is it the music that connects me to you?
its been a while since i posted a proper entry. a proper entry here meaning that i've given some thought into what i want to say rather than just talk nonsense or complain. or go on and on about how i want to cut my hair and need to lose weight, both of which are true.
just the other day i had some time to do absolutely nothing, and just watch the sunset and see the clouds go by. so i did and it really helped me think about whats going on right now.
PATRON OF THE ARTS?
there is an art exhibition going on at ramsay ong's gallery ARTrageous now. managed to pop in to see what it was all about and i must say, that i really enjoyed my trip there. the stuff on display was very interesting. but then again if you're like me, and go GAGA over artsy stuff easily. i do wish, however, that i could do more to support the local art scene. especially native art.
all that weaving and what not. and the thing is, these things were made to LAST. the baskets and mats and what not, were all made to be durable. but the cost of these things...my god.
the sad thing about whats happening about the native art scene is that its dying out. there's no one in my generation that i know who wants to carry on with it. and i hate to say it, but i cant do more for it either. and its so sad!
DO I HAVE A HOMING DEVICE ON ME?
when i was visiting the art gallery, the man in charge there started talking to me and iain, and was just explaining things to us. you know, the whole "oh...this is yadayada and this is yadayada". THEN he looks at me and asks "are you bidayuh?"
now, nevermind the fact that i've just discovered that my paternal grandfather is an IBAN. he married a bidayuh lady (oh isnt it great the dayaks are not chopping off each other's heads anymore) and my dad married a bidayuh lady. and since i've only found out LAST YEAR about this (adoption complicates things, you see) i still consider myself bidayuh. plus its more convenient anyways.
back to the gallery, mr art man asks me if i'm bidayuh and i'm thinking "HOW DO YOU KNOW??" oh well. makes no difference i guess. because he started talking to me in bidayuh and thankfully, his dialect bears some resemblance to my mother's. so i was at least able to understand SOME. but i couldnt answer in bidayuh. though i bet if i had some alcohol in my blood stream i'd be able to. dont ask me why, it just works that way.
TAXI-RIDE PHILOSOPHIES
some of the most interesting people i've met, are OLDER, and...ok i had a list of characteristics tha they might share but now that just sounds petty and coincidental. what i'm trying to say here is that some people who are extremely interesting, were not who i expected at all.
i dont know if i've ever mentioned THE LEKOR MAN. well, we never asked his name, and he usually sold keropok lekor on weekends in the park near my college so he's the lekor man. very interesting, because me and audrey, at the time, were SO obviously NOT from seremban. and he responded in english. and one day he told us about himself. apparently he had been a military pilot or something in the 70's. who later became a commercial pilot. in the united states. in the 70's. so he had the beard and the hair going. and apparently got deported cause he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. but extremely fun to talk to. he was caught having an affair by his wife, but later that kinda solved itself. i think now he's teaching english at some private college in kota bahru or something like that for lots and lots of cash.
then there's CAB DRIVERS. i guess its meeting people from all over and talking to them that makes them fun. and kinda open minded too. i know there are cab drivers who can be quite rude, but there are that minute few that seem not to mind to engage in conversation while driving you somewheres. some are retired, some are really doing it as a living.
there's LILIAN. the lady i worked with at the fat camel as a cleaner. now she wasnt joking when she said that the job was very physical. i blame that job for my huge arms. all that lifting. ugh. back to lilian. she's OLD. and SHORT. and CHINESE. from china. and she puts a LOT of effort into the work she does! by the time another cleaning company had taken over and i had to leave, we were somewhat friends. but i really admired what she was doing. she put so much effort into a job she did not necessarily have to do. her son is working but i think she was doing this cause she wanted to keep herself occupied. but boy was she a character. note to self: must wish her a happy cny...
so yea..
and i've been watching WHAT THE BUCK on youtube a lot. and recently michael buckley posted up a video on why he's so happy. and there were some points that really stood out.
1. being happy is a choice. it is a conscious choice. you choose to feel how you want to feel. and if being sulky makes you happy...go for it.
2. deciding that it takes more than petty things to make you sad. guess it takes an openly gay man to tell us that. if he can be open about who he is and be able to take all the negativity some people channel to him because of that, then what more can be said about us?
i'm tired of typing.