Anagrams

If coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous, then anagrams must be His way of mocking us...

A telephone girl = Repeating "Hello"

Dormitory = Dirty Room

The eyes = They see

The centenarians = I can hear ten "tens"

Desperation = A rope ends it

The Morse Code = Here Come Dots

The Meaning of Life = The fine game of nil

Slot Machines = Cash Lost in'em

Tom Cruise = So I'm Cuter

Funeral = Real Fun

Mel Gibson = Bong Smile

Admirer = Married

Statue of Liberty = Built to Stay Free

Debit card = Bad credit

Why shouldn't America go re-elect President Clinton in Ninety-Six? = He has a prime or cunning tendency to wildly solicit Internet sex.

Ronald Reagan = A darn long era

And my personal favourite...

Mother-in-law = Woman Hitler

It's amazing how you can say something so openly and yet that other person has no clue on what you're going on about....

Yo Kibbles.... Uh, ionise me?

If only.

It's raining. Again.

And I'm blogging. Again.

Blogging when it's raining. Again.

Wtf.

And I'm feeling rather flat and confused, despite having no sensible reason (there IS a reason, except that it's not sensible) for such emotions to arise.

Then again, since when did feelings make sense to begin with?

Butttttt, a few things to look forward to: a trip to Cameron, friend staying over, Xmas, trip to Johor and a chance to earn easy cash... All within the next 2 weeks.

Now where did I stash that bottle of Excitement or that jug of Glee?

Whatever lah.

Recap

Again, the realities of life have drained my will to blog. I am more than aware that my inactivity has probably turned away the few readers I previously had. From a compulsive blogger to an impulsive blogger; how one year can a person, no? ;p

No longer am I writing to impress nor am I writing to spread my ideas. From now on, I'm writing because... I feel like it. Back to the roots from which this blog grew from.
:)

Even this post was not written out of deliberation, but of boredom and grey skies; it's raining in Ipoh and the humidity is a distant cry from the arid dryness of Perth.

So much for that tennis game.

And so here I am, my bottom sinking into my cozy bed with folk music and retrograde pop songs adding to the ambiance of an already sleepy town in the northern quartile of peninsular Malaysia.

And so it occured to me, why not blog? :)

Thinking back to a about 365 days ago, sitting in this very same spot while nursing my torn ligaments, it's amazing how one year can transform a person:

I've taken the first big step towards realizing my dream of being an underpaid hospital slave (I personally dislike stroking my ego by using the word 'doctor') by gaining admission into a (decently) prestigious medical school and have survived first year fairly comfortably.

I've met people from different walks of life, each with their own shade to add to the canvas of life, as well as touching up on existing shades; my old friends.

I've immersed myself in and embraced a completely foreign culture yet still hold true to the values that are distinctively Malaysian; distinctively myself.

I've experienced events, both good and bad, that have changed my view of things and tweaked my personality a little; probably for the better. In introspect, I've brushed off shards of my rebellious teen flair in favour of a more balanced and milder perspective yet have retained my bubbly, slightly-boisterous persona. In other words, I have mellowed confidently; but that's just my thought. :) That probably didn't make much sense anyway.

I feel that being a medical student has injected new meaning into my life.... That I now have a defined purpose instead of being lost in the aimlessness of highschool drama.

These events have changed me in many ways, down to the trivial things like my taste of music and the type of girls I like (lol) yet I still feel in control of things.

Most importantly, I feel like I'm finally starting to discover my true identity; I feel like I'm finally 'growing up'.

From school, to college, to university; we all grow through our transitions.
I know I have.

One thing still hasn't changed though.....

I'm still single.

Rofl.

:)

The Songbird

1.
I yearn for the mellifluous songbird
Her dulcet melody; tranquil, empowering
Oh, the irony.. You have me lured!
As I languish in this kindled longing

2.
Alas, leaves rustled and branches shook
Echoing the miracle I cannot partake
For a flutter of wings was all it took
To leave me but a feather in your wake

3.
You were present by day, absent by night;
Your vacancy melancholic and blue
Oh, why taunt me so with your flight?
If only God had endowed me wings too...

4.
But enough of stacking boxes to the moon!
I have moved forth, abandoning visceral dreams
Yet the desolate branch perpetuates my gloom
Such is the agony of denial, it seems...

5.
You have graced all; be it chasms, be it clouds,
You pursued the concord of sun and sea,
Gaping in your splendor, my inferiority shrouds
For I am but a man, undeserving of thee.

______________________________________________

That monster energy drink left me tossing and turning in my bed and I somehow felt the poet in me spring to life. :S

So yea, one of my very rare pieces.

And no, I have not gone crazy.

Book Review: The Lost Symbol

"The only difference between you and God is that you have forgotten you are divine."

