I. Am. So. Bored.
I'm sick of trying to listen to all the webcasts; it's not working-- got a headache just from staring at the computer screen for too long.
Think I'll just go fiddle around with all the interactive CD courseware that's been provided; that should clear up some of the problems...
And one more big problem is that apparently-- according to Ivan at least-- my lecture notes contain a LOT of unnecessary information. I hate my lecturer all the more right now. Damn stupid..... NGH.
To any FASS students reading this:
DO NOT take "Genes And Society" (LSM1302/GEK1527), unless you have a very strong background/ excellent grounding in A-level Bio or something. (And if that's the case, what on earth are you doing in FASS?!?!)
However, if you choose to find my opinion insubstantial and still feel strongly compelled to read this module, DO NOT choose the lecture group taught by Dr Low Boon Chuan. He is difficult to understand, crappy and uses far too many layman terms, so that in the end, you don't even know the proper names for half of the stuff that is of key importance, in the module.
For example, what kind of science lecturer calls chromosomes "sausages"???
What the hell.
Posting in clubroom right now... feeling really slacky since I haven't done much today besides sleep, play games, watch Clement play games on his lappie and I've only finished my first set of lecture notes for Genes and Soc.
Almost everyone ends their exams by today, if not tomorrow. Ivan and I are taking a small measure of comfort in the fact that Ken's exams end on Wednesday as well, but his will end at 7 pm, while our Genes and Soc paper is in the morning. :D
Hm... still thinking of something to do after paper on Wednesday morning.... suggestions, anyone? Please use the tagboard to your left. :)
(Ivan, if you're reading this, DO NOT suggest going home to sleep. -_-)
Monday, November 29, 2004
Friday, November 26, 2004
I've finally changed the music on my blog; like? :D
Woke up at about 9 am but stayed in bed; couldn't help it-- it was raining quite steadily then and I couldn't pass up the chance to spend a rainy morning in bed!
In the end, I got out of bed at about 10 and slacked around the house for a bit... Finally left for school in the afternoon.
Oddly enough, when I reached school, the clubroom was locked. o_O
After I unlocked it, for the rest of the day, it still remained rather quiet, with just Shaun, Jasmine, Clement, Ivan and me there. Even the corridor outside was unusually empty. Almost like a typical Friday in school, when relatively few people have classes on Friday. Okay, when I say "school", I mean just the Arts faculty, haha. I know other faculties are probably very busy almost everyday. :P
Oh, and I got Shaun to show Ivan the Chubb Chubbs video clip!! "The Chubb Chubbs" is this short film that won an Academy Award for best short animated film, I think, and my goodness, the title characters are the most adorable things ever.
I want a Chubb Chubb for Christmas!! :P
I was rather distracted by that video yesterday, in the afternoon, before my SE paper, haha. I watched it about 5 times in the space of an hour, because people were coming in and out of the room while I was watching it, and they wondered what we were watching, so upon finishing it, we'd start it all over again, haha.
Wasn't very productive today either; only got through two of the GEK1527 webcast lectures. Oh well. :P
Hm.. Ivan's blogpost yesterday reminded me of something that someone once told me. This particular "informant" told me about all the rumours and everything that was going around about myself and Ivan, although frankly, I think both of us had anticipated it and didn't really care. Said "informant" also told me that some people noticed that I behave differently around Ivan, and so they believed that something was going on.
One thing that should be noted is that these people don't know me all that well; I've only known them for about two months. These are mostly the people in the MC, and when I first came into office with the rest of them, I didn't know most of them very well, aside from those who were from my Arts Camp house and whom I'd gotten to be fairly comfortable with during Rag and O Week.
This most probably will sound very bad to most people, but I admit that I have different faces for different groups of people. Which, before you start judging me, you must admit, aren't all that out of the ordinary. Most people would not behave the same way with their bosses as they do with their close friends or family members, for example.
Pamela once told me that if you didn't know me very well, you'd have no idea of how loud I can be; she's right-- anyone's first impression of me usually tends to be wrong. So you can't really say that I'm behaving all that differently when you don't know me very well to begin with, can you?
I usually take some time to warm up to most people, although with a very rare few, I manage to hit it off very fast, some of these people being Pamela and John and lately, Ivan. These rare few are the ones who've probably seen what I can be like in almost every situation; when I start to get more comfortable around people, I'll open up, but in the case of this MC, opening up has only given me more reasons not to open up.
I was doubtful as to whether or not I should tell Ivan about the rumours; I was slightly afraid that in an attempt to dispel the rumours, we might end up drifting apart, but I'm so glad that he could care less about them and that we're still mucking around and being as silly as before. :P
Seeing as our friendship hasn't been affected, that's part of the reason why I'm not withdrawing all over again; if it had been affected, however, I can assure you that I'd be giving some people the evil eye. As it is, Denise and I have learned to be very wary of certain gossipy people.
And people tell Ivan about how our friendship has made me a "brighter and happier person"? Anyone who knows me well enough will know that enjoyable company has a very strong effect on me; stick me with someone whom I can communicate well with for a few minutes, and I'll get high on just the laughter and the company.
So really, there's nothing "different" about me; it's more probable that the majority of you just haven't seen all there is to me yet.
Woke up at about 9 am but stayed in bed; couldn't help it-- it was raining quite steadily then and I couldn't pass up the chance to spend a rainy morning in bed!
In the end, I got out of bed at about 10 and slacked around the house for a bit... Finally left for school in the afternoon.
Oddly enough, when I reached school, the clubroom was locked. o_O
After I unlocked it, for the rest of the day, it still remained rather quiet, with just Shaun, Jasmine, Clement, Ivan and me there. Even the corridor outside was unusually empty. Almost like a typical Friday in school, when relatively few people have classes on Friday. Okay, when I say "school", I mean just the Arts faculty, haha. I know other faculties are probably very busy almost everyday. :P
Oh, and I got Shaun to show Ivan the Chubb Chubbs video clip!! "The Chubb Chubbs" is this short film that won an Academy Award for best short animated film, I think, and my goodness, the title characters are the most adorable things ever.
I want a Chubb Chubb for Christmas!! :P
I was rather distracted by that video yesterday, in the afternoon, before my SE paper, haha. I watched it about 5 times in the space of an hour, because people were coming in and out of the room while I was watching it, and they wondered what we were watching, so upon finishing it, we'd start it all over again, haha.
Wasn't very productive today either; only got through two of the GEK1527 webcast lectures. Oh well. :P
Hm.. Ivan's blogpost yesterday reminded me of something that someone once told me. This particular "informant" told me about all the rumours and everything that was going around about myself and Ivan, although frankly, I think both of us had anticipated it and didn't really care. Said "informant" also told me that some people noticed that I behave differently around Ivan, and so they believed that something was going on.
One thing that should be noted is that these people don't know me all that well; I've only known them for about two months. These are mostly the people in the MC, and when I first came into office with the rest of them, I didn't know most of them very well, aside from those who were from my Arts Camp house and whom I'd gotten to be fairly comfortable with during Rag and O Week.
This most probably will sound very bad to most people, but I admit that I have different faces for different groups of people. Which, before you start judging me, you must admit, aren't all that out of the ordinary. Most people would not behave the same way with their bosses as they do with their close friends or family members, for example.
Pamela once told me that if you didn't know me very well, you'd have no idea of how loud I can be; she's right-- anyone's first impression of me usually tends to be wrong. So you can't really say that I'm behaving all that differently when you don't know me very well to begin with, can you?
I usually take some time to warm up to most people, although with a very rare few, I manage to hit it off very fast, some of these people being Pamela and John and lately, Ivan. These rare few are the ones who've probably seen what I can be like in almost every situation; when I start to get more comfortable around people, I'll open up, but in the case of this MC, opening up has only given me more reasons not to open up.
I was doubtful as to whether or not I should tell Ivan about the rumours; I was slightly afraid that in an attempt to dispel the rumours, we might end up drifting apart, but I'm so glad that he could care less about them and that we're still mucking around and being as silly as before. :P
Seeing as our friendship hasn't been affected, that's part of the reason why I'm not withdrawing all over again; if it had been affected, however, I can assure you that I'd be giving some people the evil eye. As it is, Denise and I have learned to be very wary of certain gossipy people.
And people tell Ivan about how our friendship has made me a "brighter and happier person"? Anyone who knows me well enough will know that enjoyable company has a very strong effect on me; stick me with someone whom I can communicate well with for a few minutes, and I'll get high on just the laughter and the company.
So really, there's nothing "different" about me; it's more probable that the majority of you just haven't seen all there is to me yet.
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Unbelievable.
SE1101E paper was better than I expected, man. I mean, for all that I was panicking the whole of yesterday and this morning and afternoon, it was actually quite all right!
If nothing else, this paper (and almost all my papers thus far) have brought one thing to my attention: as long as I listen during lectures and take notes and actually absorb what the lecturer says, it tends to stick.
For today's SE1101E, I remembered names and dates which I didn't even know that I remembered, but which'd been mentioned in the lectures.. what, last month? Two months ago?
It's actually quite interesting; it seems that everything's all in there somewhere-- it's just a matter of how deep down I have to dig to get to it so that I can bring it out onto the paper.
Another thing that the exams have made me realise: having two "homes" in school make things *very* convenient for you (me, that is).
First, there's the Arts Club Room, which, since it's in my own faculty, makes it an ideal and convenient to place to just stopover and slack at during my free time.
Then there's the Archery Lounge at SRC. Whose usefulness really shows itself during exams. Given that four of my five papers are held at the Multi-Purpose Sports Halls (MPSHs) and that the Archery Lounge is right next to MPSH 5 with MPSH 1 next to that, the Archery Lounge is a good place for some very-very-last-minute cramming just before the papers. Plus, one wall of the Archery Lounge isn't really a wall; it's the slatted sliding door of MPSH 5, which means that during the exam period, the air-conditioning from MPSH 5 gets into the room, making it a lot cooler and more conducive for calming down before paper starts. When you shut the door, you can even block out almost all the noise of the hundreds of people sitting around doing their cramming outside, which makes it *even* better.
I was there just before my SE1101E paper today, and there were more people than usual; previously, I'd only seen Rayner in the room before my last few papers. Today, Ben, his two friends, Zhan Tao and Rayner were there.
Ben's preoccupation with getting me to wear a skirt seems to have not lost any of its momentum. He was commenting that my new haircut looks good (even though both he and Zhan Tao had already seen it prior to yesterday), and that the next step would be to wear a skirt. I saw that coming a mile off.
So, I told him that if he's lucky, I'll consider wearing one for Sports Ball next year. (If I even go for Sports Ball, anyway. These kinds of things don't appeal to me in the slightest.) There was silence for a few seconds after I said that, and he exchanged this smile with Zhan Tao and said, "Okay, we'll hope for that!"
*Rolls eyes* Ben. Well, that's the way he is. It's also part of what makes him so fun to hang around with, really. :D
Well, Hell Week is finally over. My graded papers are finally all over.
Hopefully my 4.0 is still a possibility.
SE1101E paper was better than I expected, man. I mean, for all that I was panicking the whole of yesterday and this morning and afternoon, it was actually quite all right!
If nothing else, this paper (and almost all my papers thus far) have brought one thing to my attention: as long as I listen during lectures and take notes and actually absorb what the lecturer says, it tends to stick.
For today's SE1101E, I remembered names and dates which I didn't even know that I remembered, but which'd been mentioned in the lectures.. what, last month? Two months ago?
It's actually quite interesting; it seems that everything's all in there somewhere-- it's just a matter of how deep down I have to dig to get to it so that I can bring it out onto the paper.
Another thing that the exams have made me realise: having two "homes" in school make things *very* convenient for you (me, that is).
First, there's the Arts Club Room, which, since it's in my own faculty, makes it an ideal and convenient to place to just stopover and slack at during my free time.
Then there's the Archery Lounge at SRC. Whose usefulness really shows itself during exams. Given that four of my five papers are held at the Multi-Purpose Sports Halls (MPSHs) and that the Archery Lounge is right next to MPSH 5 with MPSH 1 next to that, the Archery Lounge is a good place for some very-very-last-minute cramming just before the papers. Plus, one wall of the Archery Lounge isn't really a wall; it's the slatted sliding door of MPSH 5, which means that during the exam period, the air-conditioning from MPSH 5 gets into the room, making it a lot cooler and more conducive for calming down before paper starts. When you shut the door, you can even block out almost all the noise of the hundreds of people sitting around doing their cramming outside, which makes it *even* better.
I was there just before my SE1101E paper today, and there were more people than usual; previously, I'd only seen Rayner in the room before my last few papers. Today, Ben, his two friends, Zhan Tao and Rayner were there.
