(1) Sleep

I slept a lot. I truly hadn't realised I was so exhausted. I think I'm deluded with regards to the amount of rest I need and how much I can achieve. But I don't care, because I like the fact that I can work hard, while oblivious that it is "work".

But when I think about it, it wasn't even that much sleep. It was just that I had 2 nights uninterrupted. TWO! But the past two nights, I've woken up at 4 AM again. Frack-doodles.

Last night I had a weird dream/nightmare that MC was leaving (like, forever) and on his way out, he said "Oh I had a thought..." and proceeded to describe skinning the myocyte and patching the SR. And he was like, "don't worry, it'll take no time and it'd be perfect for the paper." Yeah I know, none of it really makes sense and the lab wasn't the lab, it was this mansion- or castle-like place that was sort of dark, with huge windows, high ceilings and decorated with old-fashioned velvet. But in my dream, I "knew" it was the lab. And also, MC had four suitcases, all of which looked like my family's suitcases. And as he was rushing off (into a lift with a bellboy/old man there in a maroon uniform and gloves), I was chatting to someone about how weird this experiment was.

The night before I had this dream where Tiff and I were in a maze/competitione thing that spanned several days. It was like a life-or-death "game" that we were in and it was very surreal. So we were one of very few pairs left and we had to sleep. So we found these two rooms with single beds, separated by an empty room. So I lay in mine and there was this cord (electrical cord, not rope cord) draped/taut over my pillow and I thought, "this is strange", with a semi-de-ja-vu feeling that this was dangerous. So instead of lying with the cord over me (because it was taut at that sort of height), I opted for the less comfortable option of putting the cord underneath my pillow, while I slept on it. Half-way through the night, my duvets were sucked away to the space between the bed and the wall and the cord began to retract. I realise that it would have formed a noose around my neck to pull me in. Realising that Tiff might be under the same conditions, I rushed over to find her body and duvet shoved midway through this hole in the wall. All this time, there were grotesque gargling and churning noises, as if there was a monster feeding behind the wall. At that point, I thought it was too late, but I remember thinking that it is never too late until you give up, so I grabbed her feet and pulled as hard as I could. Thankfully, her head had not reached its teeth, so she came out relatively unscathed, if a bit suction-damaged and shocked. We then ran off to continue our quest and I remember thinking that I couldn't have carried on alone.

Cats - The Musical

It was a wonderful production - I can't wait for The Phantom to get here in Oct. It was good to be able to give Dad this opportunity given he's had this interest since forever, but hasn't been able to indulge in it due to (a) lack of funds in the past, (b) rarity in splashing out on oneself, (c) Mum's lack of interest. But finally! I was able to give Dad a present he liked (and that means something). So, success!

Electricity and Flight

I am always amazed by progress. Driving around at night, I notice the lights lining the motorway and I am reminded that we could never have this life without electricity. Likewise, watching the planes lift off the tarmac, I think about how small the Earth has become and yet we are still able to turn a blind eye to some of our "neighbours'" woes. Progress is amazing, yet ironic. I guess maybe because it's relative and you can't really have irony without comparison, can you? But this line of thought reminded me of a few lines from "Memories" (Cats),

"I remember the time I knew what happiness was"

I've always find it funny when people ask, "are you happy?" I am never sure what to say, for what time-scale do they speak of, let alone what aspect of happiness? Am I joyful, am I content? Of now, of the future, of recent past? Thus, I almost always answer "I'm always happy," which is true considering long-term trends, but might not be true considering that moment... but is almost always true when I think of the past and/or the potential of the future. But the large fluctuations make life interesting and I think, makes it easier for me to empathise.

Eyes

I had a thought that I don't really look into people's eyes, nor do I notice their eye colour. I thought that maybe the latter was due to a lack of habit. For 1/3 of my life, I only met people with brown eyes. Maybe because of that, I never really picked up the habit. I don't think I could tell you the eye colour of the people in my lab despite the fact I see them almost everyday. I could probably make a good guess... I guess. Anyway, I also thought that maybe I notice clarity more than colour - because that's interesting.

Compatibility

I sat next to a couple on the plane - the man was reading The Art of War (Reading Social), while the woman was reading some Cosmo-like magazine. I just found it peculiar. Now I know that it could be that they're reading TAOW together or maybe she read it first and now he's reading it, I don't know. But it made me think about what attracts people together. I have had an increasingly pessimistic outlook on this front, because it seems that after all the personality considerations, people are still driven predominantly by physique. Or rather, people can forego the intellectual stimulation for the eye-candy, but not likely the other way around. At a personal level, I find this a bit distressing and at a global level, I find this disappointing. But forgetting all that stuff about physique as indications of fertility, immunological repertoire, etc - maybe it's because physical appearance is easier to judge than the wirings of the brain and heart (so to speak). Bleak bleak topic.

Freezer-Truck Man

Meanwhile, as I was waiting for the Airbus to get back, a strange man in a freezer truck stopped, grumbled and motioned his head for me to get in. At first, I thought he was trying to tell me something about the Airbus, but when I realised what he was doing, I shook my head politely and stepped back. He hung around for a while, but then eventually left. Ugh.

Did I ever tell you about that time I was at Jumping Gym (arcade-type place in HK) and this disgusting old man grabbed my behind? Or that time at this conference when this teacher made rude comments about my body/clothes? Or... I'm going to stop now, but I'm just illustrating a point. If this has happened to me, can you imagine what has happened to attractive girls/women? Unless these scum pray on defenceless-looking ones (i.e. not a real correlation with attractiveness). I'm not saying I distrust men, but there are just some gross people out there.

Image Sources: img.slate.com, bp0.blogger.com, inexorablyloved.files.wordpress.com, www.classytrucks.org

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