." Master Aeries said. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
Without another word, Master Aeries cracked the whip and the wagon begun rolling down the road.
But Thim wasn't so easily defeated. A wagon ride would be so much faster. Tinstletown wasn't a bad destination either. Better than having no destination. So Thim gathered Goldie, and ran after the wagon. He managed to climb onto the back of the wagon and seated himself there, his legs hanging, his arms coddling his panicking chicken.
After what felt like several hours, Thim started feeling bored and restless. The wagon rumbled on and on. It wasn't even comfortable as he had expected. Everytime the wagon rolled over a stone, he was jolted. Goldie would squawk. The scenery was nothing special. An endless green. A forest of conifers, split by the yellow dirt road. No sign of brigands anywhere. He took out a small red apple from his backpack and nibbled on it. It was hard, and it hurt his gums biting into the apple. He wished he had brought a knife. The wagon rambled on. When he had to pee, he simply stood up and balanced himself. Then he peed, his urine dripping like rain onto the dusty road below. The wagon rambled on. He was getting extremely restless. Likewise, Goldie was pacing the narrow ledge where he sat. He prayed she wouldn't fly off.
The sun was already on the way down when the wagon finally reached Tinstletown. Thim watched from behind as the wagon rolled through the walled gates. There were several soldiers pacing on the walls. So perhaps there were brigands after all. His adventure was shaping up nicely. Thim had never been to Tinstletown before, nor had he seen a real soldier before. He looked at them in awe. They wore tightly fit black leather, with longswords hanging from their belt, crossbows in hand. Ready to fire.
There were so many people in Tinstletown. Everywhere he looked there were people, and they didn't even stare back or notice him. This was his kind of place. Somewhere he could fit in, and not be the sickly boy that everyone knew.
He started hearing music and shouting, laughing and all sorts of noise. Must be the carnival, Thim thought. True enough, a short while later, the wagon came to a halt. Not wanting to be discovered, Thim quickly gathered Goldie and jumped off the wagon, quickly disappearing into the crowd in case Master Aeries should somehow see him.
At first, he just walked around, looking, looking at everything. Everything was new to him. The carnival was set in a large field. There were about thirty tents. Most tents had tables set out with wares set upon the table. There were all sorts of things for sale. Jewelry, trinkets, tools, books, clothes, food. All sorts of things. He looked but didn't touch. He stopped to watch a trio of singers perform some folk song. After each song, the audience would applaude and some would toss a coin into a collecting dish. Further along, there were also clowns, acrobats and even a freak-show.
The tantalising smell of roasting meat soon lured him. He watched hungrily as the cook fanned sticks of skewered meat roasting above a charcoal grill. The delicious aromas filled his lungs but alas, he had no coin. He forced himself away. What an adventure, indeed.
Soon it was evening. He had his dinner, bread and some dried meat. It was hard and tasteless, nothing like the delicious skewered meat he had seen barbecuing. Then it was getting darker. He couldn't tell why, but the carnival area started giving him a cold- almost sinister feeling. He quickly left it and found his way to what seemed like the town square. By then it was almost dark. So he found a hole, crawled into it and hoped to die.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
It's been awhile
(To be sung in the tune of Lady Gaga's You and I)
It's been a long time since I've been around,
Been a long time since I've updated,
But right now I am updating my blog,
Been so busy with my life,
Never found the time to write anything,
Been reading, watching stuff and playing games.
Did some reading in my spare time,
Addicted to the drow in the forgotten realms,
Till I exhausted all the drow books,
Download-ed trueblood,
Addicted to Sookie and Vampire Bill,
Eric Northman, Pam and even Sam Merlott.