Ben's preoccupation with getting me to wear a skirt seems to have not lost any of its momentum. He was commenting that my new haircut looks good (even though both he and Zhan Tao had already seen it prior to yesterday), and that the next step would be to wear a skirt. I saw that coming a mile off.
So, I told him that if he's lucky, I'll consider wearing one for Sports Ball next year. (If I even go for Sports Ball, anyway. These kinds of things don't appeal to me in the slightest.) There was silence for a few seconds after I said that, and he exchanged this smile with Zhan Tao and said, "Okay, we'll hope for that!"
*Rolls eyes* Ben. Well, that's the way he is. It's also part of what makes him so fun to hang around with, really. :D
Well, Hell Week is finally over. My graded papers are finally all over.
Hopefully my 4.0 is still a possibility.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Newest thing in Gerri's life:
Ivan Kwan is my new "unofficial" godbrother!
Ahem. *calms down*
Sorry, haha. If you know me well enough, by now, you should know I'm easily amused and easily excitable.. :P Plus, I've never had a godsibling or an older sibling or a brother before, so suddenly gaining all three at one time is all quite... fascinating. Somewhat. :P
Yes, anyway, so I've taken to calling him "gor" (older brother) and he's calling me "xiao-mei" (little sister) in return, and we're probably confusing the hell out of some of the people around the Arts Club Room who're still hell-bent on that rumour, hahaha...
Although, is it counted as a rumour if you've started it yourself? *ponders for a minute*
*decides to stop pondering-- don't have enough brain cells for that*
Soci paper. Was okay. Quite easy, actually; don't understand why some people keep saying that it was really difficult. When I came out of the exam hall, Denise was waiting outside along with some other people who'd come out of the exam hall early. When they said that it was difficult, I had the bloody shock of my life.
It makes me semi-paranoid when I find an exam easy and other people say that it's difficult. Because it can only mean one of two things:
1. Perhaps I'm really smart and I managed to remember all the stuff which I'm supposed to remember and I'm going to do really well! (Which I almost never believe, anyway. So, bleah.)
2. I probably misunderstood half of what was written in there and answered the questions wrongly and/or I gave answers that were too simple and I'm going to fail horribly because I didn't give enough details and oh, haha, I actually thought it was *easy*.
Obviously, most of the time, the second thought springs to mind. It didn't occur to me that fast this time, but now I'm thinking of it. It also doesn't help that, somewhere in the bowels of the Department of Sociology, there is a professor who set the exam questions who has a serious problem with the English Language.
A LOT of those questions were phrased oddly; some of the answers that we were allowed to choose from just didn't go with the rest of the sentence.
For example:
"The example of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit in the Bible is the result of _______"
Of the four choices that we were given, the answer was "early dietary restrictions"; however, wouldn't the question then have made more sense if it'd been phrased this way?:
"Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit in the Bible is an example of early dietary restrictions."
And even then, there's still a problem with the phrasing... eating the forbidden fruit isn't an example of those restrictions; it should be the act of restricting that fruit itself, no?
See what I mean??
I wonder if we can complain if the paper itself is flawed... might help in getting a better grade. :D
Anyone taking SC1101E this sem who's reading this, do you agree? I know Rayner and Xinyan agree with me, so all I need to do is perhaps ask around and round up maybe.. oh, a hundred or so more people and we can all march up to the Soci department's office together and demand maybe 5 more marks for the examiner's folly. ;D
And now, time to face SE1101E.
I can't believe how stupid I am, but I've only just realised that perhaps the module that I should've been most worried about all along should have been SE1101E instead of EN2101E!!
I have not read a SINGLE SE reading since I did not buy the course pack, and I have never studied or revised for it throughout this sem, and since there was no mid-year test for this module, I probably ignored it even more; it seems like my brain has happily forgotten that I take a module called "Southeast Asian Studies". Selective memory indeed. Damn it.
So now I'm in the middle of frantically printing out and reading whatever e-reserves there are on IVLE and using them to read up on stuff for Thailand, Indochina (which is Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) and Malaysia.
Obviously, this is what I'm spotting for the exam, coz to me, it seems like I have quite a good general grasp of what was taught for these countries, along with some vague idea of the significance of religion in the Philippines.
For Thailand and Indochina, the lectures on those two countries/regions were just about the only lectures where I wasn't absolutely bored to death; the history was really quite interesting. Probably because I finally understood what the hell America was doing in Vietnam fighting communists when it really wasn't their business. Not that I found out that they really had any reason to be there; now that I know why they were there, I agree that it was no business of theirs at all. Nosey, uppity, "do-gooders".
And horror of all horrors, it feels like nothing's going in!
Shit, maybe I really burned out after all. :'(
ARGGHHH... And why am I here still blogging?!?! Study, damn it...
Ivan Kwan is my new "unofficial" godbrother!
Ahem. *calms down*
Sorry, haha. If you know me well enough, by now, you should know I'm easily amused and easily excitable.. :P Plus, I've never had a godsibling or an older sibling or a brother before, so suddenly gaining all three at one time is all quite... fascinating. Somewhat. :P
Yes, anyway, so I've taken to calling him "gor" (older brother) and he's calling me "xiao-mei" (little sister) in return, and we're probably confusing the hell out of some of the people around the Arts Club Room who're still hell-bent on that rumour, hahaha...
Although, is it counted as a rumour if you've started it yourself? *ponders for a minute*
*decides to stop pondering-- don't have enough brain cells for that*
Soci paper. Was okay. Quite easy, actually; don't understand why some people keep saying that it was really difficult. When I came out of the exam hall, Denise was waiting outside along with some other people who'd come out of the exam hall early. When they said that it was difficult, I had the bloody shock of my life.
It makes me semi-paranoid when I find an exam easy and other people say that it's difficult. Because it can only mean one of two things:
1. Perhaps I'm really smart and I managed to remember all the stuff which I'm supposed to remember and I'm going to do really well! (Which I almost never believe, anyway. So, bleah.)
2. I probably misunderstood half of what was written in there and answered the questions wrongly and/or I gave answers that were too simple and I'm going to fail horribly because I didn't give enough details and oh, haha, I actually thought it was *easy*.
Obviously, most of the time, the second thought springs to mind. It didn't occur to me that fast this time, but now I'm thinking of it. It also doesn't help that, somewhere in the bowels of the Department of Sociology, there is a professor who set the exam questions who has a serious problem with the English Language.
A LOT of those questions were phrased oddly; some of the answers that we were allowed to choose from just didn't go with the rest of the sentence.
For example:
"The example of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit in the Bible is the result of _______"
Of the four choices that we were given, the answer was "early dietary restrictions"; however, wouldn't the question then have made more sense if it'd been phrased this way?:
"Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit in the Bible is an example of early dietary restrictions."
And even then, there's still a problem with the phrasing... eating the forbidden fruit isn't an example of those restrictions; it should be the act of restricting that fruit itself, no?
See what I mean??
I wonder if we can complain if the paper itself is flawed... might help in getting a better grade. :D
Anyone taking SC1101E this sem who's reading this, do you agree? I know Rayner and Xinyan agree with me, so all I need to do is perhaps ask around and round up maybe.. oh, a hundred or so more people and we can all march up to the Soci department's office together and demand maybe 5 more marks for the examiner's folly. ;D
And now, time to face SE1101E.
I can't believe how stupid I am, but I've only just realised that perhaps the module that I should've been most worried about all along should have been SE1101E instead of EN2101E!!
I have not read a SINGLE SE reading since I did not buy the course pack, and I have never studied or revised for it throughout this sem, and since there was no mid-year test for this module, I probably ignored it even more; it seems like my brain has happily forgotten that I take a module called "Southeast Asian Studies". Selective memory indeed. Damn it.
So now I'm in the middle of frantically printing out and reading whatever e-reserves there are on IVLE and using them to read up on stuff for Thailand, Indochina (which is Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) and Malaysia.
Obviously, this is what I'm spotting for the exam, coz to me, it seems like I have quite a good general grasp of what was taught for these countries, along with some vague idea of the significance of religion in the Philippines.
For Thailand and Indochina, the lectures on those two countries/regions were just about the only lectures where I wasn't absolutely bored to death; the history was really quite interesting. Probably because I finally understood what the hell America was doing in Vietnam fighting communists when it really wasn't their business. Not that I found out that they really had any reason to be there; now that I know why they were there, I agree that it was no business of theirs at all. Nosey, uppity, "do-gooders".
And horror of all horrors, it feels like nothing's going in!
Shit, maybe I really burned out after all. :'(
ARGGHHH... And why am I here still blogging?!?! Study, damn it...
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Okay, so maybe EN2101E wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. :)
Stoppard!... I am so thankful that I decided to read that book yesterday and sort out the basic themes of that darn play once and for all; THANK YOU whatever gods there are out there for putting it into the examiners heads to set that text as one of the context passages.
Nice weather we were having today; was drizzling and raining continuously for quite some time, and at some point in the late afternoon, around 4 pm, I think, almost everyone in the clubroom decided to take a nap.
I woke up at around five to find the place very quiet and half the room in darkness (someone'd been so nice as to switch off the lights where the sofas are); it felt very much like the clubroom usually does early in the morning, when the people who stayed overnight are still sleeping.
Lovely weather for sleeping. And I could afford the time to sleep today 'cause I think tomorrow's Soci paper's gonna be all right. All I need to do is go review my lecture notes, my text and my readings.
So maybe I won't burn out, considering I took a minor break today. At least I hope I don't. O_O
Stoppard!... I am so thankful that I decided to read that book yesterday and sort out the basic themes of that darn play once and for all; THANK YOU whatever gods there are out there for putting it into the examiners heads to set that text as one of the context passages.
Nice weather we were having today; was drizzling and raining continuously for quite some time, and at some point in the late afternoon, around 4 pm, I think, almost everyone in the clubroom decided to take a nap.
I woke up at around five to find the place very quiet and half the room in darkness (someone'd been so nice as to switch off the lights where the sofas are); it felt very much like the clubroom usually does early in the morning, when the people who stayed overnight are still sleeping.
Lovely weather for sleeping. And I could afford the time to sleep today 'cause I think tomorrow's Soci paper's gonna be all right. All I need to do is go review my lecture notes, my text and my readings.
So maybe I won't burn out, considering I took a minor break today. At least I hope I don't. O_O
Monday, November 22, 2004
Yesterday, I proved once and for all that I *CAN* finish the bloody Fishy! game. I have evidence. It is stored in my files on the Arts Club Room's computer. And if you actually dare doubt that I finished the game all by myself, Denise and Arvin witnessed my accomplishent!
Take that, Steven Soh and Ivan Kwan. That's for laughing at me when I couldn't seem to finish it when I first started out. :P
GEK2001 paper was all right... 1 down, 4 to go. EN2101E paper tomorrow, and that's the paper that scares me the most. I have just about ZERO confidence with that one, and I'll be a LOT happier when I manage to shake that one off at about 3 pm tomorrow. Then it'll be back to some rather enjoyable Soci reading for Wednesday's SC1101E MCQ exam.
I have this sneaking suspicion however, that, like I told Ivan as we were leaving clubroom tonight, I'm going to burn out after my Soci paper.
This is bad. Doubly so when you take into consideration that almost everything *bad* which I anticipate will come to pass.
Oh well. Will just have to hang in there.
Ivan was playing songs on his laptop in clubroom while I was reviewing poems for tomorrow's paper; Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" stood out in particular.
And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
and sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
I love this song.
And K-C and Jojo's "All My Life" also has special significance for me; it's the dedication song that was used in the first mass that I attended back in IJ Sec, when I found out that masses in the secondary school were SO different from what we'd been having in the primary school next door. O.O
All my life
I prayed for someone like you
And I thank God
That I.. That I finally found you
All my life
I prayed for someone like you
And I hope that you feel the same way too
Yes, I pray that you do love me too
And here's a little something which makes me feel sort of warm and fuzzy inside, upon reflection:
Ivan and I had a little semi-serious chat during the ride to Clementi (anything involving the two of us being serious is rare, if you've been reading the events of the past few weeks); here are the things which we realise we have in common, which allowed us to become rather good friends in a very short period of time and in the process shocking/ raising a few eyebrows of the people who frequent the Arts Club Room:
1. Techno Music
--> Well, technically, Ivan kinda reintroduced me to techno. My association with techno has been an on-again, off-again sort of thing ever since the time I was about 12. I can guarantee though, that before I got to know Ivan, NO ONE who knows me would know that I deem techno to be "listenable/enjoyable" music.
2. Twisted sense of humour
--> You'd have to witness this in person to truly see how warped we can get.
3. Sadist tendencies
4. Liking for screwing with people's minds
--> I suppose you could classify this under sadist tendencies, but really, it's something which requires a lot more thinking. ;)
5. Love of correcting/mocking people who use the English Language wrongly
--> Those who have been on the receiving end of this, you know damn well how annoying we can be on our own; don't even talk about us combining forces.
