The world is your library

I've been listlessly browsing the internet trying to prolong this wonderful long weekend (seriously how utterly depressing are Sunday nights, or in this case, Monday night *sob*) and came across this great meme. All about books!! Hurrah! :)

Next reading: Hmmm to be honest, no idea. I think I might start this book that Patrick recommended to me ages ago as one of his dearly loved favourite books - The Liveship Traders series by Robin Hobb. The first of the trilogy is Ship Of Magic.

Emotionally Weird: Back Roads by Tawni O'Dell. It's such an emotionally hard and heart-breaking book to read, you get drawn and torn into the confusion of a dysfunctional family. The most heart-breaking book ever though is A Fine Balance by Rohinto Mistry. I have tear stains on all the pages. It took me a while to recover.

Last read: A Man of Peace in a World of War by Stanley Meiser. I was really looking forward to this biography of Kofi Annan. I should write a longer review for this because it was a great read, not only on the rivetting rise of Kofi Annan but the changing face and influence of the UN (particularly since Rwanda and more recently, the Iraq War). It is a much deserved defence of the UN but somewhat of a uncritical analysis of Kofi Annan. It's hard to explain but in some ways, I think the biographer was too much in awe of Kofi and therefore, found it difficult to be critical to any faults and remain unbiased.

Last book bought: Worse than Watergate by John W Dean. I suspect I might read this before Liveship Traders (haha)

Shortest book owned: I think it was actually a book I had as a child and I lent it to someone who never returned it. Something by John Marsden, I think.

Longest book owned: Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary. I adored Ramona as a child. I identified with her immensely as a nine year old because I, too, felt misunderstood by the rest of the adult world. I eventually gave this book to Patrick as a present (which we currently have on our bookshelf).

Favourite book: This is such a toughie. I would have to say my favourite book of all times gave me a lot of hope and inspiration as a teenager. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Book read the most times: To Kill A Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger and Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. (They are my comfort books when I want to both relate and escape from reality)

Least favourite book: I don't hate any books, per se. But my least favourite in recent memory is the Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I found it manipulative and didn't live up to its hype. Same with anything from Dan Brown. It's just sloppy terribly writing and plot. Even John Grisham writes better thrillers.

Favourite 'serious' fiction: Crime & Punishment by Dostoevsky and another from Russian literature, Anna Karenina by Tolstoy (one of my all-time favourite books as well).

Favourite comedy: I don't read a lot of comedy but this book made me laugh so hard, Dress your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris.

Favourite classic: Pride & Prejudice and as an an adventure revenge story, The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas.

Favourite Shakespeare: Macbeth. I love that famous line "Out Damn Spot! Out I say!" about guilt & our conscience plaguing us and also the Witches' "Fair is foul and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air". Oh Macbeth, how I love thee! ;)

Favourite poetry collection/poet: Be still my beating heart! I really do appreciate poetry because unlike being cast as the detached dramatist, poets become engaged in their own observations, their singular experience, rather than the experience of all men. For example, Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, their relationship and situation was very romantic and their poetry take up the question of closeness and distance, both emotional & physical, the close rhetorical space of the poems echoes the metaphors of the Brownings' relationship that recur throughout: the closed penknife, the enclosure of the dove's wings, the bee shut in glass, the vine twined round the tree. I love the imagery! I love how their correspondence, their rhetoric presents them as part of a private conversation that we’re somehow privy to by mere chance. My favourite poets are Robert Frost, John Donne and the Brownings. I just think with poetry, you get the deepest emotions in many evocative voices, passion, contentment, longing, illusion, hope and loss. It's grounded in humanity for me in any case (hmmm... moving on...)

Favourite fantasy: Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings

Favourite sci-fi: I don't particularly like sci fi. If 1984 by George Orwell is considered sci-fi then that is my favourite.

Favourite non-fiction: A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela. He is hands-down the person I would most like to meet; I am in complete awe of him.

Favourite chick lit/lad lit: Bridget Jones and Starter for Ten.

Favourite horror: YUCK! I just detest this genre now but as a teenager, I really dug the Christopher Pike books (what a messed up kid :p)

Favourite Young Adult: What is young adult? When I was in high school (early years), I read Sweet Valley High if that counts.

Favourite manga/graphich novel/comic: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! The original comics are so much more deliciously darker than the tv or movie adaptations.

Favourite series: Sweet Valley High!! ;)

Favourite short story: Roald Dahl's Kiss Kiss. Most macabre disturbing tales!

Best book read this year: It's still early in the game and I hope to read a lot more this year! Possibly the Kofi Annan one.

