Maybe the lack of Internet didn't do much for my writing, but evidently, neither did its presence. As can attest the sluggishness of this blog, or stagnance might be a better word for it. I choose to blame it entirely on certain environmental factors namely cerebral and logic deficiencies, the details of which I should already have ranted and raved on msn in one way or another and which I will exclude lest the perpetuators embark.
So what has been happening?
Still having classes, very broad spectrum stuff. I'm really impatient to get the first sem over and done with. Second sem promises to be full of viruses, bacteria, parasites and indignation over the fact that millions of children in developping countries die of diseases that have been relegated to anonymity in the first world (rotavirus anyone?) I got my stage, lab work on the molecular epidemiology of human enteroviruses. Hopefully it doesn't mean lots of software tools and hours in front of a computer instead of on the bench. Woopie-doo yippie-yay.
Went to watch Vincent Delerm in concert in Aix-en-Provence, this reallllly amazing guy who is just regal in front of a piano. He's one of the stars of what's called la nouvelle scène française, where the lyrics often exploit name-dropping for realism and is almost always violently unsingable. Watching him live makes me gladly want to give up a leg to be able to play like that. Damn my freakishly short fingers!
Had short work stints in Paris as an interpreter at the International Food Fair as well. That was interesting, partly due to the free food samples and the occasional 'I speak bad Spanish, you speak bad French, let's just try to understand each other, ok?'. It would have been better had they not have the bright idea to dress up in horrid fake SIA uniforms from Chinatown that made us look more like the Nonya aunties in the Bugis Junction basement.
In Paris, I fell in love. With a bookstore. (I know I'm a geek) Naan is the person to thank for this love affair. The Shakespeare & Co. bookstore that was seen in the movie Before Sunset, and it's the most beautiful, charming English bookstore tucked away on the left bank of the Seine that you'll ever see. Cosy and welcoming, beds for you to lounge on and read, books are wall to wall, typewriter left out for aspiring poets, willing them even to peck at its idle keys. I chatted a bit with the guy who was running the place that evening, and he was living that idyllic struggling writer dream, the kind where a short visit to Paris kept him there for several years, where his days are spent writing and his nights tending a bookstore. The kind I've only read about in novels, the kind I would love to pursue but will never muster up the courage or conjure up the talent to do.
Took a coach up to London from Paris, hitting the Channel crossing at 3 frickin am. Although I only had about 2 days there, there was so much to do and see and spend money on! My main reason for going to London was to watch Wicked, the musical prequel to The Wizard of Oz because the original Broadway lead Idina Menzel was going to be in the London production until December. And it was fabulous, she was fabulously green! One afternoon was spent just in and around West End, looking at the Theatre Museum and checking out all the quaint bookstores on Charring Cross, another was spent in Craven Cottage, watching Fulham get beat by Wigan. One evening on Wicked, and another on the Susan Hall play 'Woman in Black' which I highly recommend, but cannot go on expounding on it without letting slip any spoilers. Wicked and Woman in Black are must-sees. As in MUST-SEE.
I really need to find a way to satisfy my thirst for theatre, drama and music right now, now that I'm not doing theatre anymore because of simple stupid geographical and transportational issues. And while I know that the dichotomy between arts and science is a largely perceived one, as well as a very Singaporean one, I can't help but wonder if I've gone into the wrong field...
So what has been happening?
Still having classes, very broad spectrum stuff. I'm really impatient to get the first sem over and done with. Second sem promises to be full of viruses, bacteria, parasites and indignation over the fact that millions of children in developping countries die of diseases that have been relegated to anonymity in the first world (rotavirus anyone?) I got my stage, lab work on the molecular epidemiology of human enteroviruses. Hopefully it doesn't mean lots of software tools and hours in front of a computer instead of on the bench. Woopie-doo yippie-yay.
Went to watch Vincent Delerm in concert in Aix-en-Provence, this reallllly amazing guy who is just regal in front of a piano. He's one of the stars of what's called la nouvelle scène française, where the lyrics often exploit name-dropping for realism and is almost always violently unsingable. Watching him live makes me gladly want to give up a leg to be able to play like that. Damn my freakishly short fingers!
Had short work stints in Paris as an interpreter at the International Food Fair as well. That was interesting, partly due to the free food samples and the occasional 'I speak bad Spanish, you speak bad French, let's just try to understand each other, ok?'. It would have been better had they not have the bright idea to dress up in horrid fake SIA uniforms from Chinatown that made us look more like the Nonya aunties in the Bugis Junction basement.
In Paris, I fell in love. With a bookstore. (I know I'm a geek) Naan is the person to thank for this love affair. The Shakespeare & Co. bookstore that was seen in the movie Before Sunset, and it's the most beautiful, charming English bookstore tucked away on the left bank of the Seine that you'll ever see. Cosy and welcoming, beds for you to lounge on and read, books are wall to wall, typewriter left out for aspiring poets, willing them even to peck at its idle keys. I chatted a bit with the guy who was running the place that evening, and he was living that idyllic struggling writer dream, the kind where a short visit to Paris kept him there for several years, where his days are spent writing and his nights tending a bookstore. The kind I've only read about in novels, the kind I would love to pursue but will never muster up the courage or conjure up the talent to do.
Took a coach up to London from Paris, hitting the Channel crossing at 3 frickin am. Although I only had about 2 days there, there was so much to do and see and spend money on! My main reason for going to London was to watch Wicked, the musical prequel to The Wizard of Oz because the original Broadway lead Idina Menzel was going to be in the London production until December. And it was fabulous, she was fabulously green! One afternoon was spent just in and around West End, looking at the Theatre Museum and checking out all the quaint bookstores on Charring Cross, another was spent in Craven Cottage, watching Fulham get beat by Wigan. One evening on Wicked, and another on the Susan Hall play 'Woman in Black' which I highly recommend, but cannot go on expounding on it without letting slip any spoilers. Wicked and Woman in Black are must-sees. As in MUST-SEE.
I really need to find a way to satisfy my thirst for theatre, drama and music right now, now that I'm not doing theatre anymore because of simple stupid geographical and transportational issues. And while I know that the dichotomy between arts and science is a largely perceived one, as well as a very Singaporean one, I can't help but wonder if I've gone into the wrong field...
2 comments:
I don't think you went into the wrong field because you're still going to musicals/musical performances/museums..! Also that's a question I think you've been asking yourself since junior college, no? Didn't LPM give you the option of doing TSD?
procrastination!
every uni student's best friend.
Any you know something, I do understand about being torn between that 'dichotomy'
hey there charlene. Don't know if you got my email. I'm guessing that you are still out of Singapore, which means I won't see you. :(
email me though, just to make sure
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