New Year's Eve 2009

It's been a great, great year. Have not had such a good one for a long, long time.

Great, as in not all fun and games. There have been soaring highs and plunging lows. Hope and despair, sometimes very close to each other, time-wise. But great, as in the highs have been quite spectacular.

I learnt one thing this year: life never stops being unpredictable. Never ever. I think the same time last year, I was saying that I'd found a modicum of certainty and stability in life, and that I was quite settled. I hate being made to eat my own words, but I think I'll have to this time.

It has been crazy. So much has gone on I don't know where to begin. So many new friends made, a few bust-ups here and there, so many seemingly mundane moments that make my life so much better. Massive moments this year as well, happy and sad.

This year has seemed so long. Semester 1 seems like a separate year altogether. It just feels like another age, and I feel like such a different person.

The knee injury, which is still niggling at me, kind of symbolises this gap.

Semester 1 was basically me from last year, carrying over to this year. Social misfit, had not really found my place in life, an alright person, had not really fallen in love or been infatuated, just generally cruising.

Then, after the break, and the Ambassador Camp, I grew up a bit.

I became infatuated. It was cruel though, the way she led me on, and I thought I had a chance. Maybe she doesn't see it that way. Just know that I'm so over that now, so much so that I feel something close to loathing every time I see her. She has come to symbolise how manipulative, deceptive, and yet alluring some girls can be. I've moved onto pastures new, and hopefully this time I won't be sliced and diced. I think that was a fairly low point of the year. Recovering very strongly from this by the end of the year was awesome. My friends and family also make this year great. Props to y'all.

I believe I have gotten better as a person since the middle of the year. At least, I hope so. I believe that I have developed higher EQ (emotional quotient, knowing how you emotions affect others, and learning to control them. Thanks Management. Just about the only useful thing I learnt from that subject), and how to read people a bit more, find out what makes them tick. I've also become more understanding I think. When someone does something that peeves or hurts me, I try to work out, to the best of my ability, a plausible reason for their actions. It makes me less angry/sad. I have no idea what all of the above has to do with the camp, but I'm sure it's somehow related.

I also formed a sort of core group of friends. Met some new ones that I've instantly grown fond of, and hopefully they of me, and reaffirmed some old friendships. Looking through my list of speed-dial numbers is generally a good indicator of whether you're in this circle or not. But you won't get to, because you'll never get anywhere near my phone, and chances are you probably won't be able to operate the speed dial anyway. Not that I mind you looking. You just might be disappointed, that's all. It's for your own good, really, that I don't go flashing it around. I love you all, friends. For someone with as big a family life as me, I place a lot of importance in friends.

I've also come to terms with the fact that people are very diverse. Life experience. Nothing surprises me anymore. You get all sorts of people, that do all sorts of things, and they have no issue with it at all. As part of my newly-honed EQ, I've made a massively increased effort to come to terms with what seems, at least to me, the idiosyncrasies of individuals. Put less eloquently, I've become more jerk-tolerant.

Results, as always, have been a massively mixed bag. But I've really topped myself this year. I've seriously gotten all the grades that one can possibly get, all in one year. I don't that's really something to be proud of.

Music this year has been fairly meh, and has been for quite a few years now. I tuned in to Take 40 the other week, just to see what everyone was listening to nowadays, and heard a very obvious, but astute comment, followed up by a very 'I'm reading a script' statement, something along the lines of:

Pop music seems to be moving in the direction of more electropop. Which I think is a great thing.

Maybe, maybe not. Not a very big fan of electropop. Not at all, bar Lady Gaga sort of. I don't really discriminate based on genre. I like good music. But most of electropop just doesn't really fall under that category.

Very symbolic of this stagnation of good music is the death of the two greatest music acts that ever existed, the like of which the world will never see again.

Michael Jackson. His music resounds and resonates through the ages. Timeless. Catchy. Beautiful. Creative. Innovative. And what a performer. None of this lip synching stuff. Live singing, live dancing, amazing choreography, amazing moves. I've always been in awe of musicians that write good music, and he falls into that category with ease.

Oasis. Unabashed optimism. Having fun for the sake of it. The melodies, the lyrics, the voice of Liam, the guitar. Yeah, people will say "They only had Wonderwall," but they obviously haven't heard the rest of their songs. Everybody that I've spoken to that have listened to their other songs know that they're something special. Noel Gallagher, is, I think, one of the best songwriters. It's just astonishing how he can create such beautiful melodies with such evocative guitar and lyrics, and mesh them into one cohesive whole.

Before listening to Oasis, I used to be all into 50 Cent and Ja Rule and the like. Sigh. So immature. I think even then that I was searching for something different to the mainstream Top 40, because those songs mostly annoy me. Listening to Oasis made me appreciate good music, instead of music that's just 'different'. And good music, scarily enough, is mostly old. Elton John, Coldplay, 2Pac, Michael Jackson, Maroon 5, Lily Allen, Jay-Z, Usher. These all came about because I was searching for something that was as good as, or almost at the level of, Oasis.

Very rarely do I wish I was born in a different era. When I listen to these two, I wish I were born about five or six years earlier at least, just to be able to experience the euphoria of these musicians releasing their albums.

As if to prove that this year was a bad one for music, Usher delayed the planned December release of his latest album to March next year.

Movie of the year, in the absence of any real gems, was definitely Avatar for sheer scope, imagination and plot...ness. I love movies where they create completely new worlds. And that is why Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes a close second this year. I actually found it a very enjoyable movie for once. There was a vast improvement in acting and general cinematography.

My love for films, and books that create a completely new world, awesome characters, a plausible plotline and awesome cinematography (for films anyway) sees The Lord of the Rings trilogy crowned movie of the decade, especially the third one. Such an inspirational standard-setter that inspired so many films. Troy, Avatar, and my mind fails me right now, but there are so, so many epic films that are almost directly copied from The Lord of the Rings.

News item of the year: Michael Jackson's death. Without a doubt. Swine flu, move over. Michael Jackson killed that hype at its peak. Dominated the news for a month. Shows you the power of music, and its best exponents.

This little nugget from Chris Martin aka Coldplay man pretty much sums up the whole year for me:

It's weird that whatever else is on your mind, whether it's the downfall of global economics or terrible environmental troubles, the thing that always gets you most is when you fancy someone

The decade. To tell you the truth, I don't remember much of it. And I don't really believe it has been all that defining in the grand scheme of things. No big developments really. Yeah, we got the iPhone. Before that, we had mobile phones already. Yeah, we got iPods. We had Walkmans way before that. GFC? Not as bad as first thought. Fairly sure the Great Depression of last century was much more intense. No real ground-breaking, major developments, just off the top of my head. Most of these 'new developments' are really just extensions and improvements of old ideas. Technologically, I believe that Facebook has massively changed the Internet. Narcissism has grown as a result, but social interaction has also grown at an unprecedented way. We now interact with people in ways that we never would have imagined ten years ago.

In terms of world events, September 11 (and the events stemming from this) and the 2004 tsunami really shook me. Also, the Black Saturday fires of last year were really sad. I really feel for the people affected by all the disasters of this decade, and beyond.

Since nobody ever keeps New Year's Resolutions anyway, I'm going to make an awesomely over-the-top one: I'm going to become the Ultimate Man. I'm going to become a tank. An academic ace. Earn lots of money. Let the people that I love know that I love them. Be a family man. Take care of them. Take care of others that I care about. Become a better person in general. Become more agreeable. And all that jazz. You get the general idea. Harder, better, faster, stronger.

It's been a great year, and a great most-of-the-decade (I don't really remember most of it). See you in 2010, and the next decade.

Word of the Day: 2009

Emotaphor

Random thought while in the gym today. No double meaning, no sinister intent. Just a thought.

Emotional pain is a very close metaphor to physical pain.

See, what I was thinking today, while my arm was sort of hurting, was that with the technology we have today, we could make human bodies immune to pain.

But what good would that do? That would mean that a crazy psycho mutant scorpion thing was gnawing on our foot, and we wouldn't be able to feel it.

Physical pain is trying to warn us from doing something. Like sticking out hand into a festering pit of poisonous reptiles for instance, or attacking a nest of African bees.

Sometimes, however, we ignore this pain, or grit our teeth and get over it, because the end result outweighs the momentary pain. Like getting a tooth pulled out, or my dad fighting through the pain in his arm to work 10+ hours per day.

It's the same with emotional pain. Sort of. Like, you feel it, and you know that you should try and avoid the situation that caused it in the first place. Except with emotional pain, there are even less rational situations where you would be inclined to go back and take the pain again. And yet, somehow, it so often happens that we will take emotional pain again and again, whereas with physical pain, we eventually concede defeat. Like rejection, or being ignored. No matter how many times it hurts, most people keep plugging away at it.

Interesting. I don't know why that is, probably because I haven't studied the almighty mind-opening discipline of psychology, or something of that ilk. Seems like a worthwhile subject to take. But only if they talk about random things like this.

Word of the Day: Sighcology

Me. The City.

Ok, so it doesn't look like I'll be going out to the city at all for New Year's Eve. People either have better people to hang out with, or have made their own thing to do, or just generally can't be stuffed going out to the city. Which is understandable. I mean, it is me. And the city. It's like, two negatives in one. Which is not good. At all. If I were given the choice, I wouldn't want to spend the night with me. Especially in the city. On New Year's Eve.

My main motivation for going out to the city was originally to get Linda to come along. Failing that, spending time with friends would've been nice. But seeing as she's spending the night with her family, and I have approximately 0 friends who want to come out to the city, with me, I guess I'll do the same, and see if I can find something to do with my homies during the day. With me. Possibly in the city.

Look for my Batlight thing...you know, that light that Batman shines on the clouds to get everybody's attention...ok, forget it. It's not important anyway. Just look out for it. It might be in the shape of me. And it may or may not be in the city.

Word of the Day: City

Haiku's are easy, but sometimes they don't make sense, refrigerator.

Quite frankly, I feel like rubbish right now.

