In Between Worlds

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Dot celebrated her birthday on the 1st of August. We had seafood and the birthday girl giggled through the entire dinner, especially when it came to the cake (Barney!).

And happy Lammas to those who celebrate.

Pictures of Malacca.

Back from roadtrip and bracing myself for the weekend trip to Indonesia.

The marking continues. I really need to complete this STACK before the next round comes in by next week.

Meanwhile, read this. It is brilliant. But it is also very depressing. For people who are not involved in the publishing (be it trad/self), there is some discussion regarding the 0.99 pricing of ebooks. Some are for it. Some hate it like the plague and associated virii all rolled into one. I, myself, am...ambivalent, since I straddle both traditional and self publishing. I do agree though that writers need to eat too. We are not air plants subsisting on air. [Then again, I have a day job which does pay the bills... ]

Anyway, support your favorite writers/authors. Donate. Make fan-art. Signal-boost. Give feedback. Buy swag stuff. Tell them that they are doing something good. Writing isn't easy, guys. It is creative effort. It is hard work. We don't come up with stories, tales and worlds just like that. Perhaps, it looks like we create worlds with a snap of our fingers... but the real work, folks, is pretty much internal.

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I am still in the process of - well - processing my Sungei Buloh pictures. Going to photography... is a joyful experience. Like writing, like gardening, photography is creative. I call 'writing via pictures'. It is art. It is life.

My garden is growing once more. The Malabar spinach vines are sprouting! My duan dewa is still going strong.

Imbolc Fire. Fires burning bright.

Walking with Dinosaurs.

Now that I have some time on my hands, I am going to write about Pink Dot.

I did not attend Pink Dot 2009, due to my pregnancy with Dot (my second girl) and quickly grabbed the opportunity to attend Pink Dot 2010 on the 15th of May.

I arrived early. Hong Lim Park was slowly filling up. There was some music, people dressed in all shades of pink sat on pink plastic sheets and the atmosphere felt like a carnival. I took out my camera, photographed a few scenes and wandered around. I was given a pink handout and the pink mascot (fan?). Everyone was smiling, kissing and hugging each other. It reminded me so much of the Reclaim The Night rallies I used to attend in Perth, Western Australia - terrific vibe and terrific people rallied around a good cause: the freedom to love. Whether you are straight or gay, you have the freedom to love and to be loved. That's human. I want my girls to grow up in a world where people love each other, regardless of their race, their religion and their sexual orientation. This freedom to love is also explored/examined in my spec fic stories, especially in Oysters, Pearls and Magic.

More people started to fill Hong Lim Park. I met up with old friends. The vibe was incredible. People were smiling. Then Tan Kheng Hua, Adrian Pang and DJ BigKid drew everyone's attention to the middle of the circle (circle? how appropriate!) and the program started: a dikir barat performance, dances (Indian, hip hop), drumming and a dragon dance. As the minutes ticked closer to the main event (the formation of the dot), we were instructed to first form a heart. It felt a bit like herding cats, but in the end, the heart was formed! After the heart was the dot. Yay! We had done it!

Kudos to the organizers of Pink Dot for bringing together a powerful and touching event. May Pink Dot 2011 be bigger, more pink and better!