From various random words and phrases, I got these possible names:

neon lunar cell

cerulean relict

circular eel net

electric ale run

nucleic reel art

eat recline curl

cruel cereal tin

electro iris cat

scarlet ice riot

lightwit

astringent pooh fir

fortnight noise rap

ironstone fight rap

transfinite moon gym

momentary sting info

Anyways, what else is new?  Well right now my arms are aching from some sort of early spring cleaning fever I had on Monday when I suddenly decided to move all my bedroom furniture around so that I could shift my desk out of my brothers bedroom on this birthday to give him more space as a present.  Took me the entire afternoon of heave ho-ing, untangling wires, choking on dust and vacuuming to get it done.  My room looks slightly unfamiliar to me now and strangely larger.  My bed is pushed up against a different wall and underneath a window which is really weird and will take some getting used to, but it looks good and I'm quite proud of my efforts.  I'm actually starting to get tidier lately.

Have been eating like a queen these last few days for birthday celebrations.  Dinner at Nishiki on Sunday night where I stuffed myself full of my favourite Japanese food and reconfirmed my distaste of horseradish when I tried squid with wasabi mayonnaise.  It reminded me of the time when I ate the yuck flavour of horseradish Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.  Other than that it was all good.  We finished it up by picking up a 12 pack of Dunkin Donuts. On Monday it was Michael's actual birthday so we had a yummy homemade Mexican dinner of corn chips, guacamole, burritos, beans and rice, followed by banana cake with icecream or as my dad had it with a massive blob of cream.

Last Friday night I went to the Blue Stone Room to watch the premiere of the new These Four Walls video for Fly Home and to watch the band play an acoustic gig after Chris Cope and Ivy Rossiter.  The music video is the best yet so look out for it on TV.

In general though I've just been doing the usual chilling out and reading.  Am in the middle of an interesting book about the Dutch settlement of New York, back when it was called New Amsterdam.  I'm starting to really get into my historical reading.  I almost forgot how much I liked learning about history.  I'm even considering doing some more history courses when I go back to uni next year.

Yesterday I had a bit of a nostalgic experience in the form of going to the orthodontist.  My top wire is loose so I had to get some more glue to stick it back on.  I sat there remembering all the times I went there in high school with my metal mouth.  I can still hear the sound of the click of wires being trimmed and the feel of discomfort of braces being tightened.  I remember the jar of colours you could pick from every few months when you wanted to make a new fashion statement on your teeth, while knowing full well nothing could ever really make braces look beautiful.  The office looked the same and the orthodontist did too, except for a bit grayer.  I thought he might take of my wires but he said it would be better if I kept them on since they are still showing signs of movement.  Better safe than sorry.

I'll try my best to post something interesting before I go on holiday.  Hopefully it won't be something in this "and then... and then... and then..." form this post seems to have taken.

So wassup over here... let's see.

Friday.  I went to dinner at Nishiki with Justina.  New menu.  We got my usual takoyaki and eggplant with miso & cheese, plus salmon sashimi, eel, and a very tasty dragon roll.  For dessert we froze ourselves with my fave green tea parfait.  Nothing like dinner at an old haunt.

Spent the weekend with my head in books.  If I were paid per page, I'd be pretty rich.

This morning I got up early without really intending to.  Got woken up before 6am and just couldn't go back to sleep so I figured I'd get up and at 'em.  Which was good because I managed to start my day with some long overdue exercise, and then get some chores and errands.

And that's about all the major news.  Stay tuned for further updates.

Yes, a couch.  It was love at first sight.  My breath caught in my throat, my heart skipped a bit, I stopped dead in my tracks.  I was head over heels staring at the most beautiful couch I have ever seen.  A brown crocodile print leather couch with the smoothest curves.  I wanted to possess it.  It is not often that a piece of furniture steals my heart, but I know it has when my eyes begin to water in amazement that such a creation could exist.  This couch is totally worth the sacrifice of a few cows.  I would sell an organ for it.  But alas, I have no money and no place for such a work of art.  But I dream.  I imagine my life with this couch.  How I would lay on it, hugging it, kissing it, stroking it softly, whispering my hopes and my dreams to it, introduce it to my friends.  My couch and I together forever.

Dreams are lofty things tugging at your heart strings....

