Minor Update

So here's a quick update: I have three more exams to go: Narrative, Chemistry and Software Engineering. All due next week.

I've probably failed my calculus exam a second time in a row, this time due to a combination of idiocy, gastritis (or whatever it is; Zakil tells me that it's an odd combination of symptoms that he can't place) and math phobia.

The summer holidays are up soon, which I think of as an excellent opportunity to spend time with loved ones, learn new things (Tornado webservers, anyone?), and work on Pandamian.

Speaking of which, Pandamian's a top five regional finalist for Meltwater's Movers and Shapers competition. The team's flying to Hong Kong on the 17th of May; I'll be missing out on that trip because I'll be back in Kuching on the 15th. But I intend to put in a full week of co-development before coming back.

Will be speaking for a little bit at the Singapore Startup Weekend this Saturday; Meng was really kind when he invited me over to share my experience with Pandamian. Am looking forward to an hour amongst startup-ish people, a free lunch, and then back to studying I go.

The Cat's Chair, Interactive Edition

I spent the whole of yesterday working on this: The Cat's Chair. It's a 2009 (or was it 2008?) short story that I wrote, which I've now taken and converted into a semi-interactive digital reading experience.

From the about page:

This project is an exercise in character. I have no control over the names each reader may choose to use for their reading of the story — or, indeed, should they choose not to set names of their own and read the story with names chosen by the reader before them.

This naturally makes it tricky for a reader to refer to the characters of the story — for instance, how might I talk of the protagonist if her name changes with every reading? How am I to talk about the Evil Cat (the antagonist in this piece) when his name changes according to the whims of a reader?

The Cat's Chair, written under the pseudonym Eli James in 2009, has been edited no less than five times, and once more in preparation for this project. It has an off-beat, quirky tone to it; something that I have attempted to maintain despite the change in medium.

My hope is that your reading of this narrative would be truly unique, small as these differences may be. For we do know that names do change our perception of character; The Cat's Chair is written to be geographically neutral, and it doesn't take much imagination for the story to change, should one enterprising reader switch all the names to Russian!

I'd love it if you give it a try — I, for one, think that all the cats in the story are rather cute.

Stuff During the Holidays

I'm on my end-of-academic-year break at the moment. It's three months long, and I'm planning to use it to learn a couple of new things. I've been back in Kuching for 3 weeks: my days have been filled with programming for my startup, and teaching debate, and running. Quiet, productive days.

What I haven't been doing lately, however, is writing. It's been a good 4 weeks since I last wrote anything of length, and I feel my writing muscles already fraying and rotting in my head. (Not that - you know - there are muscles in my head ... but yeah you do get what I'm talking about now, don't you?)

I've got a couple of things I want to talk about, and they're all in higgly-piggly rows in my head. Some of these topics interest me a lot, because I've been thinking about them for some time now, and while I'm not sure if the ideas are right, I suspect that the only way to find out is to hash them out, on paper. What I do know is that I need to get writing now, before the new semester begins. It's the only free time that I really have.

Things I'd like to do, before the holidays are over:

• Learn recursion (i.e.: work through The Little Schemer)
• Learn proper algorithm analysis
• Revise relations and set theory (I'll probably need this for database work, and soon)
• Learn Vim (mostly done)
• Learn Python and Django (covered basic syntax for Python, still at the learning curve for Django)
• Revise graphs and trees

Loosely coupled to that is a light reading-list that I'm nearly finished with, and probably a writing schedule that I'll need to adhere to.

This feels weird - writing again. I'll need to get used to it as soon as I can.

[Update]: Somebody commented on how foreign and odd-sounding my todo list reads, and so - an explanation:

Vim is a code editor packaged with most linux/unix systems, and programmers swear by it because it allows you to do code editing on a cramped keyboard, without using a mouse. (I've already used it while lying on a couch in my grandparent's place - it works, by gum, it works!

