Back To The Cinema, People

So I've been jobless for over 6 months now. Sucks to be broke. Sucks even more to have to depend on my mother to give me money. But still I survive on pocket money.

Okay, a little confession here. I admit I've been making 'illegal' purchases electronically with my mother's card. Just a CD here and there, and pricey magazines every now and then. Call it self-delusional, but I can easily convince myself that my purchases are worthwhile and non-impulsive.

I mean, I heard Sia Furler's song, fell in love with her VOICE, found out she's gay, fell in love with HER; so it's only normal that I go down to HMV (almost) immediately to get her album, right?

So anyways, I've a guaranteed payroll at the end of May, that's for sure.

The haircut I got was almost like a burden lifted off me. I felt damned shiok after the cut! It's like all-the-boys-and-girls-on-the-streets-so-wanna-do-me kind of shiok. I just felt really good.

Strangely, I felt ready to go back working, having money coming in for myself. For the past few months. I've been complaining about how lazy I was to go back working. The haircut did wonders for me! Thank goodness Hairianto still kept in touch with the ultra fab stylist, Noreen.

On Monday, I spontaneously dropped by the cinema at Handy Road and asked for a job. I filled up the form, had a chat with the 'kak'['sister' in street-Malay(??); informal, but respectful manner of address], and bam! I'm reporting for work on the following Monday.

BAM! That's how it is! Easy, breezy! (Okay, this is my shout out to Ed. Alright Ed, this is where you do the Covergirl commercial lines, yeah?)

I brushed aside all my prejudices for cinema operations, didn't give two hoots about the some-say-meagre pay rates and with a burst of desperation, dived right back into working at a cinema.

I realised my prejudices for cinema ops stemmed from the previous company. I didn't have a problem with cinema operations. My real problems were with the company. So I was being really unfair to myself by refusing to go work for another cinema company.

I want to work-work and get paid and treated REASONABLY, not slack-work and get paid and treated MINIMALLY. Minimalism is the 'in' thing, but just not when we're talking about paychecks, yeah?

Extra Prata For The Dog

My mother returns home, with 2 packs of rice and an odd-one-out packet of prata.

So I was in the kitchen with my mother, and she tells me that the prata is extra, either my brother or I could have it. It was not as though I was going to talk to my brother, much less negotiate with him who gets the prata! (My mother tends to put us in situations where we kinda have to negotiate. But of course, I really can't care less. I've met assholes in my life, my brother being the biggest one.)

A while later, the asshole enters the kitchen, and my mother asks him if he wants the prata.

The asshole farted, “才不要！那个是给狗吃的！” (I don't want the prata, that's for the dog!)

Well, ‘狗’ or 'dog' refers to me in a more affectionate way. I told you he's an asshole...

As usual, I ignore his snide remarks. I've been conditioned to shut him out of my system.

My mother then left the kitchen to take a snooze. I settled down on the dining table with my dinner. In front of me on the table were my brother's portion of dinner and the extra prata.

Just as I was working into my dinner, the asshole came back to the kitchen, grabbed his dinner, AND THE PACKET OF PRATA.

Is that an effing asshole or an effing huge-ass asshole?!

The Things I Record In My Journal

As creative entities, we take much pride in keeping journals. I, personally, put my journal on a pedestal. A creative journal is highly personal. We do not like people snooping through our journals. We record our thoughts, our observations, or inspirations, etc.

There can be extremely creative content in a journal, yet there can be downright stupid stuff too! I personally like to record stupid stuff. Especially during note-taking in lectures. Lecturers say the funniest things some times.

The excerpts from my journal that I'm sharing now date back to early 2006, when I was in Nanyang Polytechnic. I really only stayed a year there, doing Digital Media Design. Bleargh! I hated it.

So there's this Web Design lecturer, let's call her Pam, who I found to be particularly annoying at first, then became more endearing later on in the semester.

For some reason, she nagged a lot. And she wasn't exactly auntie-material, you know. I didn't know where her stamina to nag and deliver pep talks came from. I did a quick sketch of her from the back of the lecture theatre and it turned out looking pretty accurate.

And she cannot enunciate properly for nuts! It was kinda excruciating to listen to her bad enunciation, so to make myself feel better, I had to put it down on paper. The 'librarieees', 'prop-ly's, 'ex-peck's and 'suspen-dird's.

“...80% to think, think and think. Don't just do, do, do...”

The thing about lecturers in polytechnics, they think they're all that. [As opposed to students in art schools(see: me) who think they're all that.] So back in my NYP days, there was a bit of an ego clash, weren't there? With the lecturer(s) and me thinking we're all that.

So Pam gave her two cents worth on how we can produce good, quality work, by saying we should think more than we do. Riiiiiiight. I cannot necessarily agree with that.

OH MY EFFING GAWD! For the finale, the strangest, queerest, most eyebrow-raising 'advice' Pam ever gave:

“Do not be a chicken; neither be a cock,”

OMG, that is so classic, don't you think?