Jessica Hamby and Hoyt,
Are such a cute couple,
Watched Season 1 till Season 4
and Tommy Mickens and Tara Thornton, are a tragic couple
Played Langrisser 4 in my spare time,
Finished the game in the independent path,
Got boring and really time consuming,
Still very, busy with all my labwork,
From 9 till 5 on most of the days,
Gonna get busier when chemicals arrive,
Gonna camp in the lab in my sleeping bag, (figurative)
Waiting for the bugs to grow,
Been kinda lonely and enjoying it,
Kinda isolated and enjoying it,
Not being forced to do something that I do not enjoy,
Just being myself, doing what I like,
Me and myself and I,
Me and myself, and I,
I'd rather die,
than be me myself and I.
Sorry this doesnt really rhyme
with the Lady Gaga song you and I
But so what,
I can do what I like :)
It's been a long time since I've been around,
Been a long time since I've updated,
But right now I am updating my blog,
Been so busy with my life,
Never found the time to write anything,
Been reading, watching stuff and playing games.
Did some reading in my spare time,
Addicted to the drow in the forgotten realms,
Till I exhausted all the drow books,
Download-ed trueblood,
Addicted to Sookie and Vampire Bill,
Eric Northman, Pam and even Sam Merlott.
Jessica Hamby and Hoyt,
Are such a cute couple,
Watched Season 1 till Season 4
and Tommy Mickens and Tara Thornton, are a tragic couple
Played Langrisser 4 in my spare time,
Finished the game in the independent path,
Got boring and really time consuming,
Still very, busy with all my labwork,
From 9 till 5 on most of the days,
Gonna get busier when chemicals arrive,
Gonna camp in the lab in my sleeping bag, (figurative)
Waiting for the bugs to grow,
Been kinda lonely and enjoying it,
Kinda isolated and enjoying it,
Not being forced to do something that I do not enjoy,
Just being myself, doing what I like,
Me and myself and I,
Me and myself, and I,
I'd rather die,
than be me myself and I.
Sorry this doesnt really rhyme
with the Lady Gaga song you and I
But so what,
I can do what I like :)
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
The beach
On those really beautiful afternoons, when the sky is crystal blue, and the clouds are fluffy white cotton, and the sun is shining bright, but not scorching hot. Sometimes, on those afternoons, I would take off my clothes and go running down the beach. I would run so fast, all I would hear is the rushing of the wind in my ears. I would run so fast like I couldn't stop, my legs would pump furiously, one after another. I wouldn't care that the sand got into my face, or the saltwater spray into my eyes, or that I stepped onto a sharp little shell. I would run till I couldn't run anymore, and when I stopped, it was because I couldn't feel my legs anymore. That stopping moment was the worst. Sometimes I would puke, sometimes I would just lie down on the sand as the world spun around me. I would just lie there, sometimes with my eyes open, closed if I were too tired, till the wetness of the sea lapped around me and tried to drag me into the water.
Those days, it was just me and the beach. There wasn't such a thing as a tourist. We didn't even know that people would actually drive all the way here, just to play in the water. Now, everything has changed. On those really beautiful afternoons, the beach would be packed so full, you couldn't even run on the beach without knocking into someone. Heck, you couldn't even run around in your birthday suit anymore. Nowadays if you wanted to run, you did it at dawn, but even then, the beach is never completely empty nowadays. So if you feel like running your heart out on a most beautiful afternoon, on a most beautiful beach, you'd better have a lot of money, cause you better be owning your own beach.
Those days, it was just me and the beach. There wasn't such a thing as a tourist. We didn't even know that people would actually drive all the way here, just to play in the water. Now, everything has changed. On those really beautiful afternoons, the beach would be packed so full, you couldn't even run on the beach without knocking into someone. Heck, you couldn't even run around in your birthday suit anymore. Nowadays if you wanted to run, you did it at dawn, but even then, the beach is never completely empty nowadays. So if you feel like running your heart out on a most beautiful afternoon, on a most beautiful beach, you'd better have a lot of money, cause you better be owning your own beach.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Help!
My blog is dying :(
This is just a jab of epinephrine, to stimulate the heart and hopefully get it beating again.
