A Life Stranger than Fiction

"Little did he know that this seemingly innocuous act would be the cause of his imminent death."

And so narrated the Karen Eiffel about the mundane life of Harold Crick (an IRS agent). He, living a boring and repetitive life, having no friends, and filling his days by counting brushstrokes and steps. And she, a writer who smokes a lot and gets a writer block when it is time to kill Harold Crick.

This is not about that movie, which is very good by the way. But about how I identify with and envy Harold Crick. He's an IRS auditor, I am an external auditor. He lives alone, I currently live alone (still looking for a housemate). Ahhh, he likes the girl who works in the bakery, I like cute guys who work in coffee shops. Hmmm, all right, my life is not the same as his. I can only go so far with the comparisons.

Unlike Harold Crick who lives alone and doesn't realize the boredom in his life, until a strange voice began telling him how mundane and seemingly insignificant his days are, I live with the knowledge that my life is boring. No strange voice need to tell me this. But familiar voices are telling me otherwise, that I have a lot to be thankful for (which is true), that I am cute and attractive (ahem!!!) and so many other things. I guess they're right. But my emotions and my thoughts are not controlled by what others tell me. It is controlled by my sometimes hyperactive brain, which finds unhappiness in the most joyful surroundings and happiness in the bleakest landscapes, which can find the good in the most despisable people and fault in the most likeable persons. Yes, my mind can control a lot of things in my life and I can't seem to control my mind.

I wish that some voice would narrate my life so that I can find busi-ness in the most routine task and in the most empty times. I can just listen to that voice and admire how the most seemingly routine task can be described in the most eloquent of words. But I just wish it would be someone who can speak perfect english (in pronunciation and enunciation) and with a good vocabulary. Otherwise, I'd be spending the rest of my life being irritated and distracted by the grammatical errors and lapses, gross mispronunciation and badly constructed sentences, phrases and clauses. Boring as my current life may be, I still deserve to have someone of talent to narrate my existence.

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(Update) On my way home from the office, it came to my mind that I made a grammatical error in this blog. Something on the cases of two pronouns. And on this very blog where I expressed my disdain for those English-speaking charlatans whose grammars are so bad they sound like the scratching of a fingernail against a chalkboard!!!