Alphabets

everyone seems to be staring (at my belly!)

...its either that or am being paranoid. I thought perhaps it was the latter until my journey back home today from work. After staring at my belly for at least 15 seconds, this woman who was standing right next to me, turned to her friend and started talking about how small her tummy was in her first pregnancy and how big it was when she was carrying her second child. Her friend (slim as a reed) obviously didnt have her own story and so started talking about her older sister, then cousin(s). It was my turn to stare. Was she therefore inferring that am big or wondering why I am small. Anyway, how do they know how many months I am up the duff. Did I have a label - caution, baby due in 4 weeks? Whatever it is, CANNOT believe that its not that I am being paranoid but that these strangers are really looking me up and down centre. yikes. Is this what becomes of you when you are with (8months gestating) child?!

xxx

Otherwise, all's quiet - not much happening otherwise. work hours have been pretty decent so I have been able to catch up on my reading. Not only did I manage to catch up on my Guardian Weekly but am also almost done with Fugitive Pieces and today allowed myself to purch-ase some books on special offer (sucker!). So what have I added on to my burgeoning TBR pile? Mister Pip (it was on half price), The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, Tulip Fever and The Dream of Scipio (3 for $10).

Yes, I am a sucker for bargains, and even bigger sucker for Book Bargains.

phew...connected again

yahoo, we finally have broadband up and running in our new place.  its been sooo weird/disconcerting not to be able to blog and everyone else's blog to find out whats been happening their lives. . .

yahoo too that we have finally finally finally unpacked all the boxes and suitcases and bags and baskets and put everything in its place. 

we have also managed to get rid of 3 bags of clothes, 6 boxes of books and 3 boxes of cd cover thanks to SFM's ruthless mechanical 'do we really need this' questions and my being overwhelmed with guilt when I saw the packers huffing and puffing under the weight of  boxes full of books I have read and unlikely to read again.

anyway so we went through all the titles and anything that didnt fall within the  categories below were culled: i) reference books ii) to be read books  iii) books read but likely to be read again which would be classified as real classics iv) books to be shared with Ma SFM/Avis family and friends.

so somewhere in singapore, some people are about to open boxes and find themselves with such goodies like the glass palace and the last orders.  must say it makes me feel good knowing that they are being recycled and will be read by others instead of collecting dust in our many bookshelves!

Talking of books, yesterday I started on a thousand splendid suns and finished reading it by 2am.  It is my 27th (I think) book of the year (which includes some cookbook and books on good habits) which I reckon is not bad at all, considering that its october; I do also work (like a dog) full time; read every column in the guardian weekly, guardian review and  peruse the bbc news  on a daily basis.  In fact  I would even go so far as  to say that I am an avid reader... but today I find out that I am no where near the ever so voracious reader george dubya bush as he has professed to read 100 books a year (though I cannot for the life of me recall where I picked up this piece of distressing news). 

Can this be true? If yes, what does he consider books? Badly written dossiers? Letters from leaders around the world? Jeepers.

new purchases

damn, despite my best intentions not to go to a booksale for at least 1 year (post the recent mass purchase ), i did so yesterday. The times warehouse sale. on the very 1st day it started.

luckily, i (think) i either have read, or already have most of the interesting books that were on sale. unluckily that the books that i already have but have not read were purchased at twice or thrice the price some months ago.

overall, i dont think i did too much damage on my battered globe trotting purse. the justification? the books i eventually walked out with were already on my to read list and would be purchased sooner or later.

xxx

RA's recent purchases

1. tenderness of wolves - stef penney
2. inheritance of loss - kiran desai
3. bricklane - monica ali
4. july's people - nadine gordimer

who say malaysians dont read

checked out the book warehouse sale by MPH Publishers over the weekend. boy it was  gooood. hundreds of titles on sale ranging from the classics to the kiddies' and lots of lonely planets in between for at least 50% (!)

not surprising, all of KL population and their grandparents were also there, elbows out, jostling for the good titles.

bucked the trend by not  carting one of those empty boxes they were handing out, to avoid falling into that old trick of filling it up indiscriminately.  instead, piled random books into arms and suffered from book scratches and aching back from trying to balance the load. oof.

