Monday, September 8, 2008

Updates



I was shaken out of my self-induced lethargy recently when the one and only Calliopia ordered me to update my blog since it was getting mouldy... and believe me, when Calliopia tells you to do something, you'd better do it.

Since I am about as uninspired and uninspiring as only a PMS-ravaged woman in a bad mood (throw in a persistent backache from washing the bathroom tiles a little too enthusiastically) can be, I thought I would do my bounden duty and get it over with by giving some updates of how I've been spending my days, and a few random thoughts - and I do mean random - to fill up the space.

~~~~~~~
I hardly ever get to watch TV, especially movies, anymore, so I decided to indulge myself this weekend. Among other things, I finally got to watch the much-hyped Jackie Chan/Jet Li starrer, The Forbidden Kingdom after practically everyone has watched it. I've always loved kung-fu films, and this one was a special treat because unlike the westernized, Americanized, technicalized kung-fu films that are churned out by the dozen, this one really brought me back to my childhood days when my sisters and I would huddle up and watch those "authentic" Chinese films, complete with terrible dubbing. For a long time, I thought that was how the Chinese spoke... words still coming out of their mouths long after their lips had been clamped shut. C'mon, I was just a kid. Anyway, The Forbidden Kingdom has those typical elements of beloved Chinese movies of yore, like the drunken master, the hero-in-training, the ill-destined heroine, the silly antics and even slightly yucky eating habits. Definitely unbelievable, definetely enjoyable.
~~~~~~~~~

I watched a sex-tape that had "leaked out", something that I don't normally do. I mean, I'm not that frustrated... yet. But this time, the girl was particularly young, and sadness overwhelmed me after I saw it. It just hit me so hard that our society has become so sick that young people feel the need to resort to gimmicks such as these to feel important and loved. And here we were, passing on the tape, no less implicated; let's not dwell on this too long.

I also watched a movie on cable TV which had Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (have I got it right?) the guy from August Rush. The movie was called Match Point. It's about this married guy who falls helplessly in lust with a woman, persuades her to have an affair with him, and then kills her because she gets pregnant and wants him to leave the guileless wifey. Quite a study in human psychology. I enjoyed it in a warped kind of way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last Saturday, a group of youngsters - school kids - came together for a Clean Mizoram campaign. They cleaned up the commercial areas of Aizawl as best as they could, and they were cheerful and earnest in what they did. I just knew there are good kids still around, despite all the flack they get because of a few rotten apples in the cart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Internet connection has been temperamental, to put it mildly, and hence the sluggishness about updating my blog. My bills came, and there was nothing sluggish about the way I've been billed. I don't even want to talk about it. Let's just say I may work off my debts in a few years' time if I work at my regular job and take all the part-time jobs available, and butter up my dad into making a few concessions, and wash dishes in restaurants, and babysit neighbors' kids... well, you get the idea. This lady not only has PMS and back pain, she's in a very bad mood.

So I went and bought a new car (on loan).

Oh yeah, I also straightened my hair. I know, my poor hair suffers everytime I go through an emotional crises. It was straight to begin with, until I decided to perm it, streak it, and so on and so forth. Now I'm back to being me, with my regular hair. However, I have now a new-found respect for people who straighten their hair on a regular basis. The amount of time and patience it takes to go through one sitting is incredible. And, people, I was not allowed to wash it for three days. Believe you me, I did not smell good. Ah, the things we do for the sake of beauty! But what fun! I bet guys don't have stories like these to tell.


Rambling may be fun for me, but not for you, methinks. So ciao until next time.

35 comments:

  1. Kan enthlawn zing bawk a atlast..Thanks to miss Jay :-) Tun tum zetzawng chawhchawrawi hle mai!Khawchhak lam film tha i hriat duh chuan maimawm hian a direct tha thei a nia zawt mai rawh.