Deep Fried Hotdog Rolls, Marlboro Reds and Ginger

I spent the most of today in bed. Sleeping, lazing around, but on Facebook most of the time. I think I'm one of the many many people who live their lives on Facebook.

Anyways, in the afternoon, I was rummaging the fridge for food. I've to say, something smells funky in there. I found half a pack of sausages(5 pieces) at best and settled for it.

Hit by a brain wave, I flattened slices of bread with a rolling pin, rolled a hotdog in each slice, 'glued' the roll together with egg white and dunked the rolls into a pan of hot oil.

It was bad. But I was hungry and lazy.

So I had my snack in bed, watched a couple of episodes of How I Met Your Mother and took a nap.

The next thing I knew, I was feeling damned hot, yet freezingly cold at the same time. I fucking incubated a fever!

I only have myself to blame, really. On top of the 5 oily hotdog rolls, I was smoking reds. Seriously, I should just stick to menthol cigarettes.

Since I incubated the fever, I had all the rights to kill it, don't I? Not to sound like a braggart, but I make one helluva fever-killer. Popped a couple of Panadol Extra, downed water, smothered my forehead with aloe vera gel, warmed up my freezing toes and snuggled under the blanket for 30 minutes and I felt so much better.

Just as I felt ready to step out of bed, my mother returns home with fish porridge. I suddenly got my appetite back and had a mad craving for, well, ginger. I don't know where I've heard it from, but ginger is supposed to be one of the many traditional fever-reducing remedies, right?

So despite being slightly feverish and groggy, the first thing I did after getting out of bed was doing the dishes. I made an oily mess earlier in the afternoon with the hotdog rolls. After which, I managed to patiently and leisurely julienne a small piece of ginger.

I mixed the ginger strips into the fish porridge, ate it and poof! I'm fruity and up and about and good as new!

I Love House Music And I'm Sharing It

“Mercy” by Duffy. Just a really infectious track.

(Duffy's Welsh! The Welsh accent is incredibly sexy. Ever watched Little Britain, where Dafydd Thomas is the 'only gay in the village'?

)

Okay, back to the music video:

The next 2 songs are covers of older classics.

“Buffalo Stance” originally performed by Neneh Cherry back in, OMFG, the 80's. Look at the style of the video. It's cheesy, it's tacky, but the old school vintage vibe to it is very cool.

This is the Electric Allstars Club mix by DC Roc.

“If You Love Me” by Brownstone in 1994. The old school R&B still sounds the best. Before I got hooked on house music, I was an R&B kinda person. And I have no idea why people think that exclusively R&B-listening people will NOT enjoy house music.

I've a friend who 'only listens to R&B'. When I let him sample like 10 seconds of funky house, he claims the beat gives him a headache.

I specifically love funky house music, so I suppose if you like strong rhythm and beat, then R&B and house will both sound great.

And O M F G, house music is NOT AH-BENG TYPE OF MUSIC. (That's techno, okay! Hahaha!... Ok, ok, let's not stereotype people based on their music preference.)

“If You Love Me” the Thomas Gold remix, now by Buzz Junkies (Buzz Junkies on Facebook here.) featuring Elesha.

Alright, frankly, this song makes me cry. I hear it in the club, and it's awesome 'cause it gets me high and all, but IT JUST MAKES ME CRY!

Jump Shots

I spent the night yesterday chilling in Little India and Lasalle College.

I met Jana and Nadia to help them with their textile studies, doing what I do best, screenprinting and all. (The screenprinting bit on Wordpress, please.)

It was past midnight.

We were done printing.

I was bored.

The studio was huge.

Hence, I cam-whored.

But I've to say I cam-whore with zeal and enthusiasm, okay!

And the best shot, in my opinion, is:

I realised that if you long enough at the pictures, I actually look really stupid. I mean, I'm sure you already think I'm pretty insane 1)taking jump shots; 2)in the middle of the night; 3)in the school studio. But when you see the photos, I just look REALLY insane.

But what can I say, I'm a zany person. And I wasn't even acting under the influence of alcohol. I suppose screenprinting gets me high..

Wet Market

Remember how I was griping about rubbing shoulders with fishy-smelling aunties at the wet market?

Well, I finally shopped for groceries at the wet market! Well, strictly speaking, I cheated because I only went shopping around noon. You know how aunties NEVER go wet-marketing after 8 or 9AM, right?! So at noon, there was basically no one else to rub shoulders with me. Haha!

But at least I made an effort to show up at the wet market to get groceries, right?

It was a lazy morning, as usual, and I was exceptionally hungry and horny.

You know, I'm really the kind of people that can substitute sex with food. I know I have to stop harping on the fact because it is neither glamourous nor polite. But what the heck.

So I decided to whip up a storm in my kitchen. I NEED FOOD.

I looked at the rice cooker, sitting idly for some time now, and thought to myself, “OMG, I'll cook the perfect rice today,” Which of course, I didn't. It was almost perfect, just a tad too soggy when I fried it later.

Hmm, I'm sorry if were waiting for the moral of the story, 'cause there isn't any.

