Dance, Work & Taxes

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist
is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.
-Mark Twain

On the night of the 16th, Saturday, I went to an all-women's potluck party at the yoga studio. There were about 20-30 women, students of bellydance, flamenco and yoga as well as their friends. I brought bottles of sparkling grape and apple juice, which were quickly consumed soon after opening. The party was pretty fun; we performed 3 items! I discovered that I still feel a tinge of nervousness when dancing up close to an audience, especially if they are unsmiling and look judgmental, bordering on hostile. To those reading this: if you are ever part of an audience, try smiling or at least look interested when you watch a performance; it will help the dancers put up a great performance for you!

The situation at work has been ambivalent. I feel like the black sheep of the department, and a misfit in this company. I try telling myself, I've always been a misfit, what's new? - but it gets tiring sometimes, ya know. It's still a job that I love, but other factors are making working life there nearly untenable for me. What should I do? :(

Met up with Loki for dinner today, to get my EA form from our ex-company (the EA form is an annual income statement issued by employers to employees, which forms the basis on which the individual's tax return is prepared). It was good seeing him again. He's the only ex-colleague I could relate to when I was working, and the only one I am in touch with now. Oh well. Anyway. Laid out almost all related documents needed to fill in my tax form thingy on the bed now. Can't seem to find bookshop receipts I saved for tax exemption. Gah, I hate doing my taxes. Put me off the mood to write about some other stuff I had lined up for this post. Stay tuned for the next, hopefully more upbeat update.

In the meantime, a few links for your pleasure:

Stortroopers - This reminds me of playing with paper dolls when I was a kid.

Order of the Stick - Stick figures can be surprisingly entertaining!

Kierkegaard's Narrative - A paper on a Danish philosopher's plot outline that I found while surfing for movies based on Nick Hornby's books. Among the movies listed here, I've seen High Fidelity (of course), The Truman Show and Adaptation: all good movies in my books. Strange? Or maybe not so. It's good to watch "an aimless young man obsessed with aesthetics, finally commit to a single woman". :P

Of Forwarded Questionnaires and Procrastination

What is interesting about self-analysis
is that it leads nowhere - it is an art form in itself.
- Anita Brookner

Bad me. Not been updating. Lots of things to say. *spanks herself* Will try to sit down and write it all up ASAP, but in the meantime, keep yourself entertained, dear loyal readers (waves at her immense audience of, oh - two, out there) with this questionnaire thingy I was forwarded:

1. Do you have an alias? What is it?
* Siryn.

2. What are your favorite ice cream flavors?
* Chocolate, Mango, Maple Walnut (and other nutty flavours).

3. What movie/s are you waiting for?
* The next movie based on a Roald Dahl book.

4. If you wanted to be in a band, what genre of music would your band play?
* Britpop.

5. What is the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?
* Congealed pig's blood. Gravlax (it's actually quite nice, but I felt funny eating it).

6. Do you want to live with your parents forever or move out?
* Move out.

7. Where is the place you want to be right now?
* With my bf.

8. What songs do you listen to feel happy?
* Jazz, chill, indie rock, britpop, bellydance music.

9. In The Lord of the Rings, who are your favorite characters?
* Eowyn, because she's not a wimp; and the Elves for their ethereality.

10. In Star Wars, who is your favorite character?
* My low level of interest in Star Wars doesn't move me to choose a favorite. Maybe Yoda.

11.What movies made you cry?
* The last one was "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind".

12. Name famous people that you have a crush on:
* Jude Law. Nicole Kidman. Angelina Jolie. Sort of. I'm too old to have a crush on people I can't get to know.

13. What are your favorite drinks?
* Water, lemonade, teh see, green tea, Tetley's, Kilkenny, a good merlot.

14. Which cartoon character is your favorite?
* Daria.

16. If you could freely kill just one celebrity, who would it be?
* I don't hate any celeb enough to want to kill them.

18. In a week, how many times do you go online?
* Daily.

19. If you could be someone else for a whole day, who would it be?
* Can't really think of anyone. Maybe Rachel Brice.

20. Single or married?
* Attached.

21. Describe yourself in one word?
* Dreamy.

22. What's the first thing you do when you wake up?
* Look at the clock and panic.

23. What's the last thing you do before you go to bed?
* Talk with bf.

24. Something about you that you're proud of:
* Meticulous (in some matters).

25. Are you in love?
* Yes, very much so.

27. Are you happy?
* Mostly.

28. Why?
* Why mostly happy or why happy? If you want to know either way, ask me.

29. What is the most important material object you possess?
* Can't really say.

30. What are you listening to right now?
* The Hefner remix of Omar Faruk Tekbilek's Shashkin.

31. Complete this sentence: The world needs...
* An intelligent and enlightened race, to replace human beings.

32. What was the last thing you ate?
* Roast chicken and pork rice (See, Mo? I had pork).

33. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
* Purple.

