You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March 2009.
This song reminds me strongly of Mae/Fin. Even though I don’t ship ‘em, it reads totally like a letter Mae writes to Fin. This is a very, very difficult song to translate, because most of the lines don’t form sentences, but are instead strung together from broken phrases (due to the nature of the language). I had to agonize over and create a context for many of them. Though above all, it’s hard to come up with a translation that does justice to the beauty of the original lyrics.

追憶の風
The Wind of Reminiscence
Lyrics by: Itou Kanako
English translation by: Bella R.
走り出すこの道 新しい日
Onto this path I take a new step, as the sun again rises
澄んだ君の瞳に 明日を信じて行く
In your clear eyes, I find my belief in tomorrow
追憶の風 幾千の記憶 胸に抱き締め
In the wind of reminiscence, I bury in my chest countless memories
どこまでも遠く 高く
As we soar far and high above this land
This is a “visitor count 1,000-hit request” I did for a friend recently. She wanted a “cheesy love story“, so I wrote one. She had a good laugh at it, so I thought I’d post it here. It’s as-is and unbeta-ed.
I’m not responsible for any eye-bleeding or headdesking that may ensue.
First off:
Beren and Luthien, the Taiwanese version!
Long ago in the hidden kingdom she laid her hand in his.
Rumour has it that this video has won the British TV Advertising Awards. In my opinion it may have been nominated, or just selected for screening. I skimmed the official BTAA site but didn’t find it in there. Such a sweet clip nonetheless!
“There is, I know, one answer to all that I have said to you, and that is that you loved me: that all through those two and a half years during which the fates were weaving into one scarlet pattern the threads of our divided lives you really loved me. Yes, I know you did. No matter what your conduct to me was, I always felt that at heart you really did love me.” — Oscar Wilde, De Profundis.
I’ve finally finished reading Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis, a very long complain letter Wilde wrote to his lover Alfred Douglas while serving the last two months of his sentence in prison. It is a very moving letter. With candid fluidity, Wilde expounds at length the circumstances that led to his imprisonment, and the psychological process of coming to terms with one’s downfall.
“When first I was put into prison some people advised me to try and forget who I was. It was ruinous advice. It is only be realizing what I am that I have found comfort of any kind.”
It is in this letter that one really gets an idea of who Wilde really was. Last week, I caught The Importance of Being Earnest in the local theatre. It was a good play. ( I think I can identify with the line “I know perfectly well that I look quite plain after my German lesson.”. And the way Cecily takes note of Algy’s hair. Haha!) Though at the end of the day one realizes that this play is merely an artistic output meant to please the audience of that time, against whom Wilde was eventually pitted and lost.
De Profundis reveals the bare truth that Wilde was truly, hopelessly and irrationally in love with Douglas. And that was the single reason that led Wilde to do anything at Douglas’ bidding, even though it was a clear path to destruction. The letter may be dull at times, but it is in the true voice of Wilde: a sincere self-portrait of a once confident and successful artist who sold himself to love. It is a worthwhile read.
Written for the Back to Middle Earth Month, Day 24. Prompt: Your favourite quote.
“You are the loveliest person in the world.” — from the movie Nordkraft, by Ole Christian Madsen.
I realised that I have that “cyclic mood alternation” thingy, which might explain why I sometimes feel very blue on the weekends. I feel as if there is a heavy stone in my stomach. And there seems to be no clear “cause” or “solution” to it.
Getting free chocolate today (from the local chocolatier) probably helped. Ooh chocolate. One thing I can do is probably make chocolate a “fixed placebo”, so everytime I get the blues, I eat some chocolate, then I’ll be fine.
The “I’d love to macro this!” for today:
At a boutique, a mom brought her toddler in. The array of gold and silver earrings along the aisle immediately caught the little boy’s attention, such that he stayed there playing with it and was reluctant to leave. When I saw that, I really really wanted to take a picture of that boy, and macro it with “Noldorin baby fascinated with shinys“. I should have taken a picture!
These are a few of my favourite things, you know?
My recent fad: pandora.com
TEH AWESOME. Very useful when you need to have some music in the background.
…if only.
Illustrator & Fashion Model Earns $30,000 USD Annual Income
Excuse me while I kry in one corner.

Made with Karnebogen & Iungbluth’s “Historic Tale Construction Kit”,
a.k.a make your own Bayeux Tapestry.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That thing totally made my day. Such GREAT fun. I wanted to add an archway to the background, but for some reason the programme couldn’t take it, so I had to keep it simple. Strange thing, there was no “upward-pointing” sword, only “flying sword” (and no “firebrand”), so I had to make do with what they had, too.

