After a day of pressing in a thick book under two other thick books.
Lending her a book and decided to give her a surprise.
Her reaction was kinda mild though. Maybe she's just as shy as I am. It's been 4 dates and I still haven't got the guts to hold her hands - the furthest I went was to put my arm around her shoulders.
Next date I'll do it.
23 Nov 2014
The stuff above didn't work. She abruptly stopped talking after the evening of the date. It was weird because the last thing we talked about was an exhibit and she had promised to go. I have a rough idea what happened, on hindsight, and surprisingly, I am not that upset about it.
Got another target now. Haven't seen her before so wondering if she's overweight. We can chat though, mostly because she seems chatty. Will see her on the coming Sunday.
My 桃花运 (luck in romance?) has been pretty good recently. First the 4 dates with that girl, now this.
How it started is pretty unbelievable, except it actually happened.
So I went to an online forum I frequent and said," Ok I've just returned to 'single without target' from being 'single with target'. I bet some ladies are probably happy now because they have a chance."
Yea, I don't know why I got so egotistic there but somehow I just typed that.
Half an hour later, a girl asked if she could have "a queue ticket". Whether it was a joke or not, I didn't know, but I did tell her to PM me if she was serious.
Then someone reminded me that "all the cards are on the table" and I should make the first move.
So I did. Next Sunday, date promised.
The 3-part documentary series "The High Art of the Low Countries" is awesome if you're want a better understanding of Dutch art, including those of Van Gogh and Rembrandt.
The narration was just so clear and informative that even I can understand something of the appeal of Rembrandt's works now. When I go to Amsterdam next year, it will be easier for me to appreciate the works displayed in the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum.
Before this, I had no idea what Rembrandt was about. Heard of the name but that was it. Now I know that his works tend to be more than meets the eye, like in the case of The Night Watch.
At first glance it appears to be a painting of a group of militia about to set out to do something, maybe to a battle. Their weapons are ready and they stand proudly, their leader is making the signal to march.
But if we take a closer look, there is quite a different picture in the details.
First, the man in orange on the left is loading his musket as if he barely knows what he's doing, holding the tube gently, and is afraid that his fingers may get blown off. Second, the shorter man in the centre left behind the main character in black has accidentally misfired, almost hitting another man. Third, the man in dark red on the centre right, behind the man in yellow, is studying his gun as if he doesn't know much about it.
Finally, why on earth are they wearing such finery if they're soldiers about to march?
This showed me one thing about art - in order to appreciate art, you have to be able to take in and process a lot of details that we may normally unconsciously filter away.
Anyway, the group paid Rembrandt handsomely for this piece of work without knowing he was really mocking them in it.
