(*pictures to come)
within the blink of an eye, the school holidays have passed me by. *lets out a big sigh* it's back to school, and i'm nearly the end of the first week of the third term. a positive thing is that my girls have been nothing short of angels since the start of the week, even those who had given me tremendous problems earlier in the year. i'm rather amazed by the change, and pray their enthusiasm for school will last. i'm going to reward them tomorrow with treats :)
in hindsight, i've accomplished many different things this holiday past which i am thankful for. first, there was the school trip i made to south korea. it was most fulfilling in more ways than one. i saw a lot and learnt even more. truly, it was an eye-opener which i'm rather thankful for having been given the opportunity to go. of course, there are things that have to be done now as follow-up action to the trip, but i honestly don't mind it because it's quite an exciting thing to be able to plan and see the implementation of such fantastic things as i've been exposed to in south korea. if you're curious, it was an educational trip where we visited quite a few south korean schools, including elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. most entertaining and informative.
a week or so after my return from korea, i went for an overnight chalet stay with mr c at sentosa. and guess what? he proposed. lol. yup, and under the stars no less, much akin to the first time he held my hand while we were in myanmar on an expedition project, under the guise of helping me through the darkness. i don't know when the wedding will be held yet, but i'm so elated i'm afraid i'll burst of happiness. 170608 - that's the day it happened. :)
the june holidays were also fulfilling and enriching because i attended a myriad of classes. i went for a cool scrapbooking class called petite chinoiserie @ madewithlove. i also picked up ballet and attended my first few adult ballet classes @ ymca during june. i did all these things with dia and gina from work. it's great hanging around and attending classes with your gal pals.
when i was young, i was one of those little girls who so badly wanted to learn how to dance ballet, but i had to take up the piano instead. well, i still love playing the piano and am still pursuing grade 7 after putting it on hold for nearly a decade, but why why why couldn't i take both? anyway, it was only recently where i discovered the existence of such a thing as adult ballet. i had given up hope years back, thinking that i was past the suitable age for picking up such a dance. adult ballet isn't going to make me a professional ballerina, but it's sufficient to see me dancing adequately well and that's good enough for me. in my opinion, the teacher @ ymca teaches a little too quickly and he doesn't spend enough time correcting our footwork. as a teacher myself, i feel that he's too concerned with completing the syllabus as opposed to really ensuring everyone understands what they're doing. so, i sourced out another ballet school and i'll be going for my first lesson this sunday. it's palaisdance @ crown centre and the teacher sounds so much like my piano teacher! female and very strict. somehow, i work better under pressure. i can't wait.
and that more or less sums up my very exciting june holidays. now, i just have to grit my teeth and see myself through another semester of school before it's time for the end year holidays. ahhh... the anticipation. -_-
A little boy asked his
mother, 'Why are you crying?' 'Because I'm a woman,' she told
him.
'I don't understand,' he said. His Mom just hugged him and said, 'And you never will.'
Later the little boy asked his father, 'Why do mother seem to cry for no reason?'
'All women cry for no reason,' was all his dad could say.
The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.
Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked, 'God, why do women cry so easily?'
God said:
'When I made the woman she had to be special.
I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort.
I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children.
I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining.
I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly.
I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.
I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.
And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed.'
'You see my son,' said God, 'the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.
The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart - the place where love resides.'
as i draw near to the end of the second-last week of the school term, i feel full of elation and exuberance for the coming holiday ahead. :)
it's a very welcome and much needed break, as i'm sure many would agree.
life today is a bundle of good things:
to start off with, i'm finally getting a place of my own. well, not really my own, as mr c will definitely remind me. it's ours. have to get used to using that term. no more mine and yours, but ours. so yes, our house. well, we didn't get a place in toa payoh in the end, albeit its fantastic location. reason being, mainly, price. but, the biggest factor in changing our minds was us getting shortlisted for an appointment with hdb to choose a place in the upcoming punggol spring. well, when i first received letter of appointment, i was filled with a sense of irony. from toa payoh to... punggol? for those of you who don't know, toa payoh is just a ten to fifteen minute drive from town, but punggol is about twice that distance. it's also severely under-developed, i.e. there's nothing there now but grass and trees and a very lonely mrt. oh, and pier. but it seems that by the time my place is ready (three years later), there'll be a waterway, new mall, and tonnes of vibrant life at punggol. i don't really buy all that, honestly. there's been talk to develop that area since... forever. but, it's cheap. and it's nice. and it's our own. and i'll put up with the distance from town and instead, enjoy the serenity that it offers. it might well turn out to be a quiet respite. we're picking the flat come sunday. yay!
