Tinker, Tailor

Update below.

Girl: Hello.

Boy: Hello.

Girl: What are you doing?

Boy: Digging a hole.

G: Can I dig with you?

B: You dig your own.

G: I want to dig with you.

B: Ok you dig this. I dig another hole.

G: I want to dig with you.

B: No.

G: Why not.

B: No.

B: Don’t dig my hole. Dig your own hole.

G: You’re not my friend anymore.

B: Ok you dig here with me.

G: No.

B: Why not.

G: I don’t like to dig.

* * *

Update:

Got some comments about this post not making much sense. I didn’t think to explain it when I wrote it, but I now think it’s a good idea.

On the surface, this exchange takes place on a grass patch. The boy, around 5, is randomly digging a hole in the grass using a small stick when the girl comes along to join in - I’ve seen a similar scenario before.

On a deeper level, this type of interaction is a reflection of what often takes place in many relationships.

But, I wrote this primarily to metaphorically express some feelings and thoughts I had at that time. This part I won’t explain, and try not to read too much into it

It’s been a year.

I still feel sad,

thinking of you.

Heaven is…

Having less than 20kg of stuff to carry on your back.

Being able to sit down because there’s more than 30kg on your back. Even if it’s sitting on a patch of thorny mimosa crawling with ants.

No knee pains and back pains and shoulder pains and headaches. All at the same time.

Drinking a can of Coke. Even if it’s warm Coke.

Peeling off wet underwear and changing into dry ones.

After a shower.

Laying in bed, reading.

Sleeping through a mosquito-free night.

Getting up after 7am. Okay, after 6am is fine as well.

Climbing less than 20 floors worth of stairs in a single day.

Checking my email.

In an aircon room.

Being able to blog again.

Looks like I’m back

I’m still in a rage, but under control now, or I wouldn’t be able to type this post. My fellow cubicle dwellers would probably be wondering why my keyboard is much louder than usual, but that’s because i’m hitting the keys much harder than usual, and that’s because i’m still in a rage, and that’s because i’m typing on this piece of shit, and this is a piece of shit because it’s sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww and it took me A FEW MINUTES JUST TO SWITCH TO ANOTHER TASK AND DURING THAT TIME I MANAGED TO READ A COUPLE OF PAGES OF A BOOK EXCEPT THAT I’LL STILL HAVE TO RE-READ THOSE FEW PAGES LATER BECAUSE I COULDN’T CONCENTRATE BECAUSE I WAS PISSED BY THE SLOWNESS OF THE PIECE OF SHIT AND THE CLICKING OF THE HARD DRIVE BECAUSE THERE’S NOT ENOUGH MEMORY to do anything meaningful AND THE CLICKING IS STILL RINGING IN MY EARS AND DRIVING ME NUTS so just now i had to storm out of my office to release some energy cos i know if stay in the cubicle and listen to the inccessant clicking of the hard drive any longer all 3.5kgs of my toshitba would fly across the cubicle and might kill an innocent colleague and even if it doesn’t i’ll probably end up tearing my cubicle apart after that so i stormed out of the office and walked round the building once before coming back to the office and realising that i was still in a dangerous rage so i walked another round then another round then another before i started sweating even though it was raining and now i’m back here in my cubicle still in a rage but under control now or maybe not i’m gonna have to take another walk really soon

The next person who wishes me HNY or GXFC will be in mortal danger.

I know guys who like clubbing - they believe it’s a good way to bring a girl home.
Come to think of it, it wasn’t that different during the prehistoric caveman days, except that they understood “clubbing” a little differently.
Then again, some guys today still have that caveman mentality.

This scene felt right at the time, so I had to capture it.

It was during dinner, just days after Bloggers.SG. As usual, she was content to be listening to the others talk, speaking only occasionally. So intent was her listening that she didn’t pay attention to me when I made that shot.

Weeks later, I read her Being Me post.

I am comfortable being where I am physically. I’m happy for you, I thought, since so very many other women have self-image issues.

I am comfortable being where I am mentally. Good for you, I thought, since I, certainly, am not. Maybe you’re better off than me.

