zero degree

Yes, I am straddling the Greenwich timeline..you know...Half of me is east and half of me is West...and it was a cold evening. Photo thanks to HappyFeet by the way.

Hokies 33-21 over Cavaliers

Just in case you were wondering...
Go Hokies!
Next game is the ACC championship game, December 1st.

Tech fans

Watching game vs UVA

Tears

For the fleeting memories
And the good deeds
For the ones left behind
and the face I won't see again

To wash away the sorrow
And bring the family to mind
To swallow the bitter aftertaste of life
And hold the moments at heart

"The Blowers Daughter"- Damien Rice

And so it is
Just like you said it would be
Life goes easy on me
Most of the time
And so it is
The shorter story
No love, no glory
No hero in her sky

I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes...

And so it is
Just like you said it should be
We'll both forget the breeze
Most of the time
And so it is
The colder water
The blower's daughter
The pupil in denial

I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes...

Did I say that I loathe you?
Did I say that I want to
Leave it all behind?

I can't take my mind off of you
I can't take my mind off you

I can't take my mind...
My mind...my mind...
'Til I find somebody new

Sunset

Yesterday, feeling great as school/work finished early, I managed to catch the sunset on a different view: at Bank station, waiting for the bus. They just cleaned this part of the building so it's spanking and shining new.

And the end of the week seems sunny so far so I am not too fussed wearing skirts while all the trousers are at the cleaner's

Neighbourhood street art

A sample of what is nearby.

I see those almost everyday and never had a time to take proper pictures. These are taken from my phone, and I will have to make some by daylight too.

525600 minutes...

Very sweet memory of singing along in Atee's room and going to Burruss hall watching the show. I even remember where I was seated and how I got there late...

This was my first outing with people from work that I don't even know or work with. I am just that popular...hehehehe

Fire!

Something is burning across the road and the dark cloud is raining carbonized stuff on us at work. Apparently though some warehouse was burning, and there are more pictures of it here.

Sluggish

On a nice day, I can stare out of the window sometimes and see the view outside, on the river. On a bad day, I get to see more clouds than necessary and I am not seated next to the window.


And I also appreciate the heights and the empty space between my feet and the ground...

At least once the past week, I laid my head on the pillow feeling so numb and haggard and deaf I was just hoping to switch off. And then to be surprised the next morning to hear the alarm clock and realize I am still alive (sigh).

I really cannot think ahead enough to next year at this point. It's really living one day at a time, trying to keep my spirits and attention up everyday (thanks to vitamin c and multivitamin pills)...I love my bed...

And why do I only get along with friends who I can only see at most twice a year????

'La barre de faire'

花火 !!!

"Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason, and plot,
I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, 't was his intent
To blow up the King and Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below,
Poor old England to overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!"

It's the season again: bonfires and fireworks, whether for Halloween or Guy Fawkes failed explosion. From every corner and alleys leading to a small park, colorful light erupts in cheerful bangs and fizzes.

But the big one is in 2008..and to give a taste, here's from last year

How to stop biting nails

So the week started slowly, with work giving me more headaches than usual because I am getting sicker and sicker with the flu and can't seem to have any more medication at home. I was very happy to see Mr and Mrs Denmark though , who enjoyed a bit of typical rainy weather in Chinatown.

Hopefully they got home alright and managed to get some rest in their Paddington hotel last weekend.
During their visit, we managed to eat Bengladeshi (of course!), delicious burger and milkshakes at Ed's Diner at Leicester Sq, the good old sandwich at Subway (they're crazy about this), chinese food in Chinatown, and sushi in Little Tokyo (aka Brewer St).

In all that frenzy, I started biting my nails again...after it gre the whole summer..sniff. And no, putting on acrylic fake nails does not help as they are too long and I am unable to use a keyboard with them, or pick my nose, ears and scratch my eyballs. So really...please, show me the will to stoooop...

The alternative so far has been to wear gloves..but I believe I am weird enough at work without it so no need to stand out even more...

Sunday football

Obviously i was rooting for the New York Giants, but I felt I could not wear any of their shirts or caps because ...really...does it make sense for me to wear something with 'GIANTS' written on it??

Something to look forward to

I have no more trip planned this year. It's sad. I already miss my friends. And the ones I know in London are travelling abroad (or not really friendly, or autistic). Everyone I like here is away, out of London or moving away.

