I wonder if lemons conduct electricity

When life gives me lemons...I play semi-nonsensical Oasis songs.

Today wasn't actually all that bad. Actually, it would've been positively good but for a few things that kind of tainted its goodness. That's the nature of things I guess. Only takes a little bit of badness to do a lot of damage to the goodness. 

Lots of people today just seemed to be in Annoy Andrew mode. Some people couldn't help it, I guess. You could say it's their default setting. In chronological order:

1. The student group politics/propaganda/whatever they are. Technically not just today, but whatever. They are absolutely the worst. Everywhere I go, I just get mobbed. Finally voted for them today. Irene had a genuinely brilliant idea to go vote and get 'I voted' stickers. It gave me an unprecedented amount of immunity. Some idiots still pestered me, but I showed them a thing or two. These guys are intrinsically annoying as anything.
2. The guys in my International Studies tute that kept saying nukular. As in nuclear. It was so bad, it even sort of infected my tutor. For these people, default setting. 
3. I think that's about it really.

And I realise how complainy my posts have been lately, so just to show you I'm not such a complainy person, good things did happen today. 

1. Irene bought me a mocha for about the 535083920th time. Made me unreasonably happy. I gotta get her a coffee or something one of these days. 
2. Got ambushed by James Cheng. Was pretty funny. Mainly because it was the worst ambush ever.
3. Sort-of-accidentally ran into Banh at the Campus Centre flogging tickets and got free Skittles. Most of the joy was from accidentally-sort-of running into him, but Skittles are good too. 

That's about it really. So most of the badness was really all in one of the annoying events. The other two were quite trivial, and one of them was actually semi-amusing. I'll let you sort out which. Until next time, go find your very own electric girlfriend. 

Word of the Day: Badness 

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

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

Many happy meetings.

Ok, feeling much better today. Much of what was troubling me has been resolved, or, in most cases, at least partially.

Last night, I had a chat with Linda over MSN, which I haven't done properly for a while.

This morning, had a fairly good hangout session with Irene, just shooting the breeze, which I haven't done for a long while.

Sunshine. I have not felt the comforting blanket of warmth it seems to produce since what seems like forever. If tomorrow is anything like today (weather-wise), I might just go to uni in a shirt.

And maybe some pants. Just maybe.

More specifically, jeans.

Amazing how most of my life revolves around shooting the breeze. Yet I'm not really one to make ridiculously long phonecalls, except to a few people. And that makes it all the more amazing that these breeze-shooting sessions make me very happy and content.

I was in such a good mood, I even managed to beast the International Studies presentation that our group was supposed to give with minimum fuss. Seriously. I'm so proud of how I did. I embellished it, made it funny, and improvised. All while I was reading off notes with incomplete sentences and points that didn't make sense. And I managed to make it sound like I knew what I was talking about. Amazing.

And on that note, I'd like to make a remark upon my group members. Three girls, three people doing Arts/Law, three Macbooks. Looks like my theory about the positive correlation between the amount of law students in the room and the amount of Macbooks in the room is holding true so far.

The sad thing is, the presentation/debate wasn't marked. And there aren't even any participation marks to be gained out of it.

A good day. Just in the nick of time too.

Word of the Day: Meetings

Le Ville du Struggle

Urgh. I think I just got completely ripped into before by my French oral examiner.

I turned up late, because I thought I was scheduled to turn up at 2:15, not 1:45.

What was supposed to be a five minute talk ended up being like, a minute and a half.

My grammar flew out the window.

On the upside, my accent was relatively good. And I managed to pitch my voice into what I though was a manly French mumble.

Check this out. Pretty much sums up how beautiful the French language sounds, how wonderful their music is, and how atmospheric their country is.



I also managed to finish my triple essay take-home exam for International Studies.

I just dawned on me, like literally just then, that I have five assessments this week. Five. And I've just completed two. What a way to start the week eh? Funtimes.

Word of the Day: Oral

Bleugh

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

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

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

French overload?

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

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

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

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

Word of the Day: Screwed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Word of the Day: Boredom

By popular demand

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

__________________

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

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

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

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

Word of the Day: Flat

I thought about becoming an actor...

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

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

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

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

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

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

Word of the Day: Acting

More like...Lie-braries!

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

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

Word of the Day: Lies

What UP!

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

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

Speaking of movies, this is an awesome linking sentence.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Word of the Day: UP!

