>:/ CroSS.

I just bought a damn "soft" clock with legs that doesn't work.

And what's ticking me off even more, is that I threw away the receipt - the ONLY time I thought I didn't need it, I nEEd it.

Work dammit, work.

In ardent arrest.

Nothing has changed.

Strength is an illusion the Weak call hope.

Pictures taken of what Happy is; smiles brilliant as if no darkness lay behind the heart; collected false evidence of feelings merely contrived.

Smiles: only dangerous things behind which lurk unknown thoughts. Photographs may speak a thousand words like pictures, but they never divulge secrets.

If happiness is a myth, then we are always chasing dreams and living on the edge of REM cycles before truth dawns on our faces; and all we want then, is to solder our eyes shut.

When will this tiresome journey end, this bildungsroman we call life?

If age and wisdom are no determinants the last lesson left is Patience, in Hope that the day will eventually come when happiness yields itself to possession and be thus named: Mine.

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"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take."

- A child's bedtime prayer (18th century)

Q. (not) E. D

After much animated debate (with wild gesticulations and dramatic interruptions), my search for a clue has reached a conclusion that satisfies my technical curiosity - at least for the moment.

It seems, what with the nuances of the English Language, that there is more to it than stylistic preference when it comes to using "spoke" instead of "talked", the latter requiring that there be an object to the verb used.

Hence, "talked" implies an audience of some sort, the presence of some reception much akin to dialogue e.g. ... talked to you / ... talked about it/ talked loudly (which clearly, someone must have heard). Whereas "spoke" is sufficient unto itself.

In the end, however, no one could provide a true, pure answer to the analogy I asked, suffice to say that

Talked : : Spoke (verb)

as

Dialogue : : Monologue (noun)

Grammar Question, anyone?

Is it really grammatically wrong to say "The moment he talked..." as opposed to "The moment he spoke..." or is it a matter of preference?

Hence, my question in SAT/GRE verbal format -

Talked :: Spoke

as


? :: ?

The story of our lives...

Where'd You Go - Fort Minor

Where'd you go?
I miss you so
Seems like its been forever that you've been gone

She said somedays I feel like shit
Somedays I wanna quit and just be normal for a bit
I don't understand why you always have to be gone
I get along but your trips always feel so long
And I find myself trying to stay by the phone
Because your voice always helps me not to feel so alone
But I feel like an idiot, working my day around a call
And when I pick up I don't have much to say,
so I want you to know it's a little messed up
that I'm stuck here waiting, at times debating
Telling you that I've had it with you and your career
Me and the rest of the family here singing

Where'd you go?
I miss you so
Seems like it's been forever that you've been gone
Where'd you go?
I miss you so
Seems like it's been forever that you've been gone
Please Come back home

You know, the place you used to live
Used to barbeque with burgers and ribs
Used to have a little party every halloween with candy by the pile
but now you only stop by every once in a while
Yeah I find myself just filling my time
With anything to keep the thought of you from my mind
I'm doing fine and I plan to keep it that way
You can call me if you find that you have something to say
And I'll tell you I want you to know it's a little messed up
that I'm stuck here waiting, at times debating
Telling you that I've had it with you and your career
Me and the rest of the family here singing

Where'd you go?
I miss you so
Seems like its been forever that you've been gone
Where'd you go?
I miss you so
Seems like its been forever that you've been gone
Please Come back home

I want you to know it's a little messed up
that I'm stuck here waiting, no longer debating
Tired of sitting and hating and making these excuses
For why you're not around, and feeling sorta useless
It seems that one thing has been true all along
You don't really know what you've got till its gone
I guess I've had it with you and your career
When you come back I won't be here and you can say

Where'd you go?
I miss you so
Seems like it's been forever that you've been gone
Where'd you go? I miss you so
Seems like its been forever that you've been gone
Please Come back home

Please Come back home

Please Come back home

Please Come back home

Please Come back home

Latest on my list of favorites: "Believe Me"

Fort Minor's latest album Rising Tied (2005) with Mike Shinoda is definitely worth checking out if you're looking for songs with an attitude, great beats and a musical edge to rap.

Go to http://myspace.com/fortminor to get a ear on it.

This takes the cake, seriously...

Dinner and a conversation

Went to Da Paulo's with some friends at Neil Road and were seated beside a couple clearly on a date. We knew this because

a) the restaurant was deathly quiet and so were they
b) the guy as SY points out, looked like he just got his first paycheck from army and was burning it on dinner
c) there was a small bouquet of roses on the table which the young un' kept fiddling with when there was no food on the table to occupy their attention
d) the girl just looked at him apparently entertained by his silly escapades with the roses e.g. him taking a self-portrait with the roses in one hand and camera in the other
e) there's visible relief when the food appeared
f) conversation between the two was awfully polite and made the (noisy) four of us feel like we were crashing their date.

Ah, the sweet pangs and pains of going on a first date - or so I thought - until I asked the others to guess which #date the couple was on (a.k.a Sex and the City conversation between Carrie and Miranda on the steps outside Carrie's apartment).

The male perspective at our table pointed out that, because there were flowers, it had to be at least their first anniversary not their first date (they looked at me askance here). I was like, "huh, why?"

SY: "Eh, this is Singapore, Singaporean guys are not that romantic. Don't talk about first date, first anniversary get flowers already very lucky. "

At my horrified expression, he quickly added: "okok, maybe guys can give flowers on a date, but that girl'd better be quite confirmed going steady with you by then."

So, no girlfriend-status no flowers?

Then the squid ink pasta came and as I learned, the ink does stain your lips, teeth, tongue black.

SY: " Yah, don't order that on your first date."


Who says guys don't know what they're doing after all :)

The blind leading the blind?

Was out walking around town yesterday when it struck me again that I really can't tell about today's fashion: short flouncy ra-ra skirts, blazers and sequined clutches, with matching heels and miles of legs, topped with retro earrings and stylish made-up faces. Then I realized these were young girls, little older than 14.

I wondered: is it adult-inspired teenage fashion, or are women cluelessly trying to hold on to youth by dressing the part?

Either way it's depressing and no one seems the wiser.