Yesterday I developed an annoying sore throat/cough, impeding my ability to converse with people. Granted, not many people really want to hear what I have to say anyway, but it's still annoying. It also makes it seem like I'm always angry, because I don't want to talk. Which is totally not true. Most of the time.

Anyway, yesterday my dad asked me to trim the hedges. Then he found out my throat felt like it was on fire. Don't know how. He may have some psychic ability or something. Or maybe it was the fact that my reply of "Ok" sounded more like a grainy piece of sand paper being drawn across a very rough patch of tarmac. Who knows.

So then he was all like "You really shouldn't, you know, with a sore throat and all. Leave them for me." But what kind of self-respecting son would leave these menial tasks to his already hard-working father?

So I manned up and did it anyway. I don't think it really did more damage to the throat. Or maybe it just feels like it didn't do that much damage in comparison to the burning sensation that I now feel in my arm.

No, I didn't cut myself with the hedge trimmer. My old enemy, sunburn, came back to get me. It didn't help that I'd been reading with my left arm in the sun for the entire morning to begin with either. I think the extended hedge trimming pushed it over the edge.

This morning I developed a sniffle, which I think is just allergy, as I haven't gotten a headache or similar. At least not yet.

So despite the slight ache in my arms from the hedge-cutting frivolities of yesterday afternoon, I decided to gym it up a bit.

Now my arms hurt even more. And my left arm still feels like it's on fire. And I still have a sore throat and a runny nose and a cough. Oh, and my knee injury is actually getting worse. It's freaking creaking now.

To cap it all off, people, or a person, is deliberately ignoring me, or has a more woeful memory than I do.

And this is why I took this thing off Facebook. I don't want people to see me pitying myself. I don't even want to see it. I just don't want to keep it bottled up again, or I might explode from frustration.

I leave you with a Haiku of my own composition.

When you are with me,
You're different to when you're not,
I'm very confused.

Word of the Day: Hurting

It seemed like a good idea at the time

Oh, how I laughed when I saw a guy with a cast on his wrist walking around with a t-shirt saying "It seemed like a good idea at the time." Presumably he had broken his wrist, or something similar, or maybe he's just wearing it to go with the t-shirt. More likely though that he is wearing the t-shirt to make light of his injury. Or perhaps he's clueless, and doesn't realise how ironic, and funny, his t-shirt is.

On a side note, this saying is like, the story of my life. Before I do something that turns out to be stupid, I reason it out in my mind, and it seems to make logical sense before I do it. I like it when things make logical sense. Then, afterwards, I realise how stupid it was, and wonder how I ever thought that it was a good idea in the first place. Usually, in hindsight, I can't find one reason why it would've turned out good.

But I digress. Where I saw this t-shirt is the key to this post.

See, I was Boxing Day shopping at Chadstone.

Yes, I was at Chadstone again. That was, I think, the third time in two weeks. I'm becoming a bit of an addict.

It's funny, because:
a) I vowed never to go Boxing Day shopping, because of it's sheer pointlessness and crazy number of people, and
b) I ended up buying something that I'm fairly sure cost that much normally anyway.

I bought a tank top from Mossimo. So worth driving 30 minutes and swimming through a sea of people. The queues outside some stores were just ridiculous. There was like a dragon of people outside adidas. I have a general phobia of crowds in places where there shouldn't be crowds, like shopping centres. I think there were already not that many people during the time that we went (around 7:30 p.m.) Can't imagine what it would be like earlier.

Sarah got an awesome Calvin Klein handbag for 40% off, which was quite swell. I found it, too. Go me. My mother also bought a Guess handbag, for half price, which I also found. Go me x 2.

But yeah. As I said, not much to be gained. In fact, one could argue, there's a lot to be lost. Such as money.

Not a bad outing though. Quite interesting, especially observing how many more people turn up on Boxing Day as compared to pre-Christmas. Weird. So many more people today. Might go next year with someone closer to my age.

Word of the Day: Crowds

Christmas 2009

A very Merry Christmas to you all.

I just realised that this has been a very peculiar Christmas period. This Christmas, I've received the least amount of presents since I can remember. And yet, it's also been one of the best Christmas periods I can remember.

The lead-in has been quite awesome, bar a few pangs of loneliness. Kris Kringle on the 17th, and Chen's party last night were a great way to catch up with friends just before today, and were a near-perfect buildup. And for the first time ever, I think I may be properly infatuated. This feels like a culmination of a year, but I'll save that for a more appropriate time.

Today was wonderful as well. After having a lunch of stir-fried Nissin noodles, the Huang family went on a trip to the Melbourne Aquarium and had afternoon tea in the city, then dinner with grandparents as well.

What has become apparent this year, and sort of maybe signals my somewhat maturing, is that friends and family mean so much more to me than 'getting' anything in particular. In fact, I've found that I've derived more joy from giving things to people, and I think I always have. That's not to say that I'm not grateful for the presents that I get. I love the fact that people care enough about me to get something special for me (guitar, and funny little keyring thing, from parents and sister.) It's amazing when you get something that you want/need/like and didn't ask for. I'm a big fan of presents that don't really do anything, but remind me of the person that gave them to me. Wearable things of this ilk take some beating.

But yes. I think I like seeing the smile I elicit from someone when I give them something they like or appreciate.

Family and good friends make this a special time, though. I believe that gifts, and even the giving of gifts, adds gloss to this time. It's like the icing sugar on the funny ninja star windmill pastry things that my mother makes (incidentally, if you haven't had one, let me know, and I'll hook you up. According to those that have had one, or several, or millions, they're quite good, and I think I agree with them). Presents are not essential, but it does give an otherwise great day a certain zing.

Hope you've had as much fun, and experienced as much joy and happiness as I have today.

Word of the Day: Christmas 2009

Chad's Stone

Retail therapy is so detrimental in so many ways, yet it provides so much lift for a short amount of time.

I'm serious. It can make you forget almost all your problems.

It's not like I went of a psycho, compulsive, uncontrolled, extremely money-draining splurge on all things branded. I just bought an on-sale pair of jeans from Mossimo. I don't even remember the last time I bought something for myself. I'm fairly sure that most of my money is spent on other people.

It's not something I mind. It's weird. Like, I don't mind spending a lot of money on somebody if they mean something to me, but I'm very loathe to spend money on myself. I'm fine with buying expensive jewelery for others. I like seeing the smile on their face, amongst other things. But myself, I usually wait for the sales, or shop around a bit.

I'm also quite a snob. I don't like buying just anything. It has to be good. That, mixed with an almost unqualified refusal to pay for overpriced goods, is generally not a good mix.

But yes. I bought a pair of jeans. And now I am quite happy. Hopefully this will carry me until Chen's shindig, which will carry me til past Christmas. Goodo.

Word of the Day: Retail

When You're Dreaming With a Broken Heart

Days like this make me wish that I had some to spend them with.

What a glorious day it looks like it promises. A cloud or two in the sky, doesn't look like it's going to get too hot. And it's mid-December. Such a shame.

I've been let down a bit by a few girls. They lead you on, then...BAM! they cut you off. Not really heartbroken, just heavily disappointed.

I try to be pessimistic about these things. I tell myself that I'm ready to be disappointed again, and that it's happened before. Albeit not when I'm getting such a strong vibe. But regardless, I still try to tell myself that I'm reader to be cast adrift again.

But I think at heart I'm an optimist. I always believe that it will work out, and that the other person feels the same way, and all that jazz.

I really hope history isn't repeating itself, even though I try to tell myself that, based on past events, the chances of it repeating are quite high. But you know, sometimes past history isn't a good indicator of what can happen in the future. Just look at the stockmarket. Just like stockbrokers, I do sometimes read the signs wrong. In fact, I believe that I read the signs wrong most of the time. But unlike on the stock market, maybe being right 5 per cent of the time in these things is enough.

Word of the Day: Heartbroken

Thanks

And as if just to reinforce the point, Arsenal won against Hull this morning, capping off what turned out to be quite a swell week for me.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you may recall that I predicted that good week would follow after Arsenal beat Liverpool on the weekend. Read for more information.

By swell, I mean mostly good.

Annual Kris Kringle with A Rotational Roster of People on Thursday night went quite well, except for the timing issues. I have no idea why, on that day, people had to turn up late, leave early, and just generally not fit in with the plan. Must have been a bad day to pick. But apart from that, it all clicked together fairly well. Most things that I plan generally do, I think, except when people mess them up for me.

Anyway, I got a shirt to add to my growing collection (thanks Davy), and Yvonne seemed pleased with what I gave her. I hope. Unless I'm reading the signs wrong again, as I am wont to do. I think everyone else liked the 'things' that I made them, useless and non-functional though they may be, and Linda didn't kill me for defying her direct order not to make her anything, so I guess that worked out alright. All I know is that I've been completely turned off folding stars, at least for a while, and Sicilian salmon with potatoes at Airstream is also getting a bit old. Alas, must find new thrills.

Imesha and Linda bailed halfway through our dinner, so we moseyed on down to the cinema to watch Avatar.

Personally, I didn't like the 3Dness. Apart from the fact that you had to pay an extra dollar to watch 3D (unless you're Yvonne and have five pairs of spare 3D goggles at home), I thought that it actually made most of the movie look worse. I wasn't really feeling the 3D, and when I did, it just looked like one of those dodgy lenticular things you get out of chip packets. It looked less realistic than it would have on a normal screen. Everything just sort of looked stuck on. But it was a good movie. Not that Davy would know. I found out just then that he fell asleep during the film. He's making a habit of this. First New Moon with his girl, then Avatar.

On Friday, nothing much happened, except for Victor coming over and fiddling with my computers, and FIFA 10. Thanks Victor.

Saturday, would've liked to have gone to Kylie's, but no transport/didn't want to trouble other people in giving me a lift/ditched by Victor. Sorry Kylie.

Just then was the NQT Christmas dinner. It was cool. Found out that Catherine is a pretty cool person, and that I'm a pretty terrible person to sit next to at dinner, as I pretty much go quiet. Also, 'Same Girl' is a universally recognised benchmark of an awesome song.

