The wisdom of the wise

A lifetime ago, I used to marvel at the ones who were wise. They knew the ending, the outcome, the solution, the answer. And I only had questions. Does it always feel like this, will this last forever, is this how I will end up, will my dreams come true.

Naive, they said, like it was a contagious disease. It was. It was an epidemic with the young. Just like Hope.

Another four-letter word I'm getting increasingly weary of. It tastes like dirt everytime I say it. Because I'm the wise one now, almost. I know the ending, the outcome, the solution, the answer, almost. No it will not always feel like this, nothing lasts forever, yes this is how you would have ended up no matter what you chose.... But it's the last bit I'm still unable to decipher. You see, some dreams came true, some came dressed differently, some came unasked and some, I'm still clinging on too. Stubborn, they say, like it's a contagious disease. It is. It is an epidemic with the old.

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I've just realised my work table has papers with dark, gothic doodles spread all over it. Wait, it's not dark, gothic doodles, it's just doodles in a black sketch-pen: the only pen I'm carrying in my bag this week. So there are cubes, lots of them, circles, squares, very little flowers and lots of spirals. I caught the team grinning as I muttered yesterday about the mess on the desk. You did these, one of them asked, smiling. I glared back. The grin beat a hasty retreat into its chair far away from me. Damn, they now know the ogre is a kid after all. Thanks a lot.

pic courtsey: artofgarth.com/category/doodles/

'I was so much older then, I'm much younger now'

Friday, November 30, 2007

Work's lousy: Editing for a community magazine that no-one else wants to do, and has therefore been shuttled to me. They don't really care about my content ideas - what matters is if the community organisation managers have enough pictures of themselves and the events they've done. I'm merely supposed to write inspiring captions and make a bunch of people seem like motivated, caring and committed people.

Anyways, was sleeptyping through most of the morning, till someone suggested I've a Cafe Coffee Day Coffe Latte. Yeah right, I said. Me, the one weaned on authentic filter coffee, settle for watery stuff they peddle at astronomical rates. I mean, look at the cafes themselves. The young ones who hang out there, simply having coffee, checking suitable opposites out. So... juvenile.

But it came, with a cute stirrer that doubled as a straw. And it worked. Yes, it was watery, but the gloom's gone, and I'm here, saying thanks.

My 'back pages' have been altered.