If I Ain't Got You

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

Maybe I'm becoming a cranky old man.

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

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

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

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

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

Word of the Day: Keys

Disaster in the Menzies!

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

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

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

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

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

Word of the Day: Menzies

Debacle

What a debacle of a day.

Screwed up the bibliography for the essay I had to hand in today. Fixed it up in the end, but still.

French, was supposed to print notes double sided, ended up printing two pages on the one side.

It rained.

Accounting midsem was very...hard. Unexpectedly so. I think it's the only subject I've ever done where the tests and exams are harder than I expect them to be. The study session was good for bonding though.

Hope it gets better tomorrow. But, probably won't.

Word of the Day: Debacle

Relief

Phew. So relieved on my near calamitous stupidity. We actually got an e-mail telling us that the essay that was supposed to be due tomorrow is now due Monday. Completely missed it because it was titled 'further advice.' Me, being the arrogant jerk I am, didn't read it. Who needs further advice? My arrogance/pride/idiocy will be the death of me.

In other news, today I was working on the aforementioned essay. Whilst taking one of my numerous breaks from working, I could not help but chance upon (read: actively looking for) random things and now I have a lot to gripe about.

First up, I was reading a news article about exploding iPhones. This guy was commenting on the article, being all freaking sarcastic and witty saying "Wow, 2 iPhones exploded out of 5 million. I'm not to worried about my iPhone exploding." What a jerk. Self-interested, self-centred jerk. So I replied to his comment. I rarely do this, as I see it as a waste of my time, and there's usually no need to weigh into an argument that has been thoroughly canvassed before. It went something along the lines of this:

I think you've missed the point there Matt (I think that was his name). It doesn't matter whether 1 in 10 blow up, or 1 in a billion blow up, that one person is still a human being who has been affected by this. Even if you're selfish and self-serving, which, I gather, you are, think about this: that next 1 in a million person could be you. These types of faults shouldn't even be occurring in electronics. I don't why you're even debating the significance of these faults, when clearly they can be remedied in the production process to improve the safety of the people using them.

That put one idiot in his place.

Next, I was casually browsing YouTube (read: spent an hour there). I started viewing some MJ clips. I'm getting sick of people saying "I miss you Michael," but what's worse is the people that are going "Oh, now you're saying he's great. Before he died, nobody said that." What the hell were his fans saying then? Far out. Some people just enjoy their blanket statements and acting all holier-than-thou without any substantial evidence to back up their arguments. Or any evidence at all. But then, I look at the spelling on YouTube, and I'm not surprised. I'll finish with this sentence:

"omg i think mj was some wear in the stadium."

Word of the Day: Jerk

Je ne comprend pas

Something really weird happened yesterday. Well, not weird like "That's freaky!" weird (like the Pink Highlighter Haunting - it's still in my pencil case - I think...), it's just something I don't understand.

So I did the "mid-semester" (more like three-quarter semester) test for International Studies, and thought that I had completely screwed it up. None of the multi-choice questions I answered seemed to be plausible, my first mini-essay looked like a blur of confusion and not answering the topic, and the second one I hadn't even read up on at all.

This week (that happened three weeks ago), I got my results back and was very surprised, on more than one level. I got a 20.5 out of 25, which I was pretty happy with. It turns out that I answered four out of 5 MC questions right, got what I assume is full marks for my first essay and got slightly less marks for the second one, which was to be expected. The second surprise was that my tutor wrote only one thing at the bottom: "Seek help from Language and Learning Centre with your essay writing skills, or you may not pass the final essay."

Ouch!

What's sad is that I got HD's for International Studies last year, and that was all essay writing too. So even if we factor out my VCE English result, based on that evidence my essay writing should be fine.

But I think my tutor's going to be right about me. Because I haven't started writing my essay yet. And it's due tomorrow. And it's going to be a bad one again. And she's going to call me a fob. It's a sad life.

The reason I haven't finished yet is because I had stats exam today. That went okay. Ran out of time, but I think I passed. Which was my aim to begin with, so that I never, ever have to do it again.

So the action plan now is to type, type, type up until 1. Sleep until 6. Type, type, type until 3 in the arvo. Leave for uni. Hand in assignment. Sounds good. As long as I can type, type, type my essay, and not on Facebook. Or here.

Word of the day: International Studies