    Chubakah chuan..buai hi a tha buai ve miahlo sofa chunga a bawp thluang zara kuhva hring ei chung a remote hmet zut zut nitin engmah thawklo ai chuan hma an sawn zawk hrim hrim.

    Chuan i blog hi zan reh tawh lamah chuan inthlahrung deuh tak hian hla hi a rawn in play a, a tirah chuan ka hrethiam leh peklo a, computer sound hi ka en ka en a, ka page load dangte'n an load tel emaw ka ti thul. Ka hriatchhuah chuan hla nalh deuh minlo ngaihthlak tir ilo tum reng a, ka lawm e :-) Zan rei lamah chuan thlahrang em a nilo ang chu...kan ti se se ngam chauh!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yahoo! You bought a new car!! *wink*

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yep, when in a not so particularly cheerful mood, good old shopping always comes to the rescue. Be it something as small as a safety pin or (ahem) as big as a car, it never fails to give a much needed boost to the spirit.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Welcome back to your blog! Though not so authoritative as Caliopia, i did peep in many times to see if you're out of hibernation. What about a haircut? It'll lift your mood, promise.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A new car must be a good pick-me-up too. Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yep, when a Greek goddess gives you an order it'd better get done or else. And you write so beautifully what are you carping at about being uninspired? You can write the hind legs off a donkey and still have people lapping it all up. There's a lovely lyrical quality to your prose that's extremely rare, believe you me.

    Hoo boy, I love Jonathan Rhys-Meyers too. Will definitely make it a point to get hold of Match Point *slobber slobber*

    I don't watch sex-tapes myself either though Lord knows I'm frust enough haha but I saw snippets of the one you mentioned too. Now I look at schoolchildren and wonder what they get up to in their spare time...

    Haven't got my net bills yet but I probably won't be so wiped out I go rushing out to buy a new car hehe j/k. Hope to see pix of the new wheels in your next post.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @sawmpuia: I lo lut thlawn thin tih chu hria ila, ka lo update vat tur a nia, a va pawi ve le ooo. Yuman in notice pawh ka lo ring vaklo aa! Nia, hmanni a i sawi ang deuh khan keini pahnih hi chu kan in buai siak hi ni deuh ringawt a ni tiro? Chuan mawm, music kha...lol... a player ah khan pause na te pawh a awm ve kha mawle, a bengchheng i tih deuh chuan.Hehe kpoh ka hriat tir chuan josepha blog leh puia blog ka hawn a piang hian a in play buai nuai zel a, ka hawng rual ziah bok sia, a tawpah chuan ka chhui chhuak ta lom.

    @Daggylo: Yahoo! You paid me a visit, Rap Star!

    @ aduhi: yeah, shopping is therapy, definitely... the downside being that, the "high" doesn't last very long, esp when you come back down to earth the next day and realise you're in even more debt than you were before!

    ReplyDelete
  8. @mesjay: hahaha, thank you for the warm welcome. I was starting to feel a bit like a stranger here! I come before you with my head bowed low, tail between my legs, meekly wagging to see if I'll still be petted. I did cut my once-alomost-waist-length-hair twice before I admitted that that particular form of therapy had lost a bit of its shine; besides, my poor hair had had enough by then. The new car? Well... as I said, it's what we Mizos would call a "sum thun-i nu" so I've got mixed feelings about it now. Of course, it's nice to CRUISE along for once, despite these bumpity bumpy roads.

    @ calliopia: I prostrate myself before thee, thou Greek goddess. Thy will be done. It has been done, actually, lolz. Thanks for prodding me out of my inertia. I suppose those nice comments had to be made out of a sense of loyalty...but ty ty ty. you just made my day.

    sorry I spoiled the ending of Matchpoint for you. I figured everybody must have watched it (since I'm the least updated about movies of anyone I know).