Python is a programming language. You know Google? Well, they run on Python. (I also like how it sounds like a snake. And that allows me to make up all sorts of pun-jokes, e.g.: Python is very pretty. As a programming language! Not, you know, as a snake. Though it is a pretty snake ...)

Django is a framework for building web applications (like blogs, or Twitter, or Facebook) and I'm currently using it to build some writing software. More on that in a bit.

And ... well, the rest (recursion, graph, trees, set theory) are math stuff - and I'm not going to talk about them now because I've yet to learn anything apart from recursion (and I don't think they make for polite dinner conversation). Don't you just love polite geeks?

1AM Run

It is a habit of mine to immediately follow long, crazy-assed posts with extremely short ones, so here be a picture of me after a 1am run:

Note(!): the mushroom cloud of doom that is my hair! I originally planned to have it cut right before the finals, 3 weeks from now, and that plan was all fine and dandy until a Vietnamese friend looked me in the eye and said "In my country, cutting hair before exams is bad luck."

Err ... ouch. Goodbye barber, hello uncomfortable sideburns.

Hyperfunction Air And Sleep

I am at the School of Computing. Four macbooks including mine, one vaio, a lego-bot and the hushed sounds of people looking over each other's shoulders, at laptop screens. The soft tapping of keyboards. Half the people here have IDEs open and code on-screen. There are full ceiling-to-floor windows at this part of SoC. It's bright. The windows overlook Research Drive. I can see the Synchotron Light Source from where I'm sitting - it's this circular red-stone building that houses a compact superconducting storage ring. I do not know what that means. There is a soft buzzing in my ears. The light is bright and a little overwhelming and there's this tightness in my chest where my heart is, like a hand's holding it, and it's gripping ever so slightly. It's still buzzing. Or maybe it's the sound of the water pumps spraying the wooden deck outside? A woman walks past, her heels clacking on tile and I swallow. Too loud. I am hyperalert. Colours are bright, a little too saturated. I have finished my tutorial assignment, the code is good and it works. I know. I checked it at 4 this morning. I stood at my windows at 6 and stared at the sunrise. I slept at 7. Passed up assignment at 9. I am running on two hours of sleep. It's funny. I don't feel tired. I'm waiting for a friend to come out of a lecture so we can discuss our NM1101E assignment. It has to be done by Wednesday. But we're only free on the weekend. I may have to go to church later. Youth. Or maybe not. I promised. I don't know. I might be asleep by then. University is a very free place. I should be sleeping now. Maybe I will.

Departure iii

I'm leaving now. I'm leaving now. I love you all. Good bye.

The Bob Review

Folks, meet ... Bob:

Yes, Bob is a 13-inch unibody Macbook, and no, I didn't choose the name. As I remember it, I didn't even have a say in the matter ... and now the Bob's Bob regardless of what I do say. But anyway. I've been fiddling with the Macbook for a couple of weeks now, doing the expected new-laptop things like installing fancy unneeded programs, changing the desktop background once every two days, and fiddling with the folder structure to figure out where to my torrents documents go; plus et all, etc etc. But if you own a laptop, and you are a geek (as I am) then it's very likely that you've already gone through such a phase ... and so in which case you can now nod along with me in mutual understanding and ignore the confused looks of everyone else who haven't yet gotten to the heartwarming and ultimately grown-up stage of owning your own computer. Which I now have. Grown up. 3 weeks ago. Yes.

The Macbook looks great, both from above, with the screen closed, and in use, with the lid up and the laptop in front of you. The body's solid aluminium, finished in this wonderful metallic sheen, and there are almost no ridges or grooves anywhere on the notebook apart from the battery-compartment release, which is below the body, and the thumbscoop at the very front of the Macbook. There's also this acrylic Apple logo up top that lights up when the Macbook's in use, and smudges over when it's not; I particular enjoy rubbing it to see my fingerprints warp over the plastic and then wipe it clean, and then rub it again to wipe it clean to rub it again, and so on so forth. Not so much when that happens on the glass screen, but that's getting ahead of myself.

