Concretely Surrounded.

I'm sitting here building a concrete wall around my heart. A wall that could any time just fall apart. But here I am slapping on the layers of dirt and tar and gritty particles to cloud my mind, a fog that blinds.
I'm building my concrete wall and inside it's getting colder. I've tried building a fire, I had some warmth left in me, but I had that torch thrown back at me. A flame was rekindled but quickly stepped on and flung into some abyss. Now I'm out of fuel and I've got no lighter. And the walls are stone cold, brittle like the bones of someone so old.
I don't know if I should bash a hole in this wall and allow some light. It's a precarious move. A tiny instability could bring down my fort. I am to let no one in.
There can be no fracture in my wall. No signs of weakness creeping out.
If anything goes wrong outside, I am to remain tall.

Out of Nowhere

I was taking a walk through my past and I noticed something interesting. I think I left and lost some part of myself when I tried to change my personality into this more positive, happier and optimistic person. This kind of change shouldn't be a bad thing, but I feel like with that part of me gone, along went with it some of my creativity.

I bid goodbye to my emo and poetic self, and said hello to my happier, but more rigid self.


I find it hard to want to maintain my thoughts and memories of things that happened in the recent times, because I can easily forget them and not be bothered by them that way. So I get lazy about writing a diary and making notes of my day, things that were an inseparable part of my life in the past. But I feel like it's such a waste, to let those memories slip away...

Out of nowhere I'm writing this, as if I haven't already got enough on my hands. Ah. I am a really confused person.

Little Acorns Come From Great Oaks

🌰

Even though thanksgiving is over, I feel extremely thankful, today in particular, about being "forced" to continue with my studies and doing my Honours Year by marmee noodles. All I thought about was the project and how tough and painful it was going to be (before I even chose a project at that time) and I thought little of what satisfaction and achievement I would gain through it. Even now I feel mostly exhausted every day, and I'm seeing stars both during the day and at night, and sometimes I wish I could leave my project aside and do some drawing and some dreaming... but I'm certainly thankful that along with my project, I also have my modules. 

The modules I've taken over the past year have really been inspiring. Not all, but the ones that have been are enough to make up for the ones that haven't. Notable examples being Global Change Biology, and currently, Tropical Conservation and Ecological Systems (a geog module). Although I've only had 1 or 2 lectures for the latter two, I feel like I'm ever more keen to learn about the world, and that what I've learnt to date pretty much amounts to nothing. It's the attitude of the lecturers that really extract an interest in impressionable stewdents like myself. A stewdent being a human being that's really more like a pot of stew, having random things thrown into it and being slowly boiled and brewed into something delicious - something that perhaps could be fed to others too and have the ingredients/information transferred. Hopefully all that would not simply be passed out as crap, but of course, even crap goes back into the Earth as fertilizer. 

Through my project I can feel my limits being pushed ever to the max. I don't remember ever being so tired in my life and now is merely the beginning. But when I share my project with others, they all have the same bewildered and also curious reaction (maybe to make me feel better, but mostly genuine in my impression) that makes me feel that my project has some sort of baby thumbprint on them already, before it's even halfway complete. And I feel that my efforts are worth something, and that the outcome would not simply be a certificate. 

I feel an even stronger reason to be studying what I'm studying as I find out more and more, even if I don't become a scientist in the future, because the lessons are so closely linked to life, that i could not simply live without knowing about those things. Just being part of this Earth is my reason for wanting to attend classes about conservation and ecology and biodiversity, even if I don't know if I will contribute greatly to the advancement of these pursuits. Attending many of these lessons make me sad (especially global change) because they expose me to the real troubles of the world, and I tried to hide from them before because I didn't want to feel sad about them, but now I think being sad is good, because it helps when you want to stop being sad, and start to think of ways to do something about the bad stuff. And many of the people doing something for conservation out there are probably doing it because the sad state of the earth makes them sad too. 

Like, I am more determined to pursue my forest lifestyle, and more motivated to try to resist the temptation of the modern stuff (sadly, i say this while typing on my smartphone). As much as possible I will try. 

I start to get incoherent when I say too much, but this is just me ranting, really. 

Anyway. I really just meant to say that I'm thankful that I'm still in school learning about things that matter to me instead of hiding from them, and instead of being just adsorbed in working and making money to satisfy all my material desires, of which there are plenty, and which i may get swallowed up in, and forget the things that matter more. 

So thanks ma! You really do know best!

