Embrace

In silence he waits, inhabiting your dreams of old, muttering things yet untold.

Feet dragging across the forest floor, dead leaves and twigs rustling, cracking. The snapping of brittle bones upon a barren battlefield.

Turning in the eternal gloom, the shadows you see transient, fluid.

Like Sprites, they dance. Melding into the skeletal trees, threading the carpeted sea of brown before vanishing into the lengthening shadows.

Ephemeral these thoughts are, hard to fathom, harder to control.

But they are not what you sense, he remains hidden, watching and waiting.

Then when in weariness, you lie insensate, the dry dead foliage embracing one with haste; he emerges from the shadows, caressing your forehead with a kiss.

'Up.' he breathes. Your body resists but he grips you hard and will not desist.

With a reedy sigh that echoes the rustle of tumbling leaves, one is released from the earthy grave.

Embracing you, he coaxes you forward. Step by step. Shadows flee and silence descends, a suffocating blanket, deafening in its entirety.

Must we go in flames? In bouts of fitful ire, raging against the dying light?

When Oblivion be such painless release, the vacuous mind devoid of clouding shadows?

But for now, on you plod, the crackling of downtrodden undergrowth drowning out his muttered observations, the flitting shadows blinding one from his faint silhouette.

So patiently he waits, watching and waiting.

Carnal Confession

I was chatting on MSN with an acquaintance the other day, an old flame to be precise. One of those occasions that people who have never communicated for years decide to do so on a whim and suddenly realise they have so much to talk about. The conversation started out with the perfunctory "Hey how have you been, not dead yet?" kind of greeting before inevitably progressing to the current state of affairs and our sex lives. Or the lack thereof in his case.

"Work's such a bitch." he moaned. "Tell me about it, I'll be joining you soon." "Hope you like the long hours." "Not much of a choice there..." Then he was groaning about how little time he could spend with the other half, a tertiary student seven years his junior and how the inability to fuck as often as they would like to sometimes added to the tension. A fact I fully commiserate with, precocious testosterone driven male teenagers with mental faculties of reasoning that largely reside in that turgid member between their legs are perpetually horny and almost always thinking about sex. I should know, I was a teenager once. Heck, I'm almost 25 now and I'm still horny. Just not always.

Whereupon J. suddenly declared.
"You've always been a carnal creature. You know that don't you?"
"Huh?" I offered taken aback, unbidden mental images of a Pan-like orgasmic revelry coming to mind.
"You know, always being so impulsive and going for what you want. You even lose yourself so totally in sex."
" Well, doesn't everyone? I might be a beast in bed but outside of it I'm pretty human."
"That is debatable."
"Oh really? Aren't you one yourself ? Sex in the office and while attached too." I rebutted.
"Just a moment's indiscretion. I remain a perfect gentleman." came the reply.
"Right, right. Many moments of indiscretion if I recall correctly."
" Ha ha, those were the days."
"Yep, those halcyon days."

I guess there is some truth to his observation though, disturbingly phrased as it may be. Except for stuff that would result in potentially disastrous consequences(ie: Death or getting locked away for a looong long time), I've never really thought twice about making decisions or going for things which promise potential gratification. It's always been do/get first and worry about the consequences later.

This habit of living for the moment and instant gratification probably has to be my greatest fault, it certainly doesn't bode well for the wallet. One reason why I absolutely detest window shopping: because there's a chance I'll see something I fancy and grab it at all costs without stopping to ponder every single merit like Sean (sometimes so exasperatingly ^^) does. A habit that unfortunately causes him much grief sometimes, most recently manifested in the form of my Wii purchase. Sorry dear:P

So yes, in that way I am very much a carnal creature, though it may sound unpleasant, it remains an inescapable fact that my personal philosophy appears to be enjoy now, think/worry later. Hardly a prudent one but certainly very enjoyable. I am trying to change though, if not only for the fact I'll give Sean a heart attack at the rate I'm going. Some priorities however will never change. Like Sex or Balancing Work with Play.

Which is the reason why I'm going to play Naruto on the Wii now. Time to indulge in some carnality. Ta ta.

Dreams

Dream they said because Dreams push you further, drive you harder, make you better.
Aim for the stars and should you fall, the moon be yours.

But Dreams are for the idle and the free.
And I am neither.
Baptismal of tears, truth etched in the shifting sands of Time.
Cognizant yet unaware, Master and Slave.

Life tempered by blood and fire.

Inertia

If Time is the great destroyer of human aspirations, cruelly laying bare lofty ideals to be empty shells; Inertia, the great disabler of actions, must be its twin sister. A silent seductress, it sneaks up upon one and gently enfolds you in its embrace, lulling one into a false sense of complacency. Then when you wake and attempt to flee, Inertia tightens the noose and its vice-like grip, a paralysis that requires extreme willpower or panic-induced franticness to overcome.

