waiting, writing and reading...

Okay, so now I'm on my comp waiting to for the configuration and installation of all the XP stuff to be over and done with. It's taking a rather long time -_- and for once I want to be getting back to my maths. Quarter-way through a (very! extremely!) backdated tutorial. Managed to touch Chinese after falling asleep over the first chapter at ten minute intervals. Attempted to recite the points so as to keep myself awake but ended up sounding like Jamie Yeo in The Champions. *shudder* I MUST improve my chinese, orally, especially. It's this horrific... reaction that I have when it comes to speaking chinese... I can, actually, speak almost fluently to my family members, and only my family members. You should hear me scold my brother in chinese-- I don't even need to pause to think of appropriate words. Haha! But in the company of strangers or even friends, years of chinese language education seem to have done nuts for me. Argh.

I do like to write 作文 though. I remember doing lots of 周记 and 报章读后感 way back in St Nicks... Sometimes a random letter, or a diary entry... but often it requires a lot of passion to be able to spark that off, because there is a sort of intimacy when writing in Chinese-- it's my mother tongue, after all. And even though people seldom believe me I speak only chinese at home. YES, I do. In my early primary days my English had always lagged a grade behind Chinese and Maths, until of course my treasure hold of Enid Blyton books increased to fill an entire row of their own on the bookshelf. I love reading. There's nothing quite so delightful as losing yourself in another world, in places that can only exist in the realms of imagination, in which your characters hold the key to their destiny, in which somehow, you know everything is going to turn out all right. And then I aspired to be a children's author, to weave stories and create new worlds for kids everywhere... Because, as one of my favourite authors Madeleine L'Engle puts it, "When I have something to say that I think will be too difficult for adults I write it in a book for children. Children are excited by new ideas; they have not yet closed the doors and windows of their imaginations. Provided the story is good... nothin is too difficult for children." Brilliantly put. In fact if not for Lit or those random storybooks that come my way or choir, even, (yes, you do need imagination to express your singing, okay, even though I do admit to stoning during Cons prac -_-|) I'd have forgotten what it's like to imagine. And to lose so simple a skill is to lose a lot.

Have recently decided to indulge myself a little and got myself How to Read Literature Like a Professor for $18.60 at the co-op. I just couldn't resist the moment I set eyes on the title. Have browsed through it and found it a delightful read, with all the wry humour and the conversational style that Lit teachers seem to have when writing comments in your essay. Ladida~ But shall read through it more carefully after exams I guess. There are a lotta things I want to read after exams. Hmm. Here's what little I can remember now...

1) The four short novels in my latest Reader's Digest Select Editions (which reminds me, one of the last collections had a story with the title "Eat Cake", which is brilliantly funny, heart-warming, sweet and touching. Well worth a read. Feel free to borrow from me for some light reading after those heavy mugging)
2) A Room With A View by E.M Forster (Did it for prac crit once. Oooh the excerpt sounded really interesting. Hilarious, too.)
3) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (I KNOW I'm ulu, but for the past couple of years I've somehow failed to borrow the book. Aiya maybe I'll buy it. By the way, the Bollywood movie sort-of adaption is out, anyone want to watch?)
4) Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Caroll (Apparently it's not just a children's bedtime story, it's supposed to have a lot of philosophical meaning behind it. The abridged version got me somewhat befuddled ten years ago... not that I think the situation will improve ten years later if I attempt the unabridged version but... one can always try =P)
5) Animal Farm by George Orwell
6) Finish up How to Read Literature Like A Professor

Of course, I'll balance those up with appropriate shows from Disney Channel and Cartoon Network should they prove to be too taxing on my brain =D Meanwhile I have six other Lit books to clear for the upcoming exam ='| so I better worry for those, first. Okay. Time to plop back into maths for as long as I can keep awake. Hooray.