Wednesday 31 March 2010

Oh snap

It feels so good when someone thinks you're wrong, and they're really convinced of your wrongness, and then you unequivocally prove them wrong, and that you are, in fact, right.

This happened in our accounting presentation today. I thought we'd screwed something up because this guy at the back of the room seemed certain that we had. Turns out he was very, very wrong, and very, very confused. What a reversal. From him thinking that he'd got us, and could laugh at us, to us getting him, like a rabbit caught in the headlights, and almost laughing at him.

It did, however, turn out that we had in fact done two things wrong, which were later picked up by the tutor. But the fact remains that nobody else picked up that we were wrong.

How petty of me. I'm usually not as vindictive as this, but I feel that way today. Just thinking about past events, and the vengeance associated with it. I'm trying not to seek revenge for anything at all, because I've found that it provides a kind of satisfaction for a millisecond, and then you feel worse than ever because you've done it. That's why Batman is a vigilante, not a...revenge-seeker. That reminds me of a conversation I had with a few homeboys last year.

Me: "What're we going to do for extra-curricular next semester?"
Meng or Banh (I can't remember): "Become vigilantes."
Me: "Oh yeah. The BatMeng."

Ok, so not much of a conversation. Still, it satisfies the criteria for a conversation. Not that I know what those criteria are, or whether they exist at all. I think they do. I'm fairly sure I learnt about that in linguistics. And it was funny.

ANYWAY. I don't know what prompted that rant. But I am now in 90% holiday mode. That's my last assessment for this...half semester. I'm trying to think of a better word for it, if you can call that a word at all. Term? Too junior. I'll think of something clever soon enough. Looking forward to tomorrow for various reasons. We'll see what happens.

Word of the Day: Vengeance

Tuesday 30 March 2010

I was always liked jazz more anyway

Woo. Most people seem to have gotten over the start-of-another-uni-year blues, which has coincided (or had a direct effect?) on less of my friends hating on me. Everyone seems a lot less tetchy and stressed, including myself. I think it's because we're finally into the swing of things again, and found our rhythm. All very wishy-washy stuff, but quite true.

I am also handing out cupcakes made by my mother. Yes, it is a bit weird. Deal with it. I feel like being kind. If that's a crime, you can either a) sue me and put me in jail, or b) don't have one.

Also, fairly looking forward to the mid-semester break. Mainly because of the stuff planned by my friends for me to go to, but also because I need it. Just for a general loosening of the body, soul, and mind, and for catching up on work and assignments. Guess there goes the loosening part.

KPMG still haven't called me, even though they said they'd probably do it today. Not too worried though. Whatever's happened has happened. I'm also trying not to get my hopes up too much. As they (and I) say, the higher the expectations, the harder the fall. It's hard though. I hate being a closet optimist.

Ok. So the main thing on the horizon right now is the Accounting presentation tomorrow. Seems like it should be a breeze, but these things hardly ever turn out that way. Whatever. Looking forward to finishing the first half of the semester on a high note, and hopefully that happens tomorrow afternoon.

Word of the Day: Blues

Sunday 28 March 2010

I'll paste your teeth in a second

I am a bit confused about toothpaste.

You get so much choice. Advanced Whitening. Triple Stripe. That's just two. There are millions more. I just won't list them here, mainly because I've forgotten the rest.

But the point is, I've always wondered: say you choose Advanced Whitening, doesn't that mean you lose the advantages of Triple Stripe? And vice versa? Does that mean you should brush your teeth with both, one after the other? And a third one, if you have it?

What bizarre (and pointless) thoughts I get sometimes.

Word of the Day: Toothpaste

Friday 26 March 2010

KPMGizzle

So yeah, I had Summer Vacation job interviews at KPMG today. Very enlightening experience. Surprisingly, turned out to be one of the best days I've had in a long, long time.

The day did not get off to a fantastic start, actually. Got up an hour later than I would've liked. I wanted to get up at 6, ended up getting up at 7, which was a miracle in itself, because I somehow innately realised that I was late. So I hurriedly got suited up, and dashed to the train station. In my car. If you can dash in a car.

