New Year's Eve 2010

My, how time flies. It's that time of year again. And I'm at home again, because I don't particularly fancy being crammed up against a million people in humid, oppressive 40-degree heat in the middle of a thunderstorm in the city.

I was going to do a comprehensive run-down of the year, but I can't be bothered. I'm going to do some weak attempt at a best/worst thing instead, with arbitrary categories.

FUNNEST MOMENT(S) OF THE YEAR: A toss-up between chilling and shooting the breeze with friends at uni and other places, and the roadtrip we had midyear. I think the friends thing wins slightly, mostly because I loved, and still do love, the vast majority of the people that I hung with during the year, and, percentage-wise, I love less of the people that were on the roadtrip. Also, the friends thing is more consistent. It's like a controlled drip-feed of happiness. The roadtrip was like a massive shot in the arm of happiness all at once.

MOST CRINGE-WORTHY MOMENT: There are lots. Especially for me personally. But a public one that struck a chord with me was Australia getting schooled by Germany at the World Cup. I have never, ever seen Australia playing that badly. It wasn't so much the lack of technical quality that made it bad, it was the lack of fight.

HAPPIEST MOMENT: Finding out that I'd passed EVERYTHING this semester. Yes, very nerdy, but after what I've sort of been through this year, I've found that being academically strong is more important to me than ever. I think it's mostly to do with the fact that how good I am academically is more or less under my control, while other things, like how people treat me, or the weather, or what soup we're having for dinner, is mostly out of my hands. Mostly. Sometimes I get to name the soup that we're having for dinner, and every so often my request is granted. But yeah, shout out to my family and Eugene for helping me through that horror period of the year.

Also, I fully expected to fail Financial Accounting. Again. So you can imagine how over the moon I was about it.

MOST DEPRESSING MOMENT: Again, there are numerous. I think I would just like to thank my friends for being there during the most trying times this year. Special mention to Banh, Meng, and sometimes Orrin. However, you've all been a massive help just being there. Just seeing a friendly face is a fantastic happiness drug.

MOST ANNOYING MOMENT(S): Being attacked by a Fandroid for getting and iPhone. And that other time I got attacked by a Fandroid via a forwarded SMS from another Fandroid. And that time I got gangbashed by Fandroids. How they can harbour such unrelenting, mindless hatred towards a harmless inanimate object that most neutral observers either like or are neutral towards is beyond me. According to these guys (yes, they're all guys. Kind of tells you a bit about Fandroids), Google invented the wheel, and other stuff that has subsequently changed the course of human history, and will continue to do so. All of it. In every single way possible. And that all other phones, and their owners, should be destroyed because of the sheer stupidity that they embody for giving their money to a company in exchange for a phone that works. Because Google isn't also a massively rich company that doesn't give their phones away.

Anyway. Lesson learnt. Don't mention the word 'phone' or 'Apple' around someone that even remotely looks like a Fandroid. Even if it's in the context of "My dad runs an apple farm, and I had to phone his seed supplier for him yesterday." You know, because when you're speaking, you can't tell whether it's a capital A or a lowercase a. Just don't do it to be safe. Unless you enjoy being ripped into randomly and viciously by people who were formerly minding their own business. Then by all means, go and find these people and mention the words 'phone' and 'apple' near them. And afterwards, check yourself into one of those places that will cure the disease that you have which makes you want to inflict pain on yourself. Whatever they're called.

A close second would have to be some of my friends sticking up for a scum of a person and saying how much of a "great guy" he was, even though he took about 2 months and numerous reminders to pay me my money back. Not to mention he never brought it up, effectively pretending that the matter did not exist. The excuse that the message "wasn't seen" doesn't cut it, because a decent human being would promptly search out their debtor and pay them back.

SONG/ALBUM OF THE YEAR: This is difficult. I get really, really confused between which music is this year, and which is not. However, the album that was truly fantastic was My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye. Truly powerful and catchy album. The others from artists that I like were mostly slight disappointments. I have no idea about song of the year. Not really that muchly into songs by themselves as such. Impact-wise, definitely OMG by Usher. Quality-wise, no.

BIGGEST (PLEASANT) SURPRISE OF THE YEAR: Being able to get along with most people during the year comes close, but it would probably have to be getting a car. Completely caught me by surprise, in a very good way. I would've said passing everything in second semester, but that's already been done.

BIGGEST (UNPLEASANT) SURPRISE OF THE YEAR: Not much unpleasantness comes as a surprise, which is a good thing most of the time. Anything that I mention will probably sound petty and whingy, so I'll stay away from it.

LESSON OF THE YEAR: Do not rely on the goodwill of others, especially in the case of people you do not know. Things that you take for granted, as being part and parcel of being a decent human being, are often not taken for granted at all by others. Only treat well people who have treated you nicely. Hopefully I can stick to it.

I would also like to thank my family, for just being there in general. It's tough imagining going to uni without my friends there, but to not have the support of my family would be unimaginable. Thank-you.

As for my friends, I have grown a lot closer to the good ones, and further away from the not-so-good ones, which is probably as it should be. While I have made less friends this year than in previous years, the ones I made this year seem to be of a higher quality. That's probably not all that hard, mostly because I made about two. Too much comfort zone, and not enough proactiveness. Thanks for putting up with me, and being there in the good times and the bad.

In summary, the year wasn't a bad one at all. I've heard lots of people complaining about it. Apart from failing Accounting first semester, and getting into grief with crazy girls, it's not been bad. There's been a lot of good times, more so than the bad, even though I complain a lot.

May your new year be filled with happiness, joy and laughter. While I hope that you have no unhappy moments, I will endeavour to be there for you whenever you do have those moments. I will also try to be there in your happy moments too. Have a safe and prosperous new year. Hope to see more of y'all next year.

I will try to heed the message of this song. Obscure though it may be.



Word of the Day: Year

Merry Christmas 2010

While this Christmas has been relatively uneventful compared to the last few, I reckon it's actually been good that we've been able to just enjoy some family time together. Would've been a lot better had Sarah not been in France, but that's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes.

I'm fairly disappointed that Kris Kringle didn't go ahead this year, but again, in many ways, it's not such a bad thing. Although I do like exchanging presents, but there's no real point to it if nobody's up for it.

I was tossing up whether to go to Boxing Day 'sales' tomorrow or not. I'm now leaning heavily towards the 'not', mainly because I don't really have all that much to buy, or all that much money to spend. And really, the 'sales' that most stores offer are either on one or two dodgy items, or they're sales you can find at any time of the year. Also, too many people. I have a mild phobia of crowds. A mild, mild phobia. And it's not irrational. I think it's an extremely rational fear.

Plus, it's either sales or working for dad tomorrow. I think I know where my loyalties lie. And possibly, if we smash out enough work tomorrow, I might be able to catch the Arsenal game on Tuesday. Not that that has anything to do with me wanting to work tomorrow or anything.

Anyway, Merry Christmas to you all. Hope you all had a fantastic day today, full of laughter, quality time with friends and family, and, most importantly of all, love.

Word of the Day: Phobia

If only life could just be one big dinner with friends

So, like, I've been partaking in a spot of Facebook stalking.

There's this friend of a friend. Through Facebook stalking, I have found out the following: She likes football. She likes about 90% of the music that I like. She speaks English. She lives in Melbourne. She's apparently married to somebody.

Seems like the perfect girl (except for that last part).

