A hodgepodge of updates / ramblings ahead. I hope this doesn’t mean that my attention span has been reduced to 140 characters or less, especially since I’m not even into Twitter!
Uh, anyway.
1. Grabbed my Lady Gaga tickets yesterday! Unfortunately the Early Bird tickets flew off the shelves like nobody’s business, so I could only lay my hands on the standard ones :(
Keane and Michael Learns to Rock are coming to town too! I’d watch Keane as part of a festival, but I’m not a huge enough fan to pay for their full-blown concert. I wanna see Michael Learns to Rock, though!
2. I’m three quarter through Ethan Hawke’s second novel, Ash Wednesday, and I can’t stop turning the pages. It’s so easy to romanticise Ethan Hawke as Jimmy, one of the protagonists. Jimmy’s handsome, poetic, brash, often juvenile, yet endearing at the same time. Perhaps the book is to some degree autobiographical?
Page 93:
One thing I’ve noticed in young couples is that the boys often seem to do the majority of the talking, rambling on, wanting everyone to listen to them, to hear them, to acknowledge them; and then in older couples the gentleman often sits silent with a distant look in his eyes as the woman chatters on like rain falling. At what age, I wondered, does the switch take place?
I’d love to read The Hottest State.
3. On the other hand, I’m reading Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina at a dying snail’s pace. E-books don’t really work for me, I guess.
4. Was watching Don’t Forget the Lyrics and the contestant sang along to Toni Basil’s Mickey last night. In my opinion, the song is the greatest one hit wonder of the ’80s (VH1 put it on #6, though), so of course he got it right. It’s like a given.
I love Don’t Forget the Lyrics. Wayne Brady is so awesome.
5. Just watched Maroon 5 on MTV I Love Live. Adam Levine looked so yooouuuuung.
6. Collected my Zertifikat Deutsch certificate on Saturday. Actually fared better this time than I did for my Start Deutsch 2, heh. Next milestone: Goethe-Zertifikat B2.
7. German lessons are getting increasingly serious. The books are no longer as colourful and I’m expecting an avalanche of abstract concepts and vocabs in weeks to come.
8. It’s a pity that Simone, one of my teachers at Goethe-Institut, is returning to Switzerland for good. She draws well (to explain vocabs) and is always so patient.
We went to her farewell BBQ last week. Since turquoise must be her favourite colour (she has everything in it – sweater, bracelet, shawl), we decided on a turquoise scarf as a farewell gift.
She wrote to us:
Vielen lieben Dank, sind Sie am Sonntag zum BBQ gekommen, das hat mich sehr gefreut! Ganz, ganz herzlichen Dank auch für den super türkis Schal! :-) Ich werde ihn in der Schweiz im kalten Winter sehr gut gebrauchen können und er wird mir helfen, dort beim Unterrichten nicht heiser zu werden! ;-)
I’ll miss her.
9. Went to check out the Singapore River Festival last Friday. Had a mini picnic on ACM Green accompanied by a hot Cuban Jazz performance. Will probably take Mum for a river taxi ride when she’s here this weekend.
10. I need to make time for these:
- Van Gogh’s Brush with Genius on iMAX
- Da Vinci the Genius exhibition
- The Unguarded Moment by Steve McCurry
- En kärlekshistoria, part of the World Cinema Series
11. Plus I still haven’t finished watching the DVDs and recorded shows yet.
12. But most pressingly, I need to remove my fuchsia polish, sweep and mop the floor, change the sheets, take a shower and go to bed.