    The car. Huiz. I should not have included that piece of information. Very belated realization. lolz

    ReplyDelete
  9. Car thar, sam thar, mahni pawh thar vung dawn nih chu :).Tunlai thil awmzia hi a mak khawp naupang kan tih mai2 lai hian an nula/tlangval hma ta a niang, a hrim2 thu ah multimedia world in a ken tel ve a ni ange, ti mai ang

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hehe Forbidden Kingdom was such a bummer! I went to the theatre with full expectations, but it was no where comparable to CTHD, Hero or HOFD. Its a good movie of course, but I was expecting too much, hence the big let down.

    Sex tape that leaked out? Were you the source of the leak? *GRIN*

    Seriously, kids these days!!! And they say that girl is in 11th standard! shocking. Back in my days, we never did that kinda stuff in 11th. Maybe 12th, but definitely not in 11th.

    :-P

    lolz, love the part where you mentioned you were pissed off with the internet billing so you went and bought a new car. haha! :-)

    Hey, even if you can't blog regularly like before, do come and ramble like this at least once a while. Really feels good to read what you write.


    By the way,

    a PMS-ravaged woman washing the bathroom tiles a little too enthusiastically

    ewww!!!!

    :-D

    ReplyDelete
  11. It surely is an "Updates" after a LONG time:)
    New car..I am getting jeolous
    And the hair..they look beautiful..

    ReplyDelete
  12. mizoramnuam.blogspot.com ah hian rawn leng lut ve la aw, please !!!
    Hei nithum zet ka buaipui ve a, thil ka la tih ngailoh ania. A tir chuan 'blog' hi engnge anih pawh ka hre lo a !!! Guide tu ka nei bawk silo...tun weekend zet chu ka buai ve teh asin !!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. welcme back, thot u bid goodbye to ur blog :-)

    A random dan hi chhiar nuam khawp mai. lo update leh zeuh zeuh toh la o. Khawharthlak thin alom!

    ReplyDelete
  14. @vana: chhas thar pawh??! Nia tiro, mak ngot mai, 'with great power comes great responsibility' an tia, I guess the same is true for all these wonder-gadgets that have come out.

    @Illusionnaire: Told you I was an ignoramus about movies, I have no idea what those abbreviations stand for, so for me FK still rules, lolz. Gimme a break, that was my first movie in a long time. I suppose at that point, even a Bollywood masala movie would have had been super-engrossed.

    "Love the part where you mentioned you were pissed off with the internet billing so you went and bought a new car. haha! :-)".... well, I've always wondered how people can say things like that with such nonchalance, as if they'd bought a chocolate with some spare change. I wanted to see how it felt, hehe. However, it doesn't feel too good unless you have all the dough to back you up!

    Not washing bathroom tiles regularly....double ewww!

    Thanks for dropping by. When you're good you're very nice and kind.:)

    ReplyDelete
  15. @toy soldier: Hey, thanks sweetie. I still envy you your super memory and the job you love!

    @peter-de-ace: I did drop in, and left a comment. Nice blog, do keep it up. As our guru Illusionaire always says, the best way to get visitors is to visit other people's blogs and leave comments. That way you make them feel obliged to drop in. *grin* (see the things I learn from Illusionaire?) Also it would help if you updated your user profile, giving a link to your blog, becoz there's nothing there as yet.

    @Joseph: hey hey hey! how are you? Thanks for the welcome:) Will try my best to be more of a regular visitor to my blog from now on. *grin*

    ReplyDelete
  16. @Illusionaire: Me and my typos! Bollywood masala movies would have had ME super-engrossed.

    I teach literature, so excuse the obsession. :) It matters to ME :)

    Hey also realised, I need tips on how to use italics, bold letters, etc, on the comments page. Also smileys in the blog posts. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yes it works.

    :-)

    Ok, if you want to bold anything, use this code, <b> what you wanna bold </b>

    Likewise

    <i> what you wanna italicize </i>

    For smileys, I use my image hosting site.

