You can't buy chewing gum anywhere in Singapore
But you can buy peppermint candy
Cause you eat it til it's gone
Singapore, ah, Singapore
October 28, 2005
Right. M'off for the weekend. Two grueling days of running, rain, and ruining my liver. Promises to be good times. A cheery gloom and doom to everyone this All Hallow's Eve-eve-eve.
October 27, 2005Ok. I think I've had about enough of this semi-employed thing. Looking at my calendar, I see that I've worked an incredible five days this month. So not cool. Granted, those five days have pretty much covered my costs for the month, but I'm trying to get ahead here, not keep on an even keel. Yes, I know the film industry is a feast or famine type business, but it's been three weeks since I've had a call in to work. That's a long time; I'm even thinking about going back to miserable PA work just to fill a few days with something other than Japanese studies and disc golf.
I realize to most of you this must sound pretty good, but it wears thin after a little while, trust me. Well, at least I get to get away for the weekend. Because a vacation is exactly what I need at the moment. A deplorable mess, I am.
"Sick of spendin' Sundays wishing they were Mondays
Sittin' in a park alone."
- Johnny Cash, Just the Other Side of Nowhere
Half-finished crossword puzzles and glanced-at magazines are the order of the day lately. I try to kid myself that a couple of hours spent sitting in a coffee shop cramming esoteric kanji into my brain passes for productivity, but deep down I know that all I am doing is passing the time. Thing is, when faced with countless hours to fill, I generally get overwhelmed and just end up doing nothing at all. I think I function better when I'm overbooked. That way I don't have to figure out how to fill the hours, just how to use them most efficiently. Efficiency - I'm good at that.
I dunno. Maybe this is just a long-winded way of saying I'm bored and lonely. Maybe this is just another distraction keeping me from figuring out what it is exactly that I should be doing. Maybe I should just knock it off and go grocery shopping.
So I'm walking down Main St., sort of half-heartedly looking for a Hallowe'en costume and I'm a little bored. Remembering that I have my balloons and pump in my backpack I pull some out and start making balloon animals as I'm walking. Y'know, practice.
Of course, once I've made a couple, my hands are getting a little full, making it difficult to continue practicing. What the hell, I figure, I'll just hand them off to passers-by. I never imagined it would be so difficult! Some people look at me like I'm trying to con them out of some cash - particularly when I try to give the balloon to a kid - others just plain ignore me and walk right on by. Now I don't think I look much like a panhandler, but I guess folks in this town have become pretty jaded about the whole "spare change" thing. Fair enough, I think to myself, so I start saying "I'm just practicing" as I give them away. This approach seems to work a little better, but I'm still collecting a whole bunch of weird looks and surprisingly few smiles and thank yous.
Once I get in and around my neighbourhood I decide to quit, as people are looking increasingly uncomfortable and I get the distinct impression I'm about to get maced. I realize this is rather unusual behaviour, but c'mon... a guy walking down the street handing out balloon animals pro bono - is that really so hard to fathom?
Had a somewhat unsettling dream last night about getting attacked by a barn owl. There was some other stuff going on, but that was pretty much the highlight. I found an online dream dictionary which had this to say about owls:
Appalling use of commas theirs, not mine. I just cut and paste.
- To see an owl in your dream, symbolizes wisdom, insight and virtue. The owl is also synonymous with death and darkness.
- To hear the hoot of an owl, denotes disappointments and forewarns that death creeps closely in the wake of joy and health.
- To see a dead owl, signifies a narrow escape from desperate illness and death. Death in this sense may also represent a symbolic death, as in an important transition in life.
Anyway. Interesting enough, I thought to myself. Slightly conflicting information - particularly that first point - but whatever. A little more digging and I find this:
I like the sound of this a little bit less. I also notice the owl no longer needs to be dead for it to presage troubling times. Which of course results in a little more digging:
- Warning of the approach of a deceitful person. It denotes a narrow escape from desperate illness or death.
So what about the elusive and mysterious Scalping Owl? What do we know about it? There was no hooting in the dream, and I didn't scare it away (it got distracted by some kids playing soccer, whatever that means). Then I looked up 'attack' in the first dictionary:
- An owl represents wisdom and in some instances, higher education. this is a symbol that must be integrated with the entire dream to determine its meaning. The sound of an owl hooting is a dream of a different kind as this sound presages disappointments and reverses, unless you chase it away.
Ah-ha! Now I just have to figure out who the most owlish person in my waking life is... who do I know that can fly? Just for kicks, I also looked up 'assault':
- To dream that you attack someone, indicates that your ill-mood and temper may cause harm to another. You are releasing some pent-up frustration and anger. You feel that you have been wronged. Such feelings may be easier and safer for you to express in your dream.
- To dream that you are being attacked by someone, signifies questions on your character and the need for you to defend yourself. You are feeling stressed, vulnerable and helpless. You may also be faced with difficult changed in your waking life.
- To dream that you are being attacked by an animal, is a warning to be careful with those around you. Take notice on who you know in your waking like that shares and exhibits the same qualities of the animal that attacked you in your dream.
- To dream that you kill an attacking animal, signifies that your life will be saved by a stranger.
Goddamnit. I'm starting to think this whole dream interpretation thing is a bunch of road apples, if you know what I mean. October 13, 2005
- Good information will be given to you. Monetary gain. Family quarrels.
Aw, hell. I done lost September. Goddamnit.
An entire month lost to the fraternal twin devils of labour and leisure. Oh, the sway that they hold. Much as I state over on the Photobooth Resolution page (with a new one, by the by), excuses are appallingly common and far too mundane to be iterated herein. Far better to just move on and try to pick up where I left off. And considering this endeavour has ever been but an eclectic collection of my thoughts and flights of fancy, that shouldn't be too difficult a thing.
I suppose I ought to sieze upon this opportunity to mention that aside from the irregular gripping work I've been doing, I have just signed on with Alti-tech to be their Production Manager. It's not quite a full-time position yet, but as such allows me the opportunity to continue squaring away my debts with film work while taking part in something a little more long-term. Looks promising and should be a lot of fun - not least because my friend Adrian is president of the company. Yes, indeed.
It looks like it's going to be an interesting job - on my first day I got to build a prototype Styrene Adapter Platform (which sounds infinitely cooler than it actually is) and write up an initial draft of the assembly instructions for the GPS Power Case. Who would've guessed that I, of all people, would end up in the high-tech industry? Certainly not anyone who knows me, no.
And in other news, it seems I have a predisposition toward forgetting to turn off the oven when I'm finished using it. I baked a couple of chicken breasts for dinner this evening (which were very tasty in their garlic-butter-thyme sauce, thank you) and apparently accidentally let a tea towel get caught in the oven door as I kicked it shut. There was a small fire, but nobody was hurt. Gotta say, though: the smell of charred cotton ain't no pleasurable thing. No sirree.
It's a twist-off
Using my words
I use'ta could
Boku da
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