Not too busy to read.

"That's the point of sport: it's pointless. A glorious waste of time - though not quite as glorious or as pointless as art."
- From Swimmer by Bill Broady

"The flower which the wind has shaken
Is soon filled again with rain:
So does my heart fill slowly with tears
Until you return."
-Imagist poet Richard Aldington

Have yet to start on Whitman's "Leaves of Grass". Can't wait. Whole piles of books lie around waiting to be read.

I hope I can get 100 posts out this year.

Added the finishing touches to what I hope is the worst sem ever (in terms of exams) last Thursday, at HL310, the last of 6 exams.

Here's my ranking, from darn-it at first place to not-as-bad-as-i-feared.. at sixth place.

1. COM253

2. COM201

3. HL310

4. COM203

5. HL301

6. HL230

And I just remembered I need at least a B in 201 in order to do the other courses. Sigh.. STARS Planner, old friend, we meet again.

Anyway, exams overrr. Now to concentrate in Epiphany and ArtJam and violin and reading/watching lists and WRITING LETTERS/EMAILS and setting my room in order (there's just space enough to walk through, the rest of the floor is covered with my books). And FRIENDS FRIENDS FRIENDS!

Walked around Orchard on Thursday, went for a 21st birthday yesterday, and watched The Chronicles of Narnia, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader today. It's a great movie! Love the soundtrack too =]

There's so much to do I don't know where to start. I think I'll go read a book.

And I really want to go watch Ballerina Who Loves B-Boy!

I decided to leave some reflections on the COM203 discussion board yesterday, after the final exam, asking why exams need to focus on memory rather than understanding.

Read Professor Cherian George's reply today, and I feel really embarrassed. I should have used better examples; now I made myself out to be someone who doesn't understand concepts in the first place.. I need the night to get over this, will respond tomorrow, Prof.

At least he was glad I was thinking about the way we learn.

3 exams down, 3 to go. I think I already slaughtered my GPA though. Oh well. I get to get enough sleep tonight =]


"Alright already the show goes on
All night till the morning we dream so long."

Savvy?

Perhaps the most interesting thing about reading the sixty five-page-long Singapore Code of Advertising Practice (3rd Edition) is that after introducing it to the reader, they refer to it in the rest of the document as the Code. Now I feel like Jack Sparrow and Barbossa (and I doubt either of them ever finished reading it either).

"Why, thank you, Jaaaaaack."

-Jack grimaces.

"Not youuuu, we named the monkeyyyy Jaaaaaack."

"IT WAS A TIME I SLEPT IN MANY ROOMS, called myself by many names. I wandered through the quarters of the city like alluvium wanders the river banks. I knew every kind of joy, ascents of every hue. Mine was the twilight and the morning. Mine was a world of rooftops and love songs."

- Roman Payne

Man am I grateful. For msn conversations in French with WL. Reminds me of French lessons with Monsieur Huet, as well as awesome August 2010.

I should probably feel more grateful for the extension of the 301 essay deadline.


"no mistake's too great to recover and bounce back"

I'm rather distracted.

This morning, I woke up early enough, but daydreamed so much that I had to rush to school (and was still late).

I fell asleep over If On A Winter's Night A Traveller (which TOTALLY does not deserve such disgraceful treatment) on the MRT, despite having got some decent hours of sleep.

I forgot to charge my phone AND my iPod, but luckily I didn't bother about not being contactable, and remembered to grab the phone's earphones on the way out of home cos sometimes you've just gotta listen to something. (The sliver of charge on my phone last me till I got home, despite listening to music to and from school, by the way =] )

Then, in the middle of Media Law, I realised that I'd forgotten to eat breakfast.

After lecture, I was walking to the bus stop, when I suddenly remembered that I'd brought library books with me to return. (Part of the reason I was late is that I was hunting for books and choosing which ones to return.) I set out to HSS from SCI, forgetting that I can probably return the books at SCI ACRC although they're from HSS. I remembered early enough to turn back but I decided to go to HSS anyway cos I'm bound to meet a friend there. Then, 10 metres away from the HSS library, I remembered that I'd only brought the books from the public library, and not the school library, cos there were too many books to carry at once...

And so I turned back to take a bus from the HSS bus stop. Someone who looked like a professor walked out of a door about 8metres in front of me, saw me, smiled and waved. He was against the light so I couldn't see his face properly, but he didn't look like any of my Profs! And there wasn't anyone behind me either. So I just grinned sheepishly, but didn't wave back, and he turned back and went his way. I was really curious so I tried catching up to him, but he seemed to have disappeared! Couldn't see him anywhere. I hope he wasn't my favourite prof, and I really hope he wasn't offended =O

Returned the books at the library and got home without any other incident, as far as I can remember. Later in the evening, I realised that for the first time in my life, I can't remember a password =S It was a new account that I hadn't started using yet, but I feel terrible at having to change passwords because I've never done it before and the original was probably something cool >.<

***

I need to remember to send emails, send letters, send postcards, amidst all this schoolwork.

Film Fest is going on now!!! =D



"Coz I, Im in love with this feelin' now,
Hope that this will last a while, we should make it last a while"

Listening to California Dreamin on YouTube isn't quite like listening to it on top volume in Chungking Express.

My list of movies to watch after the exams is getting pretty long!




"நீ இரவு, நான் விண்மீன்
நீ இருக்கும் வரை தான் நான் இருப்பேன். "

Gotta love The Weepies

"I watch the stars from my window sill
The whole world is moving and I'm standing still
.
.
.

I thought of you and where you'd gone
And the world spins madly on."

Feeling expressive.

Phone inbox has reached a nice round 8000 =O

I have a very bad feeling about my 230 essay =(

The weather in November is always fantastic =]

I got my cheque for the freelance job =D

Rediscovered the awesomeness of On The Road this morning =)

First ex-co meeting tomorrow =S

Performance yesterday! Will miss seeing everyone at rehearsals =..(

Saw a 20plus-minute film on cats and kittens! =DDD

Wish I could have a convo like that. (not on FB, of course..)

see more Failbook

Today was a good day - met Farah, primary school classmate, on the MRT home, and received a postcard from Germany!

Which reminds me, I really should get in touch with the international friends I made during YOG..

I like Mondays cos at 12.30, a whole gang of us convene at The Steps. It's the only time I get to see many of them this sem.

I seem to be completely surrounded by technology; I'm always having to charge something or the other. Phone, laptop, iPod.


4.5 hours left to write 2500 words. I think I'm actually going to make it.

Good Ol' August and YOG

From Argentina: Leo Plaza Gandini, Tomas Ruiz and Daniel Quiroga

"When you get caught between the Moon and New York City.."

Outside Paya Lebar MRT at 7pm

Tuesday, 2nd November 2010.

Wanted to wait for it to get prettier but, I am ashamed to say, I decided to get onto the bus when it arrived.

Well I do have a presentation tomorrow that I haven't prepared for yet..