6. Having younger sisters who seem decidedly more stable/sane than we both are
7. Given all the above, we both wish that the other was a sibling we'd grown up with
--> Although if I'd grown up with an older brother like Ivan, I'd probably be even more unstable than I already am. :P
Back to Lit studying. My lecturer shall pin my face to a dartboard and use my picture for target practice for years to come for failing this module so terribly.
Take that, Steven Soh and Ivan Kwan. That's for laughing at me when I couldn't seem to finish it when I first started out. :P
GEK2001 paper was all right... 1 down, 4 to go. EN2101E paper tomorrow, and that's the paper that scares me the most. I have just about ZERO confidence with that one, and I'll be a LOT happier when I manage to shake that one off at about 3 pm tomorrow. Then it'll be back to some rather enjoyable Soci reading for Wednesday's SC1101E MCQ exam.
I have this sneaking suspicion however, that, like I told Ivan as we were leaving clubroom tonight, I'm going to burn out after my Soci paper.
This is bad. Doubly so when you take into consideration that almost everything *bad* which I anticipate will come to pass.
Oh well. Will just have to hang in there.
Ivan was playing songs on his laptop in clubroom while I was reviewing poems for tomorrow's paper; Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" stood out in particular.
And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
and sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
I love this song.
And K-C and Jojo's "All My Life" also has special significance for me; it's the dedication song that was used in the first mass that I attended back in IJ Sec, when I found out that masses in the secondary school were SO different from what we'd been having in the primary school next door. O.O
All my life
I prayed for someone like you
And I thank God
That I.. That I finally found you
All my life
I prayed for someone like you
And I hope that you feel the same way too
Yes, I pray that you do love me too
And here's a little something which makes me feel sort of warm and fuzzy inside, upon reflection:
Ivan and I had a little semi-serious chat during the ride to Clementi (anything involving the two of us being serious is rare, if you've been reading the events of the past few weeks); here are the things which we realise we have in common, which allowed us to become rather good friends in a very short period of time and in the process shocking/ raising a few eyebrows of the people who frequent the Arts Club Room:
1. Techno Music
--> Well, technically, Ivan kinda reintroduced me to techno. My association with techno has been an on-again, off-again sort of thing ever since the time I was about 12. I can guarantee though, that before I got to know Ivan, NO ONE who knows me would know that I deem techno to be "listenable/enjoyable" music.
2. Twisted sense of humour
--> You'd have to witness this in person to truly see how warped we can get.
3. Sadist tendencies
4. Liking for screwing with people's minds
--> I suppose you could classify this under sadist tendencies, but really, it's something which requires a lot more thinking. ;)
5. Love of correcting/mocking people who use the English Language wrongly
--> Those who have been on the receiving end of this, you know damn well how annoying we can be on our own; don't even talk about us combining forces.
6. Having younger sisters who seem decidedly more stable/sane than we both are
7. Given all the above, we both wish that the other was a sibling we'd grown up with
--> Although if I'd grown up with an older brother like Ivan, I'd probably be even more unstable than I already am. :P
Back to Lit studying. My lecturer shall pin my face to a dartboard and use my picture for target practice for years to come for failing this module so terribly.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
11.59 on Sunday night; approximately 13 hours to the beginning of the end and counting.
Tomorrow is the beginning of my personal version of "Hell Week"; four papers, one day after another, ending on Thursday, when I'll finally be able to take a breather and then, start my mugging for Genes and Soc.
John messaged me today, wanted to know if I'd be free on 4th Dec for the band fest concert; lovely thing is, I'm free then, so I'll be able to go for the concert with them and I'll be able to see them all after such a horribly long time!! John and Wei Jian and maybe Wai Lun and Dawn and Soon Aik; I miss all of them. And maybe Erlinda and Felita will come along as well. God, I miss my CJ Band batch of people.
Sigh.
Tomorrow's battle plan shall proceed as such:
1. Bring GEK2001 notes and stuff to study for Lit.
2. Bring jacket.
3. Wear socks and shoes so my feet and toes don't freeze.
4. Eat something light so I don't die of hunger.
5. Leave for MPSH by 12.15 pm.
I now leave you with a rather fitting quote:
"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all worlds; the pessimist fears that this is true."
-James Cabell, 1926
Tomorrow is the beginning of my personal version of "Hell Week"; four papers, one day after another, ending on Thursday, when I'll finally be able to take a breather and then, start my mugging for Genes and Soc.
John messaged me today, wanted to know if I'd be free on 4th Dec for the band fest concert; lovely thing is, I'm free then, so I'll be able to go for the concert with them and I'll be able to see them all after such a horribly long time!! John and Wei Jian and maybe Wai Lun and Dawn and Soon Aik; I miss all of them. And maybe Erlinda and Felita will come along as well. God, I miss my CJ Band batch of people.
Sigh.
Tomorrow's battle plan shall proceed as such:
1. Bring GEK2001 notes and stuff to study for Lit.
2. Bring jacket.
3. Wear socks and shoes so my feet and toes don't freeze.
4. Eat something light so I don't die of hunger.
5. Leave for MPSH by 12.15 pm.
I now leave you with a rather fitting quote:
"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all worlds; the pessimist fears that this is true."
-James Cabell, 1926
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Ares is no longer safe, so little ol' me is currently in the process of switching to forum downloading. Idea/notion of forum downloading came from Ivan, so, we shall do what good intellectuals do and give credit where it is due. Thank you, Ivan. :) Really is much faster, anyway.
And also quite bad for my com. O_O I don't think I have ever downloaded 10 songs in less than an hour before.
*Forcibly closes forum windows*
Sister is currently playing her friend's Meteor Garden DVDs on my dad's laptop behind me, resulting in a lot of cringing on my part as a result of plenty of girlish screaming (from both female and male characters, although on second thought it may be debatable if the males are really male), arguing, and more screaming.
Which basically means that half the time it sounds like a catfight/bitchfest is going on behind me.
According to said sister, the show is based on a Japanese comic where the protagonists are four boys who are said to be "prettier than flowers", hence, they call themselves "F4", "Flower 4". Now isn't that just gay as all hell.
I have nothing against homosexuals, though. I just ask that they at least be good looking. ;)
"Prettier than flowers", you say?? The scruffy grass in my front yard looks "prettier" than them. Probably because it doesn't whine and flip its hair over its shoulder every five minutes.
Now, for what happened in school.
Exams have formally started all over campus, so some people are already almost halfway through their papers. Which isn't all that much, when you consider that the average (read: NORMAL/SANE) NUS student only takes five modules.
This morning, before Ivan's Geog paper, he, (year 1) Clement and I happened to be in clubroom at the same time, and we somehow got started on the topic of songs that would definitely wake you up. Ivan's suggestions: "Flight of the Valkyries", "Imperial March" from Star Wars, or "Carmina Burana o'Fortuna". Clement played some song from the soundtrack of one of the many games that he plays, and I suggested the second movement of "Belkis, Regina di Saba", which, as all CJ Band people will know, is the movement entitled "War Dance". :)
I can't see how any normal person wouldn't wake up to that; it starts with a very loud timpani roll (which our dear Kevin took AGES to perfect for our SYF-- it wasn't easy; and the tubas had to get the three grace notes right too), and is followed by bordering-on-discordant blasting of the lower brasses, accompanied by the bass drum and the timpani. And for the first four lines of the movement, both these groups of instruments' dynamics are, I believe, either forte or fortissimo. The main body of the second movement then involves an E flat clarinet solo part, where most of the notes are very high. So if the drums and brasses blasting don't wake you up, the screeching of the E flat clarinet will. Then again, if the person were proficient enough, the instrument probably wouldn't "screech". But I still think that the E flat is an innately "screechy" instrument.
I went out to buy carrot cake at some point in the afternoon; I didn't take my phone with me and when I got back to clubroom, Denise had called and messaged me saying that she wanted to bitch about her ICM paper; around the time I was reading the message out loud to Ivan, people started streaming into clubroom and whining about how they couldn't finish their papers or how their papers were "too f***ing easy" (what the hell.).
Well, Ivan said that he felt like bitching about his paper too, so I messaged back and told her to come on up and that she and Ivan could have fun bitching together; some deliberation ensued, and she almost decided not to come up, until I called her and told her to "just come over" for goodness' sake...
Today, I realised that "piece of shit" has become a silly running joke between the three of us.
Me: *exasperated* Can you just come up to clubroom??
Ivan: *from his place at the other end of the bench* Denise Tan, you piece of shit.
Me (to Denise): Wait. *holds out phone to Ivan*
Ivan: *into phone* Denise Tan, you piece of shit!
Me: *taking phone back* Did you hear that?
Denise: Yes!! Piece of shit, Ivan Kwan... *laughter*
So, Denise finally relented and decided to come up to clubroom. However, ten minutes later, there was still no sign of her.
Me: Why's she taking so long?? It's just at MPSH, she can walk from there, what.
Ivan: Maybe she went to the toilet and got stuck...-
Me: And drowned, is it?
Ivan: Or maybe because it was raining last night...-
Me: So she stepped into the drain and drowned, is it?
Ivan: No, it just rained and she drowned.
*Both of us dissolve into giggles*
Okay, maybe Ivan didn't giggle. We shall be sensitive to his male pride *cough* and say that he "sniggered".
For those of you who didn't really get what we were laughing about, well, Denise is rather vertically challenged. Sorry, 'Nise... :P
Back to the subject at hand: Half an hour later.
Ivan: Eh, I think she really drowned.
*Moregiggles sniggers all around*
Borrowed Ivan's phone to call her since my phone plan sucks, and while it was still ringing, he told me to "remember to greet her with (his) signature greeting: Denise Tan, you piece of shit".
And guess what Denise answered the phone with??
Denise: Yes, piece of shit??
Me: *almost bursting out laughing* Denise Tan, you piece of shit, where are you??
Denise: *laughing* Oh, I was just talking to my friend...
I told Ivan after I put down the phone that it was almost as if she'd read his mind, haha... Seems like all our vocabulary shrinks considerably with proximity (or links of communication) to each other. :P
For further details on how this "piece of shit" saga was started (and perpetuated), it's partly because it's what Denise says a lot, and you'd have to visit Ivan's blog to glean a few more details. It's somewhere in the middle of his November 10th post.
Also, today, we learned that it is NOT advisable to take a nap when you're supposed to be studying. Because I took a half hour nap at about 7.10 pm, and when I woke up, I was just so tempted to lie back down and go on sleeping... and Ivan had to rub it in.
"Now you know why I always go back to sleep, right?"
Yes, I know. Now stop it.
For those who are not in the know, Ivan can usually be found in the clubroom, inhabiting either the black or white couch in a supine position. A common comment usually made by everyone else-- upon seeing him like that-- is: "Ivan's always sleeping, ah?"
But, anyway. Back to my point. I have a horrible habit of digressing, and I think hanging around with Pamela aggravated it; that is to say, it made my digressing more frequent. Speaking of which, I miss Pam.
And I managed to digress again. Damn. *Bangs head on keyboard* FOCUS!
Right. So, I've only got one chapter of both my Soci and Changing Landscapes texts left to get through; I have this strange feeling about this exam... sorta 50% confident and 50% unsure.
Speaking of my Changing Landscapes module, does anyone want to take that module next sem? It's really quite easy and has an interesting project, and I can sell you the only text that you'll need for the module! It's a photocopied book, but it's absolutely clean, no highlighting or pencil markings whatsoever! Going for $10; anyone? :)
Oh well. Shall look at the Changing Landscapes past-sem paper again tomorrow. And I'll start on my Southeast Asia readings tomorrow!
So I shall go concentrate on my study now. Ta.
And also quite bad for my com. O_O I don't think I have ever downloaded 10 songs in less than an hour before.
*Forcibly closes forum windows*
Sister is currently playing her friend's Meteor Garden DVDs on my dad's laptop behind me, resulting in a lot of cringing on my part as a result of plenty of girlish screaming (from both female and male characters, although on second thought it may be debatable if the males are really male), arguing, and more screaming.
Which basically means that half the time it sounds like a catfight/bitchfest is going on behind me.
According to said sister, the show is based on a Japanese comic where the protagonists are four boys who are said to be "prettier than flowers", hence, they call themselves "F4", "Flower 4". Now isn't that just gay as all hell.
I have nothing against homosexuals, though. I just ask that they at least be good looking. ;)
"Prettier than flowers", you say?? The scruffy grass in my front yard looks "prettier" than them. Probably because it doesn't whine and flip its hair over its shoulder every five minutes.
Now, for what happened in school.
Exams have formally started all over campus, so some people are already almost halfway through their papers. Which isn't all that much, when you consider that the average (read: NORMAL/SANE) NUS student only takes five modules.