After all, it's always easier to go,' Oh there's always tomorrow'. And with tomorrow comes another tomorrow. And the strangehold tightens. I was supposed to have started the revision on Monday. Keyword here of course being supposed. As usual my favourite mistress, Inertia, had to keep me busy with everything else other than work. Procrastination, a luxury we can ill afford but often liberally pamper ourselves with.

With great determination, I have resolved to start tomorrow because I'll need the less than 3 weeks to master the basics (ie: pass) for the 6 subjects. And I have no intention of being gripped by panic-fuelled paralysis at the eleventh hour, when the full import of the I-am-so-fucking-screwed realisation sets in and end up like this:

Artwork: Kisaragi Hirotaka's Brother X Brother

I so fucking hate studying for exams. Rather go back to work anytime. Sigggghhhhhhhh.

Wee for Wii.

Yep, I literally broke the bank for it, but I'm finally a proud albeit nearly bankrupt owner of a nintendo Wii set, which means I'll be having bread and water for the next two months. Seriously. Naturally and understandably, the Significant Other was none too pleased. But thankfully, he does understand and forgive (somewhat) my transgressions even though they probably piss him off no end. ^^

For finger idiots like me who suck at your classical controller kind of console games (ie: PS3, XBox 360, etc), Wii was a refreshing change because it empowers the gamer to execute the moves through a series of hand/arm movements that are instinctively (for me at least) easier to pull off with the desired results. Attempting to twist rebellious joysticks or smashing control pads into submission in order to produce a particular combo failed more often than not, leaving sore thumbs, chapped skin and a healthy string of curses.

The 'exercise while gaming' bit, just a convenient side benefit though it remains a useful excuse for explaining away the sizeable sum spent on the wii. The packaged Wii sports, especially tennis, does make one work up a sweat after a while as one swings, punches and bats one's way through the various matches. You also get your 'Wii age' ascertained through a series of tests that aim to determine your reflex actions and accuracy, I was deemed to be a dismal 69 years after the first round. I blame it on the controls.

Anyhow, the major fun factor thus far have been provided by the other games, specifically the fantastic Naruto: Clash of the Ninja Revolution. Bleach is rather enjoyable too, the graphics are good and you can play up to 32 characters from the anime after having unlocked all of them. The story however differs from the anime and because the gameplay involves a lot of hacking/slashing and thrusting with the Wii remote, your arm feels like its going to drop off after 15 -30 mins.

Naruto however is a real blast, it follows the anime religiously and the gameplay while involving more use of the buttons, is more instinctive and certainly easier on the arms than Bleach. You start out with 8 playable characters and unlock the remaining 12 by completing missions with different characters which in turn unlock more missions and new characters. The moves are relatively easy to execute once you get the hang of it and you get to execute the signature jutsu by the various characters, Chidori by Kakashi, Shikamaru's Shadow Bind Technique, Gaara's Desert Coffin, etc by shaking the remote and nunchak as displayed onscreen.

My personal favourite remains Orochimaru, fast with the ability to execute flashy combos with normal moves that land the most hits, his snake sword jutsu is both deadly with a sick range that allows him to impale opponents to devastating effect. Itachi is a little overpowered, probably the fastest character in the game, he is able to disappear and ambush with startling alacrity and his dreaded Mangekyo Sharingan ability, Tsukuyomi eliminates up to 65% of an opponent's life, only less than Naruto's very flashy Rasengan which does up to 75% damage but requires Naruto to have 40% life or less.

The cheapest character by far has to be Temari, the wind bitch. Unparalleled at range, she does a nasty knockup at close range and her special jutsu is unblockable. She remains the only character I obtained Hokage rank with after completing the mission arc on normal difficulty. Anthony came over the other day and we were playing vs the comp which while incredibly entertaining, gets very messy when you have 4 characters flying about all over the screen but it introduces a dynamic aspect not found in your usual 1 vs 1 game, such as deciding whether to do a tag team on a particular character first.

And of course free for alls in 4 way fights between Anthony, Kevin, me and one Hard computer are orgies of combos, yelps and special jutsus that don't always hit their intended target. Usually we team up against the computer first, trying to shake off the rabid dog while taking as little damage as possible then ganging up on whoever has the most life left before slugging it out. I must say Naruto has been one of the more enjoyable console games I've played so far, the Shippuuden version which allows players to play up to 64 characters (*swoon*) should be out next year hopefully. I can hardly wait.

For now though, the dreaded exams are looming and it's time to start mugging. Really Really soon.