Random Solitary Thoughts

Wednesday, September 25, 2002

I am currently writing the continuation of the The Thing Wars which shall be concluded in the second set of stories titled, The Loss of the Thing! Beginning with The Fellowship of the Thing, followed by, The Two Allies, and the final and longest account would end in Return of the Kalamari! I will not regularly be in the office as I'm working from home. So updates, might be slow! Sorry for the inconvinience caused! Till all are one!

Monday, September 23, 2002

I left the 'King' at the office last week coz I was rushing to a dinner date with me girlfriend! Needless to say, I spent the weekend listening to confusing modern songs which tell of one thing, but meant another. Why can't songs be simple and less complicated like oldies? I guess it's the sign of evolution...

Watched Simone over the weekend. Pretty interesting show which touched on a few issues. Subtle but sweet. Nice comedy with a hint of sarcasm and irony. Catch it if you can, and if anyone knows who the actress who plays Simone is, tell me!

Thursday, September 19, 2002

The office is a mess. Not that it wasn't always like this. But that's not the point. Renovations are to be carried out today, and since yesterday evening, my colleagues and I have been moving stuff around and doind major rearranging. As a result of that, I now sit closest to the main door, but furthest away from my boss! A good thing... plus, he can't look over my shoulder to see what I'm doing without actually getting up... and since I always have an eye out of sudden movement, I can easily close my internet games window and pretend to work! Life is bliss! :)

Tuesday, September 17, 2002

The darkwaters swirled like the coffee in my mug. The coldness creeps in like the biting of an ant. The bars of chocolate is merely a few centimetres away... but yet, I cannot reach out to salvation... for I have sworn to finish this task! I have sworn before the blank screen of my PC. I have sworn before the might that is my mouse. I have sworn before the great set of headphones from which I gain access to music. I have sworn to draw as many frames as I can before I go for a half-days leave to accompany my girlfriend to her ballet exam! Yes... I have sworn too much within the last few minutes to remember what I said. And with that, I call upon the powers that is the Multipurpose Man!!!

And in a flash (version 5.0) Multipurpose Man arrives!!! Sitting on his humble chair, he whizzes past the water dispenser and sits in Kalamari's place. Then, he picks up a pencil and proceeds to be confused by the lack of work. Apparently, the work has hit a rock and will have to wait for further orders before he can proceed. Shucks... Multipurpose Man cannot do anything, except to wait... and see...

Monday, September 16, 2002

I went back to my hometown for the weekend to attend my cousin's wedding. It has been half a year since I last stepped on my hometown's soil and I must say I miss being home! My parents undoubtly missed me and proceeded to shower me with 18 years of pampering which was denied to me for the first 18 years of my life. (the last few years I was away from home so they didn't have the chance to deny me my pampering... nyah nyah!)

Anyway, it was a joyous time, my cousin being wed and all! Lots of food and of course, the usual questions of when's my tunr and stuff like that! You know, old aunt's and uncle's who can't wait to have grandnephews and nieces! It was different being back in a place where everyone knew you as a kid, and when you appear as an adult, a lot of things change. There are some, who view you as someone who might be successful in the future and tried to make ammends for their past attitude towards you as a child, and some who still treat you like one.

It was fun been asked to perform tasks or chores involving the resposibility of an adult. It gives you the feeling that you're doing something useful, that you're being held in the same light as adults. That you're one of them. That you've entered their world... and begun... to suffer...

And at the end of the day, just before I left, the most common quote I heard was, "It's not easy making money eh?" Wrong I say. It's not hard making money! It's hard keeping it! Till next time, the Multipurpose Man shall return, with the continuation of the epic that will rock the world and change your mind on strangers... the Thing Wars!

Monday, September 09, 2002

Thing Wars: Return of the Thing - Journal of the Campus Counsellor

"It was a dark and stormy night, as most good stories will begin. (Hey, not all good stories start like that!) I said most. (Lord of the rings don't start like that... Steven King doesn't start his books like that... ) Hey, can you shut up so I can get on with the story? (...) Good.

Now, It was a dark and stormy night. My housemate had informed me earlier about a complicated case involving a student who doesn't quite remember who he is. The funny thing is... the people coming to see us tonight are his friends... not him!

The quaint knock on the door announced their arrival. My housemate opened the door and ushered them in. It was then that I saw three faces filled with confusion, sadness, and determination. My clients shall remain anonymous, therefore, henceforth, they will be known accordingly based on the features which describe them best... (think Cancerman!) No one asked you! (sorry) So there stood in front of me... the Tutor, the Girl, and the Squid (Hey! He doesn't look like that!) Okay okay... fine... the Accursed! (Too cultist!) the Tortured! (sounds like a movie) the Undead! (too gamish) the Victim! (they're all victims!) the Sad lonely bugger who doesn't have a life! (sounds impressive) Doh! From henceforth, the chinese male standing in front of me shall be known as the One! (sounds like a movie) Whack! (okay... okay.. I get it...) Fine... he shall be known as the Thing Bearer! (what thing does he bear?) The accused, or the friend whom they refer to as the one who doesn't know who he is.. shall henceforth be referred to as the Thing! (now that makes sense!) I'm a genius! (no, you're not...) Shut up pinky! (okay...)

