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.
*More giggles 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.