There are many reasons why I haven't blogged for a while, the most obvious being apathy and slackness. The others lose the limelight due to insignificance and to the fact that I can't be bothered listing them.
For those of you who are still interested, I've been working a lot, and doing not much else. I've been informed by people that this habit isn't good for my welfare, but I'll take my chances. I think I'll make this post a recount of my "holidays".
Kris Kringle before Christmas with friends was a good idea. Ingenious really. Very much like something I would come up with. Only I didn't come up with it, so I don't know where that leaves me. Madagascar (number 2! gasp) after that wasn't such a great brainwave. I blame a certain person's inability to beat a certain girl at paperscissorsrock.
Christmas was a blast. Family friends + James Cheng's family came over for a barbecue. Then Zhangary popped over from across the road, which was amusing.
Rosebud trip was gloomy. We actually left early because it was raining and cold, and no sane person wants to go to a beach town in that kind of weather.
That pretty much sums up my holidays so far.
Today, I failed my P-plates test because I forgot to put the handbrake down after reverse parking. Good one, Andrew. And I was doing so well too. I'm pretty cut about it actually.
I need some ideas for what to do for my birthday party. If anyone's reading this, hit me with suggestions.
Thursday, 15 January 2009
Thursday, 20 November 2008
One rainy day
Maybe it's 007. Maybe it's the rain. It may even be because it's Thursday, or because it's just me. I think it's just me. Because, quite frankly, I cannot believe that out of the fifteen people I asked, no-one wanted to, or could, go and see Bond. And now I'm really put out and bored. And annoyed. I have no idea why I'm so annoyed. Probably because I'm in shock at my own sheer unluckiness/me-ness.
Monday, 10 November 2008
Post-exams number 5, 798, 012
Yes. Post-exams again. Coincidence? Or something more.
Anyway, all this free time has allowed me to think of random things. I was thinking the other day. There are all these inventions - some trivial, some not so trivial - that are pretty awesome, that people don't know the inventor of. Take, for example, the sticky ads on the side of buses (three guesses where I was when I saw this invention). From the outside, they're an almost perfect image of whatever they happen to be spruiking. On the inside, not only do they allow you to see outside, they also act as a massive pair of sunglasses. The only resemblence being the light-filterage that it provides.
The pencil in itself is a great invention. Even greater, however, is the pencil sharpener. Presumably, people would have had to use a knife to sharpen their pencils. This would have been fine, albeit a little cumbersome. Therefore, it takes no small amount of resourcefullness, initiative and creativity to stick a blade on a solid piece of something and poke a pencil sized hole in for pencil sharpening purposes. Since the creation of the pencil sharpener, knife sales have irreversibly spiralled downwards, limited only to kitchens and ghettos, while sharpener sales have soared. A further inovation, the two-holed sharpener, widened the gap between the redundant knife and the chic new sharpening implement.
A not-so-great, but world-changing, anonymous invention, is the examination. Evidently, somebody, presumably a teacher, somewhere along the line in history, decided that there had to a be a morale-sapping, anxiety-inducing, insomnia-causing method to seperate the best from the rest. Clearly a very sadistic, disturbed person. Now, you can see its effects everywhere. From is traditional acedemic sanctuary, to driving, music, entry into an obscure clique. Everywhere. Anywhere. Thanks Mr. Exam.
Whoopie cushions. Someone clearly thought that people sitting down and making farting noises was funny. It is not.
Swimming pools. Although not a great leap of creativity ('hey, instead of us going to the water, why don't we bring the water to us'), it nevertheless took brains to turn it into a business venture. And we still have to go to the water.
Anyway, there'll be more posts like this in the coming weeks and months, due to excessive boredom. If it floats your boat, stick around.
Word of the Day: Inventions
Anyway, all this free time has allowed me to think of random things. I was thinking the other day. There are all these inventions - some trivial, some not so trivial - that are pretty awesome, that people don't know the inventor of. Take, for example, the sticky ads on the side of buses (three guesses where I was when I saw this invention). From the outside, they're an almost perfect image of whatever they happen to be spruiking. On the inside, not only do they allow you to see outside, they also act as a massive pair of sunglasses. The only resemblence being the light-filterage that it provides.
The pencil in itself is a great invention. Even greater, however, is the pencil sharpener. Presumably, people would have had to use a knife to sharpen their pencils. This would have been fine, albeit a little cumbersome. Therefore, it takes no small amount of resourcefullness, initiative and creativity to stick a blade on a solid piece of something and poke a pencil sized hole in for pencil sharpening purposes. Since the creation of the pencil sharpener, knife sales have irreversibly spiralled downwards, limited only to kitchens and ghettos, while sharpener sales have soared. A further inovation, the two-holed sharpener, widened the gap between the redundant knife and the chic new sharpening implement.
