I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

Cabarete sunset, originally uploaded by roooosah.

I watched Invictus this weekend, starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon (L). The title of the movie is the poem that got Nelson Mandela through his 27 years in prison, by William Ernest Henley. I recall reading that poem in Grade 8 in my first ever high school social studies class. At 13 years old, I had no clue what the poem meant. Now older and wiser with some poetry training, I now understand that the this poem, kept Mandela's will strong, and to reunite his country after such hard times. I'm probably romanticizing the Apartheid issue as I'm not too familiar with the details. The movie however, told an important story represented through Mandela's political and human strategy of rugby to reunite the country. It is films like these, one that tells a story, one with a purpose, one with conviction, that I truly enjoy. The following is another poem by William Ernest Henley of an entirely different mood from Invictus.

Between the dusk of a summer night
Between the dusk of a summer night
And the dawn of a summer day,
We caught at a mood as it passed in flight,
And we bade it stoop and stay.
And what with the dawn of night began
With the dusk of day was done;
For that is the way of woman and man,
When a hazard has made them one.
Arc upon arc, from shade to shine
The World went thundering free;
And what was his errand but hers and mine --
The lords of him, I and she?
O, it's die we must, but it's live we can,
And the marvel of earth and sun
Is all for the joy of woman and man
And the longing that makes them one.

--William Ernest Henley

my favourite time of the day

The transition from dusk till night.
Lights are flickering with a hint of orange in the horizon.
I glance outside and a star is suddenly visible in the city lights.

----

This week went by very fast. I don't even remember what I did at work, but it was a constant stream of things to do. I got to leave the office a few times to do research and attend an open house. It's nice getting out of the office. For the first time, I descended 46 floors of stairs. 20 stairs per floor x 46 floors = 920 stairs. It was for a fire drill at my building. My legs felt like jello after. I woke up today with the sorest calves.

Other than work, life has been good. I finished reading The Catcher in the Rye this week during my lunch hours.
A cute bundle of daisies also sit on my desk. I was thoroughly happy and slightly embarrassed yesterday. I will miss the flowers this weekend. Hopefully they don't die on me too soon.

I'm really happy that I'm discovering new things, and getting to know someone different from my usual group of friends. For the first time in a while, I feel like I'm ready for a new challenge.

Anyway, I've wasted this week not working on my research proposal for Oxford. Tomorrow, I'm hitting the library!

P.S. I'm addicted to Melody Gardot. I've been listening to it every other night.

there's a limit to my love

distance sometimes does not
make the heart grow fonder.
hearts can grow apart,
become distracted.

hearts are fickle.
hearts do not exercise logic.

there is a limit to my love.