Saturday, December 27, 2008

Poetry Exercise No. 16 : Triolet

Back to the poetry writing, after a very long rest period.

A cousin of the Rondeau, i.e. characterised by repeating lines/rhymes. Eight lines in total, with the first and second lines repeated in the seventh and eighth lines, and the first line echoed in the fourth line. Rhyme scheme - ABaAbbAB. So here is my triolet, on Casey:

I love my little Casey cat
I wish she loved me just a bit
Her pretty head I gently pat
I love my little Casey cat
But in return she throws a fit
At my touch she will snarl and spit
I love my little Casey cat
I wish she loved me just a bit


Thursday, December 11, 2008

Paws for the Cause

I feel truly honoured- got a flickr mail requesting for the use of my photo on icanhascheezburger.com. Purpose was to help publicise and raise awareness on the issue of homeless animals. I'm glad to be a part of this effort. Here's the LOL which was created from the photo of a sweet little anonymous kitten which I spotted in the cage outside Mt Pleasant clinic on East Coast Road. I don't know whether the kitten was eventually adopted but with sweet eyes like that, I would definitely be a fan.

funny pictures
moar funny pictures

If you want to do something for the community cats of Singapore, check out the Pawpledge and CWS links in the left column - make a contribution, volunteer, help care for a cat in your neighbourhood, starting this Friday, 12/12, or according to the lady who contacted me, "the twelfth of never - for too many pets, that is the sad truth."

Sunday, December 07, 2008

More Jane

Further to my earlier post, Wannabe Jane, I have read all of 3 more Jane paralit books. For a change, one was a Persuasion rather than Pride & Prejudice knock-off!

Captain Wentworth's Diary is another effort by Amanda Grange to dig deep into the innermost thoughts and feelings of Jane Austen's heroes. It is pleasant and a nice enough read. Grange spends some time and effort on how Anne and Captain Wentworth first met and fell in love, and how their engagement was broken. The next section then goes into how he returned to England, to stay with his sister Mrs Croft and then meets Anne again. My main problem with the book is that there are no surprises, whether in the plot or in how the characters are developed. Grange could, for example, have spent more time on the relationship between Wentworth and his brother, or between Wentworth, Harville and Benwick, to bring out the cammeraderie and solidarity amongst the naval officers as a powerful sub-theme of the book. Alas for an opportunity missed.

I also finished reading The Way of the World (subsequently published as Mr Darcy's Daughters) and The Exploits and Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy, both by Elizabeth Aston. I started off enjoying Elizabeth Aston's books and it is perhaps fortunate that I started off with The True Darcy Spirit for if I had started off with The Way of the World I may not have picked up another book! Granted, one should not import expectations and views about the various characters in Pride & Prejudice into the reading of these Jane knock-offs, and they should probably be treated as totally separate books, but it is very hard to picture Darcy and Elizabeth trotting off to Constantinople just when their daughters go off to London for the first time! Darcy, the careful brother who took such great care of Georgiana? Elizabeth, who was so worried about the possible impact of her frivolous sister's trip to Brighton? It is just not consistent with what we know about these characters. For an author who is trading on Jane fans' love of her work and characters to get people to read/buy her work, I'd have liked to see greater efforts to be true to the characters. And this holds true even if the Darcys do not actually make an appearance in the books! Way of the World also suffers from too many undeveloped characters and plotlines; probably just too ambitious an undertaking in the first instance. As for Miss Alethea's exploits and adventures, they certainly take place at a breathless pace, so much so that one is a little tired of them by the time the book ends. Fortunately, Aston has developed as an author since these earlier efforts; I vastly prefer her subsequent books such as The True Darcy Spirit.

Thanks to my efforts, my mother has started reading these Jane paralit books too, the first being Capt Wentworth's Diary. I asked her how it was and she expressed some disappointment. Well, what does one expect? Just because it is Jane Austen paraliterature does not mean that it is anywhere near Jane's standards! One does not exactly expect these books to be in print 200 years into the future. But they are entertaining reads in themselves, well worth picking up to fill an idle hour.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Goodbye Hwei Yen

Singapore has been hit by terrorism in a totally unexpected way. Lo Hwei Yen, a 28-year old lawyer, was in Mumbai on business when the terrorists invaded the Trident-Oberoi hotel where she was staying. She was captured by the terrorists and shot in the head.

I look at the pictures of a warm, friendly girl and find it so shocking to think of how terrifying her last hours were. It was a fate she did not deserve, and neither did any of the other people who died at the hands of the terrorists.

I look at her photos and think that this could be anyone's daughter, anyone's sister, anyone's colleague, anyone's friend. And maybe that's why everyone in Singapore feel it so much. Singapore is such a small country. Her husband's family go to the same church I do, they went to the same schools as my family members did. We mourn for her because she is our daughter, sister, colleague and friend.

Rest in peace Hwei Yen.

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