And there they were three. Standing in the doorway dripping from the thunderstorm outside. Like three lost sheep in the Sahara. (There are no sheep on the Sahara) That's why they were lost! (Ooohh... riiight...) What was that? (nothing) That's it! No more metaphors! So the three of them stood there in silence. I stared at them. They stared back. My housemate Nat stared at them. They stared back at her. I stared at Nat. She stared back. I stared at the three of them. And finally, the tutor spoke.

He spoke with a voice broken from stress and fear. And I listened as he told us the story of the Thing! He gave a rough synopsis of the situation, and I listened intently to his every detail. Then when he had finished, I asked him if he could tell us the beginning of the story, and with that, the Thing Bearer came forth and told his tale of woe.

Twas a dark and stormy night much like this one... (no, it wasn't. It was just night) Quiet, let me finish this. (sheesh...) The Thing-bearer had received a phone call from the Thing, which at the time was known to the three as (NOoooOOooOo!!!) What?!??! What?!?! (thou shalt NOT utter the name of the THING, for it brings forth destruction and mayhem to the worlds that bind us together!) You've been reading LOTR again haven't you? (well... we can't all be perfect, can we?) Okay, fine... then the true identity of the Thing shall remain undisclosed! (fair enough. You may proceed) Well, the call was an odd one. It was from the Thing, but he sounded lost... somehow...he asked the Thing-bearer if it was indeed him who had picked up the call. Understandably, the Thing-bearer was suspicious and thought it nothing more than a joke, but being a trusting individual, he agreed to meet the Thing at the staircase of the hostel block.

The meeting itself was sprung with surprises. The Thing was there waiting for him but the first words he said were questions. Odd questions. And the Thing-bearer who at that time didn't bear a Thing (ewww... that sucked) Okay, so I ain't a natural born joker! (hehehe) @*#^#@)( (hey! no swearing onpublic blogs) Who says? (at least not on this one) That's better. So anyway, the Thing-bearer was puzzled by the reaction of the Thing who seemed to be pretending not to know or recognise the Thing-bearer. But he nonetheless approach the Thing and the Thing gave him a letter. Undeterred, the Thing-bearer ripped apart the envelope and read it contents.

The contents of the letter contained an explaination written by the Thing himself, saying that he had to undergo a therapy for his brain tumour and that he might be experiencing amnesia because of that. He then proceeded to ask a favour from the Thing-bearer to take care of him while his memory is messed up and to NOT tell anyone to prevent people from worrying. The letter was written on Friday. The day it was handed over to the Thing-bearer was on Sunday.

The motive of the Thing at this time is still uncertain, but one thing can be said for sure. The Thing is up to something! (yeah something) Would you stop looking over my shoulder when I write? (peeeachy) Hmmph! So the Thing-bearer was at the crossroads, wondering what to do and the first thing that came to mind was to run! You see, the Thing-bearer at this point had lost a grandmother to cancer and he was still revelling in the shock that came with it. The guilt that eats away at his soul when he recalls all the times he had neglected his duties to make her last days more enjoyable. He regreted not spending more time to get to know his grandmother. And that guilt, tore away at his heart when he was about to run away from the Thing! No, he couldn't do it! He had to redeem himself! He had to help the Thing!

And so it came to be that the Thing-bearer chose to spend some time helping the Thing familiarize himself (itself) Whatever. Familirize itself with his (its) Okay!!! With ITS surroundings. But as fate would have it, the Thing-bearer had an appointment that night itself, a dinner appointment with the Tutor to discuss the theory of repetitive gaming on local gaming networks, so he decided to bend the rules a bit by letting the Tutor know about the current situation as the Thing-bearer foresaw this task as one which cannot be accomplished alone.

So with a quick explanation and the promise of more to come, the Thing-bearer brought the Thing to meet the Tutor. From there, it was up to the team of Tutor and Thing-bearer to make ammends to the state of mind of the Thing. This went on till Monday morning where the Thing awoke, and appeared to have no trace of memory of the previous night! Now, this was a heavy task indeed as the Thing-bearer struggled on his own to help the Thing remember who or what it was! It was towards the night that the Thing-bearer remembered! The Thing was supposed to meet the Girl regarding a club! That was when the Thing-bearer bended the rule a second time... he told the Girl the situation!