Sister: I can get a complimentary voucher for you, do you want one? I can get one for anyone over 18. (after a small pause) You are above 18 aren't you?

Me: -_-

Sister: It's hard to tell sometimes.

Non-aircon, double-decker buses ftw! It's a pity the ride ended that fast.

I wish I had a typewriter, maybe then I would write.

Not to be egoistic, but I suspect some of the references here will be lost on most people.

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
to hell with coms!

shreya says:
hehehehe

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
i hate that i'm sacrificing so much lit time for it

shreya says:
yes, that's what im not too comfortable with

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
(:

shreya says:
oh well
lit has our love
always

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
YES

shreya says:
comms can try, but WILL NEVER MATCH UPPP

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
not ever
we have so many lit spies in coms

shreya says:
-solemn pact moment-

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
teaching it

shreya says:
YEA

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
-crosses heart-

shreya says:
OLD ENGLISH SOME MORE

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
YEAH HAHAHAHA

shreya says:
i mean, middle eng

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
chaucer

shreya says:
-hopes to die-

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
eliot

shreya says:
WOOT CHAUCER
though i didnt read much of him

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
-hopes to die in the name of lit-
lit martyrs!

shreya says:
-imagines self carrying bright shiny sword-
YEA

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
hahaha

shreya says:
we the martyrs

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
the chivalric notion

shreya says:
we can be gawain or someone

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
gawain may be gay!

shreya says:
oh yeaaaa

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
lol w_____ and his queer theories

shreya says:
green knight?
HAHA

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
everything is queer theory

shreya says:
hmmmm

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
be beowulf!
odysseus!

shreya says:
thennnn we can be DON JUAN HAHAHAHA

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
oedipus!

shreya says:
EH YEA

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
OH OKAY
don juan

shreya says:
noooooooooooooo not oedipus

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
the epitome of manliness

shreya says:
he's not exotic enough, stupid freud made him Common

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
oh yeah!
damn those psycho nuts

shreya says:
HAHA YEA MANLY DON JUAN LOLLLL
yea man

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
HAHAHAHA

shreya says:
making great lit characters common household names
ugh
odysseus is pretty cool too though ^.^
and achilles!

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
now it feels weird when we use "oedipus complex" to talk about some psychological theory in a lit text put in for postmodernist reasons
ODYSSEUS <3
oh yes achilles! arkhilleus hahaha

shreya says:
yea, i know right
hahahahaha yea!
is he <3 because he's the only one you read?
HAH

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
nooooo!
gosh i'm offended
hahaha

shreya says:
HAHA
kiddin, homie

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
i hate aeneas

shreya says:
lol why?

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
really hate

shreya says:
cos of dido?

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
naw it's everything about him
just reading about him makes me seethe
i think partly cuz unlike odysseus he always has god-help
and they always tell him what to do and how and he just does it

shreya says:
(im so putting this convo up on my blog btw)
ooh i see i see
but no what

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
it's not much of his own efforts/abilities

shreya says:
he always has the choice not to listen to them
in fact he does that at one point right
cant rmb where

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
i can't even remember!

shreya says:
hahaha
nvm
odysseussssss

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
stupid aeneas
odysseus is so awesome

shreya says:
not stupid, just misunderstood ^.^

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
he's so awesome that with the intention of skimming through for exam time constraint purposes
i got so hooked that i ignored the time constraint
and sat down in a couch
read the entire day

shreya says:
hhahahaha

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
finished the better half of it in less than a day

shreya says:
time well-spent =D

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
that's how awesome!
YAY

shreya says:
yea, i cant believe how fast i read that either

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
(:
i'm doing crazy citations for the essay btw
stupid APA
what the hell
MLA rules!
crazy com nuts and crazy c_________

shreya says:
ok i havent looked at APA yet but im sure MLA PWNS APA
hahahahaha

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
absolutely

shreya says:
trying to be all cool

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
HAHAHAHA

shreya says:
little do they know how we look down on them from the back row =D
The Lit Cult of the Comms Lecture
LT with the boringest name of ______________

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
hahahaha

shreya says:
that's the name, right

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
think so

shreya says:
BLACK BOX RULES

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
wow i just realised that they hold lectures telling them what the ___family does to rulebreakers in the ___________ theatre

shreya says:
wow

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
black box ftw

shreya says:
the environment adds up huh

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
hahahahaha

shreya says:
eh that required capitals

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
insane

shreya says:
BLACK BOX FTW

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
HAHAHA
this is litotes
understatement for effect
queen v "we are not amused." HAHAHAHAHA

shreya says:
wait im lost
what?
(sorry =S )
sounds so familiarrrrrrr
grah

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
hahaha

shreya says:
OH

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
y______ imitated queen victoria and taught us litotes

shreya says:
YEA
WAIT
HAHAHAHAHA
Y___________SSSS

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
kickasssssss
hahaha

shreya says:
IM SORRY THAT EVER SLIPPED MY MIND
TOTALLY
WOOHOO
ok ok, ill catch up with you tmr
go finish your essay

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
sure sure
be encouraging looking

shreya says:
ill try to get started on mine =D

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
very encouraging

shreya says:
WILL DO
WILL DO VERY MUCH

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
hold us cues

shreya says:
HAHAHA
at the back of the class

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
& bilboards saying "JAZZY BLUES RULES"

shreya says:
behind y____s' head
HAHA

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
YEAH

shreya says:
IF ONLY I COULD

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
hahahahaha

shreya says:
hold a pic of dylan
for inspiration to be totally crazy

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
i want kinbote!
the great beaver
hahahaha

shreya says:
HAHAHA
unfortunately, i dont think that will be possible

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
aw man
lol
paint it on the back wall
go sleep
good night!

shreya says:
the zemblan might sue me
haha cant sleep yet
too much workkk

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
whatcha gonna do?
the zemblan killed himself anyways!

shreya says:
imma tryna decide what tah do
haha true, that
but since the book is full of ghosts
...

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
*shiver*
close your eyes & point & do whatever you've pointed at!
(point at the bed)

shreya says:
(sudden surge and unexplainable desire to retire for the night)
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
fights against the mind heist!
i invoke you, brave Odysseus!
help me rid myself of this strange lethargy!
when dawn with her rosy fingers rises, i shall still be awake!

Hitsugaya Jasmine says:
HAHAHAHAHA

shreya says:
hahahahahahaa

"Everyone wanted to play Han Solo" - Carrie Fisher

see more Failbook.

I didn't realise Blogger has stats on every blog!

I wonder how I missed that huge tab right up there with Posting, Settings, Design and so on. So now I know how many people visit each day. The number surprised me at first, then I realised it isn't actually that big a number..

Bumped into Ms Farah at the busstop today! She remembers my name, and was filling me in on the changes to come out of the Cedar and VS through-train programme.

