In Continuum.

My birthday has ended for a while now, as some of you may already know, and I was at the bus stop today when I bumped into Jody. Before I go into that, can I just say that the new module seems like it is going to be impossible to deal with? I know how it is when you first get the course outline, everything seems to be overwhelming at first. It is a false perception, because you are getting the entire semester at a glance, all at once. It is an inevitable feeling with most of the other modules, but this one seems very different. We have exactly five weeks to finish the entire module this time, and we have twelve chapters to complete, along with a written report and a half an hour presentation - it is insane. I swear, I don't think the lecturer has taught a full course in such a short period of time before, and she obvious has no idea what she is in for this time around. You seriously don't try to stuff everything into a five week summer semester and expect yourself to be able to cope with it, much less the students. I have no idea if I am going to pull through this time truth be told, and half of my mind is thinking about dropping this module altogether. The deadline is tomorrow, but I don't suppose I will be, since groups have already been formed. The first day of the class and I am already stressed out of my mind.

Anyway, after class today, I made my way to the bus stop and met Jody there who was on her way to meet some friends (she is always on her way to meet some friends, it seems). So we talked a little bit, and she remembered that my birthday was yesterday, and she started asking me what I did for my birthday and stuff like that. I told her about it, and she seemed somewhat surprised that I didn't do anything more than what I have already done. It seems like not doing anything extravagant is somewhat abnormal, and that getting piss drunk is the thing to do on your birthday. She asked if I went for a movie with my girlfriend, and in my mind I was just thinking what kind of a couple would spend a birthday together watching a movie. I mean, I'd much rather sit and talk with my partner for two hours than to spend the same amount of time just staring at a giant screen. Besides, it's not like there is anything in the theaters right now that is worth my money anyway, which is frustrating. Singapore never imports anything worth the ticket price for me, but those movies that are supposed to be "bankable". I can bet with you that 500 Days of Summer is not going to come anytime soon.

Anyway, the day of my birthday kinda started out like any other for the most part. As mentioned in the previous entry, it started out with that horrendous mid-terms paper that I really do not want to get back, nor discuss it with my friends at all. After that was my trip home and the effort of trying to catch up on blogging, something which I have been missing out on for the past couple of days. Anyway, I knew Neptina was going to come over to my place, but then I didn't exactly know when. Her classes end a little later than my own on Mondays, and I wasn't sure when she'd drop by as promised. So I kinda waited for her while I did my own thing at home, and she called at about three-thirty in the afternoon, saying that she was outside my front door. She does that a lot, so I approached the door with my guards down for the most part, and completely unassuming. I opened it, and there she was with a little tray and candles flickering in her face. I totally did not see that coming, and it was even more awesome that she managed to form the letter "W" on an eclair! Eclairs are like my secret guilty pleasure of sorts, and I am disappointed that so many parties that I have been to seldom ever caters eclairs. Anyway, instead of chocolate, it was coated in caramel this time, and I made a wish and blew the candles right on my doorstep, half thinking to myself if it'd trigger some kinda smoke detector somewhere.

The truth is that I am not the kind of guy who'd want to hit a club on my birthday, or to be carried home by my buddies at the end of the night. I suppose it is nice to do that, but then there isn't a written rule anywhere to tell us what to do on our own birthdays, you know. I suppose people would expect you to want to hang lose, go out, get crazy. I think that is what others do, what some of my friends would like to do on their own birthdays. To me, however, birthdays aren't something actually worth celebrating about, unless you are ninety years old, and every year seems like a kind of miniature miracle or something like that. But I am not even a quarter of my way there yet, and birthdays to me feel like just another day. I don't need a special day in the year to want to hang out with my friends, to be good to myself, to make wishes, you know. I can do that anytime that I want, and the same goes with anniversaries and stuff like that. I don't like the idea of having this one day in the year when you have to do something, when it really should be done any time. So, birthdays, not a big fan of it, and I don't celebrate it. Still, a little fine dining for example, that won't exactly be a problem at all. So I was glad that Neptina came over yesterday and gave me that little surprise. I dislike surprises in general, but that one took my breath away.

The great thing about her and I, I feel, is the understanding of simplicity. I honestly think that if I were to share my perfect day with other girls, they'd probably not want to include my name in their cellphone contacts. My perfect date, so to speak, isn't exactly the kind of conventional dates that people would think about. Some would probably like a trip up the ferris wheel, or a romantic night out at the beach, or something like that. It's not that I don't like such a thing, but it's just that I don't see the significance of the location as compared to the quality of the company, you know. I just feel that if you are with the right person, then anywhere you go is going to be as perfect as it gets. Anyway, my perfect date is probably as simple as "a day spent with my loved one", or something like that. But it's true, because that is exactly the kind of simplicity that I crave for, you know. The great thing about Neptina is that she complements this idea perfectly, agreeing with me on that count and then fitting into the minimalist picture so perfectly. She isn't one for extravagance, and asks only for the simple little things in a relationships. We shared the day together, and I felt that that was probably the best birthday ever. It's boring to some, but it was my birthday.

I like how she has the ability to watch me sleep. I mean, if I can separate myself from my physical body, I wouldn't be able to watch myself sleep. I can picture the twisted lips and the hint of drool in the corner, and then the eyeballs rolling underneath my eyelids. Simply put, it isn't a sight I can look at for a long time, but apparently she can. I slept a little bit while she was over yesterday, and she confessed to be able to watch me sleep for some reason. She likes the feeling of my eyelashes against her cheeks, and the way my lower lips droop over the edges. Or the way I would play the guitar from behind her back and stuff like that - the little things. I suppose when it comes to relationships, you know, your partner really should be the one making it simpler for you in life, and not more complicated. In the past, it seems to be normal for my life to be a lot more complicated and troubling, and I assumed it to be the norm and thought that everybody goes through the same thing. In contrast, though, it just seems like I really should have realized the signs. When you are in a relationship, it should come down to simple little things. You know what they are, when you feel like you are so full to the brim, you know. It shouldn't be difficult, because love isn't. With Neptina, that's how things seem to be like.