The past and the curious

Cook me in your breakfast
And put me on your plate
‘Cause you know I taste great

- Devendra Banhart, At the Hop

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Prequel. Mediocre, yes, but after 11 months of inactivity, I finally have another new paragraph. Looking at the short history below, I think I have perfectly legitimate reasons for temporarily abandoning this work:

Sep-Oct 2006: first few pages finished; computer crashes, all is lost
Jan-Apr 2007: reworking; first quarter is completed
Apr 2007-Jun 2008: writing break due to thesis
Jul 2008: a quarter of the second quarter is completed
Aug 2008-May 2009: writing break due to GRE review and certain barf-inducing things
Jun 2009: resumption, yeah!

Like most things thus far, this is taking forever but it’ll eventually get done.

The Past. Neuroscientists claim that smell is closely associated with memories. In my particular case, I’d like to argue that songs and places are as well. I’m sure Proust would concur.

The Curious. Apparently my exceptional planning and anticipation skills (e.g. travels organized to the tiniest detail, and getting homesick months before actually leaving) does not extend to my long-term future. I have only the vaguest idea what will happen in the next decade or so and I don’t find myself really caring much. We’ll cross the bridge when the bridge is made.

Tokyo Drift. I’ll be seeing Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda’s earlier film Wandafuru Raifu (After Life) sometime this week. I remember Nobody Knows impressing me very much. Also saw Mon Rak Transistor, Thai filmmaker Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s version of a whimsical rom-com/musical. His recent work, Ploy, may probably be my third favorite Thai film (after film god Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Syndromes and a Century and Blissfully Yours).