Further Along, the 12 insanely random facts about me (and then some)
1.
I have a collection of Gundam Wing assembled toys.
2.
I do drive, but unlike most guys, I don’t jizz all over my pants for
the next car show.
3.
No offense to and nothing against FHM, but I think its publicity is
blown way out of proportion. For a pinay celebrity to sustain a career in show business these days, all she has to do is to pose on FHM.
4.
I want to write better. It’s the reason why I keep reading books.
It’s the reason why I bought (and just read) Elements of Style. It’s
the reason why I’m even blogging.
5.
I also want to draw better.
6.
The only time I have fallen asleep in the cinema is while watching
“The Awakenings”.
7.
I constantly get mail invitations to an expo event in Hongkong’s
World Trade Center. I don’t know why.
8.
I sometimes get spaced out and start imagining things. This has
happened a while ago while I was walking home, and my daydream was
interrupted by a chance meeting.
9.
Though I do write emails, sometimes I still write letters in
longhand, and I see the beauty in doing so.
10.
I can burp by will and can recite the entire alphabets using burping
sounds.
11.
I tend to like the second track of an album (see *appendix for the complete list). Again, I don’t know why.
12.
Though I’m into jazz, I hate smooth jazz. So if you want to watch a
jazz concert with me, please make sure it’s not of Kenny G, Dave Grusin, Lee
Ritenour, David Sanborn, Dave Koz, Fourplay or Al Jarreau.
Regarding
number 4, there are moments when I write without hesitation and
pause. Unfortunately, three weeks pass and no such moments occur. If
ideas are liquids, my mind has a dam.
So
I resort to visiting my favorite blogs. But as it is here, they have
become ghost towns: one guy is too brokenhearted to function, another
is too engrossed with PC games to open his Word, and one girl is
swamped with TV shows and interviews…
The
silence could’ve persisted, but I want to respond to a comment on
one of my previous entries:
“You,
are interesting at one point, scary at one point, and a little geeky
at one point.“
I
think that girl is cool (though her blog is also quiet) and I want her to know that I’m not upset with her. What I’m
peevish about is being labeled scary… yet again! I’m frequently
regarded as weird and scary, and this time “scary” is a byproduct
of listing 12 facts that make me unique. Now that I’ve listed 24, I’d
probably be called homicidal.
Scary
is when someone has a tendency to harm others. Scary is the
cold-blooded Kazuo Kiriyama from Battle Royale, the homicidal Patrick
Bateman from American Psycho, the brain-eating Hannibal Lecter from
Silence of the Lambs, and the vengeful Oh Dae Su from Oldboy.
So what part of my 12 insane random facts make me scary?
When
people are sipping frappucinos and yacking on Dan Brown and Paolo
Coelho, I am drinking brewed coffee and reading Fahrenheit 451. When
people are singing praises on Spiderman, Shrek and Pirates 3, I’m
singing praises on Pan’s Labyrinth, Bridge to Terabithia and
Sideways. When everybody dresses gothic and acts emo, I ridicule
them. When people have left cubicle-land to talk about Kris Aquino
while having their watercooler break, ask me if I care about such
topic.
Granted,
I do not deny being eccentric, unconventional and unpredictable. I don’t share
everyone’s views and don’t look at Fashion Magazines or FHM’s as a
guide to lifestyles and preferences. I’m unaffected by media hype
and I do not to dive into the cesspool of passive conformity.
Do
people hate different so much? Is different bad? Are we all forced to
act the same so as to be socially accepted?
I’m
different, but that does not make me a lesser man; that’s what makes
me an individual. If this is disdained as scary, never mind that I’m
a pacifist I don’t even eat animals, then let everyone misrepresent
me. At least I prefer that to living a life blindly obeying the standards of "what’s hot".