Here's to having more fun-laden and awesome times ahead. It's a shame really, because I have all this free time, and no-one to spend it with. Guess I'll just practice my newly-acquired guitar (thanks for the Christmas present parents) and my grandpa clarinet. Perhaps working out more. But definitely no more folding of stars.

Word of the Day: Thanks

Possible return to Macau

I just remembered something, very randomly.

See, I made a wish at a temple in Macau. And according to Chinese tradition, if my wish comes true, I have to return there and thank the temple.

Now, I'm not particularly superstitious, but, like my father, I do believe that it is best not to go out of your way to tempt fate.

Problem is though, I sort of remember what I wished for, but not whether or not I put a time frame on it. Put simply, I'm fairly sure that I wished for my wish to come true in two years, if I remember correctly. But I'm not sure if I should still go back if it happens after that, because I think it was bound to happen eventually anyway. I should ask about it.

But this is all a null point. The thing that I wished for hasn't happened anyway. I still have no idea why it sprung up in my mind.

Word of the Day: Macau (again?)

I'm so sick of this.

It's always me calling people.

I can't even remember the last time somebody organised something with me.

It's always me organising something for people, with me included.

It's not so much that I find organising things difficult. In fact, I find it supremely easy.

Which is why I find it both telling and very, very sad that I very rarely get invited to things.

Yeah, sure. Work. Of course. But surely you don't work 10 hours a day, every day of the week?

It's my own fault I guess. Obviously people don't like me enough for me to cross their minds once in a while. Clearly I don't mean as much to them as they mean to me.

I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm almost crying while writing this. It hurts.

I guess that's why I appreciate it so much when someone shows that they actually care. Just saying hi. Or checking on how I'm doing. Something. I don't know. Anything.

I hate how I'm not even the most social person, but I feel terrible after about a week of not seeing a friend.

It's sad. I think I've known this for a while, but I've just become man enough to acknowledge it. I don't think I really have many, if any, close friends. Again, my fault. I don't let anybody get close to me. I don't know why. I hope one day I do find someone that I can open me up, keep me from bottling up all these things.

In summary, I need a hug.

Worry in a hurry

Sometimes I think I worry too much about things that ought not to be worried about that much, or worried about at all.

For instance, I get worried when I call/text/e-mail/Facebook/snail mail/fax someone, and they don't reply. There are a few reasons for worrying:

1. I've somehow offended said person, or people, and they do not wish to communicate with me. Sometimes, I worry about this even though I know, or believe, that there is no possible way I could've offended said person or people.

2. Something has happened to said person/people, and they are incapacitated and unable to reply to my message.

3. The message did not go through at all, and it was all in vain.

Another thing that I am prone to worry about is whether people care about me, or whether I mean anything to people. It's weird, but true.

Worry also leads to nervousness. It's so stupid. I get nervous in the weirdest situations. Like, I get nervous around girls that I like, but not girls that I don't like. As in, the two different types of like. If you know what I mean. I get nervous thinking about getting nervous.

As I said. Stupid things to worry about. But sometimes, they seem to warrant being worried about.

Word of the Day: Worry

Soul sisters

So, like, yesterday my boredom-o-meter peaked just before work. So I read a bit of Sarah's (my older younger sister) school magazine, 'Ethos'.

I read this whinge and whine article about how males never return calls and texts. I find this generalised accusation completely false. For one, I return 99% of my messages and missed calls within five minutes, which is better than the late Connex's delivery of trains. Secondly, most guys that I know, bar two notable examples, follow this statistic. In fact, I would contend that, if we must make generalisations, it's more of a female thing to do. Not returning messages within the hour, etc, I mean.

Not that I took the article seriously or anything. I just don't understand where they got the idea from in the first place.

And in other news, I believe Michelle (my younger, younger sister) has just helped our family break a record. It better be a record.

That's right. All three of us have now been School Captain at the same primary school. Three siblings, all school captains. I think you'd be hard pressed to find three people with the same last name that were school captains. And that, my friends, is a hat trick.

Word of the Day: Sisters

Check dem colourz

I seem to get my best ideas just before I sleep, and I end up furiously writing them down on a sticky note before I forget.

Take, for example, the following.

Since I've been abandoned by many of my friends, and my boredom-o-metre is creeping up in exponential increments, I decided, last night, just before I slept, to turn to one of the passions in my life which I have neglected recently. Photography.

I love photography. See, apparently I have an eye for framing things. And I can't really draw anything that goes beyond the complexity level of basic geometric shapes and random patterns. And my painting skills can be best described as shambolic.

Photography is awesome. You can either make a picture literal, take it how you see it, or you can manipulate it to look different.

I loved black and white photography in Year 9. That was one of the best subjects I ever took.

Anyway. The present. I am going to start an album on Facebook called 'Check dem colourz.' Creative, eh?

In this album shall be - get ready for it - colourful things. Just a riot of colours, from everyday and not-so-everyday situations. We'll see where it takes me.

Word of the Day: Photography

I wish people were like books

I might have mentioned this before, but I hate how sometimes I think something's really important, or it is to me anyway, but other people don't seem to care about it as much, if at all. I also hate how a lot of times I'm hurt by the actions and behaviour of people, but they apparently don't seem to notice, or care.

I'm finding it really hard to read people. Mixed signals and all that. You know, sometimes they act one way, then they act another way. The first time you think they mean this, then the next time you think they mean the exact opposite. If that's very confusing, I guess it's fitting, because I'm very confused at the moment.

And this is why this blog is now off Facebook. Although I'm in two minds about it. Sometimes I write uplifting, and apparently funny (so I've been told by other people) posts, and they're happy, and I want to share my happiness with the world. But times like this, when it's all mopey and introspective, I want to kind of keep it to the select few people that care enough to be visiting this blog. So for the foreseeable future, it's going to be right here.

Here's to a less clouded future.

Word of the Day: Confused

Lie down here and be my girl

Yes, I'm currently listening to a song on the radio called 'Lie down here and be my girl.'

Why, you may ask.

That is a good question. And I would answer you, except I've been sworn to secrecy. So I can't tell you. Sorry. But that's life.

Come to think of it, I have no idea why I've been sworn to secrecy. But that's life too. One can't understand everything.

Like, for example, why the hell jury duty has been cancelled.

They told me that they postponed it yesterday, then today they tell me it's cancelled altogether. Great organisational skills, whoever's in charge of these things.

Word of the Day: Radio

Emo rant #5,098,412.33

Sometimes I get the feeling I'm not very important in peoples' lives.

It's not a cry for sympathy, it's just a fact.

See, I contemplated disappearing for about a month a while back. I don't think many people would notice that I'm gone. Or even if they did, it wouldn't be much more than a "Oh. Haven't seen Andrew around in a while."

Okay, maybe during uni, people would notice more. But during holidays, nah. Doubt it very much. Except my family, perhaps.

It's just an observation. Maybe it's the way I am. You know, I don't really insert myself into the minds of people. Very forgettable, in other words. I hope people prove me wrong.

On a less emo note, this week should be good. Arsenal beat Liverpool. It's usually a good week in prospect when Arsenal beat a difficult team, and Liverpool, at a time like this, should result in a spectacular week. Optimism/superstition, please don't let me down.

Word of the Day: Missed

Blub

Blub. What an interesting sound to make.

I'll do it again.

Blub.

So, as you can probably tell, I'm fairly bored. I just wrote a letter to the Herald Sun, detailing why I think the AFL should just be a little bit flexible and give the biggest sporting event on Earth some space to weave it's magic.

I've also been making things for people, but people aren't co-operating with me, which makes it hard. It shall be done though.

I have also obtained a bag, so I don't need one for Christmas anymore. Now I'm really stuck. Maybe I'll just be a good chap and not ask for anything.

Oh, and I have jury duty tomorrow. I thought it'd be fun, but now it just seems like an inconvenience. Oh well. Hopefully it won't be as boring as sitting around at home, getting all arty and writing angry letters to dodgy newspapers.

Word of the Day: Jury

I'm so fly, I get jetlag

A lyric from a forthcoming Usher song. Apparently it means "I'm really cool." But "I'm so fly" is so much more eloquent and beautiful in it's pristine awesomeness.

So yeah, I haven't been disowned by my mother over my results. She took it quite well actually. She was like, well, you didn't fail, so it's not all bad. But you probably should work out a way to do better next sem, because, you know, accounting is kind of important.

I think I've found a method. The method, passed down the generations, father-to-son and all that jazz, is called prioritising i.e. not pouring my soul into International Studies and French, and actually putting some time into my Commerce subjects.

I would like to know the fail rate though. It would help me put things in perspective.

Went to Mount Dandenong for dinner just then. It's so nice up there. The waitresses, the food, the view, the service, the frigid mountain air. It's cool. Might take someone special up there, when I get a car.

Which brings me nicely to my next point. It appears that I may be getting a car sooner than expected. And sadly, not through any endeavour of my own. Apparently, my dad's thinking about getting a car now. But yeah. That might change in the next week. You can never tell. One week he's all like "No. Final." Then the next week he'll be like "Let's get a second-hand car." Then it'll be back to "No." This week, he was like "Let's get a new car." In summary, I'm not getting my hopes up too much.

Today also marks the beginning of an annual period of stupidity, which I shall now call "Andrew's Awkwardness", because it's alliterative, and...yeah. That's about it.

See, it's around this time in the year, where I realise that I've misplaced the mental Christmas wishlist that I've had stored up in my brain. I'm dead serious, next year, I will write down what I want. Right now, All I can think of is a bag. And like, I'm fairly sure that wasn't on the list until yesterday. Probably because I don't need one all that much. I would ask my parents to get me true love, but the last time I looked, there wasn't much of that on the shelves at Myer.

Word of the Day: Fly

Instead of punching a wall

Instead of punching a wall, I'll blog to siphon off my misery.

I would actually punch a wall, except I'd a) wake my family up, and b)have to repair it afterwards, assuming I'm strong enough to break it.