On the train, I listened to Wonderwall, as is customary where I come from. Well, not really. But I like to think it is, and that it's not just some weird superstitious ritual that I go through before doing anything of even the most mild importance. But somehow, I doubt that people in Footscray listen to Wonderwall on their iPods before job interviews and exams.

This next part is just what happened at KPMG. You can skip it. Where you can start reading from again will be bolded too. It's fairly tedious, but I thought that I'd include it anyway.

Got there without too much fuss. Hung around and made awkward conversation with other candidates. The building was very nice. After that, went upstairs, chilled with employees of KPMG. There were drinks, which I didn't drink. In hindsight, this turned out to be a wise decision, due to what was to follow.

So first up, 45 minute presentation about themselves. After that, had an interview with a manager. It could've done better, and talked about more, but that's always the case. After that, break. Nothing to do, so drank a Coke Zero.

After that, another interview. This one was a bit more critical, but I think I went alright. I hope. After that, another break, another drink. This time a San Pelligrino.

After the drink, off I went to the written exercise. This was the one I was most disappointed with. I'm usually good at writing stuff. And I feel that the time given to me was ample. I just spent a bit too much time thinking every little thing through. Oh well. It was supposed to be fairly hard, and not very many people finished.

After that, another break, another drink. I think I had a Coke proper this time. Wandered over to yet another ability test. This was actually a fair bit easier than the online one. Just like the first interview, I finished way earlier than everyone else, which makes me worry that I missed something. Then we had a mini-lunch. It was a mini-lunch because I made it so. Didn't seem proper to eat a lot in those circumstances. And I drank another Coke.

You can start reading from now.

As soon as the opportunity arose, I scrammed from the building. Right on cue, Linda dawgz messages me for lunchez. Man, was I glad to get that message. I so needed a pick-me-up after that gig with quite a few obnoxious and in-your-face people. So, like the cool cat I am, I waited for her under the clock at MC. For about fifteen minutes. Couldn't contact her because she was shopping in the underground, and because her reception with Virgin is so awesome, she couldn't receive my calls. So I went to the toilet. I actually went to the toilet five times more than I usually do in a day today, mostly owing to the drinks that I had. If you think that's too much detail, too bad. Deal with it. Don't read it.

After I finally found her (she's a really hard person to find, and an even harder person to sneak up on. Amazing peripheral vision), we went to Vic Market for lunchez. I was amazed that she could talk, as she had just had her wisdom teeth removed. Amazing. Got lost on the way there, which seems to be a habit of ours. No wonder we got lost in Sydney. We can't even find our way around Melbourne. So we got to Vic Market eventually, and had barak (barack? barac? mince in pastry? arabic? dunno) and yet another drink. Went to a few stores, including a pet store (?). Kipped on home after that. Was a great, great afternoon. Laughed a lot more than I have in a while. I've had many good conversation days this week, this one inclusive.

After I got home, went straight to Knox with family. That was great. Had a Macca's dinner, and yet another drink. Also, we bought a new camera which actually takes photos with very minimal lag time. Amazing.

A big shout out to Imesha and Davy for messaging me before and after the gig. Good effort waking up that early, and an even greater effort to remember me. And thanks goes out to all my other friends who wished me luck. James Cheng, Orrin, Banh, Yvonne, Meng. If I've left out anybody, my excuse is that I only remember people that have said it within the last two days. If I have left you out even then, sincere apologies. Anyway, thanks guys. I probably place too much emphasis on people wishing me luck, but to me, it means a lot. It shows that people care.

Wonderwall may or may not have gotten me the job. But it did give me quite an unexpectedly fantastic day. I'm going to have another drink now.

Word of the Day: Drink

Thursday 25 March 2010

Quagmire

Life is a bit weird right about now. It just feels like I'm stuck in a quagmire, and it's really hard to get anywhere down any avenue right now.

I'm feeling quite down for various reasons. Firstly, I'm behind in almost everything, and my French has appeared to have regressed since last semester. Accounting is just messing with my mind right now.

Secondly, after speaking with Meng last night, I realised that we're both 20 and without girlfriends. It's almost sad beyond belief. Sad, as in both meanings of the term. We're trying to solve the puzzle, but it's like it's a cardboard jigsaw, and somebody spilt a lot of water all over it. The pieces don't fit together, and it's damn near impossible to find which pieces go where in the first place. Maybe we're just looking in the wrong place, or at the wrong jigsaw puzzle if you will. Whatever.