    Example,

    <img src="http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i111/seraphicalrage/blog/smiley/smile.gif">

    Insert this code into your post and you will get a nice smiley :-) but try using your own images or upload your images, don't hotlink from my site and steal my bandwidth *GRIN*

    I was ewwwing because you mentioned you were washing the bathroom tiles and just before that you mentioned you were a PMS ravage woman, which seems to subtly explain why the bathroom floor needs to be washed in the first place... drip drip drip, got it? :-D

    CTDH - Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

    HOFD - House of Flying Daggers

    In case u havent seen them, you must. Absolutely beautiful in terms of art and cinematography.

    ReplyDelete
  18. thanks Illusionaire. I hope I get the hang of it real soon.

    right now, the message i'm getting is, Your HTML cannot be accepted: Tag is not allowed

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi, I really enjoy your writing, and such beautiful poems.Hope you keep writing.

    P.S:- Congratulations, "New Car" :-)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hotunu, ka lut thlawn fo a, hei ka inrihloh lai takin i lo update thut nge ni comment pawh a lo tam hman hle mai.

    Kan duh a changkang tual tual a, kan mamawh a sang tual tual bawk si a, chumi kentel zinga i han tarlan ang boruak hi chu kan la tawng thuaiin ka lo ring hrim hrim tawh a. A tih ngaihna vak pawh a awm mai lovang. Inkhat daih chi lah ni ngawt si lo. Kan moral lama "Takna" kan tlachham ta deuh niin ka hria. Kristian nih hi a tawk lo va, nunpui a ngai tel tlat thil a ni a. Hei hi tunlai kan Society-ah a tlahniam nasa hle niin alang a. Siamthar lehna kan mamawh ta deuh niin alang.

    ReplyDelete
  21. @darkpoet: Hey there darkpoet! Thanks for dropping by! Peeped into your blog, and got quite a pleasant surprise myself. Don't know many guys who are into poetry around these parts ... Keep it up!

    @Puia: Hotupa. min hruai sula deuh ka nia, nang ber pawhin i blog i update ngai hleinem ka ti deuh a, ka inthlahdah ve ngawt a nih kha. I blog a ka lenluh thlawn zing dan zia hi chu hria la i update ve tawhang mawle, Pu.

    Nia, kha ka thil rawn tarlan zuai kha han sawi deuh hrep kha ka chak viau a, mahse blog ah hian mitin mitang kan lut a, a hre lo tur tur te kan inhriat tir phah ang tih hlauhna ka nei leh deuh a. Ka rilru ah chuan ka vei ve khawp mai, pawi ka ti. Tin, a sexual act hrim2 hi an ti hlu lo ka ti bawk. Sawi tur a tam.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I love Forbidden kingdom, and for exactly the same reason you mentioned. Plus I have always adored Jackie Chan in a childish sort of way. My internet's beedn dead forever, despite my countless calls to my service provider. I so cannot wait for them to come for their money so I give them some major nasty time face to face. lol

    Congrats on the new car. And the hair looks absolutely gorgeous! I'm looking on in envy, my hair's gone completely crazy now, and I'm thinking of a soft perm to help make the natural wavy hair growing out now 'more welcome' :-) But damn, I do love straight hair!

    ReplyDelete
  23. net connection mumal lo hi chu a ninawm ngawt mai tiro..bill lamah concession min pe duh chuang bok thin silov..hehe..

    ReplyDelete
  24. Forbidden Kingdom kha keipawh hmuhnawm ka ti phian.Athawnthu vang nideuh berin ka hria.

    I car thar ah chuan ka lo chhung ve:-)

    ReplyDelete
  25. eheee Pu Seki chu, mi car thar ah balu chhung luh a la ching a ni maw?

    In veng a thing hmel :-P

    ReplyDelete
  26. @Jerusha: I know exactly how it feels to have a crappy Net connection. Even as I speak, I can only access the Net from my office, something's wrong with my line at home. :(

    glad you like the hair. Wavy hair's good too. What I don't always like with the "straightened hairdo" is the unnaturally ramrod-straight look, where the ends look so pointy, haha.