Problems:

1. She doesn't know who I am.
2. She probably wouldn't like me even if she did.
3. I don't know anything else about her. You know, stuff that could potentially make me not like her.

So, all in all, a pretty pointless ramble.

On to a ramble with a bit of focus now.

A couple of night's ago, I was at dinner with a bunch of friends, and I realised, as we were shooting the breeze at Pancake Parlour after dinner, how much I love...hanging with them (don't want to make it sound too soppy. Otherwise they'll start thinking that I love them. Or something.. Sitting around with a great bunch of friends, doing nothing in particular, talking about everything but nothing at the same time. I hope we can do it more often, and perhaps even after I graduate from uni. It keeps me going.

So let's just stay in the moment, smoke some weed, drink some wine
Reminisce, talk some shit, forever young is in your mind

May the best of your todays, be the the worst of your tomorrows.

Currently listening to: Young Forever by Jay-Z
Word of the Day: Stalking

I am great at metaphors, like Alexander the Great is great at being great.

I just realised that my 400th post passed without any real fanfare. This will be my 403rd post.

I guess it's suffice to say that this blog has been a great companion. It's kind of like a pet dog (minus the fur factor). I can talk to it, and it's non-judgemental. Well, mostly. But it's great.

You have no idea, if you don't do as I do, what a relief it is, to be able to sit here, at the end of a really, really terrible day, full of misery and frustration, and just be able to vent here. I think that's what it's mostly been over the last 100 or so posts. There have been ups, but I think most of it has been quite gloomy.

Here's to the next 100 being much brighter and cheerier.

On that note, a quote from Davy (which he probably stole off somebody):

If nothing's going right, turn left.

Fantastic stuff.

As sort-of promised in yesterday's post, here's another fantastic song, for all of you who love Coldplay, which I'm sure is most of you.



I'm not sure if I've posted this one, or remarked on it, but it's another truly amazing song off their first album. So dreamy, nostalgic, depressing and uplifting at the same time. Another special song, to remind you of those special times.

What do I see when I listen to it?

Well, the weather, in my mind's eye, is not unlike today. Frigid. Unseasonably frigid. I was wearing my leather jacket today, and it didn't feel hot at all. Outrageous. There are other elements to this picture, apart from the weather.

A curtain of rain, falling outside my living room window. Me, on a beanbag, by the fireplace, feet propped up on the dog, possibly with a warm drink in my hand, staring out said window. Thinking about everything, and nothing in particular.

I promise you this,
I'll always looks out
for you

Currently listening to: Sparks by Coldplay
Word of the Day: Said

Violent Hill

Absolutely ridiculous. It's mid-December, in Melbourne, and my feet are cold, and I'm sniffling. And I'm wearing a hoodie already. I was actually shivering before when I was taking the dog out to pee. This weather is not only unseasonable, it's highly unreasonable.

I had something interesting that I was going to blog about, but I've forgotten most of it. So I guess it'll just have to be this video for today.



The ending. A truly beautiful moment in music.

For some reason, I got all into Coldplay again yesterday. Just started humming it for no apparent reason.

Just for the record, I like their first album the best. The end of this song kind of reminds me of those good days.

I just had a brilliant thought as I was about to hit the post button. A more appropriate Coldplay song to be listening to right now would be 'Shiver'. Oh (cold)snap. I'll stop making lame frigid-temperature-related puns now, even though they're really cool. Oh dear.

Maybe more Coldplay to follow tomorrow. Or, *shock horror*, something that actually makes sense. Like that thing I was supposed to be blogging about in the first place.

Currently listening to: Violet Hill by Coldplay
Word of the Day: Shiver

Definitely Maybe

What a fantastic song. A true gem off his newest album.

And this one:



In both songs, I wish Nicki Minaj were not on them. Cringe-factor-wise, she's right up there with Pitbull in 'DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love' by Usher. I have no idea why people love her, but there you go. Another example of people having varied tastes.

Also, Rihanna's normally annoying voice works when it's featured in songs. Bizarre.

A smashing album, in case I haven't mentioned that already. Fantastically produced, and it kind of strikes me as '808s and Heartbreak' crossed with his old stuff. An excellent blend.

I also had a semi-epiphany today. I need more female friends. See, female friends are really, really good for conversing with. As in, when you need to talk about more complex things in life, often female friends are better suited to it. It's just that most of mine treat me like rubbish. So, here's the theory. Say, if the odds are for every ten girls that I befriend (I use the part-word 'friend' loosely here), 0.5 of them converse with me without me initiating the conversation, then eventually one of them is bound to turn out alright. Thus, the less I 'befriend', the less chance I have that one of them will actually talk to me regularly. Conversely, the opposite is also true (duh).

This kind of rule can be applied to almost all facets of life involving chance and probability.

The worst thing about all of that is, I think somebody's already gotten there before me. I think they called it the law of probability, or something.

I cannot believe that you just spent time reading that.

Word of the Day: Monster

No worries bro

As is often the case, I turn to football to take my mind off things.

Things that include, but are not limited to, why I sometimes feel so, so alone, even though there are people all around me, and hating myself for being too proud to do anything about it. See, I'm sick of me always asking people to go and do things. It'd be great, just for once, for people to ask me. In a weird, perverse way, it's like I desperately want their company, and they don't really give a stuff about whether I exist or not. So I guess I'm just going to just do stuff around the house, and maybe go somewhere by myself, at least until someone gives me a call. Or something.

See? This is what happens when you don't have work/uni to distract you.

Anyway. I was talking about football. Big game tomorrow, and at an awesome time of 7 a.m.

No, seriously. It is a good time. You have no idea if you're not a football fan. If you're lucky, games are at about 12 at night. More often than not, they're between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. In summary, 7 in the morning is a good time.

Back to the original point. Big, big game tomorrow. I feel like I'm signing up for self-torture by planning to watch it, but I can't help it. I have to watch it, on the off-chance that Arsenal do get a draw, or - this is outlandish, I know - a win at Old Trafford. Go Gooners!

Word of the Day: Perverse

Disney rhymes with fizz knee. Bizarre.

Watching Disney songs being performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra last night made me realise how much I love old Disney films.

They have this magical ability to transport you to faraway places and times, and make you feel as though you're actually there. Similar, in a way, to Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and Ranger's Apprentice. The world's that they create, even in their book form, are astoundingly immersive and real.

Also, the humour. Most of the sophisticated humour is beyond the target audience of Disney flims (hence the use of sophisticated as the adjective here). Well, I know I didn't get/wouldn't have gotten 90% of the humour found in Disney films at the age of 6 or 7. And it's great. It's actually genuinely funny most of the time.

One of my biggest regrets (for want of a better word) is not being able to see (or, at least, not remembering having seen) any of these old Disney films in cinemas. You know, like Lion King, Aladdin, etc.

I also realised that my favourite one is The Lion King. The score and the songs match the film and its setting like tailor-made suits fit...the person that they were intended for. Yeah. Good analogy. But truly, it's great. The music with a Western twist, mainly through the lyrics. Actually, now that I think about it, the only part of the music that's really non-African is the lyrics. Oh, and Can You Feel the Love Tonight. Very well done.

They just don't make them like that anymore. No more singing, minimal emphasis on music. Good stuff - music, films, games, art, people - don't happen as frequently as they used to, probably because most of it's been done before. It's just harder to come up with something original now.

Here. Reminisce. A toast to the good old days.



Word of the Day: Disney

Full size awesomeness.

Macbooks are awesome.