Even the KPMG interview, which I was looking forward to, I'm now feeling apprehensive about. Nobody else has really gotten back to me yet, so it seems as though everything hinges on this interview.

Missing out on Lady GaGa was also a big downer. I just want to hear her songs now, not in two or three years when they'll be all new and not good anymore. And her show most likely won't be as cheap, or good. The reason they're cheap is because her people are, for reasons unknown, underpricing tickets. Apparently. I want to see her live because she's one of those rare artists that actually perform. Also, she does awesome things to her songs live, like making them acoustic. There goes a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I do hate it a bit when I miss them. It was very nice for Linda to MMS me a 'teaser' of the show tonight, even though it mostly featured the very round head of a guy standing in front of the camera. Man, that guy's head was round. And shiny. I don't think I've ever received an MMS from a friend before. Thank-you, Linda. It's nice to know my friends remember me.

I like when people text me randomly about random things. I don't know why. It just makes me feel loved, I guess. And adds excitement to my day. The good type of excitement, which I crave.

Today was actually an alright day. Started off fairly averagely, then got better after another one of our French impromptu orals. Irene is brilliant at it. Ours was definitely the best this time, but mostly because of Irene. But she bounces her act off me. So it's really all me. She'd struggle if her partner was lightning quick like her. Who am I kidding? She's a natural at it. She pretends to cry, and she takes out a tissue. My reading is quite good, but my acting is mediocre, unless I am in a very comfortable situation. Which I was not. So my reading was quite good, but my acting was mediocre. The class loved it. Once again, I, or, in this case, we, created something that I didn't think was that funny, but everyone else did. Seems to happen a lot in our French workshop. Maybe because it consists of three guys and the rest girls. They dig my humour.

Anyway, she seemed to get happier after that, and easier to talk to. I went to find my homeboys and homegirls after that (homepeople? Will think about it some more), and she followed me. I then thought she would ditch me, but, not surprisingly, she didn't, as she does not find any social situation awkward, and handles them all with aplomb. She also never ditches me. Never. I respect, admire and appreciate that. The not ditching me part, and the handling of social situations. Especially considering how we have half our classes, and hence half our breaks, together. I just crawl out of social awkwardness. She then eventually did have to ditch me, to hang with another friend, the Matheson Computer.

So after that, I hung with Davy until our tute. A funny thing happened in the lecture after the tute. Davy was half-joking (I think). He had had an interview with Deloitte the day before, and he was all like, "Hey Andrew, let me sit on the outside in case I need to take a call." Two minutes later, call comes in from Deloitte, telling him he has an interview tomorrow. Or today, depending on how pedantic you are. Clearly he should say these things more often to me. Anyway, being the swell guy he is, he drove me home. In the process, we had a good ol' chat about everything, from future careers to missing Mai a lot. Thanks Davy, and gluck for tomorrow. Or today.

Banh gave me a fairly useless call, but it was still appreciated. I like hearing his voice in moderation. Thank-you also for remembering me.

And the random MMS at the end was just swell. Completed the day, really.

And now, after realising that it was actually a fairly good day, I don't feel so blue. Amazing how cathartic posting can be. I re-learned that word today. Cathartic. I re-learned it because I was fairly sure that this news website I was reading was using it in the wrong way.

Oh, also, on a finishing note, I sort of casually noticed three girls in the past week, but according to various sources, they've all been taken. They all have heart-melting smiles, which is kryptonite to me. It's the chink in my otherwise impenetrable armour (ha, I said chink). I promise to set my sights on girls that are very much less taken. Speaking of promises, I'm going to ease up a bit. Emo posts to funny posts ratio is going to decrease as of now.

Word of the Day: MMS

Tuesday 23 March 2010

Massive CBS

I am uni right now, and overcome with a massive wave of ceebs. I have no idea why, and I have no desire to find out why, probably due to the ceebs. It's a vicious cycle of pain and anguish.

I also suck at French, and most everything else.

That's all.

Word of the Day: Ceebs

Sunday 21 March 2010

Also an Arsenal fan

Good to know that at least one of the teams I support is looking a good bet for the title. Arsenal are now top of the Premier League for the first time since probably the first game of the season. Sounds like another typical score-more-than-we-concede type performance, but nobody's complaining. Well, nobody except the fans of the other 19 teams. Good work boys.

