long live reading!
click on image to get to the flickr page
Which activity best describes what you do most?
A. writing
B. attempting to publish
C. reading
In a fit of optimism, I sent an edited version of this short story last week to the admirable Silverfish publishers in Malaysia who are in the midst of compiling their 6th anthology - completely misreading the deadline "31 Mar" as "31 May". Aiyah.
Thank goodness there's still reading! Long live reading!
As with last year's poster, today's poster is for you to download and spread the happy news. The government says it's good for you too.
Comments
http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=171&pg=1933
council house 2 in melbourne.
The new national library building (ah, in the theme of this post!) is supposed to also be one of these green buildings, in terms of energy use (natural light), air flow (cooling systems), use of plants etc...It's by a M'sian architect, i forget who now. But its design was controversial - for nationalistic reasons? - and still attracts many critics. i think most folks find it a rather "cold" (as in impersonal) building in its efficiency, and lacks a focal/rallying point for community.
actually i think he's pretty funky! well his stuff, not him as a person (a bit old lah). altho i think his original vision tends to get overruled by "practicality" in the end..
why nationalistic reasons?
not sure abt CH2. i thought it was just a big rainwater tank where they re-use the water to cool the building n water the plants or whatever.
i thnk his stuff is cool nonetheless =P
oh ya... cards n T-shirts. How? I can collect e stuff I ordered fr you in July, if they r ready if not no worries.
SB - i think it was a competition but not a kind the S'pore Institute of Architects entirely agreed with.
Dragging myself from village to village,
where people would throw me some coins
to weave fantasy around their mundane lives
At my will
I would make them cry
and laugh.
Children rolled over and clapped with joy
as my characters
faced the most absurd plots I could weave
Except him,
who would neither laugh
nor shed a tear,
as he stood there
staring at me.
Challenging
Would u like to hear a story ? I asked him.
“not unless it is the story of all stories” he said
And wherever I went he would be there
watching and listening,
challenging
‘can u tell me the story of all stories ?’
How could there be one story that defined all stories ?
and if there were
what value would I have ?
if there be just one story to tell ?
‘You are of no value to me’ he said
‘unless you can tell me the story of all stories’
And he walked away
challenging,
never looking back
amused.
Silly man,
How could I make a living
If I told the same story
again and again ?
But I died.
Never being able to tell another story
Have you ever died of thirst
in the presence of a glass of water
that you cannot see ?
And into this life
He came again.
He took my hand
and showed me the ocean
and asked me to see,
and to observe
For the story of all stories was there,
a story that had no end
and no beginning.
Each rising swell
a new Plot that arose from the ocean
and then merged back
instantly
endlessly
unpredictably
inexorably,
millions arising
and immedietly going back to the source
The Source
The Story of all Stories