ode to a skylark

We look before and after,
And pine for what is not:
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

Yet, if we could scorn
Hate and pride and fear,
If we were things born
Not to shed a tear,
I know not how thy joy we ever should come near.

Ode to a Skylark

To My Dearest Friend

haha continuation from previous post. and to the friends who made a difference in my life, i dedicate to you this poem i wrote. haha so here it is:

To My Dearest Friend
Here's to you my dearest friend,
Some words I've always wanted to say:

Thank you for the joy and laughter,
Sweet memories, always on replay!

Thinking back they looked so surreal,
As if they happened only yesterday.

I may forget your lovely smile,
I may not recall your charming display,

But how you always make me feel,
This I remember every day.

A special moment spent with you,
And my life no longer seems so gray.

Sometimes you can be a li'l dao,
Replying with a distinct delay.

And sometimes you just irritate me,
Doing things that are full of decay.

Regardless of your flaws and spots,
I still love you anyway!

Once again to my dearest friend,
Eat some satay, go watch Hairspray!

Wishing you a HAPPY NEW YEAR,
Let's all have fun, HIP HIP HOORAY!

it has been a wonderful 2007. and i'm gonna make sure 2008 is even better! =)

CHRISTMAS!

FINALLY LAUNCHED THE BB BLOG! CHECK IT OUT AT
http://bucklebuckley.blogspot.com! =)

hahaha firstly i got corrected by mandy when i used 'xmas', which is WRONG, because you're crossing out CHRIST. so stop using XMAS! use CHRISTMAS!

haha and i read this interesting christmas poem on kangqi's blog, so i decide to kope it. thanks kq! =)

SANTA'S SECRET WISH
On Christmas Eve,
a young boy with light in his eyes,
Looked deep into Santa's, to Santa's surprise,
And said as he nestled on Santa's broad knee,
"I want your secret, tell it to me."

He leaned up & whispered in Santa's good ear,
"How do you do it, year after year?"
"I want to know how, as you travel about,
Giving gifts here & there, you never run out.

How is it, dear Santa, that in your pack of toys,
You have plenty for all of the world's girls & boys?
Stays so full, never empties as you make your way
From rooftop to rooftop, to homes large & small,

From nation to nation, reaching them all?
And Santa smiled kindly & said to the boy,
"Don't ask me hard questions.
Don't you want a toy?"

But the child shook his head, and Santa could see
That he needed the answer. "Now listen to me,"
He told the small boy with the light in his eyes,
"My secret will make you sadder & wise.

"The truth is that my sack is magic. Inside
It holds millions of toys for my Christmas Eve ride.
But although I do visit each girl & each boy
I don't always leave them a gaily wrapped toy.

Some homes are hungry, some homes are sad.
Some homes are desperate, some homes are bad.
Some homes are broken, & children there grieve.
Those homes I visit, but what should I leave?

"My sleigh is filled with the happiest stuff,
But for homes where despair lives,
toys aren't enough.
So I tiptoe in, kiss each girl & boy,
And pray with them that they'll be given the joy

Of the spirit of Christmas, the spirit that lives
In the heart of the dear child who gets not,
but gives.
If only God hears me & answers my prayer,
When I visit next year, what I will find there

Are homes filled with peace,
and with giving, and love
And boys and girls gifted with light from above.
It's a very had task, my smart little brother,
To give toys to some,
and to give prayers to others.

But the prayers are the best gifts,
the best gifts indeed,
For God has a way of meeting each need.
"That's part of the answer.
The rest, my dear youth,
Is that my sack is magic, And that is the truth.

In my sack I carry on Christmas Eve day
More love than a Santa could e'er give away.
The sack never empties of love, or of joys
'Cause inside it are prayers, and hopes.
Not just toys.

The more that I give, the fuller it seems,
Because giving is my way of fulfilling dreams.
"And do you know something?
You've got a sack, too.
It's as magic as mine, and it's inside of you.

It never gets empty, it's full from the start.
It's the centre of lights, and of love. It's your heart.
And if on this Christmas you want to help me,
Don't be so concerned with your gifts
'neath your tree.

Open that sack, call your heart, & share
Your joy, your friendship, your wealth, your care."
The light in the small boy's eyes was glowing.
"Thanks for the secret. I've got to be going."

