0

Happy Ox Year to everyone!! Haha... I think I'll have some time to update / backdate my photo albums section after bai nian-ing tomorrow and write a proper entry before work kicks in again!

0

I tried switching on my home laptop this evening... power came on a few seconds and went off. Tried it a couple of times... same thing happened. Gathered that it's motherboard problem or something. Well. I guess it's time. It's been faithful the past five years... even survived a hard disk crash.

My only hope is that the stuff in the disk is in tact. Will probably get an external drive casing and use the disk as a portable external drive. Time for some DIY...

Ah well.

0

I set my alarm to snooze at a quarter past eight, which it did faithfully. What was interesting was that I was actually "awake" way before that... but I had this intention to give the main service a miss today (head's having a bout of turbulence) and so I slept in. It seemed like a pretty long time before the alarm rang with Matt Redman's song - "That's What's So Amazing About Your Grace". I tuned down the volume and jumped right back to my bed. The interesting part was that time seemed to slow down for that particular hour. After a seemingly long sleep, I looked to realise that only 5 to 10 minutes had passed. This occurence reiterated itself for quite a number of times before I finally decided to wake up. It was still five minutes before nine.

Now that I'm typing this out, you'll realise that I've given the main service a miss. I shall accompany my sis and walk to church later on for the youth service. Doing backup vocals for worship today... Looking forward to the youth leaders' meeting at Tze's place later on!

0

A deadly trojan horse by the name of trojan.hwachong99promos plagued my system and flushed away all my stuff that lingered in my hard disk, including today's supposedly written entry on the Mid Autumn Festival celebrations held the day before. I wonder why but misfortunes kept beckoning. I have no choice but to stop updating till the trojan deactivates itself on the last day of the promotional exams. Oh well. Maybe it's a sign for me to start my revision. I'll concede this time.

Revision Status
[.....................................] 0.0%

Overweight Status
[OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO] 100.0%

No comments.

0

In case I'm too busy with other stuff of higher priorities (sad to say... there's only ThinkQuest to date. Heh.), so much so that it dispels my concentration on writing a coherent entry for the day, there's still this Dilbert strip accompanying you, beginning today. I've ostensibly neglected the presence of this Dilbert table calendar which I bought in LA last year at the ThinkQuest'98 finals. Now it's put into good use. Wahlah. I shouldn't have thrown away the upper half of the year's comics, but considering that I have one to scan everyday from now on, I wouldn't want to spend a couple more mintutes scanning a few more each day. Pardon my sloth.

Take care. Happy Birthday Dest[tomorrow]. :)

Comic Strip taken off in case of Copyright Infringement

**********

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.......] 91.1%
6 more days to go.

Food of the Day
[Do&Me] Water soaked bunned Chicken Burger. Eeks.

Colour of the Day
Black

0

Funny how one allowed himself to forget about pocket money. The morning rush spoke for itself. End result was the successful consumption of two plates of muslim rice (fried chicken patty, vegetables and onion rings) in between morn and afternoon. The stall holder took pity on me and gave me free food in exchange of Dest's four dollars. Ironic. Does that mean I owe you nothing Dest? Humpf.

I'll never let myself starve for no reason.

In regards of the morning rush, I made it to the assembly queue just in time. That wasn't something worth rejoicing over as I realised the GP presentation notes were STILL hideously tucked inside my folder, yet to be printed on transparencies. My anxiety was justified by the fact that the lesson happened to be the first in line for the day. It was seriously aggravated by the petite actions of the photostating lady. There she was floating about warming up the machines - in sub-human speeds comparable to that of the elderly. In fact, she might be slower than them. That wasn't the time for her to take her own sweet time but obviously nobody told her she had to quicken her steps. Had to rush all the way up to the fourth floor only to find the entire class without Mrs Scowcroft. Phew.

A sense of deja vu just overwhelmed me. It seemed to me that I had written the above paragraph before. Where? When? There is no answer. But this time I'll remember the next time I happen to dwell upon the same stuff.

