Blog Piracy

As uncreative as a blog post could ever be, this is it. I did my regular checks on few blogs on my list. They're all strangers' to me, the bloggers. But I find them very interesting, each and every individual, that I find myself going back to check their 'personal diary' almost everyday even though I've never talked to them or even known them. So there was this guy who apparently had found one of his old posts somewhere and decided to repost it. Maybe not a very interesting post. Maybe regular. But certainly, it talks directly to me and slapping me on the face. So I guess finally try to articulate my feelings into a blog post after I've finished contemplating and mulled over each and every events that have been occurring in my life for the past few months. However, as much as I want to start the meditation (or as reluctant as I actually am), I decided that I haven't got enough time. And to give a glimpse of my lack of creativity  (or should I say, my attempt of blog piracy), I'd post a saying that he has posted in his blog too.

"I am a hopeless romantic and/or romantically hopeless. I have been in very few (one) relationships. I don't fall for people often; so when I do, I know it means something. I used to think I could be fine for the longest time, even if I was alone. I don't know about that anymore. Unfortunately, I haven't had the best luck. Wallowing and dwelling are familiar friends to me."

- Wesley Chan

I kept telling myself...

that I'm not bothered.

He was only a close friend of mine. Nothing has ever happened and nothing really does. I was only being a good friend even though I admit, there were times I let go of my guard a bit. He came to me, all needy and open to possibility. I gave him what he needed, an ear to listen to his rambles and a shoulder to cry on. He returned the favor by being super nice and anyone who saw us might have been really sure he was romantically intentional in his means. I refused to think so and I never had any change in my behavior nor did I ever treat him any differently than just a friend. So we grew really close but somewhere along the way, we drifted apart. We just did. I kept my composure, never asked for more and never offered more than what was necessary. He became less needy, and he kept a distance. I even didn't feel any loss. In my mind, I felt like nothing has happened and nothing changed. I never changed, I was the same as ever. But he did. He changed. Not that I could complain of.

But now, what he is doing, it's bothering me. And I am NOT jealous. No. It's  not denial, it's not self-defense. I know very real that I'm not at all jealous. I have my own feelings towards a guy and I have my own love life. I am not jealous but the fact that he is doing what he is now really bothers me. And this all chaos has pushed me away instinctively. I can neither look them in the eyes nor can I be around them. Deep down I know I can't be around them and I don't want to. I drift further away and I don't even stop myself. So I guess, I'm losing two very special persons in my life, and I don't know how the hell I'm going to stop this. Even if the situation changes, I don't think I can manage.

I don't know. And it frustrates me not being able to talk about it with anybody. It really is. The only person who knows about this keeps wondering if I'm jealous. Which I'm not.

Dammit.

:(

The sudden disappointment of a hope leaves a scar which the ultimate fulfilment of that hope never entirely removes.

Phenomenal Woman

By Maya Angelou.

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.


I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
the swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.


Men themselves have wondered
what they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.


Now you understand
just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
the need for my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Still

This is a short story I wrote when I watched a short silent movie on a TV channel. There was no dialogue in the movie so I was challenged to convey their stories in words. I added a little twist here and there: the feeling description, the past memories and the interpretation of the silent scenes. This is merely a little exercise to my narrative writing skill, and I hope any of you who have read my early works would be kind enough to leave some comments or criticisms as I need them to improve continuously.


Still
Written by: Nicole
Based on a short movie.
All Rights Reserved.


The wind blew the white curtains softly, waving them into the room and caressed her face ever so gently. She sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes was fixed at nowhere. A lot of things were on her mind and she could hardly focus on any of them. It was as if her whole life was flashing in front of her eyes but she had no power over it. She could only watch without being able to either stop or pause the silent torturing movie. Far from the reality she drifted away, further and further until she felt as if she was floating outside the bubble and out of her own body. But still, she could hear when slow steps knocking the wooden floor at the hall and her brain worked its wonders. She slipped her feet into the blanket and put her head onto the pillow. Her breaths were so steady that anyone would think she’d fallen asleep hours ago. She listened as the steps were getting closer. She heard the door open and she held her breath. Her eyes were wide open and lifeless. She waited.