Anyway, I'd like to reflect upon something. Yes, another random though occurred to me, when I'd be much better of studying or something.

Jealousy. Yes, I do feel it sometimes, although I am quite good at covering it up. Or I think so anyway. It's a very irrational and all-consuming feeling most of the time, and I feel quite ashamed of being jealous almost directly after feeling it. Most of the time I can't even pinpoint a root cause.

Anyway, that not-very-important thought aside, things are starting to look on the up again. Less of my friends are peeved at me now, as we have resolved our perceived issues. I'm not tooooo far behind my studies, some of the Accounting firms actually like me, and I'm going out to lunch with the James this arvo, plus some randoms. Hopefully they're pretty, funny, nice and generally awesome. Yep, sometimes I can be way too optimistic. It's sickening.

Word of the Day: Jealous

Saturday 20 March 2010

I've always maintained that it was a lame name

And so, Melbourne Victory have managed to make a fool of their team name again, and have gone and lost the Grand Final.

For the neutral, it was a good Grand Final. 1-1, went to penalties, and Muscat misses his first penalty like, ever, by hitting a post.

Ah well. Let's hope the Arsenal beat West Ham tomorrow, and go top of the league for the first time since forever. Shame we drew Barca in the Champions League, but one can't have everything in life.

Word of the Day: Victory

Thursday 18 March 2010

300th

My, how time flies. It seems like only yesterday I was typing up my 200th post. This is my 300th post, in case you haven't got it yet.

Speaking of time flying, I had a thought the other day that made me really notice the time that has gone by. It seemed not so long ago that the incredibly annoying, and yet incredibly addictive song, Umbrella, by everyone's favourite dominatrix wannabe, was released. And yet, the earliest I remember hearing it was back in mid-2007. I remember this because I was in the taxi, on the way to the formal, and generally being awkward. Yes, I seem to have a habit of measuring time in music.

Also speaking of time flying, in retrospect, the summer holidays were really dreamy. Like, I didn't know how much I'd miss them until around about now. I loved those holidays. So full of hope, good times, and laughter.

Anyway, between the 200th post and now, I have had time to get hooked on two girls and get drawn in, entertained for a bit, cut up and spat back out. Also, other stuff. Like getting a car, a tan and a few more muscles. Oh, and some life lessons. Like not to fall for a girl so easily again. And also, if something is too good to be true, it usually is. Very much usually.

Anyway, just when you think all your troubles have cleared up, others crop up. Take for example, now. I've just got through this massive load of Summer Vac applications, and was feeling better than I have in a long time, as I can now focus purely on university, life, friends and work. However, friends seem quite upset at me at the moment. Many people seem to have lost their sense of humour, and is taking everything I say way too seriously. If they used just an ounce of logic, they would probably find that I have never mistreated them, and I always look out for them. But most people, including myself, although I try not to be, look at one bad instance, and immediately dismiss every good thing that you've ever done, and hold that against you. I can't help it, so I'm not going to try. All I can say is that I try my very best to do right by my friends, and if that's not enough, I can't really do much else. I might be able to if you actually said these things to my face instead of behind my back, but I don't appreciate people talking behind my back, as I can neither confirm nor deny the truth of what you're saying, and I usually end up hearing a garbled version, so I can't do anything about it. Sorry.

To the friends who are standing by me, even though I don't know why the others aren't standing by me, it's times like these that I value you the most. It's easy being friends when money's pouring out of my pockets, and we're all having a good old laugh, and not doing very much. To those that aren't angry at me for I-don't-exactly-know-what-reason, thank-you. Thank-you for being there. I don't tell you this, but you just being there for me to talk to, to hang out with, to just share my thoughts with, and just being there to help me if I should need to, it means a lot to me.

I heard something the other day which fits in nicely with this. The Chinese government went off on some gold-medal-winning athlete because he had the temerity to thank his parents before thanking the country. Other bloggers instantly jumped to his defence, something along the lines of this:

When you are victorious, and you are covered in glory, the country, and its people, love you. When you are growing up, homeless, or when you are old and penniless, it is your parents that love you still.