Ah those days of bio classes and note-taking and the myelin (spelling?) sheath, which is how Ms Farah still remembers Eileen =D

Went to the post office, now I know that a postcard to her just costs 50c.

Then went to the Information Counter to buy a ticket for The Chess Player, showing tomorrow, which I'll be watching with Hui Fang, and hopefully doing my essay on.

Two interviews to conduct tomorrow, looking forward to it =]

Taking a break from 6 essays to go get some smiles!

Sheela's Reception!

I'm really not that short, it's an illusion? Or maybe all the other girls were wearing heels? Haha!

After ICS Nite 09. I think I'm trying to look RnB. I dunno how well it worked but ahh those baggy oversized jeans are really comfortable.

I was bored and free enough some months back

And found this about the sign Aquarius:

Ailments:

Injuries to lower legs, ankle problems, poor circulation, varicose veins, blood disorders, nervous disorders, sheer lack of sleep.


Haha! It seems pretty interesting.

Injuries to lower legs: I dunno, maybe I can count all those scars from the numerous times I've grazed/bruised/cut my legs.

Ankle problems: nahh.

Poor circulation: They might have a point. Somehow, iron never has trouble reaching my feet. They cramp sometimes, especially in cold weather.

Varicose veins: I think this just might be handed down to me through genes.

Blood disorders: don't think so.

Nervous disorders: definitely not.

Sheer lack of sleep: okay they got me. =D


If you wanna check yours:

HERE.

Oh and another reason I like this site is that it gave me a list of people I might know, and they include:

The Tin Man from the yellow brick road,
Charles Darwin,
Lewis Carroll,
Wolfgang Mozart,
the Loch Ness Monster,
Mother Goose,
the Mad Hatter,
Yoko Ono,
Princess Caroline of Monaco,
Jules Verne,
Robbie Williams.

Yippee!

I'm too inspired by HL310, I find it increasingly hard to take the same route all the time.

So I dropped off at Eunos today, instead of Paya Lebar, and decide to walk home from there. I enjoy walking, so I took my time. Took me about an hour to walk home, loved every minute of it.

Stopped halfway, to buy a Peach Ice Blend, and to pet a very friendly black cat.

Reflection. (cheesy as this title sounds, I don't think I've used it before.)

Why can't I write?

I can't think of anything else I want to spend my whole life doing. (Okay, social work is an exception.)

Good writing takes a genius. Or maybe some hard practice. So I'll try. It's such a bummer that I have to choose between a second major in Communications and a minor in Creative Writing.. Would gladly go for the latter but my thinking was that I can pursue creative writing independently, or at another place, but I can't do that for comms. Even if that isn't true, I know I would have chosen comms anyway, because I wouldn't be able to walk away from the challenge of 24AUs (academic units) per semester.

I carry around a book for jotting down stuff to write about while travelling to school and back home, but nothing's been jotted down yet because I'm either reading stuff for lessons, or I've fallen asleep.

Yes I'll keep trying, but maybe I should start thinking of what I should do if it turns out I can't write after all.

Funny people on Failbook =D

see more Failbook !

I hear whispers of the VIP gathering in December and I really really can't wait!

Cool stuff (that you might consider sadly random)

1) I get a kick out of typing stuff into YouTube/Google and finding that autocomplete (you know what I mean right) is baffled, cos it means I'm searching for something different =D

2) Shafie gave me a brilliant strategy to use the next time I found strangers giving me unwanted attention (that is to say, when certain people stare as I walk along a certain area). He says to look at their hair and give a wth look. They'll get all self-conscious cos they can't see their hair. (And it was really funny when he said it but I doubt I'll ever actually do that.)

3) Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 is fantastic.

"We went to the New York's World Fair, saw what the past had been like, according to the Ford Motor Car Company and Walt Disney, saw what the future would be like, according to General Motors. And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep."

"The most important thing I learned on Tralfamadore was that when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral. All moments, past, present an future, always have existed, always will exist. The Tralfamadorians can look at all the different moments just the way we can look at a stretch of the Rocky Mountains, for instance. They can see how permanent all the moments are, and they can look at any moment that interests them. It is just as illusion we have here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone it is gone forever."

We listened to Bob Dylan this week for HL230!






He looks so cool. And the pastor isn't a real pastor. I can't remember exactly who (was it Allen Ginsberg?) it is but it's someone dressed up like a pastor for fun. =D

Oh America.

And I know I'm mixing time periods up really bad with the following quote but oh well. It's from HL310, European Lit. (Besides, maybe this technique would make me part of the Surrealist gang we studied today in Film Theory, HL301. =D )

"This fire burns our brains so fiercely, we wish to plunge
To the abyss' depths, Heaven or Hell, does it matter?
To the depths of the Unknown to find something new!"

-Charles Baudelaire

Good Days Involve:

1) Good friends who save seats for lecture
2) Good friends I bump into when getting down from the bus
3) Remembering to take my waterbottle to school
4) Plans for Shafie (congrats bro!) for tomorrow, with homie and carms (I'm gonna be translating for them tomorrow at Caldecott).
5) Meeting an IP classmate at the busstop
6) Looong train ride to Tanah Merah and the trip to Simmer's pretty house from there
7) Walking to East Coast to the 13/43/48 busstop instead of taking a bus there, 'cos I couldn't resist the winding road =D
8) Late lunch, then to Parkway for the bro and the usual bubble tea, and the ride back home!
9) Concert at the temple by a disciple of a singer I like, and talking to the music school friends after that! Plans for farewells are on the horizon.
10) Late nights on the laptop and off it, pretending to be busy, and realising that I really am...

Okay bye.

I can't find my ruler =\ I've had it since primary school. I really hope it's somewhere at home, and not lost at school.

So many people have left.. But that only means more correspondence. Which reminds me, I need to go buy stamps.

I thought I would be more free now that the concert is over, but 2 more have popped up, and then there's the PA show of course. The Pallavi series was fun and enlightening, and a good chance to talk about issues related to the school, and what we can do about it. I suddenly feel like Marie's 'gang' in Rice Bowl. Speaking of which, I've fallen back on sooo many readings because of violin rehearsals every night, I just hope I can catch up.

Remind me to tell you (in person) how Prof ____ pronounced 'Tampines' in seminar today. =D

Ah it's only 12.35.

and NOW COM253 assumes we have facebook. this second major thing is starting to get on my nerves.

Apart from that, it's pretty interesting though =D

This week has been/is disgustingly busy. Can't wait for the Friday concert to be over. But then again, I have loads left to memorise..

Oh man I missed the kite flying days =\ hope they make a comeback!

I just came home from rehearsal with Kavitha and Palla and now I'm wondering how the heck I'm gonna pull this off. Wish me luck.

Noooooooooooooooooo

=(
We need to get a twitter account for COM201 Assignment 1! Danggg.

It appears there's a technical problem though, so that assignment has been postponed till further notice. Thank you =]

WE. ARE NOT. ANNOYING.

Maybe just a few people are. But stop treating us as one homogenous group.