A not-so-great, but world-changing, anonymous invention, is the examination. Evidently, somebody, presumably a teacher, somewhere along the line in history, decided that there had to a be a morale-sapping, anxiety-inducing, insomnia-causing method to seperate the best from the rest. Clearly a very sadistic, disturbed person. Now, you can see its effects everywhere. From is traditional acedemic sanctuary, to driving, music, entry into an obscure clique. Everywhere. Anywhere. Thanks Mr. Exam.
Whoopie cushions. Someone clearly thought that people sitting down and making farting noises was funny. It is not.
Swimming pools. Although not a great leap of creativity ('hey, instead of us going to the water, why don't we bring the water to us'), it nevertheless took brains to turn it into a business venture. And we still have to go to the water.
Anyway, there'll be more posts like this in the coming weeks and months, due to excessive boredom. If it floats your boat, stick around.
Word of the Day: Inventions
Monday, 29 September 2008
My wild, delinquent ways
Woo, mid-sem break, and I've been a party boy in recent weeks. I've been to...would you believe it... two parties in the last two weeks! I should really cut back on my party-going. At least that's what my parents say. I think that this mandate has an element of self-interest, in that they wouldn't care if I didn't get them to pick me up at night. More on driving later.
So first up, on the Saturday night before mid-sem break, it was Orrin's 18th! About time too. I thought I was young. It was held at this Korean bbq/karaoke place called 'Four Seasons' in Glen Waverley, which charged ridiculous prices. Anyway, it was kind of me-and-Meng time more than Orrin time, as he was was too busy 'entertaining' his friends. Incidentally, me and Meng got him a soccer ball, which he seemed fairly pleased about. At the place, we met a bunch of new people, who were quite nice, albeit a bit odd. Oh, and Orrin's girlfriend. No comment.
A good night though. Karaoke was...meh. It's not really singing when you have to shout over twelve-odd people. How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
Next up was JC's 19th birthday dinner on last Saturday at the mysterious-sounding 'The Booth'. 19th isn't highlighted because it's really a nowhere birthday. Anyway, this gig had a sense of deja vu about it.
Eugene and I got JC a pen and pacer set. Much more practical than 'The Biggest Loser' book with James Cheng photos pasted all over it.
I skipped on K because I was going to work with my Dad the next day. And work I did. I was completely knackered by the end. My thighs still hurt.
About that driving. I have completed my seventh lesson, and, according to driving instructor, should be on a road near you come Christmas. Bet you're all looking forward to that. And that way, I won't get any complaints even if I go to a party before breakfast, and one after dinner, each and every day.
Word of the day: Party Animal
So first up, on the Saturday night before mid-sem break, it was Orrin's 18th! About time too. I thought I was young. It was held at this Korean bbq/karaoke place called 'Four Seasons' in Glen Waverley, which charged ridiculous prices. Anyway, it was kind of me-and-Meng time more than Orrin time, as he was was too busy 'entertaining' his friends. Incidentally, me and Meng got him a soccer ball, which he seemed fairly pleased about. At the place, we met a bunch of new people, who were quite nice, albeit a bit odd. Oh, and Orrin's girlfriend. No comment.
A good night though. Karaoke was...meh. It's not really singing when you have to shout over twelve-odd people. How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
Next up was JC's 19th birthday dinner on last Saturday at the mysterious-sounding 'The Booth'. 19th isn't highlighted because it's really a nowhere birthday. Anyway, this gig had a sense of deja vu about it.
- It was in a Chinese/Cantonese enclave. Instead of GW, it was in Box Hill.
- Karaoke again, except this time I skipped it, owing to the physically demanding work I had the following day.
Eugene and I got JC a pen and pacer set. Much more practical than 'The Biggest Loser' book with James Cheng photos pasted all over it.
I skipped on K because I was going to work with my Dad the next day. And work I did. I was completely knackered by the end. My thighs still hurt.
About that driving. I have completed my seventh lesson, and, according to driving instructor, should be on a road near you come Christmas. Bet you're all looking forward to that. And that way, I won't get any complaints even if I go to a party before breakfast, and one after dinner, each and every day.
Word of the day: Party Animal
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Changeling
What's better than a midnight snack? A midnight post, of course. Duh.
Yesterday was a strange day. Well, not really. Just very...I dunno. I'm bad at English, and I have limited vocabulary, so leave me alone.
Anyway, last night we had dinner at a friend's house to celebrate Moon Cake Day, for want of better words. Incidentally, we also caught up with some old friends at said person's house. It was fun, because we kept bombarding balloons at Whitney, who offered no resistence at all, and I absolutely dominated some self-professed table tennis professionals with my disproportionately quick reflexes.