This morning, before Ivan's Geog paper, he, (year 1) Clement and I happened to be in clubroom at the same time, and we somehow got started on the topic of songs that would definitely wake you up. Ivan's suggestions: "Flight of the Valkyries", "Imperial March" from Star Wars, or "Carmina Burana o'Fortuna". Clement played some song from the soundtrack of one of the many games that he plays, and I suggested the second movement of "Belkis, Regina di Saba", which, as all CJ Band people will know, is the movement entitled "War Dance". :)
I can't see how any normal person wouldn't wake up to that; it starts with a very loud timpani roll (which our dear Kevin took AGES to perfect for our SYF-- it wasn't easy; and the tubas had to get the three grace notes right too), and is followed by bordering-on-discordant blasting of the lower brasses, accompanied by the bass drum and the timpani. And for the first four lines of the movement, both these groups of instruments' dynamics are, I believe, either forte or fortissimo. The main body of the second movement then involves an E flat clarinet solo part, where most of the notes are very high. So if the drums and brasses blasting don't wake you up, the screeching of the E flat clarinet will. Then again, if the person were proficient enough, the instrument probably wouldn't "screech". But I still think that the E flat is an innately "screechy" instrument.
I went out to buy carrot cake at some point in the afternoon; I didn't take my phone with me and when I got back to clubroom, Denise had called and messaged me saying that she wanted to bitch about her ICM paper; around the time I was reading the message out loud to Ivan, people started streaming into clubroom and whining about how they couldn't finish their papers or how their papers were "too f***ing easy" (what the hell.).
Well, Ivan said that he felt like bitching about his paper too, so I messaged back and told her to come on up and that she and Ivan could have fun bitching together; some deliberation ensued, and she almost decided not to come up, until I called her and told her to "just come over" for goodness' sake...
Today, I realised that "piece of shit" has become a silly running joke between the three of us.
Me: *exasperated* Can you just come up to clubroom??
Ivan: *from his place at the other end of the bench* Denise Tan, you piece of shit.
Me (to Denise): Wait. *holds out phone to Ivan*
Ivan: *into phone* Denise Tan, you piece of shit!
Me: *taking phone back* Did you hear that?
Denise: Yes!! Piece of shit, Ivan Kwan... *laughter*
So, Denise finally relented and decided to come up to clubroom. However, ten minutes later, there was still no sign of her.
Me: Why's she taking so long?? It's just at MPSH, she can walk from there, what.
Ivan: Maybe she went to the toilet and got stuck...-
Me: And drowned, is it?
Ivan: Or maybe because it was raining last night...-
Me: So she stepped into the drain and drowned, is it?
Ivan: No, it just rained and she drowned.
*Both of us dissolve into giggles*
Okay, maybe Ivan didn't giggle. We shall be sensitive to his male pride *cough* and say that he "sniggered".
For those of you who didn't really get what we were laughing about, well, Denise is rather vertically challenged. Sorry, 'Nise... :P
Back to the subject at hand: Half an hour later.
Ivan: Eh, I think she really drowned.
*More
Borrowed Ivan's phone to call her since my phone plan sucks, and while it was still ringing, he told me to "remember to greet her with (his) signature greeting: Denise Tan, you piece of shit".
And guess what Denise answered the phone with??
Denise: Yes, piece of shit??
Me: *almost bursting out laughing* Denise Tan, you piece of shit, where are you??
Denise: *laughing* Oh, I was just talking to my friend...
I told Ivan after I put down the phone that it was almost as if she'd read his mind, haha... Seems like all our vocabulary shrinks considerably with proximity (or links of communication) to each other. :P
For further details on how this "piece of shit" saga was started (and perpetuated), it's partly because it's what Denise says a lot, and you'd have to visit Ivan's blog to glean a few more details. It's somewhere in the middle of his November 10th post.
Also, today, we learned that it is NOT advisable to take a nap when you're supposed to be studying. Because I took a half hour nap at about 7.10 pm, and when I woke up, I was just so tempted to lie back down and go on sleeping... and Ivan had to rub it in.
"Now you know why I always go back to sleep, right?"
Yes, I know. Now stop it.
For those who are not in the know, Ivan can usually be found in the clubroom, inhabiting either the black or white couch in a supine position. A common comment usually made by everyone else-- upon seeing him like that-- is: "Ivan's always sleeping, ah?"
But, anyway. Back to my point. I have a horrible habit of digressing, and I think hanging around with Pamela aggravated it; that is to say, it made my digressing more frequent. Speaking of which, I miss Pam.
And I managed to digress again. Damn. *Bangs head on keyboard* FOCUS!
Right. So, I've only got one chapter of both my Soci and Changing Landscapes texts left to get through; I have this strange feeling about this exam... sorta 50% confident and 50% unsure.
Speaking of my Changing Landscapes module, does anyone want to take that module next sem? It's really quite easy and has an interesting project, and I can sell you the only text that you'll need for the module! It's a photocopied book, but it's absolutely clean, no highlighting or pencil markings whatsoever! Going for $10; anyone? :)
Oh well. Shall look at the Changing Landscapes past-sem paper again tomorrow. And I'll start on my Southeast Asia readings tomorrow!
So I shall go concentrate on my study now. Ta.
Friday, November 19, 2004
Singaporean pubescent and pre-pubescent girls are led blindly by their pituitary glands.
Olinda is out of Singapore Idol; F***ING stupid Sylvester Sim sang absolutely godawful renditions of The Phantom of the Opera's "Music of the Night", Ronan Keating's "Picture of You" and Seal's "Kiss From A Rose", and for completely mutilating those songs, he gets to go on to the finals.
I'll tell you what he really deserves:
Sylvester Sim should be shot three times in each of his legs, each of his arms, chest, and head (in that particular order), his body mutilated, torn apart, and then run over by a truck that will streak his abominable remains all over the road till finally, you couldn't even find enough of what's left to fill a pencil lead container.
Singing "Music of the Night" is just WRONG. Someone like him, with his abhorrent diction, singing a classic like that-- that's akin to being a cardinal sin. "Picture of You": Disgusting diction. And "Kiss From A Rose"... stupid feckin' bastard MANGLED one of my favourite songs of all time!!!
To quote Shaun: "..shouldn't even have attempted that song. You'd have to have spent your whole life being beaten up by your father before you can sing that song with the same amount of angst that Seal does."
Frigging Sylvester Sim is NOT "angst". Sylvester Sim is cliched, boybandish, "act-cute" gestures, "ah beng" hair and clothes, cringeworthy diction and flashy, pointless actions. In short, he manages to encapsulate everything which I hate in a person in his one being.
Beware, Sylvester Sim and his hordes of airheaded, tasteless, hysterical fangirls. You have incurred the wrath of those in Singapore who possess commonsense and good taste. Don't think you'll get away with it.
Olinda is out of Singapore Idol; F***ING stupid Sylvester Sim sang absolutely godawful renditions of The Phantom of the Opera's "Music of the Night", Ronan Keating's "Picture of You" and Seal's "Kiss From A Rose", and for completely mutilating those songs, he gets to go on to the finals.
I'll tell you what he really deserves:
Sylvester Sim should be shot three times in each of his legs, each of his arms, chest, and head (in that particular order), his body mutilated, torn apart, and then run over by a truck that will streak his abominable remains all over the road till finally, you couldn't even find enough of what's left to fill a pencil lead container.
Singing "Music of the Night" is just WRONG. Someone like him, with his abhorrent diction, singing a classic like that-- that's akin to being a cardinal sin. "Picture of You": Disgusting diction. And "Kiss From A Rose"... stupid feckin' bastard MANGLED one of my favourite songs of all time!!!
To quote Shaun: "..shouldn't even have attempted that song. You'd have to have spent your whole life being beaten up by your father before you can sing that song with the same amount of angst that Seal does."
Frigging Sylvester Sim is NOT "angst". Sylvester Sim is cliched, boybandish, "act-cute" gestures, "ah beng" hair and clothes, cringeworthy diction and flashy, pointless actions. In short, he manages to encapsulate everything which I hate in a person in his one being.
Beware, Sylvester Sim and his hordes of airheaded, tasteless, hysterical fangirls. You have incurred the wrath of those in Singapore who possess commonsense and good taste. Don't think you'll get away with it.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Wake-up calls.
Yep, that's what my day started with at 6.30 am this morning. Only I was on the giving end, not the receiving end.
This requires some backtracking; okay, yesterday, while packing up to leave the clubroom, I remarked that I wanted to wake up early and get down to studying to maximise my time, and Ivan suggested a wake-up call. So in the end, when we got off bus no. 96 at Clementi, we agreed that we'd both give the other a wake-up call.
So I woke up at 6.30 am today to the sound of my alarm clock, and since I hadn't received any phone call, proceeded to call Ivan. Only I hadn't expected the voice on the other end of the line to sound so awake considering that I was supposed to have just woken him up.
Turns out that he didn't sleep at all last night; at least, that's what he says. Something about a really long web comic. And how when I called, he was actually playing with his dog. (-_-)...
When I got to school, it was 8 am, and I found Hock, Xuzi, Steven, Alex, Pei Pei and Yaozhong all outside the clubroom; it was quite obvious that they'd either slept very little or not at all. Well, Alex was sleeping, and Pei Pei was studying while waiting for Yaozhong to finish his game of chinese chess with Steven, but it was very obvious that Hock and Xuzi had had too little sleep.
They were laughing at almost everything and anything, and somehow, there seemed to be a running joke that anything that couldn't be explained was a social construct. Which I think is wrong, but well. I think it's just Xuzi's over-simplified, twisted way of trying to introduce Soci to Hock. :P
Went inside, slacked around a little. Ivan finally arrived, and random silliness ensued for all of.. ten minutes?
(Just occurred to me that some degree of silliness seems to invariably set in whenever Ivan and I are together. o_O..?)
Ivan said that he was going to, in his own words: "attempt a daring experiment". Which really, was just eating a packet of 3-in-1 coffee powder. Yes, eating it. Which means he poured the thing into his mouth and just... um. Savoured it that way. -_-
And the most stupid thing that I did today was that I took him up on his idea and ate a bit of the coffee powder. Considering that I don't even drink proper coffee --only mocha-- it was a little silly to try to ingest "undiluted" coffee powder.
>_O <-- this is the closest impression that I think of/type to show what my face looked like.
Not only was *that* in itself stupid, but well... this requires another long explanation.
I'd had cornflakes for breakfast about two and a half hours ago then. Cornflakes, if you've ever bothered to stare at the nutrition information while mindlessly munching away, are almost 80% composed of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the body's most immediate supply of energy, meaning that carbo burns the fastest of all the food groups (provided it doesn't get stored first), so it means that by the time I ate that coffee powder, my stomach was probably half (or almost) empty.
Take it from me; NEVER drink ANYTHING that is caffeinated on an empty stomach.
I drank lemon tea once when I was damn hungry, and it made the hunger pangs MUCH WORSE. Pamela told me later that caffeine makes you even more hungry. I think it stimulates the digestive acids or something.
So, anyway, back to the situation at hand.
Coffee powder on a nearly empty stomach. STUPID idea. Had a really bad stomachache later, which persisted even after I'd taken lunch, and it only went away after I took a nap for about an hour.
I wasted an hour!!
Oh well. Thanks, Ivan. With any luck, I might abstain from caffeine for a few weeks.
Or not. ;)
Yep, that's what my day started with at 6.30 am this morning. Only I was on the giving end, not the receiving end.
This requires some backtracking; okay, yesterday, while packing up to leave the clubroom, I remarked that I wanted to wake up early and get down to studying to maximise my time, and Ivan suggested a wake-up call. So in the end, when we got off bus no. 96 at Clementi, we agreed that we'd both give the other a wake-up call.
So I woke up at 6.30 am today to the sound of my alarm clock, and since I hadn't received any phone call, proceeded to call Ivan. Only I hadn't expected the voice on the other end of the line to sound so awake considering that I was supposed to have just woken him up.
Turns out that he didn't sleep at all last night; at least, that's what he says. Something about a really long web comic. And how when I called, he was actually playing with his dog. (-_-)...
When I got to school, it was 8 am, and I found Hock, Xuzi, Steven, Alex, Pei Pei and Yaozhong all outside the clubroom; it was quite obvious that they'd either slept very little or not at all. Well, Alex was sleeping, and Pei Pei was studying while waiting for Yaozhong to finish his game of chinese chess with Steven, but it was very obvious that Hock and Xuzi had had too little sleep.
They were laughing at almost everything and anything, and somehow, there seemed to be a running joke that anything that couldn't be explained was a social construct. Which I think is wrong, but well. I think it's just Xuzi's over-simplified, twisted way of trying to introduce Soci to Hock. :P
Went inside, slacked around a little. Ivan finally arrived, and random silliness ensued for all of.. ten minutes?