(I still love you though, xkcd.)

'Cos you're awesome!

Today I learnt that the idea for the movie Inception is one of the first few theories in the history of film theory, which makes it about a century old. (I think.) It portrays, very accurately, Hugo Mundenberg's theory that the film is in the mind.

Went for the family photoshoot in the evening, to commemorate my sister's graduation! Photos in a while. It was fun, except for the make-up part.. And we got an interesting cab driver on the way home!

Am watching Casablanca now, but I just HAD to take a break to come here and type out this bit of dialogue:

- "You despise me, don't you?"
- "Oh, if I gave you any thought, I probably would."

Academy Day 2010

Amu left yesterday =\ at least I got to see her at the airport. And Audrey's leaving tomorrow, and I just haven't been able to meet her =(

I realise that I would enjoy Academy Day a lot, if it weren't for the fact that there's school. I worry about the time wasted only because of the huge piles of homework. Otherwise, I'd be perfectly happy to get a chance to see and talk to so many friends, and to joke around and stuff. Reminds me of what it's like to be at camp, somehow. It's a time when eventually, people start talking for lack of anything else to do, and it brings up really interesting conversations. Plus, the whole idea of playing together makes me feel like it's one BIG group of friends, not just different disciplines coming together on one day.

So although yesterday was almost completely a waste of 12 hours, I'm glad I got to talk to friends, especially the mridangam and tabla gang. We would never have talked and joked that much if we weren't all at the same place waiting for something to happen. (And besides, the day wasn't a complete waste because I met some of the gang at the airport at night, which brought back lotsa memories of the guys from Congo =\ ) Likewise, I'm glad I was with the (new generation) violin and flute and veena gangs today, and made friends with more of that huge mridangam group.

The orchestra had a few minor mistakes, but it sounded fine. The alumni dance, for which I was playing, was more obviously careless but I think it still sounded alright. At least there's one less thing to worry about now. 1 down, 4 to go!

Now to finish reading three-quarters of a novel by tomorrow.

"Do you think about me now and then?

Do you think about me now and then?

'Cos I'm comin' home again."

Odessa Steps and old tapes!

Thursdays are Hui Fang days =]

We met up earlier cos we wanted to take a chance and see if the CCA fair was still on, but it wasn't =\

COM201 lecture found the bunch of us second majors from Lit sitting in the back row. I've always found that there's something like a statement made when one sits in the back row ^.^

Was saved from freezing in COM253 by half of Hui Fang's jacket, and by us jotting down countries to research about (cos COM203 demands that we know what's going on in the world) in the first few minutes of lecture. I say that to explain that we DID pay attention.

Battleship Potempkin (the film we watched) - masterpiece of montage. And in my notes, I don't have enough time to write out the whole name so I write BPot. =D

Famous scene from the movie:

And my dad found me his old Simon And Garfunkel, and Cliff Richard cassette tapes! There's something so cool about tapes that CDs don't have.

Things to remember apart from school stuff:

1) Borrow John Green's Looking For Alaska
2) Watch Casablanca
3) Watch 500 Days of Summer
4) Read Terry Prachett
5) Short-story competition?

Had my first lecture with Dr Cherian George today, and he's a great lecturer! =]

An SMS from my homie, in reply to something I'd sent earlier:

O: wah i suddenly realised your msg looks psychotic "k ill"

Homie's one of the few people you can expect such observations from =D And ever since then, I've been trying to use that (k ill...) in as many sentences in my messages as possible.

Nowadays I keep blogging about what I've been up to (this post included). Not good..

The team and their coach, plus Yorghenh from track, and minus Maximus.

Ok I just typed a whole load of stuff here but I cut it to paste before the picture, and realised that Blogger isn't good at pasting cut stuff. Sigh.

In brief - last week was great. This week seems even better.

Got up at 4 this morning to finish the 301 assignment, and all I could think of was how so many people have left already/are going to leave soon. =\

Glad I got to talk to: Colin. Geraldine (thanks for the notebook!) and Alina and Jennifer. Jasmine and Carmen and Lester. Shafie. Fabian. Joel and Keith. Ronnie and Evan. Fadilah.

I'm so glad I'm where I am and nowhere else.

2 days into Year 2

And I've already got two things to submit next week =O Plus a mountain of readings and books to get. Hullo again, Bras Basah, old friend.

Dr Cherian George is taking COM203!! *goes off to take another look at The Air-Conditioned Nation, which hasn't been touched since IP2.*

Step Up 3D tomorrow though, I think! =D

Felix Cheong, "I Watch the Stars Go Out"
For stars heavier than eight times our sun, the enormous pressure due to gravity will fuse even heavier elements at the core. The star then explodes with tremendous fury. - Marcello Gleiser, "The Dancing Universe".

Perhaps love
is a view of stars
through the telescope of years
now aged,
no longer uncommited
in chosen places,
nor fearful
of that strident moment
when light explodes
into a million shards of heart.

I really shouldn't have borrowed that collection of poetry by Felix Cheong with so much other stuff to read, but this poem is worth it.

I've got so much left to say but I can't speak well and besides, it's too late.

Because university starts tomorrow and it hardly feels like it - I think I've been too busy to realise we're having holidays. Had a lot of fun though.

And I'm gonna miss those guys so. much.

The PM mentioned an MRT line that will come up in the East soon. I'd rather it didn't, though.. I like the East Coast just the way it is.

Ernest Hemingway said his best story is six words long (For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.). Margaret Atwood's six word story goes like this: Longed for him. Got him. Shit.

Haha! Anyway, the deadline is this Wednesday. Ideasssss?

Summer Love.

How do I express emotions that are mine in a language that isn't mine?

(VERY loosely quoted from a slide from HKL105 lecture last sem.)

Wed - shopping with the boys. Thursday - PIKNIK at the beach with Geraldine, Hansen, Izzat and Nadiah. Friday - more shopping with the boys, at Queensway.

=]

Volleyball!

Saw my first international volleyball game today, thanks to a good friend. =] The only downside was that I had to be there at 8am, though the matched only started at 10.

It was really great though, both the boys' and the girls' matches. I think I'm hooked.

While waiting for the second match to start, I met Ale and her dad, and we were talking about how good it would be if disagreements could be settled through sport instead of war. And a tiny adorable girl from Nanjing came over to publicise the 2014 YOG in Nanjing.

Came home to a late lunch, almost fell asleep over my plate, and finally started clearing up all the backlog- emails that need answering, books that need to be finished and returned soon, stuff that needs to be recorded, stuff that needs to be put away instead of being left strewn all over the floor, so on.

