Rain + Songs

It rained. I got distracted >.<

Did a random search and here you go, some songs about rain.

Rain – Angela Aki

Right as Rain – Adele

Gentle Rain – Clazziquai

Singing in the Rain – L’arc~en~ Ciel

Love Songs

To commemorate Valentine’s Day, I present to you, a list of songs about love.

1. Sometimes When We Touch by Olivia Ong
Kind of reminds me of what happened in the past…

2. You’re Beautiful by James Blunt
Beautiful song about unrequited love (yes, pun intended!).

3. Don’t Speak by No Doubt
I used to be quite a fan of No Doubt and their music.

4. Love Fool by The Cardigans
I remember this song from the movie Romeo + Juliet.

5. Sunshine Of My Day by Rie Fu
I like the style which she sang this song.

6. Love Foolosophy by Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai and the man with the hats! Funky!

7. Make It Mutual by Olivia Ong
I really like this song. Very smooth and relaxing beat. =)

8. Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer
I’ve always wondered why Sixpence None the Richer…I think they earn more than that? (okie, lame joke) It’s a nice song that makes a interesting way to ask someone for a kiss? Heehee!

9. I Wanna Grow Old With You by Adam Sandler from The Wedding Singer
A very sweet song that makes everyone go “Awwww…” But I think this is what everyone is looking for…no?

Random Song: Music of the Night

Phantom of the Opera. Never watched the musical (wished I had).

But, I had its soundtrack of the original London cast before…(now I wonder what happen to that CD…)

And for some reason, this song just popped into my mind today, with Michael Crawford’s voice ringing in my ears.

Especially this part:
Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams!
Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before!
Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar!
And you’ll live as you’ve never lived before ..

Although, I didn’t really hear the exact words. It’s more like I remembered the way he sang that part…he has a very powerful voice that’s hard to forget.

So, here you have it….

Listen, to the Music of the Night.

Xmas Post – The Ghost of Christmas Past

The weather is obscenely horrible (No, not obscene as in naked, but obscene as in repugnant…yeah weird English, I know). It’s humid, but on the fan and you get cold soon. Ambiguous weather, is what my brother calls it. Seems like I caught a cold of some sort, my nose has been blocked and I’ve been waking up with disgustingly dry throat.

Funny how I get sick when I stay at home, rather than roaming about outside. Or, maybe it’s backlash of previous week’s roaming without much rest in between. Another guess is not drinking enough water. Or the problem could be drinking too much cold tap water in the night when I get too lazy to go down to the kitchen. In any case, time to switch to warm drinks and rely less on the fan. My parents would be happy…I’m saving electricity!

But I digress, let’s move on to other things…

The Past/History is what makes us today. Every passing day will become another page in history. In that sense, each and everyone of us are writing our own histories. This thought is in line with this quote: “Yesterday is history Today, Today is history Tomorrow” (taken from one of Okuni’s endings in PS2 game, Samurai Warriors).

Okie, so much for the grand introduction where I’m just stating the obvious.
Of course, it’s a no-brainer that the past makes up the foundation of a person, his/hers behavior, personality, etc.

Here’s my main point: What I am concerned about is how people live in the past.
We have a tendency to cling far too much on the past, e.g. past incidents, past perceptions, past relationships, and past emotions.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing bad about remembering the past or reminiscing it…but so long we acknowledged what have happened, learn from it, and move on. In short, acknowledge what have happened in the Past, learn from it right now in the Present and finally apply learned knowledge for/in the Future.

In my opinion, living in the past…or clinging on to it, is unhealthy. In severe cases, it will result in an extreme resistance to change/improvement or a horrible (and many times very illogical) pattern that keeps repeating itself. There have been many times we do the same thing over and over again, and yet expect different results (Doesn’t make sense does it?!). It makes me wonder why people (including me sometimes) will carry out this funny pattern of repeating an action and believe that something different/better will come out of it.