Provided you have money. They're a bit of a luxury good for me at the moment. I'm typing from my dad's new Macbook Air, and it's a dream machine. Small, compact, yet it feels solid. It's a beautiful machine, screen-wise and build-wise.

After using this, and my iPhone, I've come to realise that processor power blah blah blah means diddly squat. It's all about how the operating system utilised. Hence, this computer whizzes along. Start up time is like, ten seconds. No joke.

Battery life is excellent. But you probably know that already, since it's a Macbook.

It doesn't seem like an 11 inch notebook. Like, I've just forgotten how small it really is. Not only the screen size, but the keyboard as well. It's full size, which I've never seen on a netbook. The best I've seen on one of those toys is 90% full size. An annoying thing is the missing delete key, which makes the keyboard exactly the same as the wireless one that comes with the iMac.

Also, the fun factor. Two finger swipe, three finger swipe, etc. It's awesome fun.

Again, they've lived up to the mantra of people wanting to use their computers, not hating them.

Anyway, I'm supposed to be running down the battery on this thing for my dad, which is proving extremely difficult to do. It's twitched one per cent since about 15 minutes ago.

I was thinking of getting one, but a) they're a tad expensive for me, and b) I just ordered a new battery for my laptop. Oh, did I mention that I'm only considering getting one because the battery on Bumblebee died? Sad, but true.

Word of the Day: Mantra

Sad music is played when one is lonely

So I haven't done anything with my home dawgs since like...Sunday, and it seems like it's been ages already. The feeling of awesomeness that I had a few days ago feels like it's starting to dissolve a bit. I have stuff that I'm supposed to be doing, but I'd rather be hanging with my buddies.

I was just saying to a friend the other day (it might have been yesterday. As you probably might have noticed by now, when I say the other, it's because I don't actually remember the day precisely.), I wish I had a girlfriend that I could just sit around talking with for hours about nothing and everything. That'd be really, really cool. Also, unless I am very much mistaken, that's what a lot of people are looking for. Unless they're not of the talkative persuasion. Or they're girls.

Back to room cleaning. I feel like a bit of a house elf. Except it's my own room I'm cleaning. And I'm a teensy bit bigger than your average house elf.

Currently listening to: Forever and Always - Taylor Swift

Word of the Day: Elf

Teardrops on My Qatar

For some reason, Qatar has always sounded like 'guitar' to me. I'm sure it's not just me. It's just no-one else is brave enough to admit to thinking such stupid thoughts.

So yeah. About that Qatar.

Ridiculous. I wouldn't have been that peeved if some other more worthy nation got it. USA or something. Even Japan or Korea.

Apart from revenue and more convenient broadcasting times, I fail to see how Qatar has any advantage over Australia whatsoever. This is assuming that they will actually be able to successfully host the World Cup at all.

Which brings me to my next point. All the other nations, or at least the ones that I'm aware of, have hosted major sporting events. They already have facilities. They also don't have scorching heat, or lack of people and space. For revenue and broadcasting times to have an iota of relevance, the World Cup actually needs to function as an event.

To be honest, this whole voting process stinks. Who are these people, and who are they to decide where it's going to go? The votes are made blatantly without the interests of football as a whole. Even Australia, a nation who commentators have said are unable to be as dirty as other nations, bought pearl necklaces and other such things for officials' partners.

You've got a guy like Beckenbauer who, while he is a great guy, I believe is not exactly qualified to vote on things like these. It's not just him, but he's the most prominent voting member, apart from Sepp "female football players should wear more revealing kits" Blatter.

The problem is the whole process is open to corruption. You've got essentially random voting delegates, who are clearly not voting for the best interests of football, and a nation with almost limitless amounts of money and no defining advantage over the other nations, winning the right to host a World Cup. A little bit suspect, if you ask me.

Also, in English, the word 'Qatar' actually shouldn't exist. Lack of a 'u' and all that. I think that's reason enough to give it to someone else. It's still not too late.

More footballing stuff, to cap off what has been an unbelievable few days. To recap, I passed all my exams, went to the U2/Jay-Z gig, and my grandfather brought me back a brand new Arsenal jersey from Hong Kong. Arsenal being top of the league just seals it. What an amazing turnaround. Who would've predicted it, when we were millions of points behind Chelsea at one stage? Marvelous stuff, football. And Nasri is truly amazing. He reminds me of a ballet dancer. Except more masculine. Watch him here:

I love how he's making a habit of scoring goals from ridiculous angles. Or trying to score from ridiculous angles. I think it was against Sp*rs, where he tried it, but it got cleared off the line. But yes. He's becoming great.

The only downer is a slightly scratched my car yesterday while parking to have lunch with Victor and Meng in Glen Waverley. I still have no idea how it happened. I thought there was acres of space between the pole and my car, but apparently there wasn't, and I heard a sickening 'scraaaaaaaape'. But otherwise, the past few days have been some of the happiest few days in a row I have ever had. Thank-you to all who have been there, not only during these past few days, but the days before that, and before them as well, when I was struggling big time. Cheers.

Word of the Day: Qatar

I'm so happy to see U2 man!

I wish I'd seen someone at the concert last night that I hadn't see for a long time just so I could say that to them. Actually, I could've even said it to Orrin. But it's a moot point. I don't think I'd thought of it at the time.

That major disappointment aside, it was a fantastic gig. Two world-class acts, for fifty bucks. Value for money right there.

What gig, you may be asking? The U2 gig of course. The one opened the gates at 5:30, but didn't start until 7:30.

Jay-Z was the opening act. Jay-Z as the opening act I think speaks volumes by itself. Here's a clip:

In case my appreciation for Jay-Z has not been sufficiently communicated, I'll say it now: I have great appreciation for Jay-Z. He is amazing as a live performer as well. I reckon some of his songs sound better live.

Thankfully, no-one called him Jay Zed.

He rapped for about an hour, and the U2 decide to appear at 9:00.

U2 songs definitely, definitely sound better live. Much, much better. A lot of their songs, I listened to before going to the gig, and they sounded quite ordinary. But when it's all amped up, and loud, they're amazing. Also, the mass singing thing made me miss mass singing in high school, funnily enough. They were also amazing. I have a newfound appreciation for musicians. Or at least, this type of musician. Not only do they

have amazing musical ability, and write awesome songs, but they are able to take it up to the next level when performing. And to keep that energy up for however many concerts they do...spectacular.

All in all, a great way to celebrate passing exams. Australia not getting the World Cup marred an otherwise near-flawless day. I mean, I even bought a new pair of shoes. Here's another clip, by the way:

And a photo:

A story about this photo. Yes, I take photography far too seriously. But still, it irked me.

Anyway, the story. This awesome photo was the only good photo I took with the reject camera. What I did was, I put it on flash, which automatically reduces the exposure, because it tricks the camera into thinking there's now enough light, as opposed to before, where it thinks there is not enough light. Anyway, on the camera, it didn't look like it made that much difference, so I stopped doing it. And on the computer, it turned out to be one of the best photos I've ever taken. I really hate regretting things.

More about the World Cup bid fail tomorrow.

Word of the Day: Flawless.

Like a G6

I'm so stoked right now. It has been an amazing day. Australia winning the World Cup bid tonight/tomorrow morning would just absolutely make it.

I'm so stoked that I'm hoping this isn't a dream. We'll list things according to importance.