I did reasonably well in everything except the subject that mattered: accounting. I don't know why it hates me so much. I thought I did alright in the exam, but apparently not. Might have been that, in conjunction with the group assignment.

The stupid thing was, the results were sent to my mobile while I was watching 2012 tonight, which added to my stress levels. I hate watching films like that. I'm actually scared of massive, cataclysmic disasters. Just not this particular one, because of various reasons. It also completely screwed up what would have otherwise been one of the best days that I've had this year, or at least in a while.

I'm going to console myself in two ways.

1. I'm definitely working harder next semester. That's my problem. I don't apply myself properly. It's alright with nuff-nuff subjects like management, it just doesn't quite cut it with real subjects like accounting.

2. I've gotten bad marks before and bounced back.

Now I just kind of need to find a way of explaining to my parents without getting destroyed.

I'm not only disappointing them, I've disappointed myself. I expect a lot better of myself, because I know that I have it in me to do it.

I may just partake in some wall-punching tomorrow, provided I get bored and frustrated enough.

Word of the Day: Wall

Ire Land

I wish Ireland would just get over it.

Asking for a replay of the match was sort of fair, in the sense that they were knocked out because of a referee mistake.

But asking to go to the World Cup as a 33rd team is just ludicrous. There was absolutely no guarantee that they would've gone through anyway. It's not like the spot was stolen away from them. It was a draw at the time. Either team could have gone on to win it, if not for the handball.

I'll put it another, more general way.

Every team that gets knocked out could potentially go, "Oh, they committed an infringement in the process of scoring a goal, so could you please add me in, even though I wasn't going through in the first place?"

Yeah, Sepp Blatter is incompetent and has no sense of how to handle things, but Ireland shouldn't have asked to be included in the first place.

Word of the Day: Ireland

More like 'F plates for failbots'

they should be a english section to the driving test!!! i had how they always use their language barrier as a way out of shit,

I read this statement today, posted in a group that can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=mf&gid=221347833447

and I just laughed.

It's a group called 'A plates for Asian drivers' or something equally stupid. It's about how bad Asian drivers are. And it sort of transmogrified into how bad their English is. I was going to comment on how you very rarely see Asians involved in massive car accidents, but I really don't have the stats to back that up, and nor do I think these things have anything to do with race. I don't think I need to add too much more to the extremely profound statement up above. Pretty much says it all.

Imma stop laughing at irony now.

Oh, A League with Linda and her sister Dianne/Diane (I don't know how to spell) last night was also good fun. Bad game from a neutral point of view, as Gold Coast were pretty much acting like punching bags. But good performance from Victory. All the goals were fairly sublime. The flare was also a bit epic. Like, I could barely see the TV screen for 15 minutes afterwards. The anticipated grilling from Linda's parents also wasn't as bad as she made it sound like it would be. I actually quite enjoyed it. Should get grilled more often.

Word of the Day: A

Une nuit de poker

Who would've thought that the French also call it poker. Gambling is universal, it seems.

Um. Bonjour.

So last night was poker night with the lads plus Kylie. Females reprezent. Despite my fears that not enough people would come, seven people seemed just the right amount. Any more and I would've just been making Martinis and apple ciders all night long.

So like, I expected James to be a massive poker shark and kill us all, along with his cousin, who're always like "Pokerpokerpoker, nownownow." It turns out that Kyle T is some hardcore gambler who eats people like James for breakfast.

One of the stupidest/funniest moments of the night, nay ever, was Banh's cooking misadventure.

Banh: "Hey, Andrew's mum, uhhh, why is your oven so, like, not hot?"
My mother: "Uhh, it's kinda, like, not on."
Me: "You couldn't have asked me, could you? You just had to wait until mother came home."

The tarts themselves were quite...interesting. Artfully done. See, they couldn't be eaten normally. You had to kind of...drink them. Yeah. Get your head around that. Tarts that need to be drunk. Didn't taste half bad. But apparently they weren't supposed to turn out that runny. Who would've thought it.

Yeah, I have issues with my poker playing. It keep getting into the last two people, then bam! It all goes downhill. It may have something to do with my opponent always having a mountain of chips, and me having diddly squat.

All in all, a fairly good do I thought. Next up, Wii night.

Word of the Day: Poker

Picnic practice

I'm in two minds here. I don't think I should talk about today's events, but it seems wrong to not at least mention it. So I'll keep it simple.

Rest in peace Steve. Even though I didn't know you that well, you were a great person and will be sorely missed.

On to some more light-hearted, trivial stuff (because I believe it's important to stay happy), I tested out my knee yesterday in some picnic pass-to-pass. I can finally pass a ball without feeling like my knee's about to fall off. However, I got a timely reminder about how fragile it still is after I almost destroyed it again trying to stop the ball from rolling on to the road. Which indicates that I should work on the knee a bit more before playing properly, because tackling someone would probably wreck the knee for good. Patience.

The picnic itself was fairly good. Good catch-up with Orrin and Priscilla, and met some new people, which is always good. But yeah. Knee. Maybe I should just get a new one.

Word of the Day: Steve

The opposite of no is yes

The most profound statement I have ever come across.

You're probably thinking that a 60-year-old philosopher came up with this.

Well, you're wrong.

A Grade 3 student of mine came up with this nugget.

It's great. It's not wrong. In fact, it's very right. But you would be quick to dismiss it as being an extraneous and useless statement.

However, it highlights how often we take things for granted. Maybe one day, you'll come across a situation where no is not the opposite of yes, though I'm yet to come across one that I remember. But it's one of those profound statements which prepare you for the eventuality that something like this will happen one day, and you'll know what to do.

Except you won't know what to do. But you'll be prepared for it anyway.

As a side note, let me know if you do, or already have, come across a situation where yes is not the opposite of no. Should be interesting.

Word of the Day: Opposite

Of Stevie Wonder and Henry

This story, for want of a better word, began on Friday after lunch.

So like, me and Linda were in David Jones, having been ditched by some unscrupulous people. Stevie Wonder came on, and we were bopping. Lo and behold, it was my ringtone. As if not recognise your own ringtone, Andrew.

To be fair, I'd only set it to my ringtone the day before. It was originally on 'See you in my Nightmares' by Kanye, but I decided that was too quiet.

It's now back to my favourite ringtone, 'Don't Go Away' by Oasis. It's very loud and distinctive, and I love the shredding of the guitar at the start. The potential for embarrassing, albeit classic moments, is reduced now. Don't know if that's really a good thing. It's a trade-off really.

So when I got home from the chill session at DJs, I visited one of my top 5 favourite websites, ESPN Soccernet, to see that the Henry storm was still in full force.

Please, people. If you're going to make such a big fuss about this, asking for replays and such, millions of matches would be replayed every season. A few off the top of my head to follow. First up, the one that touches a sore point with most Aussies: Fabio Grosso and his ridiculous dive in THAT match against Australia. Liverpool vs Birmangham a couple of weeks back, David N'gog and his comical dive.

I'm not supporting this type of behaviour. But shouldn't the ref have some responsibility, if not most of it? I mean, he missed a double handball from a player in an offside position. Surely one of the three refs should have seen one of those infringements. I don't see why Henry should take all the blame.

Of course all the Irish players are saying that they wouldn't have done the same in the same situation. That's because they were never in that type of position to do so. It's easy to say in retrospect, but I'm sure it seemed far more appealing to Henry to seal the deal in open play than to face the lottery of spot kicks. We'd all like to think that we wouldn't have done that, but if you think about it, you take a gamble, one kick, and your team is through to the biggest tournament on Earth. It's a hard offer to turn down, especially given the pressure on the team and the money involved in football today.

By extension, Henry's even taking one for the team, copping all this flack but helping his team through.

Yes, I love Henry. He was the reason that I started following Arsenal all those years ago. My opinion remains objective. My objectivity is apparent if anyone would have cared to listen to my rants. They would've heard me tell them that, although I felt the height of anger immediately after the Grosso dive, a few days later I came to be disappointed in the Socceroos for two reasons. Reason number 1: Italy are a man down. We let a fullback, playing in a highly defensive formation, get up into our penalty area in virtually the last minute of the game. What's more, the Socceroos can't even score a goal against them. Reason number 2: Lucas Neill and his flying tackle. Sure, he got the ball. But was it really necessary to go sliding in like that?

Cheating happens in football. The only way to stomp it out is with video replays, but FIFA seems so intent on letting match fixers have an easier time that this does not look like eventuating any time soon. In the mean time, the ref must bear most, if not all of the responsibility for failing to call up such a blatant foul.

Word of the Day: Henry

Eclecticity

How strange. I don't know if anybody else finds this weird, but this is the story.

Today, I went to a performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, K622, my favourite clarinet piece of all time. It was awesome. And to cap it off, they played an impromptu rendition of the Londonderry Air, which was the first piece that I played and loved.

Then, when I got home, I listened to Coldplay and Jay-Z.

That's the end of the story. Good story Andrew.

There must be something wrong with me.

And I'm really looking forward to Usher's new album next month.

Yep, there's definitely something wrong with me.

Word of the Day: Wrong

Lip sinking

What's the big deal about Britney Spears lip synching? Like, hello, she's been doing it ever since her first album. She's never been a very good singer, so what's new? It's almost like going to a Michael Jackson concert and making a big deal out of him dancing and singing live and not lip synching. I won't say who cares, because obviously people do, but I just think it's been completely blown out of proportion, and the reaction has been way, way, way above anything that I'd have expected. It's like the people that paid for the tickets expected her to not lip synch. When I put it like that, how weird does it sound?

Last night, I went to the first of many social events lined up for me these holidays. Banh had his 20th, and it was Friday the 13th. Nothing bad happened, unless you count Victor burning the food a bit. Good food and cool people all around. Sounds like a party I went to once. Oh, and good music, once I changed it to Ursher.

The food was very good. Vast improvement from when I first ate it. Not that it was bad in the first place. Which makes the improvement all the more surprising. Yes.