Well, in actual fact, it’s not funny at all. From first hand experience, it can be a recipe for tons of frustration, trouble and even destruction if we don’t notice and stop it soon. It’s not always easy to “get out of the loop” because:

Travelling beyond the bounds
We have to take that step
What are we waiting for? It’s now or never

Fear to see “The World to Be”
Is why we hesitate
Repeat the same mistake
Hoping to break new ground

Yes, it’s not easy at all, to break out of the comfy, cushiony zone of familiar loop. But think about it this way, sometimes, there are things in life, if you never do it now, you’ll never be able to do it. So just heck it and do it!

Yeah, take a deep breath and just do it. Break out and move on. If I can’t do it today, I will never be able to do it (the exact thoughts in my mind on a few recent occasions).

At this point of time, you might be wondering why I’m writing all this down…(hold your breath, here comes my justification speech).
Recently, I’ve caught myself reverting to a previous pattern of detachment. Detachment to unhealthy degrees of extreme apathy. I just didn’t seem to care what happens. Just void. No feelings, nothing. I believe this is a result of trying to cope with the situation at hand and somehow I pushed all emotions aside, leaving behind only my purely logical apathetic self. Well, this was me in the past. I haven’t felt/acted this way for an extremely long time.

This is a form of voluntary isolation. Isolation…I isolate my feelings and myself from others. It’s a little scary, to tell the truth, to be in that state. Or rather, more scary how I allow and somewhat embrace myself to be in that extremely isolated, detached state.

Good thing…I caught myself in time. Long story short, I gathered my courage and confronted the issue. Things seem lot better now…but still needs working at, of course. Can’t rest on my laurels or things will turn bad again.

And now, my conclusion…(enter drum roll),

This HUGE chunk of stuff which I have just written serves as a reminder for myself, to progress, not regress and remember to acknowledge, learn and apply.

The more altruistic (…not) side of me, hopes that this is helpful to others…in particular those who foolishly cling onto the past or finds it hard to move forward.

Lyrics above are from my previous post, Beyond the Bounds, one of my favorite songs (it opened my eyes at a very difficult time…).

I seemed to be more attuned to my emotions and thoughts now. Know thyself! (of course, no one can know themselves 100%, but at least have a good sense/grasp of your self).

I like my heck-care-just-do-it side that gives me a swift kick in the ass when I deliberate over something for too long (Keeps me in balance ^_^ I have a tendency to analyze or procrastinate things a tad too much).

I won’t/can’t stop being a hermit-like person, but I will stop being a unhealthy one. =)

I want to shape and create my own life, in this midst of “throw-ness” or limited freedom. But then again, sometimes, I find myself limiting myself more than life limits me.

Once again, at the end of this long post , here’s a gift.

A half-painted canvas still at work…
Splashes of paint,
Colors
Here and there,
Colours
Everywhere.

P.S. Interesting. My posts are getting longer and longer. Seems good and bad. Bad that I’m rambling, long-winded! Good…in a sense at least there’s some form of translation from mental to verbal, I guess. Last note, wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Alone en la Vida

This is something I wrote a few weeks ago.  Actually, I posted it somewhere else first.  But now, it seems to be the right time to put it here. For some reason, the rain, especially at night, seems to invoke a certain wave of feelings over me. I’m not quite sure how to put it and I can’t really put a finger on it yet. It’s just something…I sense in me. And here you have it, it’s manifestation:

Rainy nights, Quiet contemplation
Where do I start?
I’m listening to the Flavor of Life,
Wistfulness says Hi.
Rainy.
Peaceful.
Quiet.
Contemplation.
Thinking,
Wondering,
Searching,
Longing,
Reflecting,
How did I get here?
What’s next?
What do I do from here?
Everything seems so surreal…
The past.
The present.
The future.
Imaginable, unimaginable…
Something emerges and changes.
Something emerges and moves.
Thoughts swirl in my mind…
Celebrate life.
Love life.
Live life.
I am alive.
A half-painted canvas still at work…
Splashes of paint,
Here and there,
Everywhere.
Something calls out to me,
I turn to seek.
Something stirs in me,
Epiphany.

Initially, I wanted to put down ALL my thoughts that I have been musing about for the past weeks. But…that would be overkill. Simply too much. So, here is my summary for my past few weeks:

I have finished my finals, now here are my holidays. Felt that I should have done better in the finals…so a better study plan would be something for me to look into the next semester.