The man entered the room. He was a good looking man with eyeglasses and dark suit. He looked like a very decent gentleman who would’ve made a perfect husband and a succesful businessman. He paused at the door, a bit shocked when he saw the shadowing figure asleep on the bed. He didn’t expect her to be there. He thought she would still be at her work, late as usual. But he pulled himself quite well and he realized that her presence wouldn’t change anything. He continued his steps and ever so slowly, not wanting to wake her up, he put the suitcase on the bed. He opened it and for a slight second, he felt an urge of hesitation inside him. His eyes scanned the four corners of the empty suitcase and he blinked. The blink woke him up and threw him back to the reality. Nothing was going to change, his decision was final. It was all too late to go back. If he decided to try again, it would all be the same again. Same as it never was.

He turned around and took his clothes from the drawers. He didn’t even bother to see what he was packing. He just kept taking everything. His shirts, his trousers, his socks, his ties, everything. He was determined to take away everything with him. Maybe not everything. Maybe only things that were still belonged to him. Soon he realized the suitcase was no longer empty. He had thrown in quite many clothes. Perhaps too many. The sight of the messy packed clothes seemed so final. It stated what he was throwing away and what he was sacrificing. Nevertheless, it also promised what he could have in his future. Holding on to the thin string of hope of a better life, he closed the suitcase and pulled the zipper around it. When he went to close the drawers, he saw the a photograph lying in the drawer, put neatly under his clothes. It was taken when they celebrated their first wedding anniversary. A glass of wine was in their hands and there she was, laughing so brightly. He could see his own eyes in the picture, showering her with love and admiration. He remembered his feelings at that time. He felt very blessed to be married to the woman beside her and he felt that he could go through anything for her. The man sighed, and put the photograph back. He felt like the photograph was her last attempt to change his mind, but he knew better. He turned around to take his suitcase and left before she woke up and threatened his own determination to leave.

His eyes then met her body. He could hear her calm and steady breaths while he watched the side of her stomach rising and falling gently under the covers. The curve he knew so well along these past fourteen years. The body that had swayed with his every night, sharing everything from stories of the past to promise of the future. On this very bed, he bore his soul and shared his dreams. On this bed, he cried and laughed. Teased playfully and held lovingly. With the feminine body before him once he immersed himself so deeply that he felt he wouldn’t be able to live without her. He watched her sleeping and exhaled slowly. The old memories from the past years came back, too fast and too strong, and he could almost felt them on his skin. He sat on the edge of the bed, took off his eyeglasses and put his hands on his forehead. He could smell her distinct perfume, but it was the smell of her body that lulled him into sleep. It was the scent he had gotten so used to, the sweet toxicating scent that had always been able to drift him into a peaceful sleep. He didn't know why he didn't just leave at that time. Maybe he was waiting for something to come. Maybe he was waiting for nothing to come. There was not much difference left. So, he waited.

The little boy came into the room and stood in silence at the door, watching the man and the woman asleep. He was around nine and he was wearing his pajamas. In his hand was his old teddy bear, worn from years of hugging and tugging. He watched the couple asleep with eyes wide open. Eyes filled with nothing but questions and inquiries of explanations. Suddenly, as if he sensed the boy’s presence, the man lifted his head up and their eyes met. There was no hint of sleepiness in both of their eyes. There were only questions and answers. Two men of different generations exchanging explanations, the one that couldn’t be conveyed properly with words as words would only wash away the importance of it. So they stared at each other, one asking why and one answering because. One inquiring where and one implying place. One wondering of when and one telling stories of time. One reluctantly wanting to leave the other and one reluctantly wanting to tie down the other. One begging for forgiveness and one offering endless love. 

