it was two past midnight, and it was at this precise hour that five people -- four men and a woman assembled themselves underground. although everyone knew each other by name, there was hardly any greetings; the rule of this gathering was that nobody talks until his or her mind was prepared. everybody simply took his or her seat; one sat beside a mulholland drive poster, the other next to a coffee table which contained a sherlock holmes manuscript, the other two -- a couple -- sat side by side on the divan and last attendee situated himself in the sofa corner filled with scattered bloomberg magazine subscriptions. there was nothing audible but the clicking of pens and for ten whole minutes their minds drifted and wandered and these five members gazed at anything -- the dark blanket sky outside the window, the dust on the panes, the cheese in the kitchen.
the third member produced a roll of paper from his bag, shared it with the group, and everyone fell in silent concentration. for a moment, their eyes averted each other's; each one was focused in reading its signature and studying its contents. they were particularly drawn to its contained promises, highlighted in brown. it was the girl who stood up, reached for her handbag and burned the paper. the other four watched the process, and inside they felt revolutionary and joined in. they held the paper close to their hands, tightened their grip, and altogether they watched in awe as the little flames swallowed the paper and everything it represents.
the mood started to warm up, as does the weather inside the room, despite the howling winds outside. the room lit up and the couple started to hum a damien rice/lisa hannigan duet, the other three engaged themselves in a serious banter and exchanged thoughts about politics, finance, and neo-classical literature while the roaches danced above their heads.
the members breathed into the polluted air and savored their creative enlightenment.
above them, the streets quiet and empty, the children dreaming, the farmers getting ready, the world all in all cynical, unaware of the five members’ little achievement. the non-members of this gathering meet our five heroes everyday, and they call their gathering with a more popular, less imposing name – smoking.
note: this is my first (renewed) attempt in writing a short story after eight years, the last one that i composed was written in 3rd year high school when the class was assigned to compose a sequel on our favorite short story.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Friday, February 8, 2008
9 of the little things that i cannot do (but most people can)
[writing while the smiths pleads please please let me get what i want ]
confidence one notch down, i admit the following:
1. i cannot identify constellations.
even if you point at the stars in the sky, how will i know if we're looking at the same star?
2. i cannot read maps.
i have no sense of direction. and i get distracted with those legends like yellow is supposed to be the railroad, red the business center, blue the main road, etc.
also, if we're on the car and you turned left, then right, then another right; i don't know how to go back.
3. i don't drink milk and coffee.
people i know well say that i am the epitome of all irony. i came from the coffee province but i don't drink coffee. i love cheese but the smell of milk alone makes me vomit.
4. i cannot sleep right away.
i have great difficulty sleeping. there was a time when even sleeping pills don't help.
5. i don't understand linear perspective.
my god, don't even come close to me with a drawing board and a t-square! i cannot draw a box (yes, just a box) in its ortographic and isometric projection.
6. i cannot draw at all.
i don't think stick figures qualify.
7. i don't eat the following: sushi, the chiken skin in fried chicken, chicken nuggets in mcdonalds, pasta with cream sauce, oysters and anything that sounds exotic.
8. i don't like computer games.
i don't want to be one of those zombies in the internet cafe.
9. i cannot make myself love windows pc.
i confess, the apple topics are probably the only discussions in the world where i become close-minded. i just cannot tolerate windows' complete lack of taste.
"our friends up north (microsoft) spend over five billion dollars on research and development and all they seem to do is copy google and apple."
"unfortunately, people are not rebelling against microsoft. they don’t know any better."
- steve jobs, chief executive officer, apple inc.
confidence one notch down, i admit the following:
1. i cannot identify constellations.
even if you point at the stars in the sky, how will i know if we're looking at the same star?
2. i cannot read maps.
i have no sense of direction. and i get distracted with those legends like yellow is supposed to be the railroad, red the business center, blue the main road, etc.
also, if we're on the car and you turned left, then right, then another right; i don't know how to go back.
3. i don't drink milk and coffee.
people i know well say that i am the epitome of all irony. i came from the coffee province but i don't drink coffee. i love cheese but the smell of milk alone makes me vomit.
4. i cannot sleep right away.
i have great difficulty sleeping. there was a time when even sleeping pills don't help.
5. i don't understand linear perspective.
my god, don't even come close to me with a drawing board and a t-square! i cannot draw a box (yes, just a box) in its ortographic and isometric projection.
6. i cannot draw at all.
i don't think stick figures qualify.
7. i don't eat the following: sushi, the chiken skin in fried chicken, chicken nuggets in mcdonalds, pasta with cream sauce, oysters and anything that sounds exotic.
8. i don't like computer games.
i don't want to be one of those zombies in the internet cafe.
9. i cannot make myself love windows pc.
i confess, the apple topics are probably the only discussions in the world where i become close-minded. i just cannot tolerate windows' complete lack of taste.
"our friends up north (microsoft) spend over five billion dollars on research and development and all they seem to do is copy google and apple."
"unfortunately, people are not rebelling against microsoft. they don’t know any better."
- steve jobs, chief executive officer, apple inc.