1st day of my last semester

今学期、第一の予定はカンニンちゃんとJBに遊びに行くんだ！

嵐というレストランで鍋を食べた 🍴

安くて、おいしくて、最高だ！

キウィジュースもおいしかった！

辛、

飯いのあと、ネール！

買い物~ 🍊

晩ご飯、お腹いっぱい、、、

学校の始めは休みの感じだ！🍎

楽しい、大好き 🍡

これからも、このような生活ー 最高！

笑、o(^_-)O 夢だけじゃないか？

The Daily Cranberry

i looked into your eyes

and saw the moon 

retreating into a sunrise

it came too soon

i've lived in darkness all my life

and all i've known

is just an icy cold that

freezes to the bone.

I was alone.

I was alone.

In full bloom,

the dazzling glitter in the heavens

made me calm

I looked through

a looking-glass and felt the world

revolve around

i heard the sounds

of nighttime 

shooting stars come

crashing to the ground

i thought i'd found

a paradise 

but now i look into your eyes

and see the morn

a new day born

but yet it pierces like a thorn

into my spirit, this new dawn

this blanket full of warmth

burns with unfamiliarity

i don't know if i'm strong

enough to leave my solitary life

my shelter in the darkness

where imaginations thrive

this new beginning came too soon

just one last glimpse of melting moon

And in your eyes the rising sun

Began the start and end begun.

- a new string of words that seem to fit.

 And I suspect this stems from my FYP worries. It resembles myself in the process of measurements too much, a lonely figure hunched over a set of instruments, lights on that side of the room switched off to enhance the visualisation of the light spot in the machinery... doing what she can before daylight comes... 

ps. the title is because I can't think of one

Chase and Capture

One day you may find yourself walking over a masterpiece, a landscape that slightly resembles the shire, with its rolling hills and vibrant green and speckled with burnt caramel leaves.

And yet, a beautiful place as this, you want to leave and explore new lands. It's not a bad thing, and for you it's more than just a dream.

You must go, and take me with you in spirit and soul.

Chase it, Capture it, and Cherish it.

One day my dreams will be real too. In the meantime, I wish you adieu! mon ami! 

:D

- photograph taken at bedok reservoir

2014

Let 2014 be beautiful, fulfilling, enchanting, amazing and enlightening for one and all! And here is a silly poem/rap if you please, to top it all off!

Roads are ever winding

Winds are never dying

Storms are ever brewing

But people never crying

Everyone just trying

Even if it's tiring

Everyone just vying

be the one that's soaring, flying

And no one ever gives up

No one ever gives in

would be the greatest waste

The greatest sin ever seen

And together we all make it

The coming year, we take it

never to forsake it

two-o-fourteen - I'm ready for it. 

Sigh. PEOPLE.

People. People. Human beings. All high and mighty like indeed they are the most superior creature to ever walk the Earth. They simply cannot get enough of their old royal-ness and glory can they?

This rant comes as a result of all the people that have been giving their certain 2-cents worth ever since the first CatCafe in Singapore popped up. Really, do you think your 2-cents worth is worth even 2-cents? Even a dust mite might be worth more. At least it makes things dusty. Your comment? Doesn't even leave a mark.

I can't help but get quite cynical here because these people really drive you nuts with their comments. It's astounding how they can carry on with their lives like they know everything and have an "everything they say is right and best" mindset and not have someone parang their noses off for being so pokey and annoying. Maybe Singapore is too safe, that's why everyone thinks they can do and say as they like. Sad thing it is, because it's so nice to be in a safe country, yet people turn nasty because of their sheltered lives.

I mean, saying a load of 'helpful comments' is real helpful when it just involves punching some letters and having them appear *Poof!* on the screen. And wala! They think the situation instantly resolves itself that way. No, my friends. It takes more than that. Did they even stop to think  how much effort and thought went into developing the whole cafe and what considerations they had put in for the customers, and the organisations that would be hot on their heels if anything went wrong? Did they even consider how you can't just compare two places that seem to offer the same services but at different prices and think they should be the same anyway? There's more to it than just saying put a monkey and a lion in the same cage together because they are both animals. Hey, everyone has their own situations to deal with. Sure, they can say anything they like and think it's real helpful because when anything happens, they don't have to lift a toenail anyway.