This will be my second mention about Darkness here. I have received my second warning about it. Though, I am a little irritated about that warning/reminder. It’s not like I’ll go out of control…sometimes I feel I have too much control. And when I let my cautious guard down a bit and be more open, I get slapped in the face for being “evil” (and yes, I am being defensive here). Sigh. In any case, I have felt the reemergence of something in me, and I have realized that a part of it is my more freewheeling, impatient, impulsive, cynical, caustic, in short, darker side.

Not that this part of me left or died, but it got hidden/buried in other more preoccupying things, like a relationship, and now that I am no longer in one, it have emerged from the depths of slumber. Since that I have far more time on my hands to indulge in my thoughts now, that part seemed to have become more active and obvious, making appearances to others. Oh well, this is another aspect that I find myself struggling with a long time before…and now I’m struggling with it again. Sigh. Balance is the key…yes, Sir, I shall keep this in mind (rolls my eyes) and always keep Jimmy Cricket chirping at all times in my ear (sticks out my tongue…BLEH! >p and in case you didn’t know, Jimmy Cricket is Pinocchio’s conscience in Disney’s adaptation).

Juvenile antics aside, I have been feeling quite in a state of flux.

Alone en la Vida.

Loosely translated, it means Alone on the Empty/Emptied. This song by L’Arc~en~Ciel, resonates with me rather strongly. And, maybe this is the reason for my seemingly fluctuating state. A significant part of me (perceptions, views, opinions, mindsets, etc.) have been emptied, , and I have been taking in new ones and throwing out some too. There is a clear flow of…flow in and flow out. Thought in and thought out…something like that. I’m not sure how to describe it further.

The song itself would speak better on my behalf about how I feel right now- Alone en la Vida by L’Arc~en~Ciel

Especially these phrases:

この命はまだ  旅の途中…and so I go.

A life of no regrets.

P.S. A disgustingly ill-timed allergy (more accurately I’m suffering from food intolerance and which I am cursing to hell) is in the way of my holiday plans. Horrible! Breaking out in itchy rash…is definitely no joke >.< Ah well, at least now I know what NOT to consume…pity that it is most definitely ill-timing…(grumbles and complains). Hopefully the rest of the holiday will get better, I’m going to try to get as much done as possible.

My Heart Draws A Dream – L’arc~en~Ciel

Had this song running in my head since yesterday.

Great PV (I love the black and white…), vocals, guitar and beat on this song.

Restlessness, Clutter and Messiness

Went out last Saturday to take photographs. Needed the practice and some getting used to my new camera. It’s evident that I’m RUSTY! Damn, hope that am able to get good shots for my club, this coming Saturday at the Anime Fest.

(Yeah, I’m kind of a bit perfectionist in this aspect…I do not like to take photos for others until I feel that I have cultivated a certain level of skill which I feel is good enough…photographer’s pride maybe?). In any case, had a fun time taking photos and chatting with my model, Kenneth. Thanks, man! I really appreciate your help.

Seems like spending more and more money… Bought new stuff…clothes, speakers…etc. Well, should be all that I need. Don’t think that I’ll be needing any more stuff for myself anymore, save for a backpack and…food.

Food expenditure’s increasing. I’ve been eating out by myself more…as compared to previous packed cai fan dinners that my father buys for me. Guess I should start trying to cook more again, either that, or eat cheaper food at the food court (argh..sometimes it’s boring too).

Other family utilities that I really need to get asap after exams, are new family desktop, PS3, and wireless printer. Hmm..I need to clear my stuff and get new cupboard, tables, etc. I have NO space for my stuff. My room is an absolute mess.

The clutter is beginning to bug me a lot >.< Sigh. A big cleanup is due after exams too, or I’ll stir crazy o_O This counts as family utilities too…so that my family members won’t trip over stuff and are able sit on my chair/bed without stuff on it (yeah it’s that bad. I’m a messy, chaotic person when it comes to my room, sad to say).

