A Time To Be So Small

Deep breath, here goes.....

- Just emerged from a mind-sapping six days of intense work. Trying to design newspaper pages without knowing what stories would come in, 2 freaking hours before deadline, is no joke. I'm a time-conscious guy, I like to be punctual, and I was basically trying hard not to freak out when my boss said: "Drop this story, wait for another one, which may or may not come because we don't what the VVIP's gonna say."

- I stll think the IOC Session is an over-important AGM, and the media circus was over-orgasmic over some banal issues. The bid of 2012 Games is the only exciting event, thankfully not anti-climactic. I would have hated it if snobbish Paris had won.

- Of all the sports stars that gathered, I wanted only one autograph. However, the man was too frail to do so, and his minders were, well, mindful. Still The Greatest to me, Muhammad Ali.

- The London blast felt unnerving, cuz I had stayed near the Edgeware Station during my trip in May. I had also transferred trains at King's Cross Station. The Piccadilly line? I took it to reach Arsenal's stadium. It's strange when you know a foreign city so well.

- Best headline for both London's winning the 2012 bid and being terrorised? "WHAT A BLAST!"

- Took the two Interpol LPs and listened to them on my car for the whole week. They're starting to become the soundtracks to my current life. Bleak, noctural, yet strangely romantic and utterly uplifting. Hope they drop by.

- It was a mixed bag of emotions, as I met my old JC friends for dinner. Some of them are pregnant, some of them plan to get married, some of them got new partners. JM remarked: "You're still the same guy." Certainly, she meant it as a compliment, that she finds comfort in that. I can't say the same for them. It's a tad disconcerting to find them talking about settling down, getting a house, preparing for a baby. I guess, after 12 years of knowing one another, change is inevitable. But I'm happy for them and, deep inside, I long to be like them. Changing to a different stage in my life. What's keeping me from doing so? I suppose, being schooled in the punk philosophy, part of me likes to keep that freewheeling spirit and not be bogged down by commitments. I dunno, but the biological clock is starting to tick a bit louder.

"I will surprise you sometimes, I'll come around when you're down....."