Neither here nor there

I just hate it when it's neither here nor there.

Simply because it's not here, and it's not there; then where is it really?!

How do you know where you stand if it's 'neither here nor there', and if you don't know where you stand, then how do you know in what direction to go next?

I want to know.

I want to know, am I here? Or am I there?

If I'm neither here nor there, then I rather not be anyway near at all

Tired.

Wasted. Fagged. Drained. Burned-out. Distressed. Done-for. Fed up. Pooped. Weary. Empty. Enervated. Haggard. Dog-tired. weary. Stale. Knackered. Jaded. Whacked. Spent. Unprofitable. Lost. Barren. Useless. Battered. Used. Weak. Incapacitated. Insubstantial. Flimsy. Smirched. Sullied. Defeated. Unhappy. Had enough. Dead. Beaten. Ruined. Kaput. Depleted. Used up. Insipid. Monotonous. Colourless. Dismal. Uninspiring. Pointless. Enfeebled. Paralyzed. Frazzled. Lusterless. Wan. Depressed. Discontented. Unsatisfied. Befuddled. Confused. Unsteady. Drab. Tedious. Lifeless. Spiritless. Loser. Nothing. Stupid. Wearisome. Subdued. Indifferent. Neglectful. Apathetic. Careless. Callous. Flabby. Flaccid. Slack. Deficient. Zero.

People are strange

People are strange creatures. They always want to be somewhere else.

And when they are there, they want to be somewhere else again. Or, they want to be back where they came from.

Why this restlessness within? Why the wanderlust?

Is it because there is something within that is not satisfied, and so they can't help wander the world in search of that which is missing?

"Consider your ways and set your mind on what has come to you.
You have sown much, but you have reaped little; you eat, but you do not have enough;
You drink, but you do not have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages has earned them to put them in a bag with holes in it."

We should really think about it, why this insatiableness. And we probably don't have to look very far for the problem even. We just have to look within.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I'm leaving on a jet plane.

At some ungodly hour tomorrow morning, for Beijing.

I love flying. And a gadzillion times later, I think I'll still love flying.

In fact, I don't know whether I'll ever get sick of that feeling of being airborne many many miles above the earth, suspended on nothing but air molecues and trusting in the the relationship between plane velocity and air pressure that is Bernoulli's Theorem. (I'm good! I still remember my 'A' level Physics!)

The best part of the flying experience, to me at least, is that minuscular moment when the plane goes from being grounded to being airbound; when wheels of the plane actually really and officially leaves the ground.

It's an incredible feeling and I never cease to be amazed by the physics behind the miracle of flight.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's O in flight!

A celebration of friendship

I thought it was just going to be another wedding.

I thought it was just going to be another social event of polite conversation with people who are unfortunate enough to end up at the same table as me, attempting to enjoy a very expensive dinner.

I thought it was going to be boring.

But I thought wrong.

I think this is one of the happiest weddings that I've been to, if not the happiest; because it was a celebration of friendship on so many levels.

I was happy to see E and D's years of friendship culminate in an event of love and celebration. It was a climax for the world to see, and also signifying the beginning of a greater friendship and relationship.

I don't care what they say, but I do think that friendship is the beginning of love, and the friendship type of love can endure longer and can go further than passion and romance and the rest of the shebang jessmazz. The rest of the world may equate love to extravagant and dramatic gestures, to transports of desire and ecstacy, to being caught in the throes of agony and worship and adoration even. But I think that's all Hollywood and Bollywood.

Love is nothing of the above. Love is very hard work.

I don't even need magic powers to know that this is a friendship that has potential, that has the capacity to grow and to flourish, that is able to be a example for others to see, that in this hard and cynical world, something like true friendship and love can overcome any and every silly little thing that comes their way.

So I'm happy for them.

Because E is my friend. And because D is my friend too. I think.

And seriously, I'm happy as long as she's happy. And if it requires tough love to keep her that way, that's what she's going to get. (E, I've warned you already.)

It was a reunion for so many of us too. The same familiar faces, just more mature, wiser, happier even. I was glad to see everybody looking contented. At a certain age, one doesn't ask for more anymore but just hope that everybody's healthy and well. The only sad part is that I didn't have much time to disturb Weak, to see Jackson and Colin's baby photos and to generally be a pest and harassment to all the rest.

Amazing how an ordinary weekend could turn out to be so great.

So I rest, contented and happy.