I started the year with a lamentation on how dreary my blog has become. I have come a long way from the desolate landscape that once defined The Sunbaked King. Twelve months and 100 entries later, here I am, taking stock of all the thoughts that went through my head, traversed their way down to my fingers, and ended up in the screen in front of me. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?
January 2011, ”Rhymists and Kerykes”
The Oracle had disclosed the name of the maiden to Hermes, and revealed the beauty that had set his heart aflame– but She had not allowed him to see their future. Not even the wings on his sandals could outpace the speed at which the sufferings were to come. Not even he, Hermes, keryx to the gods, could escape the maneuverings of a Muse.
February 2011, “White Horse”
A blanket of tense silence descended upon the crowd. When the music banished the silence and the star came out, we went wild. She was dazzling.
March 2011, “Return of the Other”
I’m back, you bitches.
April 2011, “A Lawyer on the Way”
I once wrote a short story using a twisted Little Red Riding Hood as my main character. I had my brother read it. At that time, I always let (forced) my brother to read my writings and play my games. I never really expected him to like any of it. But that story captured his imagination so much that he cited it as one of his most favorite short stories EVAH. It brings tears to my eyes to know that I influenced my brother into taking up writing and being the success that he currently is. Wait– what’s that little bro? No, no, no– thank YOU.
May 2011, “An Open Letter to the Sea”
You were just as lovely as the first time I set foot on your shores. As your swell made its way to my bare feet, I recalled how, once upon a November, a boy stood at this very spot, wishing that someone was beside him to share your solemn space.
June 2011, “125″
The old Fitness First philosophy no longer works. “Motivation gets you started, habit keeps you going” no longer cuts the fat from 145 to 125. What I need is something more interesting, something more unique. And so I come up with my new gym mantra: geisha. The ability to arrest people with a single glance. That should do the trick.
July 2011, “Memories of a Single Guy”
“Loneliness is a state best indulged in the rain. It makes perfect sense: the only other people you’ll see on the street are those bearing the same cross you’re bearing. The fact that you’re so few and far apart is a perfect manifestation of your loneliness, and it suits you just fine. No one to take your hand. No one to pull you close. Only the rain’s weight to comfort you. Only the rain’s beat to be your guide.”
August 2011, “Siem Reap Stories”
Was it the promise of a sunset? Was it the allure of the architecture? Whatever brought us here knew what our hearts’ desires were. Yes, we were strangers in a foreign land, but not once did we feel lost. Siem Reap had taken us in, made us her own. We had become children of the bloodshed that once plagued the land.
September 2011, “Duality”
The duality of the date did not escape me. For four years this day only reminded me of the single most painful heartbreak of my life. But the universe, ever so humorous, ever so fair, decides that four years is enough. What once was cause for depression is now a cause for celebration.
October 2011, “K+R”
We live in a world where people no longer believe in second chances. Pain has immunized us; heartbreaks have taught us to stay away. But at that moment, a few minutes shy of the 25th, with one of the happiest places on Earth as our backdrop, I did what everyone thought I shouldn’t be doing: I took a chance with you.
November 2011, “Music and Melancholia”
“You only hear the music when your heart begins to break.” It was one of the saddest lines I have ever read. If only things had not happened the way they did. If only hearts were spared the heartaches.
December 2011, “For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow”
And so I leave it all to Fate. I have done the best I can. It’s time to let go now.
(Makmak, thanks for letting me use this style. ^_^)