(Just occurred to me that some degree of silliness seems to invariably set in whenever Ivan and I are together. o_O..?)
Ivan said that he was going to, in his own words: "attempt a daring experiment". Which really, was just eating a packet of 3-in-1 coffee powder. Yes, eating it. Which means he poured the thing into his mouth and just... um. Savoured it that way. -_-
And the most stupid thing that I did today was that I took him up on his idea and ate a bit of the coffee powder. Considering that I don't even drink proper coffee --only mocha-- it was a little silly to try to ingest "undiluted" coffee powder.
>_O <-- this is the closest impression that I think of/type to show what my face looked like.
Not only was *that* in itself stupid, but well... this requires another long explanation.
I'd had cornflakes for breakfast about two and a half hours ago then. Cornflakes, if you've ever bothered to stare at the nutrition information while mindlessly munching away, are almost 80% composed of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the body's most immediate supply of energy, meaning that carbo burns the fastest of all the food groups (provided it doesn't get stored first), so it means that by the time I ate that coffee powder, my stomach was probably half (or almost) empty.
Take it from me; NEVER drink ANYTHING that is caffeinated on an empty stomach.
I drank lemon tea once when I was damn hungry, and it made the hunger pangs MUCH WORSE. Pamela told me later that caffeine makes you even more hungry. I think it stimulates the digestive acids or something.
So, anyway, back to the situation at hand.
Coffee powder on a nearly empty stomach. STUPID idea. Had a really bad stomachache later, which persisted even after I'd taken lunch, and it only went away after I took a nap for about an hour.
I wasted an hour!!
Oh well. Thanks, Ivan. With any luck, I might abstain from caffeine for a few weeks.
Or not. ;)
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Today's post comes in two parts: Part One is where you get a rundown of yet another boring, mundane day in the life of Gerri, and Part Two is a rant. A medium-length, bordering-on-raving rant about... well, you shall see if you choose to read that bit later on.
Part One
Really, nothing much happened today. :P
Okay, I got my essays back.. barely passed. Well, it was horrible last minute work anyway, so..meh. Should just be glad that I passed.
Other than that, I spent most of today sleeping or studying.
Part Two
I have no idea as whether I should be amused or pissed off.
Some people in Arts really have too much time on their hands, I think. Even during the period of the exams, they still have the time to think up wild, stupid stories about people's relationships. I especially hate the general perception that a guy and girl cannot be good friends without them thinking that it's "flirting".
It happened once to me in JC; I was on the receiving end of the advances then, and that was quite freaky, but that's besides the point. It makes you very self-conscious and it strains friendships, because when you're aware that everyone else is watching, you just become afraid that they'll read too much into EVERYTHING.
That's what happened between that guy friend of mine and myself in JC; we drifted apart because of a rather similar situation. We got along really well, could chat and talk nonsense about almost ANYTHING under the sun, but then everyone started to think that we were "too friendly"; both of us started to feel the strain of being watched, and we started to drift apart then.
But anyway, I've always felt that people will talk, and there's nothing that you can do to shut them up; so hey, right now, I figure, if you enjoy someone's company, be they male or female, you *should* hang around with them, because why bother what the rest of the world thinks, in a silly, trivial situation like that?? You're the only one who's gonna live with yourself for the rest of your life. And why bother making yourself suffer just for the sake of appearances?
There are some people whom this is directed at, who most probably will know that this is directed at them. They are aware that this blog exists and will most probably read this. They may probably be rather incensed.
I am currently just happy to let them know that I for one, could care less about their opinions.
Part One
Really, nothing much happened today. :P
Okay, I got my essays back.. barely passed. Well, it was horrible last minute work anyway, so..meh. Should just be glad that I passed.
Other than that, I spent most of today sleeping or studying.
Part Two
I have no idea as whether I should be amused or pissed off.
Some people in Arts really have too much time on their hands, I think. Even during the period of the exams, they still have the time to think up wild, stupid stories about people's relationships. I especially hate the general perception that a guy and girl cannot be good friends without them thinking that it's "flirting".
It happened once to me in JC; I was on the receiving end of the advances then, and that was quite freaky, but that's besides the point. It makes you very self-conscious and it strains friendships, because when you're aware that everyone else is watching, you just become afraid that they'll read too much into EVERYTHING.
That's what happened between that guy friend of mine and myself in JC; we drifted apart because of a rather similar situation. We got along really well, could chat and talk nonsense about almost ANYTHING under the sun, but then everyone started to think that we were "too friendly"; both of us started to feel the strain of being watched, and we started to drift apart then.
But anyway, I've always felt that people will talk, and there's nothing that you can do to shut them up; so hey, right now, I figure, if you enjoy someone's company, be they male or female, you *should* hang around with them, because why bother what the rest of the world thinks, in a silly, trivial situation like that?? You're the only one who's gonna live with yourself for the rest of your life. And why bother making yourself suffer just for the sake of appearances?
There are some people whom this is directed at, who most probably will know that this is directed at them. They are aware that this blog exists and will most probably read this. They may probably be rather incensed.
I am currently just happy to let them know that I for one, could care less about their opinions.
Monday, November 15, 2004
This shall henceforth be known as "the post wherein Gerri gushes about her new haircut".
I love my new haircut!! I love it, I love it, I love it; I just can't say it enough, man. :P
Yesterday, I finally found a hairstyle that suits my horridly round face and head, and it looks so nice!! My hair is now slightly past shoulder-length, my parting has switched to the left side, and I finally have a fringe! The fringe comes down on the right side, by the way. :)
Came to school at about 4.45 pm today coz I'd gone out with my family for lunch; my aunts are down for a visit and they'll be here till Thursday, you see-- we went to Jalan Kayu to eat prata! :D Ice-cream prata... for the first time ever in my life, ice-cream was part of a meal. And I mean the main course, not the dessert. :D
All right, so I came to school, and the thing with the Arts Club Room is that when you come through the door into the "lounge" area of the room there's a shelf immediately on the right of the door for you to stash your bag. So I just put my bag on the top shelf, like I usually do, and proceeded to take some stuff out to study. When I came in, most of the few people who were in the room were at the big table at the opposite end of the room and Steven was talking to (year 2) Clement. Then while I was taking out some of my stuff, I heard Steven say, "Is that Geraldine?"
Naturally, when I heard my name, I turned around and said "yeah?" and he went, "Oh, my God.
"You look so different!"
Yeah, I know I look different; that's the best thing! I look really quite different-- if I can find a way to upload a picture of myself right now, you'll see.
But, yes.. below is a list of responses from different people about my hair (indulge me for a minute. You can skip the following part if you want to, anyway. :P)
Steven: Oh my God. You look so different!
Joey: (puzzled/wondering look on her face at first) You did something to your hair.. (Me: Yeah, I had it cut.) It looks nice. (and here she smiles. My smile following that was slightly wider than hers.)
Mary: Nice hair!
Si Ning: You cut your hair! It looks good!
Alex: (pleasantly shocked look) You cut your hair! (smile. I mean that Alex smiled, not me. Although I did too. But that's not the point. :P)
Diana: You look very different. You look younger. (Hm. Okay, I hadn't thought of that, but.. if she says so. :D)
Shaun and (year 1) Clement: Oh, I see what you meant.. (because I'd changed my MSN nick to include "I love my new haircut!" yesterday, you see, and they'd probably seen it.)
All right. End of praise parade. :D But speaking of hair, Ivan came in about half an hour later, and he'd cut his hair too! :D And later, when I was taking a nap, he came back into the room after having gone outside and took the orange pillow and mashed it into my head (read: into my hair)! Eejit... He said that he couldn't resist since he saw me napping so peacefully, so I got back by mashing it into his hair later.
It must be noted that that orange pillow has been around the clubroom for ages, and is really quite dusty, and no one really knows (or wants to know) exactly where it's been all these months (years??).
Was rather productive today; finished reading "Rhinoceros" and "The Real Inspector Hound"!! Although they've left me confused as all hell, damn it... I hate drama. "Rhinoceros" was just your usual absurdist drama, but it was quite confusing at times; this one isn't like Pinter's "The Caretaker". "Caretaker" took place in a room the whole time, and there was never so much detail paid to the location of various props and stuff in the room; it's rather hard to visualise where everything is when there's so much detail in the stage directions. But "Real Inspector Hound" really takes the cake. If Ionesco's text confused me, then I'd say Stoppard's text just spun me on my head and upside down, man.
By the end of the second act of the play within the play in "Real Inspector Hound", you feel like the play's building up to become a mystery; a "whodunit", as Birdboot insisted, in the play, albeit a rather confusing "whodunit". But then the third act starts, and it just throws you for a loop. A huge loop. Coz that's when it starts to get really.. "Twilight Zone"-like.
Basically, two characters which were previously only standing by the sidelines, acting as observers, now find themselves drawn into the play itself. But the slightly eerie part is the first one of them to get drawn into the action seems to take over the role of a character which went "missing" in the previous act. And the last two acts which we've just seen are acted out again; it's a complete sense of deja vu, only these two "new" characters are in it now. However, the dialogue of the other characters is exactly the same, but it still fits. Amazing.
The second character then gets drawn in when the first is shot, and when he turns and tries to return to the position which he and his compatriot previously occupied before being drawn into the play proper, he finds their spots taken by the two characters which they seem to have replaced.
It's something like switching around the roles of four people in two completely different universes, that's what it feels like. O_O
Will go to school tomorrow and attempt to start and finish reading at least half of my GEK2001 text. Oh, and I shall go collect my SE1101E Research Paper too.. I hope I passed, man. It was terrible. And my EN2101E Essay too...
*crosses fingers really really tightly*
And now, I leave you with an amusing link, provided by Xuzi: Click Here
I love my new haircut!! I love it, I love it, I love it; I just can't say it enough, man. :P
Yesterday, I finally found a hairstyle that suits my horridly round face and head, and it looks so nice!! My hair is now slightly past shoulder-length, my parting has switched to the left side, and I finally have a fringe! The fringe comes down on the right side, by the way. :)
Came to school at about 4.45 pm today coz I'd gone out with my family for lunch; my aunts are down for a visit and they'll be here till Thursday, you see-- we went to Jalan Kayu to eat prata! :D Ice-cream prata... for the first time ever in my life, ice-cream was part of a meal. And I mean the main course, not the dessert. :D
All right, so I came to school, and the thing with the Arts Club Room is that when you come through the door into the "lounge" area of the room there's a shelf immediately on the right of the door for you to stash your bag. So I just put my bag on the top shelf, like I usually do, and proceeded to take some stuff out to study. When I came in, most of the few people who were in the room were at the big table at the opposite end of the room and Steven was talking to (year 2) Clement. Then while I was taking out some of my stuff, I heard Steven say, "Is that Geraldine?"
Naturally, when I heard my name, I turned around and said "yeah?" and he went, "Oh, my God.
"You look so different!"
Yeah, I know I look different; that's the best thing! I look really quite different-- if I can find a way to upload a picture of myself right now, you'll see.
But, yes.. below is a list of responses from different people about my hair (indulge me for a minute. You can skip the following part if you want to, anyway. :P)
Steven: Oh my God. You look so different!
Joey: (puzzled/wondering look on her face at first) You did something to your hair.. (Me: Yeah, I had it cut.) It looks nice. (and here she smiles. My smile following that was slightly wider than hers.)
Mary: Nice hair!
Si Ning: You cut your hair! It looks good!
Alex: (pleasantly shocked look) You cut your hair! (smile. I mean that Alex smiled, not me. Although I did too. But that's not the point. :P)
Diana: You look very different. You look younger. (Hm. Okay, I hadn't thought of that, but.. if she says so. :D)
Shaun and (year 1) Clement: Oh, I see what you meant.. (because I'd changed my MSN nick to include "I love my new haircut!" yesterday, you see, and they'd probably seen it.)
All right. End of praise parade. :D But speaking of hair, Ivan came in about half an hour later, and he'd cut his hair too! :D And later, when I was taking a nap, he came back into the room after having gone outside and took the orange pillow and mashed it into my head (read: into my hair)! Eejit... He said that he couldn't resist since he saw me napping so peacefully, so I got back by mashing it into his hair later.
It must be noted that that orange pillow has been around the clubroom for ages, and is really quite dusty, and no one really knows (or wants to know) exactly where it's been all these months (years??).
Was rather productive today; finished reading "Rhinoceros" and "The Real Inspector Hound"!! Although they've left me confused as all hell, damn it... I hate drama. "Rhinoceros" was just your usual absurdist drama, but it was quite confusing at times; this one isn't like Pinter's "The Caretaker". "Caretaker" took place in a room the whole time, and there was never so much detail paid to the location of various props and stuff in the room; it's rather hard to visualise where everything is when there's so much detail in the stage directions. But "Real Inspector Hound" really takes the cake. If Ionesco's text confused me, then I'd say Stoppard's text just spun me on my head and upside down, man.
