Thursday, September 3, 2009

Tiger, Tiger....

So the IFS has come and gone. My heart yearns for just one more guess bag…. Just one more wallet, pair of jeans, eyeshadow, eyeliner, t-shirt, shirt, jersey, jacket, shoe, earring, necklace…..
Ok I’m officially a shopaholic again.
I wonder what Carrey in Sex and the City would think. I’m her little protégé’.

Anyway, I have been in the office quite a bit these past few weeks. Managed to read a few e-books. Learnt a few new words like “conch”. First I read Pillars of the Earth. I am trying to go through Oprah’s book club list. Can you say N-E-R-D? I have recently come to the conclusion that in addition to being a thinkaholic, I have never quite let go of my nerdy tendencies. This became crystal clear when, after finishing the 1220 page “Pillars” in 3 days, I decided to read The Lord of the Flies. Yes my friends, this is, indeed, the set book prescribed for grade 9 students. I needed to see for myself what the hoo-hah was. So 17 pages into the book I realise that I cannot read the book without understanding the metaphors and symbolisms so, to the horror of my fellow colleagues at work, I downloaded the study guide. My metaphoric analysis at that point had been spot on. I had not lost my touch. YES! I am done with the book now. An absolute anti-climax. The metaphors were pitiable to say the least. In my humble opinion, the dude could have written a 1000 word article to rant about the deterioration of society, and get his point across more easily and understandably. Now Mosquito Coast was a book! The chronicles of the megalomaniac. I could have written essays on Allie Fox and his erratic, narcissistic behaviour. I know I know. N-E-R-D!

Anyway, this whole thing got me thinking about what a nerd I was back in the day. I wonder if I’m better off with an improved intellect or should I have read and studied less and gone out more and watched more movies and drank more coffee? Hmmm….
It’s bizarre that I still remember quotes from Hamlet. Whilst speaking to a few colleagues at work I quoted something from Hamlet and they looked at me as if I was an extraterrestrial. Perhaps I am too nerdy for my own good.

So in light of my recent flashbacks (is that an oxymoron?), I have decided to list (as per what is so popular on blogs nowadays), my top 5 quotes from setbooks or poems…. In no particular order…

1) “To thine own self be true. And it must follow as the night, the day, the canst not then be false to any man”- The only smart thing to come out of Polonius’ (I think) mouth in Hamlet

2) “To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more”- Famous soliloquy by Hamlet

3) “Tiger, tiger burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry”- Tiger, Tiger by William Blake

4) My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away".- Ozymandias

5) “It's an absolute sin to accept the decadence of obsolescence. Why do things get worse and worse? They don't have to. They could get better and better. We accept that things fall apart.”- Allie Fox, Mosquito Coast.

LOL I wonder if anyone will actually share my enthusiasm for literature. Feel free to add to this list.

5 comments:

  1. Lol Shaaz you one of a kind! I read Lord of the Flies only because I was in school and absolutely HAD to read it to pass. And then too, I don't think I managed to find the time to read the study guide or understand all the metaphors.
    I spend my free time reading e-mails...
    You, on the other hand, W.O.W!!!

    You should write a book inspiring the younger generations to be more like you.

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  2. my personal fav is number 3... :)

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  3. My personal favourites:

    1. your (4)

    2. "Few people realise the immensity of vacancy in which the dust of the material universe swims." - HG Wells

    3. your (5)

    4. "Is love a tender thing? It is too rough,
    Too rude, too boist'rous; and it pricks like thorn." Shakespeare

    5. "O that this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!" Shakespeare


    oh wait, defo tops my list,

    "Frailty, thy name is woman!" :p

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  4. Za: Tiger, Tiger was awesome. We had this super enthusiastic english teacher who taught it with such passion!

    G:Frailty...! I forgot about that one! I also love "Let me not to the marriage of true minds...." Shakespeare. Beautiful.

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  5. "Two households, both alike in dignity,
    In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
    From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
    Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
    From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
    A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
    Whose misadventur'd piteous overthrows
    Doth with their death bury their parents' strife."

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