As long as this is love
I'm singing 'Anna Begins', and thinking about my aunt's seven cats - Leo, Caramel, Gremlin, Divine, Amber and Topaz being the only ones I can name - beautiful cats that are fully-grown and proud, curling on top of piano seats and brushing past your legs as if they were pillars. And I'm wondering as usual. It is my dad's birthday. We ate a very long dinner. We stopped at my aunt's house for a cat-visit.
Over the week I came to a conclusion.
Cuban guys are SHORT but
Cuban guys are HOT.
Unless ,of course, you're the sort of girl who feels a guy can't be hot if he's short. Well then.
Lady Salsa is awesome. AWESOME. I know I am OVERUSING that word. The storyline was as thin as butter and I came out knowing this much more about Cuba's history, but the music! The live band that was working it out, wearing mafia suits at one point, and playing my favourite instruments (Trombone! Guitar! Flute!)... and the dancers. There are eight girls and eleven guys. The sheer energy and love with which they pound it out, and so freely. So freely. I swear the guys have hips made of rubber. My mean and cold-water self says they do the whole stand-on-your-feet-and-clap-with-us thing at the end to make sure they can say they received a standing ovation, but well.
They deserved it.
And the guy who does a mean Spanish rap shouts teasingly, "Give me more power! I'm from Cuba."
And of course, when we're waiting outside in the dark for my dad to pick us up, we just happen to be standing right next to the backstage exit. Only we don't know it's the backstage exit. They stream out, shouting to each other in Spanish, and they are alien. Really alien. But in a beautiful way. The cute singer with the glasses keeps glancing at us. Han says cryptically, he expects to be bombarded with photograph/autograph requests. I prefer to think differently. We look as alien to him.
And when they finally stream by, off for some aftershow kicking-back, I look at them and smile, genuinely, because I feel a smile. He returns it with a quiet 'Hi', and after a backwards glance, leaves, and off they go.

If you believe in love at first sight, you never stop looking.
- Closer tagline

"If you believe in love at first sight, you might be more prone to extra-marital affairs."
- Stephanie Hsiao Chiang

Here's what Zach Braff has got to say about spoilers:

"We all know that writing SPOILERS, DO NOT READ is the equivalent of writing, PLEASE DON'T LOOK AT THE GLORIOUS YELLOW EAGLE NESTING IN MY HAIR. Ya just gotta look. So thank you."

Love that guy. Anyway, I'm at work, which I am about 70% of the time now. At the moment I feel scared and depressed because it is mid-February. I hate to indirectly remind people what that means, and I hate the fact that grades have to be so all-important, and I hate the fact that the US university application is as confusing and stressful as shit, and I hate the fact that this matters so much.
I met my CAP mentor, properly, for perhaps the first time outside of school, along with the other mentees. I wonder about the whole mentorship thing, and whether we do it for anything other than how it looks on our records. She is a different person out of school. She talks about A World Without Thieves, abnormal breast cancer and HMV. When she gets excited she laughs like a little girl. I think about this feeling, and diplomatic explanations, and hating diplomatic explanations.
It seems to me that every time there is a guitar gathering, it will wind up at my house, and there will be at least one person mysteriously MIA and uncontactable. I hope Jiahan's retainer did not end up in the vacuum cleaner. Hannah expressed her dislike of interviews and I was happy to understand. Yu-Hsin was unnaturally quiet other than flourishing the uncut version of 2046 and gearing for a Taiwan-China verbal battle with Xu Xu. And now it's confirmed, he's going home to Taiwan. I always take for granted that the sum of us will always be within range.
This American girl sat down next to me at the Newton bus-stop and starts talking to me out of nowhere. What's the only reason complete strangers talk to you? That's right - they're from the LDS church my own church warns is cultish (my word). Point is, she was really open and friendly - this allowed me to happily divert conversation after assuring (assuring!) her I am a Christian, and arguing mildly about the necessity of a '2nd Bible'. She is from Utah and insisted on offering me freebies - I'm sorry but which church offers freebies? Sometimes I get so so mad at religion, and the people who claim to understand, because you CAN'T. That's like saying you know what it's like to pick up the globe in your fingers.
Han's friends are great because they are funny as heck. I like listening to them argue. They say I am adventurous. It makes me think of that adage, "Every day, do something that scares you." I'm scared of so many things. I don't think I'm adventurous. I don't even like rollercoasters.
It's funny - today is V-day, and I mentioned hate several times above. But I mentioned love, too.
So thank you.