titles purchased include - two classics:  i) Call of the wild ii)Moby Dick and lots of LPs:  shoestring series on Aus and NZ; Central America and the regular guides on Bali & Lombok; Hong Kong and Macau.  (yes unfortunately i am a LP follower, sniff). also managed to squeeze in the special publications like the blue list and the travel book. woohoo. have informed SFM that now that we have purchased the books, we have no choice but to also get the flight tickets.

el salvador, australian outback, bali - now now now.

mind treats

the funny  thing about books (to my mind) is how some of them leave such strong/long impressions even though they were read on a whim/by accident and were not initially on my reading list.

examples of this are the bonfire of the vanities  (picked up off the shelf of a charity shop in 1996) and zen and the art of motocycle maintanence (purchased in 2002 after meeting up with someone who came dressed as a motocycle mechanic at a fancy dress party in 2000).

till today,  i   am reminded by the term  'hemorrhaging money' everytime a surprise bill shows up  (it never ends does it); and

how important it is to have the right tool for the task in hand, each time i try pounding a nail on the concrete wall with a giant sledgehammer.

The book quiz

After a hectic week of meetings, I finally have time to spare - whilst waiting for the plane to depart for Seoul, then home, KL (yahoo).  And so, here is Naddywoman's quiz answered (unabridged).

1.  How many books do I own

Ah, I have never been as organised as fazu as to stocktake the number of books owned nor do I keep track of purchases/inheritances/gifts, so I dont really know.  I am however able to say that 3.5 years ago when I relocated to La Malaysia, I carried with me 15 big boxes containing nothing but books. Ranging from my old baedekers, to museum and art catalogues to hard cover winnie the pooh to classics and contemporary, modern writings. And that since then, I have probably accumulated 5 boxes more and given away  half a box.

2.  The last book I bought

was "Travels with a Tangerine: From Morocco to Turkey in the Footsteps of Islam's Greatest Traveler" by Tim Mackintosh -Smith. 

The story is written by a Brit who studied Arab and lived in Yemen for the past 17 years and then after reading a very old book decided to trace the footsteps of an extraordinary, but relatively unknown, medieval explorer.

I picked it up on a whim, because until I chanced across the book, I didnt know of Ibn Battutah, ignorant of there being a famous Moroccon traveler (surpassing Marco Polo) and was interested to find out how the travels of a Brit Arabist went.

Am reading it at the moment and am mighty intrigued...

3. The last book I read

I am uncertain whether it was Arundhati Roy's "An ordinary person's guide to  Empire" or Barbara Kingfisher's The Poisionwood Bible.  I enjoyed both tremendously in different ways.  I liked Roy's logical conscientious objections to the empire and savoured the play on words contained in Kingfisher's story on the Belgian missionary and his family in Africa.

Five books that mean a lot to me.

1. Grapes of Wrath (John Steinback) .

It moved me immensely and left me mute for at least a day.  I was incapable of speaking as my mind was busy processing thoughts on migration and reasons for it. the hunger of the have nots and the perpetual quest for a better life sacrifces notwithstanding.

2. Catch 22 (Joseph Heller)

I read this in 1999 over a weekend.  I remember picking it up on friday afternoon and not letting it down until I finished it on sunday evening. cackling maniacally as i turned the pages.

What a fantastic satire on war

                                      and how very relevant till today!

3. 1984 ( George Orwell)

Big brother is watching you and you and you and you.

The Ministry of History is going over past events with a marker and some correction fluid.

The Ministry of Ministry is collecting a data base of you and you and   you and you.

Amazing that fiction becomes reality in such a short time!

4. Siddhartha (Hermann Hesse)

Simple,

eloquent; and

thought provoking.

Ah...

5.  I cant make up my mind for the 5th. whether it'll be down and out in paris and in london"(orwell)? or maybe the trial (kafka)? or perhaps a more contemporary novel like buddha of surburbia (hanif kureishi) ? then again i have just realised that really to be fair, one of the books that mean alot to me has to be  the  chambers dictionary. simply great for scrabble and crosswords!

Five people I would tag (at their leisure):

1.  Peter, the Guide at monsoon point,  as I do like his reading list and it was that which drew me to the fabulous weblog.

2. Fazu, the ruminator.  Not only because he reads vastly and catalogues his books.  But also because he needs to update his blog before another quarter rolls by.