First up, I passed everything. I'm so unbelievably happy, mostly due to the fact that I thought I failed Accounting again for sure. But anyway, I passed, and I think I'm back on track. And I didn't have to disappoint my parents yet again. A big shout out to Eugene, who was there for me when the going got tough, more than happy to help me even though he must've been snowed under in study himself. A friend in need is a friend indeed. And Andrew does not forgot acts of kindness directed to him. He also speaks about himself in third person frequently.

Second. I had lunch with Irene, who I haven't seen in absolutely AGES. well, for like, a month. Which is a long time. Oh, and two friends-of a friend-of a friend Parisians were at the lunch too. Good times all around.

Best part was the train trip back. I miss train trips with friends. That was the best part of my day back in high school. Train trips after school with friends.

Anyway, we get off the train, head towards my car, and it starts absolutely bucketing down. This, while fun for a while, became not very fun quite quickly.

A quick recap of the weather. Rainy in the morning, eased up when I left the house, was scorchingly sunny when we got to the city and had lunch, became cloudy on the way back home, and started bucketing down while we were walking to the car. Which is where my story was.

I was absolutely drenched. I think the last time I was that drenched from rain was about two years ago, walking home from the tram stop for 20 minutes. I looked like I had swum to my car in my clothes. Irene, having good fortune as always, had to foresight to be wearing a big jacket.. The rain made her hair look amazing, whereas it made me look like a floundering...something. And she had the nerve to complain that she was soaked.

Anyway, the rain went nuts on the way to her house. Thankfully, it eased up when we got there, so I didn't have to take up space in her house and cause a disturbance sheltering from the rain. Would've been an interesting experience though. I've never been in there before.

I got home, dried myself off, and the sun came out about an hour later.

Third thing, Sarah finally called home from Paris. I got frowned upon (verbally) by the French dude on the other end of the line earlier in the day when I tried my French on him, so much so he decided to speak English to me, just so that I'd know that he'd identified me as phony phoreigner. Well done, Frenchman. But yeah, kind of thankful that I didn't have to go through that who rigmarole again.

And hopefully, a fourth thing, in a few hours, Australia getting the World Cup. That would be awesome on so many levels. As if give it to Qatar. Surely it's time Australia got a lucky break. And Arsenal won twice this week. Surely that's a sign of double the level of good luck.

Oh, and U2/Jay-Z concert tomorrow. Life is so good right now.

A song to sort of capture my mood at the moment (I've used Supersonic by Oasis too many times).

Word of the Day: Stoke

Choc top bonanza

Just continuing on yesterday's theme/topic, it also annoys me quite a bit that I almost always have to organise stuff to do with other people, and it's hardly ever the other way around. So this lack of contacting other people is kind of my way of protesting against that. If they're fine and dandy without my presence, I'm fine and dandy without theirs too. It just annoys me how it seems as though I'm always wanting to catch up with them, but they don't really want to reciprocate that. Whatever.

Having said all that, last night was a fairly good night with friends, as far as nights with friends go. After having dinner with the James and Yvonne Cheng and family, James and Yvonne Cheng and I went on down to watch The Last Exorcism in Glen Waverley.

Movie was not my choice. Neither was the amount of choc tops we bought. Both decisions, in retrospect, were quite large mistakes. The movie was interesting for the first five minutes, then it was all like, "Why are these people so dumb? Just call the cops!" But it was a slash-and-hacker (a genre of film I detest, by the way), and they never really do make much logical sense. But I guess that's why I don't like them. The funnest part of the whole thing was James and I texting each other during the movie out of sheer boredom.

Also, I spent half the movie wondering where I'd seen the main character girl person. Then it hit me. She looks very similar to Linda Markov. Weird.

Anyway, good times. Hopefully this dinner thing that I'm organising (weird how these things happen, huh) comes off. Doesn't look like it so far, so I'll probably just end up trying to do something constructive instead. Like clean my room. Worst thing is, Sarah, my sister, is leaving for France tomorrow for six weeks, so it'll be like mass boredom when I'm at home and not out doing stuff.

Word of the Day: Dandy

I swear they just get more and more annoying

For the life of me I cannot understand the mentality of people that go out looking for fights. Then again, as my parents always say, if I understood, I'd be one of them.

There I am, having lunch with my family at Knox, when this jerk, who looks no older than 10, shines a laser in my eye. I stare him down, he thinks it's funny, so I stare him down some more. He decides that it's not really that funny after all, and decides to stop being a jerk. It really makes my blood boil, people who randomly pick fights. If I wasn't worried that a tap on the shoulder from me would probably end up with him hospitalised, I would've been at him straight away. I was staring at him as he left. The pansy wouldn't even meet my eye. Lesson for today: guys (and I use that term loosely in this case) who wear purple hoodies, with the hood on inside, are most likely annoying Justin Bieber-wannabes.

In hindsight, he probably thought that all Asians were shy and easily bullied. Not in my part of town, idiot child.

Anyway, enough about annoying, irritating, cocky, ego-tripping pre-teens. On to some happier stuff.

Which I don't have much of right now. Just started at the accounting practice, am reasonably adept at what I've learnt to do so far (well, at least I think so), and have only managed to get lost on the way there twice. Oh. Wait. I've only been there twice. Hmm.

Oh, Arsenal won last night. Top of the league!!! For about five minutes. But still. Any good news is welcome right about now. Or any time really. Watching it made me pretty nervous, but it wouldn't be watching Arsenal if it were any other way.

I'm finding it quite difficult to organise stuff to do with people, mostly owing to the fact that nobody really seems to have a desire to do anything other than Banh. I understand that some are busy. Others are just...meh. I dunno. Whatever. I don't really mind anymore. I have plenty of stuff that I can spend time doing in the absence of people, friends or otherwise. Cleaning my room, for instance. Or reading my Leaders readings. Or...yeah. Okay. Guess I'll just have to drag out the room-cleaning process a bit longer.

Word of the Day: Pre-teen

Happy Birthday Banh!

Just got back from Banh's 21st, and now I'm all sitting here, wondering whether to go to VIP night at Chaddy or not.

It was a good party. Good catchup with friendsies, and good food. Got slightly irked by fandroids selling their wares, but hey, as I've said before, fandroids always seem to feel that they need to justify the existence of their phones, so it wasn't a complete surprise to me. But it's still rather annoying. However, I have worked out what I'm going to do next time they start building up a rant about their phones. I haven't employed sarcasm and acid irony in a while, but I might just do so again if the situation crops up again.

Yeah. Be ready for that.

I also got Kanye's new album this morning. First impressions are that it's epic. Epic beyond belief. Apparently it's been getting rave reviews from critics. But I think music critics are mostly pretentious, bandwagon-jumping-on...people. I'll give it a good listen hopefully tomorrow, and see what else I can glean from it then.

Also, Arsenal. Frustration again. I don't get how they can suck that much, but that's the way the proverbial cookie crumbles.

Should probably head off soon. Starting work tomorrow. And I didn't end up going to Chaddy, because I figured that I'm probably looking for a pair of $60 shoes, and the savings on those would not be very substantial. And if you're wondering how I just got home from Banh's party even though I left hours ago, it's because I only just started typing again after leaving the post for a few hours. Just in case you're wondering whether you're stuck in some time bubble or something similarly crazy.

Word of the Day: Bandwagon

G-Star Shmee Star

I have no idea why I'm still awake at this time, but I am. I'm being kept awake by this weird unsettling feeling unease I get every now and again. I think it's to do with the fear of results this time around.