Lie down beneath this bowl of stars

Here I am, home after a sorry attempt to work out. I did not reach the treadmill. I merely walked home carrying a bottle of mock grape wine, pretending it was weights practice.
Nah, I went to my grandpa's house for CNY dinner. It was nice. My aunts are funny. They were gossiping about some old guy from church who recently married a woman much younger than him. Aunt 1 says, "Who falls in love at that age man" with this really disgusted look on her face and Aunt 2 replies "Aiyah, you're never too old to fall in love!" The conversation raced from corrupt doctors (no name-calling here of course) to my grand-uncle's being kicked out of physiotherapy class due to non-existent progress (he grinned happily when the tale was told) to warring maids (involving catfighting, bad tempers and a policeman who scratched his head and decided, "Haiyah, you are both in the wrong").
I saw Finding Neverland with Gen and Cherylene on Saturday. Johnny, you are no Billy Boyd, but hey, pseudo-Scottish accent is better than none, any time. Now he makes me feel inadequate for not owning a leather-bound journal. THANKS. Movies that encourage escapism are a double whammy don't you think, 'cos movies in themselves already encourage escapism. But it was lovely, untainted sweetness. *Sort-of spoilers* Grab your gargoyle wings and tell your friends to believe in fairies before they go extinct. It was surreal and fantastic to see the girls and poor abused Cherylene's twenty-seven (I believe so) bruises. I want to cry at changes, and keep them all at the same time.
(I realized I have probably expressed that same thought in about fifty different ways this month, and it's getting old and tired. Oh well. Too late. Already, I know I am getting past it as I write it down.)
Regarding cable movies, I just really really really liked Lost In Translation without even having to try. Maybe it was just the particular mood I was in. And the funniest thing is, my dad was watching it with me and LIKED IT TOO. He never likes anything I like, so big revelation. As for The Wisdom of the Crocodiles, watch it if you think Jude would make a right fine vampire. Actually, he does, he is awesome, although the philosophy they babble on about is very holey. Anyway, I don't like vampire movies. But Jude is spect-te-cular, tortured, haunted and dangerous without over-brooding.
The sky is particularly starry today, hence the title. I hope we have fun this weekend, and same to everyone as well.
A friendly Malay stallholder wished me a happy new year, and I stupidly said, "Happy New Year to you too!" But I meant it.

Just Got Paid
"Yo people say my solo was impossible but when I get up on that mic I am
Unstoppable and it's probable when you hear voices laid down
You'll be bopping your head to this ill tight sound
You never thought you have me paid(paid)
Check is in the mail I got it made (made)
When you notice my smile it like Kool-aid 'cos I just got paid"
- An inane rap based on the Johnny Kemp version

Ill ghetto grammar lyrics! But I got a $50 hongbao from my boss. WOO HOO! So that isn't getting paid. That's a bonus. But that's fine with me, too.
I'm tired and out of words (I know, not a stretch, two original lines). I shall promote Lady Salsa. I shall contradict myself, again, regarding Jason Mraz. I worked hard today. It was great fun mangling Brazil and Portugal addresses. Trujillo and Eckart Zitzer, I shall remember for life. It would be fun to meet them and have no problem spelling their names in the least.
I have heard wild stories of the extremity of RJ security now. I shall quote a friend without asking for permission.
"Just FYI, my bro said that in view of the strict security, hidden pin cameras have been placed along all corridors and motion sensors have been installed in all classrooms. That's why all the councillors now move to RI to stay overnight, unless they want to trigger the motion sensors and flee as fugitives."
Whoa. What would RJ be like if you can't stroll out among the trees without getting busted?