This is just a jab of epinephrine, to stimulate the heart and hopefully get it beating again.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Some things about me... (1)
I have this problem where I start something but can never follow through till completion. I have wanted to do sooooo many things but always stop halfway once the going gets tough or I lose interest. Here is a list of ten things which I have wanted to do but never managed to do it till completion.
1. Finish reading the Bible
2. Get Fit (jogging, swimming, pull weights, sit straight, etc)
3. Learn Mandarin
4. Learn the Piano
5. Learn the Flute
6. Do gardening/farming
7. Write a book/story longer than 50k words
8. Helping around the house
9. Learn shuffling
10. Improve my singing voice
Let's start with no.1. When I was young, I read the children's bible. That bible had 365 stories, 1 story a day. I am glad to say that I have finished that, so at least I know most of the most important Bible stories. But that children's bible is not enough to get me to heaven, so I decided to read a real Bible. A few years back, I managed to read up from Genesis right up to Chronicles. Then suddenly, I just lost interest and never read the bible for years. Now I am reading the bible again. This time, the old testament. I am at Matthew, and I wonder how far I will get this time.
I've always had this super thin scrawny body which I hate. So, every once in a while, I will try to get fit. I will go exercising and even increase my food intake (like eating several eggs a day). Usually this will last a few weeks and then I will see (and feel) no difference, and I will gget lazy once again and stop exercising all together. Recently, I went swimming after months of not swimming and I had lost everything I had gained before. I used to be able to swim 10 laps non-stop, and I couldn't even do 4 this time. That's what I hate about exercise, it has to be constant!
No. 3 is learn Mandarin. Epic fail. Self learning a language is hard.
No. 4. Learn the Piano. Epic fail. Self learning the piano is hard. Till now!! I have discovered a wonderful teacher on youtube. His name is Andrew and his username is Lypur. Go search "learn piano" and you will definitely find him. I am at lesson 7 now, only 33 more lessons to go. I was surprised that what I had learned in the Introduction to Music course I had taken in my second year of university actually came back to me, so this time, learning the piano should not be *that* hard. But I still wonder if I am going to make it to lesson 40. Give me some encouragement okay....
Which brings me to no5, learn the flute. I know the recorder very well, so how much harder could a flute be? But a flute is sooo much more "professional" than a recorder. A recorder is for kids. So I asked my mother to buy me a flute, instead she bought me a picolo. Anyway, I never managed to make that clear flute sound, so slowly I gave up. I still play the recorder on a regular basis, it's so easy. Not like the flute. (Fullstop).
No.6 is gardening. At one time, I decided that I wanted to spend less time online. This was the time when I was playing "farmville" on facebook. So I decided to make my real-life "farm". I started planting tomatoes, ladysfingers, various herbs, dragon fruit and even tried planting papaya. My tomatoes and ladysfingers yielded one AWESOME harvest, then they died (annual plants-what do you expect). The various herbs (oregano, basil etc) slowly got overgrown by weeds and died. The dragonfruit plant fruited several times and then got overgrown by weeds and never fruited again. The papaya remained stunted and eventually died. And so did my interest in gardening.
No. 7. Writing is so much harder than reading. I do writing on and off, ocassionally having an outburst of creativity and stories to tell. I can write severak thousand words at a time during those times, then slowly I get lazy and stop writing. Months or sometimes even years later, I will continue the story and thankfully, I never actually forget these stories I am writing so I can just continue where I left off. Sadly, nothing is near completion and many of my earlier stories have just stopped-dead ended. You can see by my blog also how I initially posted lots of stuff, then eventually just stopped writing here, and now I am back. This pattern keeps repeating in everything I do huh?
No.8. Sometimes I will do the housework, especially when I pity my mom doing all the difficult chores like watering the plants. Usually I will take over for a few days to several weeks and then I will get lazy and stop. My mom will have to takeover again. How lazy can I be huh? Recently, the house maid stopped coming so I have been helping with the house work once in a while. I wonder how long I will continue to help around this time. Perhaps indefinitely? Hopefully.