The boy walked closer, approached the man and without any words, he handed him his ragged teddy bear. The man looked surprised at first but the little boy could see how his face turned from surprise to grief. He stared deeply to the boy's eyes and his eyes were glistening with crystal buds of tears. He then rose to his feet and in a quick embrace, he took the little boy into his arms and held him tight as if he would never let him go forever. The feelings between them were so intense that none of them could speak out a word. After a minute that felt like eternity, their lungs suffocated for air and they let go of each other. The man took his eyeglasses, touched the little boy’s cheek as if he was saying the very last goodbye and reached for his suitcase on the bed. With much sadness but less hesitation, he walked towards the door but paused for a moment to take the last glance of his son. His little boy. A part of himself that he used to cradle in his arms and hold upon his shoulder. He felt that he was leaving not only a part of himself but his whole heart. He could barely breathe but he knew this must be done. So with profound emotions obviously drawn on his face, he finally walked out of the room. Out of their lives forever.

The little boy still locked his feet onto the ground, unable to move even if he wanted to. The shadow of his father towering at the doorway, blocking the dim light from the hall, was sculptured inside his head and he was like experiencing a fake feeling. It was like people who could still feel their legs after they were amputated. He kept staring at the door, millions of thoughts raced through his mind. Where was he going? Would he be happy? Would he still remember him? Would they meet again? He felt he could still see his father smiling at him for the last time, even after he was already gone for ten minutes now. He silently stood there in darkness. He just waited.

It was his mother’s steady breaths that finally woke him up. He could see the door clearly and the dim light from the hall made sense to him now. His old man was gone. And now she was the only one he had. The little boy then climbed up into the bed, sneaking his body under the covers beside his mother’s. The warmth filled up his body and he felt safe. He could smell his mother’s body scent and he could smell his father’s. He distinctly recalled the moments he slept between both of them with their hands holding each other, resting on his stomach. He would lie still and sleep peacefully between them, feeling their hands everytime he took a breath. He never knew anyone could feel that safe in their lives. 

The boy drew his body closer to his mother’s and circled his hands around her waist. Now he was trying to relive the memory by watching his hand rising and falling steadily above the side of his mother's stomach. Her back faced him and he suddenly felt very safe, just like when he used to sleep together with both of his parents. Not very long, as it always was, he went into deep sleep. Worries left his mind already and he felt home. He didn't realize that his hand wasn’t rising and falling so steady anymore. He didn’t realize that his mother’s breaths were shorter and he was already so soundly asleep when they stopped. 

The rest of the photographs were lying on the floor messily just beside the bed. Her hand hung powerlessly and inside her now open fist were few pills left. The rest were scattered along with the photographs. The bottle was open and it was empty. There was not quite many left, perhaps only one-fifth of the whole bottle. Her eyes were wide open and a trail of dried tear ran through the corner of her eyes. She still waited.

Finale.

I shall remember this for the rest of my life.

“I don't know if I continue, even today, always liking myself. But what I learned to do many years ago was to forgive myself. It is very important for every human being to forgive herself or himself because if you live, you will make mistakes- it is inevitable. But once you do and you see the mistake, then you forgive yourself and say, 'well, if I'd known better I'd have done better,' that's all. So you say to people who you think you may have injured, 'I'm sorry,' and then you say to yourself, 'I'm sorry.' If we all hold on to the mistake, we can't see our own glory in the mirror because we have the mistake between our faces and the mirror; we can't see what we're capable of being. You can ask forgiveness of others, but in the end the real forgiveness is in one's own self. I think that young men and women are so caught by the way they see themselves. Now mind you. When a larger society sees them as unattractive, as threats, as too black or too white or too poor or too fat or too thin or too sexual or too asexual, that's rough. But you can overcome that. The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself. If we don't have that we never grow, we never learn, and sure as hell we should never teach.”


By Maya Angelou

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Loompaland

My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return.

Oompa Loompa

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I am lousy in explaining myself in words as I believe articulating something as complicated as personality stringed together in sentences does no justice to the profoundness in me. I may not know much but I know this much is true. I have morbid fascination over people's stories regardless where they came from or what background they grew up in. I indulge in their stories not because I'm nosy but because I find them enriching mine. I wish to be awed by the possibilities and differences I find in people from all over the world and I never hesitate to befriend them if the attraction is likewise. I am a creature of language, emotions, rationality experiences, comprehension, and love. I use words and ideas to change the world, I cling to my emotions and rationality to yield decisions, I base my decisions on experiences, I define skewed things I find through a weak attempt of comprehension and I love almost everyone.