Anyway, it got me thinking. Some people change a lot in a very short time, some people change a lot in a long time, and some people are like a rock. They never change. Take Jono, for instance. He'll always be a pyromaniac. And Zorba will always be...idiosynchratic. But...I dunno. Everyone had changed since last I saw them. I have no idea where I'm going with this, but I think I should've gone to Nigel's barbecue instead. Shame he called me when the snags were already getting cold. Anyway, continuing on, I've observed change in many people apart from those already mentioned. In some ways, it's good. I mean, you don't want a person to stay the way they are forever. That'd just be bad, not to mention boring. But some just change too much, so much so that you don't know how you could have liked (or hated, I'm not always pessimistic) that person in the first place.
Strange creatures, humans.
Word of the day: change
Yesterday was a strange day. Well, not really. Just very...I dunno. I'm bad at English, and I have limited vocabulary, so leave me alone.
Anyway, last night we had dinner at a friend's house to celebrate Moon Cake Day, for want of better words. Incidentally, we also caught up with some old friends at said person's house. It was fun, because we kept bombarding balloons at Whitney, who offered no resistence at all, and I absolutely dominated some self-professed table tennis professionals with my disproportionately quick reflexes.
Anyway, it got me thinking. Some people change a lot in a very short time, some people change a lot in a long time, and some people are like a rock. They never change. Take Jono, for instance. He'll always be a pyromaniac. And Zorba will always be...idiosynchratic. But...I dunno. Everyone had changed since last I saw them. I have no idea where I'm going with this, but I think I should've gone to Nigel's barbecue instead. Shame he called me when the snags were already getting cold. Anyway, continuing on, I've observed change in many people apart from those already mentioned. In some ways, it's good. I mean, you don't want a person to stay the way they are forever. That'd just be bad, not to mention boring. But some just change too much, so much so that you don't know how you could have liked (or hated, I'm not always pessimistic) that person in the first place.
Strange creatures, humans.
Word of the day: change
Friday, 12 September 2008
Joy
What an explosive three weeks it has been. Huge. Absolutely epic. Let me take you back to the start of this horror three week period.
I had a three thousand word essay due, a macro mid-sem test, and an International Studies presentation to set up, and prepare for my clarinet exam. All in the one week. So basically, I stayed up until 1 o'clock every night from Sunday through to Tuesday night piecing together what should have been a very straightforward essay for biz law. The reason why it was unneccesarily complicated was because my partner was supposed to have written half. It turns out that not only did she not contribute any opinions, she also was unable to do her half because she had a mid-sem test, which the rest of us do not have. And the strange thing is, I still cannot figure out what she's busy doing, since Victor has informed me that she doesn't do her Accounting homework either. The macro mid-sem went surprisingly well, given that I hardly did any study. I ended up getting 28/40, which I thought was alright, because it makes up 20%, so it's really 14/20. That sounds much better. International studies presentation preparation was just that, except lacking the preparation. I thought I was bad, because I'd only done the speech and not the powerpoint slides like we had agreed on. End result was I was ahead of the whole group because I had done my speech, and they hadn't done anything. Not surprisingly, I completely screwed up my clarinet exam on Saturday, seeing as I hadn't practiced for pretty much the whole week, and owing to the fact that I'm a dud.
Week 2 was a blast. Tuesday was my International Studies presentation. I think I might have dragged the whole team down, because I take my speeches too casually. However, I think I may have dominated the individual mark, because I answered about 95% of the questions directed at us with my trademark witty/cutting/sarcastic/not funny humour, mixed in with some real information and puffery. And one of my group members, Steph, informed me that someone gave me a 10 out of 10 for individual effort, so I hope that's the average mark they all give me. Which brings me to one of the good points of group assignments: making new friends, like aforementioned group member. In that same tute, I also got my last essay back with an A written on the back. Naturally, I was stoked. Until I read the name up the top of the marking sheet. It said Joanna. I almost died of disappointment, because I knew my name wasn't Joanna. I informed my tutor, who told me that I got 'approximately' the same mark as Joanna. Whoever she is. Later, she emailed me (the tutor, that is) and told me I got B++. Which is not the same as A, whatever she might say. B++, in case you're wondering, because I have no idea why they use A's and B's, is 75 - 79.
After those two action-packed weeks, I thought I was going to get some respite. But, as with most bad things in life, work never ends. I now have two assignments due next week. And to compound my misery, I found out that next week is in fact not the last week of term, and that everyone had been misleading me when they told me we had two weeks of break. The week after the essays, I have another macro test. The joys that life brings.