Anyway. I should be tired, due to lack of sleep, but I'm not. Well, not at the moment anyway. I was a few hours ago.

So I might as well talk about today while I'm here.

Today was the induction into the Leader's Program. We finally found out what we signed up for, and it doesn't seem half-bad. Kind of looking forward to it actually.

So yeah. I kind of got to know a friend that I didn't know so well before a little bit better, which is excellent. I love it when that happens.

Afterwards, Victor, Kanji and I went shopping at Chaddy. Looked at some overpriced G-Star stuff, bought some stuff, and stuff like that. Stuff.

Alright. I think that'll be it for now. Probably should go to bed. Maroon 5 tickets to buy and all tomorrow morning.

Word of the Day: Stuff

Pottering about (oh snap)

So being the geniuses that you all undoubtedly are, I'm sure that you can tell from the title that I did, in fact, watch Harry Potter today.

Not just any Harry Potter. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, to be exact. Part 1, to improve on this exactness.

And no, I didn't see it by myself. I saw it with Banh and Orrin, if you must know. But those are extraneous details.

We walked into the cinema, and Banh chose the seats that were not our designated seats, and were very much not next to the girls that we were supposed to be next to (damn). Then, while we were watching the movie, I discovered that they were big fans of laughing, giggling and generally making a big fuss every time Harry took his shirt off (well played after all, Banh).

Anyway. The movie.

Probably the best one so far, even though it's not actually a completed movie. Actually, the sixth one probably just shades it, but there's still a Part 2 to come (lame). It's probably a decent movie because, like I've maintained for many years now, the seventh book was written like a movie script. A bad movie script. A pretty bad book (bad, as in I think it would be classified under bad writing if it weren't a Harry Potter book), but it always had the potential to be made into a decent movie. Acting's slightly meh, but it's always been like that. I think the thing that really does it is how well it's filmed. Very thoughtfully produced, I thought, and beautifully camera-ed (yeah, that's a word. Or, at least, it is now).

Also, ending (or according to Banh, "The Halftime Break") = lame. Don't say I didn't warn you.

It's kind of sad though. The movie, I mean. In the literal way. Harry Potter really was the phenomenon of our time. Masterfully written, appealing to all ages. It brought reading back to the masses, and, in the words of some critic or other "permeated the public consciousness" to a level seldom achieved by books. I'll probably write a bit more on it after Part 2. Actually, I'll definitely write more about it.

Here's the theme, which I love.

It suits the film very well.

Alright, that's all for now. I'm off to read the new Ranger's Apprentice book that I didn't know was out, even though it was out on the 1st. Well, I'll start reading it if and when Sarah decides she should go to bed because she has school (or something) tomorrow, and decides to give me the book.

Word of the Day: Potter

Summer project: create something as awesome as a social network

So I saw The Social Network today, and now I totally feel like Mark Zuckerberg because I'm blogging. Stupid brainwashing.

Anyway, top film. Kind of like The Godfather, in a strange way. But instead of the pursuit of power, it's the pursuit of money which leads to an unfathomable sadness and regret. It was surprisingly funny, too. In a witty and non-obtrusive way. Oh yeah, and Justin Timberlake. Go see it.

Also, looking forward to a bit of Harry Potter on Thursday. I'm still trying to figure out who to go with, what time, etcetera.

And, because it's the start of a massive chunk of holidays again, whenever I'm not doing something with somebody, I start feeling lonely again. So, I guess, the quick-fix cure is to always be doing something with somebody(s). So if you want to hang, give us a buzz, and I'll more than likely be free.

Word of the Day: Unfathomable

A thousand dreams of Abdul

I had a dream last night. Or, at least, I think it was a dream. It seemed very realistic.

Anyway, this guy left a comment on my blog. His name was Abdul (I know, right?). His comment was relevant to the post for the first sentence, then the second sentence was a link to some dodgy website.

Bizarre.

I blame the exam stress.

Because last night, I was truly stressed. I kind of de-stressed a little bit after today, but it's starting to build up again in preparation for Friday. It's a vicious cycle. The more I stress, the less I study, increasing my stress even more.

One more to go. Focus, I tell myself. Focus.

I'll leave you with this wonderful song. One of like, three Chinese songs that I like. And it's not even in Chinese.

Word of the Day: Abdul

I swear I'll work harder next semester

I think I'm feeling as stressed as I've ever felt in my life. So much so that I don't even have time to blog. So I'm blogging in bed. On my phone.

That's all for now. Maybe a bit more later.

Word of the Day: Stress

Le Horse

Apologies for last night. Andrew was in quite a bad mood. Bad mood real life Andrew = bad mood blogging Andrew. Yes, I do occasionally feel emotion. There's your revelation for the day.

Today, my mother won 500-odd dollars on the Cup. She boxed three correct horses and put 10 buck on them. For those of you that don't understand horsing parlance (don't worry, I only re-learned it today), it's like a trifecta, but the horsies can come in any order. If that's still confusing, you should probably stick with your chosen profession, and not take up horse-race-betting as a career any time soon, and just be happy in the knowledge that my mother won bucketloads (relatively).

She's quite lucky on Cup Day. She never gambles apart from then. She won 90 bucks at the slot machines last Cup Day, and she only put in about 10 bucks as well.

As for me, I won approximately 10 bucks or something. As in, I put in 45, and got back about 10 dollars. And that was already well done by me. Stupid So You Think decided to be a dud, so I only won minimal amounts. My mother couldn't even be bothered counting. She just threw me fifty. Cheers.

I knew I should've put money on the French horse.

I'll leave you with the song that I'm currently listening to. A Hawaiian masterpiece.

Oh, and this one. Sort of French-ish, which kind of relates to the horse. His name is Americain, by the way.

Very soothing music all around.

Word of the Day: Boxed

Rantom

Sorry, back again, sooner than expected. But I really needed to semi-rant.

Okay, so there's been a few situations in this past month-ish, which have made me realise something. It's not the fact that I hate asking people to give me money that they owe me. It's the fact that I hate sounding like a nag.

I think that's why it annoys me quite a bit when people don't reply to messages and such. Not that the people specifically necessarily annoy me, more the fact that I don't know whether the messages have gotten through or whatnot. And if I ask again, and they have gotten it, I'll sound like a nag. And I hate that.

Call me sexist, or whatever, but the majority of times it's girls.

This is an interesting case study right here. The stereotype of girls of our generation are that they're always glued to their phones. But so many of them seem never to have one in their near proximity, let alone glued to them.

But yeah, there's usually a plausible reason for these things. I just can't work out why, coincidentally, it always seems to be girls.

On a random note, I also feel used at times, but that's another story for another day. Perhaps maybe even not then, provided I'm feeling cheerful enough for the rest of the foreseeable future. Highly unlikely, but these things do happen.

It's also really distracting, and doesn't help me focus in the slightest.

So the exam today. Not too bad. Could've been better, but I think I escaped lightly, given that I studied for approximately half a day for it. So really, it could've been worse.

Horse racing to look forward to tomorrow. Apparently the smart money is So You Think, but yeah. Horse racing. It's a bit random. Kind of like the stuff I rant about.

Word of the Day: Semi

If only my knowledge of post-war Europe was like Jemain's lyrics

Good to see Alex Song, ostensibly a holding midfielder, scoring goals aplenty recently. Although I would like to see him defend better. Maybe he's trying to become the next Vieira. He's not French enough though. Also, I've always been a big fan of his name. Coolest last name ever (apart from Keys).