3.  Anyresemblance because it would be fun to read her answers.

4. Tatcher's handbag gone astray because even though i see and talk to her everyday I realise I dont know what her answers to the penultimate question would be and I am mighty curious now.

and

5. MangoLisa who I remember made me chuckle and shout me too me too some time ago when I read that she, like me, carries with her numerous books everywhere, just in case, there is time to read (parallel lives!)

Have fun!

The fast car slows down

My inner clock is winding down after a hectic 10 days of non stop action go go go.

Try as might, my brains seem to take longer to process thoughts, thread ideas and string words together to form coherent verbal as well as written communique. 

My tums is hurting from high acidity and exiled from anything remotely citrus or spicy, a fate worst then death. i want to move fast, faster, fastest but somehow it feels like the forces are trying to slow me down.

"stop, wait a minute.... mr postman" the night breeze sings to me.

que? hang on a minute. beatles is fine but....

mr postman? apart from the obvious i.e. i aint no postman- arent we being unneccesarily gender specific/biased here in assuming that all post deliverers to be men?

yes, i am losing it.

xxx

it is unfortunate that i should feel so sluggish at a time where my gray cells are required for the scrabble competition.  i read the 2 and 3 letter word lists but registers nothing after GU except perhaps JO, QI, QIS and DZO, ZO. this aint no way to win a scrabble game. and where is my list of J, Q, X and Zs anyway?

xxx

1st challenging game

my hands and feet are cold. the previous game was a breeze, this one not so. faced with a master scrabbler, i try to keep a 20-30 average point score for every move but its getting difficult with every turn. there seem to be no place to place the 7 letter word nestling on my rack.

damn it, in a moment of weakness (and greed) - i added a TS to a BAR at the bottom right hand corner. Master scrabbler seizes the chance and slowly (he does it for effect  the churlish me bets!) place his bingo EVENING on to the S. 

sigh. what can i say?

that'll definitely teach me not to dangle my S out like that in future.

The final game

no longer under pressure after losing the earlier game. taking it easy and enjoying the alphabets. FLUX, GERM, QUINCE. ah an opening, slams down CURVING gleefully, C on a treble letter square, V on the treble word square, G just under an A. success! yes, the cheap thrill of a high scoring bingo even if i cant win the tournie. console self that weh-hey 109 for a go isnt too bad a way to exit a competition.

xxx

it isnt just the mind that is feeling somewhat slow, the body seems to be languid too. it takes double the normal time to complete a length at the pool and the squash courts just seem to be bigger and wider this week.

xxx

its times like these that i feel like that fast car driving behind a gigantic lorry chugging away at 10m per hour in a single country lane. do i plough over to the meadows and drive like a malaysian road-rager (with a crow bar in my hands no less) wrecking everything in sight in an attempt to bypass the  bloody lorry, or do i reduce the meddle on my pedal and follow patiently behind?

or hang on, another choice...

do i just stop the car  on the side,  pull out the chequered blanket, basket of food and crates of vino from the boot and park off on the green?

i think the answer is obvious.

HIC (how many points is that then guvnor? 4+1+3 = 8?)

xxx

what can i say?

perhaps sometime inner mechanisms work like clockwork and know when just to send the signals to slow things down a little.

at least for a wee while.

and perhaps when the mind and body do send the signals out

i should do what i am best suited to do in these times:

1. stay home, cocooned under the sheets in bed with a stack of books by my side;
2. to do nothing but absorb words and ideas of  thinkers, philosophers and story tellers in my head; and
3. in my present state of inertness the alphabets can then dance and play  in the vaccum to their hearts content.

____________________

Passage from Ode to the Book (II)

Book,

beautiful

book,

miniscule forest,

leaf

after leaf

your paper

smells

of the elements,

you are

matutinal and nocturnal

vegetal,

oceanic

in your ancient pages ...

- Neruda

lovely love

its been a lovely, relaxing weekend.

