His Infernal Majesty

"Don't know if I will but until I can find me..."


This is more of my sister's speciality but iLike to think that my taste in music isn't horribly bad. If you haven't heard of HIM... well, no biggie, I didn't know about them until my sis started singing their version of "Solitary Man" in the shower on Monday mornings.

Before iCame to England, I transferred a lot of their songs from her albums to my laptop, just for the hell of it. And for some reason, they're all I've been listening to over the last couple of days. Could this be my weird-poetic-metal side coming out to greet my iLove-Disney-music side? Or have I been listening to so many instrumental pieces that I greatly need something packed full of strange lyrics? Well, go bother. iNonetheless do recommend listening to HIM. All of their songs may not appeal to you but there are a select few that will, whether you like it or not, get under your skin.

In other (hopefully more interesting news), some of you may be glad to know that iFinally have gotten around to viewing Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible as a "Real Book". Y'see-- the novels iStudy for literature classes are generally good books (The River Between, Pygmalion, etc) but I've always had this habit of viewing them as "Literature Class Books" as if they were written for the purpose of being analyzed like hell. But lo and behold! The Poisonwood Bible is a "Real Book"! Praise the Lord and get out of the confetti!


Write you later. Go read something.


-The illiterate Blogger-

Of Cobwebs and Curses.

So I apparently forgot about my reputation as an illiterate blogger. Tsk.


*dusts cobwebs off of website*


As some of you may or may not know, I am now in Oxford, England and studying for my International Baccalaureate Diploma. Exciting, eh? I've been here a month and every day is still a new adventure. But I doubt that you're extremely interested in my personal/social life, so let's talk about literature now. What am I reading for English class? "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. It's proving to be more enjoyable than I first assumed it was going to be. We're also studying Sophocles' "Antigone."



I would greatly appreciate it if anyone has tips about how to approach these texts from a critical literary perspective. We have a great teacher though, so I'm hoping that my ideas will begin to take a more solid form as the term progresses. To any family members reading this: don't worry, I haven't failed anything yet. ;-)


By the ways, forgive any spacing or structural irregularities. Blogspot doesn't agree with my Macbook, curses! Will leave it at this. Have fun.


Write you later. Go read something.

-The illiterate Blogger-

iDrink Starbucks. Sort of.

iDrink Starbucks. Sort of.

I was recently at a Starbucks outlet in Bangsar village at around half-past nine in the morning-- it was bliss. Don't you love coffee shops when they're nearly empty with not a sound in the background save the the relaxing music, baristas and occassional rustling of newspapers? It's normally like that in the morning... come night time, they're always packed and noisy.

I'll speak frankly: I don't drink coffee, it tastes horrid (smells great though). My drinks range from Green tea or Choc cream chip Fraps. None of that caramel macchiato or whatever.

Anyways.

It occured to me while I was at *points to picture*, that morning coffee shops are ideal places for quiet writing. After all, one is constantly being pestered at home by family members and distractions (a.k.a the internet). The only problem is having to get out of bed too early in the day and drag yourself to the closest Starbucks/Coffeebean. But that's a small price to pay, isn't it? I'm beginning to see why so many writers and workers like coffee shops.

What do you all drink? Are you an iStarbucks or an iCoffeebean person? Perhaps the rogue, Gloria Jeans (personally, iHate GJ)? Or maybe you don't buy into all this commercial crap, as some may phrase it, and brew your own highly-rated coffee/drink?


Write you later. Go read something.

-The illiterate Blogger-

If there's something strange, in your neighborhood...

"If there's something strange....and it don't look good...who ya gonna call?"

You know you like that song. iKnow you do.

Possibly one of my favourite comedy-fiction films of the century, The Ghosbusters is a bag of treats. It's funny in a way that doesn't insult your intelligence, the characters are lovable and who doesn't like that marshmallow monster?

My excursions into old-era movies (a.k.a. movies some people in my age group have never heard of or watched) have numbed me in regard to the special effects glitches, thank heavens. A lesser-Nuri would've laughed non-stop when I saw Zuul! But that's just the CGI-watcher in me talking. Pay no attention.