I just can't believe there are still people who believe in a free lunch in this world. They expect everything to be free! Free! So they can enjoy everything! Because they are entitled to it! Because they are worth it! Unfortunately, they ain't no Loreal ambassadors. They think they should be entitled to pay any amount they want rather than a fixed price. This is no charity. This is a place crafted and developed for people to enjoy to company of finely cared for animals, with specially selected artisan desserts and drinks. The CatCafe owners stated a price, and this is a price already way below what their furkids are worth, because they are truly treated and thought of as their own children, so how can people still complain that the price is not reasonable? They also try to compare it with Korean CatCafes and whatnot, where they have 30-odd cats and maybe only make you buy a drink instead of pay an entrance fee. But having more cats/charging a different fee doesn't make it a better establishment. Like how your math teacher will give you zero marks for the answer without the method. Actually I can't and don't want to comment further without having visited the places. But, as mentioned earlier, why compare when everyone has their own situations to deal with? And what of the "everyone who visits are cat lovers anyway! Just let them leave tips! They will!"? Then why even complain about the asking price? If they really loved cats and really wanted to visit, nothing will stop them from visiting, not the entrance fee to say the least.

Have they been to an animal shelter? Anyway, don't they think if the shelters started collecting an hourly rate for people visiting them, they would be able to provide a great deal more for the animals? They would be able to give the all the animals an air-conditioned environment perhaps, keep all the animals that are sent their way, treat all their illnesses that can be treated. Give them good food and nutrient supplements. Never have to put any of them down. They are also doing the best they can on what donations they receive. Still, countless people come and peer at the cats and leave nothing but footprint and a lost hope upon a little kitty wanting to be brought to a good home.

The Catcafe owners actually went through the effort of sourcing for premium grade drinks (imported) and desserts(all handmade by local bakeries) for the customer's enjoyment and still keep them at low prices. They even made sure to utilize only certified non-VOC emitting paint for their walls, the same for their wooden floorboards, even their vacuum cleaner and air purifier are from certified models that keep dust out of the air as properly as can be proper.

And about the phone. There is only one phone in the shop. And it had been ringing non-stop since reservations were open. So, if you didn't get through, it is because another call was being answered and not because the staff were ignoring calls or lazing about. And also, the human staff do not sleep in the shop, so please do not call after operating hours. Calls came in even after 10:30pm and who knows what kind of unearthly duration they continued calling for.

Having worked in various cafes, I've come across a myriad people, many of which are self-entitled kinds, thinking that you should still serve them even after the shop has closed, sometimes knocking rapidly on the glass walls to get your attention while you're frantically trying to settle the cash reports and hoping to go home on time... sometimes giving black faces because you've already closed the cashier and you can't take anymore orders as if you owed them for their missing dinner... sometimes giving suggestions like "oh just key in the amount tomorrow nevermind one!", like their grandfather owns the shop... sure, say we're not being flexible, but the part-time staff aren't the bosses and we don't go around doing what we like and acting like we own the shop, so why do some customers act that way? Give us a break man, everyone wants to go home sometime.

I seem to have drifted a little off-course. But I guess I've released what troubles I had in my mind. I certainly feel like one of those now who say what I wish and what I think makes sense. But with no other intention than to come to the defence of this humble little start-up because they are being bombarded with accusations left and right yet they have done nothing to deserve it.

Thank goodness they are still some good people in the world who are doing their best to reply those strange people as well.

I dreamt

of what it felt like to be obliterated by a nuclear bomb. That's the only part of the dream i remember. The part where everyone starts looking to the sky. I'm distracted, so by the time i look up, I just see a flash. Something angry and bright hit the land. And then I see the rolling smoke engulfed by waves of fiery hell. I probably only thought of trying for a second. Holding on to what i had. Pomelo was beside me. But we kinda knew there was no running. Within that crack in time where we glimpsed the crashing blaze, bursting upon the land, we knew it was the end.

I saw myself disintegrate in the wildfire. I was a shadow in the sunlight. 

Like a mistake in a halloween carving, broken shell, empty insides. 

Pieces of me scattered with the wind. That was my dream.

So, what does it mean? To have an apocalyptic dream? Usually when I dream of looking at the night sky, I see a sparkling sequinned velvet sky. Nebulae in iridescent hues and stars a plenty like spilt shimmer. This time, it was devastation.

Sigh.

The First Paper

So I'm gonna have my first paper of the examarathon later at 5pm. I'm just scribbling now because I've done what I can and come what may, I will survive the day.

