Pitter patter

It was drizzling outside the window. The old man sitting across me suddenly launched into conversation with me when I rotated my neck from the window towards him. He started to tell me all about the metre rule he was carrying wrapped in his hands. I smiled and nodded politely while he told me where he got it, and when he paused for a moment, I took the chance to look out of the window and avoid eye contact. He started speaking to the guy sitting next to him.

I don't like to talk to strangers really.

I guess I could have been more friendly. The old man looked rather pitiful.

This reminded me of the time when I carried my violin around the whole of spore to my teacher's house. It was an hour's journey on THREE buses each time. My mom said I was crazy. One dark and drizzy day, I was chatted up at the bus-stop. Some guy saw me leaning against my violin case (my case is those black and super old-fashioned one) and started telling me he played the saxaphone. Luckily my bus arrived. :P

Another tme I was on the way home with my big bulky violin case beside me. I was staring out of the window looking at the distorted lights in the light drizzle. The guy sitting opposite me managed to catch my eye and started up a monologue. I won't call it a conversation. I think he was a caucasion or an eurasion, can't quite tell. And he was telling me where he lived, what he did, and even gave me his number and asked me to promise to call him and all that, and all the while I was feeling extremely awkward and trying not to be too rude and ignore him at the same time. Then he asked me for my number and I decided I had enough and had to get off the bus. Bloodly hell make me waste money and time for another bus! Grrr.

:P

I think it really depends on my mood.

A long time ago, I strike up conversation with this old fellow down at kino a few times. He was rather eccentric, rather scuffy looking but was extremely knowledgable about music. We saw each other a few times in the music section and one day he started telling me about the history of music and lots other stuffs, about studying in London, playing in the musicial hall etc. I learnt a few things then, about operas and singers and conductors and another world all together in a far away country. I thought it was really cool. Sometimes in the afternoon, I would go down to kino and look for him and spend some time talking. One day, he was no longer there. It was quite sad actually. A friend was with me once, and he expressed shock that I actually talked to strange old fellows. doh.

I always thought that Xel would have loved to exchange ideas with him. I do miss Xel, I'm glad she's coming back soon. :)

And she owed me quite a bit of money. heh heh.

*****
Meeting ended soo late today. But what the heck ... I actually enjoyed myself. Some of the speakers were really good. I liked that. The inspiration and motivation was quite needed. I copied some of the nice quotes down, but left them back on my desk. Will put them here if I remembered too.

How different it all is from the previous place. Different emphasis perhaps. Or it's just me. I'm glad for the change.

But I can only move to my new desk end of Jan! Do I unpack or do I wait? Arrgh.

And I went shopping with Wen at the sale. Bought the set of knives (extremely sharp!) , a nice tempur pillow for hubby (since he kept stealing mine! :P) and a nice pair of sunglasses (which I don't really need). Oh dear oh dear ... now I'm truely broke. Remind me to eat only bananas and bread for the next few months. My kitchen is almost complete now. *beamz*

Everyone needs inspiration and motivation now and then. I wish my dear hubby could attend some of those talks I get to go for. They can be quite uplifting and the speakers are locals, not foreign talents. Sometimes I wish I could help him, especially when he is feeling overwhelmed by work and cynical by the way they treat him. It's a cruel world out there. Everyone is quick to complain and criticise, but when something good is done, there's no show of appreciation. So what if technology is better or life is more comfortable? We're still barbarians who do not care for another human's feelings. I was quite disgusted by some of my new colleagues who spoke about the tsunami. I can't quite believe when one said that the waves had washed clean the beaches of Penang which had been dirty and messy, and another said that the tsunami had washed away all those rebels, followed by a laugh. If that was supposed to be a joke, I think it was extremely tasteless. People died, whether they were rebels or what ... I can't say I feel extremely upset about it, it's too far removed for me to feel anything, but it's just so tragic and soo ... how do I put it? And such insensitivity just sounded so cruel. I know I can't help ... but can't we just show some respect for all the lives lost?

Life is just so cheap for all those poor people. Is there any meaning at all?