No.9 is shuffling. Long after the shuffling craze had hit, just a few months ago, I saw someone shuffling on TV and decided it was cool. Before that, I had not even known what shuffling was even though it was all the hype. So I opened youtube and decided to learn how to shuffle. I did it once or twice, and it was good exercise too! Unfortunately, my feet started to blister and so I quit.
No. 10 is to improve my singing voice. I love to sing, but unfortunately, I dont have much stamina and can't hit the high notes well. Once in awhile, I will sing more often than usual in an effort to improve my voice, but because I can't see any improvement, I end up quitting. What a surprise huh!
So there you have it, ten things which I have always wanted to do, but always fail. Are there any labels you can give to me besides lazyness?
1. Finish reading the Bible
2. Get Fit (jogging, swimming, pull weights, sit straight, etc)
3. Learn Mandarin
4. Learn the Piano
5. Learn the Flute
6. Do gardening/farming
7. Write a book/story longer than 50k words
8. Helping around the house
9. Learn shuffling
10. Improve my singing voice
Let's start with no.1. When I was young, I read the children's bible. That bible had 365 stories, 1 story a day. I am glad to say that I have finished that, so at least I know most of the most important Bible stories. But that children's bible is not enough to get me to heaven, so I decided to read a real Bible. A few years back, I managed to read up from Genesis right up to Chronicles. Then suddenly, I just lost interest and never read the bible for years. Now I am reading the bible again. This time, the old testament. I am at Matthew, and I wonder how far I will get this time.
I've always had this super thin scrawny body which I hate. So, every once in a while, I will try to get fit. I will go exercising and even increase my food intake (like eating several eggs a day). Usually this will last a few weeks and then I will see (and feel) no difference, and I will gget lazy once again and stop exercising all together. Recently, I went swimming after months of not swimming and I had lost everything I had gained before. I used to be able to swim 10 laps non-stop, and I couldn't even do 4 this time. That's what I hate about exercise, it has to be constant!
No. 3 is learn Mandarin. Epic fail. Self learning a language is hard.
No. 4. Learn the Piano. Epic fail. Self learning the piano is hard. Till now!! I have discovered a wonderful teacher on youtube. His name is Andrew and his username is Lypur. Go search "learn piano" and you will definitely find him. I am at lesson 7 now, only 33 more lessons to go. I was surprised that what I had learned in the Introduction to Music course I had taken in my second year of university actually came back to me, so this time, learning the piano should not be *that* hard. But I still wonder if I am going to make it to lesson 40. Give me some encouragement okay....
Which brings me to no5, learn the flute. I know the recorder very well, so how much harder could a flute be? But a flute is sooo much more "professional" than a recorder. A recorder is for kids. So I asked my mother to buy me a flute, instead she bought me a picolo. Anyway, I never managed to make that clear flute sound, so slowly I gave up. I still play the recorder on a regular basis, it's so easy. Not like the flute. (Fullstop).
No.6 is gardening. At one time, I decided that I wanted to spend less time online. This was the time when I was playing "farmville" on facebook. So I decided to make my real-life "farm". I started planting tomatoes, ladysfingers, various herbs, dragon fruit and even tried planting papaya. My tomatoes and ladysfingers yielded one AWESOME harvest, then they died (annual plants-what do you expect). The various herbs (oregano, basil etc) slowly got overgrown by weeds and died. The dragonfruit plant fruited several times and then got overgrown by weeds and never fruited again. The papaya remained stunted and eventually died. And so did my interest in gardening.