Tomorrow is another busy day - violin in the morning, YOV in the afternoon, i think, Raffles Place in the evening and dance rehearsal at night. It's a good thing school hasn't started yet. Less than a week left though, eeps! Though I'm excited =]

"But then they danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like the fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!" "

- from On The Road, by Jack Kerouac

YOG Day 5 - Kallang Cricket Field (plus other things)

Saturday, 21st August.
Wasn't much to do, once again, because the athletes spoke English, I think. Had biscuits and orange juice with Evgeniya and Alejandra, then watched a bit of archery with Alejandra. My I Speak... badge fell off somehow, somewhere! =( Looked all over for it but couldn't find it, so I took another one. Poor badge =( Collected the Volunteer Appreciation stuff though! Collar pins, Universal Studios ticket and a cert that I've yet to collect. Had lunch with the KTC folks, and talked to Aurelio fom Italy, who's awesome cos he volunteered for the Italian army. Left soon after, and that was my final official day of duty.

It's been a busy week. Finally met Pearlyn, and found a Mr Koh lookalike on Tuesday. Have I already mentioned this in the previous post? I know for sure I mentioned the SIFAS people, whom I met on Wednesday.

Arranged to meet Dhevy on Thursday, at a place that wasn't my house or school, for the first time ever. It felt a bit strange but it was an awesome evening of unloading. And cheesecake. =D It felt like the VJ days when we'd share cheese tarts from the second stall.

Friday morning - puja at home in the morning, trip to YOV in the afternoon to meet a friend, then a frantic rush back home to grab my violin, change, and head for SIFAS rehearsal. Which, as always, ended late. And, because of which, I couldn't go to Yatra. =\ Rushed to meet the girls after that, sipped some cranberry juice, bumped into 2 VJ friends, made a quick stop at Mustafa, and finally reached their house for the sleepover. We were all really tired by then, so we were out flat in minutes.

Had to get up before 7 on Saturday, for my final day of duty that I mentioned at the start of this reader-unfriendly post. Had class after that, and had to hang around after class for rehearsal again. Made another trip to Mustafa in the time between class and rehearsal, thanks to a tip-off from Ale about collarpins sold there that I can trade with other athletes.

Thankfully, didn't have anywhere to go on Sunday morning, but left around 12 for Alumni Dance rehearsal at SIFAS. Discovered Thulasi there, which made going to PA after , with Akhil, a breeze. T'was a really fun car ride =] Took 12 on the way home, because it's much faster than 197, and I like walking along the PCN to Marine Parade.

YOG Day 4 - Kallang Cricket Field

We were supposed to watch archery today, but bad weather delayed the games. Managed to catch a glimpse of tennis too =D

Much thanks to a buncha people who made the day fun:
Liza, Yi Xi, Zhou Jin, Zahidah, Calvin, Hui Ling, Jane from Russia (Moscow), Jade (originally from Switzerland) and especially Clarence (from Switzerland). We taught each other languages and had lotsa discussions to while time away till we were needed. =]

SIFAS gang reunion in the evening! Fun, as always, with Nandita, Sudarshan and Raghav. Much laughter =]

I saw some of the team from Congo when I was on the way to where they were! Didn't see my friends though.

Have yet to start on On The Road, oh woe is me.

OH. There was a bit of an upset recently, about the food the volunteers get, but my food has been pretty decent.

YOG - Day 3 - Kallang Tennis Centre

In brief. Once again, photos aren't allowed.

No translation at all. Just a bit of French conversation with Clarence, international volunteer.

Watched a girls' singles match, boys' single match and boys' doubles match. Plus a bit of another boys' doubles.

I found the players in the first boys' doubles I saw the most courteous and gracious. They were from Germany, Brazil and Argentina.

I've finally learnt a bit more about tennis and the way the scoring works.

Also, had an hour's conversation with athletes who speak French that night, over the phone! I think I'm finally getting the hang of the way they speak, which is different from the way my French teacher used to speak.

YOG - Day 2 - Opening Ceremony!

Mixed feelings about the day, but I'm very very glad I decided to go.


The morning was a bit messed up and disorganised, spent most of the time in a queue, meeting different friends. Several volunteers who were supposed to be present weren't there, which is why we had been called down just the night before. Once we got organised, though, it was pretty fun. They were unable to match us to countries whose langauges we speak, because it was such a last-minute affair, but that was alright. The athletes I was with were very nice, mostly. Their coaches and delegates were harder to manage, but oh well.

I managed to speak in French after all though, to the athletes sitting in front of us! They were extremely nice and friendly. If only I had been attached to their country. They were patient with my hesitant French and frequent "Pardon?"s, and often broke out into cheers and dances from their country =]

Photos aren't allowed.

The ceremony was a blast too, but I could hardly concentrate on it because firstly, two of the athletes separated from the group, and then refused to join us -.- and secondly, the athletes from the French-speaking country kept asking me join them, which I was very tempted to do. (I didn't in the end, though.) Plus, it took a long time for the bus taking us back to YOV to start, cos some of the athletes got separated again! The delegates insisted that I press on though I said we should wait for the group to gather. -.- Finally got them all back to YOV, phew. They gave us taxi vouchers to go home with, after pooling of course.

Finally got home at 2am. Really glad I was able to go, though. =]

Also managed to talk in French to a new Morrocan friend, yay!

YOG - Day 1 - Jalan Besar Stadium

Didn't do much in the way of translation today.



First match - Vanuatu versus Bolivia

I was supporting Vanuatu 'cos they were the ones I had to translate for. Bolivia won 2-0 though.



Second match - Singapore versus Zimbabwe

This was a much more energetic and less clean game. Singapore scored goals on the 13th second (!), 10th minute and once more. Final score: 3-1 to Singapore. My heart went out to the players from Zimbabwe though I was supporting Singapore. Although the Singaporeans were quicker and hardly lost possession, I feel that they didn't play with as much grace as the other team. Singapore was playing to win and wasn't as courteous, if I may say so, as the players from Zimbabwe. That being said, it was a joy watching Singapore play with that much skill from young boys.



I don't feel that scared anymore about talking in French, though I'll probably start getting nervous again when I'm at the Youth Olympic Village (YOV) with the athletes tomorrow, for the Opening Ceremony! =D It's a pity cameras aren't allowed.


I hope to be able to help out at YOV when I can, and meet the athletes.


Also met Sneha, Lincon, Ganesh, Amu and Reuban (with a camera!) in the afternoon, which was fun of course =]

And Wednesday was spent first at NUS, where Sundar met everyone before leaving, and where I also took the chance to meet Laura and Olivia. Then went to NTU to have a look at my books for the coming semester, then decided to walk from NTU to Pioneer MRT instead of taking the bus. The bus routes have been altered cos of YOG, and initially I'd planned to walk out, then take a bus to the station, but the weather was so awesome that I was compelled to walk to the station.

There aren't many things as exciting as watching a soccer match with a crowd.

Music and Books.

Spent the entire morning on it, but...

GLITCH IN THE PLAN!

Sister will have to wait for mixtape.

YOG duty starts tomorrow. 5pm-11.30pm at JBS, for football. I love that we get to watch the matches! Quite nervous about the translating part though.. Was looking through my French textbooks and just remembered how much I've forgotten.