Yes. I'm suddenly feeling all pops, to use Yvonne terminology. Which is a very, very foreign feeling. Apart from that, things are starting to look on the up, except for being jobless. I shouldn't have said that. Every time I do, my world falls to pieces around me. But I can't help it.

Word of the Day: Britney

Insecurity guard

Ah, I knew this double-clash-whammy thing would always test my masculinity, make me question my own fortitude, push me to the limit, and all that jazz. But my, how even the lead up revealed so much about me. My insecurities and flaws were exposed in the most brutal fashion possible, just like a Liverpool defence at set pieces. But I also learnt about my strengths. I hope they're my strengths. Because if not, I'm more screwed up than I think I am.

First weakness: Girls. Well, I wouldn't be a very straight male if this didn't apply. So like, I was talking to my good friend David Lee, and a female friend of pretty everyone I know, who I'm not going to name because of that very reason, looked like she wanted to talk to me. See, it's that awkwardness again. That's another one of my weaknesses. She keeps like, walking in front of me and looking at me when she thinks I'm not looking at her. Cos you know, she got ditched by her friend.

This also links onto my insecurity. I'm actually still a really shy person. It's gotten a lot better, but you know. Yeah.

Anyway, I had a feeling that maybe I should've talked to her. But then I thought, nah, that'd be weird. I mean, it is me after all.

Anyway, the second weakness links back to this.

As most of you, and half the world know by now, because I've been griping about it for a while, I had a clash today, so I had a double exam, and a prisoner during the break. During the break, after the torrid time that was the French exam, I started thinking about this girl who shall remain unnamed. Because, you know, I'm instantly attracted to people that actually show an inclination of wanting to actually talk to me. Which exposed my lack of concentration. So I listened to music. Which made it worse. A downward spiral of pain and anguish then. And they suspected my iPod of being an iPhone to boot.

Third insecurity. I get scared when people stare at me. Like those damn invigilators. I'm walking back from the toilet, they stare at me. Two of them waylay me at different times. I don't know what they suspected me of, but the second one was just damn rude. At least one of them was nice. She made me coffee. Kudos to her.

Now, on to some positive stuff. I must admire our brain's capacity to cram stuff in. I pretty much memorised the whole management course in the three hour break, and spat it back out during the exam. Right after cramming French in the morning. Double crammage. Hope my technique doesn't backfire.

I thought I'd also take this opportunity to remark upon how unfair the exams today were. Surely I'm at a disadvantage. Having one exam after the other is bad enough. But not being able to leave in the break?

Now that I have free time on my hands, here's the plan:
1. Clean room
2. Work this damned right leg harder and get it working again
3. Find a summer job
4. Put my other plan into action. Don't worry, I know what I'm talking about, even if you don't.
5. Make some stuff. Star jars and all that.
6. Somehow learn guitar without a guitar.
7. Get the clarinet going again.
8. Organise my music collection.
9. Catch up with some of my homies.
10. Buy some gifts and miscellaneous items.

That's about it for the moment.

Hope everyone did well in their exams, and gluck for anyone still to do some.

Ah. Relaxation.

Word of the Day: Insecurity

And yet another near-death experience

So yesterday, me and my family were having a nice lunch at the Pie in the Sky restaurant on Mount Dandenong.

I was sitting there, eating my food. As you do in a restaurant. This guy comes in. He's a big guy mind you. About a head taller than me, and he looked like he could bench press the whole room. With one arm.

Ok, so I looked at his girl. I mean, I look at everyone. He gives me an evil glare. So I turn my head and pretend not to notice.

By the way, he's one of those jerks that wear shades even when they're inside. Meaning no disrespect to any of you that do.

Actually, to hell with that. Why would you wear shades inside? You can't see a damned thing, and it's highly unnecessary.

Anyway, I turn my head away, just in case he decides that I'm challenging him or something, keeping him in view out of the corner of my eye. He keeps staring. So I grab my glass in my right hand and play with it a bit, and he finally decides to look away.

Seriously, how goddamn insecure do you have to be to want to rumble someone for looking at your girl?

Hence, my theory that people that wear shades when inside are a bit...strange has gained further impetus. However, I have noticed an upsurge in the numbers of such people. It may or may not coincide with the growing number of jerks in the world.

Word of the Day: Jerk

Pure genius

I've found yet another way to procrastinate. See, instead of studying for a particular subject, you spend 15 minutes calculating hypothetically what you need in the exam for a HD.

The prognosis looks very threatening. I think I need between 76 and 84 on my Management exam to get a HD. Something like that.

French is even worse. I can't be screwed calculating, because I have assessments everywhere for French, but I have a feeling that even if I were to get 100% on the exam, I still wouldn't get a HD. I've done pretty badly this semester.

Yes. What a nerdy way to procrastinate. I wouldn't recommend it. But now that you've read this, and because I'm so inspirational, I know you'll go and do it. Right now.

Word of the Day: Procrastinating

This Is It - Exam Time!

Ah, the joys of exams. A novel experience every time. Something new and exciting to add spice to an otherwise dreary period of our uni lives.

So yeah. On Tuesday, I had my first exam of this lovely exam period. It was accounting. Fun times, methinks. I don't think I crash and burned, but you never know with accounting. Best not to delve into too much detail, lest some evil force latches on with some amazing power or whatnot. Blah blah blah.

Anyway, the actual important thing that I wanted to talk about was seeing This Is It last Sunday.

As you (probably) know, it's a film about MJ's rehearsal for what was to be his last concert before retiring.

Overall, it wasn't a bad film. I mean, it was pretty well shot. It wasn't just some piece of junk cobbled together. And it was nice seeing him in some way perform live.

What I found most amazing was how picky, exacting and demanding he was about his music. It would've been hard working with him. The guy who co-ordinates music says that it's good that MJ knows what he's talking about, but deep down he must be annoyed, because he can't just fob him off, because MJ knows what he's on about.

The dancing was so-so. Whether an issue of age, sickness, rustiness, or because it was a rehearsal, or a combination of all of the above, the zing wasn't quite there most of the time. I'd like to think he wasn't trying very hard, as it was a rehearsal.

However, one can come to the conclusion that it would've been a good gig to attend. Would've been a show of gargantuan proportions. It's a shame he died, really. As I've said before, he was an extremely talented musician, and the world won't see his like in the foreseeable future.

On a side note, I like that guitar chick in film. Orianthi or something. Aaaandd, she's Australian. Thought she was English or something. I like her for her talent. Seriously.

Word of the Day: This Is It

Oh, cruel world

So I'm choking half to death on the kitchen floor, and the input that I get from my family is something along the lines of:

"Man up!"
"Why do you have to be so disgusting?"

A little sympathy towards this damaged soul wouldn't go amiss, I think.

Well, there you have it. Now you understand why I turned out the way I am. Family.

Ok, so I choked on a can of Solo. Ok, so it might be funny if it doesn't happen to you. But that feeling, when you're drinking soft drink, and somebody makes you laugh - it's like a form of torture. And all I get from my family is "Walk it off." Cruel, cruel people. And one of these family members caused this laughter as well, which makes it even more abhorrent that sympathy was not forthcoming. Boo.

Word of the Day: Solo

Ah, political correctness. Gets me every time.

Before writing this up, I thought that it would be cool if I were to sum up our GMC shenanigans in one word.

I came up with one.

Then I decided that I should probably keep this thing PG-rated. I mean, it's already bad enough that this placed is laced with sarcasm, cynacism, and God knows what else. Teaching kids that could potentially be reading this would just take this blog beyond decency.

So the substitute word that I came up with was 'Debacle'. Pretty cool, huh? And to top it all off, it actually means something. I would look it up for you, but my Internet's capped. So I'll just grab the definition off the dictionary on my phone.

n. an utter failure or disaster.

The definition is as eloquent and succinct as the word itself. How poetic.

This journey started off in a positive fashion, and I found it amusing, if somewhat predictable, that the tapering off of effort followed a trend with respect to time and people.

The first meeting went cool. But cracks were beginning to show then, to be honest. Meng turned up to the first meeting drunk. I mean, I have no real authority, so I can't really discipline him, but I thought it a bit indecent to be drunk at uni anyway.

Second decision date, Meng went AWOL and Anna was working during our normal accounting lecture (as in, working working). But it was all good, cos my homie James still had my back, and I could then punt it to Anna to have a look over.

Third meeting, Meng was still AWOL. I swear, every time I talk to him online, he disappears just like that. Now, I can't really blame him for that, because 98% of the people I know do that to me. But three times in a row gets a bit too uncanny for my liking. Even Superman isn't super-stitious enough to believe that this could happen that many times. But more about that later. Yeah, so the third meeting, we decided to do this thing over FB. It kinda worked, everyone except Meng had input, and we submitted the thing. James did most of the hard slog, Anna and I debated with him sort of, and yeah. Yeah.

Fourth decision was basically me and James over MSN, and Anna verifying our perfection. Now, Meng and I were having this comment volley on FB, as you do. I'm sure you've done it before. You know, instead of talking on MSN, you pick some random thing on FB and start talking in the comments. Anyway, we're talking about something completely pointless, and I write, as a half-joke, "Hey, I'm gonna start talking about GMC stuff now, but I know I probably won't get a response from you, because you'll probably log off when you see this." Didn't get a reply. Still haven't. So yeah, in my terrible anger and rage, I screwed up one of the entries, and we made a loss instead of the profit which we were supposed to make. Not that anybody noticed or cared, except for James and I.

Fifth one, which was today, was just me. Quite interesting actually. Took a considerably shorter time, and I don't even have to deal with the pain of seeing the consequences, because the website won't even do me the courtesy of telling me where we came.

I actually learnt a lot from this saga, which is weird, given that it was one of the most nuff-nuff things I've ever done in my life. I think I often care about something, and I think other people do too, but usually their care factor is significantly less than mine, approaching zero, or even possibly negative. I also think a major, major flaw of mine is caring about things too much, but not actually doing anything to fix the problem. I'm too nice to people sometimes too. Seems weird, huh? Sardonic Andrew being nice. Maybe I just think I'm too nice. That's got to be the reason that people don't take me seriously. But, the paradox is, and I think I've stated this before, is that people take me too seriously when they shouldn't, and they don't take me seriously when I'm being serious.

