A quick recommendation of my breakfast reading today:
Why Gandalf Never Married - 1985 Talk by Terry Pratchett
It discusses the portrayal of gender and magic in fantasy literature (he later wrote Equal Rites on this theme). While there are a number of references to the fantasy genre, I think his sense of humor is generic enough for everyone to enjoy. *dangles bait*
It's been a long time since the last blog. There's work, and then there're other things... The usual excuse, you know the drill, lol. I guess I just didn't have as many introspective moments as before, or as many mini-epiphanies I think worth sharing.
Something important to me actually happened recently: my first trip to Japan. =) The main purpose was to attend a work-related exhibition in Tokyo, but of course, I didn't miss the chance to go to a planetarium. Two 40-min shows back-to-back. =q I also briefly infiltrated Tokyo University, indulged myself along the Used-Books Street, got a cheap music CD from the famous Akihabara (and got tempted by a new Sony Ericsson / Cybershot model that might not even make it to Singapore), and took really pleasant strolls along the vast gardens / parks / shrines despite the spring season not yet arriving; among other adventures (and misadventures). Facebook photo albums will follow soon, maybe. (For those photos, I definitely still love my Elm.)
The second-last day of my trip coincided with the Sendai earthquake, which was also my first earthquake experience. It was rather frightening when the building shook violently, but having no prior scale to compare, at the moment I had no idea how severe it was and so didn't really panic. =X Everyone around were calm, even though they did say it was stronger than usual. So it was only later when I realized that public transport had all ceased operating, that I started to feel lost and worried about getting back to the hotel and contacting my family.
Long story short, I had a long long walk (and climb) back to my room that day, but still considered myself lucky when I saw the stranded people sleeping on the floor in the hotel lobby / McDonalds / any available indoor space on my way back, and even more so when I watched the round-the-clock TV news on the tsunami-hit areas. The aftershocks continued to worry everyone, but my flight back departed as scheduled, and here I am.
So yeah, I was happy to be there, and also happy to be back. Warm and humid tropical weather that's kind to the skin and a solid ground you can take for granted. Not traumatized, for sure; I definitely still want to visit Kyoto and Nara one day. =) And having a not-so-bad experience of the earthquake firsthand is good for heightening my empathy towards natural disaster victims. (To quote from Les Miserables, "A little drop of rain can hardly hurt me [...] and rain will make the flowers grow.")
Moving on... I'd say it was back to normal life, but there have been some new experiences at work (attending some intimidating meetings) and outside it (trying to impart my half-baked skills to a group of youths with my half-baked teaching competence; contributing to fundraising projects...) as well. There were also catching-up meet-ups which went pleasantly. I think I'm pretty much enjoying life as it is right now, the excitement and the placidity alike.
A reflection to close off: I dropped by Eka's blog where she wrote at one point:
"It's between choosing your heart and your head. The sceptical-in-love me really wondered if choosing your heart will always make you happier."
That reminded me of a review on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice by Michael Cohen, who said of Elizabeth and Darcy's marriage as
"a marriage [...] that shows us not that prudent choices lead to happiness but that the prudent are happy choosing prudently."
(No full source, but it was quoted here.) I think that is very well put.
