Late Night Poet

“Hi!” from the Other Side

One lazy afternoon while I was struggling with flu, a Facebook friend from the other side of the globe sent a “Hi!” in my inbox.  This must be his first time to see a foreigner in Facebook, he sounded so interested. “My name is Rachid Akbhar (real name withheld). I am from Morocco. It is an Arabic name. Weird. Lol.” “I like the sound of it,” I proceeded with the usual niceties. I introduced…

Do not get too attached to the characters when reading George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones . Detachment is the only way to salvation when the author decides to plot a twist that can tear your heart apart. Martin lures you to invest emotions in the characters only to obliterate them as the story takes its course. Game of Thrones is a contemporary epic; it is beyond good versus evil. The…

                 Lady Gaga is a universal gay icon. That was confirmed upon the release of her Born This Way album. Although it feels like she tried so hard to please listeners with self-empowerment lyrics, Lady Gaga still produces the ultimate dance-pop music. Her latest album, however, is a deviation from her usual musical style. It has a wider range of musical genres; opera and metal among others.

Enya - May It Be

♬ Mornië utúlië (Darkness has come)

Believe and you will find your way 

Mornië alantië (Darkness has fallen)

Do not get too attached to the characters when reading George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones (AGoT). Being unemotional is your only weapon when the author tries to tear your heart apart. Martin lures you to invest emotions in the characters only to obliterate them as the plot takes its course. This contemporary epic is beyond good versus evil. The characters are complex and unpredictable. In the world of Westeros where struggle for power dictates the rules of the game, everybody presumes their own interest and follows their own codes. Conventional epics reward heroism, goodness, and honor; in AGoT, the righteous are slain and the wicked emerges triumphant.

We have vowed not to read George R.R. Martin’s work anymore after A Game of Thrones. He has this wicked talent of tearing our hearts into smithereens by casting catastrophes and death upon the characters we have already loved. We thought Eddard Stark was the main protagonist so we were too surprised and emotional when King Jeoffrey put his head on a stake. We decided not to move on, but we did anyway.

A Clash of Kings reveals so much about the author: he does not make it easier for his characters. Nobody gets away unscathed. A Game of Thrones is packed with words of wisdom, but the sequel, A Clash of Kings, is just brutal. We keep on wishing that fate will favor the Starks of Winterfell. We pray that the bastard king be castrated and be fed to the wolves of the North. But Martin gives no hope of defeating the Lannisters. King Renly, the only hope of the North for an allegiance, was slayed by his brother Stannis. On the other side, Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons march to claim the Iron Throne with fire and blood. Readers will be asked to take sides and we are torn between House Targaryen and House Stark. We make a list of characters we want dead: Cersei, Jeoffrey, Jaime. But this is Westeros where kindness is stupidity and treachery a weapon. We are wise enough to read objectively, but we just cannot help it. Martin is a brilliant writer next to J.R.R. Tolkien, but we also loathe him.

Ingrid Michaelson - Sort Of

Rachael Yamagata - Reason Why

Sheryl Crow - Now That You're Gone