See? It's ironic. I'm caring too much again. And I should probably stop talking about it here. But it's like an addiction. It's like a Pensieve in Harry Potter. Siphon my thoughts off and forget about it.

Thanks for the effort team. I mean it. The varying degrees of effort you put in was very much better than giving me nothing, and in some cases, was a whole lot better than what I put in.

Now, onwards towards exams! This is the time of the year when we make our mark on the world, when we show our true selves, and prove those doubters wrong.

Fo shizzle.

Word of the Day: Debacle

Wishful thinking episode 1, 076, 980

It was a glorious day. The sun, glittering through the leaves still wet with morning dew, made the air warm, but not scorching or humid. A slight cool breeze was slightly perfumed with the smell of newly-bloomed flowers, with a hint of the earthy smell of trees. The birds sang sweetly, and the bees were buzzing busily about their business. In other words, a day perfect for sitting under the sun on a patch of grass and reading, or listening to music, or just sitting and chilling. Perhaps with a drink in hand.

__________________________________________________

As you may or may not have guessed, the day described is today. And the day before. And the day before that.

It's a shame really, but one can't really study for exams in the garden. If only we didn't have exams.

And who needs them anyway? Useless things that they are. Alternatively, instead of moaning and complaining, I could construct a table outside and study there. Yes. Because I'm really good at constructing tables. Of the outside variety. In one day. Good idea again Andrew.

Word of the Day: Garden

Recommendations plox

So I've just spent yesterday morning obtaining songs, and so far I've got more Maroon 5, Alicia Keys, John Mayer and Lily Allen. It's weird though. Some of the songs on the albums don't sound as nice as the dodgy singles I had before.

Which other artists' songs are good? I've been out of the loop for quite a while. The most recent artist I have in my music collection is Lady GaGa. All other songs that are new that I have are by old artists, if that makes sense.

Yeah, I dunno if anyone's heard any good music lately. Or from whenever. Suggestions. I'm almost getting bored of my new 100 or so songs already, and I haven't even listened to 90% of them. And I'm open to all genres. Except maybe hardcore techno and metal. I like nice music. If that makes sense.

Word of the Day: Pirate

Last Official Day Of Uni 2009

Oh my, it's the end of the academic year already, bar my French oral on Friday.

I'm sort of bittersweet about this semester ending actually. For parts of it, I've had a torrid time. Floods of work, assignments and other issues on the one hand, but I've never had so much fun on the other.

Thus, it was very fitting that today was a day of academic extremity.

My French listening test went fine and dandy. Possibly the easiest shot at 10 per centing I'll ever get in my life. Hopefully I don't jinx it.

Then, I went and go my French culture essay back with a P+. Ah, that plus made it so much better. And I thought, "That's what you get when you cobble something together in 45 mins." Not exactly an unexpected mark, considering how I randomly spoke about segregation in America with no sources at all.

The cobbling theory turned out to be untrue. My 3000 word Management essay, which cobbled together in two nights, got returned to me with a 61 on the front. Which I was quite satisfied with, considering the effort I put in. But then, I turned to the last page, and there was a HD. Quite scary, the stuff you can produce in two sleep-deprived nights. I think it's to do with the fact that I sound smart when I write essays, because I deconstruct the essay topic and take a new vantage point on it that I don't think anybody else does. And I think one of the strengths of my essays is the fact that it links back to the questions and links all the elements of the questions together. Because it was a fairly hard topic, as it drew on three different areas of the stuff we're doing. So yeah. It's not really to do with my skill at management, but more to do with essay writing.

But the bad thing about that is that every single time I do it, it feels like a fluke and I feel like I don't deserve it, because I see people that actually time-manage well, and work really hard, and yeah. It just doesn't click for them.

Also, today I think I made up with people that had felt the brunt of my tetchy mood yesterday. Hopefully I've made amends. But I swear that door to R1 is ridiculously light. I did not mean to rip it from it's hinges. It's made of paper or something. I swear.

Anyway, enough language analysis and moping. Time for some irony.

So I separately tried to arrange to catch the bus home at the same time with two separate people, those people being Grace and Banh. I got rebuffed on two separate occasions by two separate people. Grace is all like, "Oh, I never actually go home after uni, I'm more of a club person," and Banh's all like "Uni's for losers. *Sleeps*". End result: solitary journey home. Story of my life.

Word of the Day: Cobble

D'you Know What I Mean

Ahh, you can tell summer's just around the corner when a big fat fly divebombs you inside the house.

Also when your skin feels like it's on fire after spending more than 2 mins outside.

Today wasn't a bad day, except I randomly got into a bad mood. Sorry people who felt the brunt. Except for the people who it was intended for. It was kinda reflected in the change in weather. You know, how it was all sunny, then...shazzam! all cloudy.

Ah, how stupid of me to think that football season starting up again would take my mind off things. It's funny how I laugh at naive people. Actually, more like ironic.

Sometimes, I have no idea what I'm talking about. Or why I'm talking about it. This would be one of those times. I call it poetic nonsense (c). You heard it here first.

Word of the Day: Naive

Bleugh

You'd think that the test today would be the end of it, wouldn't you?

No siree! Work never ends in the life of Andrew!

French listening test on Wednesday, and French oral on Friday.

French overload?

Very much so, considering that I've barely looked at French during the semester.

I think 'screwed' pretty much sums up this week, and probably this semester.

Oh, and to cap it all off, I'm kinda half sick, and for some inexplicable reason, people are hating on me again. No idea what I'm supposed to have done wrong. But hey. What's new?

Now to drown my sorrows in a cold cup of...water. Ah, the hard stuff always works the best.

Word of the Day: Screwed

For once in my life (ok, maybe this isn't exactly the first time), I hope I'm wrong

I'm so bored. I have no idea why. It's not like I don't have work to do. I'm always wanting to talk to people, but no-one seems to be available at the moment.

I don't even want to talk about anything in particular. Just shoot the breeze, as they say.

I think the problem is that I really too much on Internet communication aka. MSN. It's because my phone bill takes a hammering whenever I call anything but Optus.

I can't find the motivation to do work either. That's a real problem of mine. I have willpower to do anything but work. Very strange.

Maybe it has something to do with this onrush of assignments that I've just completed. I just finished doing my 800 word French culture thing in 2 hours last night. I think I may be burnt out, for once in my life. Having said that, I'll probably be better again tomorrow. Have a good night's sleep.

It's alright being bored after exams. I mean, then you can just call up anyone and like "Hey, let's go somewhere," because nobody else is doing anything anyway, and chances are they're even more bored than you are. But doing that right now is just insanity.

To show you how bored I was, the highlight of my day was submitting the GMC stuff forty seconds before cutoff time. It kept telling me that I hadn't put something in, which I couldn't find. I fixed it with forty seconds left. They had this fully sick countdown timer thing going on as well. Phew. Stuff that gets the heart pumping.

In other news, the weird girl in my French tute is at it again. She's like "Can I draw a heart on your arm?" So I say, more than slightly bemused, "If it makes you happy, go for it." And she does. Now I have a heart on my arm. I still don't know what's going on there. We barely even know each other. We don't even say hi.

I've come to the conclusion, and I very much hope that I'm wrong, that she might be slightly autistic. I'll apologise in advance to her, even though she doesn't know, if I'm wrong. But yeah. He conversation and stuff is generally outside of the realms of normal conversation norms. And she doesn't seem to know that some of the stuff she says may offend people, and she doesn't seem to know that some of the things she does is not considered within the boundaries of normality. Maybe I'm the strange one. Who knows.

It's not like I have a problem with it. In fact, I find it quite amusing and slightly, in a very strange way, endearing. I'm just curious. But one doesn't really go around asking people if they're autistic, do they?

Word of the Day: Boredom

By popular demand

It was a cold and blustery day outside. Ben Niles walked into the Curry Corner at the Matheson Library. A few moments later, Imesha followed in his wake. Ben plonked himself down on a chair, and began nonchalantly chewing on the apple that he'd procured from his bag. He looked at Imesha, and a spark of lightning *zap* sprung between them. It was electric. I could almost feel the electricity lifting my hair up, and it seemed as if the very air was infused with a mosaic of colours stemming from this spark. Twas a happy spark, full of joy and wonderment, suffusing the very fabric of space and time with awesomeness. The Matheson would never be the same again.

__________________

So the challenge was to fit Ben, Imesha, apple, lightning and mosaic into my blog post without making any of it up. It's not half bad, is it? None of it was made up, maybe just slightly embellished and exaggerated. But I thought it was pretty decent, considering I've had 4 hours of sleep and have been pretty flat out since last night.

I worked until 1 last night (this morning, if you want to be pedantic about it) on my International Studies essay. Wrote up all 1500 words last night. Surely that's how masterpieces are created. Woke up at 5 this morning to start and finish French homework, which I miraculously succeeded in doing in the hour that I had. Then I went swimming and got asked for my student ID because I clearly look 50 years old with these glasses. Went to uni, started an essay-fixing session at 9, printed essay off, handed it in, went to Management tute, got bored, talked to Grace on MSN, laptop died, tute finished half an hour early just like every other week, moseyed down to the Law Lib. Finally, I stopped for half an hour and just absorbed the ambiance of peace and quiet. Then, it started up again. GMC meeting.

I think I was the only person there with a functioning brain, which tells a story of its own really. Andrew and functioning brain generally cannot be used in the same sentence. However, in this case, it's a comparative term. Between a person with 0 hours of sleep, an alcoholic and a Tamiflu snorter, I think I emerge as the winner of the Sanity Battle. It turned out well, capped of by Ray actually believing that Anna was tired from a 7 hour GMCfest. You a funny man, Raymond.

And it doesn't stop there. Oh no. It never does stop there in Andrew's life. There's more. French culture assignment due on Friday, which I have not started, and International Studies test on Monday. Oh, the joys of pre-exam period. But I have a masterplan worked out. Not that my plans usually work to the degree that I expect them to, if they work at all, but I feel more secure about myself with a plan up my sleeve. It usually makes the fall of the plan harder to take, but I'll take it nonetheless.