    @luliana: nia tiro, hei hi lawm ka huat chu. Nuar ta ila ka bill hi min tih tlem sak mai ang em le? Mahse helai velah chuan Net min rpovide tur hian tlawn zawk an ngai a, nawrh khum ngam pawh chu an ni mang si lova!

    @Seki: Lo chhung ve ta che :) Thil tha pui pui i rawn chhun luh dawn phei chuan, most welcome!

    @Illusionaire: Seki te veng hi a thring lo reng reng, momo an siam tui thei ltk leh nghal.

    ReplyDelete
  27. 1) Why we love kung fu movies:

    Hero: You have killed my father ten years ago and now I have come to kill you and avenge his death!!

    Strikes dramatic pose strongly reminiscent of a pretzel.

    Villain: You think your drunken monkey tiger claw style can defeat my evil snake style?!! Don't make me laugh. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

    Ah, the lost art of power emoting.

    More recently, i was extolling the genius of Stephen Chow to someone (a nameless psychologist, now utterly convinced i'm an irredeemable basket case doomed to stay 13 forever) - trying to, you know, point out how the profane and the lyrical, da yin and da yang, so effortlessly mix in his
    movies. How slapstick and tender sentimentality mingleth so well
    together in them. (By then the above-mentioned shrink was waving a cross and tossing garlic by the boatload at me while surreptitiously inching towards the door).
    The death by musical notes sequence in Kung Fu Hustle still makes me hold my breath. Sheer audacity. Lurvely.

    2) A bad mood compelled you to buy a car! My dear DDB, most of us just step out to the nearest hole-in-the-wall Mami Variety Store and get the biggest dam - er,dimsum bag o' Uncle Chipps they got : )

    3) You straightened your hair! Good Gott, i thought your hair was
    already straight! This i have to check out! Coffee, Glenary's, 4:30, okay? And hold the rum tarts, it makes me spout gibberish!

    4) Apropos of nothing whatsoever, have you perchance read Mafeli's
    Confession? It will never be made book of the year but it's the *only* novel that somehow manages -inadvertently, one would say - to channel the prevailing ethos hereabouts. An improbable plot and a youthful MarySue-ish protagonist who's so blithely unmindful of the amoral nature of her actions that she could be the spiritual descendant of Moll Flanders. Can't wait for the next book.

    ReplyDelete
  28. @monazo: At last! I have lured our reclusive poet out of hiding. This is indeed an auspicious occasion. Welcome, welcome!

    I never figured you to be one of those who enjoy "kungfu-films" but I can see it was a staple diet at one point in your life, judging from the uncannily accurate descriptions you've given in the typically witty style so recognisably yours! Laughing out loud at the "death-by-music' comment.

    Hmm...as for the car, it was actually very crowded buses and one too many I-got-up-late-and missed-the-bus-so I-have-to-call-every-colleague-I-know-who owns-a-car situations that compelled me to buy it. I just went for the dramatic effect. *wink*

    Coffee sounds good. 4pm, 4am whenever. Give me a buzz wen you're free.

    I haven't read Mafeli's Confession, but will do so asap now that it's been recommended.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Congrats! Car thar... Blogger car neih an tam lo a sin! I blog pawh tlawh a nuam zel e. I rawn update leh ang chu.

    ReplyDelete
  30. @sam: Hi! buai ve nek nek lutuk a, a thlarau in min pawl thei hrih lo a ni ber e. Will update asap.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hello, I've answered your query at LK regarding the login problems you were having.
    Hope you aren't facing the same problem.

    ReplyDelete
  32. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  33. as the saying goes - better late than never..hehe

    Though I am a big fan of Jet Li, I never watched Forbidden Kingdom cos i heard that it was a bummer..and I hate to see Jet Li's ass kicked, lol

    I watched that sex tape and I feel so sorry for the girl

    and congrats on your new car and the new hair-do :)

    ReplyDelete