*Appendix: List of second tracks that I love (interludes and introductions
not included):
Heaven
is 10 Zillion Light Years Away by Stevie Wonder in Fulfillingness
First Finale
Super
by Joss Stone in The Soul Sessions
Jet
Lag by Joss Stone in Mind, Body and Soul
A
foggy day by Billie Holiday in Songs for Distingue Lovers
Lee
Ann by Richard ‘Groove’ Holmes in Blue Groove
Love
for Sale by Cannonball Adderly in Something Else
Black
Math by White Stripes in Elephant
Fat
Mama by Herbie Hancock in Fat Albert Rotunda
De
Camino A La Vereda by Buena Vista Social Club
In Walk Bud by Thelonious Monk in Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk
Come On, Come Over by Jaco Pastorius
Doralice
by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto
Dedicated to You by Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane
Global Warming by Sonny Rollins in Without a Song
The Red Blouse by Antonio Carlos Jobim in Wave
Devil’s Pie by D’Angelo in Voodoo
Spirit in the Water by Bob Dylan in Modern Times
Girl from North Country by Bob Dylan in The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
Motivation by Babatunde Lea in Suite Unseen: The Summoner of the Gods
Speak Like a Child by Herbie Hancock in Speak Like a Child
For Everyone Under the Sun by Jimmy Smith in Root Down
Feel No Pain by Sade in Love Deluxe
Express Yourself by Madonna in Like a Prayer
Mood
Indigo by Frank Sinatra in In the Wee Small Hours
Something
by The Beatles in Abbey Road
Norwegian
Wood by The Beatles in Rubber Soul
My
Sweet Lord by George Harrison in All Things Shall Pass
Crippled
Inside by John Lennon in Imagine
Hold
On by John Lennon in Plastic Ono Band
Isn’t
it a Lovely Day by Diana Krall in From This Moment On
Jeru
by Miles Davis in Birth of the Cool
Visions by Stevie Wonder in Innervisions
Jean De Fleur by Grant Green in Idle Moments
Captain Senor Mouse by Chick Corea in Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry by Dexter Gordon in GO!
Cousin Mary by John Coltrane in Giant Steps
State
of the World Today by Janet Jackson in Rhythm Nation
Take
Me With You by Prince in Purple Rain
The
St. Vitus Dance by Horace Silver in Blowin’ the Blues Away
Tenth
Avenue Freeze Out by Bruce Springsteen in Born to Run
Have
You Been Making Out OK by Al Green in Call Me
Cornbread, Fish, and Collard Greens by Anthony Hamilton in Comin’ From Where I’m From
Used to Love You by John Legend in Get Lifted
If You Want Me To Stay by Sly and the Family Stone in Fresh
A Foggy Day by Michael Buble in It’s Time
Seven Years by Norah Jones in Come Away With Me
Rip This Joint by Rolling Stones in Exile On Main Street
Crosstown Traffic by Jimi Hendrix in Electric Ladyland
So Far Away by Carole King in Tapestry
Enchantment
by Corrine Bailey Rae
Real Love by Mary J. Blige in What’s the 411?
You Bring Me Joy by Mary J. Blige in My Life
Ex Factor by Lauryn Hill in The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Do Something by Macy Gray in On How Life Is
Rock
With You by Michael Jackson in Off the Wall
I
Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For by U2 in The Joshua Tree
June 27th, 2007 at 1:11 am
I don’t blog as often these days because I’ve just finished my final exams and I’m back in my hometown where I’ll be caught up with doing chores fit for a housewife. I hope you get what I mean… I’ll be blogging again as soon as I step foot back to Penang (where I attend college). There is a very long post that I want to write up soon. So stay tune…till mid July.
By the way, about the use of the word “scary”. Its not “scary” in terms of cold-blooded scary nor against the society’s flow type of scary. I personally am quite a person like you, who don’t go with the flow that much and don’t dig into CLEO, Feminine and fashion magazines that is very likely to arouse the thought of aneroxia in ladies. I don’t find it amusing. The only thing different is that I have two sides of me, the other side besides this quiet one being a girl who at leasts knows a little about latest gossip n fashion sense, just for the sake of starting a conversation.
That doesn’t make me lesser a lady either, does it?
I used the word “scary” out of awe and me being impressed by your skills in writing. It makes me laugh and sigh at the same time reading your post, and I rarely come across a guy who can impress me as much being so articulate and humourous. So the word “scary” could well be substituted with “impressive”. I just like to put it in a way that… could reflect my awe more.
June 27th, 2007 at 4:44 am
Wow, thanks for the compliments. That was uncalled-for but I appreciate it much. ^_^
I didn’t think you would call me scary out of ill will. It’s just that I’d been called “scary” and “weird” a lot and I thought I finally need to explain.
I’m also quite up to date with what is trendy, although not in topics like fashion. So I do know how to start and keep a conversation with people who tend to follow trends. I just don’t follow everything everyone’s been doing, and that’s where I’m different.