遠くへ

(Taken with MOLOME on my Nokia 5800) “The best thing one can do...

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:59:34 +0800

(Taken with MOLOME on my Nokia 5800)

“The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Soldiers. (Taken with MOLOME on my Nokia 5800)

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:53:34 +0800

Soldiers. (Taken with MOLOME on my Nokia 5800)

The fallen. (Taken with MOLOME on my Nokia 5800)

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 08:02:42 +0800

The fallen. (Taken with MOLOME on my Nokia 5800)

Crystal. (Taken with MOLOME on my Nokia 5800)

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:35:57 +0800

Crystal. (Taken with MOLOME on my Nokia 5800)

Taken with MOLOME. Finally, an Instagram-like application for...

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 01:57:01 +0800

Taken with MOLOME.

Finally, an Instagram-like application for Symbian and Android devices!

A fleeting motion

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 00:42:00 +0800

(via Tripwire Magazine)

“More than a photo, but not quite a video”

This is hilarious. I think Carol Danvers would wear civilian...

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:03:00 +0800

This is hilarious. I think Carol Danvers would wear civilian clothes on her day off though.

On shoes (a conversation from Dragon Age: Origins)

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:10:34 +0800

Leliana: The shoes made in Orlais were exquisite. Not at all like these clunky fur-lined leather boots you have in Ferelden. Ugh... just look at them.
Warden (me): I know, right? So ugly and shapeless.

midday

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:11:00 +0800

midday, drowning in the whir
of power generators,
a collective of clockwork cicadas
drunk on fossil fuels,
a mechanical tinnitus,
the throbbing of lives inexorable
amidst a persistent season.
the resolve reflected from faces
whose contours are traced
in sweat.

"And Jabim is the Lord of broken things, who sitteth behind the house to lament the things that are..."

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:16:19 +0800

“And Jabim is the Lord of broken things, who sitteth behind the house to lament the things that are cast away. And there he sitteth lamenting the broken things until the worlds be ended, or until someone cometh to mend the broken things. Or sometimes he sitteth by the river’s edge to lament the forgotten things that drift upon it.”

- Lord Dunsany, The Gods of Pegāna

Write one leaf about dust bunnies

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:36:38 +0800

now, there is barely
a flurry of activity here:
the dust bunnies proliferate
in the void but they are ever
the quiet ones,
they do not squeak
nor speak your lines.
they simply accumulate
like the dialogues long rehearsed
in the unswept corners
of my mind.

(via writeoneleaf)

Glamour

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:32:53 +0800

Pen & ink, watercolor.

On rich inner monologues

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:50:22 +0800

(via Wondermark)

One of my goals when learning a foreign language is to be able to introspect in that language. I think translating one’s thoughts, desires and sensations into a language other than the native tongue or English is an interesting exercise. It could also be a way to gauge one’s grasp of a foreign language. Because thoughts are spontaneous, being able to express these fluently would be an indication of proficiency.

Since I have been learning Japanese for some years now, I would sometimes attempt to think in Japanese. And then I would imagine that I am a character of some anime having a stream of consciousness. It makes the entire learning experience more fun.

Je veux apprendre le français

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:47:00 +0800

I have been wanting to learn something new lately and I thought of learning French, on a whim. For the past years, I have been learning Japanese and I think it would be interesting to add another foreign language to my linguistic repertoire.

When I was in fifth grade, I borrowed a French language book from my classmate and attempted to learn French on my own. I soon gave up. It was difficult imagining French pronunciations without any audible guide. And the verb conjugations left me confused.

Just recently, I found out that there is an Alliance Française in the city. I read from a newspaper that they are offering French language lessons. I checked their website and I think the rates are quite reasonable, considering that the teachers are native French speakers. I am thinking of enrolling in one of their classes soon.

For the meantime, I tried downloading some French language podcasts. Each lesson lasts around twenty minutes. I listen to it when I prepare for work and when I commute, although I devote some time to actively listen to each lesson (and not just listen to it while doing something else). So far, I am able to express things like: Aujourd’hui c’est samedi mais je fais des heures supplémentaires. (I had to look up des heures supplémentaires from a dictionary though).

As for the pronunciation (now that I have an audible guide), the only sound that I find a bit difficult is the French ‘r’. Unlike the English ‘r’ where the sound is created in the middle of the mouth, the French ‘r’ is articulated from the back of the mouth. It’s like trying to make a ‘k’ sound but you do an ‘r’ sound instead. I like how it sounds though. It is quite exotic.

A fragment of Mars

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:51:00 +0800

Mars has been visible in the evening sky as of late. At around 7 PM, which is usually the time I leave the office, it can be found above the northeastern horizon.

Looking at Mars makes me smile. I recall observing the planet during the opposition of 2003, when it was at its closest to the Earth. The next close encounter won’t happen until 2287. I think being able to witness a celestial milestone within the ephemeral human timeframe is nothing short of astounding.

(image via Ross Berens)

Looking at Mars also reminds me of this poem by Tanikawa Shuntaro:

Twenty Billion Light Years of Loneliness

Mankind on a little globe
Sleeps, awakes, and works
Wishing at times to be friends with Mars.

Martians on a little globe
Are probably doing something; I don’t know what
(Maybe sleep-sleeping, wear-wearing, or fret-fretting)
While wishing at times to be friends with Earth
This is a fact I’m sure of.

This thing called universal gravitation
Is the power of loneliness pulling together.

The universe is distorted
So all join in desire.

The universe goes on expanding
So all feel uneasy.

At the loneliness of twenty billion light years
Without thinking, I sneezed.

Here is the original version, in Japanese:

二十億光年の孤独

人類は小さな球の上で
眠り起きそして働き
ときどき火星に仲間を欲しがつたりする

火星人は小さな球の上で
何をしてるか　僕は知らない
（或はネリリし　キルルし　ハララしているか）
しかしときどき地球に仲間を欲しがったりする
それはまったくたしかなことだ

万有引力とは
ひき合う孤独の力である

宇宙はひずんでいる
それ故みんなはもとめ合う

宇宙はどんどん膨んでゆく
それ故みんなは不安である

二十億光年の孤独に
僕は思わずくしゃみをした

Medusa

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:52:33 +0800

I think Uma Thurman is mesmerizing as Medusa.

Hazia

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:38:00 +0800

“Hazia. It soothes and numbs, letting the body be free of the mind. And the mind roams free. But when it returns to the body it needs more hazia… and the craving grows: and the life is short, for the stuff is poison. First there is a trembling, and later paralysis, and then death.” - Ursula K. Le Guin, The Farthest Shore

Pen & ink, watercolor. Discontented with the scan, it failed to capture the blue hues.

"Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those..."

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:26:41 +0800

“Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and leave them alone.”

- J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

The heart is deceitful above all things

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:05:00 +0800

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” - Jeremiah 17:9

Watercolor on paper. Finally got this scanned.

Write one leaf about ghosts

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:55:00 +0800

He has always seen himself as a wraith. Or something diaphanous, like a curtain or a cobweb that brushes past people’s faces and no one ever wonders what it is. He would stand at the crossroads and cry out but no one would heed him. “Did you hear that?” “It was probably just the wind,” they would say.

(via writeoneleaf)