Job, this is for you.

Hear the song (in MP3 format) –> Needful Things (lyrics & melody by Ijah Amran)

Needful Things

If you need to put your
head on my shoulder
If you need to lay down
and rest
If you need someone to
hold
If you need someone to
say I care
If you need to speak
softly in my ears
I am here

If you need to let go of
all your fears
If you need to break down
and cry
If you need to be touched
If you need to be loved
If you need to feel safe

I will not take these
things for granted
Every little smile and
every prayer
I will not take these
things for granted
Everything you need
I am here

If you need to break down

And weep tonight
If you need to twine your
hands with mine
If you need to heal your
wounds
If you need to be alone
If you need to look
deeply into your soul
I am here

If you need to get down
on your knees
And pray in silence
If you need to speak
without saying a word
If you need to belong
If you need to be free
If you need to breathe

I am here
I am here

This is my goodbye.

Artist: Mr. Children
Title: Karakaze no Kaerimichi (The Way Home in a Dry Wind)
Album: Shifuku no Oto

A dry wind blows,
so let’s walk a little holding hands
we took our cues from the flowers and plants
swaying ever so slightly.

on a TV show I saw last night
a sick child was crying
Not to say that’s the reason but,
I must be thankful for where I am

today comes to an end
we’ll meet again next week
‘goodbye’ has a sad ring to it but
with you, it’s words of love.

even if we gripe, and moan
the hours will still go by so
let’s take our cues from the flowers and plants
and wave silently

today comes to an end
we’ll surely meet again
‘goodbye’ has a sad ring to it
but when I say it, it’s words of love.

a dry wind blows
so I’ll walk with my hands in my pockets
taking my cue from the flowers and plants
I walk into the wind,
by myself to the bus stop
on the road home in a dry wind.

Translated By: Brian Stewart & Takako Sakuma

Romaji

karakkaze ga fuita kara
sukoshi te wo tsunaide arukou yo
hana ya kusagi ni narai bokura
karuku yurenagara

yuube mita terebi no naka
yamai no kodomo ga naiteita
dakara jyanai ga kou shiteirareru koto
kansha wo shinakucha na

kyou no hi ga owaru
mata raishuu ni aeru

’sayonara’ ha kanashii hibiki dakedo
kimi to naraba ai no kotoba

kuyande mo nageitete mo
jikan ha sugiteshimau kara
hana ya kusagi ni narai bokura
damatte te wo furou

kyou no hi ga owaru
mata kanarazu aeru
’sayonara’ ha kanashii hibiki dakedo
boku ga ieba ai no kotoba

karakkaze ga fuitakara
poketto ni te wo iretearuku yo
hana ya kusagi ni narai boku ha
mukai kaze wo ukete
hitori de basutei made
karakkaze no kaerimichi.

Romaji By: Brian Stewart

Today I spent a small fortune buying make-up. It wasn’t spurred by anything in particular. I think I was beyond being stressed out. Without a thought in my head I decided I want to throw out all my existing make up and buy something new.

To you boys out there who think make up is frivolous, well, that’s why you’re still single and reading this blog instead of wrestling under the sheets having swinging sex so hot that the neighbours call the police to bang on your door to keep the noise down.

Anyway, I bought, in no particular order: blush from Body Shop, pink eyeshadow and plum mascara from Clinique, green and yellows and blues quad eyeshadow from Red Earth, plum lip stain from Estee Lauder, smooting serum by TREsemme and essential liquid wash by ZA. The look on my face when I tallied up the bill? Priceless. For everything else… there’s always mastercard.

As I walked pass Renoma, my heart beat a little faster when I saw a black leather heel with lace trimmings at the window display. Did I buy it? Some things are better left a mystery.

Ah. The situation at work. Workwise it has improved. The politicking - worsened. It’s not that I don’t have the guts or the heart to get down and dirty, the point is, boys and girls, I do not want to get down and dirty.

So, I am opting out. It is an option that I have now exercised.

I need to explain this bit. There is a certain level of nonsense and backbiting and bitchin’ and fish-mongering that I deliberately tolerate. Trust me, where work is concerned, I have a very high tolerance level. So you hate me? Who cares. The feeling is mutual.

What I will not tolerate is mediocrity and the constant pulling of each other to ensure that everyone operate on the same mediocre level.

I was looking through my albums the other day and as I was flipping the pages, I had the urge to re-read my mission statement. Okay, you can laugh. But when I was 18, I committed a few promises to myself on paper. The first of the promises happened to be (and I am looking at the paper as I type this) to live with integrity and uncompromising honesty. I thought about it long and hard. While I have not been pushed to the point that I need to do any compromising, I am acutely aware that I cannot continue operating this way without feeling that I am being dumbed down. I don’t need to be beautiful, that’s what the new bag of make-up is for. But I need to be smart. I need to be sharp. The mind is a sad thing to waste. So, before I lose my intuition, my sense of prediction, my gut feeling… before I lose my ahbility to think beyond the current situation, the kindest things to do to myself is to get out of the situation before it slides even further.

I will not be a lemming.

I will not be a lemming.

I will not be a f**king lemming.