Panthera Sapiens Ellipsis: The Blog

[Wednesday, July 18] I haven't gotten a chance to go online at all for ages now... I must have gotten too used to having constant access to the Net (well, not quite constant, but at least it was there) and now that I'm back in the Gorillas' house, going online has become vastly more difficult. It's rather annoying how the local topography seems to resist allowing us to go online from here: the Gorilla says there's a hill at the back of the house (where the computer is) that blocks the wireless connection; and the front of the house is too crowded, as well as having too few sockets, to allow us to try from there with any amount of ease. So I'm typing this on the desktop that isn't used for much more than printing or the children's games... My laptop has been delayed twice. Well, I suppose it's actually only been delayed once, but from my point of view it's twice... you see, I ordered my laptop from So Hour. (Which reminds me I should record some m...

I'm typing this from my grandparents' home in So Hour. My cousin got Streamyx into the house. I'm here because my father's youngest brother passed away and I don't think it'll be in good taste to go into detail about it until I get my thoughts into better order, so I'll just put up the Wuhan blogs first and you can go crazy trying to finish reading 'em. *grin* And here we go: [Saturday, June 2] It is the fourth day, I think, since arriving in China. Or is it the third? I can never remember dates--I think I forgot my own birthday once. In any case it's been a very enjoyable time so far; the reunion has gone well, and as far as I can tell no great disputes have arisen. Or, at least, they have been somewhat amicably resolved, without resorting to the screams and floods of decibels that I've gotten used to during the stay with the Brats... As expected, I cannot access Blogger, and so am forced to record everything on my mp3 player or thumbdrive. I sh...

[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...