TroisNyx*, syndiquée par ceux qui lisent.

You turn on the computer. You head over to Skyrock, YouthMalaysia, Facebook, Friendster, your teacher's web page, your former school choir weblog, YourSpins to judge the remix competitions - and win something yourself ; and finally, Windows Live Spaces. To save the time and the trouble, perhaps, you would choose to open 7 tabs in one sole window. And the next thing you know, either your Flash loads slowly or your Internet Explorer 7 crashes.

But it sure is irritating to find that your Skyrock page, with naught but pictures and text on it, crashes often. And that, my friends, is the page where I write all my lyrics and poems. Well, I even throw in a few questions for the public to answer every now and then.

I have been writing a lot there, and 97% of it is French - probably to appeal to the greatest audience Skyrock has ever received - the French-speaking commune. I said audience particularly because Skyrock started as a radio station. When a friend actually invited me to join Skyrock for the first time, my page was - bleeeeeaaaargh - old and boring and had tiny text. Now colours are splashed everywhere. And it is a semi-secular, semi-religious blog - but I still try to remain liberal ; after all, I am TroisNyx*.

And while writing here, I now realise that even my YouthMalaysia window is not loading at all. AAAAARRRRGH ! Talk about Internet jams !

Well, the crazy idea I was supposed to talk about here was some sort of competition - for my parish anniversary, that is - Assumption Church is how old again ? - and they are involving the parishioners in the celebration, with activities of sorts...... I remember Daniel was talking to me about this songwriting thing, and this logo design thing, and I know it has something to do with the Bible, Our Book - but I have not a clue about the rules. This morning, thinking of what to do, not taking into account the size and colours of the logo, I just did some pen sketches - only to have six sheets of paper going into the recycle bin. And, as it usually happens, while writing the song, I found that I only had the music, but not the lyrics. Yesterday afternoon I was scrambling into the common room, perusing the Bible and reading it carefully - not only to digest the Psalms, but also to find things with the word "Word". And I will seriously need to get help from the Sunset Band.

My Skyrock page would not have these lyrics...... not until they are finished. Perhaps, if I am hardworking enough, I would search for a good pic and place it in the article box...... until the lyrics are written.

Till then, I invite you to feast your eyes with colours, French songs and questions, Lilly Town by Alizee, and probably a few English texts too - http://troisnyx-cadence.skyrock.com/

Ah, bite me.

Apparently "created" by Annette Singh.

Life is like a Skyrock duel. You choose to engage in it or you back out. Sometimes, the people with whom you are contending are people you do not know. You choose to win, or you choose to lose. However, if you choose to win, it is not often easy as - after all, both parties contending in the duel want the victory for themselves. The same case would go for loser vs. loser games. In most cases, people pick you for the way you carry yourself - they put priority on the public image rather than the person inside. And sometimes, it is the "wrong" person who wins. But at the end of the day, it is a matter of being a contender - not a fierce one, surely, but a fair and honest one - so much so that over time, people who do not know you will take a liking to you and vote for you at all costs (even if it means creating a second profile to do that).

I wrote this "theory" after winning more than 150 Skyrock duels, losing 6 and getting tied scores for 2. The Skyrock duel is such : the profile picture is placed head-to-head against another profile picture. The contender, that is. Now, Skyrock users from all over will have the chance to scrutinise both the people in the duel in terms of how their profiles appear, and what kind of public image they have. Then, out of a certain obligation, these users cast their votes - and the one with the most votes wins. I have been in Skyrock since 2006 and the duel system only came in in 2007 when there were more than 100 000 users online. The "theory" was first written in French - as both my Skyrock accounts are in French - and then, I thought of putting it here.

"I thank my God, each time I think of you, and when I think of you, I pray with joy."

I remember my college classmate Eve telling me, walking by faith is like walking on a string between two towers. We sometimes look down and get the feeling that we are about to fall, but God picks us up and we are strengthened once again - tis the unstable, but rewarding road. After pouring out my previous stories to Eve, I cried. I could have just buried my face in Eve's white sweater. For the first time ever, we prayed together. That was Tuesday morning, during the break in between Business Studies class.