Why aren't there anymore movies like Ghostbusters around anymore? It's a funny movie that entertains both children and adults without resorting to extremes of a mature nature. We need more movies like that! Maybe they're still out there, being directed. But please don't make a comment mentioning a Pixar film. It's not that iHate Pixar, but only a handful of their movies (The Incredibles, Monster Inc. and Toy's Story, to be specific) have hit the nail on the head.

Movies aside, I'm presently reading "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin after much persuasion from some online friends. It's a long book and entertaining in spite of some vulgarities. Fantasy fans take note: this is definitely something you want to pick up, even if it doesn't suit me much. I'll write more when I'm done reading the bloody tome.

Write you later. Go read something.

-The illiterate Blogger-

It's been one heck of a trip, Mister Potter.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Come now, iKnow you all saw this one coming. Who can resist writing about the darling Mister Potter and his daring adventures? At 4.30am on the 21st of July, I lined up among other youths to get Rowling's latest novel at Kinokuniya bookstores. I made the trip to see the crowd and watch them run, but ended up in the line later on with some acquaintances (for more info on that, check my comment on Bibliobibuli's blog).

Faithful to my role as a Potter reader, I shan't spoil the story for anyone reading this who hasn't gotten or read the final book. But I will say that it was a fun ride.

Nostalgic, thrilling and (inevitably) sad at some points. I can overlook the flaws for now. It's been one heck of a trip. I'm sure that fellow readers will know what I mean when I say that I can neither feel happy nor sad now that it's finally over. Eitherways, the next time you're ever out with like-minded friends, make a (non-alcoholic) toast to our dear friend Harry.

Write you later. Go read something.

-The illiterate Blogger-

iWrite. Do you...?

iWrite. Do you...?

I recently scanned through an interesting article by blogger Bibliobibuli, about how she started writing. It got me thinking about writing in general.

How much do you enjoy writing? I've met many people who tell me that writing is torture, and yet they continue to put pen onto paper because they have a story to tell . Lots of writers have also told me that they write because it's enjoyable, a release of emotions. I think that they're both correct and that it just feels different at different points of your life. Personally, I'm not sure why iWrite. I think it's because iLove words.


But then again-- me and my keyboard? We have a love-hate relationship. Pens are out of the question... left-handers with the hook syndrome will know what I'm talking about.

I'll leave you here for now. It's a short entry today, because Bibliobibuli's article is quite long and I don't want what few readers I have to strain their eyes.

Write you later. Go read something.

-The illiterate Blogger-

Curiouser and curiouser...

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time.

This is one of those books that iAlways hear about and see on the shelves. My friends have recommended it and even the cover presents itself very nicely to my eyes-- iHave this thing for simple covers (but don't acuse me for judging a book as such!).

I'm not sure if the author is faithful in his depiction of an autistic child's perspective, but the book was quite interesting to read. It wasn't ground-breaking in my opinion and there were parts that made me feel like Haddon was overdoing it, because the text was starting to give me a headache.

The way Christopher thought to himself started to become repetitive after I was through with the first half of the novel. I felt like there should have been more text between every sentence of repeated information (like a certain neurotic rule about red and yellow cars) so that it didn't feel like he was trying to point things out to an idiot through repetition. I also wish that there was more description to the book. Not just short moments of observation followed by memories that're connected to them. It didn't feel *real* in that way.

On the other hand, I was compelled to read on and find out what was to become of Christopher. The reader knows more of the world around him than he does because he isn't in-tune with the vastness of human emotions. The mathematical puzzles and little drawings were quite a delight as well.

My conclusion? A good book that I'd rather study in a Lit course than read for enjoyment. iThink that it is the novelty which makes it so charming to readers, though I'd rather not make that a generalization.

If any of you feel like reading more about people with strange minds (that's what I call 'em), iHear that "Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls" by Jane Lindskold is pretty good. Haven't read it myself although I may give it a try once I've recovered from The curious incident of the dog in the night-time.

Write you later. Go read Something.

-The illiterate Blogger-