Archive for the 'Family' Category
September 3 2008: General Veil Of Darkness
I realise that I’ve been rather circumspect when blogging in the past month or so. Personal entries have been few and far between - rather, I’ve been writing lengthy entries on broader issues, “how to” guides to everything from saving money to eBaying, and basically anything that avoids speaking too much about me and my life has been fair game.
There are two main reasons for this reticence. The first, my current lack of writing at length in English (my university classes this semester are primarily all in the Chinese language, so no essays in English) has meant that I need to get my rambling-at-length fix from somewhere. The second, I’ve not been particularly happy the past couple of weeks. For a while earlier this year, everything was peachy, but recently, things are dark, and I don’t do dark blogging. I find it hard to post rants about how bad everything is going, and how I hate the world, and general misery. That would be expressing feelings that I’m not comfortable sharing. Escaping the realities of unhappiness with impersonal entries about broader issues is a better option.
With this said, I do realise that I need to face and address the situation I’m in, for my own mental wellbeing if nothing else. So here I go, setting it all down in print.
Filed under Family & Friends & Life & Men & Uni/Work with 20 Comments
September 2 2008: A Faux Sense Of Independence
Despite all my posturing about my independence, the fact remains that if I were to move out of the family home, I would fail miserably and possibly die a long and lingering death. Finances isn’t a problem. I earn more than enough, and I know how to be thrifty. It’s the everyday practical things that I’ll fail at.
Cooking and eating balanced meals would be a problem. I can bake cookies and cakes better than anyone else I know, I make a mean salad, excel at plain soup noodles, can handle a simple pasta dish, and my sandwiches are to die for. When it comes to the well-rounded meat and three veg, any seafood dishes, or anything else though, I’m less than adequate. For someone who grew up in a household run by two former cooks who rarely let their progeny invade their ’space’, I’m used to excellent cooking provided to me by others. There’s only so many cakes, cookies, salads, soup noodles, pasta dishes, and sandwiches that I can eat before yearning for something more sophisticated.
Cleaning would present a problem as well. I can wash dishes, dust, and vacuum with the best of them, but when it comes to the down-and-dirty cleaning, I’m a bit hopeless. Scrubbing soap scum off showers, and cleaning toilets? Erm, what? You mean it’s not just magically clean? (Laundry won’t be a problem, I’m excellent at laundry.)
Automobile maintenance would be a problem. I drive and fill up the petrol tank - that’s about the extent of my automobile knowledge. My father takes care of checking both cars for wheel air pressure, changing engine oil, etc. If I were to move out, my wheels would be entirely flat and the engine would fall out onto the road before I even realised that anything was wrong.
With all that said, I’m going to have to move out at some point before I go batshit insane. A long and lingering death would be preferable to continuing to live under the strict traditional Asian parental roof.
Filed under Family & Life with 14 Comments
August 23 2008: Syphilis
My brother goes through phases where he becomes attached to a particular word, and will try to steer every conversation he has so that he can use the word in it. It’s innocent enough when he’s obsessed with words like “precisely” and “immunise”, but when his new favourite word is “syphilis”, his conversations take a startling turn. I kid you not, his new favourite word is syphilis.
I have to admit that I started this obsession of his, as he’s been sitting with me through my gradual re-viewings of each season of Buffy. We were watching “Pangs”, the episode where Xander shows symptoms of syphilis, smallpox, measles, and other lovely diseases when a Native American spirit is let loose from a spell that had kept it captive. “Why am I always the one that gets syphilis or sleeps with demons and bug women!” Xander says petulantly (slight paraphrasing).
My brother’s eyes light up. Syphilis! A new word! “What does syphilis mean?” he asks.
“It’s when you have sex with someone with the disease without using appropriate protection, and you catch a venereal disease off them. Your penis grows spots, turns black, and falls off. That’s why condoms are so important,” I reply. A bit of exaggeration in the promotion of safe, condom-sheathed, sex never goes wrong right?
My explanation hasn’t been a deterrent thus far however, as my brother has been going around saying “Syphilis!” at random intervals, relishing the way it rolls off his tongue. Take last night for example. We’re outside in the driveway, unloadng groceries from the car. “I have syphilis!” he proclaims loudly, as the whole neighborhood walks past. They gape. He blushes. I laugh.
Nicely done. Very subtle.
Filed under Body & Family & Media with 10 Comments