Word of the Day: Flat

I wish I had a lightning-shaped scar

It's really sad, but I'm actually jealous of a fictional person's love life.

That's right, who else but Harry Potter.

See, what I find amazing is that the most he has to worry about is whether Ron would be upset about him going out with Ginny. He doesn't even have to entertain the possibility of her not liking him. He realises that Ginny and Dean have broken up, and the only complexity he worries about is whether her tool of a brother approves. And then he even bypasses that by acting on his simmering, growing passion.

I dunno about you, but I reckon that the other problems can be dealt with later, so long as the person likes you. But not so for Harry Potter. He assumes that the person likes him, and deals with the other problems first. Which is much easier, and of which I am very jealous of.

Just in case this is confusing (which most of my posts seem to be), I'm not on to someone's sister. Well, not a friend's sister anyway. And I don't have anything against Harry Potter. Probably because he doesn't actually exist. I hope.

Yes, I realise that most people aren't like Harry Potter. And that he is a fictional character. And I realise that Hogwarts is too far away from my house to travel to every day...I mean, Hogwarts doesn't exist.

Word of the Day: Potter

I thought about becoming an actor...

And then, I acted in two things this semester, and became thoroughly sick of it.

Earlier this semester, I told y'all about that disaster movie that I had a part in. Well, the finished product which came equal second in the voting is up on YouTube. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1yFftvzEso&feature=player_embedded

As you can see, my acting abilities are clearly superior. My expression of the fear that is gripping all of us is very obvious and well-conveyed. That's my scared smile you're seeing.

And today, I was in a French roleplay, which, unfortunately won't be uploaded. Not because it was sooooooo awesome that YouTube can't handle it, it's more to do with the fact that our tutor's concerned with our privacy. Pfft. Privacy. Who needs it anyway? Invasion of privacy is good practice for when you become a celebrity.

Anyway, it was a shambles. Forgot half my lines, and all that jazz. It's weird. I don't actually feel nerves, but I must have been nervous, otherwise I wouldn't have done that badly. At least my pronunciation is fairly spot on.

Word of the Day: Acting

Clarification/apology

I apologise for the confusion caused by my last post. Our group is not called Shift 6, or other variations of that. Shift 6 is a Facebook group.

The GMC team shall remain nameless due to its embarrassing nature, unless we somehow make it to the finals, whereby I would be more than happy to divulge the name of the group, as a matter of pride.

Let's put all that unpleasantness behind us.

And move on to more unpleasantness.

So I just had Round 2 with the physio. Man, when he was electrocuting that right quad, it felt like someone was digging a blunt knife into my leg. I hope this, coupled with swimming and leg exercises, works like it should. I'm itching to get back on the field and kick some balls.

Dot dot dot.

Word of the Day: Unpleasantness

Shift 6 for Sarcasm! Our GMC team is the greatest^!

I have heard tell of a group called Shift 6.

See, the basic premise is that in text, to indicate sarcasm, you hit Shift + 6 and insert a '^' sign. Like so:

"wow, i am so cool^"

However, I believe that there a number of problems:
1. Sarcasm kinda doesn't work when you explicitly tell someone that you're being sarcastic. I would know.
2. Those Fobanese kids always put these signs all over the place. ^^. Look familiar? They'd be indicating sarcasm everywhere.

Believe me, I wish one could convey sarcasm over MSN and such in a less obtrusive way. I think I've offended half the Australian population because they've all taken something I've said literally, when really it wasn't meant to be taken that way. For some strange reason, it's usually girls that get offended. Maybe it's because of the charm that I exude^.

See, it doesn't have the same zing when you add the ^ in. What's the point of sarcasm if you have to telegraph to everyone that you're doing it? It's pretty self-defeating, like...ovens made out of chocolate. As in, you destroy it when you use it. But I admit that my rate of offending people would drop significantly.

So back to the present, or very not-so-distant past. I think the GMC meeting today was as success. And don't let anybody tell you otherwise. I think that our team (Anna, James, Meng) has a certain synergy to it. Well, maybe because I get along with them quite well. Don't know why that would be, seeing as we barely know each other.

See how much more zip that is without the ^? Point made.

Word of the Day: ^

Block-a-choc

Yes, I've been choc-a-block busy this past week.

After attending some seriously stimulating Ambassador workshops last Wednesday, I decided not to attend the Friday ones for fear of over-stimulation. I felt really bad for doing so, but really could not be motivated for another day at uni.

So on Saturday, Imesha had her 21st, which was pretty awesome, except for the birthday girl turning up late. Actually, that was good in a way, except that everybody bar me was starving to death. That's why I have secrets to save me in these situations. All around, a very good gig to go to.

On Sunday, I had to skip Yvonne's 21st due to my commitment to my Accounting group. We had a group assignment due on Monday. I don't think I'll ever hear the end of it. After apologising many times in many varied ways, I still get harangued for not going. What's a man to do? Buy another present?

Tomorrow, meeting with my GMC homies. Have a very vague idea what's going on, and I hope that someone else will clarify. That will be the agenda for the meeting.

Word of the Day: Workshops

Banh-becue

Yes, Banh had a barbecue on Tuesday.

Yes, I'm blogging about it now because my Internet was fdjsak;rnekvn capped.

So here I am. With uncapped Internet.

Anyway, the BBQ was good fun. It's great to relax after surviving 77% of a very difficult semester, and to catch up with friends who I haven't seen for ages upon ages.

The program was basically eating, mucking around with a ball, eating, drinking, and eating some more. Way better in real life than it sounds in words.

Oh, and acting like five-year-olds on the play equipment.

Then acting like 6-year-olds with the flying fox.

Then, for added entertainment, you get two soccer balls.

And you try to hit the moving target! The moving, human target!

The mud slippage was only funny because it didn't happen to me. Embarrassing for those that it happened to, because the wet mud on the back of one's jeans looked somewhat suss.

The park was also quite nice. Very nice actually. I've actually been there before. I didn't know until I saw Lily in that Koala bouncy thing. I remember how I used to love that thing. And you don't have to pay to use the barbecues, which I found amazingly generous.

Videos and photos will be uploaded soon i.e. when I can be stuffed.

Word of the Day: Barbecue

More like...Lie-braries!

Today, I found out that I'd been duped by the Matheson Library. I borrowed a whole bunch of books that I thought were about Hurricane Katrina. Turns out that they're mostly about black people. Not that they're not useful, but still. I'm kinda getting sick of reading about black people and segregation and all that. They're pretty big books after all.

I'm pretty disappointed with my work rate so far. I've written down one thing from the aforementioned books so far. And I've got Banh's BBQ tomorrow, Ambassador stuff the whole day on Wednesday and Friday, and two 21st's to go to on the weekend. Ah well. I'm sure I'll find a way to get through. I always do, more or less.

Word of the Day: Lies

If I try to understand things, I may reach some understandings

People continually baffle me with their behaviour. But I can't really complain, because I sometimes baffle myself with my behaviour. So now, whenever it seems as though someone does something seemingly without a logical or even slightly plausible reason, I try to see things from where they're standing.

It works a lot of the time. Well, it works better than not doing it at all. At the very least, it gives you a certain sense of optimism, in that you believe that there is in fact a logical reason to their behaviour which originally made no sense at all. Where I come from (Footscray), they sometimes call this 'kidding yourself.'

In a sense, it is. But that's only if you screw it up, and there really is no logical reason behind why they're acting the way they are. Which is hard to confirm anyway, as you're hardly going to go up to them and ask them if your suspicions are correct. Which makes most of this post a null point. Just know that now I'm trying to think like girls think about peoples' behaviour, and I have found that it has quite a calming effect on me, in that I don't get down in the dumps every time someone treats me like dirt. I bounce back a lot quicker even if I do.

ANYWAY. Now that that suddenly thought up rant is over, a bit of filling in about the CA Careers Forum on Thursday.

On Thursday, headed out to the city with Davy and Imesha, and had coffee before the main event because we were 45 mins early, even though we'd already walked for about half an hour. Clearly it's all a conspiracy theory to get us to buy coffee in that building.

Overall, the event was fairly good, except for that fact that they didn't analyse my resume for me. And don't tell me I deserve the pain because I sent it in the night before. They just said to send it in before the day.

So we found out that marks aren't that important, but interviews sound scary. And I must say, we all look rather dashing in business attire. Attire. What a lovely word.

Word of the Day: Understanding

What UP!

Our tute's disaster movie was the best. Hands down. And for some strange reason, I got a starring role, and looked better on camera than I expected. My acting, however, is somewhat not up to scratch. I was half-smiling while an earthquake was supposedly happening. Which makes the decision to put me in a starring non-speaking role all the more puzzling. Must be my photogenic looks.

The one that actually won was filmed Lego-style. It was just pure funny. Didn't even make sense, and I couldn't hear what was going on most of the time. Probably not much going on anyway.

Speaking of movies, this is an awesome linking sentence.

Today, I saw UP! with my sisters, seeing as they had begged me non-stop for the last five months. Not that I didn't want to go with them. But I'm a busy, busy man.

So went down to Village at Glen after MGMT tute today, and saw UP!.

All in all, a pretty top movie. A tad overrated. But then again, so was the Dark Knight.

Plot was fairly predictable, but plots of most Pixar films are. I don't think you're supposed to watch them for the plot, but for the process of rendering the plot. A very good effort in that respect. As always from Pixar, beautifully rendered animation and a good score. Characters, as usual, were delightful. Wouldn't mind seeing it again. Depends on who asks though.

Back to uni today. I think I fair failed the French test, owing to the fact that I did about 15 mins of study for it. Management essay gets in the way of not only French study, but life in general. On the upside, no more assessments for management. On the downside, a bazillion assignments due after the break. Fun times ahead.

CA Career Development Forum tomorrow. Highlight: Suit and tie. What a boring life I lead.

Word of the Day: UP!