"Wait, little boy," said Santa "don't go.
Will you share? Will you help?
Will you use what you know?"
And just for a moment the small boy stood still,
Touched his heart with his small hand & whispered,

"I will."

nice =) the wonders of love never fail to amaze.

haha then joseph randomly sent me some physics facts/proof regarding christmas and santa on msn. lol so i shall spam it here too -

The physics behind Santa's existence.Santa's Workload
There are two billion children in the world, but since Santa doesn't appear to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, and Buddhist children, that reduces his workload to 15% of the total, or 300 million. At an average rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 85.7 million homes. Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to different time zones and the rotation of the Earth, assuming he travels from east to west. This works out to 767.9 visits per second. So for each household with good children, Santa has about 1/1,000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the presents, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, into the sleigh and move on to the next house.

The Time-Distance Factor
Assuming that these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed about the Earth, we're talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75.5 million miles.

Calculation of Estimated Speed
This means Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, or 3,000 times the speed of sound.

Santa's Payload
Assuming each child gets nothing more than a medium-size Lego set (about 2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa who is invariably described as "heavy". On land, reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds, and even granting that flying reindeer can pull 10 times the normal amount, Santa is going to need 214,200 reindeer to pull his sleigh. This increases the payload to 353,430 tons, or four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth.

CONCLUSION
A craft of 353,000 tons, traveling at 650 miles per second, creates enormous air resistance. This will heat up Mr. Claus and his sleigh like a spacecraft re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

If there is a Santa, he's toast.

hahaha it's sort of crazy - the calculations.

anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS! haha and i finished season 1 of heroes. wheeeeeeeeee season 2 looks quite exciting =D

figurative distance

today was rather weird.
i was sad, yet contented;
lethargic, yet energetic;
determined, yet uncertain;
i dunno. i guess the combination of promos, open house and oral presentation really blasted my equilibrium to shreds. sigh.

i think lying is a very difficult art to perform. yesterday, bb finally revived our age-old tradition of eating dinners at the playground beside s11. and we also played polar bear, another ritualistic activity of the past.

for our last game, i was unfortunately selected as the murderer. and my killing career almost came to an end on the very first turn when everyone decided i looked 'evil'. >< but somehow, i survived that precarious moment and instead proceeded all the way to the final round.

that round was insane. accusations were loose; complex webs of lies woven; mental conflict with morals; a war of psychology and minds. after the game, i realised i was actually extremely tired. throughout the game, i found that lying was extremely difficult for me. i may have pulled off a few lies here and there successfully, but each required herculean efforts. luckily for me, it was night time, so nobody could spot my telltale sign of saying a lie - the 'blushing' of the face. sadly, after telling those lies in the game, my face will turn beet red and hot. and it's not an isolated incident. oh well, i guess i'm not meant to lie.

every decision has the potential to change our lives drastically. sometimes, life will even show us a glimpse of the potential future with our various decisions. and when such moments occur, it always gives me a huge headache. should i choose the easier path, or the more challenging one?

sigh. only time will tell if my decision was good.

FIGURATIVE DISTANCE
My subconscious eagerly calls for it,
but my heart refuses to accept, to conform,
leaving the mind in disparate confusion.

Unbidden dreams strangely manifested,
these bewildering images they tell no lie,
perhaps the choices made were finally right.

Figurative distance, such victims we are,
literal gulf, guilty perpetrators no doubt.
We burnt the bridges, and blew final chances.

Mysterious fugitive with the priceless ruby,
reveal your identity, realize your folly.
Time will await; Forgiveness beckons.

Fractured destiny, countless lost souls,
listen to the hidden counsel instincts behold.
Venture forth with valiance and hope,
and undesired separation shall never be retold.

show me your tears,
and i'll show you mine.

the world is a circus

THE WORLD IS A CIRCUS
the world is a circus,
a world-class performance awaits!
firstly, let me introduce to you,
a funny man whose face isn't real!
mr. clown and his usual smiling mask,
to make the audience laugh and barf!
he can cry and yet still smile for the crowd,
for pain and sorrow his masks always conceal!
secondly, a group of men and women,
walking on the air with practised familiarity!
threading on these fine lines of change,
tightrope walkers pray do keep your balance!
for all you know even after years of experience,
one false step and everything shall unravel!
thirdly, you must surely know these dudes,
they play with balls and play it good!
masters of a trade so fine and pretty,
jugglers they are, hurling objects none too far!
three balls they might still handle,
but juggle no more when we add too many more!
these groups of few and many abound,
they can act and so can they perform!
perfecting every stroke to the smallest detail,
accentuating the false till it blends into truth!
the world is a circus,
put on your costumes and act your part!

if you're tired of the journey, maybe it's time to thread a different path.

HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY!

HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY!
today you must act like a child,
like chickens and the many fowl.
999 you can dial,
and hope the police don't find it foul.
go to teachers and make a bow,
maybe exam mistakes become null.
on this full moon run and howl,
make sure today's never dull!

hahahaha i think my poetic abilities are improving. =)

20000000000000000000!

There is a danger of being overly sentimental about the relation of love and death. It is too easy to glibly mention love as the solution to all of life’s problems. Yet love is a solution, albeit an imperfect antidote.
The Myth of Tomorrow, Gary Buffone, Ph.D.

actually, it's only the 200th post. =)

i must be in the blogging mood today. hahaha suddenly felt an urge to post again, 'cause i realised i'm halfway through with physics! w00t!!! i shall finish work, energy and power by tonight. then i'm left with measurements, kinematics, dynamics and forces! wheeeeeee... but of course, there are still econs, history and gp. i doubt i can successfully finish all my revision. hm. which one should i sacrifice?

anyway! to commemorate this 200th post, i shall re-post the following poem. it's one of the most meaningful and beautiful poems i've seen around. take a pause here, turn off your music and quieten the buzz. read this poem with a peace of mind. and may these words hold a place in your heart after you've read it. =)

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on !";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!
Rudyard Kipling

the wall

so many things going through my mind.

the world conforms to the cycle of equilibrium.
when there are ups, and there are also downs.
good is always accompanied by evil.
crisis certainly follows after a miracle.

the wall
banish thy thoughts,
oh, transient brothers of the subconscious.
conceal thy feelings,
they betray their anesthetized heart.
stymie thy actions,
the unspoken language of the soul.
silence thy words,
a lonely sigh shall greet the dawn.

and so shall this concrete wall be built,
entrenched, unchanging, and intangible.
even when the sun shall rise
to cast her broken rays of light,
they could forge a shadow of uncertainty
but never shall they penetrate.

i dunno what to say.

boyzone songs are nice. =)
studying is sadness though.

recently

my tired soul

Of tired souls and restless nights,
Servants of the school, never could we fail.
Working from dawn till darkness falls,
Why isn’t one day forty eight hours?
When day and night don’t mean a thing,
Time has lost its meaning, and so has sleep.
Weary minds, weary bodies,
Classes are meant for sleeping, or so we thought.
Fazed with piling work and fierce teachers alike,
Struggles are fought to stem the tide.
Shouldering the heavy weights of duties,
A simple smile lifts the burden slightly.
Awesome pals and warm friends all around,
This is truly what makes the going worthwhile.

it has been extremely crazy the past few days. haha and some of my friends even misunderstood my fatigue as angst/emo. ahaha i'm sure! me and emo are like oil and water - we don't really mix well xD

then there's physics test tomorrow. sian. once i settle teachers' day stuff, i shall hardcore mug then sleep asap. lol i'm stealing as many winks as possible 'cos tomorrow is another longggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg day =(

today funx and i continued our interesting and fascinating discussion about relationships, which is strangely filled with real-life anecdotes and examples! HAHA xD and i like the way theories can be conjured up on the spot to identity certain trends. yes, i love my venn diagram analogy! wheeeee! it was something came up to argue against his theory that girl/boyfriends are complimentary and similar in nature. =)

the venn diagram of love

at the beginning of any relationship, be it reckless or cautious, fast or slow, one can establish a venn diagram of sorts between the two couples involved. let the guy be one circle, and the girl be another. and we know that in a venn diagram, when two circles intersect, a common area is found in the middle.

this is the area of commonalities that usually provides the impetus for a relationship to begin. why do i say usually? well, there is definite evidence that opposites attract sometimes, so other reasons could sometimes be the 'push' factors too. many couples often begin with a small area that slowly begin to fill up as they experience times of hardships, pain, lasting memories, and even life-altering events together. these events gradually nudge the two circles closer, expanding the shared area together. and of course, the aim of every relationship is for the complete union of the venn diagram. =)

hahaha ok ok i'm full of nonsense sometimes, but i just can't help it. it's a really fun way of nonsensing around anyway xD

campfire item prep! we're singing and guitaring! ahhhhhh! hahaha ggxx. must mentally prepare for a potentially-embarrassing saturday xD

the ocean and the moon

Staring at the moon on the rooftop,
What he seeks isn’t love, but understanding.
Many has misunderstood him to be a romantic,
Yearning for affection and longing for a companion.

