robots

"She peered into the mirror. Tonight she would wear long earrings of pink Lucite. She would put her lenses back in and use a lipstick that didn't clash with the Lucite, and that would be that. Seen from a certain angle, she might simply disappear"

Speaking about love, Linda says, "I believe it to be the central drama of our lives. For most of us, that is.... It's something extraordinary that happens to ordinary people."

''A pink mouth, neither smiling nor frowning (though the head was tilted warily or fetchingly -- it was hard to tell).''

''She admired a negligee and remembered nights with other negligees, and still the sadness, that cloud, was not swept away.''

***

Back to the real world, back to the real world
Back to the ground

***

after graduation, that is. remnants of graduation are my kids waving goodbye to me during their recess period as i rush out of school, going for a late lunch first and then arriving at NTU. dressing yourself out, white shirt, check hair, check appearance. check that the pink slip that you wear over the gown isn't out of place. pin it down. take some photographs. take more photographs. get chased into the auditorium by some guy. fidget. look for seat. realise that not many people are in yet and wonder where the others are. walk around in order not to be the only blip in a sea of red seats. get seated when people gush in. watch a boring video where many strangely similar looking people get interviewed over and over again, waving mechanically at the video camera as if they've been cued to do so- obviously. watch girls with cute smiles make the victory sign against their faces and try not to puke especially if the one girl is sitting next to you. wait and re-look at the white slip of paper that has your name printed on it. listen to funfare music and watch professors and doctors with gowns of all colours and hats of all sizes enter. listen to speeches. doze off. wake up to the sound of clapping. names resonate and none make sense. people look like mechanical robots programmed to go on stage at each call of any name. mechanical clapping fills the air. wonders who is the one who does all the clapping or it is canned clapping, akin to canned laughter? muses. stand, rise walk. the aim is the X on the stage. reach, wait. name called out. oh dannggit, it seems quite a distance. adjust speed of walking. shakes hands. thank you. -smiles- walk down. sit again. twiddle thumbs. and the list goes on. the food was horrible, like the work my p4 class gave me today. horrible.
so graduation is not quite like what it's cracked out to be, really.
but now, the final visit to NTU is over and we all wonder what is next. just work i suppose, and nothing much.