Chet’s Chatter

As seen on Notebookism

Posted on 27 February 2007 @ 23:00 in Notebooks, Writing

Notebookism is a site for notebook fanatics that was set up by Armand B. Frasco as an alternative to the Moleskinerie site he created three years ago for Moleskine users.

The site features interesting pictures and stories of notebooks and their contents. I’m honoured to have had my homemade Circa notebooks featured more than once on the site. The latest feature is not about my homemade creations but rather about my gift from Levenger. I reproduce the article below.

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After years of using Levenger products – specifically its Circa system – I was rewarded with a gift from the company recently, courtesy of Ryan (aka Rasmussen on DIYPlanner.com).

Even tho I was expecting the package, it was still a thrill to open the courier box and come upon the gorgeous gift box with its matching elastic band.

What was inside? Let’s see … there were soft colour pocket dividers, 3×5 size; 3×5 white and soft colour vertical tabs (with and without the Circa notches); 3×5 white and multi-coloured cards; and a Circa-Dex, too.

And how many years have I been a Levenger user? At least 7 years. I was going through my old diaries last night and came upon references to Levenger purchases dating as far back as November 1999. Some references included the promise never to order from Levenger again, but as you can see, I’ve not kept that promise.

It has been a love-hate relationship with Levenger. I love its products but I hate the exorbitantly high costs of having them shipped to me in Malaysia.

I’ve purchased a wide range of Levenger products, and my old diary entries indicate some early disappointment with items that did not meet up to the glossy catalog pictures. Recently, however, I’ve finally settled on using the Levenger Circa system as my primary notetaking system. The desktop punch was one of my earliest (and probably most expensive) Levenger purchase, but it has proved to be the backbone of my personal Circa system. With the punch, and the Circa rings, as well as notebook covers, I can make my own home-made Circa notebooks. My favourite feature is the Rolodex-style notches that the punch makes, that allows me to move pages within my notebooks.

Love it, love it, love it!

And thank you, thank you, thank you, Ryan and Levenger, for the most welcome gift!

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Original Post
Gift from Levenger

Related Sites
Levenger
D*I*Y Planner

Food writing

Posted on 25 February 2007 @ 03:41 in Food, Writing

Sharon the bookaholic says I write about food and that reading my writing always makes her hungry.

I found myself wondering when did she ever read anything that I wrote that was about food. And then I remembered. About two years back, I had submitted a sample of my writing for feedback at one of her writing get-togethers.

This is what I submitted – The Last Supper.

It’s the original draft which I later expanded to meet the word count requirement for submission. I still like the original better, and yes, the submission was not selected for publication.

Ginger Egg Bread

Posted on 22 February 2007 @ 09:32 in Being Silly, Food

Maybe I was very hungry, or maybe I just spoke too fast that my breakfast order this morning came out as roti telur halia. I only realised the mistake after I said it, and hurriedly corrected myself, but not before the shop assistant heard and gave out a loug guffaw. I’ve never heard him laugh so loud before. Come to think of it, I’ve never heard him laugh before. Or even smile.

In any case, roti telur halia wasn’t entirely wrong as it comprised the two items in my order – roti telur bawang and teh halia.

Two words

Posted on 10 February 2007 @ 08:43 in Personal

or “How I was brought to tears by a total stranger”

One of the handouts at the recent “Night of the Living Text” International Readings was a booklet of poems by a Taiwanese. Flipping through it, I saw that it was in both English and Chinese. For some reason, I found myself trying to make out the Chinese characters. And felt pleased that I was able to recognise quite a few, and enough to make sense of the sentences. The Chinese tuition my parents had sent me to all those years ago has not been wasted.

I came to the last page and started reading the last poem which was in English. Following which, I glanced at the one before it and saw that it was the same poem, but in Chinese. I continued reading the Chinese version and when I came to the final words in the last line in the first verse, my eyes welled up.

來世 (the future)

The first and only time I’d heard those words had been at my niece’s farewell last March. It was the final moment, the coffin was being shut as the priests chanted words to the effect that we had the privilege of having her with us in this life (今世) and maybe we will have the privilege again in the next life (來世).

In this very public place, with people standing and chatting around me, I found myself feeling very alone and very sad, as I remembered those last days and also all the things I never did that I wished I’d done for her.

I shut my eyes and put my knuckles up to rub away the tears, hoping they won’t flow down my face. It didn’t work. Out came my hanky to soak them up. After a while, I managed to control myself and to focus on the evening of readings ahead of me.

It proved to be a very enjoyable set of readings, and I was glad to be there. Then came the last reader of the evening, Ke Hua Chan, a Taiwanese who’d been added at the last minute. Yes, the same Taiwanese whose booklet of poems had been handed out earlier that evening. He came to the microphone and said he would make it short as it was getting late and that in his profession as a doctor, it was his duty to tell us we shouldn’t sleep so late. And then he said he would read from the last page of the booklet … in fact, the very last poem.

He read the English version, struggling to pronounce some of the words, but nevertheless giving a fine reading. He followed it with a reading of the Chinese version (in the Mandarin dialect) and for the second time that evening, my eyes welled up. Was that it? No. He’d earlier told us the poem had been set to music, and to finish the evening, we were treated to the musical version.

Since that night, whenever I thought of what happened, I would feel tears coming to my eyes. But in the privacy of my own space, I do not have to stop them from flowing.