• caught up with friends and laughed hysterically over witty conversation and multiple bottles of vino tinto on friday evening;
• tended to the sanctuary and made sure that plants were happy on saturday raraday;
• cooked self a delish and healthy roast vege pasta dish for dinner on raraday before going over to friendie's house for drinks and board game extravaganza;
• watched a dvd film with mum at the folks house on sunday afternoon; and
• finished reading "the house gun" by nadine gordimer, a book i thoroughly enjoyed.

loved the book not just for the storyline and the way it was written. i  particuarly loved it for making me reflect on these issues:

• human relationships -  how much of us as a person do we reveal to those we call family? and how much of *the person* we really know of the family members.  e.g. my father. i see and know him 90% of the time as the father.  And as the progenitor, he is generous, stern, loving, funny, (over)protective and overwhelming.  Sometimes,  i see a glimpse of the person behind the role:  the idealist, the gardener, the voracious reader, the observer, the closetwriter, the sentient.   when this happens, i am not only struck by how these traits of his reminds me of me but also that like me, he is a person  with characteristics of his own, entitled to his idiosyncrasies and views.  i shouldnt be so angry at him when we have our disagreements on issues like feminism and vegetarianism. after all, i wouldnt be raging on for hours (that much anyway) if it was a friend that i had the argument with. i should also re-set my mind - ought not to hold him to the highest standards possible as i do. he is after all like me, and the rest of the humankind,  a human and therefore fallible.

• the history of south africa. the apartheid regime and how it existed for as long as it did. how margaret tatcher supported it. how long it took before it was dismantled. how mandela who was then considered such a danger to society was incarcerated for so long. how he is hailed as a hero today. how things, perspectives and labels change with time. how the country is dealing with the restructuring  - post apartheid. their challenges - aids, medication, violence and of course the house gun syndrome.

• that despite the fact that all religions espouse  positive things such as  self-enlightenment, grace and love - so much negative actions are carried out in the name of religion.  how the thou shalt not kill principle is interpreted by and adhered to strictly by policy makers who pass laws that prohibit abortions and yet at the same time allow the aimless bombings of innocents.  how the barbarians really believe that they would go to heaven for torturing and executing margaret, the care worker, in iraq. how people maim and kill in their believe of a holy war (what is so holy about a war? and about killing?). 

in my mind, gordimer does an excellent job of weaving in these issues subtlety within the storyline that revolves around a family who has to deal with their architect son killing his lover's lover. 

certainly the issues (mentioned above) that are floating my head (post reading the house gun) are not new to me. and no doubt they will resurface, hide and reappear depending on the news/books that i read on events that has happened/taken place et al.  however they certainly assist to remind me (especially on days when i am frustrated with traffic and or office politics) that are bigger 'ticket items' (to use office jargon) in life.

and in reflecting on big ticket items, i am constantly reminded that whilst there are negative issues about, there are also alot of positive things /events that have taken /are taking place. the ban on  fox hunting in england for example and the huge peace rallies that follow oily pre-emptive strikes.

and  not forgetting the other little/simple things in life that make me very happy such as:

• long distance phone calls out of the blue from dear friends;
• blue bell season;

'bluebells in kent' circa 2001

• pumpkins;
• delish yummy coffee;
• love letters;
• field of heather;
• tulips;
• brown paper packages, tied up with strings;
• sunrise;
• sunset;
• dew
• heavy rain and thunder outside - me, blanket and book inside;
• music;
• romance; and
• good old plain love. 

xx

LOVE  (as defined by a dictionary)

n.

1. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.

2. A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance.

3.

a. Sexual passion.

b. Sexual intercourse.

c. A love affair.

4. An intense emotional attachment, as for a pet or treasured object.

5. A person who is the object of deep or intense affection or attraction; beloved. Often used as a term of endearment.

6. An expression of one's affection: Send him my love.

7.

a. A strong predilection or enthusiasm: a love of language.

b. The object of such an enthusiasm:

8. Love Mythology Eros or Cupid.

9. often Love Christianity Charity.

10. Sports A zero score in tennis.

v. loved, lov·ing, loves

v.tr.

1. To have a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward (a person): We love our parents. I love my friends.

2. To have a feeling of intense desire and attraction toward (a person).

3. To have an intense emotional attachment to: loves his house.

4.

a. To embrace or caress.

b. To have sexual intercourse with.

5. To like or desire enthusiastically: loves swimming.

6. Theology To have charity for.

7. To thrive on; need: The cactus loves hot, dry air.

v.intr.

To experience deep affection or intense desire for another

a passion for books

Without books,
God is silent,
justice dormant,
natural science at a stand,
philosophy lame,
letters dumb,
and all things involved in darkness.
– Thomas V. Bartholin

The “October Resolution” has been going well. I have managed to see the dentist, up the ante where exercise is concerned, ensure that the spirit is up even if the soul is weary and even managed to iron my clothes well in advance. This is simply fantastic! I dare say that for once, it looks like I will manage to stick to the resolve and resolutions… until yesterday that is.

