Kafka
June 6th, 2010
new york: i once heard in a song that these streets will make you feel brand new. i often stumble onto the cobblestone looking for nothing in particular (many times bleary with sleep or indifference) – but sometimes, just sometimes, i emerge holding something rare. as always, i was late that afternoon. i think i made up a silly excuse about a problem set i had yet to finish, when i’d actually finished it the night before. see, there are times when you know that you’re about to encounter something curiously interesting- and i had a feeling this was going to be one of those times, so i really needed the extra time to look extra cute. i ended up being an hour late. granted, it made for a rather lousy first impression, but he was already taboo guy and i was already bee gees girl from that one time so long ago. though i must say those accolades from our past lives didn’t make an immediate difference– because i didn’t remember his name then and he didn’t think twice about me. he was just the guy who played taboo with style, and i was just some girl who liked the bee gees. brunch afternoon feels like just yesterday. games night, on the other hand, feels like a lifetime ago. i keep telling him now how awful he is for being 1.5 years late. at least i was only an hour late for brunch. well, i’m not sure what exactly he’s late for, but it seems to me that he was late for everything.
i also heard that in the streets of new york, there is a space in between indignation and anticipation, where one can be doomed to wait in the name of fate. that’s where i’m trapped right now, as he sleeps in the next room, completely drained from a long night out with friends and too many bottles of sake. i wish he would wake up because i miss him. but he’s reached some kind of oblivious world and i have a sinking feeling i’m not going to be able to talk to him until the afternoon.
so, while he sleeps, and i have this rare pocket of time to myself, i’d like to introduce you to Kafka. he’s tall, lean, deliberate, intelligent, tender, kind, and eternally conscious. occasionally judgmental but in an affable way. he loves music, movies, inappropriate jokes that no one else gets, narrow alleys, plaid shirts and bright colours. when he smiles, mischief springs into his eyes, and his lips will dart into that lopsided smile– and i can’t help but wonder if i’ve ever met anyone this irresistible. whenever i forget my keys and he comes to the door to get me, with open arms, those eyes and that smile, i realize with something like a painful slice how nearly we almost missed each other. and how fragile everything i hold in my hands is. one insensitive utterance, one day too late, one email not sent out, one train not taken, and i’d be somewhere else. on that brunch afternoon, we chanced upon a den of lamps, and the manager amicably suggested to Kafka that he buy a lamp for his ‘girlfriend’, i.e. me. we played along with the stranger but Kafka would later ask for my thoughts on what had happened- what do you think it is about us that made him think we were a couple? i think i said, aiyah i dont think it was anything, probably accompanied with an eye roll – but it was quite actually everything. 1.5 years late, but still, everything.
this introduction is unraveling itself quite differently from how i’ve been envisioning it, but for once i’d like to just do away with the veils and nebulous ideas – and simply tell everyone that i’m in love.
Entry Filed under: Kafkaesque
78 Comments Add your own
1. suanie | June 6th, 2010 at 6:26 am
hello kafka
2. Lisa Cheah | June 6th, 2010 at 6:40 am
Nawww, that was so heartfelt and adorable. :)
3. yapthomas | June 6th, 2010 at 7:01 am
hooorrahhh! :D
What a nice introduction…. :D
4. flory | June 6th, 2010 at 7:43 am
omg so cute. the diehard vicarious romantic in me is squealing. also, Kafka. KAFKA.
5. misshazel | June 6th, 2010 at 7:50 am
oh. :)
6. Sam | June 6th, 2010 at 8:54 am
The title led me to think it had something to do with Murakami’s Kafka on the shore. Instead, your post left me squealing with delight at the prospect of more happifying stories to come =)
7. melissa | June 6th, 2010 at 9:08 am
awwww. :)
8. mae | June 6th, 2010 at 9:14 am
Nothing better than to give your love a pseudonym of such a brilliant thinker. (unless his name is really Kafka, but he doesn’t look Czech/Austrian) Everything sounds lovely. It’s wonderful. :)
9. nyrac | June 6th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Aww. Kafka by the Pau :)
10. winter | June 6th, 2010 at 9:51 am
can’t help but to feel happy for u =)
11. KY | June 6th, 2010 at 10:37 am
kafka is a lucky blokeee
12. kimberlycun | June 6th, 2010 at 11:15 am
harlo kafka, u sound like a nice guy but treat her well or we’ll get u.
13. eyeris | June 6th, 2010 at 11:39 am
Lucky kafka! I second Kim, treat her right or we’ll get you!!!!
14. little red riding hood | June 6th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
brilliant. :)
15. Taka | June 6th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Kafka Tamura? ;>
16. Jun | June 6th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
aww, su ann, your posts on relationships are always so beautiful :) keep up the lovin’!
17. hermann | June 6th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
ah, i also heard that these streets are where dreams are made of.
clearly some were made, realized, interwoven that one fateful brunch afternoon.
