Had a restful weekend. Checked out new housing possibilities and decided we're extending the lease at our current place; slept lots; did our first roasted chicken based on an Anthony Bourdain recipe; tried out new eating places; and I've finally e-filed. Wish there could be more weekends like this.

After the Of Montreal gig, you asked if there was a band which gig I would travel to attend. I realise that I still regret passing on the Depeche Mode concert in '93 (or '94?) to prepare for an exam. I don't remember what exam it was anymore, but I recalled thinking then that Depeche Mode would have to come again right? And they didn't, even after 16 years.

Never ever assume.

We bought 3 bottle gardens to celebrate Valentine's this year, and believe it or not, they came named: Alexandra, Lucia and Victor (actually we opted for Elizabeth but she was out of stock, so we got Victor instead). The plant folks told us the plants were Fittonia from Holland, unlike the usual nursery species.

To picture them:
Alexandra is the little one.
Lucia is the jolly fat one.
And Victor is the tall spineless one.

Every night when I get home, I find the plants have leaned in the direction of the sun and plastered themselves against that side of their enclosure. Then I'll have to patiently turn all of them in the opposite direction, knowing full well I'll have to repeat this the next night. Though they require more attention than the current plant we own, I feel amused by their persistence.

They make me smile.

We had dinner at the French Kitchen this evening, to celebrate our 3rd year together. It had been long days for both of us, and over dinner, you jokingly mentioned again about our wish to quit and backpack for a year.

This wish is like a smooth little marble I carry in my pocket and clutch tightly everytime something blows up at work.

I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world. I may not complete this last one but I give myself to it.
- Rainer Maria Rilke

I wonder if my life is actually narrowing circles.

It's been a while since I've last written. It felt somewhat pointless if I could just turn to you and instantly unburden myself, and you could provide instant feedback with a laugh and a hug. I'm grateful for that everyday, you know. I'm grateful for you.

I don't know why I'm writing again really. Maybe because I realised recently that an old friend has been blogging. Maybe because I had lunch with a co-worker studying psychology, and she reminded me that the best way to know ourselves is to write. I've been reading too much and watching way too many films, but I don't know if everything had passed through me like water through a sieve. Maybe it's time to investigate the residue.

I bought 3 books today, all of which I'm determined to read till completion, and 2 of which I hope you do too. (We shall see about that.) I passed on buying you a copy of "The Watchmen", because you didn't seem to like the movie all that much and that was quite faithful to the graphic novel.

One of the books was "How to cook without recipes". The thought of this intrigued me. When we cooked, we would often copy recipes out on tiny scraps of paper to place on the kitchen counter, which we would refer to as we scurried around. Over time, we've learnt that there wasn't any room to place the cookery book (and yes, we like the book in pristine condition too).

I've skimmed through this book, and the main idea was to remember flavour trails and use them to build up the recipe in our minds. I wonder: if I were to master this, would I be able to apply memory trails in other areas as well?

Another book was "TimeOut: 1000 Songs to Change Your Life". Currently, more than 8000 songs reside in my iPod, most of which I have no idea are there. I wonder how many of the 1000 songs could be in my iPod collection, and if it would matter. I often put my iPod in shuffle mode so I could coax the songs out of hiding. For a person who doesn't care for surprises, this inclination to shuffle music doesn't seem to make sense.