some other interesting stuff i've been getting up to include scrapbooking classes! went for the Scrapbook Design and U basic course @ madewithlove just this satuday past. attended the class with dia. it was fun. and it made me feel like buying up the whole shop and scrapping every single interesting aspect of my life so that i can give my albums to my children in the future and they will come to know me as i really am. hahaha. sounds nutty, but i buy it. i want to scrap. the second class will take place this coming sat, and i'm gonna prepare a list of tools and materials to buy. :]
next up, i'm taking up adult ballet. lol. yup you heard me right. i know it's an odd choice of a hobby, but i always wanted to learn ballet. serious i did. when i was a little girl, i pleaded with my mother to send me for ballet classes. but you know what she said? she told me that all ballerinas have flat bosoms and fat thighs. and that was why i couldn't learn ballet. but guess what... i'm no ballerina, but i still have those things. -_- so... no harm done right? i'm starting the adult ballet class @ the ymca next tues. i know i can't really dance well, and i have two left feet mostly. but i still wanna try, if for nothing else but personal satisfaction. and maybe, just maybe, a little weightloss. lol.
finally, i'll be going on a school trip this holiday. i'm going with some other staff to korea to gain an insight into how they run their schools there. sounds like fun? i don't know what to expect, but it's something else to look forward to. an experience.
add all these to the coming arrival of my soulkid linn, and life today's just... perfect.
anyhoo, i still managed to find a wig for bjorn. here it is...
the following photos are a set taken in my balcony at about noon. i wanted to take some pictures of penelope in slightly harsher lighting, so that there would be some play on shadows in the pictures. i'm not much of a photographer, but compared to my previous pictures, i'm quite pleased with the way this lot turned out.
photography is one of the things that i would like to work on this year. i'm thinking of reading up a little bit more about photo composition and how to take better pictures of my dolls. i'm also thinking of using my lds (teacher's self-improvement grant sort of) to purchase a digital SLR camera. i don't really know if that's pitching it too far, but it's just a dream for now. i still have all the way till the end of the year to decide.
i took the plunge today and bought a ball-jointed doll.
i know i previously posted about ordering a qiu doll from angelfantasy, but the woman whom i ordered the doll from never contacted me again, and i have no idea how to find her. whatever the case, if she ends up calling me in the near future, i won't hesitate to pay for and collect qiu. but in the meantime, i can't wait so long for something that's perpetually in the unconfirmed status.
well, i have three different doll moulds in mind before i went ahead with my buy. they were latidoll's blue line yern (doll in banner), soulkid apple and soulkid linn. yern has a very pouty look, which i like, but i found her a little too childish looking after awhile. i know that many people believe mini-sds to be the younger sister equivalent of full size sd dolls. but, i honestly find 60cm a little bit too big for a doll, and really appreciate the smaller 42cm moulds. both apple and linn from souldoll come with the mature body type, more or less resembling their bigger 60cm sisters. additionally, they're double jointed, which i hear is very good for posing purposes.
so, after thinking it through for days on end, and asking all my close friends who they think is prettier, i ended up choosing linn. although mr. c actually said that he found apple prettier, i feel that she's too cute and youngish looking. i much prefer linn's sultry and somewhat more mature look. here's a picture of linn.
it's darker, more melancholy, and suits my idea of the girl's persona better. i don't really know what she'll be like, but i'm building up a rough draft of what i expect her to be.
name: bjorn takashima
ethnicity: half caucasian, half japanese
age: 22
personality: bjorn's a melancholic girl who doesn't like to smile much. she likes reading a book or playing the piano on rainy days. she loves dressing up in gothic lolita wear, and has high hopes that her owner-to-be (me!) will sew/buy her many lovely outfits.
oh i really can't wait for her to come. according to the website, they'll take 3-4 weeks to get her ready for shipping, and shipping takes another 5-7 days (lucky me cos i'm living in asia so it's much faster). so approximately, i'm guessing she'll get here mid june. in the meantime, i've placed orders for two outfits for her, complete with wigs, dresses and shoes. i'll also need to clear up my bedside table top for placing her, and maybe try my hand at sewing her some simple clothes or making her some accessories.
this is so exciting.
the sunday that just passed was what i would entitle 'a most blissful sunday'. it was unproductive in terms of work, but i accomplished a lot of other things. namely, i had a great piano lesson where i learnt another part of chopin's valse and a jazzed up version of moonriver. very nice.
then, i went for my very first scrapbooking class at laine's papeterie. it's just a start class which i have to complete before i'm able to take part in their other designer studio lessons. i learnt a lot of things, like the importance of using achaic quality glues, papers and plastics. i had enough time to put together my first ever scrap which i did using a lovely photo of me and mr c. maybe i'll upload it here in time to come. might not cos mr c's quite wary of his privacy. anyhow, take my word for it that it's really a very lovely scrap. i'm super pleased with the result. will be attending the scrapbook design and u basic course at made with love in may with claudia. can't wait to scrap again!
