So I’m stuck here in the LA airport, with no wireless and no juice in my phone. Thankfully, I brought my charger along (was considering not bringing it since it can’t be used in Singapore anyway.. but thank God I changed my mind =).

I need to cancel my internet subscription, but apparently I can’t do it unless I have my account number. And I dun have my bills. Nor access to my online account. So… yeaaaah. On the upside, it means that I dun have access to my grades either bwahaha. Spare me the torment of waiting for grades =/ actually, just spare me the grades.

Anyhow, back to more interesting matters.

This last week has been one of great change. Goodbyes have been said, tears have been shed, heartfelt sentiments expressed, and the whole horror of moving (AGAIN) is over. I can’t believe that I won’t be staying with my housemate anymore. After 8 mths of living together (and loving it), it’s… over. I’m looking forward to living alone, definitely, but… the kind of camaraderie that took place in our living room over dinner and CSI, cooking sessions for the khakis, the ‘study sessions’ shivering in the cold, suffering together when there was a stupid hole in the ceiling that deprived us of our couch… that and more.

Memories. Everything becomes reduced to an experience, a fleeting memory that fades over time, the way old pictures fade in bright sunlight. Once more, I feel time like sand running through my fingers, evading my grasp and attempts to stop its flow.

These are memories that I’ll always treasure, friendships that I’ll keep close to my heart, and experiences that will be locked away deep inside. This is my tribute to the graduating seniors of UW-Madison, class of 2007 – you’ll always be remembered in a –there was a senior that graduated already…- way J

Anyhow, after the whirlwind rush to finish up moving (and a great many thanks to sh’s mum for helping), it was off to D.C. with jas. Just the two of us, two little girls tottering around the big city (ok so it’s not all THAT big…). Memorable episodes include getting 2 free crabs (small ones…) from the Fish Wharf, dying in our attempts to finish walking to all the memorials, not being able to find any place that sold food (and even envying the homeless guy with his huge box worth of Jamaican rice), and sleeping together in the dingy hostel that actually was pretty nice and cool (despite the drip of the aircon from the floor above that completely kept us awake on the last night).

Back to Madison, lying on Bascom soaking in the sun and enjoying the last few moments here before rushing for Edo Sushi (yummy sashimi!) and then off to Trader Joe’s to grab a couple of last minute stuff. Finals goodbyes to Jess, packing up and then it’s off bright and early to Chicago.

Honestly, this is my 15^th time to Chicago airport. Like seriously. I’ve been there so many times that it’s not even funny. F.I.F.T.H.T.E.E.N. time. Erpz. I practically know the place. Alas, the same can’t be said of LA’s airport, which confounds me every time I get here. The shuttles are amazingly slow that I don’t even know why I take them. Actually, I do, because I have no idea how to walk to the Bradley International Terminal…

That leaves me stuck here now, in LAX feeling like I’m terribly hungry even though it’s only 6.30pm and realising that there is a 2 hour time difference between here and Madison, and therefore it IS 8.30pm and I should listen to my stomach and grab sth to eat.

Oh and a quick shoutout to the beautiful mountain range that borders LA that I fly over each time I come down from Chicago. I have absolutely no idea what it is, and I would check it out if not for the lack of internet access. (it might be the Sierra Nevada range, although I’m not sure. And that reminds me – the Sierra Nevada line of beers is supposed to be pretty good, and I prob should get around to trying it. Although, nothing’s gonna beat Spotted Cow. –beam-)

The rugged mountains carved into the desert landscape stand as an example of unconventional beauty. Indeed, it does not have the majestic aura of the Swiss Alps, nor the beautiful glacier/snow-capped tops of most high ranges, but in it’s ruggedness and barrenness, it shows beauty mixed with the harshness of nature. Carved into the landscape, weathered by the years… it calls out to my inside, contrasting the harshness of life with the beauty that can be. It’s almost impossible for me to express what emotions it evokes (and I was never one with descriptive words anyhow)… but the main point is that it IS incredibly beautiful.

Since I’m in the airport with nothing to do anyway, I shall indulge and continue my long tirade. I came to a conclusion a couple of hours ago as to how I developed my writing style. I never realised it, but it certainly is an outcome of the type of books I peruse. Indeed, the authors I prefer tend to have long run-on sentences, with a stylistic aim of creating descriptions in an almost casual tone. To a certain extent, I try to emulate that, I think. Not the creating descriptions thing since I’ve just proven I can’t do it, but mostly, the long sentences haha. Read James Patterson’s 4^th of July yesterday, and honestly… I’m not impressed. His sentences are terrifying short, as are his chapters. In a span of about 400 pages, he had like 39 chapters.

In contrast, I just finished up Dean Kootz ‘s (I can’t remember what it’s called… oops) whatever. And it’s good. His sentences make up more than 5 words, and his style of writing fits in so well with the authors I’m used to. This is my first book by him, but I’m impressed enough to want to continue reading his works (which are plentiful, thank goodness). So that’s one mystery down.

Books that I want to get (but have been scared away by the price… haha. I’ll just wait till my library gets it – what will I do with all these books once I’m done anyway? Considering that I finished the Dean Kootz one even BEFORE my flight started… 3 hours of entertainment is not enough to warrant forking out US$8 or $10)…

1) Barack Obama’s first book … something like The Dreams of My Father or around there… (and maybe even his second book, The Audacity of Hope)

2) Jeffery Deaver’s new Lincoln Rhyme series - The Cold Moon

3) JD Robb’s Born in Death (erm sth like that. Her latest ‘Born In’ series…)

4) More Dean Kootz books!

5) A kakuro book to while away my 18 hours on the plane. Now that the sch newspapers aren’t running anymore, I’m left without my paper supply of kakuro puzzles –bawl-

6) Wikiconomics – some random book I saw in the book store. It’s sth about the economics of mass commodification in today’s world… sounds interesting no? =)

Ok, time to get dinner. That’s it for now…