And of all lovers in nature,
Admire the gentle moon and the compassionate ocean.
For when the welcoming moon beckons and calls,
The ocean shall answer and always follow;
The tide recedes and advances,
Willing to do everything her lover bids.
Never resisting, always surrendering,
To the pull of the moon’s charisma.

Sometimes, the subconscious seeks out the unknown.
And sitting on the rooftop, he patiently awaits the sixth hour.

misunderstood

My mind seems to be going in
Circles all day long.
It’s like a cycle
That’s never meant to end.
I find myself so tired from -
From everything
You misunderstood me
Time and again.
How can i make you understand
Something you don't wish to comprehend?
So please dear friend,
Heed these words of advice.
If i say no,
Don’t think of it as 'yes'.
Romanticized environment it may be
Love is not everybody seeks.
You may think of it this way
And others may do so too.
But ultimately one plus two plus three
Doesn’t equate to four.

boo willie! ;)

shattered heart

to a dear friend whose heart took a blow.

You quietly said that it doesn’t matter now.
In truth, your heart is screaming that everything still matters.
You muttered that it doesn’t hurt anymore.
In fact, it hurt so much that you have become numb to the pain.
You maintained that you will forget about her soon.
In reality, you can’t even bear to think about her.
You claimed that you won’t lay another tear for her.
In actuality, you cried so much you are bereft of tears.

It hurts because you loved her.
But take this as the start of something greater.
Not the end to everything great.

the precipice

Teetering on the edge of a precipice, of whom would you remember the most? Would it be your family, the source of your innate strength from birth to present, the pillar of reassurance that never cease to bear the weight of your uncertainties? Or would it be your friends, to whom your soul is twice revealed – first by shedding ten façades, and next the baring of one true heart. Or would it be me, the clandestine lover who shared your surreptitious smiles, and collected your every drop of tear, whose heartstrings sang to the perfect tune of your secret melody?

this is fun. =)

fairytales

the fairytale

there was a time,
when you and i rhyme,
and everything seemed so perfect then.

we laughed together,
and danced forever,
under the dark and starry sky's hand.

we shared pretty li'l smiles,
and ran many, many miles,
to find a place we can call our den.

but luck descended,
nothing was remembered,
alas the fairytale met its end.

years down the road,
past feelings erode,
to escape the pain and sorrow, i ran.

some things never change. just like homework never end! hahaha ggxx i'm still reading up on history notes. haven't even started on essay tutorial. zZz i guess i can forget about it. impromptu again.

a fairytale got to have its fair share of villains and tragedies before it can even meet its happily-ever-after ending.

have the villains materialised and tragedies struck? or am i too blind to see?

mmm i love writing. perhaps i should discard my tentative notions to become a psychologist/business man/teacher and follow in the footsteps of jk rowling.

imagine next time.. Nonsensical Observations of an Ordinary Boy by Nicholas Tong. nice.

if

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on !";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!
Rudyard Kipling

just read this poem. found it quite nice. =)

a first

hehe i'm gonna try writing a poem? mmm. there's always a first to everything.

IT BLED
last night as i lay on my bed,
thoughts of the past rushed through my head.
if love is such a wonderful thing to remember,
then why does it hurt so much, my heart dismembers?
a word you said, a phrase you uttered,
has left my heart in serious clutter.
every little thing you do,
seems to mean so much more to me than you.
every time i saw a sign,
it turned out i was blind.
for so long in denial i had lived,
that in turn with the passing of time i believed.
and now i realised how much love is idealised,
just like a rose many forget the thorns that materialised.
thus last night as i lay upon my bed,
my fragile and misunderstood heart bled.

mmm writing poems is quite refreshing.