Anyway, it's that time of the year/semester again.

That's right! The night before my first exam!

I'm trying desperately to get into battle mode, but that may just involve actually writing something with pen/pencil and paper. Haven't tried doing that for any extensive period of time for a while. I've got European Studies tomorrow, and I've been revising by typing up the lecture slides.

This study is also slow going/I started a bit late (like, this morning). However, the upside is that this stuff just seems to sink in on first reading, unlike some other subjects I could name.

Speaking of cool names (refer back to the first paragraph (wow, this sounds like a report)), I've always wanted a cool rapping name, but ever since Hiphopopotamus and Rhymenoceros had been taken, I've been unable to think of any.

My lyrics are bottomless...

...

...

I think this will be it until after exams i.e. I probably won't blog again until after exams. Good luck for exams, if you have them. For those of you that don't, please wipe that smirk off your face. Kthxbye.

Word of the Day: Extensive

Tell him he's dreaming

I had one of the weirdest dreams last night. And the weird thing was, it seemed like a recurrence of one that I had the previous night, but I'm not sure if I did. Weird.

Okay. Here goes.

For some reason, two friends and I (I've forgotten which two now. I think it was Victor and Banh.) were inside a top-secret-compound thing. Yeah. Crazy. And we're in an armoured car type thing.

Somehow, we find out that people are coming to get us. We hear them coming, so I get somebody (I think it was Banh) to shoot him through the windscreen. He duly obliges, and we hightail out of there.

However, like all good action movies, they're still after us.

Solution? We somehow end up outside of the car, and start running. We run into Rui (not literally. He just happened to be there), who was going to a movie with a girl. We tag along and pretend to be innocent citizens (what was our crime? What were we doing there in the first place? Don't ask stupid questions). We snuck into the cinemas, and successfully avoided them.

Whoever 'them' might be.

Mission accomplished. Immense feeling of satisfaction.

I think the dream I had the previous night (or it might even have been the same night) involved Banh shooting the guy, but that was that. We just moseyed out of there.

I think I have a great idea for a new blog that I'm going to start in the summer. Stories based on my dreams. The major problem with that, however, is that I don't have, or technically remember, many dreams at all. Like, optimistically (or pessimistically, depending on who you are), you're looking at about a dream a month. But I would like to do something with stories. Any ideas?

Word of the Day: Accomplished

Cry Now

So last night I was listening to Taylor Swift's new album, Speak Now. Looks something like this:

Except I 'got' the deluxe version. So it looks something like this:

Anyway. I was listening to it at half-past-twelve this morning, and almost cried myself to sleep. No joke.

A thoroughly depressing album. Beautiful, but very, very sad. Her voice naturally sounds yearningful (like Oasis songs), and then you couple that with songs in minor keys, and love-lorn lyrics, and it's a killer.

Where shall we start? From the start of course! (This is just a summary of the most notable songs).

'Mine' is laden with yearning. A very nice song, and instead of filling me with hope, it makes me wish what she describes could happen to me.

'Back to December' is about screwing up. Something that I can totally relate to, except not about losing a guy.

'Speak Now' is probably the most upbeat, catchy song on the entire record. Catchy, catchy. Did I mention catchy? I've played it about ten times already.

'Never Grow Up' is probably the saddest. I think that was the tear-jerker for me. It's beautifully crafted, and she's sort of singing about her experiences, but through the role of talking to a little girl, and saying how she's going to protect her from all the bad things that she had to go through. Reminds me of that time I suddenly got all wistful about my high school days, playing football with the lads at lunchtime, massed singing, and catching the train home. Makes me wistful all over again.

'Last Kiss' has good lyrics.

Wearing your clothes,

All that I know is,

I don't know how to be something you miss.

'Back to December' live:

'Never Grow Up' (don't be ashamed if you cry):

I just realised everything that I had is someday gonna be gone,

So here I am in my new apartment

In a big city, they just dropped me off

It's so much colder than I thought it would be

So I tuck myself in and turn my nightlight on.

Yeah. Pretty much 90% of the album is along those lines. Get it anyway. Solid album. Just keep a box of tissues handy, that's all. Don't say that I didn't warn you.

Word of the Day: Wistful

Guys 3:0 Man City

There is something incredibly beautiful about girls wearing football (soccer) jerseys.

I can't place what it is. I mean, if you go by fashion conventions, it's a big no-no. They have no shape. Also, it's menswear.

And yet, it looks incredibly good on most girls.

I mention this because the Arsenal jerseys were out in force today. And I saw a girl wearing one in the Matheson Library. Apart from Arsenal recording a thumping victory this morning, this also made me wish that I had worn my Arsenal top.

It was a good win. To get a win at Man City, with all the money they've poured in, minus our two first-choice centre-backs, and best striker, is no mean feat. Haven't been this happy about the team in a while. Also, Fabregas is back (!). But w

hat was most pleasing was the performance of Fabianski. No screw-ups, and some decent saves. Hopefully he continues like this.

It's a shame I couldn't replicate this form in my French oral, despite having a cram session with Zara in the morning.

For some peculiar reason, I speak better when I don't read. So when I was reading, my pronunciation was way off. But here's the paradox. When I was answering questions, and not reading off the sheet of p

aper, I kept getting things wrong. But my pronunciation was spot on. Might have to look into that.

I winded down with Zara walking back to the Matheson. She stuck around til I finished my oral, which was very nice of her.

So after walking back to where we began, we said our goodbyes, and I faced up to reality. I plugged in Bumblebee (my laptop, duh), and set to work smashing out the rest of my essay.

This was high-pressure stuff, because (a) I w

as indecisive about whether to add more stuff in, and (b) I wanted to get it done before lunchtime.

Turns out that I co

uldn't be stuffed adding in more stuff, so it ended up about 300 words under, and I used one less source than the minimum. In hindsight, I should've put more effort into a 60% essay. I just realised it was that much. But it should be a pass anyway. Hopefully I'll get a Credit or higher overall. It was a dodgy essay task anyway.

I also finished way past lunchtime. 2 o' clock, to be precise. Which just proves the theory that when you're working hard, especially on adrenaline, hunger subsides. So I popped into Maccas afterwards, sped home, and just lay on my bed for an hour.

That's right. Lay. I wasn't sleeping. I wasn't even napping. I was just laying. Cool is me.

I think the double-adrenaline-rush-peaks drained me quite a bit.

I was originally thinking of leaving you with a picture of pretty girl in a pretty Arsenal top, but probably not appropriate. So instead, you can have this.

Word of the Day: Paradox

J'ai besoin de headphones de Roc Nation

The night before my French oral, and I'm trying to get into battle mode.

It's not really working. I've got that unwarranted confidence in my own abilities coming back now.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I speak French. How hard can it be?"

It'll be hard. As soon as I start thinking that, I know I'm in strife.

Anyway, next object of desire:

Basically, headphones endorsed by Jay-Z. More info here.

Roc Nation Aviators by Skullcandy. And aren't they just gorgeous. They look like the pair of aviators that I want next (gold frame, brown lense), and the touch of leather just makes it. Volume control, and in-built mic. The only foreseeable barrier is cost, which I am having trouble obtaining. But just wow.

Update: Apparently not leather, and $150 USD. Hmm. Not bad. Especially with the dollar as strong as it is now. Problem is, can I get them imported for that price?

Questions unanswered. Until next time.