By the end of the second act of the play within the play in "Real Inspector Hound", you feel like the play's building up to become a mystery; a "whodunit", as Birdboot insisted, in the play, albeit a rather confusing "whodunit". But then the third act starts, and it just throws you for a loop. A huge loop. Coz that's when it starts to get really.. "Twilight Zone"-like.
Basically, two characters which were previously only standing by the sidelines, acting as observers, now find themselves drawn into the play itself. But the slightly eerie part is the first one of them to get drawn into the action seems to take over the role of a character which went "missing" in the previous act. And the last two acts which we've just seen are acted out again; it's a complete sense of deja vu, only these two "new" characters are in it now. However, the dialogue of the other characters is exactly the same, but it still fits. Amazing.
The second character then gets drawn in when the first is shot, and when he turns and tries to return to the position which he and his compatriot previously occupied before being drawn into the play proper, he finds their spots taken by the two characters which they seem to have replaced.
It's something like switching around the roles of four people in two completely different universes, that's what it feels like. O_O
Will go to school tomorrow and attempt to start and finish reading at least half of my GEK2001 text. Oh, and I shall go collect my SE1101E Research Paper too.. I hope I passed, man. It was terrible. And my EN2101E Essay too...
*crosses fingers really really tightly*
And now, I leave you with an amusing link, provided by Xuzi: Click Here
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Suffer This
I have forgotten
The meaning
of speaking one's mind
For I silence
Many voices
Around those who are near.
I would extend a hand
In friendship, in love
In companionship, in easy listening.
If you would but take hold.
I hear the voice in you
That does not speak
And the shadows
Cluster around your dreams.
I wish to say
That I too know this darkness
But shh.
We should not speak of such things.
I cannot offer to soothe
What I should not know
And our world wishes not to hear
Such unhappy news
So we will smile
And speak of all things trivial
And amusing
And ignore our weighted souls.
I am sorry I have condemned us both
To suffer this silence.
I have forgotten
The meaning
of speaking one's mind
For I silence
Many voices
Around those who are near.
I would extend a hand
In friendship, in love
In companionship, in easy listening.
If you would but take hold.
I hear the voice in you
That does not speak
And the shadows
Cluster around your dreams.
I wish to say
That I too know this darkness
But shh.
We should not speak of such things.
I cannot offer to soothe
What I should not know
And our world wishes not to hear
Such unhappy news
So we will smile
And speak of all things trivial
And amusing
And ignore our weighted souls.
I am sorry I have condemned us both
To suffer this silence.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Whoo... yesterday's Exam Tea was fun. :)
Was helping out the whole time, and we got to be nice to be people, giving away all sorts of stuff, haha. I arranged all the testpad in a nice "spiral staircase" sort of way; I thought it looked nice from the top, but when I was walking back to the booth from the washroom, it looked even better from the side! :D :P
Oh, and I went dorwn to forum with Shuxing and Lijun and Alvin and Ivan to give out Milo and testpad and sweets to the people downstairs; so fun! :D :P I was a bit high on the atmosphere at the moment; not the exam atmosphere-- no one can get high on that. I think it was the happy kinda feel that you get when you do nice things for people.
Hey, this supports that "theory" which Ben told me about.. the one where he said that when you're feeling depressed, you also become very helpful; as a way to distract yourself from depression. So I suppose our source of depression would be the exams, haha. :P
Speaking of Ben, I saw him at the library too! He was just about to leave when I called him over to come take some of the stuff, haha. Oh, and I saw Zhan Tao earlier too, around the time when we'd just set up everything. And I saw Kim Tee come out at around 8, I think. Although I did wonder why he was at Central Library. Isn't Science Library open??
Oh well. Shows that Arts is truly the superior faculty, haha. :P
After pack-up.. back to clubroom. As usual. Looked at some of my past year exam papers, and found that only ONE out of my five modules has exam papers which would be relevant to me!!! WTF!! &$*#*!...
GEK1527 and SC1101E don't release the papers; for SC1101E, they don't release the MCQ format, at least. And they've changed the format for SE1101E, but at least I can use the questions. EN2101E's papers are just useless since they change the books every sem, so just about the only "untouched" module is GEK2001. My lovely A- project module. Haha.. :D
Meanwhile, while I was printing out exam papers, Denise was rummaging around in the drawers, looking at some of the photo albums that were in there; she found an album of Rag 2002, what raggers call "Dragon Rag", simply because the float that year was that of a dragon, and also worthy of note is that, that's the year when Arts finally won "Best Float Design"!
We managed to point out certain people in the photos... who looked, um.. different, when they were in costume and under layers of make-up, haha. Especially the guys. We saw Shaun, Keyou and Ridtz all dressed up, posing in front of the float during pre-judging, and we saw Haoran standing off to the side, and he had his "old hair"! Haha... it was all floppy and very "small-boy"-ish, hahaha.. And Ben pointed himself out for our benefit when we were watching the video on NUS' DMG; he was one of the warriors in the beginning, one of those who were wearing silver and white.
Man, we're so gonna make sure that we win it next year. :D
Okay. That large space that you just passed is because I had to go downstairs; apparently someone rang the doorbell and was asking for me. Turns out it was these two women who wanted to "tell me more about God".
O_O
I dislike evangelists. With a passion. Firstly, they freak me out slightly, and secondly, I find them quite bothersome. And these two women were slightly freaky because they said that they'd talked to me not too long ago; in June, they said, so they were just following up.
If I'd talked to any evangelists recently (say within this year), I'd remember. Especially if they'd come to my doorstep to do so. But no, I don't remember these people. WTH??
Whatever it is, they amused me for a while. :D
Coz I was standing there rebutting almost all their ideas, with things that I've had a LONG time to think about, AND some of the ideas that I'd got from Soci! Haha... how's that for application, man. Heehee. :D
So in the end, they didn't get very far with encouraging me to "get to know God better", but we did have some.. er. Fairly.. intelligent discussion. :P
Wonderful way to stimulate the mind on a lazy public holiday afternoon. :)
Oh and they're showing the first Karate kid movie on TV now!! I LOVE THAT MOVIE!! I remember when I was obsessed with all three of the Karate Kid movies for a while when I was 15, man; I'd just found out that the video store down the road from my auntie's place carried all three videos, so I rented and watched and rewatched and rewound and renewed and rewatched them over and over again; I loved them SO MUCH!! :D
But the first one was the best; second one was mildly interesting, but couldn't match up to the first; I think it was the "zero-to-hero" appeal of the first one. The second one was interesting because it was a different cultural atmosphere, Japan, that is, but it was the typical guy-likes-girl-but-girl-doesn't-like-him-and-she-really-likes-our-story's-hero-so-guy-with-unreciprocated-feelings-gets-jealous-and-we-all-really-know-what-happens-from-here-but-still-feel-a-strange-compulsion-to-watch-anyway.
Maybe the compulsion is partly due to the money that you paid to watch the film. Well, for those who paid to watch it in the cinemas, that is. In the... 80s. :P
And in other news, Gerri managed to complete those bothersome, mind-boggling, patience-trying games which Ivan linked to on his blog; the three rooms: the Crimson Room, the Viridian Room (which was slightly creepy when I was trying to complete it last night; especially when I flipped over the rug and there was a skeleton under it. :|) and the Blue Chamber. All of them can be found at this site, btw.
I got stuck at the Viridian Room for quite a while.. so out of frustration, I msged Ivan, haha. And he gave me um.. shall we say, hints. :)
So.. yes. Little insignificant me presently feels quite accomplished. Haha. :D
And lazy me is also supposed to be in school studying. But I'm too lazy to drag my ass all the way there, so here I am blogging. This is also part of the reason why I should really be in school. Home is too comfortable, and I know where everything is so.. yeah, I'm sure you get it.
Another long post. Meh. Think Ivan's right. Long-post bug is catching. :P But both of us have already established that we're both bad influences on each other, anyway. And we're both a bad influence on Denise, something which I realised last night when she sent me the URL of a rather morbid site. (-_-)!!
Okay, the post really is long enough. Should stop here.
Was helping out the whole time, and we got to be nice to be people, giving away all sorts of stuff, haha. I arranged all the testpad in a nice "spiral staircase" sort of way; I thought it looked nice from the top, but when I was walking back to the booth from the washroom, it looked even better from the side! :D :P
Oh, and I went dorwn to forum with Shuxing and Lijun and Alvin and Ivan to give out Milo and testpad and sweets to the people downstairs; so fun! :D :P I was a bit high on the atmosphere at the moment; not the exam atmosphere-- no one can get high on that. I think it was the happy kinda feel that you get when you do nice things for people.
Hey, this supports that "theory" which Ben told me about.. the one where he said that when you're feeling depressed, you also become very helpful; as a way to distract yourself from depression. So I suppose our source of depression would be the exams, haha. :P
Speaking of Ben, I saw him at the library too! He was just about to leave when I called him over to come take some of the stuff, haha. Oh, and I saw Zhan Tao earlier too, around the time when we'd just set up everything. And I saw Kim Tee come out at around 8, I think. Although I did wonder why he was at Central Library. Isn't Science Library open??
Oh well. Shows that Arts is truly the superior faculty, haha. :P
After pack-up.. back to clubroom. As usual. Looked at some of my past year exam papers, and found that only ONE out of my five modules has exam papers which would be relevant to me!!! WTF!! &$*#*!...
GEK1527 and SC1101E don't release the papers; for SC1101E, they don't release the MCQ format, at least. And they've changed the format for SE1101E, but at least I can use the questions. EN2101E's papers are just useless since they change the books every sem, so just about the only "untouched" module is GEK2001. My lovely A- project module. Haha.. :D
Meanwhile, while I was printing out exam papers, Denise was rummaging around in the drawers, looking at some of the photo albums that were in there; she found an album of Rag 2002, what raggers call "Dragon Rag", simply because the float that year was that of a dragon, and also worthy of note is that, that's the year when Arts finally won "Best Float Design"!
We managed to point out certain people in the photos... who looked, um.. different, when they were in costume and under layers of make-up, haha. Especially the guys. We saw Shaun, Keyou and Ridtz all dressed up, posing in front of the float during pre-judging, and we saw Haoran standing off to the side, and he had his "old hair"! Haha... it was all floppy and very "small-boy"-ish, hahaha.. And Ben pointed himself out for our benefit when we were watching the video on NUS' DMG; he was one of the warriors in the beginning, one of those who were wearing silver and white.
Man, we're so gonna make sure that we win it next year. :D
Okay. That large space that you just passed is because I had to go downstairs; apparently someone rang the doorbell and was asking for me. Turns out it was these two women who wanted to "tell me more about God".
O_O
I dislike evangelists. With a passion. Firstly, they freak me out slightly, and secondly, I find them quite bothersome. And these two women were slightly freaky because they said that they'd talked to me not too long ago; in June, they said, so they were just following up.
If I'd talked to any evangelists recently (say within this year), I'd remember. Especially if they'd come to my doorstep to do so. But no, I don't remember these people. WTH??
Whatever it is, they amused me for a while. :D
Coz I was standing there rebutting almost all their ideas, with things that I've had a LONG time to think about, AND some of the ideas that I'd got from Soci! Haha... how's that for application, man. Heehee. :D
So in the end, they didn't get very far with encouraging me to "get to know God better", but we did have some.. er. Fairly.. intelligent discussion. :P
Wonderful way to stimulate the mind on a lazy public holiday afternoon. :)
Oh and they're showing the first Karate kid movie on TV now!! I LOVE THAT MOVIE!! I remember when I was obsessed with all three of the Karate Kid movies for a while when I was 15, man; I'd just found out that the video store down the road from my auntie's place carried all three videos, so I rented and watched and rewatched and rewound and renewed and rewatched them over and over again; I loved them SO MUCH!! :D
But the first one was the best; second one was mildly interesting, but couldn't match up to the first; I think it was the "zero-to-hero" appeal of the first one. The second one was interesting because it was a different cultural atmosphere, Japan, that is, but it was the typical guy-likes-girl-but-girl-doesn't-like-him-and-she-really-likes-our-story's-hero-so-guy-with-unreciprocated-feelings-gets-jealous-and-we-all-really-know-what-happens-from-here-but-still-feel-a-strange-compulsion-to-watch-anyway.
Maybe the compulsion is partly due to the money that you paid to watch the film. Well, for those who paid to watch it in the cinemas, that is. In the... 80s. :P
And in other news, Gerri managed to complete those bothersome, mind-boggling, patience-trying games which Ivan linked to on his blog; the three rooms: the Crimson Room, the Viridian Room (which was slightly creepy when I was trying to complete it last night; especially when I flipped over the rug and there was a skeleton under it. :|) and the Blue Chamber. All of them can be found at this site, btw.