This is kind of like that. Everyone loves you when there's something in it for them, or you're great and everything. It's something special when people are there for you in the hard times. Thank-you.

Word of the Day: 300th

Friday 12 March 2010

More like Taylor Lag

Weird. 'You Belong With Me' makes me really sad. There are a few Taylor Swift songs that make me sad actually. I think she's got the whole yearning thing down pat really well. However, once you start looking at some of the lyrical depth, it really makes you cringe. But props to her for being a musical prodigy.



I think like, two of her songs touch something in me because a) the person who's singing could be me, except more masculine and b) I wish someone felt the way that the person singing the song feels about the guy she's singing about. Yes, I know how weird that whole statement was. That's just the way it is. I'm not even sure if what I'm saying is accurate. I'm a sucker for sweet romance, which is exactly what those two songs are. I know it hardly ever happens, but I have been described as a hopeless romantic before, and I believe that's a big problem of mine. I also noticed in that song how much make-up can change a girl. The Evil One and the Good One are both the same person, in case you didn't notice. But the way they're made up makes them completely different. The next one is also one which I was hung up on for quite a while. Not so applicable now, but could be relevant in the future. Hopefully not, but very well could be. I try and keep my teardrops to a minimum, if I can help it.




"I laugh cos it's just so funny." As I said, lyrical dexterity sometimes drops off the pace somewhat, but I cut her a lot of slack, because she's like, 12. Or 19. I don't really know which one. I just know she's quite young. Respect.

On to life now! Contrary to popular belief, I do know that I have been neglecting the boyz. I'm sorry guys. It's just really hard to find time for y'all at uni, and my phone bill is also getting run up again this month. I have really bad breaks, and I don't want to ditch Irene in between our classes, because apart from her being my friend, she also never ditches me. I'm trying to get you guys in, but I hope you understand. I mean, if she wasn't my friend, then no worries. But she's a good friend, and you don't ditch good friends. Which is ironic, seeing as I'm doing this to you guys. But it's less direct. And I am trying to make amends. Having said that, I'm quite content with life right now. Apart from not seeing some people as much as I would like, and seeing one particular person far too often than I would like, it's not been a bad start to uni.

Word of the Day: Swift

Wednesday 3 March 2010

L'University - troisieme annee

A lot of people are annoying me at the moment.

The worst part of it is, I have no idea why. It's just like, I've gotten to this stage where I don't really care if all those meaningless people hang around with me anymore. Now that I think about it, that's probably why I don't go to the law library anymore. I've been there for an hour so far, and I was hiding in a corner and correcting homework.

I actually thought people would care about my existence more once uni started up again.

In keeping with my recent predictions, these ones were completely WRONG.

A lot of my close friends have made an attempt to find me. I appreciate it more than I'll probably ever let you know. Publicly at least. I remember that, and I will act accordingly. I don't forget kindness.

As for others. Well, I can't say it's completely unexpected. 99% of the time I'm the one organising things anyway. And, being completely brutally honest, which I supposedly am most of the time anyway, I haven't inflated my ego so far as to believe that I actually matter in these people's lives all that much.

Again, I will act accordingly. I'm really sick of being nice to people. You give a little, people take a bit more. Again and again. Never give any back. I guess I'm just sick of being used. I'm not even offended at people not talking to me anymore. Because I know as soon as they do, they'll probably want something from me.

If there's one thing in life I can never get over, it's people that treat people that are better than them like demi-gods, and then treating people that are actually good to them like dirt. I think it's because I'm usually in the treating people nice category.

Anyway, apart from that, uni's been fairly good so far. I've been getting a fair few phone calls and stuff. Obviously not from the aforementioned dodgy people, but from people that matter. Also, I seem to have built a better raport with Irene. She was always an awkward one for me to deal with, but I've finally found the awesome person that I think I subconsciously knew was there all along. I guess it's also to do with me becoming a better person also.

I've been driving and carpooling her. Driving is surprisingly awesome. Like, I caught the bus today, and man was it annoying. Late, hot, slow and overcrowded.

Speaking of overcrowded, I've never seen uni so packed before. Ever. I swear they're taking more students.

More on the Sydney trip later. Ceebs right now.

Word of the Day: Annoyed