The 'unibody' designation means that this Macbook was build from one solid block of aluminium, which was lasered out and washed, and then fitted with electronics directly mounted onto the unibody itself. Apple claims that the unibody allows them to make lighter and tougher Macbooks, and thus far they seem to right on one count: this laptop's the lightest I've ever carried, even when compared to the other polycarbonate Macbooks my friends own; and it feels rock solid. But tough it isn't, not really: based on anecdotal evidence the unibody Macbook cannot survive a forceful drop on gravel, and where a polycarbonate body would - at worse - be cracked, the danger in this case would be for the Macbook to dent, damaging the mounted Logicboard in the process. (There's also been a lot of complaints that the unibody dents easily, so I'm now hunting for a good sleeve/laptop bag.)

Another minor complaint is the display itself. The Macbook's screen is covered with a sheet of glass, and the LED-backlit display is absolutely fantastic for watching movies or doing photograpy-related post-processing. Apple promises the best colour reproduction money can buy ... and on that front, at least, the Macbook does not disappoint. Colours practically pop off screen and onto your lap, and it's pretty hard for photographs to look bad on the Macbook display - it's just too bright, too polished, and too beautiful for anything to look particularly ugly. But the downside to this fidelity is that the Macbook's screen is also very glossy. And when I say glossy, I don't just mean glare - glare's something you get from, say, iPod screens. When I say glossy I mean that the whole Macbook display is a mirror in itself, and whenever you turn the backlight down your face practically pops onscreen the exact same way the colours did a couple minutes before. In this way, at least, you get to preen right before and after you use the Macbook, making this computer possibly the most narcissistic thing I have ever owned.

A review about a Macbook is also - essentially - a review about Apple's software, and this review won't be complete without talking a little about how it feels to live, and work, with OSX. If there ever is a reason for you to get a Macintosh computer, OSX is it. It's hard to describe the joy of the platform to a Windows user, or how OSX gently changes the way you think about computers, but here's my best shot: the Mac is fun. It's fast, for starters, meaning anything and everything you throw at it would still run faster than on a Windows machine; it's stable - meaning it almost never crashes; it's easy to use - printers, mice and internet connections are all basically plug and play, and then drag and drop; and then there's Expose ... which is God's gift to the OCD multitasker. There are a hundred and one things that work together to make the Mac environment more fun to use than a Windows machine, but the space here is limited ... so allow me to toss you just one example of how a Mac is better than Windows: program installation.

In Windows, installing a program feels like planting a tree, where the program puts down roots into the depths of your system. When you uninstall that program, you uproot the tree ... and you leave behind bits of root and bark, stuck in dark places like your program files folder and the system registry. Mac's program installation is drag and drop, and it feels less like planting a tree than it does like inviting a guest to stay in your home. The guest comes with his briefcases all packed, and he's happy to do what he does because everything he needs is in the briefcases he brings along with him. And the best thing about it? You can shift the guest anyhow you like within your house, or even kick him out ... and he works just as fine, whichever way you like it. Uninstallation on Mac? Drag the program icon to your bin and click empty. And within seconds, your program is gone.

On to writing, that activity that consumes about 70% of my computer time: typing on the Macbook is wonderful. The unibody Macbook's keys are black against the aluminium indent that holds them, and they're tactile and wonderful to the fingers ... at once familiar and foreign, and unlike any other keyboard I've touched before. Two years ago, while working on The Square with a Macbook, I complained about the keyboard spacing to Tay, who has one. He scoffed and told me that I didn't know what I was talking about. And I didn't. This keyboard - black plastic and curved corners and rounded tops - is the pinnacle of keyboard engineering, and I now love it to bits.

Note the edges: they're really sharp.