Reading Pile (that occupies almost half my table):

- Panorama 1 and 2 (French textbooks), and 4 files full of French worksheets.

- Innocent Traitor, by Alison Weir, a novel of Lady Jane Grey. I'm fascinated by the Tudor line.

- First Words, a collection of literature from Singapore.

- On The Road, by Jack Kerouac. It's on my booklist for next semester. HL230.

- The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov. Also on the booklist. HL310.

- Ramses, The Son of the Light, by Christian Jacq.

- Pygmy, by Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club. As Dhevy said, it's proving to be a very hard read.. Not sure if I wanna finish it. It's a very rude, in-your-face book. Haha.

-The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch. This one has been on my reading pile for ages. Doesn't mean it's a bad book though. It's great.

- The Boy in the Moon, by Kate O'Riordan. Got it at a BORDERS clearance sale.

- 4 months' worth of Reader's Digest. eeps.

- The Age of Innocence, by Edith Warton.

- A Town Like Alice, by Nevil Shute.

- The Mahabharatham, in Tamil.

- Kindle Life (Dhevy, I believe this is yours).

- Kastoori's copy of The Five People You Meet In Heaven, by Mitch Albom, which I haven't returned to her yet.

- A couple of other things on the pile: My purple notebook. Lalit's arangetram invitation and programme. Postcard from Germany! Card I bought at the bookshop in NTU. Postcard from the UK! The movie My Name is Khan, also Dhevy's. Pencilcase with the FDNY keychain from the USA, the Spain keychain from a bag of chips and the keychain with bells from a cousin in India.

I like how cramped my table is.

Just finished making my sister a mixtape. It was supposed to be for her birthday, which makes it very late. But oh well. It's finally done.

I gives me a twinge of pain to see iTunes warn me about the kind of disc I should use IF I want to play it on a commercial player, APART from my computer. Don't people find players/stereo systems better than playing music from the computer?

But oh yea, people hardly buy CDs anymore. (Meaning they buy online.. I didn't mean that people are pirates. Which is, of course, true too.)

Excerpt from "Now That She Is Dead" by Evelyn Ng.

"The waves lapped at our ankles, sometimes reaching as high as our knees. We breathed in warm salty air and stared at the masts of the ships in the distance. She complained that they spoilt the view, but I only smiled, and tried to look at the sun."

I think the people on the ship were just trying to get a better view too.

National Day Weekend

Hiking on Friday kick-started a good weekend.

Saturday:

YOG training in the morning, which involved discussion about Inception! Lisa pointed out something I hadn't noticed - how people in the movie seem to be directing their own movie. Leo is the director, and they've got set designers (Ariadne) and producers (as always, the one with the money..) and so on. Such a layered movie.

Class in the afternoon. Got pulled into Academy Day AGAIN, despite protests. Oh well.

Lalit's arangetram at DBS Auditorium in the evening. Interesting, especially the last bit (with Shiva on the bass guitar!). Saw some of the gang. And Lakshmi too!

Caught the last bit of the movie The Eye once I got back home at around midnight. Cos of the three-day free access to a lot of channels with Starhub.

Sunday:

Lazy start. PA rehearsal in the late afternoon, which is always fun if the right people are around.

Back home to home-made spaghetti, Undercover Brother and You Got Served. I HAVE to watch both those movies again.

Omarion looks really small! And I like the song =D PUMP, PUMP, PUMP IT UP!

Monday:

Finally got to read more of First Words, which is a selection of works by young writers in Singapore. Will be quoting in the next post.

Watched Men In Black II, and now I wanna watch the first one too.

Watched the fireworks from my balcony as usual in the evening. And saw Mr Koh on TV!

=]

Playing music while I work sometimes gives me an indication of how fast/slow I'm going.

And speaking of music, Fan Of A Fan is pretty darn good.

"Aviator shades, I ain't lookin' at you."

Tracing the old Malayan Railway tracks.

Friday, 6th August 2010. Hardcore trek.

We took:

- Big bottle of H2O

- Big bottle of 100PLUS

- Water

- Orange juice

- Plasters and antiseptic, which we didn't need

- Energy bars and Michelle's sandwich

- Mosquito repellent and sunblock

- Change of clothes and slippers

We took a wrong turning into King Albert Park, which had all the expensive huge houses. Tried to bash our way through an overgrown valley, hoping we'd meet the old rail, but it was too steep and too dangerous. Plus, the lady in the last house was spying on us, I bet she thought we were illegal immigrants. Herrick was in army uniform, though!

Aha! Finally. The sign to the station.

Inception moment!


Right after Tunnel 1. Tracks submerged in the kinda mud that pulls your feet in.



Tunnel 1.

Rickety Bridge 1.

Rickety Bridge 2. We saw a guy trying to cycle over this.

It was a long bridge.

With nice scenery.

Resting on the tracks after we got near the Park Connector, under a flyover.

On a slope, under the flyover.

Graffiti near Tunnel 2 (the dangerous tunnel). Sad to see people living there. They had vegetable plants though! Chilli, brinjal, papaya, other stuff.

Phew, done at last.

At long last, changed out of muddy clothes and shoes. Waiting for a bus.

We're gonna go back! And take our time to look at everything. Plants and stuff. I'm gonna take videos of the trip, photos really don't do justice, plus we didn't take photos of the more interesting things.

January 21st 2010

1. Hat Day.

2. National Hugging Day.

3. Squirrel Appreciation Day.

How awesome is that.

From chucknorrisfacts.com:

Chuck Norris doesn't know about this website. If he did he would have just deleted the whole website.

There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.
Outer space exists because it's afraid to be on the same planet with Chuck Norris.
HAHA.

Collected my YOG accreditation pass and uniform and other paraphernalia yesterday evening, meeting Halim there at the same time. They gave us a little tube of sunblock too! =D

Seeing all that stuff is really exciting. Especially the VISA card.

Went to Tampines this noon, along that 31 route that I like, to watch StreetDance! With Vaishu, Simran and Saranya. I haven't watched Step Up or Step Up 2, but I'm sure this is just as good as those were. Was particularly excited because Flawless and Diversity, from Britain's Got Talent, were performing too! The other dancers were just as good as the people from those two groups though. And the music was great too. I would watch this again if I could.

And I needa watch Step Up and Step Up 2 The Streets too.. Before STEP UP 3D!

Code Word: ROACH! =D

"Swear to shake it up if you swear to listen."

At Niagara Falls

A pine cone I found on the floor, which made me feel all Enid Blyton-ish.

This is the Bridal Veil, so named because it's a single stream, like a veil. You can climb up to certain height (next photo).

Hurricane Deck! The highest point you can get to. It was painful. But fun.

The American Falls.

The Horseshoe Falls (On the Canadian side. We approached this on a boat - the Maid of the Mist.)

Okay the rock was much bigger than the picture suggests.