Went to school to study last Sunday. Very nice and quiet Sadly, I can only stay there for about 3.5 hours and finished 3 chapters of my Sociology. Got sleepy…and restless. Headed to BPP for a walk and ended up playing Time Crisis 3 at the arcade (that’s the only nice game to play! lousy arcade). Actually, I went there to play again after lunch today. Hehe.

And, after I got home, I played Guitar Hero. >.< Not good. Need to start studying more, seriously. I wonder if the past few weeks of being stuck to a chair for long hours trying to finish up my assignments is rendering me to loath repeating the same action…and the sense of restlessness in me? (though, I have a tendency to be restless sometimes. Either that, a simpler reason is…I’m just playful!)

Feel like I need to move around more for more energy or something. Craving some adrenaline rush (lol, I sound like an addict of some sorts). Sigh, really need to get the PS3 soon. For now, I will just stick to walking/jogging (I do need more exercise) and Guitar Hero (arcade’s too expensive at $1 per game, and if you suck as much as me, the money is flying away~).

Will end with this song today: Kibun Jojo by Mihimaru GT
(my mood feels kind of like it. Upbeat. Is this the something different you were talking about today, Kenneth?)

Fly Me To The Moon

Just finished my Com 317 persuasive speech today.

Phew! Finally, now I feel that I can take a breather and relax a little.

My cough seems to be returning with a vengance again…I really need to catch up on my sleep, rest well and get rid of it! It’s irritating >(

And since my group’s persuasive speech was about Moon Landing…I was reminded of this song:

Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) – 2007 Mix, Utada Hikaru

Guitar Hero rocks…whee~

This will be a quick post. Have to get back to work soon.

Been playing Guitar Hero..FUN!! Yup, haven’t had a new game to play for a LONG time

Though, didn’t realised that I’ve been playing for about 3-4 hours straight…until my fingers start to complain >.<

Now, I’ve got this song stuck in my head. Love the beat and guitar.

Sunshine of Your Love by Cream

Zone of The Enders – The Second Runner: Beyond The Bounds

Zone of The Enders – The Second Runner, a great game with a theme song that I find very fascinating.

Listen to Beyond the Bounds

Lyrics (from http://www.bestofvgm.com)
Composer(s) : Maki Kirioka
Lyrics : Scott Dolph and Sana
Language(s) : unknown + english
Performer : Maki Kimura

[ A ]
R a n a r   l i k u l   v i e r n o p a l   k a r
R a n a r   l i k u l   v i e r n o p a l

L e n a r   p a n a r   v i r a k e r a l   k a r
L e n a r   p a n a r   v i r a k e r a l

E h n a r   l a k i t u   l u y a r p a l   k a r
E h n a r   l a k i t u   l u y a r p a l

L u y a n   h e n a r   t e r a r k e l   k a r
L u y a n   h e n a r   t e r a k e r a l   l l u k a p a r s i

[ B ]
T i e r n o p a r   e h l k d u   r a p a r d u
L u k a r m i s i   p o r e r   t i r e r   l u p a r
V i e r l l o s a   t u l a r s i   t u m i r p a r
E h k u l u r   l a t u   r e t i e   m a r a r

[ B repeat ]

Message of the blowing wind
Erasing memories
Stars are the witnesses of our existence

Change is what the world awaits
Could that be peace or war?
The answer no one knows
Trusting the break of dawn
The blue bird flies away

[ A repeat ]

[ B repeat ]

Travelling beyond the bounds
We have to take that step
What are we waiting for? It’s now or never

Fear to see “The World to Be”
Is why we hesitate
Repeat the same mistake
Hoping to break new ground
The blue bird flies away

P a   l a k t u   v i m a t u r e s i
p a s i   l a m e t a   v i m a t u r e s i
L a n a s i d u   k i s a t u r e s i
m a k i p a   s e l a   n i t a t u r e s i

P a s i r a   l a k t u   v i m a t u r e s i
p a s i   l a m e t a   v i m a t u r e s i
L a n a s i d u   k i s a t u r e s i
m a k i p a   s e l a   n i t a t u r e s i
P a s i l a

Reaching out to catch the sun
To hold it in our hands
Longing for something strong to hide our weakness

Soon the light may disappear
Nothing is meant to last
Yet we believe our world
Searching for happiness
The blue bird flies away