34. What do you do during your breakfast time?
* Surf the net, check my mail, eat a bun.

39. Auto or Manual car?
* I don't drive (yet).

40. Favourite day of the week?
* Holidays, weekends and days when I go to class/perform.

41. Favourite place to be?
* With my bf.

42. Favourite sport?
* Swimming. Does dance count as a sport?

43. Siblings?
* One.

44. The best way I have to release anger:
* Stop thinking about what pissed me off and dance.

45. People I hate most:
* Are people who try to suppress me.

46. What is the best thing about being a gal/guy?
* For starters, I hate the word 'gal'. The best thing? I don't get dissed for wearing skirts.

47. What's the last thing you bought?
* Training Pants from Nike. Yes, I know they're a big bad corporation that has sweatshops in third world countries.

49. My best friends are:
* My bf, Allegra, Mo, FS. I must be a social outcast. Most of my best friends are people I met through the Internet.

51. SMS or call?
* SMS. I'm very bad at phoning people.

52. If you could turn back time, you would...
* Pay more attention to learning Mandarin and Cantonese.

Note: Some questions were deleted because they're a waste of space, or simply because I don't like them.

Stay tuned for the elusive update on Tioman and all the other exciting things that happen in my life. :P

Of Films and Links

How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!

The world forgetting, by the world forgot

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!

Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.

- Alexander Pope

No, still haven't sat down to write about Tioman yet. In the next post, hopefully. :) Pic editing is going well though.

When F was here we watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on DVD. Finally. I've been wanting to watch this movie for a very long time. It's one of the best films I've ever seen, and I highly recommend it. However, if you're looking for a shiny happy romantic comedy, then look elsewhere. Eternal Sunshine stirs you, moves you, not just in a nice warm way but also in a painful way. It makes you fall in love, then rips your heart out. It induces introspection. It's brilliant. Watch it!

We also watched Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events in the cinema. I've only read the first, beautifully bound, book - The Bad Beginning, I believe it's called - and liked it very much. A bit expensive to buy the entire series (about RM19.90 per book), but I'll get round to it eventually. Yes, I read children's books. So what? But I digress. Back to the movie: great atmosphere, good actors, very entertaining. Dark, but with a warm heart. I liked all three main characters a lot, and the whole audience loved baby Sunny with her adorable biting habit. Those who like Tim Burton's work will probably enjoy it. A must-see. :)

Other movies seen recently were Be Cool (quite entertaining; The Rock takes on his best role ever!) and Spanglish (doesn't seem to have a very strong main point to it, but it's a warm, feel-good movie). We missed Sepet, which is too bad - I really wanted to watch for my second time, with him. That movie warrants a post of its own though, so I'll write bout it later.

Those of you who read my old blog know how much I love Skype. If you do, too, then you might be interested in this: VTech launches launches cordless phone compatible with Skype
(thanks for the link, FS!)

I'm always interested in advancements in technology that improve the quality of life (yes, there are some that, in my opinion, don't). And in light of the relatively poor water quality in KL, this article caught my eye: Community Water Works: Cheap water purification for developing nations
(link from BoingBoing)

Another link, this time on cheap, "very low-tech" ceramic water filters by a nonprofit organisation called Potters for Peace: Ceramic Water Filter Project

That's all for now, folks.

Crazy Rush

Success usually comes to those
who are too busy to be looking for it.
- Henry David Thoreau

Ok, I haven't written here for more than a week again. :( Sorry bout that. I promise to try and write more. Things have been hectic, and for some reason I'm always exhausted when I get home. Falling asleep is as easy as turning off a light.

Anyway, just a few short updates:

Teaching went fairly well, though I think I spent too much time trying to make sure all the students got the movements right. Most of them were fairly or totally new to bellydance, so I felt that I should try and help them get it right from the beginning so it's easier for them when S introduces more advanced stuff. Was so engrossed in the class that I almost exceeded the time, and did only a short cool down session. Given more opportunities to teach I think I will improve though. :) And the music was really suitable, I'm glad I took the time to compile the CD. :)

The trips to and from Tioman/Mersing left much to be desired, but the island and resort were gorgeous.. just wonderful! More about that later (hopefully with photos).

F started his journey home yesterday, after some confusion about his departure date and some mad rushing around to fix things. I spent most of the day in a tearful, stressed out mood - I'm going to miss him so very much. Ed wasn't happy at all that I took emergency leave; she doesn't know what happened, but I doubt she would care even if she did. Have to leave more detailed explanations for later, got to get back to work.