No. 7. Writing is so much harder than reading. I do writing on and off, ocassionally having an outburst of creativity and stories to tell. I can write severak thousand words at a time during those times, then slowly I get lazy and stop writing. Months or sometimes even years later, I will continue the story and thankfully, I never actually forget these stories I am writing so I can just continue where I left off. Sadly, nothing is near completion and many of my earlier stories have just stopped-dead ended. You can see by my blog also how I initially posted lots of stuff, then eventually just stopped writing here, and now I am back. This pattern keeps repeating in everything I do huh?
No.8. Sometimes I will do the housework, especially when I pity my mom doing all the difficult chores like watering the plants. Usually I will take over for a few days to several weeks and then I will get lazy and stop. My mom will have to takeover again. How lazy can I be huh? Recently, the house maid stopped coming so I have been helping with the house work once in a while. I wonder how long I will continue to help around this time. Perhaps indefinitely? Hopefully.
No.9 is shuffling. Long after the shuffling craze had hit, just a few months ago, I saw someone shuffling on TV and decided it was cool. Before that, I had not even known what shuffling was even though it was all the hype. So I opened youtube and decided to learn how to shuffle. I did it once or twice, and it was good exercise too! Unfortunately, my feet started to blister and so I quit.
No. 10 is to improve my singing voice. I love to sing, but unfortunately, I dont have much stamina and can't hit the high notes well. Once in awhile, I will sing more often than usual in an effort to improve my voice, but because I can't see any improvement, I end up quitting. What a surprise huh!
So there you have it, ten things which I have always wanted to do, but always fail. Are there any labels you can give to me besides lazyness?
Book Reviews (4)
The Armageddon Strain (Book 1 of The Countdown series by Sharon Gilbert)
I purchased this hardcover book at a Christian bookstore for only RM9.90, a real bargain. At first, I had thought that the book was out of place, it wasn't a real Christian book, and that the storekeeper had mistakenly purchased it because of the book title. I thought it was a book dealing with viruses and SCIENCE. I was right, for about half the book. Then, came the scenes containing religion, demons and other supernatural beings.
This book is rather fast paced, too fast paced for my liking because it skips out on description and characterization, and the author often skips from scene to scene, often each scene introducing new characters. There are far too many characters and little time is spent to flesh them out. Only the main characters get some meat, though even minor characters are given memorable names like Carrot-top. I did feel for some characters, especially Meiers. Also, Maggie, the lead female, seemed to be the desire of all men, and she has so many love interests, including her divorced husband. Also of note, most characters in this book are middle age or at least not young.
The ending was extremely disappointing and anti-climatic. Even though this is the first book in a series, I believe it should have been given a decent ending. Despite all the negatives, the book did keep me entertained, and some parts were memorable, but it was fatally killed by the ending, thus getting a 5/10. I would not recommend a purchase unless at a bargain price or someone lends it to you :)
I purchased this hardcover book at a Christian bookstore for only RM9.90, a real bargain. At first, I had thought that the book was out of place, it wasn't a real Christian book, and that the storekeeper had mistakenly purchased it because of the book title. I thought it was a book dealing with viruses and SCIENCE. I was right, for about half the book. Then, came the scenes containing religion, demons and other supernatural beings.
This book is rather fast paced, too fast paced for my liking because it skips out on description and characterization, and the author often skips from scene to scene, often each scene introducing new characters. There are far too many characters and little time is spent to flesh them out. Only the main characters get some meat, though even minor characters are given memorable names like Carrot-top. I did feel for some characters, especially Meiers. Also, Maggie, the lead female, seemed to be the desire of all men, and she has so many love interests, including her divorced husband. Also of note, most characters in this book are middle age or at least not young.
The ending was extremely disappointing and anti-climatic. Even though this is the first book in a series, I believe it should have been given a decent ending. Despite all the negatives, the book did keep me entertained, and some parts were memorable, but it was fatally killed by the ending, thus getting a 5/10. I would not recommend a purchase unless at a bargain price or someone lends it to you :)
Thursday, February 9, 2012
A busy, busy day.