Two other things I must point out: the unibody Macbook's palm rest is 90 degrees of sharp aluminium, and it cuts into your wrists as you type. This is probably the worst design element of the product, and it isn't noticeable when you're trying it out in stores because you're standing while you're typing and the angle of your fingers are such that your wrists don't actually come in contact with the edges. But if you write a lot, like I do, you'll find that the Macbook's palm rest is as unforgiving as a bed of nettles to a naked ass, and probably just as painful.

Secondly, OSX doesn't treat mice and cursors the same way Windows does, and I found the cursor movement with my Logitech Laser mouse to be less consistent and somewhat jerky as compared to the built-in glass trackpad. The problem turns out to be Apple's handling of the mouse acceleration curve in OSX - things that are supposed to be smooth are not, and the speed from which I can jerk the mouse is rather inconsistent with the way I know mice are supposed to behave. The answer? Third party, firmware-level software, and my mouse now gives me the performance I expect of it.

Conclusion? I love my Macbook, and I think it's a good buy regardless of the few flaws I've shown you above. Would I recommend it to you? Absolutely not. Six days after I ordered my Macbook Apple announced a new line of Macbook Pros, the cheapest of which effectively became the replacement to my Macbook - only faster, cheaper, and with a cutting-edge 7-hour battery attached. So go get that one, instead.

And as for me? I'm happy with Bob, and I'm happy with the way Bob's been treating me lately. It's hard not to be happy when you've got a sexy, curvy little thing sitting by your bed for the past 3 weeks. And if this can be described a relationship, then I suppose you'd say that I'm still trying to get her to sleep with me ... but rest assured that Bob and I currently sleep on two different beds - me in mine and her on my table. And in the dark, when I'm about to turn in for the night and there's a splinter of moonlight across the room, I see the warm, silver glow of her curves ... and I tell myself, hell, I'm one lucky guy.

Trust me on this one: I think I'm in love.

Warning: Do Not Visit UGS/Novelr (Resolved)

If you visit either UGS or Novelr, you'll see a splash page telling you that both sites have exceeded bandwidth usage, and that you'll be granted access if you download a small 'web accelerator app'. Do NOT download - it's probably malicious software. My bandwidth has NOT expired, and right now I'm suspecting that my server has been compromised. Will update this space live over the next few hours.

Update 1: Here's a screenie:



Update 2: Seems the whole of ASO is affected, not just Novelr and UGS. Hacked, probably.

Update 3: Tweeted Tim Dorr, founder of ASO. Tim confirms something is up.

Update 4: Tim tweets back, saying the issue's resolved. ASO forums now has a thread about the DNS attack.

Hacker attack's averted, though I'm not sure how he got into ASO in the first place. I'm just glad it wasn't an account-specific hack (like, I dunno ... mine); anyway UGS and Novelr are safe places to go again.

On a side note: this is exactly why I recommend ASO to all my friends who're looking for a webhost. They're (relatively) cheap, they're fast, and when disaster strikes at 2 A.M. they make sure everything turns out ok in as little time as possible. This crisis was resolved in 3 hours. Most of their customers - and by extension most of Novelr's readers - probably won't even notice. These people are fantastic.

Redux

A Note About The {Essay} tag

Just a short one, this time: an {Essay} tag in the post title means that I've spent an unreasonably long amount of time (some essays took a month) of research, writing, and editing on a post. You can see all the Mochaspot essays to date here, but I must admit that as of press time I'm not really pleased with any of them.

Unrelated note: one day after I wrote my Earth Hour essay the New York Times magazine published a feature article about Freeman Dyson - heavyweight amongst heavyweight scientists - who came out against Global Warming and faced the consequences. He calls himself a 'humanist', a person who believes that it is more important to save the world from war, poverty and holocaust, rather than from global warming. "Don't worry," he assures his wife, "the polar bears will be fine."

I like him already.