and as a nice finale to a very blissful day, i met up with mr c to catch a band performance at the esplanade. i really don't know what the name of the band is, but the drummer is mr c's colleague, so we were there to 'show face'. i wasn't expecting much initially, but then was pleasantly surprised to hear some really well played old school tunes. my favourite is 'satisfaction' by (correct me if i'm wrong) the rollingstones. after the performance, we dined at this new marche style eatery at raffles city. except, it's all japanese food! they call it a jap food bazaar. it was yummy. i especially love the banana and chocolate crepe. yum yum.
and all in all, that marks a lovely end to my blissful sunday. i hope that there will be more days like this to come.
Which popular slang expression drives you nuts?
this is my very first scriptfrenzy update. it's currently the 7th of april and i have exactly 4 pages written. i reckon that's an acceptable amount considering that i didn't really start writing till last night. i was too busy the past week to really get anything written. i'm not sure if i'll manage to finish the challenge of a hundred pages, but this is already exciting enough for me.
i'm gonna be posting my script up as it goes along, cos well, i just like sharing my writing with you guys. it's a tad bit explicit, i ought to warn you first. so please be keeping peering underaged eyes off it. thank you very much. and for the rest of you that won't be offended, here you go.
some background information on the script:
it's called "breadsticks and places of worship". honestly, i don't quite know yet why i chose this name. i've been wanting to pen a novel since i was fourteen, and that was one of the first names i came up with for my novel. it's stuck ever since, and i believe i can get it to fit my script eventually. alternatively, i'll just change the name as i move along with the story and find one that suits it more.
my script is about a young teenage girl named sondra tan. sondra's a little bit of a self-destructive soul. she feeds on anger and other bad emotions. the script is basically a montage of separate scenes that will serve to explore sondra's psyche. it's meant to leave you bewildered and thoroughly embroiled in a love-hate relationship with the female protagonist.
Breadsticks and Places of Worship:
1 INT. SONDRA’S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT
Sondra stumbles through her room, desperately searching
through drawers, littering the floor in her search.
Sondra flings her hands exasperatedly, then huddles in a
corner. Tears stream down her face and she buries her head
in her hands and sobs without abandon.
SONDRA (V.O.)
My name is Sondra Tan, an 18 year
old nobody. They say that turning
18 is something wonderful, but this
has been the worst year of my very
short existence. And tonight, I’m
finally going to put an end to it,
once and for all. What’s the point
in living, anyway? There’s only
pain, sorrow, bitterness and
enemies. I don’t want any part of
it anymore. Life, that is.
Sondra wipes her tears on her sleeve, and stands up with an
eerily calm look on her face. She takes a step forward, and
reaches out her arm. A flicker of something resembling hope
passes across her blank face, then disappears just as
quickly as it came.
2 INT. NIGHTCLUB - CORNER BOOTH - DIM LIGHTS
Sondra slumps in a seat, legs crossed, balancing a glass of
bourbon coke on her thigh. Her head is tilted at an angle,
with glazed eyes staring disinterestedly ahead.
Danny sits opposite Sondra, his elbows perched on the small
table between them, a glass of stout before him. His eyes
look questioningly at Sondra, his messy hair and a slight
lipstick stain beside his lips telling of a recent tousle.
DANNY
You want to tell me what that was
for? Or should I guess?
SONDRA
(Innocently)
What was what for, Danny?
DANNY
Come on, Sondra, don’t play
innocent with me.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 2.
SONDRA
(Laughing, eyes still glazed
and emotionless)
Well then, why don’t you tell me
what you think, sweetie?
DANNY
I think you’re coming onto me.
SONDRA
And even if I am, what are you
going to do about it, Danny?
DANNY
(Sighs)
Let’s not get into this again,
Sondra.
SONDRA
(Raises eyebrow, and gives a
small frown)
Are you saying that you don’t want
me?
DANNY
You know that’s not what I’m
saying. I find you beautiful, and
entirely desirable.
SONDRA
Then, what’s stopping you? Why
aren’t you here?
Sondra drags her fingertip along the vinyl at the spot right
next to her, her fingertip tracing up her thigh and finally
ending at her crotch.
DANNY
I love Di. You know that, right?
SONDRA
(Laughing)
Of course I do, darling, of course
I do. Who’s mentioning Di at all?
What the poor girl doesn’t know
won’t kill her, after all.
DANNY
(Frowning)
What’s gotten into you, Sondra?