Underwater Sirens

She was a dark queen
Waiting for him to realize that he was her king
But he was lacking
The confidence
To cross the fence
To take a stand
To take her hand
To make a grand
Declaration
of undying affection

And so it went
The ups, the downs
The runs into the ground
The pain of the silent
Underwater sirens
Unheard by rescue ships
On an untested relationship

So Long and Thanks For All the Fish

I was cooking tuna the other day for breakfast. Little did I know that you’re supposed to drain the oil out using the lid. So I did the best I could to drain all the oil I had. I wasn’t too successful. I thought it was really tasty, going by the half a teaspoon I sampled. So I served it into a hot pot and let my dad have it all since it was too little for the both of us. After he was done with breakfast, I came by to clear up the dining table. Most of the tuna was still there, untouched. I couldn’t believe it. This thing was delicious. I decided to scoop a bigger portion than I had when I was preparing it. Damn! It was horrible. Not the tuna, but the oil. It was too much. So I decided to google up “How to drain the vegetable oil from canned tuna.” Wow! You wouldn’t believe how easy the process is. You just squeeze out all the oil using the lid after cutting it out. Well, that’s a step.

I currently live with my parents. My mum left to go visit my sister in the U.S. last week. She used to be in charge of the fish. She would serve it up for breakfast once or twice each week and she was pretty good at it. But I never bothered to find out how she did it. Seemed like a lot of work. And canned fish looked so much more awesome from the view on the supermarket shelves. When it comes to homemade fillet, there’s always that bit of fish that carries bile in it and you can’t pick it out from the rest if it’s served in a pot. That always bothered me. It made me avoid eating her fish on certain days when I wasn’t feeling like taking my chances on that bile. But now it kind of reminds me about her strong attachment to having fish with breakfast. Cooking everything else seems easy but the fish… well the fish takes some effort. And sometimes you never know when you’re effort will go unappreciated until you stop applying it.

Easy tiger! Have a chill pill

People are so easily offended nowadays. Sometimes I interact with people and I’m reminded of my neighbour’s dogs. Cross their personal lines and they’ll be barking like starved mongrels. One small remark, one simple gesture can result in nuclear warfare. It’s just funny how sharp the canines behind the fake smiling lips are. It is almost as if they’re saying “Humour me, but don’t push it buddy. I bite” Like that moment when you tease someone while trying to get to know them better and then end up on their wrong books.

In fact this is especially the case when you meet someone new. Ok, so of course there is a limit to how far you can go with what you say when you’ve just met someone but then there are people who are just … ‘those’ kind of people.

Like the other day, I met this prominent lady who found me interviewing someone and bulged in very flamboyantly to chat away with my interviewee. It took her a while to realize I was there but when she did she asked for my name but didn’t give me hers. So naturally I assumed she had forgotten that small bit of the introductory courtesies and I proceeded to ask her who she was. Her eyes widened in disbelief as if to say “Who the hell is this guy?’ My interviewee promptly followed with a “You don’t know this lady?” The response in my mind was “Am I freaking supposed to know who this is?” but it came out slightly differently; something like “I think I’ve seen her before.” My interviewee like the loyal little minion he was at that time provided me with her ever so majestic name; Kabo… something. It was basically a pair of hard to pronounce kikuyu names. Well, they sure know how to pick ‘em.

Larry David in Curb your Enthusiasm

Then there is this invisible contract I have come to discover exists when you say you will do something for someone. Once you say yes, it automatically turns from favour to sworn duty. And sometimes what they ask you to do is not that easy. “Can you loan me 5000 bob?” Or the classic “Please find me a job“ So then you say yes and end up answering to their constant nuisance. You didn’t say when you were going to get them a job. You didn’t even say you’ll find one. You said you’ll try. “You haven’t yet found one yet?  You're not looking hard enough” “’Are you sure you didn’t delete my number?”  All of a sudden it’s as if they hired you to get them hired.

But what happens when you say you won’t. Like “Would you take me to teach me French for seven months for free?” No, I don’t think so but hey maybe you would like to raise my kids for seven months for free. Or “Can you hold my lady bag for me till we get home?” No, thank you. I d rather hold my own jacket. It’s just a polite decline. And that’s when the cold treatment ensues. With the ‘I thought we were friends’ ‘I thought you were a gentleman’ speech. Honestly I don’t know why people equate hand bags to friendship anyway. And who’s to say you need French in your vocabulary maybe you’re more of a Korean kind of person.

But you learn to live with it. Oh yes, you do.

What's so New about the New Year.

I have never thought of New year's day as a big important ceremony. A millenium, a century - maybe. 31st is a bigger occasion because you can look back at what good has come off the just ended year and smile. But a new year is simply the count off of another 365 days - and more. Life continues. Don't get me wrong. It's not that I dont appreciate making it into the new year, its just that I appreciate it in the same way that I do each new day. So for me shifting from 31th to 1st is as important as shifting from 30th to 31st.

But maybe whats more significant during the event is that you get to set new targets for yourself; ideally targets that follow some grand template of what your life should ultimately look like.
I personally avoid the 'stop this' or 'stop that' kind of resolutions. Those are better made when an epiphany at hand or when a perspective shifting event occurs e.g. a really serious hangover.

I prefer to make constructive resolutions. Something that I tried to achieve at some point of the previous year but failed to. Or just something entirely new and progressive. Its much better when the resolutions are connected though. The resolutions made this year will be easy to meet if they support each other. If the resolution from last year complements the one from last year then you can easily see that there is a clear direction into which your life is heading. A purpose that is more deliberate than random. A conscious choice to write the story of your life the way you want it read.

I suppose that's what a new year's day means to me - not so much a new chapter but simply a new page in my book. As far as celebrating it is concerned, I believe only time will tell. We can only wait to see what joys truly lie ahead of us in this unexpected journey.