Don't even try G, you ain't got nothin' on me

I am such a rebel.

On Friday night, I smoked a bit of cigar.

Pretty much tasted like burning tea leaves, with a stronger after-taste. Better than cigarettes, I think, not that I've had them before, but not completely bad tasting. Still, probably would not try it again. Unless it was a $3000 Cuban cigar given to me by one of my lawyer friends in the future.

Oh, by the way, the one's Botros and Simon were smoking were $12 for five from 7-11. Real high-class stuff there.

Meng was getting all into it though. I wouldn't be surprised if he went and got some for himself afterwards.

I should rewind a bit. Just so you know where the hell all this happened.

So it was Orrin's birthday party on Friday night. Me, being the astute and meticulous planner that I am, devised a masterplan. For my transportation to his place, that is.

The plan was that Orrin would arrive at Monash at 11, come to my Accounting lecture with me, perhaps meet some people, then leave the joint at 12 to go to Chaddy and buy some stuff and gossip about...things.

The plan screwed up at the first step. To cut a very, very long and expensive story short, Orrin got there at about quarter past 11, I was late to my lecture, we ended up meeting 0 people. The only part that went right was the going to Chaddy at 12 bit. Oh, and laughing at the New Zeland licturer the whole time.

So there we were at Chaddy. We had lunch, went to Koko Black to buy some ridiculously priced drinks (like, really exorbitant pricing), then went to Coles to buy ginger beer "which nobody would drink". Everyone drank ginger beer that night.

After that, we got back in the car. For some reason, Orrin decided to turn on his windscreen wipers. Maybe where he comes from you turn them on when it's sunny outside. Who knows. In between all of this, we talk about everything from weather to girls to why Kanye is such a tool.

So we kip on down to Southland to find some of the hard stuff. After walking back and forth between K Liquor and Liquorland about a million times, we ended deciding to go back to K Liquor anyway, which is what I suggested in the first place. This was where, according to Orrin, the most exciting part of the day happened.

See, there was this alright-looking girl at the counter. Ok, so she was better than alright. And she had a nice smile. And presumably you know how I have a thing for girls with nice smiles.

ANYWAY. So Orrin decided that we needed many cases of beer. He's like "here, slave, carry these while I select some more," so I go "Screw you, I'll put some on the counter first." This was the platform for me to make my first witty remark of the session.

I put one case on the counter, and Countergirl goes "Is that all for today?" or something along those lines. And I go, "Nah, there's still much more to come." Which, for some inexplicable reason, she found amusing.

So I go back, and help the New Zealander with his alcohol. So we ended up with a total of 24 beers. And then Countergirl goes "Is that all for today?" And here's the "punchline." Me, being hilarious and geniusticious in my humour, says (this deserves a whole line to itself):

"Yeah, I think that'll be enough. 12 for me, and 12 for this guy."

Ok, so it was fairly funny at the time. I wouldn't say it was the funniest thing I've ever said. Not by a long shot, if you know anything about me at all. She found it immensely funny. Actually, I don't very clearly remember what happened, but Orrin informs me that she found it immensely funny. And Orrin found it funny.

So apparently (I don't actually know why I have no recollection of this event) she started chatting me up. According to Orrin. Who is always reliable. So blah, blah, blah, have a great night guys. We get in the car, and Mr. Hindsight says, "Man, you should've asked her to MY party." Why the hell would I ask someone to YOUR party man? Whatever Orrin tells you I said after that is pure conjecture and fabrication, and has no truth in it whatsoever. I did not complain about missed opportunities in the slightest.

So we got to his house, blah blah blah. Key points were me setting up music, me showing Orrin how to fill up his tank (even though I've never driven with my Ps on - go figure), me fetching his girlfriend from the train station, and me doing stuff.

Meng arrived, we talked for about 30 seconds. Other people came, we lit a bonfire, got to know other people. More people arrived, night fell, Botros gave me a cigar to try, Meng puffed at it all night, we played Mafia, everybody except me and Meng sucked, Priscilla and Henrick came later, they danced, I brooded about things, played poker, lost to Botros, played Wii, slept for four hours, woke up, played Wii again. All in all, had a good time, and I have never seen a person blow out candles in such a creative way. The man clapped them out. Well done, you tool. Happy 19th.

I think it's time for me to talk about Westgate (ha, geddit? Kanye West? West-gate? Westgate Bridge? Forget it. I think I'll just stick to Kanye West Interruption.)

I found it hilarious. I mean, sure, he was a bit of a tool, and completely unreasonable for doing what he did, but still. It was funny. To be honest, Taylor Swift annoys the hell out of me. She didn't deserve to get served like that, but she could've at least put up a better show of defending herself.

"Yo Meng, I'm really happy for you, imma letchoo finish, but Andrew has one of the best jokes of all time. Of all time!"

Sorry, just couldn't resist slipping a reference there. No hard feelings Meng.

Word of the Day: Cigar

If I Ain't Got You

Some people want it all
But I don't want nothing at all
If it ain't you baby
If I ain't got you baby


Lately, I've been listening what the experts call 'sissy music.' Alicia Keys, Jeff Buckley, Usher, Jamie Cullum.

I've especially taken a liking to Alicia Keys 'Songs in A Minor'. It's very chill and smooth. 'Diary of Alicia Keys' has a jazzy twist to it, which I like. Her voice is also very top notch, which I think is very important. I've actually had these songs for a while, but never properly listened to them.

You probably think I'm mellowing out in my old age. And you're right to a certain extent. Random pangs of loneliness and perceived isolation, and all that.

But you're mostly wrong. Because interspersed with these distinctly chill and sometimes depressing songs, I've started listening to gangsta rap again. Tupac, Jay-Z, not-so-gangsta-and-a-very-big-jerk Kanye West, and NWA.

A big shout-out to Tupac's 'My Block.' Pretty depressing stuff.

Also, the other day, I almost got into an altercation with two guys in the law library for looking down at me, but from below. If you get my meaning. You know, like staring someone down, but upwards. They were shorter than me, if that helps you understand. If you don't, just forget it. Just know that I almost got into a fight. Almost.

Maybe I'm becoming a cranky old man.

Anyway, exam timetable. It is, as the French say, "comme çi, comme ça." That approximately means "So-so." I still don't know why I had to say it in French.

Accounting is on the 3rd of November. Then management and French are on the same day on the 11th. And for both of those exams, my table number is 007. Score. So should do well if I combine it with my Monash login, ahua7, and my rugby top, A. Huang 7.

So the plan is to study accounting maximally, then cram management, and not worry too much about French.

Where's the other exam gone, I hear you ask?

Well, International Studies involves an essay and a test, which are worth a combined total of 70%. So it just depends on what you like more. Exams, or endless assignments?

Word of the Day: Keys

Witnessing failure

Last night, I was a witness for the witness examination thing. I was partnered with the great James Cheng. Or, he was partnered with me, depending on your perspective and your view of who is more important.

We lost. Hence the title.

Oh my, I am a pun machine. Pun after pun after pun.

At least he wasn't late this time. That would've been a debacle.

Anyway, back to last night. I thought I pulled off my part pretty well. I reckon I was a pretty convincing French teacher/non-stalker. Even though James was supposed to...um...protect me, there were a few moments when I felt an urge to defend myself. Damn stupid personality flaws.

But well done to Sammmy and Amy, henceforth known as the Dynamic Duo, for making it into the next round.

I thought we beat the other guy. But it's done on some dodgy point system. And our judge was like "I'm marking you guys more harshly than usual. And I don't know why."

I would also like to ponder about why all my assignments and tests seem to be due at the same time. Every single time. It makes an otherwise great semester a bit of a drag. Well, management does that too. But mainly everything due at the same time.

Word of the Day: Witness

Fed up with the Federeration

As predicted, the decision to ban Eduardo has been reversed, the reason basically being what I've maintained all along: that it wasn't a clear-cut dive, and that he didn't ask for a penalty.

On to more ridiculousness: the banning of Chelsea for two transfer windows. This seems very harsh and disproportional to the crime. It's not like they stole the boy from the other team.

And on a (very, very) slightly related note. Federer.

He lost, in case you haven't noticed. I certainly have, what with the Facebook status update spammage. I'm sure he's a great guy and all, but really, surely del Potro isn't the evil devil-jerk that eats babies for breakfast that everyone makes him out to be. I mean, for crying out loud, it wasn't even a milestone. This one would've just been "Yay, now he's got another one to add to his collection of 5 billion other trophies." Surely, if del Potro can get into the final, and muster up the courage and skill to be able to beat someone who is world number one, "the greatest player of our age, or maybe, of all time, and always will be, is close to Godly, and a hottie to boot", surely he deserves it. Maybe, just maybe, Federer deserved to lose because he wasn't playing as well. I think that's more or less how tennis works. In other sports, you can maybe blame luck. In tennis, over five sets, or even three, it's very hard.

Well done del Potro. Don't let all these haters cramp your style. I, for one, am a fan of your lanky frame and slightly awkward style of playing. Even though you beat Nadal, you ended up beating Federer, so it's all good really.

Word of the Day: Federer

Disaster in the Menzies!

Today, we filmed a disaster movie. In the Menzies.

No, this wasn't for Media. It's International Studies. Go figure.

Basically, our unit's about disasters, so we're making it seem like there's an earthquake under the Menzies building. Apparently I put in a stellar performance, but I won't get to see it until next Monday.

We caused a ridiculous amount of mayhem and madness. We hijacked in elevator, blocked up stairways, stole a fire hydrant, injured ourselves and ran into strangers. Would've been awesome fun if I had known absolutely anybody in my tute. Not that it wasn't fun. I just had to keep it bottled up inside, which makes it less fun.

Anyway, I just figured out that I'm going to have to attend a gazillion parties within the next month. Assuming I'm invited (ha ha ha). Which is not a bad thing. In fact, it's a good thing. I just need to plan ahead a bit more. And work a lot harder. And earn more money. And possibly steal a car to get places. Fun times ahead. Watch this space.

Word of the Day: Menzies