King Among Kings
I'm blogging early tonight since I have to sleep early for the charity food sale at the Lions' Nursing Home tomorrow morning ... and I'm quite the heavy sleeper, except on holidays of course, since my body will automatically reactivate itself early due to the fact that it knows I can game already. Talking about sleep reminds me of After Dark ... a vintage novel I finished a few days ago (I have now moved on to South of the Border, West of the Sun ... which cover design Phil detests). The story was crisp, exquisite and enigmatic. All the more loveable. I didn't face a single bit of the common Boring Read Dilemma (BRD) that strikes
very often especially during the starting of a book. Thankfully with After Dark I didn't need to strain myself to
read through the first few pages and irritatedly wait for the plot to pick up. After Dark takes on a setting during the period after midnight ... life during the period when night dominates, something I
have always liked. I've never got a chance to experience nightlife outside before, and I've always wanted
to ... the very idea of it is exhilarating. I adore the night. The night is an entirely different world from the day (well, duh) ... it's mysterious, dark, chilly and exciting! And of course, it's the timeline when we are closest to the supernatural! Isn't that just scintillating!? Hmm ... yeah, I guess it's rather unusual to see me all hyped about something that isn't manga or gaming-related. One night I'll just jump through the portal, into the dark city at night and walk
across the entire city. I don't like the day and sunny weather. I love the night and rainy weather. Go me! Before moving on to another subject, I think I'll give my rating for After Dark ... 4/5 for surreal story, mellow setting and deep characters who all have a shroud of mysteries hiding them away from the reader. Sadly the book was quite short, but I'd say it was worth the money, though Lester was like, "OMFG you bought this thin book for RM 32.90!?"
On Wednesday we were allowed free activity for PE! A few of us brought badminton rackets while most of the other boys played basketball instead since they weren't good enough with their hearing to hear Phil's announcement to bring rackets on Tuesday. It was my first experience with formal, indoor badminton (though there aren't any nets)! Since 3rd grade I've been doing only street badminton, so this is a wholly different thing for a country boy like me. Having been practicing street badminton that is actually way tougher since while playing you need to take into account wind direction, wind speed, terrain property et cetera; my senses are quite well-toned, so I didn't do that bad in indoor badminton. That was actually surprising for even myself, especially given the fact that I haven't played for a few months already. Out of my class's Golden Trio which according to sports adept James consists of
Kyc, Jack and Lester; I've already faced Kyc and Lester. IMHO I think Lester has been the toughest opponent I've faced so far. His style is fast and accurate play while mine's defensive and tricky. I will be trying out Jack next week. I feel a bad omen about playing against him. Hmm. Anyways, since we are talking about sports, let's move on to yesterday's swimming class. Dawn was absent since her car fetched
her up late. I tried on my new pair of swimming trunks - they're longer than my original pair. I don't like it as much. It's pretty uncomfortable (the fabric) and it's fairly annoying to do the breaststroke with it. The class started with long-distance swimming, with me having to start swimming in the center of the pool so if I get a cramp of something in the deep end I have to find a way to get to the side on my own. The first time there, I seriously can't manage as it felt so scary as Dawn has described it, resulting in me steering to the side mid-way through the deep end. I can't help it, as the water wasn't lucid due to the rain earlier and the pressure
there was quite intense. The next time through there ... I easily overcame my fear of the center by making use of Mr Willie as some sort of a tool ... by imagining him being there. Lesson learned: One can always make use of his role model
as a stepping stone when needed. So, I pictured him on each ends of the pool and the imagined dialogue was ...
Willie: "Hiya son!"
Me: "Hey dad!"
Willie: "Wanna go for a ride?"
Me: "Sure dad!"
Me: "I'm a daddy's boy, in a daddy world, life in skin-flesh, it's bombastic, you can ruffle my hair, groom me up everywhere, imagination, that is my creation!"
Okay, so that part was actually made up now for Dawn who's ecstatic to hear me sing Aqua's Barbie Girl. For quite a while I kept to the idea of him being there and as I got used to that area, poof he went and Sara Bareilles' Love Song started echoing in my ears instead, even till the next hour of swimming, possibly since it's so catchy that I love singing it to myself a lot. It's either Love Song or Listen To Your Body Tonight or That's Not My Name these days.
Jessy hates the last song though. Pity. Jessy also hates people who dream big. Jessy is so realistic. I am so idealistic. Though actually I'm quite realistic too. As seen here:
My personality type is INTJ, the Strategist under the class of the Intellectual. Not listed in my personality badge is the Interpersonal intelligence, the intelligence for interaction with others, since it's my lowest intelligence. Anyway, to all other bloggers reading this, take both quizzes at MyPersonality.info and post your badges on your next update! Taking this as some sort of a tag, I tag ... Dawn! Phil! Jordan Siaw! Eugene! Nadia! It's much better than all the other super-lengthy tags right? But, ahem, we ARE talking about sports. So some time near 7, we are supposed to jump into deep water. That's the scariest thing there is in swimming class. I can't, even though a fellow swimmate kept encouraging me but I sadly I disappointed him by not doing it. I don't exactly think it's a case of aquaphobia, more like it's linked to my immense level of acrophobia. At school when playing captainsball or cancelling ball, I'm even scared standing as goalkeeper on the bench. I'm already scared of that low a height, so imagine jumping into the water. Still, I am scared of non-swimming pool water. I do not think it's fear of water. More like the water is a dense shroud hiding all the creatures within. I totally dread most aquatic creatures as the majority of them either bear venomous properties or grotesque features. Some are just carnivorous. I don't even bother talking about this
anymore. I've mentioned it once in class to the boys. But as usual, the boys especially Jordan acted all so brave and all, like he could face the creatures. Back during grade school when I was playing Ape Escape, the gigantic mutant fish was so horrifying. Also in Shadow of the Colossus, I dread fighting colossi #5, 7 and 12 as all 3 fights are in watery environments, especially for the latter two since #5 is more of an aerial battle while the other two are in water. It felt like a horror game fighting #7 and #12. Once again, I will say that we return to the subject of sports. This is the last part of it - jogging. After a long break from jogging (unintentionally, blame the hectic weather), I finally had a chance to jog again this afternoon. At the stadium I tried using the Sandman technique:
Kevin commented that manga really is informative. Yeah, I obviously liked that comment. But crappy overrated crap like Naruto is rubbish. Grr. Anyhow, the method really does make running a lot faster, and you feel lighter. Try it out!
That said, I think I should go now since I have to depart early tomorrow. For The Amazing Race 13, I support Ken & Tina!
I like Toni & Dallas too, but I hate Nick & Starr and Terence & Sarah ... annoying teams. Go Ken! Go Tina! Make sure you make a good comeback and overcome the Speed Bump next week! Good night people!
p. s. Please remind me of any typos or grammar errors.
p. s. (again) To Mark: I don't mind, I feel happy that people from other classes read my blog too!