"Here is the church and here is the steeple,

We sure are cute for two ugly people,

I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else,

But you."

Ahh Juno.

After I'm done studying.

When I was young, I seriously considered the following jobs:

- Road sweeper. The kind with the rakes, who sweep up all the crunchy brown leaves.
- English teacher. I used to think this only involved correcting homework. (Homework in P1 and P2 was fun.)
- Poet. I used to write 'poems' when I was in Kindergarten. Dunno where that book is now.
- Storyteller. I used to spin some fantastic tales. I use 'fantastic' in the sense that no one ever believed my stories. In fact, no one ever believes my theories and explanations now either.
- Bus driver. Preferably school bus driver.
- Skyscraper window cleaner.
- Housewife. Why have a job at all?
- Construction worker. I like manual work.
- Gardener.

Professions I've considered in more recent years:

- Farm owner. Most farms have horses right!
- Counsellor at a place like The Bronx. Home to some of the coolest people on Earth.
- Writer. The kind who writes from home.
- Explorer. Discovering the world on foot.
- LIGHTHOUSE OPERATOR. I really really wanna do this.
- Dreamer. I don't really know what this means either.
- Joining a hermitage. Going to live in a forest after renouncing the world. And I mean it! Not saying this as a joke. My sister has expressed very very strong objections to this already. But oh well. You never know.

I don't even remember what I talked about the last time I came here.

So here are some random things I've been doing:

Going for கலை கதம்பம். It finally had interesting stuff about architecture. And idiotic emcees.

*

Going for Ronnie's play with You Ying, meeting Lester there and catching 7 other mini-plays too; that was one cool night.

*

Watching விண்ணைத் தாண்டி வருவாயா with Dhevy at home.

*

Meeting Shiva, Reuban and Sharrvesh with Dhevy, after ages.

*

Meeting Sundar and watching Inception with some of the gang. Cool stuff..

*

Going for Sheela's reception and meeting school friends and family friends. There were so many people to talk to that my friend complained that he talked more to my mum than to me. -_-

*

Hiking from Macritchie to Bukit Timah with Fadilah, Herrick and Michelle. That was fun! I told Fad that I really like Ne-Yo's song Miss Independent (it's my message ringtone when the phone's on General). Soon after, her phone's music player accidentally starts playing the same song! MLIA.

*

Meeting RnB with Dev and Dhevy and Jared (for a bit), I'm still amazed at how it all worked out on the first attempt. Good day. And I finally learned what those things that hang from escalators are for, thanks to Dev =]

*
Last Saturday was crazy - YOG Venue training in the morning (met Alejandra again! who hates being associated with Lady Gaga). Had class at SIFAS in the afternoon. Rushed home after that, then rushed again to Parkway to pick up a cookie cake I'd ordered the previous night, then rushed as much as the traffic would allow (t'was the night of the NDP Preview) to Ion, for Mike's and the twins' birthdays. Couldn't stay long there either, fun though it was, cos I had to rush off again for a crazy sleepover! At Shy's and Shal's house, after ages.
*
PA rehearsal as usual the next day, yesterday, then went to see the gang again cos Simran's back! Watched My Name is Khan at home after that. Really good movie.

Okay I gotta go email some profs.

He is of a higher caste than me, but he is poor. What does this thing mean, then, caste? Is it just a fable for old men like him? If you said to yourself, "Caste is a fiction," would if vanish like smoke; if you said, "I am free," would you realise you had always been free?

*

He vaguely sensed that he was being offered something to eat. He sniffed; it reeked of castor oil and shit, and he rejected it. He smelled garbage around him, and turned his head toward the sky; his eyes were full of the stars when they closed.

*

Gururaj looked at the editor-in-chief with new eyes. It was as if the old man had a nimbus around him, of all the things he had learned over his career and could never publish; this secret knowledge glowed around his head like the halo around the nearly full moon. This is the fate of every journalist in this town and in this state and in this country and maybe in this whole world, thought Gururaj,

-From Between the Assassinations by Aravind Adiga.

MY PHONE SURVIVED.

6000plus messages are intact.

Thank you, E65, but I think i'll switch over.

Now to start deleting all those messages.

While waiting for something to happen on STARS

Hmm it doesn't look that good when it's here. For a better view, go HERE .

haoushoku haki says:
why still back to blogging
should be back to clicking haha

LOL yes indeed, Jeremy.

I can't remember simple French expressions! Oh man. =(

Scavenging

Spent the morning agonising about the lack of vacancies in the courses I wanna do, to my lit friends. WHY CAN'T THEY INCREASE CLASS SIZE. Now I've gotta re-plan my whole timetable.

Went to the Post Office again today. I love posting letters. Sent Vivek's postcard off to the US for him, then sent my own card and gifts to a birthday girl. Hope it reaches on time, and intact.

Then went to the National Library in search of some books I've been looking for. Met Ronnie, who told me about a short story writing competition he heard about. We've decided to participate just for the fun of it! Went to the Singapore Collections and rummaged around for short stories by Singaporeans. There are pitiful few. Managed to find some, then headed to Bras Basah to see if the second hand shops had larger collections. Scavenged around, and found a few more, but it's still a pitifully small collection. I was wrong for thinking the school library wasn't well-stocked. But of course, the Reference section of the National Library is sure to have more. But we wanted stuff we could borrow.

I couldn't find the first book of the Nightwatcher series. But I did manage to find a book by Lee Child. Ronnie's recommendation.

Here's a video about another book by Child, which I didn't manage to find.

I have condemned my phone to the gallows. All I can hope for is a miracle.

On a happier note, I'm using the E65 again, which reminds me of those good old VJ times. =]

Dilemma (did i spell that right?)

My phone has 6333 messages in its Inbox. I have a habit of writing my messages down before deleting them, and I haven't been doing that for a long time, so the messages go all the way back to Dec 2008. I got down to deleting them recently, but the phone started acting up. There'd always been a problem with the contact list, but now, the phone kept freezing and turning to a grey screen. I had 5 days left for the warranty period to expire, at that time.

So I went to the service centre to see what they could do. I was told that my data will get erased, so the guy attending to my phone attempted to do a backup. It took ages (there were more than 6000 messages after all...) and he asked me if I wanna go take a walk cos that's how long it was taking. After prowling around Gramophone for a while, I returned, to have him tell me that the phone restarted once the backup was done, without displaying the Backup Complete notification.

I decided to go home and try backing it up again on my own, but had similar problems, so I'm unsure whether the backup has been done or not. So this is the quandrary I'm stuck in.

1) I could take the risk and give my phone for servicing.
2) I could go through as many of the messages I'm able to and copy what I want, then give the phone for servicing before the warranty period is over.
3) I could ignore the problem and delete my messages leisurely. However, if the problem worsens and the whole thing gets corrupted, I won't be able to salvage anything, nor will I be able to service the phone under warranty.