I can't wait for Saturday. The Last Paper. And then it will be 1 week of chionging experiments and バイト then I will be off to explore another part of the world I have never explored in my life yet. Thanks to the unexpected decision on the part of Pomelo's family, and they decided to pack me in their suitcase! 

I'll be going to Yogyakarta! I've never been to Indonesia so it'll be exciting. I think it's gonna be cultural but that also means it'll be mystical and beautiful right? I hope so anyway. I'm not a big places-of-worship-visiting person but time to time it's alright. Good to see the world in any new way.

And then in 5 days I will be back! Back working on my thesis and experiments and バイトagain and in no time, school will start and the cycle will repeat. Just that this time, it will end when it ends. That will be the last of it. And I can be released to enjoy my freedom! Release my creativity! Search for the meaning! 

Urhm. okay i better go now. ta.

Oh yeh. I bought a clock from the Pasar Malam! It's too inspiring. Larvit.

I'm in Somnia.

This is bad. People go to Narnia, I go
in Somnia.

I'm starting to get insomnia again. Alright alright, I'm not supposed to call it insomnia as much as it simply is an irregular body clock else my education has accomplished naught to this day.

Afterall, it occurs on and off. Well it used to happen all the time but I managed to transform into some sort of solid rock of a nemurimonster as I'm gonna be calling it, and I managed to actually sleep within like a bunch of tens of minutes of hitting the cosy corner.

But these past few days have been like the bane of all bedsheets. Like, they aren't getting any love. I just don't feel ready for bed. My mind is awake and blasting out on all sorts of frequencies. I'm racing against my own thoughts and worries. It's all madness in there. Madness that has to be reigned in to get a pinch of sleep.

I've been worrying about job applications, growing fatter, growing unhealthier, worrying about the modules, the uncertainty I'm having towards what I'm learning in particular classes, worrying, worrying, worrying. Worrying about things that I never used to worry about. I'm starting to be inclined towards the lives of others, starting to feel awe and jealousy at the seemingly smooth roads, the completed journey, the end of the tunnel. Wanting that kind of life that is just not me.

Since when did I care about such things. Since when did I start having "idols" and finding someone else I wanted to be?

No. I will not have that. I will do what i do and accomplish what I will. And I will not look at the lives of others and imagine myself in it because that no real way to live. My own world is my own world and I will mould it according to my own merits and my own abilities. No over-the-top or underestimating.

Bah. I don't even know what I'm saying. What I'm trying to say is, my mind is in a big confusion now and I need to bring it back to earth so i can get some sleep.

Toodles and noodles.

Poem for A Bug I Saw

The world is filled with brilliant things
Amongst the rush, amongst the haste
These brilliant things we should not waste
Our eyes can taste, devour the view
We never saw, we never knew
In all our searching, we don't find
the precious things, can't satisfy
but precious things, are right in view
We only have to look to know.

When We Fall Down. We Get Up.

But not in Space you don't.

So today I watched Gravity. It was the most beautiful, amazing, awe inspiring depiction of space I've seen so far. It encompassed all my deepest fears and re-ignited my greater interests in Outer space. See, when I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. Seriously. I had a notebook where I made notes of space related things (arranged in alphabetical order), like asteroids, black holes, nebulas, super novas... unfortunately I abandoned the dream when I realised I had to go to the US and stuff like that to be an astronaut. I wasn't ready to leave home.

So anyway this movie most certainly moved my heart in the most strangest of ways. I wanted to cry when I saw the hopelessness of Sandra Bullock, drifting off into the darkness of endless worlds, with a voice that no one would hear. I felt my heart collapse when the camera panned upon the magnificence of the Earth, mainly because my heart couldn't take it. The vastness. The distance we were from the troubles on the lands. The peace. Except it wasn't quite peaceful because of all the debris and whatnot splintering and shattering across the void, filling it with their frightening glimmers and piercing through the darkness at the speed of light.

Space is frightening. But also so calming. Just so amazing. Our world is.

And realising that you can never stop spinning and spinning and spinning if you lose control. There's no force, no friction, no air to stop you. You just can't stop. What will you do?

And knowing that when you pass a certain altitude you will just keep falling and falling, down to Earth. There's nothing you can do because everything is so much bigger and more powerful than you. I always look at the stars, if i'm outside and I get to see the dark skies at night. But now I will certainly look at them differently. I will be thinking of a further away place, beyond the blur of them glittering teardrops....

Man, the world sure is huge. Even though many say it's a small world afterall.