Word of the Day: Desire

Superstar

Last day of the semester, and it's kind of bittersweet, for some bizarre reason. Fantastic weather though.

Last night, a strange thought took me.

I came to the realisation that I really, really missed that star of jars that I gave to that crazy Linda girl.

No joke. I'm actually really, really (time to go to the adjectives shop and make a few purchases) cut about it. I don't know what would be worse. The fact that it's in the bin, or the fact that she's still got it.

It probably seems a bit irrational to the neutral observer, but there are reasons.

Firstly, when I was making that thing, I made it with a view to giving it to a girl I truly liked.

I guess what I should have saved it for was love.

Secondly, that jar took ages to make. Not only that, it was an ingenious creation, even if I do say so myself. A thing of real beauty. I don't know whether I'll be able to recreate it, or whether I would want to. Time will tell.

Lastly...well, there is no lastly. It was just beautiful, that's all. At least I've still got photos. Maybe I should be a jerk and ask for it back. Somehow. I don't even know if I have her number anymore.

Yeah, I don't know what made me randomly think of that again. But I really do miss it. I have this weird tendency to get attached to random inanimate objects. Argh.

Actually, I think I only have photos of it in it's half-completed state. Which it was in for years, because I didn't know who I was going to give it to.

Sigh.

I can't find it on my hard-drive, but here is the post that it was originally in. Note the date. End of 2007. Almost three years. So, in effect, it was sitting around, half-completed, for almost two years before I completed it and gifted it. I feel stupid sometimes.

Let that be a lesson to you, young ones. Don't go thinking that somebody likes you, and giving them stuff that you'll miss deeply.

I'll leave you with a song that's semi-relevant.

Give me your autograph, sign it right here on my heart.

Word of the Day: Stars

Nine out of ten

Wow. I just had a pretty good day today. Amazing, right?

It is when you're me.

Anyway. I scored a job at a family friend's accounting practice. Although she'll be paying me practically peanuts, I don't really care. I could pay her to give me the job and I'd still take it.

That happened at the start of the day.

In the afternoon, I found out that I got into the Leader's Program. Although I'm still not too sure what that entails, the fact that it was (apparently) hard to get into makes me somewhat happy.

Also this morning, Arsenal thrashed whoever they were playing in the Champions League AND Eduardo scored against his old club. Can't ask for much more of a perfect game than that.

Here's to more good happenings tomorrow.

Word of the Day: Peanuts

Clump

Something is unsettling me right now. I can't really place what it is, but it's really distracting.

Actually, I think I do know what it is. Or what they are. I think it's a combination of things, which by themselves, in isolation, wouldn't be much of a problem. But group them all together, and you just feel uneasy all the time. Or I feel uneasy all the time.

In other news, I got tickets to Usher. I'm so excited for it, it's not even funny. Like, I get to see this legend move and sing IN REAL LIFE.

Funnily enough, I'm not going to be leaving you with a song from Usher. I will instead leave you with a song that resonates with me and my current mood. It is a very good song, in fact, I would say the best song, from one of the best albums ever. It's absolutely gorgeous and beautiful.

I promise you this, I'll always look out for you

Actually, screw that. You can have a song from Usher.

U got it bad, when you're on the phone, hang up, and you call right back.

Classic right there. Catch y'all later.

Word of the Day: Isolation

I can't lie

Despite my gloating, I am still a massive social failure.

End of French tute, Zara was there, probably should've spoken to her for a bit. Because, you know, that's what decent people do. Instead, I walk off after saying hi. I have no idea why. Maybe because, deep down (or not so deep down, as the case may be), I am still a shy person. Practice makes perfect, and all that. I will atone for this foolishness.

Moving on. What's really irking me right now is people that aren't paying me money that they owe me. It's not that it's a truly massive sum, but it is rightfully mine, and I feel as though those people are being rude, more than anything. I don't think I'm stingy with money by any stretch of the imagination. But normal human behaviour would dictate that, after someone's already bought the 21st present, and you voluntarily said that you would chip in money, without the prompting of said person, that you would pay up rather soonish, because this person has already forked out money and has gone to the trouble of physically looking for a present and buying it.

That'd be normal, right (well, for me anyway)?

Apparently not. Two of the people that have yet to pay me haven't responded to three of my Facebook messages. I know they go on there, through various channels.

What's more, one of them told the birthday boy, Kanji, what we (and I use that term in the loosest sense possible) were getting him for his birthday, before he'd actually opened it. How someone can be so presumptuous is beyond me.

These two are Meng's friends. So lesson learnt. If I haven't spoken to them personally, or Meng gives me the money beforehand, I'm not doing anything in the future. Meng has already paid for one of them, because apparently they have financial difficulties. I have a few issue with believing that:

1. They go to other parties, where they actually turn up. Well-dressed, too, I might add. Now, if that's poverty, I wouldn't mind being in poverty myself.

2. I never asked them to chip in. Ever. Even if I did, they didn't have to say yes. But that's a null point. I didn't ask them, and one of them I didn't know wanted to chip in until Meng told me when I got to the party.

Which brings me to another point. A lot of this mess is actually Meng's fault. If he were better organised, and actually thought about these things beforehand, none of this would've happened.

But as I said, lesson learnt. Apparently he's going to ask one of them for the money, presumably soonish, so that I don't have to. Nobody wants me to do that, because it'll just end up being me verbally bashing him, and perhaps even physically.

He better not reply with "It's just $25." And nobody else better say that to me. Because they will cop it big time.

I got asked by Meng whether a friendship was worth $25. I told him that I no longer consider such a person my friend, because friends don't do this, and that he should also ask him the same question. I'm sick of people making it out like I'm in the wrong for asking people for money when they owe me.

To summarise, there's not many things I dislike more than borrowing money off people, but having to ask people to pay me back is worse.

On a happier note, it is almost the end of Monday. Well, that's not really happy. But I'm trying to end these things on a positive note. So I'll leave you with this video, which reminds me of summer.

I can't lie, you're on my mind, stuck inside my head.

Sigh.

Word of the Day: Jerks

The Irene-y of the situation did not escape me

Irene's 20th last Friday, just for a change of scenery after this massive spate of Twenty-Firsts.

It was quite amusing. She told me to sit next to her, presumably because I didn't know many people there. Then she ended up walking for 99% of the night anyway. It was actually pretty ironically funny. Ironic in a good way.

But it worked out well. Like, not that it was good that she wasn't there most of the time, but I got to talk to people sitting opposite me. Not that I wouldn't have if she'd been there.

The words "digging," "myself" and "hole" come to mind here. For some inexplicable reason.

But yeah, I got to talk to the guy opposite me, and his girlfriend, and we got along fairly well. Jake, his name was. As in, Animorphs. I didn't get his girlfriend's name, but one can't have everything in life. It's a shame I didn't get seated next to that Judy girl. She was quite a looker. But, being the non-shallow person that I am, I do not regret this, because I do not know what she is like as a person. Although it would've been nice to have had the opportunity to find out.

Anyway, I love these situations. It's like a challenge, that I fully intend to meet head-on. See, even when I did get to talk to them, it was always a bit weird, because there were times when they were talking to each other and...let's just say I don't think they wanted to be interrupted. So MTV on the screen behind their heads came to my rescue many times. And my phone. Man, I love my phone. It actually gives me a valid reason for looking at it now.

This situation wasn't my own doing. All the people that I actually knew AND talked to didn't turn up on the night, leaving me isolated and bereft of meaningful and intelligent company.

