[1] Watch "Sideways" while it only shows a possible doom and not a current predicament. There's this fantastic moment where the two friends are sitting on the beach talking.
Miles (grade-school English teacher and unpublished - and apparently unpublishable - writer): Half my life is over and I have nothing to show for it. Nothing. I'm a thumbprint on the window of a skyscraper. I'm a smudge of excrement on a tissue surging out to sea with a million tons of raw sewage.At which point someone sitting behind us in the audience says, Who's Bukowski?
Jack (actor who did a successful day-time soap once and now does ads): See? Right there. Just what you just said. That is beautiful. 'A smudge of excrement... surging out to sea.'
Miles: Yeah.
Jack: I could never write that.
Miles: Neither could I, actually. I think it's Bukowski.
[2] Addy, Jianyi, a couple of their friends and I tried to watch "La Jetee" at the Arts House. They screened the first 15 minutes or so to a muted undertone of "Total Eclipse of the Heart", stopped the film to try and turn off the house music, tore the film (on loan from the Alliance Francaise, thus worsening relations between the two countries), attempted to repair it with sticky tape, started the film from the beginning, gave up when the tape jammed in the projector, and apologised profusely.
[3] Wine Network at Dempsey Road with Julian, Addy and Jianyi, which was rather nice, even if at the back of beyond. What we need to do is go to the Mitre (you remember the creepy derelict hotel bar place?) to balance out the yuppies and the expats.
[4] Carried a bamboo (courtesy of Steve) back on the train and was stared at by a number of kids. Passed by a couple of joggers on the way back to my house, one of whom said to the other, "Quite expensive to get bamboo poles nowadays, must go chop it down yourself..."
[5] Shin Gee's getting married. Have I said this already? I'm told this is the first wave of marriages. Brace yourself.
[6] Lee sends this, and I can only offer it to all of you:
i read a great story about a factory worker who used to tape a poem in front of his machine where he worked. his job was repetitive and mindless and so he would just read the poem in front of him all day long and attempt to memorize it. eventually, his boss called him in and said, "look, you're a good kid and this is probably the first time you've been fired, but don't take it too hard. you're smart and you'll find a good job. but i couldn't have you here. everyone else here looks angry while they work and you just walk around with that goofy smile on your face. it creeps us out. good luck."