Sunshiney

Today's Japan Inspired quote (or I'd prefer to call silly self-declared poetry).

"Sometimes things of glittering gold
Can't be Bought and Can't be sold
But still stay with you till you grow old."

Here is 金閣寺 (Kinkaku Ji) which I visited with Pomelo during our rampage in Japan this May~ We caught it bathed in the evening glow. It's quite pretty isn't it? It's sort of like the Eiffel Tower. It looks a lot nicer and more mystical from further away, or in pictures, rather than in real life. But it's nice to have been there and look at your own pictures of it too :D lol
This is the only landmark we actually managed to enter in Kyoto because we were too late for anything else lol.

Dream of 10th October morning

There was a house we stayed in during our vacation. It was a vacation with other people from the archery club. Around the house there was a forest, and a stretch of shoreline. We would play a game each night, sort of like hide and seek. One of us would be the seeker while the rest would go hide. We would switch off all the lights to make it harder for the seeker. They would have to rely on their sense of hearing to find us. It would be pitch black in the house, but the outside would still be lit by moonlight. You were allowed to hide outside too.

The house was double-storied, and had plenty of nooks and crannies for you to hide in. Under the shelves, in the drawers, in an abandoned corner just below the rooftop. I was scared of hiding alone because of my fear of the paranormal, so I insisted on hiding with Pomelo. Unfortunately, we lost contact halfway through the house because of the darkness and anxiety that the seeker would find us soon. In the midst of finding Pomelo, I found some other club mates hidden in the weirdest of places. Yup, there were people hiding in the drawers I wondered about those who had hidden so well they wouldn't be found. I wondered when they would come out then?

I think there was a lunatic in the house. Maybe it was the landlady. Because there's always some element of crazy in my dreams. Because I remember this dream was creeping me out the whole time i was in it. The dark house, the dark sands, the dark forest, the dark waters. Everything about it was just creepy and dark. Even our game.

I guess those who never came out of hiding would have been left behind? Forever?

Extremely Random

Sometimes I'd attempt a little dramatic self-photo session thing in my quiet little hostel room.

Today it turned out rather like the cover of some children's book teaching life lessons in my imaginary world.

Hence I added a title to it.

A story quite close to my heart from the time of being small and waif-like and feeling like a lonely child in the cold.

Of course I am still small having not grown a millimetre since I was 14 (pssst! I only grew 10 cm from when I was 10). But I am no longer waif-like. More like some weight-lifting dwarf, darn those musckles. And no longer a lonely child! Although lecture theatres still do make me feel very cold indeed.

Enough banter!

Dream of 28/09/2013 Morning

It was night. Ben and I were at macs, sitting at a two seater. I was facing the open area outside that particular macs we were at. I don't think there exists one like that in Singapore. Then I started seeing something strange. Houses were floating in the air, attached by strings which were visible. Like to hot air balloons, but without the balloons. I couldn't see the source. It may have been hidden in the clouds. These houses were being carried closer and closer to us.

Then, they began to drop them.

Whoever it was started releasing the hold of those strings and letting the houses fall onto us below. They were crashing down and crushing people.
Then i realised this was a real war - an actual attack. And in my mind I knew it was an attack by aliens.

Everyone was screaming n panicking. Chaos everywhere. Then the house throwing stopped.
Then i saw it. The flaming ball being dropped. A sphere flickering in all its scarlet wrath. It was some distance away and i had no idea what the effect would be. It was like being in a movie except it was real. i plugged my ears really hard and closed my eyes.... For a long moment, I felt nothing. It seemed the bomb's effect didnt reach us. We thought it was over. People started getting up, looking around.

Then the next attack came. Sonic waves (what the..??!!). Huge ripples of sonic waves pulsed across the field headed directly at us. I shut my ears again and when it passed through me, I felt it. It pulled on my heart a little, and pushed through my body like a possession by a spirit.
Then I looked up and saw the houses around us getting lifted up. They were now carrying houses from this area, to be dropped on other places. Of course everyone freaked out again and started to lie down on the ground, hands over their heads. It was as if everyone knew they wouldn't take houses that had people standing up in. I have no idea how that was planted in my head.

Somehow I knew they still wanted useful people, so we tried to show them we would be useful, me by outrunning the sonic waves and ben by being some sort of bookkeeper. That was what the ad had said. Book keepers and Special Talents wanted. What's with this crazy dream??

Throughout the dream it was still night outside, and the macs we were at was lit by its usual bright lights. And the walls were the usual bright orange.