18. voon | June 6th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
why is kafka more handsome than me? :(
19. Michelle Chin | June 6th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Kafka. Haruki Murakami. Hello
20. abby | June 6th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
amazing post :]
21. iamthewitch | June 6th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Welcome to the blogosphere Kafka! Hope to see you on quaintly.net more often soon ;)
22. sheon | June 6th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
“she’s cute, hot and a nice person…there, meet XXX my gf.” thats how i’m gonna intro my gf to anybody….
but not pinks….pinks gotta write a pulitzer of an intro of hers.. nice one. have fun!!! :)))
23. Patricia | June 6th, 2010 at 11:19 pm
congrats <3
24. jenny | June 7th, 2010 at 12:47 am
what an intro! so romantic!
25. Jian Wei Ang | June 7th, 2010 at 12:52 am
Finally an introduction. =)
26. xiang yun | June 7th, 2010 at 2:31 am
Beautiful piece =D
27. Kafka | June 7th, 2010 at 3:04 am
such a kind introduction! now it’s my turn at rare pockets of time while she slumbers.
maybe we should pay a visit to that inquisitive manager at that den of lamps; ask him what he noticed about the silly ‘couple’ who wandered in that would prompt the question. though i have a feeling we both already know the answer…
some more brush me off when i brought it up half-chatty, half-curious, and fully interested!
28. kevin | June 7th, 2010 at 4:08 am
boooo … 1 and a half year late. mine must be taking a real detour! lets hope she’s only 2 years late. X(
29. nyrac | June 7th, 2010 at 4:59 am
lol @sheon’s comment :) but so true.
30. yuine | June 7th, 2010 at 5:14 am
WHY SO CUTE, PP <3 Beautiful introduction!
31. Alynna | June 7th, 2010 at 6:34 am
Bonjour Kafka! :)
More stories, please!
Hehe, I’m so greedy. :P
32. ShaolinTiger | June 7th, 2010 at 6:45 am
Congrats :D
33. celchin | June 7th, 2010 at 7:31 am
nice!! can’t wait for more stories & pictures of the two of you :)
34. Zeek | June 7th, 2010 at 8:09 am
congrats! now no more emo post. its all blue skies and everything nice…..
35. Yang | June 7th, 2010 at 9:04 am
That was truly sweet :) i bet he would be giving you that smile when he reads this every now and then.
Hope this is the one! :)
36. Esther | June 7th, 2010 at 10:23 am
awww. so sweet :)
37. Nicholas | June 7th, 2010 at 10:36 am
Mayb I have been slacking on my reading, but somehow u have the best strokes of language of all those i have encountered.
And i intend to keep it that way. :)
38. sj | June 7th, 2010 at 11:12 am
you write beautifully. such a vivid and precise expression of love :)
39. Hannah | June 7th, 2010 at 11:18 am
Heh. About time. :P
40. yizhen | June 7th, 2010 at 11:51 am
beautifully written ;) and you guys are such a cute couple. :)
41. colin | June 7th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Congrats. =)
42. starmist | June 7th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
very very sweet!!
43. valerie | June 7th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
brilliant writing as always suann! :) how did the two of you meet?
44. cherry | June 7th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
sweet~ =D
45. charlene | June 7th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
your intro brought me a smile today. congrats on finding love!
46. Anne | June 7th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
awwww… that was a wonderful post!
47. sarah | June 8th, 2010 at 2:23 am
omg i love the way you introduced him! :)
hello kafka! :) take good care of pinkpau okay!
and yay for both of you finding love…good luck and here’s wishing you lots of happiness!!
48. yv | June 8th, 2010 at 2:28 am
i reli like this post! :) so sweet as alwasy pinkpau!
49. christine | June 8th, 2010 at 2:53 am
KAFKA?why so hot one the name!!!!
50. Zhi Wei | June 8th, 2010 at 5:13 am
this is lovely :)
51. Yu Jeen | June 8th, 2010 at 7:21 am
I like it. R u going to share milo nuggets with Kafka??
52. k0k | June 8th, 2010 at 7:29 am
This post reminds me why I love reading you so much. And Kafka is so… kafkaesque. Are we talking about Franz or Murakami here?
53. sieutheng | June 8th, 2010 at 9:27 am
so when do i get to meet him?!
54. joyce | June 8th, 2010 at 10:34 am
i dissolved. :)))))
55. chm | June 8th, 2010 at 10:50 am
I wish you two the best of luck. Don’t make Pau sad or well; you’ve read the above i suppose. We KEEEEEEEEEL you!!!!