Speaking of which, we were talking to a friend on the weekend about book-crossing and it has inspired me to release a few favourites to the world. Great books are meant to be shared! :)

Home-made Morrocan Cuisine

Before Patrick and I headed to Canberra for the Easter long weekend, Patrick had promised the Quachs' (ie. Pat & Jangers) a Morrocan feast at our place to to kick off festivities. (Though, the night before we did indulge ourselves silly with ramen at Ichiban Boshi, followed by delectable morsels of chocolate-y goodness at the Lindt Cafe).

The spicy delicious Morrocan feast consisted of: skewers of lamb kofte with a wedge of lime, simple chicken tagine, sweet potato & orange tagine accompanied with white rice. YUM!!

For a cooking instructions, recipes and more photos, visit Patrick's blog on the food.

Baby, I'm hot just like an oven....

I've had a few stressful weeks. I was promoted at work and whilst, career-wise, I was elated at being given the opportunity to be satisfyingly challenged, the transition has been anything but smooth. I've always wondered about, you know, this whole corporate yuppie scene of the 20-somethings: working 15 hour days, chasing the elusive dollar signs just to buy another investment property. I guess I don't understand this hungry pursuit of wealth nor status. It's soul-less and empty when your identity is defined from the labels in your expensive clothes or shoes.

Anyway, I digress, my point is I don't work for the sake of working. I can work incredibly hard when it means something profound to me, to do some good in the world. Thus, whilst I enjoy my work and appreciate it, I don't take it that seriously because in relation to that of, for example, a doctor, the corporate world is essentially all about consumerism and making the rich even richer. There is nothing wrong with that per se but the reality is, it is not significant and I have no grand delusion about that. So when I actually stressed about work, it was particularly absurb to me (especially when I am in the midst of reading the new Kofi Annan biography - now that's about as stressful as it gets!). Nonetheless, it has been stressful (I was doing pretty long hours) and a little Ben Harper was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Ben Harper @ the Enmore was fantastic! This is the second time I have seen his show and there is nothing quite as magical nor spiritual as Ben live (and by magical, I don't mean the pot that everyone was burning down ;) ). Soulful lyrics, captivating foot-tapping acoustics- an eclectic mix of funk, blues, rock, reggae. My favourite moment of the night was his acoustic version of Walk Away.

I taped some of it on my camera and uploaded to youtube. Sorry for the crazy shaky fuzzy camera-work, I was dancing and singing along to Sexual Healing. Also, the quality is a bit shite due to it being a small digital camera.

Sydney Protest Rally - Saturday 17th March

Hi all my lovely readers,

If anyone is like me, disillusioned and disgusted with our government's handling of Iraq, "war on terror" & David Hicks, please join me in this weekend's rally. Rally will start at 12pm @ Town Hall. Please feel free to give me a call if you want to join us in this march. :)

A wedding and a baby in Maleny

Patrick and I spent a (much needed) long weekend up north in Maleny. We were there for two occasions: the wedding of his long-time childhood friend, James and; the birth of his beautiful new niece.

It's hard to describe Maleny from a relatively new perspective, I have visited three times in the past year. With each subsequent visit, I've developed a fond familarity with the town; it's hard not to fall in love with a place like Maleny and hard not to be envious of those who had an idyllic upbringing in such an enchanting environment.

Maleny, as well as being in QLD is 400m high, and the first range in from the coast, so topographic clouds bump against the range constantly. Everyone has tin roofs, and the sound of rain falling is the most heavenly, recuperative sound I can imagine. Walking out in the rain is amazing, you see birds and paddymelons hopping about, you take shelter under a broad-leafed fig and listen to the forest sputter around you, small torrents carving new paths through the undergrowth. The hills are incredibly green, hemmed in by this stunning temperate rainforest, scrub turkeys and paddymelons lurking behind cedars. Surprises such as wild passionfruit hidden in some innocuous place, vines dripping with fruit. It really is a beautiful wonderful place.

The wedding was lovely and picturesque. Patrick was the best man and gave a heart-warming speech at the reception. The boys got to dress in yukatas (a summer cotton garment much like a kimono) with matching obis. I met all of Patrick's childhood friends who, very much, remind me of my own good friends. Relaxed, chilled-out, intelligent, funny and engaging GEEKS. :p In true Asian-style, we all fought over the microphones at karaoke later in the night.

The view from our room at Tranquil Park (where guests stayed and reception was held)

Two Japanese guests enjoying the view after the wedding ceremony.

The beautiful warm and hilarious couple: Miyuki and James.

Ninjas attacking in the bushes

Patrick looking mischievious whilst waiting for the bride to arrive

The guests waiting in the marquee

Boys in yukatas attacking the unsuspecting groom

The only photo of me on this camera laughing at the antics of yukata-clad ninjas!

Acquainted with the Night

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
A luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

-Robert Frost