9 of the most annoying grammar lapses
“the usage of correct grammar and good style is the hallmark of an educated (in grammar and writing) mind and disciplined (in grammar and writing) thought. as such it should recognized and encouraged. its absence should serve as a warning to readers and listeners of a concomitant lack of rigor in development of any underlying premise.” -- anonymous
let us start with two of, by far, the most irritating errors:
1. the use of your and you're
"your" is a possessive pronoun. "you're" is a contraction of "you are". it is very simple to understand; it doesn't take a genius to remember it and put it into practice.
so don't say, your my friend.
or, you're smile....
example: your writing is compromised if you're always using your instead of you're and vice versa.
2."did" is always followed by the present tense of the verb.
incorrect: after all, he did talked to the judge.
correct: after all, he did talk to the judge.
3. the subjunctive mood is the only occasion that it's correct to pair up a singular noun (or pronoun) with the verb "were".
otherwise, observe the golden rule singular noun, singular verb. plural noun (except collective), plural verb.
a verb is in the subjunctive mood when it expresses a condition which is doubtful or not factual. it is most often found in a clause beginning with the word if. it is also found in clauses following a verb that expresses a doubt, a wish, regret, request, demand, or proposal.
examples of subjunctive mood: if i were younger, i would have accepted the dare.
if my father were a lot more tolerant, my sister would not have run away.
4. still on verbs category, perfect tense subcategory: you always use the past participle form of the verb with auxiliary verbs like "has" and "have" such as: has gone, have told, have showered, has conducted
5. unless you're rapping, do not use double negatives, like "i did not see nobody."
correct: i saw nobody or i did not see anybody.
6. saying "stuffs" is wrong! it's just stuff. i wish for hellfire to come whenever people say stuffs, and furnitures, and equipments.
7. loose vs. lose . the former is an ajdective, the latter is a verb. it drives me crazy when people interchange them! the two words do not sound alike and their meanings are not the same! same is true with pleased vs please.
7a. affect vs. effect. affect is the one that does something. effect is the result of doing something.
7b. advice vs. advise. the first word is a noun, the second word is a verb.
examples: we will lose the shipment if those knots are loose.
what a loose woman! no wonder she has lost (past participle of lose) all her friends.
my wife is very pleased with your painting, can you make another portrait please?
i am very pleased with the group's perfomance, can i schedule them for another show on friday, please?
smoking has bad effects in your respiratory tract.
smoking gravely affects your health.
please advise me if i should follow my boyfriend's advice.
8. review the use of apostrophes. (incidentally, this is related to annoying error #1) here's a good quote (and a good time to practice your level of comprehension too)
"it's it is when it's it's and it's its when it's not."
- unknown
9. ignorance is not an excuse. do not say what's important is the meaning, not the sentence construction. grammar helps convey meaning. if you can't do it right, then don't write at all. (at least not in the english medium)
let us start with two of, by far, the most irritating errors:
1. the use of your and you're
"your" is a possessive pronoun. "you're" is a contraction of "you are". it is very simple to understand; it doesn't take a genius to remember it and put it into practice.
so don't say, your my friend.
or, you're smile....
example: your writing is compromised if you're always using your instead of you're and vice versa.
2."did" is always followed by the present tense of the verb.
incorrect: after all, he did talked to the judge.
correct: after all, he did talk to the judge.
3. the subjunctive mood is the only occasion that it's correct to pair up a singular noun (or pronoun) with the verb "were".
otherwise, observe the golden rule singular noun, singular verb. plural noun (except collective), plural verb.
a verb is in the subjunctive mood when it expresses a condition which is doubtful or not factual. it is most often found in a clause beginning with the word if. it is also found in clauses following a verb that expresses a doubt, a wish, regret, request, demand, or proposal.
examples of subjunctive mood: if i were younger, i would have accepted the dare.
if my father were a lot more tolerant, my sister would not have run away.
4. still on verbs category, perfect tense subcategory: you always use the past participle form of the verb with auxiliary verbs like "has" and "have" such as: has gone, have told, have showered, has conducted
5. unless you're rapping, do not use double negatives, like "i did not see nobody."
correct: i saw nobody or i did not see anybody.
6. saying "stuffs" is wrong! it's just stuff. i wish for hellfire to come whenever people say stuffs, and furnitures, and equipments.
7. loose vs. lose . the former is an ajdective, the latter is a verb. it drives me crazy when people interchange them! the two words do not sound alike and their meanings are not the same! same is true with pleased vs please.
7a. affect vs. effect. affect is the one that does something. effect is the result of doing something.
7b. advice vs. advise. the first word is a noun, the second word is a verb.
examples: we will lose the shipment if those knots are loose.
what a loose woman! no wonder she has lost (past participle of lose) all her friends.
my wife is very pleased with your painting, can you make another portrait please?
i am very pleased with the group's perfomance, can i schedule them for another show on friday, please?
smoking has bad effects in your respiratory tract.
smoking gravely affects your health.
please advise me if i should follow my boyfriend's advice.
8. review the use of apostrophes. (incidentally, this is related to annoying error #1) here's a good quote (and a good time to practice your level of comprehension too)
"it's it is when it's it's and it's its when it's not."
- unknown
9. ignorance is not an excuse. do not say what's important is the meaning, not the sentence construction. grammar helps convey meaning. if you can't do it right, then don't write at all. (at least not in the english medium)
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