I got stuck at the Viridian Room for quite a while.. so out of frustration, I msged Ivan, haha. And he gave me um.. shall we say, hints. :)
So.. yes. Little insignificant me presently feels quite accomplished. Haha. :D
And lazy me is also supposed to be in school studying. But I'm too lazy to drag my ass all the way there, so here I am blogging. This is also part of the reason why I should really be in school. Home is too comfortable, and I know where everything is so.. yeah, I'm sure you get it.
Another long post. Meh. Think Ivan's right. Long-post bug is catching. :P But both of us have already established that we're both bad influences on each other, anyway. And we're both a bad influence on Denise, something which I realised last night when she sent me the URL of a rather morbid site. (-_-)!!
Okay, the post really is long enough. Should stop here.
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Ok, so I do wish that we 'd got an A instead, but hey A- is a pretty damn good start for my first ever group project in NUS! :D Plus, this'll help a LOT with the final grade. And my CAP. :D
Out doing Exam Tea shopping again today after GEK2001 lecture; bought two days worth of stuff, and we bought sweets in addition to more biscuits and Milo powder. Oh, and the thing about the sweets was, they were these large bags of individually-packed Mentos sweets and there was no price label on the shelf, there was no price tag on the packet, and the price-checking machine was not working, and some time before we went to the cashier, Ivan remarked jokingly that for all we knew the sweets would cost $10 or something.
And they DID.
Those sweets were NOT worth $10, man. I told him that he'd jinxed it! Or maybe that's just something like what happens to me all the time; everytime I anticipate something bad happening, it always happens. Never happens with anything good that I think will happen. Damnit.
In the end, he still decided to go ahead and keep the sweets because he wanted to exhaust the budget anyway.
Today's response was all right I think, but like yesterday, I wasn't at the booth the whole time, so I'm not all that sure. We gave out all the highlighters about an hour into the thing, and then we started on the pens.
And today they decided to go downstairs to the forum to ask more people if they wanted Milo and stuff.
Anyway, later on, we all came back to the clubroom, and... well, ok, remember Ivan's drawings of dinosaurs menacing/ killing/ crushing various anonymous stick figures? Point is, they weren't supposed to stay anonymous. Ivan provided blanks with "insert name of choice" under those stick figures, and he'd expected them to be filled up with names over the weekend. Unfortunately, that never happened, so tonight, he decided to fill in names by himself.
Later on, Steven was on the phone with someone, and Ivan, myself and Ben were the only ones at the big table, and we were all just minding our own business; Steven then proceeded to tell the person on the line the names that were up on the board, and Ivan and I were just sniggering away.
Until Steven said that he thought it was probably a girl who'd written all those names, because all the names were those of guys. I burst out laughing then, and Ivan just had this stricken look on his face for a few seconds-- for a few seconds, because then Steven went on to say that he thought that it was ME. Then Ivan was laughing at me.
Well, I had to defend myself, so I told him that it was Ivan's doing, NOT mine, and then Ben mentioned that he'd also thought that it was a girl who'd written those names, haha...
Ivan, maybe "the Friendster guy" could sense all these.. innate.. "tendencies" just from your picture, eh? ;D
Monday, November 08, 2004
Got home at 10.36 pm today. And this is significant because, this is the first time in about two weeks that I have reached home before 11 pm on a school day.
Decided to leave early today because me had a headache. Not the constant, pounding kind of headache; I've never had any of those; but the kind that just comes and goes-- it comes up and sort of jabs at your brain for a bit and then it slinks off back into its wormhole, the sneaky little thing, only to come back later.
Oh, and yes, first day of Exam Tea was a success! I think. Well, yay. :D
I think it was a success more because of the sandwiches that someone managed to get at the very last minute; they were the leftovers or from some business seminar or something which was going on elsewhere. We were very lucky, I think. And the sandwiches weren't bad either. :)
And, we found out that a 1.7 kg tin of Milo can only last ONE day. Which means that more shopping is due tomorrow. Oh, yes, speaking of shopping. Went with Ivan to Giant to buy biscuits after our classes ended-- Giant comes up with the strangest ideas at times.
There were these tins of biscuits near the entrance of the supermarket, and the sign above them said that they were on offer, their price having been slashed from $4.50 to $2.94. So we took two tins of those, only to be told at the cashier that the lower price was only applicable if you bought $30 worth of those biscuits! O_O
That. Just. Doesn't. Make. Sense.
Who the hell would buy $30 worth of biscuits? Unless they were in our situation, that is. :P And the other thing is, $30 worth of those biscuits.. $30 worth at the price of $2.94 each, or at the price of $4.50 each??
Anyway, we bought that 1.5 kg tin of durian-filled, sandwich biscuits, and another 1.2 kg tin of assorted biscuits, which later turned out to be quite worth the money.
My sister saw me while we were waiting for the bus, and she came out of the shop to talk to me; somewhere in the course of our conversation, she mentioned (as a side-effect of not having anything to do on Saturday afternoons, and watching Meteor Garden reruns to fill that time) that she'd becomesomewhat obsessed with F4. For the love of all that is sacred in this world, I hope she gets over it soon.
Anyway, Ivan commented that my sister was like a miniature version of me. Told him not to tell her that, or she'd scream in abject horror. Let's hope now that she does not read this.
Got back to school, helped them set up a little, then went back to clubroom; studied, read some Soci, and fell asleep. :P Denise got back from her cell meeting sometime after I'd woken up, and well.. big falling-out over there. Shall not mention details.
I brought in Ivan's techno CD, which he'd left in the room on Friday night, for her to just um.. well, cool off, and at that time, June and Xuzi had come into the computer room too, and when I started playing it, June said that me and techno "just doesn't go, man."
I am not sure if she meant that I was being poser-ish, or if she just meant that I didn't seem like the kind that would like techno.
Like I give a flying crap anyway. I'll like what I choose to like thank you very much and you can take whatever preformed opinions of me you have and swallow them with acid if you so displease.
But I do know that some of the opinions that people form of me at first tend to differ very drastically from what I'm really like. I have a general idea of the kinds of impressions that I tend to form, and most of the time, I make use of those impressions. You'd love what I can get away with, but I won't tell you. Coz that'd just ruin the whole plan if you actually knew how I use their impressions of me to my advantage, wouldn't it? :)
Yes, I'm a scheming little bugger. That's also one of the many things that people wouldn't have guessed at first.
Anyway, Denise mentioned that she knew that Ivan and I had blasted techno in the room when no one was around; she said that he'd posted it on his blog, so nosey me went to have a look.
Yeah, we blasted techno in the clubroom after Friday's OM, when the rest of the MC had gone off to watch "Shark Tale" or had gone home. Was so much fun.. for all of ten minutes. Because Jasmine came back in, and Ivan decided to be civil to anti-techno people and stop playing his CD. Sigh.
Anyway, she left at around 9 pm, and we started playing it again, haha. But by that point in time, Ivan had been bitten by the boredom bug, so he'd taken to drawing various kinds of animals on almost every available space on the whiteboard; most of them of dinosaurs-- which also included stick figures in various states of distress/ serious bodily harm/ damage. :D :D
On Wednesday, Ivan also introduced most of the people in the clubroom to a lot of the online games that he knew of; the brainless, sadistic, bloody, violent kind which is typical of our generation. You know what I mean. Things like Fishy! and the various versions of Penguin Batting; the only one which was intellectually stimulating was Mystery of Time and Space. We are now all stuck at the new level of that game, which, according to the seniors familiar with the game, wasn't there when they all completed it in the past.
Ivan and Steven were laughing at me for not being able to finish the Fishy! game. Buggers. Nyah.
Oh yeah, and there was also this survey conducted on top universities in the world, which Ivan showed me on Friday, and which appeared in the papers on Saturday; apparently, NUS ranks as the 18th best university in the world.
My eyes kinda bugged out of my head; someone out there has to pulling a fast one on the whole world.
Honestly, yes, I *do* doubt that NUS's system is all *that* great; and we were even ranked above top European and American universities-- something isn't right. Like someone said on that forum where it was posted, if such a good university is available in our country, why then does the government see the need to give out scholarships for students to go overseas to further their studies??
Hm. Ranting. Long post! Woot. Haven't done a long post in quite some time! Last lecture for GEK2001 tomorrow; getting back projects-- hopefully my group will get that A which we all want so badly!! :D
*crosses fingers*
Decided to leave early today because me had a headache. Not the constant, pounding kind of headache; I've never had any of those; but the kind that just comes and goes-- it comes up and sort of jabs at your brain for a bit and then it slinks off back into its wormhole, the sneaky little thing, only to come back later.
Oh, and yes, first day of Exam Tea was a success! I think. Well, yay. :D
I think it was a success more because of the sandwiches that someone managed to get at the very last minute; they were the leftovers or from some business seminar or something which was going on elsewhere. We were very lucky, I think. And the sandwiches weren't bad either. :)
And, we found out that a 1.7 kg tin of Milo can only last ONE day. Which means that more shopping is due tomorrow. Oh, yes, speaking of shopping. Went with Ivan to Giant to buy biscuits after our classes ended-- Giant comes up with the strangest ideas at times.
There were these tins of biscuits near the entrance of the supermarket, and the sign above them said that they were on offer, their price having been slashed from $4.50 to $2.94. So we took two tins of those, only to be told at the cashier that the lower price was only applicable if you bought $30 worth of those biscuits! O_O
That. Just. Doesn't. Make. Sense.
Who the hell would buy $30 worth of biscuits? Unless they were in our situation, that is. :P And the other thing is, $30 worth of those biscuits.. $30 worth at the price of $2.94 each, or at the price of $4.50 each??
Anyway, we bought that 1.5 kg tin of durian-filled, sandwich biscuits, and another 1.2 kg tin of assorted biscuits, which later turned out to be quite worth the money.
My sister saw me while we were waiting for the bus, and she came out of the shop to talk to me; somewhere in the course of our conversation, she mentioned (as a side-effect of not having anything to do on Saturday afternoons, and watching Meteor Garden reruns to fill that time) that she'd become
Anyway, Ivan commented that my sister was like a miniature version of me. Told him not to tell her that, or she'd scream in abject horror. Let's hope now that she does not read this.
Got back to school, helped them set up a little, then went back to clubroom; studied, read some Soci, and fell asleep. :P Denise got back from her cell meeting sometime after I'd woken up, and well.. big falling-out over there. Shall not mention details.
I brought in Ivan's techno CD, which he'd left in the room on Friday night, for her to just um.. well, cool off, and at that time, June and Xuzi had come into the computer room too, and when I started playing it, June said that me and techno "just doesn't go, man."
I am not sure if she meant that I was being poser-ish, or if she just meant that I didn't seem like the kind that would like techno.
Like I give a flying crap anyway. I'll like what I choose to like thank you very much and you can take whatever preformed opinions of me you have and swallow them with acid if you so displease.
But I do know that some of the opinions that people form of me at first tend to differ very drastically from what I'm really like. I have a general idea of the kinds of impressions that I tend to form, and most of the time, I make use of those impressions. You'd love what I can get away with, but I won't tell you. Coz that'd just ruin the whole plan if you actually knew how I use their impressions of me to my advantage, wouldn't it? :)
Yes, I'm a scheming little bugger. That's also one of the many things that people wouldn't have guessed at first.
Anyway, Denise mentioned that she knew that Ivan and I had blasted techno in the room when no one was around; she said that he'd posted it on his blog, so nosey me went to have a look.
Yeah, we blasted techno in the clubroom after Friday's OM, when the rest of the MC had gone off to watch "Shark Tale" or had gone home. Was so much fun.. for all of ten minutes. Because Jasmine came back in, and Ivan decided to be civil to anti-techno people and stop playing his CD. Sigh.
Anyway, she left at around 9 pm, and we started playing it again, haha. But by that point in time, Ivan had been bitten by the boredom bug, so he'd taken to drawing various kinds of animals on almost every available space on the whiteboard; most of them of dinosaurs-- which also included stick figures in various states of distress/ serious bodily harm/ damage. :D :D
On Wednesday, Ivan also introduced most of the people in the clubroom to a lot of the online games that he knew of; the brainless, sadistic, bloody, violent kind which is typical of our generation. You know what I mean. Things like Fishy! and the various versions of Penguin Batting; the only one which was intellectually stimulating was Mystery of Time and Space. We are now all stuck at the new level of that game, which, according to the seniors familiar with the game, wasn't there when they all completed it in the past.
Ivan and Steven were laughing at me for not being able to finish the Fishy! game. Buggers. Nyah.
