Anyhoo, 2009 has had its ups and downs. The first half - whilst I was on exchange in Sweden - was just awesome possum; the most amazing experience I've ever had EVER EVER. And I still pine for it some days, I pine for the lifestyle that I had there, the many ugly and beautiful things I saw, the crisp air, the fresh air, the slower pace of life, the budget traveling; sheer beauty.

The second half was markedly gloomier though of course there were moments where I still felt happy and awesome possum. School was a real biatch because I couldn't get out of the lifestyle I was so used to in my 6 months overseas.

And maybe its the same for many people - I can't put a single tag to what 2009 was for me. Maybe just one, and it's called 'volatile'.

But you know what? I think I can safely say that 2009 was the year I learnt the most from. Not academically because I obviously wasn't studying very much on exchange - and apparently not even when I was back in Singapore haha. It's the more intangible lessons about life, love, relationships. And I shall stop here :)

Happy New Year everyone, be happy!

Right on time, I feel quite exhausted...

More next time, I promise.

I've been feeling really snappish lately.

Hmm.

In the mean time, I am half-studying, half day-dreaming about my dreams. Not the ones Elks and TPP encounter all the time at night - I don't have the talent for remembering sleep-dreams as vividly as they do; though I must say I've been dreaming a lot more lately (and remembering some with success, only they're a lot less interesting than their dreams haha). I'm talking about what-I-wanna-do-in-future type of dreams.

I have been immensely inspired by some amazing works of art; stalking photography blogs and just being in awe generally of the things people capture so beautifully. All this, with minimal editing.

The kinds of images that draw me in and enrapture me are those that tend to have soul - it doesn't necessarily need to have people in it - some photographs have plenty people, but it lacks character and lacks soul. It can be a picture composed of the most abstract things, but paint a story about what that place is like.

Now I am regretting not having brought my brother's DSLR with me during exchange - the bulkiness and the risk of it getting stolen would all have been overshadowed by the amazing pictures I could possibly take with it. And of course, if I had brought it over, I probably would've learnt more about its technicalities and how to work around them mind-boggling settings to get the best picture possible.

I want to capture things with soul :)