Word of the day: Disappoinment
I had a three thousand word essay due, a macro mid-sem test, and an International Studies presentation to set up, and prepare for my clarinet exam. All in the one week. So basically, I stayed up until 1 o'clock every night from Sunday through to Tuesday night piecing together what should have been a very straightforward essay for biz law. The reason why it was unneccesarily complicated was because my partner was supposed to have written half. It turns out that not only did she not contribute any opinions, she also was unable to do her half because she had a mid-sem test, which the rest of us do not have. And the strange thing is, I still cannot figure out what she's busy doing, since Victor has informed me that she doesn't do her Accounting homework either. The macro mid-sem went surprisingly well, given that I hardly did any study. I ended up getting 28/40, which I thought was alright, because it makes up 20%, so it's really 14/20. That sounds much better. International studies presentation preparation was just that, except lacking the preparation. I thought I was bad, because I'd only done the speech and not the powerpoint slides like we had agreed on. End result was I was ahead of the whole group because I had done my speech, and they hadn't done anything. Not surprisingly, I completely screwed up my clarinet exam on Saturday, seeing as I hadn't practiced for pretty much the whole week, and owing to the fact that I'm a dud.
Week 2 was a blast. Tuesday was my International Studies presentation. I think I might have dragged the whole team down, because I take my speeches too casually. However, I think I may have dominated the individual mark, because I answered about 95% of the questions directed at us with my trademark witty/cutting/sarcastic/not funny humour, mixed in with some real information and puffery. And one of my group members, Steph, informed me that someone gave me a 10 out of 10 for individual effort, so I hope that's the average mark they all give me. Which brings me to one of the good points of group assignments: making new friends, like aforementioned group member. In that same tute, I also got my last essay back with an A written on the back. Naturally, I was stoked. Until I read the name up the top of the marking sheet. It said Joanna. I almost died of disappointment, because I knew my name wasn't Joanna. I informed my tutor, who told me that I got 'approximately' the same mark as Joanna. Whoever she is. Later, she emailed me (the tutor, that is) and told me I got B++. Which is not the same as A, whatever she might say. B++, in case you're wondering, because I have no idea why they use A's and B's, is 75 - 79.
After those two action-packed weeks, I thought I was going to get some respite. But, as with most bad things in life, work never ends. I now have two assignments due next week. And to compound my misery, I found out that next week is in fact not the last week of term, and that everyone had been misleading me when they told me we had two weeks of break. The week after the essays, I have another macro test. The joys that life brings.
Word of the day: Disappoinment
Monday, 25 August 2008
The Holidays that Never Were
It's not like I never had a holiday. Quite the opposite. It's just that I seemed to have omitted them in my posting, and now my life is out of chronological order. I'm sure you'll get over it. I'm sure I will. Eventually.
I think I forgot about them because they weren't really that eventful. It doesn't mean they were boring. Just not very exciting. Basically went out with various people doing various things. All very fun and amusing. But there was always something I felt that was missing. Element of my existence, even amongst all that happiness of catching up with old buds.
On this theme of reunions, I saw Si-Yuan at the bus stoppo today. It's weird. I go to uni with these guys, but I hardly ever see them. Maybe I just don't make the effort.
Closing Ceremony last night. I think I started falling asleep halfway through. Really, it wasn't that exciting. I was slightly awake when Leona Lewis came out, then fell asleep halfway through the song. Very good games. Not from the point of view of an Australian, but a neutral spectator.
I read in the paper today that they spent billions of dollars on the Games. Or a billion. I can't remember. Exorbitant, that's all I remember. I still maintain that could have spent at least half of that on something more tangible.
I have so much stuff to get through this week, I don't even know why I'm blogging. It seemed like a good thing to do at the time. Like that TKD guy said before kicking the ref.
Word of the day: Olympics
I think I forgot about them because they weren't really that eventful. It doesn't mean they were boring. Just not very exciting. Basically went out with various people doing various things. All very fun and amusing. But there was always something I felt that was missing. Element of my existence, even amongst all that happiness of catching up with old buds.
On this theme of reunions, I saw Si-Yuan at the bus stoppo today. It's weird. I go to uni with these guys, but I hardly ever see them. Maybe I just don't make the effort.
Closing Ceremony last night. I think I started falling asleep halfway through. Really, it wasn't that exciting. I was slightly awake when Leona Lewis came out, then fell asleep halfway through the song. Very good games. Not from the point of view of an Australian, but a neutral spectator.
I read in the paper today that they spent billions of dollars on the Games. Or a billion. I can't remember. Exorbitant, that's all I remember. I still maintain that could have spent at least half of that on something more tangible.
I have so much stuff to get through this week, I don't even know why I'm blogging. It seemed like a good thing to do at the time. Like that TKD guy said before kicking the ref.
Word of the day: Olympics
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)