Pg 492, The Lost Symbol


The two youths dashed into Dymocks BookShop, mere minutes before it closed for the day. Scanning the front shelves, they each grabbed a thick tome, cashed out and left the store, brimming with anticipation with each passing step. The smell of freshly-minted pages of a new novel filled their car..
But it wasn't any novel.
It was Dan Brown's epic 2009 installment; The Lost Symbol.





Okay, highly exaggerated but regardless, the main point is... I bought the book, read it AND finished it within 2 days! All 509 pages of its glory despite having university commitments! :D

And now, for the long awaited... BOOK REVIEW.

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Disclaimer: While this review will NOT contain many (if any at all) plot spoilers, it may influence your perception of the book. Therefore, I would not recommend reading further if you do not want your reading experience to be tampered with. You have been advised.

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I have always been an ardent fan of Dan Brown and his works. Having read and enjoyed all 4 of his books before the Da Vinci Code-frenzy even began plaguing the world, I can safely say I'm not one of the bandwagon boys (self praise IS better than no praise, afterall :D ). Therefore, you can imagine my exitement when my 5-year wait for his next sensational thriller finally ended last Wednesday.

As you could've guessed, The Lost Symbol brought together an exciting mix of symbology, conspiracy theories, Masonic folklore, intriguing puzzles, esoteric knowledge and a cat-and-mouse chase to locate a mystical treasure. Throw in a spanner or two in the form of a deranged antagonist, severed body parts and ridiculous plot twists and you have a plot worthy of a Dan Brown book.

The Lost Symbol was not a far cry from his prior books in terms of style. Like his previous four, Mr Brown used the third-person perspective to his advantage and partitioned individual character plots into chapter-size segments. The first quarter of the book dealt with the synthesis of multiple character perspectives before each of them magically fell into place to complete the entire master plot. If you have read his other books, you will feel right at home with that 'Oh, now I get it!' sensation that entails every piece of the literary jigsaw as the grand picture began to materialize.

The sporadic bursts of humour were effective destressors from the seriousness of the plot. Phrases like the crude "...low tolerance for bullshit" and "Katherine solomon wants to pick my brain? It felt like Maria Sharapova had called for tennis tips" were examples of the instances of pleasantries that would make you smile in the midst of reading dark, intelligent thriller.

As expected, the book sucked you in right from the start; a mysterious prologue that was bound to make you go WTF, Robert Langdon's reintroduction in the first chapter and a transcontinental flight on the third. It was Dan Brown at his best; a cliffhanger at every chapter and a revelation in the next. A potent page-flipping combination indeed.

The story develops at a brisk pace; by the hundredth page, you could literally feel the suspense burning under your skin as every particle in your body craved for more surprises. However, many of the plot elements were still very deeply veiled, as if to provoke and entice you to further discover what was in store. After the halfway mark, the book was literally, as The Washington Post described it, unputdownable. As the plot exploded and brought along a surprise at every corner, The Lost Symbol looked destined to be another Dan Brown masterpiece.....

Except that it wasn't.

After the revelation of a few catalytic events, the conviction in the plot began to disintegrate. You could feel that the characters, especially the antagonist, have somewhat lost their sense of motives and that subsequent events happened because Mr. Brown wanted them to occur. At best, Mal'akh was a wee bit confused but quite frankly, he's probably the most retardedly senseless villain in all of Dan Brown's books.

Although credit must be given for the neat converging of multiple plots, the grand magnificent revelation that I had come to expect from a Dan Brown book... wasn't very magnificent at all. Bluntly put, I found myself saying 'meh' and 'ceh' a lot.

Also a first in The Lost Symbol was its predictability. Never in any of his prior 4 books have I been able to accurately take a swing at the big-twist piñata... except this one. Maybe I've grown to discover the fickle minds of authors or maybe it was just a fortunate guess but really, I expected something less cliche' from a person as accomplished as Mr Brown.

After finishing the book, countless unanswered questions were ringing in my head;
Is that all Noetic Science is about?
Why did event A,B and C happen?
Why are there so many coincidences?
Where's the sex?

Part of the satisfaction of reading his books were the detailed revelations of esoteric knowledge and ground-breaking conspiracies that were incorporated in the plot. Instead, only the skeletal framework of plot-binders were explained and the remaining gaping hole was left for the readers to fill by themselves. Granted, budding curiosity is highly subjective and could be a good or a bad thing but it definitely wasn't pleasant to have to Wikipedia what should and could have been explained convincingly in the book.

All in all, I could not help but to feel slightly disappointed with the failed delivery of a book that was so full of promise. Granted, it wasn't exactly a literary train-wreck and there were indeed many positives but I would certainly have expected more from someone of Mr Brown's calibre. I guess it's back to Digital Fortress and Deception Point for me.

3/5

Let's just hope the movie turns out well.
Yea right.