Oh yeah, and there was also this survey conducted on top universities in the world, which Ivan showed me on Friday, and which appeared in the papers on Saturday; apparently, NUS ranks as the 18th best university in the world.
My eyes kinda bugged out of my head; someone out there has to pulling a fast one on the whole world.
Honestly, yes, I *do* doubt that NUS's system is all *that* great; and we were even ranked above top European and American universities-- something isn't right. Like someone said on that forum where it was posted, if such a good university is available in our country, why then does the government see the need to give out scholarships for students to go overseas to further their studies??
Hm. Ranting. Long post! Woot. Haven't done a long post in quite some time! Last lecture for GEK2001 tomorrow; getting back projects-- hopefully my group will get that A which we all want so badly!! :D
*crosses fingers*
Saturday, November 06, 2004
ARGH!! Did the most STUPID thing.. I forgot that there was a make-up Lit tutorial today, crap, damn it, shit...
It was supposed to be from 11.30-1.30, and guess what, when I opened my diary to check, I suddenly saw it there and I remembered, and guess what time it was then?? 1.30 pm. Absolut Shite.
ARRGGGHHHH. Have taken note of Monday's two-hour extra lecture tho; put that down in my phone so I won't forget!! Why didn't I think of that earlier... -_-
On the bright side, I found what must be the cheapest Milo in all of Singapore for Exam Tea, haha! $8.40 for 1.7 kg! Haha...
It was supposed to be from 11.30-1.30, and guess what, when I opened my diary to check, I suddenly saw it there and I remembered, and guess what time it was then?? 1.30 pm. Absolut Shite.
ARRGGGHHHH. Have taken note of Monday's two-hour extra lecture tho; put that down in my phone so I won't forget!! Why didn't I think of that earlier... -_-
On the bright side, I found what must be the cheapest Milo in all of Singapore for Exam Tea, haha! $8.40 for 1.7 kg! Haha...
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Found out last night (or rather, early this morning) that with enough sick inspiration, putting myself and Ivan Kwan in the same MSN chat window may be hazardous.
The result of that this morning was about THREE HOURS of nonsense and completely, utterly, ridiculous chat/RPG-like blathering, and Alvin and Denise had to endure our (mostly Ivan's) strange ideas.
The following is an example of the kind of things that were going on from 2 am to about 3.15 am this morning.
Gerri: *falls off chair writhing with laughter*
Ivan: *breaks chair over Gerri's head*
Gerri: HEY!!!
o_O (-_-)!!
And at some point earlier in the madness, the precursor to this ultimate spasticity, if you will, Ivan and me were engaged in smiley warfare. You know, the kind of thing where you see if the other person can throw out a smiley that's bigger or happier or smilier or cuter or more exaggerated than your own.
Anyway... was doing all that nonsense until 3.15 am; tried to concentrate on doing Lit essay, but obviously, it didn't work. Ended up staying up till 6.40 am doing it; got an hour's sleep before waking up at 8 am for Lit tutorial at 10.
And surprisingly, I didn't fall asleep during tutorial. Although I was pretty tired.
Got sleepy later on in the day. And headachy. Ok, I had a headache. "Headachy" looks strange. o_o Had to quickly find some stuff for SE presentation after Lit lect too, and send it to my groupmate so that he could print it. So rushed.
Took a lot of the ideas that Ivan suggested for Genes & Soc essay; thank god for seniors. I've kinda forgotten how to write a proper essay by now... Crap.
The result of that this morning was about THREE HOURS of nonsense and completely, utterly, ridiculous chat/RPG-like blathering, and Alvin and Denise had to endure our (mostly Ivan's) strange ideas.
The following is an example of the kind of things that were going on from 2 am to about 3.15 am this morning.
Gerri: *falls off chair writhing with laughter*
Ivan: *breaks chair over Gerri's head*
Gerri: HEY!!!
o_O (-_-)!!
And at some point earlier in the madness, the precursor to this ultimate spasticity, if you will, Ivan and me were engaged in smiley warfare. You know, the kind of thing where you see if the other person can throw out a smiley that's bigger or happier or smilier or cuter or more exaggerated than your own.
Anyway... was doing all that nonsense until 3.15 am; tried to concentrate on doing Lit essay, but obviously, it didn't work. Ended up staying up till 6.40 am doing it; got an hour's sleep before waking up at 8 am for Lit tutorial at 10.
And surprisingly, I didn't fall asleep during tutorial. Although I was pretty tired.
Got sleepy later on in the day. And headachy. Ok, I had a headache. "Headachy" looks strange. o_o Had to quickly find some stuff for SE presentation after Lit lect too, and send it to my groupmate so that he could print it. So rushed.
Took a lot of the ideas that Ivan suggested for Genes & Soc essay; thank god for seniors. I've kinda forgotten how to write a proper essay by now... Crap.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Back from studying in clubroom, as usual. :)
Irritated the HELL out of Ivan and Clement and Xinyan when I got high outta NOWHERE at about 8 plus pm. Haha. K, I don't think I irritated them; maybe I was just a slightly annoying nuisance that they wished would lapse back into normal functioning mode after a while.
Or maybe I provided some brainless entertainment. In both senses of the word. :P
Got back Genes and Soc online quiz results; got 29/30!! Ha, I beat Ivan. A-level Bio student, take that! Heehee. Kidding, kidding, relax... heehee. :P
Silly thing was bloody easy anyway; freaking lot of ppl who got full marks.. I was just one point away, man. Damn.
Not very productive today... due to the strange high that took some time for me to come down from. Oh, and Ivan was showing us videos on Kontraband which kinda derailed my thought process too; they encouraged me (and Ivan) to make noise. As in, cute little squealing kinds of noises. The vid was that of a TV ad that featured adorable, hamster puppets that were used like carrier pigeons; only they were flung from windows and catapulted from the ground instead of flying on their own power. And the noise they made was so goshdarned cute... :P
Damn sleepy now, so this post ends here. Have to go write out my Lit essay now, anyway.
Irritated the HELL out of Ivan and Clement and Xinyan when I got high outta NOWHERE at about 8 plus pm. Haha. K, I don't think I irritated them; maybe I was just a slightly annoying nuisance that they wished would lapse back into normal functioning mode after a while.
Or maybe I provided some brainless entertainment. In both senses of the word. :P
Got back Genes and Soc online quiz results; got 29/30!! Ha, I beat Ivan. A-level Bio student, take that! Heehee. Kidding, kidding, relax... heehee. :P
Silly thing was bloody easy anyway; freaking lot of ppl who got full marks.. I was just one point away, man. Damn.
Not very productive today... due to the strange high that took some time for me to come down from. Oh, and Ivan was showing us videos on Kontraband which kinda derailed my thought process too; they encouraged me (and Ivan) to make noise. As in, cute little squealing kinds of noises. The vid was that of a TV ad that featured adorable, hamster puppets that were used like carrier pigeons; only they were flung from windows and catapulted from the ground instead of flying on their own power. And the noise they made was so goshdarned cute... :P
Damn sleepy now, so this post ends here. Have to go write out my Lit essay now, anyway.
Monday, November 01, 2004
I think I forgot to mention it, but I overslept on Saturday morning. First time I've overslept this year. Know what this means?
Yes, the two hours plus of sleep every night (or morning? considering I don't sleep till about 3 am or later) is finally showing that it's insufficient.
My right eye hurts too; think I might've strained it or popped a vessel in it somewhere.. The last time I was walking around with bloodshot eyes was last year in J2. Not fun.
Don't have classes today, but I'll be going off to school shortly to borrow one of the Lit texts from my friend. It's a shitty situation; I'm doing an essay on that book and another one which I already have, because those two are prose; the only two other options for essay are the two books of poetry or the two dramas.
I've NEVER fared well with drama, and while I'm admittedly good at picking up all the nuances of poetry, I'm not good with comparing poet's general styles.
So, only option left is the two prose texts.
Here's the problem: one book, Pramoedya Ananta Toer's "It's Not An All Night Fair" (an Indonesian translation text; original title is "Bukan Pasar Malam"), I have, but the other book, Doris Lessing's "The Fifth Child", is BANNED in Singapore. This means that possibly your only chance of getting the book here is at NUS Co-Op.
Some people besides us Lit students obviously know this. It's the only explanation for how the book could be sold out when the guy only ordered just enough for our class, and yet some students are coming in saying that have yet to buy the book.
So now I can't get the book from anywhere, and I have to borrow it. I don't have Eugene Ionesco's "Rhinoceros" either. Or my SE1101E reading packet.
All these things are each in the range of about $20, which is why I was hunting so desperately for second-hand textbooks. Unfortunately, that can't be done for Lit, since they change the books every sem; this is why Lit is the most expensive module.
I wish I could buy all the books; I don't have anything against buying good literature, but if you don't have the cash, then you don't have a choice, do you?
Financial problems are a bitch. On one hand, I want so much to say that hey, I NEED all these texts, but at the same time, I don't want to ask my parents for the money; there's a vaguely wrong feeling about asking your parents for money at this age, plus I have to think about the fact that even if I ask for the money, there might not be enough at hand, and I'll just feel even worse for asking.
This is due to a lot of stuff which happened last year; one word could summarise the whole situation: recession. And perhaps we'd have to add that credit cards are the root of all evil. Won't go into details. I believe that anyone who reads this is smart enough; go figure.
I almost couldn't even start first sem at NUS; I'm not Singaporean, so this means that to avoid the three-year bond when I take MOE's subsidised fees, I'm paying the full fees. This means that while all the rest of you pay about $2000 per sem, I have to pay about five times as much.
It scares me sometimes; everytime we talk about modules and activities and such, and I say that I'm thinking about doing Philo or French or something or other next sem, the thought immediately follows: Can I afford a "next sem"??
Thinking about getting a job, but my timetable and the activities that I'm involved in don't really allow for it; I'm just hoping and praying really hard that at the end of this academic year, if I can get good enough results, the academic and CCA record for first year will be enough to get me a scholarship or something for subsequent years.
I can't do this for much longer.
Yes, the two hours plus of sleep every night (or morning? considering I don't sleep till about 3 am or later) is finally showing that it's insufficient.
My right eye hurts too; think I might've strained it or popped a vessel in it somewhere.. The last time I was walking around with bloodshot eyes was last year in J2. Not fun.
Don't have classes today, but I'll be going off to school shortly to borrow one of the Lit texts from my friend. It's a shitty situation; I'm doing an essay on that book and another one which I already have, because those two are prose; the only two other options for essay are the two books of poetry or the two dramas.
I've NEVER fared well with drama, and while I'm admittedly good at picking up all the nuances of poetry, I'm not good with comparing poet's general styles.
So, only option left is the two prose texts.
Here's the problem: one book, Pramoedya Ananta Toer's "It's Not An All Night Fair" (an Indonesian translation text; original title is "Bukan Pasar Malam"), I have, but the other book, Doris Lessing's "The Fifth Child", is BANNED in Singapore. This means that possibly your only chance of getting the book here is at NUS Co-Op.
Some people besides us Lit students obviously know this. It's the only explanation for how the book could be sold out when the guy only ordered just enough for our class, and yet some students are coming in saying that have yet to buy the book.
So now I can't get the book from anywhere, and I have to borrow it. I don't have Eugene Ionesco's "Rhinoceros" either. Or my SE1101E reading packet.
All these things are each in the range of about $20, which is why I was hunting so desperately for second-hand textbooks. Unfortunately, that can't be done for Lit, since they change the books every sem; this is why Lit is the most expensive module.
I wish I could buy all the books; I don't have anything against buying good literature, but if you don't have the cash, then you don't have a choice, do you?
Financial problems are a bitch. On one hand, I want so much to say that hey, I NEED all these texts, but at the same time, I don't want to ask my parents for the money; there's a vaguely wrong feeling about asking your parents for money at this age, plus I have to think about the fact that even if I ask for the money, there might not be enough at hand, and I'll just feel even worse for asking.
This is due to a lot of stuff which happened last year; one word could summarise the whole situation: recession. And perhaps we'd have to add that credit cards are the root of all evil. Won't go into details. I believe that anyone who reads this is smart enough; go figure.
I almost couldn't even start first sem at NUS; I'm not Singaporean, so this means that to avoid the three-year bond when I take MOE's subsidised fees, I'm paying the full fees. This means that while all the rest of you pay about $2000 per sem, I have to pay about five times as much.
It scares me sometimes; everytime we talk about modules and activities and such, and I say that I'm thinking about doing Philo or French or something or other next sem, the thought immediately follows: Can I afford a "next sem"??
Thinking about getting a job, but my timetable and the activities that I'm involved in don't really allow for it; I'm just hoping and praying really hard that at the end of this academic year, if I can get good enough results, the academic and CCA record for first year will be enough to get me a scholarship or something for subsequent years.
I can't do this for much longer.