iMiss that little thing we call sleep.

iMiss that little thing we call sleep.

To those of you intimate with the ways of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, you know what I'm talking about. Unless you're *really* devoid of a social life (or studying is your social life).

iAm drawing close to the end of my second term of the IB programme here in England-- it's been one hell of a ride, across borders and cultures.


But let's not get into the tedious process of describing my life changes. I'd like to talk about sleep. Anyone reading this, iWould like you to know that if you get more than 5 hours of sleep on an average weekday, you're definitely getting more sleep than 40-50% percent of the students at this college (self-included). Am I exaggerating? iKid you not, readers! Over the last four nights, slumber in the land of rolling countrysides has been brief or at least interrupted. No fear however-- the IB student population makes it all up by sleeping for 8 to 10 hours straight on Saturday nights.

iBet you're wondering: "Why is the illiterate blogger telling me about sleep deprivation?" Well, the illiterate blogger tends to ramble about silly things when she's not feeling so awake. Silliness aside, let's talk theater. Show of hands, those of you who have seen "Wicked: The Musical" or a production of Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure"!

Yes, you saw this coming. I'm about to tell you to get off your comfortable reading couch/armchair/bed and go watch one or the other. Or read the book(s), which I've done with the latter and plan to do with the former, in good time. Strong, masculine men may want to sit out on "Wicked" unless they're looking to impress lovely lady friends. Make sure you know your Wizard of Oz before checking it out, however.

"Measure for Measure" is something I'm more interested in on an intellectual level. My classmates and I watched a modern production of the play in Oxford-- it was, to say the least, entertaining. Not a boring moment (some of the bits were cut out) to be seen and lots to ponder afterwards. This is probably the first of Shakespeare's plays iHave read that has caused me to ask myself: where is the line between black humour and mere bleakness? In the audience, we laughed and joked and smirked... yet at the end, there is this strange thought that lingers, wondering if you should have laughed or cried.

In case you were wondering (though iKnow you weren't), these two productions definitely go under the "iLike" category.

Alright, time to hit the sack! iWant to get some of that sleep people have been talking about. God help the person who wakes me up anytime before 9 in the morning.

iHate and iLove London.

It's half-term break for us poor saps studying the IBDP in Oxford. Ten whole days of nothing to do-- the lucky ones go home to their relatively nearby countries and the unlucky ones (iMean me) do what I did. Go to London.

London is possibly one of the most annoying places to go once you've gotten used to student life in Oxford. It's loud, crowded and depressing. iAin't putting down the world's city-- it's a great place for shopping and the food is a hell lot better (pardon my french) than Brown-Sauced-British-Stuff Oxford. It's just not the city iWould want to live in. Give me warm and friendly KL anyday.



Okay, enough about my adjustment issues. We all know how boring those can be. iThink that I'll fill you in on something more interesting today. Tintin. You heard me right. Let's hear you say it: A THOUSAND BLISTERING BARNACLES! If iEver grow to love London, blame the Tintin store in Covent Garden. The Adventures of Tintin have been with me since I could put words together so if you haven't guessed it already, this is supposed to be an iLove entry.

As per usual, iAm going to tell you to get up, get out and buy a copy of any Tintin adventure out there. Because iTend to tell you to read kickass books (or in this case, graphic novels) you've never read before. Odds are however, that you do know Tintin through his comics and cartoons. If so, well done! iHope that you will continue to spread the awesomeness of Tintin, Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus. Oh. On that note, if you know where I can get a copy of the first 3-in-1 volume of Tintin's Adventures, leave me a message please.

On to the more serious side of our favourite reporter and snow-white dog. Racism. It was brought up earlier this year that Tintin's adventures -- those in the Congo, specifically -- have shown signs of racism. I'm no expert but iBelieve that this was a legitimate claim and I'm not going to play the part of the diehard fangirl, trying to defend Herge's work. iWould like to state for the record however, that I have been reading Tintin since the tender age of seven or eight (or nine? Mum should know) and have not in anyway been influenced by these racist sentiments.

It's daft that parents don't want their kids reading Tintin anymore because they think it has racist values. If they raised their kids properly instead of plopping them infront of the idiot box or playstation 24/7, then maybe the children would have some chance at independent thought. So here's my message to parents of today and soon-to-be parents. Get off your lazy asses and do some parenting. School teachers aren't going to do it for you, the television isn't going to do it for you and neither is the internet. Don't go around protesting about how violent or racist comics/games/tv shows are making your kids horrible brats when you're the one buying them all that stuff instead of teaching them the basic human values that are supposed to help them withstand negative influences. You can't make 'em better people by taking all the bad out of the world. The world will always have bad stuff in it.


Alright then, iThink that's about it for today. Have a nice day people. Hope I didn't offend or depress you.


Write you later. Go read something.



-The illiterate Blogger-

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-