I have disfigured my beloved friend Joyce in this portrait here …
Portrait with crayons
Month: August 2014
Squares
Trip to Scotland
Glasgow
- Went for a guided tour of the Glasgow school of Art. Lily is the student who gave me the tour tour. She is from Hungary and is studying painting/screens in Glasgow. She has a dog and cat who lick each other’s ears often. She has a sarcastic sense of humour. Her dad used to travel to Singapore to work extensively. We got along well fantastically. I love her. Her Italian friend once said to her “Glasgow is like a zoo. The women are like elephants. How can I possibly bring an elephant back to see my mum?”
- Concept of delegation was reinforced in my mind. The importance of it.
- I like the McKintosh House and the Hunterian Gallery in the university of Glasgow. Returned to them the next day.
- There are construction works in the University of Glasgow which are surrounded by walls printed with headshots of students and staff of the university and of famous people, along with their take on how they are going to change the world. How do I want to change the world? I want to improve and maintain mobility in the elderly. I want to help people to look and feel young (sounds like the elixir of life doesn’t it).
- I went for this Indie music night at this bar/venue called Nice and Sleazy. Entrance fee goes towards funding for Gaza. Three hours of indie music which was awesome. Three bands – the first one is an acoustic duo, second a rock band and the third a big band/swing style band.
- After the indie evening, I headed to a Speakeasy bar. When I entered it, there were two ways to go, the left and the right. Sensing my confusion, the bouncer asked “Is this your first time here? Do you know that this is a gay bar?” “Yes” “You want to enter to the left then.” Some lads were singing karaoke. Otherwise, everyone were crowding at the bar counter. Went out for a fag. A woman asked me whether I would mind her lighting up her joint on my lit fag. We started a conversation. “Are you from Ireland as well?” “Well, I work in Ireland but am from Singapore.” She lived in Canada for some time. Hence, her neutral accent. She asked “Are you on the downstairs or upstairs?” “I’m not sure. What’s that about?” “I think you are on downstairs” “It’s a fetish club upstairs”. “Hmm. Interesting. Tell me more.” “Well, you have your fetishes acted out. But it’s pretty mild here.” “Okay, so what’s your fetish?” “Whipping”. In my mind, I was wondering about the difference between whipping and spanking. She said “That’s why I wear this skirt.” and she made a motion of pulling up her long black shirt from her knees to her hips. She made a phone call. She said that her boyfriend is not picking up her call. What should she do? I said do what makes you happy. And gave her a smile. Round 2 of whipping?
- A Chinese/Asian woman at the back of a cab waving to me and saying hi to me excitedly.
- Meeting of Joseph, a French and Italian teacher who’s into classical music. Season ticket owner of SCO – Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Brought a bunch of kids to China. Chosen by a certain political party in China.
- Went to Loch Lomond. Beautiful.
Edinburgh
- Ran 1.5 hours in a “park” which turned out to be mountains/tall hills in the rain. Kept going in circles.
- Missed my first play as I was late by 5 minutes.
- Was earlier by at least 10 minutes for all other plays.
- Paid play that I enjoyed most was Potted Sherlocks.
- “Free” play that I enjoyed most was Man Enough.
- Edinburgh is a beautiful city.
- Entered into a debauchery of watching theatre / comedies and drinking.
- Didn’t meet anyone interesting. Except
- there was this little Australian girl who studied one semester in Italy and in Germany respectively. She’s from somewhere near Brisbane and she said that she loves Sydney. I said that my Australian housemate from Brisbane said that Sydney vacuous. She gave me a blank look. Was it her vocabulary or she is shocked that someone is badmouthing her favourite city. Sensed a bit of snob in her. This air of superiority. She’s like what 20 years old or less than that. What has she to feel superior about? Shakes head.
- This pair of sisters from somewhere near DC, USA. Very bubbly. Made polite conversations. Their parents taught them well.
Questions that pop into my mind during this trip:
- The study of ageing. What can be done to reverse it?
- Mobility in the elderly. What cause them not to be able to walk like a young person?
- What causes the elderly to fall down easily? What can be done? And why are these treatment programmes implemented?
Quotes from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button screenplay
“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”
“Sometimes we’re on a collision course, and we just don’t know it. Whether it’s by accident or by design, there’s not a thing we can do about it. A woman in Paris was on her way to go shopping, but she had forgotten her coat – went back to get it. When she had gotten her coat, the phone had rung, so she’d stopped to answer it; talked for a couple of minutes. While the woman was on the phone, Daisy was rehearsing for a performance at the Paris Opera House. And while she was rehearsing, the woman, off the phone now, had gone outside to get a taxi. Now a taxi driver had dropped off a fare earlier and had stopped to get a cup of coffee. And all the while, Daisy was rehearsing. And this cab driver, who dropped off the earlier fare; who’d stopped to get the cup of coffee, had picked up the lady who was going to shopping, and had missed getting an earlier cab. The taxi had to stop for a man crossing the street, who had left for work five minutes later than he normally did, because he forgot to set off his alarm. While that man, late for work, was crossing the street, Daisy had finished rehearsing, and was taking a shower. And while Daisy was showering, the taxi was waiting outside a boutique for the woman to pick up a package, which hadn’t been wrapped yet, because the girl who was supposed to wrap it had broken up with her boyfriend the night before, and forgot.
When the package was wrapped, the woman, who was back in the cab, was blocked by a delivery truck, all the while Daisy was getting dressed. The delivery truck pulled away and the taxi was able to move, while Daisy, the last to be dressed, waited for one of her friends, who had broken a shoelace. While the taxi was stopped, waiting for a traffic light, Daisy and her friend came out the back of the theater. And if only one thing had happened differently: if that shoelace hadn’t broken; or that delivery truck had moved moments earlier; or that package had been wrapped and ready, because the girl hadn’t broken up with her boyfriend; or that man had set his alarm and got up five minutes earlier; or that taxi driver hadn’t stopped for a cup of coffee; or that woman had remembered her coat, and got into an earlier cab, Daisy and her friend would’ve crossed the street, and the taxi would’ve driven by. But life being what it is – a series of intersecting lives and incidents, out of anyone’s control – that taxi did not go by, and that driver was momentarily distracted, and that taxi hit Daisy, and her leg was crushed.”
A bike crash
I was drunk. Was riding a bike. Slammed into a lamp post. Fellow cyclists yelled at me “Are you all right?” “Yeah” I replied. “Are you sure?” “Yeah” I replied. My bike doesn’t work anymore. I wheeled it to the tram stop. It still doesn’t work. Moving the pedals doesn’t move the bike. I had to pay for a tram ticket back home. Shit. I nearly lost my life.
Sights from Scotland
Isn’t that what life is all about?
Saw this while taking a stroll in the streets of Cork city:
What is life about for you?
Quick post
1. An interesting Venn diagram from this web article.
2. I wanted to try butter with my microwaved baked beans. I reached for the tub of butter in my fridge and found mould in it! I purchased the butter just perhaps 2 or 3 weeks ago. Mould is absolutely unacceptable. It got me thinking. There is something wrong about the fridge. Ah! It’s not cold enough! I found the thermostat and did some tweaking. Good gracious! The fridge is finally “cold” for the first time since I moved into this studio. Stupid me! 😉
3. I was in Cork City for the long weekend. They had the gay pride parade on Sunday. Lots of festivities taking place!
4. Here’s something interesting!
The World of Joey 