Just kidding. I just felt like writing a hardcore sentence with big words. But you guys did ditch me a little bit.

But yes, I think I actually excelled at said challenge. And now, like some kind of thrill-seeking addict, I want more. More parties with strangers that I've never talked to before in my life. More MTV. More Glen Waverley food.

I think I'll stop now. Not because I want to, but because I think I'm going to fall asleep at my keyboard in about 5 seconds if I don't. And then, next morning, my parents will be all like "What the hell are you doing there [on your very messy workstation]?" Except in Cantonese. To which I will have no reply. Because I don't know the Cantonese word for blogging, but also because even if I did, it's still not a very good excuse.

So I'm going to go now.

Word of the Day: MTV

Reminiscing about the good days

For some reason, the following post never got published. It happened approximately half a year ago, and I found it quite amusing the time. And I still do. So just pretend you're reading this sometime in April, and laugh.

**********************

Something awkward, but quite funny happened last Thursday.

Firstly, it should be noted that I love being mistaken for an international student. It's absolutely hilarious. I don't even dress like one, but for some reason, some people seem to think that because I look Asian it means I can't speak English.

Anyway, these two girls sitting in front of me in the tute were talking in really loud whispers. And I don't know whether they meant for me to hear it, or they didn't think I could understand (I don't talk in that tute), or whether they were referring to some other guy in the room with a yellow laptop, but I heard what they were saying. And I'm 99% sure it was about me. It went something like this:

"Wow, the guy has a really nice laptop. It's all, like, yellow."

"Yeah! He has really nice eyes as well!"

I was wearing contacts. Because it was sunny, and I was wearing my aviators. And I guess people notice my eyes more like that.

Incidentally, they are quite nice eyes. Or at least, I think so. I think they're my only redeeming feature, actually.

But yeah, I don't understand why people would assume I don't speak English. Like, surely even international students would mostly understand English enough to understand what they were saying?

***********

Actually, I think there was a reason why this never was posted. Stupid reason, if I remember correctly. Completely in the realm of nonsense. Just like this whole post.

I think I remember those eyes, eyes, eyes, eyeseyeseyeseyes.

Word of the Day: Eyes

Belle, je t'aime ton wave

Something that I forgot to mention, for some bizarre reason.

On Friday, the attractive girl in my French workshop (hereon after known as HFG, for obvious/practical reasons. Even though she's not French. But she is a girl. And hot. So shut up.) waved goodbye to me. Or, at least, I think it was me. It was a hot wave. Like, seriously. I don't know why, but it was just ridiculously...something. Like something out of a movie. Made my heart melt. Now I feel like I should study harder for French. I would also like to learn how to say 'wave' in French. As in, verb form. Not noun. Yes, I could search for it, but that would involve a modicum of effort, which I do not possess currently. For some reason, this song comes to mind right now.

A mad song from a mad album. Get on it

Currently, I have a splitting headache. Watching Bear Grylls struggling in the Foreign French Legion hasn't helped. French overload. Maybe that's it. Might sleep soon. Hopefully have some sweet dreams *cough* French girl *cough*.

Word of the Day: Wave

Doo bee doo doo, doo bee doo bee doo doo

That's the introduction to 'Singing in the Rain'. Duh.

I don't know why I decided to virtually sing that. It just sort of popped into my head.

Moving on. A whole manner of things are annoying me massively at the moment, but I'm not going to write about them, because (a) there's not a whole lot I can do about most of them, and (b) I have firm hope that things will probably change for the better sometime soon, because these things are cyclical in nature.

I should probably write something about Nigel's 21st at Loop last night, but there isn't all that much to say, apart from the fact that I had a bourbon and coke. Or something. And it was fairly disgusting. I didn't think it could get any worse, but one sip of Banh's scotch and coke reminded me of how wrong I can be about things sometimes. We (being Pramuk, Rudra, Banh and I) had massive amounts of bread, due to the fact that a massive platter of it was placed in front of us.

The massive mountain of bread that us fellas powered through.

Good party as well. I wish they had a mic for my use during the speech-making though. Would've been easier on my voice, which is feeling a bit tender after a night and full day of intensive speaking. If you're good friends, you'll remind me not to attempt to shout louder than the thumping music with my tiny voice next time. Highlight of the night: random old dude who came in and started munching our food. I also think he started making inappropriate comments to the ladies after I left, at which stage Nigel got him kicked out. I'm also not sure that I wished Nigel happy birthday last night, so here it is, just in case. Happy Birthday Nigel!

Ok, so I did have a lot to say about it. But I didn't before.

Currently, I am getting quite the lonely pangs again. It's that time again where I wish I had someone to just randomly talk to at anytime about any number of random things, but that person doesn't exist for me, and I just end up blogging instead to siphon some of it off, Pensieve-style. Don't pretend you don't get the reference. I know you're all Harry Potter nerds.

I leave you with this song. And a great song it is. Listen to it when you're feeling a bit down. It'll make you feel better. Like eating chocolate after being swarmed by Dementors. Harry Potter movie reference this time. I think I have just out-lamed myself yet again.

Actually, any song from them is a pretty good pick-me-up. Anyway, I'll really leave this time. Nothing worse than drawn-out goodbyes.

Word of the Day: Pensieve

Malaise

First day of uni after the 'mid-sem' break, and, even though it was slightly productive, I also feel like I've wasted a fair bit of time as well.

I've developed this theory. The theory is succinct, and goes something like this: having an Android phone slowly turns you into a jerk. In some cases, quicker than others. But it will happen eventually. The only person remaining who can prove me wrong is Victor. It hasn't happened. Yet. But it still could.

Anyway, I'm loving this weather. Yesterday was awesome. Today, not so awesome. I wore shorts to uni, but, as is typical, it rained when I was outside, but it was sunny when I was inside.

That's all for now, and possibly the next good while. Now, I'm going to go back to my lonely, lonely existence.

Word of the Day: Android

She wasn't black

The one thing that I gained from Ben's 21st last night:

In case you don't get it right away, I liked the bartender.

She was somewhat sultry, and looked like she had a bit of an attitude. I think she was half-Asian. Kind of ruined it though, what with the lip ring and all. I hate it when that happens. Someone looks awesome, then they go ruin it by doing something stupid like that. Or smoking. Either one is quite bad.

Newaiz. Double 21st yesterday. Kanji's in the arvo, took a carload of people with me, went home to get changed, and went out to play pool with him at some Korean pool place. I think it's a mark of how Korean it was that there were no markings on the tables. Quite confusing for a Westerner such as myself.

To be frank, I was quite disappointed. Many people who I was hoping to catch up with didn't appear, except perhaps for Meng and Vincent.

So after that, Banh and I moseyed on down to Ben's (where the bartender was, incidentally) Interestingly, I got on fairly well with Visa's girlfriend. Friendly type of lass. Good catchup session with some of the lads. Some awkward situations, but they're unavoidable if you're me.

I came home, and watch the Arsenal game. Boy, was that massively depressing. Seriously, games like that make me consider defecting to another team. It's very depressing watching players not even trying, and getting shredded by West Brom, of all teams. If I were Fabregas, I'd want to leave too. They played like utter rubbish.

Now to today. I watched West Side story with my sisters. Wasn't too bad, but I think a tad overrated. Les Miserables was a lot better.

And that's just about that for now. Not particularly interesting or invigorating, but that's life sometimes.

Word of the Day: Sultry