Did I Mention That The Internet

is a good escape for Writer's Block? This is Boxxy by the way. She's 16, she's hyper ADD, and she's caused a civil war on the Internet.



She's also really cute. Yes odd post this, by my standards. *suppresses urge to include cute pouty emote* Normal content coming back as soon as I can start writing properly again. Le sigh.

Ida

This is her tag. The rules:

• Take a recent picture of yourself or take a picture of yourself right now
  
• Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair ... just take a picture
  
• Post that picture with NO editing
  
• Post these instructions with your picture
  
• Tag 5 people to do this

The rules were simple enough, though Ida, being Ida, challenged me to do ahlien. 

Which I did.

I tag: Tracy, because all girls have a camwhore gene somewhere in them, though I have NEVER seen her camwhore; Daniel, because I know his gayness is crying out for it; Wen Qi, because then I won't have to look at all the fantastic food photos whenever I visit her blog; Tze Lun, because he never updates his; and ... Alex. Because it's Christmas.

Lousy

Dear HFM,

You really have good timing, don't you? I mean, you could've picked any number of days in the year to attack me. Like Hari Raya, for instance, where I was busy getting fat. Or Chinese New Year. Or the two mock exams. All of these wonderful, valid times to prevent me from stuffing my face/stressing myself out.

And there's also the sticky issue of my age. What are you - blind, or something? Last I checked, I'd lost ALL of my milk teeth! And gained four headache-causing wisdom ones. I'd write a letter to them, too, only they aren't viruses. George Chan (yes, he of the frog face) says adults are immune to the virus. HAH! Go visit him sometime, won't you? Cocky little idiot probably thinks he's immune to everything, seeing as he survived the last butt-kicking elections.

Okay, okay I get the idea. I suppose I should be grateful: I'm feeling relatively okay, apart from the mouth-ulcers and the hand and foot sores. And the horrible bone-ache I woke up today with. But there's no danger of me kicking the bucket. Or pulling the plug. Or whatever you call it when you win and I lose and you laugh all the way to the grave. (Dr Chan might call it losing an election. Hyuk hyuk.) I am very grateful for that. No kid.

I think I'll choose to look at the bright side of things. Like being able to study at home. Or the way my sisters are treating me like the plague (because, like, you know, I am the plague). Or the sight of mum pouring hot water over my plates and spoons and forks, or dad going: "Why you touch the wall? Now you infect the wall. Don't touch the wall. And don't touch the rice. And why you sit in that chair?"

Okay that's not really funny.

They say when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Now I wonder what you'll taste like.

Bleeurgh.

PS: This is, until further notice, my last post before STPM. Unless something big happens that grants me Internet access, that is. Like a 5km asteroid smashing into earth. Or the abolishment of the Malaysian Examinations Council. Or Anwar getting sodomized. Again. You get the idea.
PPS: I'm wondering if my dog contracts HFM from me, what would it be called? Paw, paw and mouth disease? That would be ... cute.

STPM

If there is only one good thing to have come out of 8 hour study sessions, then it is this:

My library is increasing at a rate of about 5 albums per week, and that's only because I'm running through most of them at about that pace. It's the only thing that's keeping me sane. My aunt, to me, this afternoon: "Are you dreaming or are you thinking?" she asks, and I pretend not to hear her. The windows are thrown open in front of me and it's a beautiful day out, but I'm shut behind a table, chin on hand, staring at the sky.

And if my parents are crying /then I'll dig a tunnel / from my window to yours

And escape.

Bookeeping

Now I don't really like tags, but this one's from le Edrei, so I can't just ignore him and hide under a bomb shelter. And he's right - memes are a 'lost art people don't really know how to do anymore' - but I think that's mostly because Malaysians grew up in a blogging environment that threw about the Stupidest. Memes. Ever. I mean, random songs as answers to questions? Like that's interesting to read. And then there's this one going around ...

Okay maybe that was a bad example.