I am comfortable being where I am spiritually…. I am comfortable being where I am socially. I’m glad for you, Sondra, even though I can’t say the same for myself. You have no idea…

Thanks to blogging, I found myself meeting really cool people — too many to mention… And thanks to blogging, Sondra, I found myself meeting cool people like you.

plus the fruition of Bloggers.SG05, which still astounds me to this day. I know exactly what you mean! And you know that I do too!

Bloggers.SG was one unbelievably crazy ride. After it was finally over, all we could manage was to grin and shake our heads in silence. Words were unnecessary.

Turning 28 couldn’t have been better and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way than just being me. So simple, I thought. So sweet and simple.

I remembered the scene.

Sondra, who blogged at Idle Days, has passed.

Words fail me.

* * * * *

I will be attending the wake tonight.

I miss you already.

* * * * *

More info on Tomorrow.sg

From Finding Said to Boost Proof of Goliath:

Archaeologists digging at the purported biblical home of Goliath have unearthed a shard of pottery bearing an inscription of the Philistine’s name, a find they claimed lends historical credence to the Bible’s tale of David’s battle with the giant.

Sounds like a pretty important find.

But then again, hasn’t Goliath been around all this while? I mean, that angry sweaty hairy angmoh guy I have to babysit every week, simply because I’m the next-biggest guy on court?

Urgh. I’m still recovering from the last encounter.

Excuse me while I go reconfigure my brain.

Don’t be too surprised if you don’t know me anymore.

ὁ ὅλος νύξ ἐδάκρυσα, καὶ ἐδάκρυσω ἀδιαλείπτως.

When an insanely fit guy claims that what he just went through with you was probably one of the toughest things he’s gone through, you know that it’s insanely tough, and it should never have happened in the first place.

“This is unfit even for fit humans!”

“I feel like I’m being treated like an animal!”

“This is no way to treat even an animal!”

“I’m going to complain to SPCA!”

A bit of humour helps a little. Just a little, but every little bit helps.

P.S. Believe me when I say that the guy is insanely fit - he’s been featured on the papers because he’s an extreme endurance athlete (marathons are strolls in a park to him), joining insane races like the Eco-Challenge.

Back to civilisation.

I will be diconnected from the internet for at least 2 weeks.

Call or SMS to contact me.

The best place to learn in a museum is often on a seat.

Tell me a story.

Many of us have a lot of trouble saying “no” to others. Even though that is really what we want to say. We’re hesitant about hurting or offending the person, we’re afraid to come across as callous and unfeeling, we fear to tarnish our nice and pleasant reputation…

Question: “Wanna have lunch?”
Honest answer: Not with you!
Answer that comes out: “Ermm… okay.”

“Let me get you a drink.”
No thank you.
“Thanks.”

“Let me accompany you home.”
Over my cremated body!
“It’s okay…”

The next time when “no” is meant, just say a gentle “I don’t think so.” If necessary, an emphatic “I really don’t think so.”
This way, the other person’s ego is left (mostly) intact, and we still get to keep our reputation.

An expensive but “not too lavish” dinner at Cafe Amigo at Specialist Shopping Centre.

Attended a great seminar on infographics by Alberto Cairo. Alberto was formerly from elmundo.es, the world’s top Spanish news site, where he won too many international infographics awards.

Quote from my email to him:

Besides learning about infographics, the session has widened
my perspective on design.

Indeed it did. I’m never going to look at toilet signs and MRT maps the same way ever again.

We also had a good discussion the next day on very diverse topics, including design, storytelling, culture, language, semiotics, journalism, blogging, and politics. Cool guy.

* * * * *

Stuff to check out…

Books
Wordless Diagrams by Nigel Holmes
Designer’s Guide to Creating Charts and Diagrams by Nigel Holmes
Graphic Design by Richard Hollis
Design for Impact by Eric Ericson, Johan Pihl, Der Kern

Sites
John Grimwade Information Graphics
Nigel Holmes - Explanation Graphics
Squeezing the tube: How did a map (that wasn’t a map) reshape London?
Charles Joseph Minard’s Napoleon’s March