(Continuation)

And so it came to pass that the Girl knew about the condition of the Thing through the Thing-bearer. The Thing-bearer had no choice but to entrust the Girl with this secret, for if the Thing had by any chance begun to act suspicious, then the Girl would be confused and puzzled as to what becomes of her. With that in mind, the Fellowship of the Thing was formed! (you do come up with pretty catchy names...) Thanks! (copy cat!) What?!? (you took that off books and movies) Did not! (did too) Did not! (did too) Not! (too) Not! (too) NOT! (two) Two? (yeah... wasted two minutes of our readers time arguing about nothing) It's not two minutes yet! (it will be soon if you don't do anything about it) It is two minutes yet? (stop wasting reader's time and get on with the story) Okay okay... told ya two minutes was up! (@$$hole) What was that? (nothing) No, you said something. Now what was that?! (manhole) Okay.

The Fellowship was now formed, and the three set out on their adventurous task to prevent further damage to the Thing! Now, all this happened up till Monday. The two following days were gruesome for the three especially for the Thing-bearer as he was the one who had to shoulder the most burden to take care of the Thing. Actions were repeated, and introductions were made over and over again. The Thing seemed to have a knack for getting into trouble and the Thing-bearer will always be there to make ammends so that no one knows what's going on.

The thing proved to be a good actor, pretending to remember people as they pass, and to handle projects as if he were doing it since day one. All in all, the Fellowship and the Thing managed to convince most of the people that nothing was out of the ordinary. Only a few were suspicious...

By Wednesday, the Fellowship had to finally deliver the news to a few of the Thing's closest friends as they were getting worried about him. The news was an initial shock at first, but later on, they began to feel sorry for the Thing and to make things comfortable for him.

But try as they might, the Fellowship was losing faith and by today (thursday) Thank you. (you're welcome), they were weary beyond recognition. At last, they were gathered when the Thing was resting to discuss the rest of their plans to keep the Thing safe from harm, when suddenly, the pieces started to fall together. Each of the three had different stories to tell. All about the Thing. And all of them heard these stories from the Thing itself!

The storm clouds were gathering as the three collected their information, each comparing the stories that the Thing told them with the rest. The stories don't add up! (oh no) What?! (nothing) Baka! (:p) The Girl heard from the Thing that he (ahem) sorry... IT was an only child. The Tutor however heard that it had brothers. So did the Thing-bearer. Twas one such example of the stories that the Thing told them, and they compared more, finding loopholes in the stories.

And so, with the dial of a few numbers, the Tutor rang up my housemate Nat, and told her about it. Nat, brave woman that she is (and cute too) What are you thinking?!??! (sorry) Idiot! (i said sorry) *Grumbles* Anyway Nat told them to come over to talk about it and proceeded to ask me to help out in the situation. And there I was sitting and listening to the story of the three.

The Fellowship, having told their story to me, sought refuge and rest. I told them to go back and rest, for it has been a long half-week, and they need their energies for what might be brewing over the rest of the week.

And as they left, I sat by the halogen lamps (fire places are not popular in this country) Thanks for your utterly useless piece of knowledge. (not useless) Everyone reading this is from this country! (who knows? we might have international guests) Okay, have it your way!

So I sat there, and I thought. There were three possibilities. Number one, the Thing is seriously ill, and needs medical attention. And its parents are irresponsible, leaving him in a campus when he should be in the safe confines of his home. Number two, he is mentally ill and needs even more medical attention. Number three, he is playing a terrible prank on the Fellowship. But if that is so, then what motive would there be? That, I have to think...

But one thing I know... something big is blowing this way... and come Monday, all will be revealed... for I have a plan..."

And with that, the Campus Counsellor wrapped up her report, and pondered into the night... all the while, her alter-ego tugged at her, urging her to sleep. But she has things to do... more than can be done in such a short time... and time is not something they have...

Thursday, September 05, 2002

I haven't been able to update the trilogy that makes up the Thing Wars... yet... as I have been busy with deadlines of late. Updates shall commence as soon as I can get some free time to actually write more than three lines! But for now...this is it!

Wednesday, September 04, 2002

A shiver of ice upon a sliver of life... brings forth the frost that bites the skin and numbs the mind. Frozen limbs claw for freedom while the ice cage holds fast in it's hinges... locking every possibility of escape! Our hero is trapped in this prison of eternal coldness... till one day, he may be discovered as the last remaining frozen human specimen by a race far more advance than us... and have his semen extracted for the purpose of creating more hybrids like himself... to re-create the extinct humans!!! But for now... our mild-mannered hero lies dormant... frozen and forgotten with only a chocolate bar to keep him warm... and the promise of tom yam for dinner...

Monday, September 02, 2002

I have finally managed to move to a new apartment in Cyber Ria... with Booya. A nice place... and it was cool enough that I didn't need a fan to sleep soundly! Brrr... morning was cold tho... Busy week ahead... and to top that off, I was sick on a Monday! Darn... there goes my week... sheesh...