On with the tag:

Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?
Oh yes. I was a very lonely kid in primary school - my classmates mostly spoke Chinese, my best friend transferred out in Primary 3, and I was stuck in this alien world where running fast meant the difference between being bullied and being - (wait, what's the word for 'not-bullied'?) - happy. Reading - and later on writing - was a very good way of escaping my problems.

There was this one time in Primary 4 when I had two essay corrections to hand up right after recess, but I hadn't done both and there was no way to complete them in time. I was in the 'new' block in Chung Hwa No. 1, and in front of it there is this slice of beautiful slope, covered by trees and always overflowing with kids. I took a book, sat under the roots of one of those trees, and read the recess away.

The caning seemed more bearable after that.

What are some books you read as a child?
I finished a good portion of both the Hardy Boys and the Nancy Drew series, and I think I ploughed through at least half (if not all) of the Famous Five, Secret Seven and Adventure books by Enid Blyton. I really enjoyed The Secret Garden in Primary 3, and I started reading Harry Potter when I was in Primary 5.

Thinking back on it now I realize that the books I loved were usually the ones with a lonely, misunderstood character in the centre of it all, who finds a reprieve from his/her problems in some way. The secret garden and Hogwarts became wonderful places to run away and hide in, back then, and now sometimes - just for kicks - I take those books out again and vanish into their pages.

What is your favourite genre?
I don't have one. Or rather, I'm not sure I do. I enjoyed a lot of fantasy when I was younger, but after SPM I forced myself to start reading real literature, for what it was worth. And I found that I enjoyed both - and thrillers, and mystery novels, and chic-lit. There are too many good books in too many different genres with too many winning qualities out there to be picky.

Do you have a favourite novel?
Oh that's easy. Lord Of The Flies. Golding's masterpiece is a wonderful exploration of sin, civilization and man, even if using boys on an island to play it out is a slightly perverse premise. But what the hell. Great pacing, jaw-dropping writing and an explosive ending - crazy stuff.

Where do you usually read?
In bed, in the family room, or on the road. I've developed reading while walking to a fine art - you know how those action sequences always never seem to end ...

When do you usually read?
Anytime. And I'm not kidding. Sam lent me Life Of Pi once, and I spent hours on a lifeboat along with Pi Patel, way into the wee hours of the morning. I finished Breaking Dawn at 4 a.m. A whole day on Daniel's Dune. A week in Lord Of The Rings. Ahh. Good times.

Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
Yeap. I've put War and Peace on hold for a very long time, and I recently paused Moby Dick to read some online work. I usually get back to them once the shorter, easier books are done and there's nothing else in the house.

Do you read non-fiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
Yes. I read non-fiction less voraciously, I often reread non-fiction, and I take my time between chapters to think about what I've just read. No choice. Some of the concepts in the non-fiction books I read are way over my head, even if they are easy to understand. And here's a head's up: really good non-fiction books tend to make you rethink everything else you thought you knew about the subject matter (Theology of Economics, I'm looking your way).

Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?
Let me paraphrase Edrei on this one:

Being poor, I don't usually have the option of buying the books that I want. So I usually borrow them from someone else or check them out from the library. These days though, thanks to the genius that is the internet, I find myself reading more and more books in electronic format instead. I may love the smell of musty pages on a cold day, but that's nowhere near my thirst for reading and finding out new things I never knew.

Being poor, I don't usually have the option of buying all the books that I want. So I usually borrow them from someone else, or check them out from the Sarawak Club library. But I'm reading more and more fiction online, blooks, torrents, the like. It helps that the publishing industry is starting to experiment with using the Internet as an alternative distribution channel, even if similar attempts have failed in the past.

Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?
No. I feed them to my dog.

If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?
I don't have kids at the moment, but if I do ... well. I'll definitely want them to read Harry Potter, and probably Famous Five, Secret Seven and the like, but for their sake I hope they don't identify with the lonely, misunderstood children in those books.

