A Bend in the Lane

What's with shoes and girls, you guys ask? Beats me too. How shoe shopping can be therapy baffles me. Being in a mall for more than 50 minutes is all very disturbing. But trying to cramp my broad toes into an area of 2 cm by 2cm is very distressing and I need to go home and lie down after the effort. Some lunatic stole my Nikes a year or so ago. Instead of shoe shopping, I dug out these 7 year old Reebok's out of the shoe rack and began parading around Singapore in the embarrassments called running shoes for 9 months or so. My dad even threatened that either I stay or the shoes stay. Finally, a month ago I was bullied into shoe shopping. Got some pink Nikes. They look awright, I suppose. I mean, I wear the ugliest Dr. Scholl's in town, so pink shoes aren't gonna dent my self-esteem much. I have matching pink socks to go with. Why are we garrulously talking about shoes and hair when bombs are rocking the Old Country? I dont know. Honestly, it's all terribly disappo...

I need a hair makeover. Something drastic. Chop Chop Snip Snip. Any ideas?

Here I recall a line from my all time favourite movie The Lion in Winter - Eleanor of Aquitaine, utterly spent from the bitter fight she just has with Henry II, asks him in unguardedly - Eleanor : "How did we get here?" Henry: "Step by step" Isn't that true? Isn't that how you become your destiny? Step by step, choice by choice. And at the end of the day, will you be able to live with the choices you made that made/unmade you? When shadows lengthen, and I am solitary, can I face my face in the crooked mirror? Have you lived the destiny you wanted? What gnawing regrets are you harboring? Hush, now. Listen carefully. To the whispers within. Hush, now.

The book brims with poignant wisdom about human emotions and motivations for human actions. It has many timeless and some brutal truths about human emotions and weaknesses. A lot of it rang true. A lot of it was distressing. Especially the message that the major/minor decisions we take really come from very simple motivations, and that how your life turns out is largely dependent on these decisions made because of these silly motivations. It was rather frightening for someone who believes that we make most decisions by weighing the good and the bad consequences in some form or the other. Kundera argues that what we perceive as good is really our personal kitsch. I would read it if I were in a exploring mood. It ain't light reading. But you ain't gonna stop reading once you start.

There are some very rare days when I read my morning news and I get depressed. Today was one of those days. Mr Mandela recently said , "It is time for new hands to lift the old burdens; it is in your hands now". These words call for passionate, honourable wisdom. Sounds rather heroic, innit? Well, with all honesty, I dont really feel like carrying these burdens. These burdens like Oil costing an insane $130 per barrel now when it only cost $40 in 2005. I saw the price of rice bag I buy double in 3 months. Terrorism is now a domestic issue for most countries. War and assorted injustices happening in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Things dont look so good in Africa. Especially in Zimbabwe and Sudan. Things dont look so great down in Antarctica either, with that ice shelf collapsing in March and all. Bird Flu scares are too frequent. We are exposed to more carcinogens than ever. The person in front of me in the line in the supermarket asked for double plastic bags for her groceries...

George Bush has a HUGE birthday present for Nelson Mandela. Mandela, is now taken off the US Terrorist List. Which means, Mandela can travel to the USA without a waiver from Condi Rice. Now, how is that for a big bonus? I mean what more could a 90 year old respected world leader ask for in life?  I mean, seriously!