Fortunately work is pretty intense and lots of interesting concepts and opportunities flying about, as well as germs...but the company is offerning vaccine shots (ok, for only £12)...should I get them? Am not a big syringe fan. But again if I want to continue swimming and working with coughing and sneezing colleagues and survive the winter, maybe I should...but I don't have time to go...I have work to do....or cheese to buy ...or cake to buy....or some other food...for the team...am glad they love food, and I miss the adrenaline rush of being on the desk..because for now I am stuck doing e-learning (some of it ok, some of it are like fire prevention and safety at work..very boring). I can't wait to install my first product and then tear it apart and re-install it...something I like to do with some people's brain.

I can't wait for the year to finish..because next year:
-I will have an extra holiday (as per company policy, 1 additional day off /year, max 30 days...so after 30 years service one has 55 days off/year..LOL)
-My Maman will come to visit me...yeah (inch'Allah)
-I will get older (boooooo)
-Maybe I'll get my own apartment , no more sharing, if my bank lends me some money
-I will have vacation days to spend wisely in various trips

So seriously, for once I want time to go faster...Like I want to wake up and it's 2008.

The end of autumn

The sun sets before 6 these days already, and soon I will go home everyday seeing this when coming out of the office.

It can be worse (yes, in about a month or so).

To fight the season's gloom, I finally managed to run outside (after a self adminstered pep talk) and even dragged my flatmate out (she walks, I run). Time flew again this weekend and I didn't even have time to iron or stich up my trousers or even pamper myself to a girly mask or shop till I drop....

Instead I only got groceries (the fridge is full) and cooked for the week (the freezer is full), and cleaned my room again after buying another wardrobe for my winter clothes. The keyboard is back on the balcony, and an aloe vera and another cactus are keeping company to each other on the windows. Hopefully they'll survive winter with me.

The resolution for the week is to stop eating at work. It has been a very excessive week because each memeber of the team keeps bringing food in turns!! From croissants, pain au chocolat, english fry up breakfast, it didn't stop!! Tryly, they socialize around food, but I must stay away from it. Matter of fact I now sit at the end of the desk, isolated by my 3 screens (yes, three, don't ask me why, I am a very busy important person!NOT). I can pick my nose and make faces to myself and nobody can see me.

'A life of happiness or a life of meaning'..or else?

That's the choice given to a character in an episode of Heroes. And it explains the difference too: A life of happiness, where one does not dwell on the past and doesn't worry about the future; Or a life of meaning, whereby one is haunted by the past and spends all the present worrying sick and working for the future around him....Obviously most people want both...But is it really feasible?
At the time I watched the episode I was wondering why another alternative wasn't considered. A life where one feels happy about what he/she had lived and done; To be able to be satisfied and feel complete.
But when I think about it, the subtle difference is that the 3rd option can only be decided or assigned as such on one's deathbed, whereas the 1st two can be a daily conscious decision.

Do I eat the tiramisu now and get fat or not eat it and be healthy? The decision is now. But whatever decision I take now will ensure my level of satisfaction if I die in the next 3seconds, 3 months or 3 centuries. Yes, I am pretty much trying to live a life of happiness most times....take it now, worry later. It feels simple enough.

Alas, it's all different when it involves other people. Other people I love, other people I fancy or care about, and other people I don't like. Still, I usually do whatever I want because why wait?? I might die in a second.

Nine years later

But who's counting? A few things changed, but the jeans still don't fit on the first try, the memories always look better than reality.

It's like meeting for the first time packed with the familiarity of past lives! And I am feeling great stitching together my two lives as things come rushing back to mind.

It's amazing how life can be so sweet!

Lone star

I feel very lucky that there are so many places/people I feel at home and at ease with. I am travelling great distances at times and finding the company of old friends so soothing and comforting. They are my real destinations. Maybe am finding out what happiness is in its infinitely small unassuming quiet appearance.

It is not the long journey that makes the destination more rewarding. The journey brings about the physical challenges, the time for reflection and retrospective, the rest that awaken the eyes. It makes me consider the value of what has been left behind, and what is worth coming back to.

I often feel anonymous on a journey, a blank slate ready for any imprint. New faces, attitudes, emotions that reflect or clash against my own. I bask in adventurous foods, dances, beliefs. I often find beauty that give me faith in life and people. But I don't stay because there is more elsewhere to live.

The men that make the law and those who die defending it

I did not see the Confressmen in session but I visited the Library of Congress where they do research and consult previous cases.

Then in the afternoon I went to the Arlington National Cemetery where I shed a tear at the tomb of the unknown soldier, hearing the lament of the lonely bugle at the changing of the guard.

I have never been surrounded by so many dead people before!