But then again I'll be happy as long as they're reading.

What are you reading now?
My Chemistry and Physics textbooks. Sigh. But I'm also rereading Oren Harari's Break From The Pack, and Stephen King's On Writing.

Do you keep a "To Be Read" list?
I did. But I lost it, so all I've got is a buy all Steinbeck novels you find item flashing in my head.

What’s next to be read?
I'll see if I can get a PDF version of The Wealth Of Networks printed, and then I'll probably consume that.

What books would you like to reread?
It's funny you know, how this question plays out. Some books I've found to be better and better with every reread - the Lord of The Rings, for instance, was horrible the first time I finished it at 14, but then it became better and better everytime I revisited Middle Earth. I'm not really sure why.

I reread Harry Potter too, when I'm bored, and sometimes I open up random books I have in my room to find a particularly memorable passage, or perhaps a particularly touching scene. There is one in The Age Of Innocence where Archer bends down on one knee and kisses Countess Olenska's shoe, because he is forbidden to love her and that is all he dares to do. I friggin loved that. Completely fell in love with that. Yowza.

Who are your favourite authors?
There are many. Steinbeck, for one. Jeffrey Archer. Diana Wynn Jones. Johnathan Stroud. But this really shouldn't matter, no? It's the books we fall in love with, not the authors, and these names aren't as important as the feelings you get when you're curled up, mug in hand, buried in a good book.

I tag:
Tracy
Wen Qi
Ember

Interview

Am being interviewed in The Malay Mail for my work on Novelr. The only problem being that I don't want people recognizing me, especially since Novelr is so community driven. So I got my sister to take out the camera and frame a photo where nobody can see my face.

She now thinks she is the greatest photographer in the world, because she's made her Iban-looking brother look like an Eurasian.

My sister is crazy.

[Update]: Tze Lun just sent me a clipping of the article (thank you Tze Lun!). There's a lot cut out from the original interview - but hey, space constraints and all. I'm not complaining. I am one very happy boy. The article's below if you'd like a read. Just click.

[Update 2]: I have died and gone to heaven.

Update

There is too much in the past 3 weeks to blog about. Here's a condensed slice:

• Judo demo finished last week. I've no idea on the reception just yet, but it feels good to show off. Just once.
  


• Square meeting yesterday. Items to push: noticeboard stuff (boring and unnecessary, if you ask me) and finalizing a design for the next decade or so. I am not happy with the administration's insistence on club reports. Arguing next week for more leeway in the content I want - articles.


• Pushing to move Judo to Batu Lintang. Talks begin next week. Let's see how we go about it.
  


• I can throw Anderson the Black Belter. Yes, he slams me 5 times for every one time I nail him, but it's a start.


• Catching up for Physics and Math. I am trying my best to appreciate equations.


• I am still awaiting MPH in The Spring. Everyone, including my grandparents, has lepak-ed there. Except probably me.
  


• A few Form 5s have asked for representation for creation of the debate club. It is exactly as I'd predicted last year - these people are forced to joined the English Language Society, something that sucks if you're only involved in debate. Talks should resume next week, after nothing to show for half a year's worth of haggling.


• Swimming in Sarawak Club after gym every Saturday. I can only manage 5 laps.
  


• Homework pile per day is insane.
  


• I drive everywhere now. To and from school (sisters in back seat urgh), to Judo, to gym, to the MSN office. 5 cars were broken into last week, with items ranging from a CD player to a badminton racket stolen.


• I sang in ISCF today. It was pretty scary.
  


• Active writing life: I've got two drafts for the Commonwealth Essay comp, neither of which are complete, and somewhere down the pipeline is an article for the Thomian 160th anniversary celebrations. I'm supposed to educate the Old Thomians in an aspect of modern education without coming over as preachy. And to entertain them. I do not know how to go about this.
  


• We have to paint our respective classes soon.
  


