itsrainin9

Right now, I’m sitting in front of my laptop eating a peanut butter sandwich. It still hasn’t been properly processed in my head that it’s 2012 now, and I sort of feel like Mr. Wind Up Bird. 2011 was a year of change, and so many things that’ve occurred feel like they belong to someone else instead. Or maybe I’m in a state of transition, caught in the in-between where days have merged into an endless passage of un-change.

I’ve wanted to do an annual review ever since I started reading Chris Guillebeau, and although I can’t really explain it, it feels like it’s something that I have to do in order to fully absorb what’s happened so far. Read the rest of this entry »

“Is it possible, finally, for one human being to achieve perfect understanding of another? We can invest enormous time and energy in serious efforts to know another person, but in the end, how close are we able to come to that person’s essence? We convince ourselves that we know the other person well, but do we really know anything important about anyone?” - Haruki Murakami

It’s 3.40am as I’m typing on my iPhone, on my way to the airport in one of the new-fares cab. There’s a grumpy, temperamental sister on my right, which makes for a volatile start to what’s hopefully a nice holiday.

It’s kind of a pity to miss Christmas this year round, considering I’ve always spent it here at home. But then again, it’s also kind of a relief, forced by circumstances to be unable to celebrate it.

This year is so much different from last year, and I’m not sure what I feel about it yet. A little pity, a little regret, a little relief, a little distress. A little of each.

On a happier note, I’ve changed my wallpaper for the better! Park Si Hoo is my current celeb-crush. How come you so awesome, PSH?

Yay! My Kindle Touch cover from Etsy has finally arrived and I love it. It took a really long time to find something that I liked without having to spend a fortune on it, especially since most of what I liked were leather covers.

But then I came across Monica’s shop and saw this – and my heart was set. I really like the rustic feel and it looked really pretty, so… tadah!

The only thing that bugs me about the cover is the string that’s used to hook over the button. I think an elastic string would have worked better, because I keep imagining that it’s stretchy when it’s not. Aish.

Right now I’m setting up a shop on Etsy as well, because I’ve decided to let go of the yarn/fiber stash I have. Some of them were dyed by me a long time ago when I was thinking of being enterprising, but I didn’t take much action beyond that. It’s kind of funny that I’m finally going to sell them on Etsy, just as I’m letting my knitting phase go.

Photo credit: Geraldine Lee © 2011

I’m probably 9 years late in reading this, but I recently finished Haruki Murakami’s after the quake.

It was a good book. Quietly moving, if there’s such a term. I had to stop several times to let the words sink in fully. This was a book I wanted to read slowly. Savour it. There was just something about it.

I feel a little like a poseur, as though I’m pretending to be such an avid fan of Murakami’s when, really, the only other book of his that I’ve read is What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

Well, in any case, my favourite stories are probably “thailand” and “super-frog saves tokyo”. They’re also the ones that I relate to the most, along with some of the quotes I like the best.

Some of my favourite quotes:

“No matter how far you travel, you can never get away from yourself. It’s like your shadow. It follows you everywhere.” – UFO in kushiro

“What you need now more than anything is discipline. Cast off mere words. Words turn into stone.” – thailand

“My enemy is, among other things, the me inside me. Inside me is the un-me.”- super-frog saves tokyo

“‘Whatever distinguishes one lump of flesh from another when we’re alive, we’re all the same one we’re dead,’ he said. ‘Just used-up shells.’” - honey pie

On a side note, today’s exam was the last for this semester. All I have left is an essay, and once that is handed up tomorrow, school’s officially out and it’s time to party!

Like, really. DJ Masa is back in Singapore to spin some tunes on Saturday and I’m quite excited. I think it’ll be fun!

Sometimes we take things for granted. I know I do.

Today I woke up and opened up one of my most frequented sites for K-pop news only to find that it had blocked me from posting comments. I was stunned, of course. What had I done? Why did it block me?

I refreshed repeatedly, but I got the same yellow box saying: “This site has blocked you from posting new comments.” I decided it might have been my wonky internet connection, and left for school. When I came back and tried again, I realised I had to stop deluding myself. I was blocked.

I’m not bashing on the site, but this incident has woken me (once again) to the fact that we are users, not owners. Facebook, Twitter, for example – pretty much all and any other form of social media and websites out there, we use them. If they should decide on a random whim to block us, who are we to stop them?

I searched for a Contact page, to find someone and tell them that this must have been a mistake. What was the reason for blocking me?

‘Course, I could always create another account to post comments if the need to do so was so important, but it’s not that. I don’t know. I feel… frustrated. Unhappy. Trapped from expressing what I want to say. And I don’t like that feeling, that I’ve been bound.

That’s probably why I notice the surveillance cameras that seem to have appeared like magic at what seems like every corner of the MRT station. I once counted the number of cameras at the one near my block. I think I got to about fifty.

I’m pretty sure that if questioned, the authorities would provide answers like “preventing terrorism” and “neighbourhood watch” or something along the lines of protecting us and keeping the country safe. But what worries me is that if, just if, one day… all these advanced technology is turned against us.

Can you imagine being watched everywhere you go? When you leave for work (or school) and return? When you head over to the supermart for groceries? When you withdraw from the ATMs?

Of course this could just be the delusions of a paranoid conspiracy theorist. At times, I wonder if I’m not right in the head. But the authority is made up of multiple human beings. Time passes. People change. Upright individuals do not live forever.

We will all die one day.

And human beings can succumb to greed and fear. How can we ensure that these tools for our good will not be used by those in power against us? How can we make sure that what was intended for good… stays that way?

You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. You don’t.

Contents

1. Introduction / ramble
2. The verdict
3. Comparison to a real book
4. Wi-fi or 3G?
5. Special offers or ads-free?
6. How much in total?
7. How to get a Kindle in Singapore

Introduction / ramble

For months on end, I debated getting an e-book reader. I didn’t bother looking at the other e-book readers available out there – the one I wanted was a Kindle. It was an easy decision. Amazon had a huge marketplace and it was practically the go-to place for anything – it was a thriving eco-system. So that was no problem. If I wanted an e-book reader, I knew what I wanted.

But did I really need it? Or was it just a want? Read the rest of this entry »