Sunday, April 20, 2008

KaZam!


I always identified with Calvin as a child (I suppose you could say I still do), and this strip pretty much sums up what being a kid like Calvin is like. Constantly feeling out of sync with the rest of the world, and thus retreating to the world you create for yourself in your mind. If you think about it, Calvin was really quite an anomaly in popular entertainment -- not just in comics, but in anything, be it movies, TV, etc. He has no friends, and no extracurricular activities; the only people he ever sees are his parents, who he has a strained relationship with, and Moe, Susie, Rosalyn, and Miss Wormwood, all of whom he detests and all of whom detest him. The only person he ever has any real interaction with exists only in his head. He is, for all intents and purposes, completely alone. And he's fine with that. The kind of kid most people would entirely ignore all through school is not generally the kind you make the star of your show, and yet the strip became hugely successful.

I know that people of all ages enjoyed Calvin and Hobbes, but I have to think that it meant even more to those of us who grew up with him. Going to school every day and seeing all the ways we didn't fit in, it was nice to see someone like us, who was intelligent and independent, and didn't need to be a smile-plastered Mouseketeer to enjoy life. Though numerous motivational posters and guidance councelors and after-school specials had said it again and again, it was Calvin who managed to truly express the idea—without being preachy, without being sappy, perhaps even without trying—that it was okay to be different.


"...but don't YOU go anywhere"

Okay, so I might have just turned this into some kind of comic page. Right.
But what makes Calvin & Hobbes the greatest ever is its ability to make you laugh your ass off, and identify with it.

What makes it one of the great treasures of our culture is its ability to invoke emotions that you never thought you'd spend on a comic strip.

This one's positively touching.


Friday, April 18, 2008

It's for whatever sh** you live for!

*courtesy of Leah, an old friend, a new bugger!*


Okay, so here’s the real thing. I thought it’d be wise to start off the post for the month with a few lines of poetry. To show that I’d been working on something, yknow. Haha. I’m not sure if you guys ever saw that as an effort, though. Otherwise, I’ve been looking forward to writing something different for my poetry. A new way of saying. “Love kills”. Haha. Just kidding. I knew if I were to put that forward, my life would mock me! So anyways, THANK YOU for sticking around…

Well, speaking of which, I’ve just started my short semester before I finally graduate from college (then off to med school, hopefully). And I’ve been experiencing these awkward moments. Again. Not in a bad way though. Just awkward, as in trying to fit in with everything and everyone around you after a while. Well, being home alone during the holidays and not meeting enough people kinda explains all that. It almost feels like taking a caveman out for a walk around the city. But it’s not as shocking you see, it’s something I have quite expected in fact. Maybe I just don’t know how to react when these things actually happen. So, yeh, awkward is just the word!

By the way, despite all that craps, I really have to thank some people who’d been there, especially when I was at my lowest point. I’d have to say my parents were the best counselors. They knew me best (absolutely) And yes, special thanks to Leah, for making my life easier! Haha. I couldn’t have done it without you, love. I don’t care what you feel upon my making this public, but hey, I have to say it otherwise! (Now don’t tell me to stop saying thanks because it’s my page I have them written on, so the words are rightfully mine!) Hehe.

All kidding aside, let me just say a few things, since I can’t really explain what’s going on with my life right now… I still can’t find the right words(!) But you see, life is a funny thing. Not ha ha funny, but ironic funny… I’m not complaining. Just making an observation. And yes, adding to that, through my weirdest life’s experience recently, of course. But one thing you guys could relate to at the very least, is the fact that nothing is ever so definite, and that you never choose something… in a funny way it chooses you! But despite the outcome, one still needs to go on, and live life to its fullest. Make every second count…


“If I knew all the words, I would write myself out of here… if I was all the colours, I would paint you pretty in gold in a picture…” – Jason Mraz.


All in all, I’m just so grateful for the life I have now, and yes, for every single thing I had had experienced throughout my whole life! It all seemed like a beautiful letdown to me now. I met all kinds of strange and wonderful beings. And through these personal experiences and studies I became aware of the infinite possibilities I had in life; possibilities so powerful I was convinced I could do anything I dreamed. Then, spread the news of love with someone special.

Ahh, things aren’t quite as scary when you’ve got God as your best friend ;-)



r_L

Monday, April 7, 2008

Unpainted


you were once
the sky
shining through
my April sunrise
revealing spirits
once concealed
sifting twisted,
discarded memories.

lingering heat
taste of hibiscus tea
on your lips where

words mixed
in a warm soup, enticing;
letters of the alphabet
hang on a teaspoon-
screaming, in fervor
dancing, in desperation.

our love
once burst in April rain
now lost
without gravity-
unpainted in space,
only silencing
in pain, it seems.



r_L