It's been

quite a long time since i last attempted to rhyme something. In my previous word waterfalls, I would put rhymes in my rantings ever so often, it became just so simple, seamless. Partly because I used to listen to rap so often (Linkin Park mainly because they still got a little tune and keyboard going on) that everything I ended up typing or saying just became twirled and twisted into a rhyme.

But now I hardly do any of that. It seems like the magic dust in my soul has been scattered so far out into the universe I can't remember who I used to be, what I used to love. I know I don't want to be the exact same person as before, that would be terrible! Character development being all important and whatnot. I just took too long to find myself, and kept changing and kept going down this yellow brick road and that... and still I haven't found the golden key to the kingdom of my heart. I just want back the parts of me that believed in drawing and painting and trees and sunshine and little mice families smiling happily at the dinner table with honey and cheese and berries bursting with the life of the Earth.

I just need to have that part of me back, that younger, more carefree and imaginative me. Not this concrete-headed inflexible pens and notes me...

Even at this point of my life, I'm neither a scientist nor an artist nor a bookworm nor a musician a nerd or geek...

but it's okay. All I want to be  is that pony with rainbow hair, or that sparkly-skinned silver-haired mare.

The Adventure to Pulau Ubin

I went on an adventure to explore Pulau Ubin with my sister yesterday, in lieu of her birthday on which the actual date I would not be able to celebrate due to a competition.
It was quite wondrous and fascinating seeing all bits and pieces of nature this little island had to offer. We took the trial that would eventually lead us to the Chek Jawa Wetlands Boardwalk. It was about a 3.4km walk there, but we decided not to rent bikes because we wanted to stop often along the way to observe the little things that one would easily miss zooming along on a bike.

It is quite rare to have someone that will stare at little ferns and mosses with you and agree to stop at every slightly interesting looking leaf or creature so it was great to go on this adventure with the right company!

We saw a snake slither away from our feet only because we stopped to look at an interesting leaf, and as we got up from finishing our packed lunch and continued our way down the path, a wild pig galloped across the road with much belly wobbling involved. Three leaf skeletons showed us their journey through life through their running veins. A butterfly posed for pictures. Fiddler crabs waved us good-day.

Though it was scorching and felt like the Earth was melting under me, I enjoyed every bit of it (except maybe the part where we were walking back and our feet were aching like mad because we had walked over 6km already!). We drowned ourselves in chin chow and even had dessert at a newly discovered place near home called D'zerts Cafe. They have some awesome looking desserts that I can't wait to try!

My Favourite

Word in the entire vocabulary is

DREAM.

There are many definitions to it, all of which, quite wonderful. Here's what dictionary.com has to say:

dream[ dreem ]
noun
1. a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep.
2. the sleeping state in which this occurs.
3. an object seen in a dream.
4. an involuntary vision occurring to a person when awake.
5. a vision voluntarily indulged in while awake; daydream; reverie.
6. an aspiration; goal; aim: A trip to Europe is his dream.
7. a wild or vain fancy.
8. something of an unreal beauty, charm, or excellence.

verb (used without object)
1. to have a dream.
2. to indulge in daydreams or reveries: He dreamed about vacation plans when he should have been working.
3. to think or conceive of something in a very remote way (usually followed by of): I wouldn't dream of asking them.

verb (used with object)
1. to see or imagine in sleep or in a vision.
2. to imagine as if in a dream; fancy; suppose.
3. to pass or spend (time) in dreaming (often followed by away): to dream away the afternoon.

adjective
1. most desirable; ideal: a dream vacation.

Synonyms:
bubble*, castle in the air, chimera, daydream, delusion, fancy, fantasy, hallucination, head trip, idea, image, imagination, impression, incubus, mental picture, nightmare, pie in the sky, pipe dream, rainbow, reverie, specter, speculation, thought, trance, vagary, wraith

Okay I wouldn't say all the synonyms are wonderful, but "castle in the sky", "pie in the sky".. kinda cute too huh!

I don't know why but I am greatly attracted by this word. Maybe I just love dreaming. For one, I get the most fantastic dreams. Also, they relate to reality. Like goals. Aspirations. Good stuff and unicorn fluff.

Anyway i saw this shirt in Editor's Market for a crapsicranium $159. It's a shirt. And a thin one. And the words aren't even the original artwork in raw medium. I don't know how they priced it. And I will attempt to paint my own version.