Panthera Sapiens Ellipsis: The Blog

[Monday, May 21] I have finally got some good news regarding the job--it's over. My parents have decided that a month in China with them would be vastly more therapeutic than living with the Brats. (It's also something to do with me going off to Singapore soon and being further separated, and with their impeding move of house, which will require spring-cleaning of the new house and arrangement of various possessions.) So they told me, by email and via the Empress, to get my visa ready and my passport and to get a ticket to the Big S, as soon as I can. The Coconut said not to worry about her while I'm gone. So far I've got two travel agents' numbers to call and compare prices and visa preparation durations. I do hope everything goes OK, or else I'm going to have to get a ticket to Wuhan, which might be more expensive than to the Big S and might require a transit flight into the bargain (I dislike transits). But at least I'm going to be merrily jobless after t...

[Monday, May 14] ...you know it's not going to be a good day when your first thoughts on waking up are, "Shit, it's Monday". I suppose being late--again--does things to my mood. I don't particularly like being late. Then again, it's been a pretty OK time so far apart from when the Brats are around--I guess they have some sort of allergy to human decency or something. I've been receiving loads of letters the past few weeks, mostly from universities in the UK--even though I'm definitely not going to any of them anymore since I've decided on NTU, I haven't told them yet because I haven't found a suitably tactful way of saying No. Even if it's to a computer... anyway, so I've got loads of letters waiting for me at the Gorillas' every week when I go back. I don't usually look forward to those all that much, since they're like an instant guilt trip, but this week I got something nicer--a letter from myself. I should probably e...

[Monday, May 7] My wallet, and I, are reeling somewhat from a series of impulse purchases over the last week--or more specifically, the last weekend, beginning on Saturday when I went into a secondhand goods store near my church. That store turned out to have rather more interesting things than its exterior suggested--at first I had thought it sold only old TVs and electric guitars that nobody could tune any more. Apparently they have stacks and stacks of bokken--Japanese training swords, very blunt but very heavy--going for less than 10 each; boxes piled high with records (I'm not sure if they were pirated, though); and, which caught my attention most, a few hundred books in shelves along the wall. I was decidedly happy to see those. The books, naturally, were mostly romance novels with half-undressed chests sprawled all over the cover. I avoided those, but I did find an early Patricia C Wrede (I've read some of her other work, and it's pretty good); a David/Leigh Eddings ...

[Monday, April 30] I wonder if I should sign up for this year's Copa di IBA. It's not like I'm going to do much good if I join anyhow, though--Claus has already told me that the way I play, I'm a liability to the team. Apparently because of the way I jump, people behind me are liable to have their eyes damaged... so unless I have a sudden improvement in style or technique or whatever it's called, I guess I'm not going to be on our delegation to the competition. Not that I mind. Sweat and sore limbs are not my cup of tea anyway--if possible, I'll probably just find a nice steeple hat somewhere and wear it there to keep the sun outta my face. I might even want to try and buy a (hooded!) trenchcoat or something in case it rains. It's a pity there aren't many shops selling ankle-length cloaks--I've always thought those looked kinda nice. Still, one has to make do with what one has... Things are definitely getting stressful around the office. With all...