Happy 20th, Hairianto!

All right, Hairianto's birthday was last Friday, so to wish him here seems a bit belated, but what the heck.

Spying Couples, Partying and Mustafa Centre

I was at the kitchen window late one night, when I caught sight of a couple lovey-dovey-ing on the bench downstairs. I don't have fabulous eyesight, so I saw 2 guys instead. 

Hence, I spied a wee bit more and took a grainy('cause I zoomed in to the max on my lousy compact camera) picture. Nah, it wasn't 2 guys. The girl's just a bit full.

Anyways, back to late-night activities, went partying last Saturday. It was a boring night for me. I guess I was slightly perturbed subconsciously. Plus I didn't quite 'feel' the need to party. So I just had a so-so time.

HOWEVER, I did bump into unexpected people, namely, secondary schoolmates Jack and some others. I swear, it was fucking unexpected. I think I freaked out for a bit. Haha!... (But Jack, if you reading this, then it was nice to see you on Saturday night! And Eelen and Kenneth and whoever I missed out, too! Hahaha!...)

It was a full-fledged lazy day for me, too, so it was difficult to let loose and get high. Well, Taufiq got high, that's for sure. Remember Taufiq my online friend that I finally just met? (Rewind a couple of posts to read about it.)

I bumped into him at the club too. Apparently, he was damned high and crazy at that point in time. I think in low light conditions and perhaps under the influence of alcohol, people behave differently. No inhibitions and all... Haha!..

Later into the night, Ghani saved me with his call. 1 hour later, we were at Mustafa Centre!

O M G! Mustafa Centre is heaven, okay! I've really only been there once, when I NEEDED to get myself a discman. (Yes, I'm using a discman. Or portable CD player, if you'd like to call it. Old skool and vintage, right...) And it was at night. This time, it was MIDDLE of the night, since they're open 24/7.

To quote Ghani, “They have all sorts of junk here,” Which is pretty true. But junk is treasure to me, so Mustafa centre is more like a treasure trove to me.

Ghani and I were checking out cowboy hats and trench coats(they really DO have everything) when Jana called me for directional help. Apparently, she got herself stranded in Pasir Ris. But all was fine.

Little India is a nice place. I'm not racist, so I enjoy the place. Plus the best thosai is in Little India. I'm very glad it's near campus. I mean, even in my art school 'uniform', I'd still charge right into Little India and eat thosai with my hands, okay!

Mas Selamat At Large A Joke?

The newspapers have been saying that we're not taking the Mas Selamat escape seriously, making jokes out of it.

So I thought, would it be funny if I made a Mas Selamat mask, wore it out, and went shopping at, say, Topman?

Friends I Finally Meet

Yesterday was an exceptionally good day. I finally met 2 of my online friends.

First things first, meeting people on the Internet is not sleazy, desperate nor unfathomable. It only gets sleazy when people abuse it.

I bumped briefly into Samuel in town. He's a fellow-blogger-turned-friend., who later tracked me down on a social site. You dare tell me that's sleazy and desperate?!

Apparently, he spotted me from afar, and was staring at me. As for me, I really don't notice people until they're right up in my face. I'm normally in my own world. (Note: In my own world; not lost in my own world. I NEVER feel lost in my own world.)

So by the time I noticed Samuel staring at me, I only had time for a double take. After we crossed paths several metres, he waved at me. I returned a smile, feeling puzzled. I didn't know for sure if it was him, but somehow, I just 'felt' that it was him.

You see, I really have seen only ONE ambiguous display pic of his, so I can't really be too sure.

No time to stop for a chat, but I was glad 'cause it was serendipitous.

Later into the day, I met Taufiq, who I met solely on a social site. See? This is making good use of social sites. They are there for a reason and they actually WORK.

We were texting each other the day before and I only 'replied' yesterday. I don't think it's fair to count a 24-hour late reply as a 'reply' eh? Haha!

It turned out that he was at Bugis, so we arranged an impromptu meet-up. It was great to finally meet him as well.

Virtual friends 'morphing' into real-life beings; 'tis a strange feeling...

Mug Shot

The mug shot is addictive! The more I look at it, the more I like it! Maybe I'll turn it into a screenprint, I dunno... I look like Mas Selamat's accomplice... Hahaha!~

Redirection

Okay, new posts up on TheNuFlow@Wordpress instead.

I realised that it's wayyy too cluttered on Blogger. I got too much shit. 

So I'm diverting all creative endeavours to Wordpress instead. 

I got into a manic bout of screenprinting again, which is very much of a good thing, if you asked me. I was so afraid that I might somehow lose my basal flair for arty-farty-craft-y stuff.

It sometimes get disturbing when I see and feel myself more like an artist than a designer. A designer still get bound by constraints and regulations. And I can not, for nuts, function with restraints. I like to do what I like, when I like, how I like.

It's one of those traits that could either make or break you. I just think about making it rather than breaking it. It is better to be optimistic.

I Miss Figure Drawing