As mentioned, one of my resolutions was not to purchase more books until I have read the pile of books stacked on my dining table which was culled from the to-be-read-soon bookshelf.

Let me explain, my intentions were noble. it was necessary for me to set foot into a bookshop because i wanted to look for 2 books:
Book 1 – a special book as a going away present for L, the fellow bibliophile bibliomaniac.
Book 2 - Umberto Eco’s “how to travel with a salmon”   as a token of peace gift for a constantly-traveling- friend who despite my sometimes unnecessary (just somtimes unnecessary) insults on his capitalist lifestyle, continues to be a friend and wags not his finger when he sees me imbibing champers by the magnum.

I didn’t want any of the normal bookstores. So together with sidekick Tonto, we decided to check out “How & Why”, located on a second floor shop lot in SS2, PJ. the book shop is trez cool, they have interesting and picturesque books - mainly on graphics and design. Even though the books i was hunting for were obviously not on site, we spent almost an hour there. We camped at a table by a pillar and flipped through the pages of gorgeous oversized books and poured over the lovely little ones. we laughed hysterically over some of the hilarious signs depicted in a book dedicated to signs. Excellent.

Tonto had to head off for tea and so I continued the search on my own. Walked into "How & Why" branch no 2 in Bangsar Village (we were informed by staff in the 1st shop that they had recently opened a second shop there and that this branch would have more unusual books.) "How & Why" No 2 did indeed have more, all very yummy but unfortunately none quite fit the bill of what I was looking for.

Then, I went to the generic bookshops. didn’t find the books there either. or perhaps there were too many people hovering around and i felt overwhlemed. Book shopping is sacred, crowds scare them as they do me.

Last stop – silverfish. They’re bound to have something! The only problem is of course, every time I poke my head in there I come out, credit card bruised and arms laden with books. All well and fine except that it does not augur well with October resolutions.

xx

I firmly believe that books have a way of getting you to read them at a *suitable time. You don’t choose the book, the book chooses you and finds you. Sometimes, they sit inert on the shelf, quite content to be idle. Then something happens and they demand to be read *now*. the conspiracy begins: an event occurs, a thought transpires which set things in motion. then, with the help of their friends, the books lurch out, just a bit, just enough to entice and get your attention. Once the bait lands, that is it, you’re hooked. You reach out for it, read the first page and all at once, the compulsion to read takes over.

the present world fades and you’re transported elsewhere. Social obligations are shelved, birthdays of important people take a backseat (L, isnt that you!), nothing exist but the book. You’re flipping pages, eager to read the next line and yet savouring the words that has just moved from the heart to the mind.

xx

Before books get you to read them, they plot to get into your homes. Knowing their cunning plans, I flitted around the shop, daring the books not to call out my name. I skirted around shelves and allowed my eyes to only dart at titles and authors - none of the loving, lingering look of pre 1st October days and definitely no touching! As all (book) lovers know, the touch awakens, and before you know it, the hunger, the need to possess is so overwhelming that you surrender .

xx

Did not manage to find any book for Bibliomaniac L – nothing calls out to me, for him. Will have to keep looking. Shame as L is leaving today. Will just have to mail it across.

Did not manage to find Eco’s how to travel with a salmon. However, have found a sole (sorry cant resist the pun) copy of his “5 moral pieces” which I covert but feel necessary to purchase and give away.
xx

I couldn’t do it.
They teased, flirted, and danced around me.
They used their edges as leverage and pushed themselves out from the straight line.
They flapped and winked.
And I went weak.
I couldn’t say no.

xx

There are 3 additions to the pile on my dining table:
1. Milan Kundera – Testaments betrayed
2. John Gray –Straw Dogs
3. Leo Tolstoy - The Kingdom of God and Peace Essays

xx

To salve my october conscience i have been dipping into my perennial favourite, a book other bibliomaniac will enjoy:

A Passion for Books, edited by Harold Rabinowitz and Rob Kaplan, 1999 ISBN 0-8129-3113-0

xx

A thought - L, you crazy biblomaniac.
have you a got a copy of this must have, must read book?