What happened on Tuesday night (not Wednesday anymore !) was awesome. I went to church, met Daniel, did mass order as usual, met Uncle Raymund, and showed him the sketch I did, along with the text. And here is the (at the moment) incomplete text :

ONCE UPON A TIME, there was a group in Assumption Church, Pee Jay called the Sunset Band. They praised and worshipped the Lord every sunset mass except the last week of the month. Their leader was Raymund Pragasam, a dude with a powerful ear, powerful frets and powerful ideas. The other dudes were Luques Manickam, a vocalist with a name most often mispronounced, and Cyril, a drummer with public experience who plays from the heart. The resident pianist, Sharm, had a haircut set to turn heads even as far as France. Francis was an experienced harmonica player with a whole lot of stuff in his bag. Chrish was a rising star who showed yours truly that girls have the right to rebel (merci !). Then we have Ivan, a fretboard wizard born in the age of the drummers, and Allan D, a bassist with a liaison to God's Gentle Garden (3G). Erik was also a drummer in Sunset Band, and once had a bad fall, and is now pulling it together. Yours truly, Annette Singh, was a pianist with the heart and soul of a drummer, and one who complained in French. Daniel a.k.a. Nobita was a budding drummer who loved Hillsong and Planetshakers to the extent of going to FGA to see them. The techie dudes were Cheryl Thomas and Derrick : they would not stop twiddling with the PC and equaliser. Amaraa was a high school student with no vocal woes. Penny was a front-row singer who had a breathy, ethereal voice. Jennifer was THE only pianist who peeked in a while or two. Oops ! Wrong English ! Valerie was a vocalist acquainted with loss, and has been through a lot, and called everybody darling. Vinodh was another front-row vocalist who often got the jitters and forgot when to start...... AIE !! Audrey was a youthful vocalist known for her stylish dressing and kebayas.

Phew ! Now that was long ! And to think it is still incomplete !

Anyway, that sparked a lot of buzz : Aunty Sharm had Alizee's Psychedelices haircut so it was sure to turn heads ; Chrishandra doing the drums made me believe that nothing is impossible, even if people around us girls put restrictions not to do this, or that, or whatever. She made me inspired. Nobita was the name Narin gave Daniel : first off, Daniel was shocked by the name Nobita. Next, he was shocked that he "looked" like a girl ! Aunty Valerie had a halo on her head while Uncle Raymund was made to look like a rocker with greyish-brown hair. Uncle Cyril looked much MUCH younger than his age. Uncle Luques was the weirdest-looking person in the sketch - hope colouring will make him look better. Then..... *sigh* Chrish and Uncle Erik both looked like who they were : they were especially shocked that Uncle Erik actually had a brown cap and round glasses - I drew him as I saw him in his class in Pandan Indah. Derrick apparently loved his anime face ; he decided to give me a ride home after practice.

It was so hot, and the fans had to be turned off due to noisy blades, and it was respite for Daniel and me as we both sat on the marble stairs leading to the altar, for one reason... the FAN ! Daniel did drums while I did keys - for the entire Pentecost mass order, yes, coming up this Saturday evening. Aunty Sharm did not sit by the keys today : she will be away this weekend - off to Port Dickson for a retreat. So I was all alone there. I always wondered if Uncle Cyril could at least see how Daniel and I play the drums - and maybe give us feedback. Hopefully during retreat - um, holiday - um, whatever.

I came to the communion (or was it thanksgiving ?) hymn - Come Holy Spirit - and the next thing I knew, I was closing my eyes, and not seeing what I was playing, I was praying in tongues..... and playing slightly off chords - to be honest, something actually rained on me. And I felt it.

The ride home with Derrick and Daniel was fun. The air-conditioner was in full speed, and Derrick drove like a hero. I told both of them about my practice woes : I always practised better in church - with either minimal or no mistakes. At home, however, it was the opposite : I often made mistakes. Firstly, it was because the hi-hat and the snare drum were further apart from each other at home (the hi-hat was much higher) and secondly, I was still rather afraid of the kind of "feedback" my mom would give. Derrick asked me to ask Uncle Raymund for a chance to play the drums during Novena. Ah well, hope it works. Daniel started with that (and the Charismatic masses) - surely I may be able to start somewhere too, if God wills it.

The first half of today was boring. I practised to no avail. I made more mistakes than ever and I was hoping that I could do something better for a change. But I loved Tuesday night. The only person missing........ was Chrishandra. *sobs* The second half of today was superb : I witnessed and answered several challenges and questions other people (especially from other denominations) asked me - and now they are like..... well, I will wait and see.

Speaking about Chrishandra, I wanted to tell her this for a very long time : I play the drums - not because I wish to take after anyone or take over the group or anything - but it is pretty much a childhood wish come true. A prayer answered. The beats resound in my heart for one cause - His cause. Whether or not I do frets later, it is up to Him in all cases. God took me down the long road and not the short instant road - so that I may understand who I am playing for.