Dream

Moon river,

 wider than a mile 

I'm crossing you in style someday 

Dream-maker, you heart-breaker 

Wherever you're going, I'm going your way 

Two drifters, off to see the world 

There's such a lot of world to see 

We're after the same rainbow's end 

Waiting 'round the bend, 

My huckleberry friend, 

Moon river and me 

____________________________________

I've seen loads of Moon River covers, most mediocre & some even terrible. This is the first that made me tear up (just a little!).

This is an interesting band by the way. The Honey Trees are made up of real-life couple Becky Filip & Jacob Wick, who together create beautiful, dreamy, indie-pop music. The best way I can think to describe their kind of music is this: if music were colours, The Honey Trees' songs would be sepia-toned, with a hint of velvet. The feeling one gets from listening to them or watching their videos is that of nostalgia, almost a longing, for days past... music that seems to have slipped from another time or era, & made itself comfortable here. I'd like to leave them on all day, have some tea, and fall asleep into dream...

Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 15

'What inspired you to start dancing?' 

'It started off as more like an extension of my love for music. I wanted to connect to music on another level... but now dance is on a plane of its own.' 

'What does dance mean to you & can you imagine life without it?' 

'It is definitely hard to assign a specific value to dance as it encompasses so many aspects of my life. This may sound like a cliche, but I feel alive when I dance. It means happiness & fulfilment but also challenge & mental strength. It has also given me a chance to be in a community of great dancers who have taught me many things, not just about dance, but about life. I can't imagine life without it.'

Jayne Y. 20

Dancer & music enthusiast

Currently Reading (3)

 1. Paris to The Moon - Adam Gopnik

'Paris, carrying on in a time of postmodern immateriality,when everything seems about to dissolve into pixels. We love Paris not out of 'nostalgia', but because we love the look of light on things, as opposed to the look of light from things.' 

A series of almost-academic essays from a lesser-known New Yorker journalist. We've all read the odd epistolary novel on the Parisian experience by an expatriate, who is more or less in love with the idea of Paris but doesn't address it for the true city that it is. This one's different though. It took a bit of time to get through, but Gopnik's reflective novel on Parisian culture & community & politics is beautiful, & breathtaking.

2. Great House - Nicole Krauss

'There are moments when a kind of clarity comes over you, and suddenly you can see through walls to another dimension that you'd forgotten or chosen to ignore in order to continue living with the various illusions that make life, particularly life with other people, possible.' 

Known for quite a while as the wife of Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything is Illuminated, Eating Animals), well, at least to me, Krauss has come out as her own as a writer. The prose is almost poetic, with swelling rhythms & sweeping phrases, heavy, yet dream-like. She writes an impressive, albeit slightly-confusing novel, about an imposing desk & the puzzling array of characters connected with it. 
Other notable works: A History of Love & Man Walks Into A Room

3. Wilderness Tips - Margaret Atwood 

A collection of ten short stories. Not Atwood's best, but good enough. 

4. The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno - Ellen Bryson

Rubbish.

5. High Fidelity - Nick Hornby 

'What came first, the music or the misery? Did I listen to music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to music? Do all those records turn you into a melancholic person?'

This cult classic, written in Hornby's trademark wit and narrative voice, isn't ground-breaking, but I like it all the time. 

6. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami

'Your quality of experience is based not on standards such as time or ranking, but on finally awakening to an awareness of the fluidity within action itself.'

Have never been a fan of Murakami's writing. Sure, I've read the big ones: Norwegian Wood, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but I've never seen what the big deal was. And this book on marathon running - Well, I don't really relate well with anything involving physical activity. But strangely, this book was pretty enjoyable. Not a bad read, especially if you're into the sport itself. 

7. 1984 - George Orwell

'We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness.'

Classic utopian novel. Enough said.

Today... I just felt like writing about books I've read/been reading. Summer holidays haven't really felt like holidays at all, with full-time work, youth camp & the American trip, all following neatly behind each other. And college starts in two weeks. It's been nice though, having these snatches of time: half-hours on trains, whole days in a newly-discovered clandestine cafe, or sprawled on the bed at home, to read. 

Also, I've been banned (by anti-hoarder mom, who else?) from buying any more books till I've read all the ones in my room. We're moving again soon (surprise!), and all I want is a separate room to be modelled into my own library. With the requisite scarlet easy chair, and cosy fireplace.

Too much?



Other book lists from other times
(1)
(2)

You had me at Meat Tornado

Almost a month of seafood, bacon, butter and burgers. It's my kind of food... Only in the USA.

Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 14

'Give a brief description of yourself.' 

'Physically 24, mentally 40; I'm old-fashioned, and never out of style.' 

'Desert island: three books & why?' 

'I love books, but honestly, if I'm going to find myself trapped on an island, the last thing I'd be doing is reading a book. Not unless the desert island comes with a villa, lagoon & an endless parade of cocktails.' 

'Do you have a favourite journalist, or author?'  

'Marc Jitab' (see previous subject) 

'Why do you think books are important?' 

'Books aren't important, per se, but the imagination & the ability to exercise it is. The imagination gives one escape, relief, fantasy, you name it.' 

Vanessa Tang, 24

Coffee. That is all. 

Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 13

'Talk about being a journalist & maybe an interesting experience you've had.' 

'Being a journalist... I've had to speak with all sorts of people, from villagers to cabinet ministers - so you need to be ready for both scenarios. An interesting experience I've had was marching through the streets of New Delhi, observing protesters in India protest the EU-India Free Trade Agreement. It was pretty amazing.' 

Marc Jitab, 25

Journalist & graphic designer

Typography

A GARDEN OF PEOPLE. 

Who do I choose?

How.

Of MEN

(or boys)

with scraggly beards 

& REVOLUTIONARY minds

Of WOMEN

with Ochre breath 

& (unimportant) things

Let's not forget the rest of us,

still here,

still dancing,

Waltzing, with a heavy step.

BREATHE

BREATHE

INK INK.

Somehow I can only think of roses.

Salt-water Taffy, & Jack Kerouac

Some pictures from our visit to Sausalito: the small town across the bay from San Francisco. I love places like these. There's a common atmosphere of, well, home, found in the knick-knack shops, quaint booksellers, & Greek diners with their friendly Greek waitresses.


Also, candy. Nothing says charming seaside town like barrels of candy! Root beer, Key Lime, Sour Raspberry, Caramel, Chocolate Chip Mint... It's a sweet-tooth's paradise. As I said, I could spend all day in a place like this :)

Beyond the Sea

'I who lived in a harbour from which I loved you
The solitude crossed with dream & with silence,
Penned up between the sea & sadness,
Soundless, delirious...'

Twenty Love Poems & A Song of Despair, XIII

Pablo Neruda

_________________________________________

San Francisco is a such a beautiful city... It's like a perpetual flea/farmer/fresh market all year round! There's something about the smells of salt and warm churros and sea catch that make you feel a little more alive. We must have taken the ferry at least four times, to Vallejo & Sauslito (Beautiful places, both of them. More on that later.)

I love the pier. And that carousel? I mean, come on. 

Between Union & Ghirardelli Squares, Chinatown, the Bay Area & the above, SF is quite the experience. Such a perfect place to spend summer! I quite needed that break.