Now my life, my loves, my distractions and my discoveries in brief.

waking up early on Monday only to go back to bed sick and sleep the day away.  backache/neckache/headache.  night sweat.  strawberry yoghurt found when least expected like a godsend because sometimes it is that vital to your day.  Mary Kay presentation party @ Annelies' w/Jenny and Justina.  learning my DNA is 33% the same as a daffodil.  Running With Scissors.  caramel hot chocolate with espresso shot and white chocolate & raspberry muffin from the local Starbucks. brown tiger blanket snuggling.  the click of the heater in the cool of night.  Cock 'n Bull beef lasagne and choc brownie as Dad gets older.  slow reading.  thunder.  lightning.  scared cat huddled under a table.  1408.  raw food recipes.  nearly sleepless nights.  brown faux-leather jacket.  fighting ghosts. eating free.  Wizards of Waverly Place.  muddy fur face.  junk mail.   library books.  house plans.  rain.  Sepulchre.  maple fudge pie.  silver handbag.  French dictionary.  antique brochures.  upcoming film festival.  7am this morning.  9 Crimes by Damien Rice. Languedoc.  the little coincidences.  plant tossing.  peacock feathers.  peach ice tea.  breaking nails.  long forms.  crime shows.  dark skies.  rice pudding.  tile store.

And that's not all, but that's all you get.  You want more?  Stalk me.

P.S.  Linda, I thought it was you.  Thanks 4 the txt.  :D

Anyways, I figured out something about myself about a week or so ago, which may be at least half the answer to having a happy, fulfilling life.  Here is my big revelation... I am an artist.  But I don't act like it.  This is not something I choose to be, just as I don't choose to be 5'4", blue eyed or born with just 2 arms.  It is a fact.  I was born an artist, and I will die an artist.  I am creative and not giving myself up to live in that imaginative, boundless, playful state only leads me to dissatisfaction.  I'm not being myself.  I'm not using my energy.  I'm not using my potential.  So I really need to devote myself to nurturing the gifts I have and doing what makes me happy.  I want to write, I want to paint, I want to draw, I want to construct mosaics, I want to build sculptures, I want to dance, I want to sing, I want to play guitar.  These things make me happy.  Despite how enjoyable these things are though, I still have problems getting started.  It's complicated and I don't quite understand it.  But I think while I have so much time on my hands, I need to start approaching doing the above as if it were a job that paid.  For example, if you work 9-5 and take a generous break of an hour and a half, you would work about 6.5 hours a day.  Perhaps I need to devote this amount of time to creative pursuits and perhaps it will pay off.

The moral of the story is... be who you are.

2. The bottom layer of my hair is purple.

3. I love to go imaginary online shopping.  That is, I look at stuff, ooh and aah and dream of someday owning it.  Usually it is clothes, but lately I have taken an interest in antiques.

4. I read the dictionary and take notes.

5. I giggle a lot.

6. My cat has spots like a cow.

7. I am listening to The Killers.

8. I wish life was like the Disney Channel.

9. I just bought a red and green Tiffany style butterfly lamp.  It looks kinda like this.

10. I have my library card barcode memorized but I can't remember to pay my bills on time.

11. When I was little I used to think the sound of planes flying overhead at nights was the sound of the world ending.  It scared the shit out of me.

12. I have had an invisible imaginary enemy who stalked me.

13. I have 9 books checked out of the library.

14. Lamingtons used to make me cry because I didn't like getting the coconut all over my hands.

15. My favourite item of clothing is my black hoodie.

16. I sometimes have dreams within dreams.

17.  I've dreamed I've died and lived to tell the tale.

18. Last night I cooked spaghetti bolognese with vegetarian mince.  It came out in a block and looked like dog food.

19. Did you know that soaking nuts and seeds before eating them neutralizes the enzyme inhibitors and can increase the vitamin and mineral content?

20. Saying you are going to "soak your nuts" sounds funny.

21. This time last year I was hurriedly planning a last minute trip to Europe.

22. I am a fantastic procrastinator.

23. I lament the short supply of banoffee pie.

24. I think I've put on about 3kg over the last couple of months and I feel good about getting my curves back.

25. I like to ask people random questions.

26. If I were a dessert I would be tiramisu.

27. I would love to own and renovate a small cottage or villa.

28. I want to own a Savannah cat.

29. I'm entering a poetry competition as soon as I figure out which poems to enter.

30. I enjoyed construction sprawling cities over my living room floor out of Lego, blocks, cards, Duplo, Barbie furniture and anything else I could find as a kid.

31. I used to think about becoming an architect, but it was way too much work.

32. I am trying to eat mostly vegetarian and I'm cutting back on my dairy and wheat consumption.

33. Muslims believe that people in Heaven will forever remain the age of 33.

34. I am wearing fluffy black boot slippers.

35.  I still dream of having wicked ninja skills.

THE END.