56. sweatlee | June 8th, 2010 at 11:57 am
awww im so late la no. 57 edi no fun! such a sweet post ♥ ♥ pheweet
57. kehrole | June 8th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
hi scary quaintly iz me. a/s/l?
your bf looks very cute, can intro?
kthxbye wtf
58. quaintly | June 8th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
suanie : :))
lisa cheah : haha havent written one of these in a long time…
yapthomas thank u!
flory : everyone’s fav 15 year old lugging a backpack of obsessions :)
miss hazel : :)
sam : oh but it does have a lot to do with the murakami book!
melissa : /blush!
mae : he isnt czech/austrian, but yes, half named after franz kafka. i think you’re the only one who didnt immediately think it was the murakamian protagonist!
nyrac : hahaha :D
winter : thank u so much :)
KY : awwww
kimberlycun, eyeris : sniff you guys are the best
little red riding hood : what is?
taka : 50% so
jun : i will … :)
hermann : yes mr hesse, fate has been kind to me
voon : no one is more leng chai than u, VKL !
michelle : is it meee you’re looking foorrrrr
abby : thank u :))
iamthewitch : haha so many things to say. not sure where to begin!
sheon : haha pulitzer ur head la!
patricia : thank u :)
jenny : glad u think so… i worried it wouldnt be romantic enough :P
jian wei : indeedy!
xiang yun : thank u :))
kafka : moment spoilerrrrrr (haha it’s been a while)
kevin : ONLY??
yuine : CUTE AH :D thank u thank u!
alynna : i should get him to write some stuff when i’m busy with exams… :D /schemes
shaolintiger : tq! but not as romantic as announcing it via an online show though :D
celchin : more to come im sure :)
zeek : hahaha why u say until like i’m super morbid…
yang : me too. :)
esther : haha thank u !
nicholas : aww that’s so nice of u to say :)
sj : thank u :)) i’m trying hard at this writing stuff !
hannah : :P i’m a shy girl ma
yizhen : heehee
colin : thank u!
starmist : not cavity inducing i hope…!
valerie : maybe i’ll leave him to tell that story :D
cherry : thank u! ps i love cherries
charlene : thank u so much :)
anne : glad u think so!
sarah : yes yes kafka u must take care of pinkpau! and thank u sarah for ur well wishes .. :)
yv : /blush!
christine : HOT LEH !!!
zhi wei : :)))
yu jeen : my milo nuggets are only for you, mr lim!
k0k : both :)
sieutheng : u come back for summer first la cibai
joyce : noooo! /performs reduction
chm : stopppp TOUCHING MEEEEH!
sweatlee : pheweet ah moi ah moi
kehrole : u can haz sebaztian?
59. yongschew | June 9th, 2010 at 3:15 am
Congrat! :) haha more to come? :P
60. xiao | June 9th, 2010 at 4:40 am
love!
61. aunt | June 9th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
generate so much interest. thought it is only me. looks like these are the stuffs we all like :) cut across age & gender.
62. Jan | June 10th, 2010 at 2:45 am
I couldn’t imagine a more eloquent unveiling. Congratulations. :)
63. Foong Jin | June 10th, 2010 at 3:58 am
Awww….congrats :D amazing writing as always :D
64. s | June 10th, 2010 at 4:57 am
i had a dream about you last night. in this dream a bunch of people were running in this wide open field. you brought red balloons. i remember they were red because i told you that was the colour of my apartment wall. we drank champagne. someone pulled out a jenga set. i turned around and you were floating up in the air, holding on to your red balloons and asking me to take a picture.. but i didn’t have a camera.
65. aimee | June 10th, 2010 at 10:47 am
what a lovely introduction.
normally my introduction to somebody’s new boyfriend would be an inconspicuous facebook status update.
66. chocalita | June 11th, 2010 at 2:07 am
love this post :)
67. kiasu andrew | June 11th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
i had a dream about you last night too.
68. may | June 12th, 2010 at 7:15 am
I like this ‘you’ you. :) happy for u both!
69. Cat | June 13th, 2010 at 4:26 am
Congrats!!!! :) Wishing you many happy years together!
70. Gin | June 13th, 2010 at 10:02 am
Whoosh. Akhirnya dapat lihat gambar bf yg iu damn lewat baru bagitau. Lol
Phail my bm.
Anyyywaaay. He’s cute =p
71. FA | June 15th, 2010 at 12:16 am
awwwwww
72. FA | June 15th, 2010 at 12:18 am
awwwwww…..
73. Danny | June 16th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
The sweetest thing I’ve read in quite a while.
Wishing you loads of happiness, and loving always.
Kafka on the shore! :))
74. Andrew | June 20th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Kafka is a lucky man. You know something in life that is worth holding on tight to and not let go no matter what, Kafka, this is it. Consider this your wake up call, Kaffie :-)
Su, happy for you ;-)
75. undergraduate | June 21st, 2010 at 10:27 am
So sweet~~ Congratz yaa!
76. christock | June 21st, 2010 at 3:06 pm
aiyo i read this so late! hehe limsuann you funny and.. what’s it called again? Happy. :)
77. My Kafkaesque life | June 22nd, 2010 at 6:09 am
Haha.. cool! Sharing the name with my blog somehow… woohoo. Congrats and good luck, sweetie :)
78. sonofagan | June 23rd, 2010 at 11:01 pm
He may be your Kafka but he’ll always be our whimsical Weems. Treat each other well!
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