i have not really spent time in this newly renovated national library. the usual musty smell of books and sound of slow-turning ceiling fans have been replaced by the air-con and the clicking of footsteps of the librarians have been silenced by the carpet. in fact, the librarians do not walk around much anymore, nor do they stamp return dates on your loan books. much of the familiar sounds and smells of old-school library have long gone.
life still goes on, library still serve its purpose.
so, the bookshelf where the artwork was situated - the comics section. i caught sight of a thick-bound book of the PEANUTS strips. it's been a loooongggg time since i last read PEANUTS. i borrowed the book and was going through it last night till 4.30am, not even half through it.
i first picked up a copy of PEANUTS comics from my primary school library, because the primary 3 boy i had a crush on, loves PEANUTS. i did not understand most of the comic strips featured as they are americanised and my english was not up to standard yet to comprehand what the author was trying to bring across mostly. as the crush on the boy faded, i stopped reading it. but a few characters made a deep impression for me - charlie brown (of course!), snoopy, linus and woodstock. i don't really fancy lucy.
the whole gang re-surfaced into my life around the mid-90s, when mcdonald's happy meal realeased the characters of charlie brown, lucy, snoopy and woodstock as gifts. somehow chie chie fell in love with lucy when my then-boyfriend bought me one. she MUST have it and claimed as hers. i gave in and lucy becames hers. when lucy got really beaten-up with years, dad tried to get her a new one when he chanced upon a whole lot of charlies and lucys at a flea market. in reality, he bought a whole lot of them and was intending to replaced chie chie's once hers get old and dirty. stubborn chie chie clings on to the one and only version. so the new stocks were just sleeping in the cupboard, while the authentic lucy goes through the washing machine numerous times. it is now sitting beside chie chie's urn of ashes.
charlie brown never gets a fancy from chie chie or myself. typical. he is fated not to have friends.
then i was in NZ. he gave me a tiny knitted hat. i have no idea what it was for but i kept it with me during the whole trip. he claimed that it was to keep my camera lens warm. haha. on the day i left, he gave me the owner of the tiny knitted hat - woodstock. i still keep it tucked somewhere in my drawer of memories.
there, PEANUTS is not that easy.
some of the characters i fancy:
charlie brown
linus van pelt and his blanket
Schroeder, who idolizes Beethoven
the dear woodstockand i would love to put a picture of the school teacher,
but we have never seen him or her.
we can only hear "bwah bwah bwah bwah bwah"
as the teacher speaks.
great character.
reader k | 9/10/2006 11:32:00 AM |