"You've had a busy, busy day."- Christina Yang, Grey's anatomy, Season 7 Finale.
Yes, I've had a busy, busy day. I did four preps of plasmid extractions (two tubes each time), did a PCR, ran two gels, did a 6 hour ligation reaction (with manual water bath keeping temperature at 16C) all done in about six and a half hours. So yes, I've had a busy, busy day. I even had time to go for a 40 minute lunch in between. And I managed to blog, lurk on facebook and even listen to music on youtube. But I missed the battlestation wars on facebook today. That's okay because work always comes first. Oh, I was also supposed to do a transformation for the ligation reaction I was preparing, but the lab next door (with the -80C freezer holding my competent cells) was locked, so I couldn't do it. Anyway, I think my last gel is about done now, so bye. I'll be going home after viewing it. Fare the well and yes, I've had a busy, busy day.
Yes, I've had a busy, busy day. I did four preps of plasmid extractions (two tubes each time), did a PCR, ran two gels, did a 6 hour ligation reaction (with manual water bath keeping temperature at 16C) all done in about six and a half hours. So yes, I've had a busy, busy day. I even had time to go for a 40 minute lunch in between. And I managed to blog, lurk on facebook and even listen to music on youtube. But I missed the battlestation wars on facebook today. That's okay because work always comes first. Oh, I was also supposed to do a transformation for the ligation reaction I was preparing, but the lab next door (with the -80C freezer holding my competent cells) was locked, so I couldn't do it. Anyway, I think my last gel is about done now, so bye. I'll be going home after viewing it. Fare the well and yes, I've had a busy, busy day.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The illness spreads
The illness spreads like a malignant disease. It creeps and seeps into every nook and cranny of my being. It is a permeating cough that comes at night after the midnight bell has chimed. I can't sleep. I twist and turn, hugging a pillow to my chest, hoping to protect my fragile lungs from the cold wind billowing from the fan. I keep coughing, that whooping cough that yields no phlegm. Slowly I descend into a frenzied sleep. Like my body, my mind is plagued with disease; another disease that hijacks my brain and directs my thoughts towards insanity. In a semi-dazed state, I am one with the dark elves. Their evil is my evil. I cull the weak, betray my "friends", and murder my siblings. I am rescued by the break of day. When I wake, my mind wants to continue the dream. It is fun, but I get up anyway, after wasting more time just lying in bed. My cough is better now, but I know when I go to sleep, the cycle continues.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Book Reviews(3)
Brisingr! That's the 3rd book in the Inheritance cycle by Christopher Paolini. In this book, he really proved some points that I had made in my review of his earlier books. His writing has improved, but then he still writes things that makes me question the plot. And then he kills off another character at the end, surprise, surprise. The begining of the book was well written, especially the long awaited fight with the Razac. But then it got boring and very destination oriented, which means Eragon decided to go to location A, B, C then D, E and then F all in that order which seems too planned out. Most of the time, Eragon also acts childish (technically he is a child) and his outbursts are rather out of character for a "hero" figure. And when the time comes (the big battle at the end) where he can kill dozens of men with any of a handful of killing words, he conveniently forgets that he has that power. Instead he kills them the slow and tedious way so his army still has a job to do. The final battle was not believable considering that Eragon has grown so powerful but yet for no explained reason, did not use his powers. Overall, this book was still entertaining and fun, and I do care about the characters, story and the world that I will try to obtain the last book, Inheritance which was recently released. However, because of the flawed last battle, his tendency to kill characters at the end/begining to move the plot, and an almost methodological plot, this book gets a 8/10. I have been over critical so here are some of the good things. Indeed, there are many good things, especially Eragon and Saphira's relationship, the scenery and the view of the world through Eragon/Saphira's eyes, the student-teacher relationship, the many strong women characters, and lastly Roran's struggles which make me worry about Roran in every battle he is in, since he is not the central character, thus subject to death.
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