• I have new in-ear earphones. They're a bright spot in the week. I love them.

The choice to not be a prefect is paying off. The irony is that I probably will have no certificates for any of these efforts. Nor am I in any leadership posts, apart from Editor. But there is no time to reflect on this. Next week beckons. I must be off.

I Is Bimbo

Okie. Tht day I wuliao nth do so I find readibility test 4 blog. N hw I noe my blog score tiok Post Grad ei. Scary man. Even I oso shock tiok my hair stand up thn chao da lyk kena electric shock lyk tht. So lyk tht la I don lyk to speak so keng wan english. I try write lyk ahbeng/xiaxue!

Come out showr take picture! Hahaha! Lolx! Try bimbo blogging! Eeee! Nice wor! =)

Haha! Is me!

Is also me!

Is me again!

lolx!!

No towel! hahahaha lol!

Is look emo! Is cute? Hahahaha!

Lol hahaha! I smile!

Wish you all happy everyday! Muaks!

Note: This is satire. I am not responsible for any brain damage caused by this post. If you wish to see more, head over to Friendster and knock yourself out.

Photolog - Trouble

Tagged by Max (and others)

Rules: Do this tag and answer all the questions into your own blog. Delete one question from all the questions and add one of your own questions, make sure it is 20 question. Tag 8 persons.

Questions:
1. What was your dream when you were a small kid?
That I would be a scientist, and build Big Robots to kill other Big Robots. Or maybe it was a nuclear bomb. I can't remember.

2. What is the happiest thing in your whole life?
At my current hormonally charged state, many. I could break down at a movie, or a sunset, or when someone chokes me and I see reverse ferris wheels ...

3. If your life is a song, that song will be ...?
Sæglópur by Sigur Ros. Life, while beautiful, can also make no sense.

4. How should the world be seen?
Such an open-ended question. How should I answer?

5. What have you realized recently?
Against a left handed opponent it is safer to play one arm judo.

6. What is the bad habit that you cannot accept the most?
Procrastination. Which is me.

7. When you have something which you are unhappy about, what will you do?
Shout into the pillow. Then I write.

8. Are you afraid of losing?
All the time, until when it matters most.

9. Do you think that you feel helpless, or useless sometimes?
I am at that stage of human development where many would consider me a hormonally charged zombie. What do you think?

10. When you meet someone that you like, will you profess or hide your feeling?
I suppress, and then let it fade away.

11. List out 3 kinds of people you hate the most.
Those who cannot stand creative output from their peers, and do all in their power to rob them of such joy.
Those who believe happiness must be bought.
Those who are loud and empty.
But then I understand them, and I hate no more.

12. What is loneliness?
Imagine in your mind's eye the Earth. And then let your mind travel away from it, further and further away; past the asteroid belts of Jupiter, past the icy rings of Saturn. The earth is but a blue speck in the horizon. We live on that blue speck: we fight and kill and shout ideas at each other, and when the other side rejects our ideas we kill some more. That blue speck is loneliness.

13. Are you satisfied with your life now? Do you think any changes should be made?
Many. Ambition is, after all, an indicator of current failure.

14. When was the most recent time you felt touched?
I believe I was watching Hotel Rwanda. Halfway through the movie I found myself fighting a lump in my throat. Had I given in I would have burst into tears. Weird.

15. Where is the place that you visited and you felt the most beautiful?
The dojo.

16. Use a song to describe how you've felt recently.
Reckoner, by Radiohead.

Because we separate
it ripples our reflections
Because we separate
it ripples our reflections

Reckoner

Did I cater to all you
All your needs?

17. If you have one wish that'll come true, what is it?
That I can sit myself down and actually study.

18. Do you have anything to worry or to be scared about recently?
Ya think *points at blog post preceding this one*

19. If the World is going to end, what will you do?
I would either pray or go to sleep. It depends.

20. Your biggest fear now?
That Osotogari will fail me.