I'm shuttling between options 2 and 3. Leaning towards 2. In which case, I needa spend every minute I have going through my phone, then give it for servicing tomorrow. Okay, bye.

(Sigh, the trouble I put myself through just for sentiment's sake.)

There and Back Again

(That's the title of Bilbo's tale.)
This place doesn't suggest it, but a lot has happened. Pictures in next post. (If you don't wanna read this whole post, you HAVE to read the last para at least.)

Went to Miami and New Jersey and New York.
-Visited places, talked to cool people, had lotsa long rides in cars, shopped, walked around. Details when I put the photos up.

Went to Chennai.
- Cousin's marriage. The usual gatherings before the wedding, the wedding itself, and the traditional movie/sleepover/early-morning-beach-trip. Dinner with the cousin on the other side. Once again, the details will come with the photos.

Returned home but was busy.
- With rehearsals for Pradhana Vizha, and studio recordings, and the show itself.
- Met a brother to pass him a sweet he wanted from India, and to catch up with what's been going on. Got a ride home in his car!
- Accompanied another brother who wanted to open a bank account. And buy himself a suit.
- Cracked my head about 1) whether to join PERSPECTIVES 2010 and 2) whether to take up a double major.
- Had to do MAJOR cleaning to the poor neglected house.
- WENT CYCLING! =D With Fadilah and Herrick, at East Coast.
- YOG training has begun. Finally met the people I'll be working with. I'm assigned to tennis, archery and soccer!!
- My aunt and cousin arrived, from California. Stayed a week. My sis and I had lotsa fun taking them out.
- World Cup! Spain Spain Spain!
- THE OVERSEAS PEOPLE HAVE STARTED COMING BACK. FINALLY. Met Dhevy and Rama and Mike at the airport, after going with Rama and Mike to collect his new luggage from the EXPO.
- Numbed my brain trying to sort out my timetable for the coming semester. I'm gonna give the double major a shot - for a sem at least, and see if i can cope.
- Met yet another brother today, to pass him a very belated birthday gift and to eat a sundae.

What still remains on the horizon:
- Have to work hard on sorting out my timetable and coordinating it with Kula's and Jas' and Carmen's.
- Meet up with a load of other friends: RnB, VJ people (will meet some of em at Sheela's reception), at least 2 different groups from Uni, Amu&Kastoori this Friday, French Day with Livia and Sha, hiking (choo choo trail! hahaha) with Fadilah, Baking Day cum Disney Movie Marathon with Geraldine & Alina & Jenn & Yuvanes.

Meeting Dhevy tomorrow morning to go cycling, and then to go visit the folks at VJ. AND eat the VJ food we've been craving for. A couple of days back, it rained really heavily, and the streetlights on one side of the road were all extinguished! Singapore's not invulnerable after all. I had never seen the road so dark before that.

I was sitting at my table in my room, when I heard a loud popping noise outside. I peeped out of my room, and saw my mum holding a sheet of bubble wrap and looking extremely delighted =D I squealed and ran out to get the sheet. Mum asked if she could pop one more before giving it to me. I said okay. MLIA.

I feel like I'm on the brink of discovery.

Right, I'm off to see the USA for myself.

Will it be awesome, like MLIA and politicians say? (theme music: Ryan Adams - New York, New York) Will it be cruel towards minorities, like many books say? (theme music: Eminem - White America)

Will it be different from our progress-crazy country all Singaporean poets never fail to mention? (HAHA HL105) Or will it be just another bunch of cities?

I'm eager to find out for myself and form my own opinions.

Now if only I could write.

(I'm back on the 2nd of June, but am leaving on the 4th for India. Cousin's marriage =] Will be back on June 13th.)

Free till September.

This cheered me up after a disastrous Business Law exam. I've got the coolest friends. And I love Geraldine's handwriting. She gave me poem called "Thanks" by W. S. Merwin.

Facebook is unrelentless about sending me reminders for invites friends sent me way back in 2007. Please give up, Facebook. (Though I do have a baaaaaaaad feeling that YOG will make me join. =S )

So... exams. Not as good as I'd have liked. Will have an uneasy gut till the results come out.

That doesn't prevent post-exams from being fun though. It's just been one day after exams, and there's something planned almost every day of the following week. PA performance at the temple today, Borders sale at the EXPO tomorrow, Tamil movie on Monday with Rama and gang, lunch with Laura on Tuesday, Cycling with Fadilah on Wednesday? Back-To-VJ on Thursday with Pushpa, nothing yet on Friday. And picnic at Marina Barrage with NTU friends the following week! And I've yet to arrange to meet all those other people. Simran! Sharrvesh! Shalini! The VJ Indian gang! IP and JC classmates! Dash (that's a short form, not a real name)! CHYK folks!

I might be going to the U.S. On holiday, with my sister. I'm not sure I want to go though.. =S And the whole family is going to India in June for my cousin brother's wedding! =]

I plan to try and live for a week with as little technology as possible. No computer, no phone, no lift, no transport if I'm going somewhere near, no TV, no iPod, etc. I wanna see how long I last.

"in the faces of the officials and the rich

and of all who will never change

we go on saying thank you thank you"

We're a pair of cheaters =D (I couldn't not acknowledge either! and I didn't want you to be guilty.)

So one exam down, 4 to go. Started on...an average note. The week started well though, with Joel and Rama's birthdays!

Thanks to Subra for remembering when the exams start even though I told him long back! And to Sudarshan too, for the luck right before I went to sleep. =]

And much, much, much thanks to that lawbie who can read my mind from miles and miles away. By the way, I forgot to include my TV when I recently talked to you and it demands that I tell you it wants you back ASAP too. Maybe we can learn more about that sudden foreign accent once you're here =D

Have a look at THIS if you're bored, people.

I have a glass-topped table.

When it's late at night and the whole house is quiet, and I get a text message, the tiny beep and single vibration (that sounds oxymoronic) seem amplified.

It makes me jump.

(This has been happening ever since I started having long SMS convos. J1, I think. It still makes me jump. And on an unrelated sidenote, I'm just about to have a thunderstorm! and I'm very worried that by the time exams are over, it won't be raining as prettily anymore and I can't take a walk in the rain.)

My hey-I'm-the-first-one-home routine.

Take watch off. Go into room, put bag down, take phone out of bag and put it on the table. Take wallet out of jeans pocket, put it on the table. Rummage in drawers and shelf for the music album I feel like listening to, turn the stereo system on and slide the disc in (because it sounds so much better and feels cooler than using the laptop/desktop). Change into home clothes, eat if I haven't done so yet. Sing along with the songs, grin when there are lines with swear words. Try to buy time by checking all the email accounts. Reluctantly settle down to work. Protest if sister arrives home and turns the stereo volume down. Do work. Go online later at night. Talk a bit, then get all studious and go back to work till it's late enough to feel good about having stayed up late. Brush teeth. Go to sleep.

Tonight, I aim to finish that 107 essay, though.