The presentation wasn't that of a success. Not a failure either. At least the transparencies got her mesmerised for as long as it lasted. I admire Slim's ad-libbing skills. Cheers for our undisputed champ of the crappers! Other contenders such as Dest and Pizzaz are equally on par. I'll be contended if I happen to possess a quarter of their skills. Academically as well, I must say.

I nearly died on the whiteboard with a computing question stuck in my heart. After months of allowing information to flow through my left ear and out of the right, I guessed it's inevitable that I know nothing about anything that remotely resembled lecture notes. Had to flip through the notes several times before attempting to copy wholesale the chuck of algorithm for inserting into a queue. Shucks. Imagine attending college with a blank mind everyday.

The first time I actually played Captain's Ball so enthusiastically. It was by all means entertaining. Pity the back slam didn't connect, else it would have been a more enjoyable experience. What am I saying. Let's play ball every week!

Mr. Joe Lim isn't a martinet after all. Thank god I trimmed my hair to considerable lengths (I'm just being paranoid).

**********

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.......] 85.0%

Food of the Day
Muslim Rice (Fried chicken patty, vegetables, onion rings)

Colour of the Day
I'm seeing colours again.

0

Having my attention glued to the computer screen for more than a geostationary orbit round the sun proved to be deleterious. My body, my mind, my appetite, everything. ARGH. I was so stressed out that even two alarm clocks didn't manage to pull me out from deep slumber. When I finally came through, plagued with lassitude, I was way off the school arrival time. Allowing nature to take its course, I stuck my face into the pillow and dozed off. The thing was, my Mom didn't bother to wake me up after the second call. Blame it on her. *grin*

The sun rose at nine.

Completed a significant amount of ThinkQuest work. Exhilaration embraces my fatigued soul. I see strands of light shooting out of the tunnel. Reminds me of the flabbergasting advertisement Zacky pointed out weeks ago. Ah well. Flabbergast. Yeah.

Checked out the newly opened Barber shop at Bukit Panjang Plaza. It has this set of different hair styles alphabetically labeled hung on the wall. Thought the uncle would ask me for a selection. Oh well. He just asked if I want to cut my hair short. Anything. I came out resembling what I looked the last time I had my hair cut. Damn. I want a change!!

I realised I missed out on a lot of stuff today. The Complex Numbers Lecture (which I really wanted to attend), the swimming lesson, the song practice (was it held?), blah blah... I should be present today and absent myself tomorrow. There are a lot of things to miss[deliberate]. Mr. Yu's[Let's be good boys here =)] lesson, the GP lesson (the presentations), the HTML course, etc... Oh well. Come to think of it, Kelv will be officially back in school tomorrow. I wouldn't want to miss seeing him, would I?

It's getting late.

People. Dot me.

Word Smart II Revision:
Abase - humiliate
Abet - support[wrongdoings]
Abeyance - suspension
Abjure - repudiate
Abomination - something despised
Aboriginal - native
Abound - be very numerous
Abrogate - abolish
Accede - give in
Accentuate - emphasize/highlight
Access - right to approach
Acclaim - praise publicly
Accord - agree/to grant
Accouterments - trappings
Accrue - accumulate
Acquisitive - greedy
Acquit - find not guilty
Acronym - word made up of initials
Adage - proverb
Adduce - cite
Adjourn - suspend
Adjunct - something added
Ad-lib - improvise/speak spontaneously
Advent - arrival
Adventitious - accidental/irrelevant
Advocate - person arguing for a position
Affidavit - sworn written statement
Affiliate - become closely associated
Affliction - misery
Afford - give/to confer upon

If only I can manage to take the time[if I have any] to get them into my head and apply them.

**********

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.......] 83.0%
Let's be humble... =)

Food of the Day
Zinger Meal AGAIN. Make it two meals. I'm a glutton.

Colour of the Day
4th Dimensional. Undecipherable.

0

I'm bearing such a weary saturated brain which simply refuses to let creativity seep though its membrane. Nothing much in particular happened these two days anyways, so there wasn't anything to record. Yeah, the only thing I can think of right now under such a hazy [it was TERRIBLE yesterday... two points short of the unhealthy level] inert atmosphere is that Narcolepsy has surpassed the thousandth visitor mark. Thanks to all faithful readers out there! I know some of you read my stuff frequently but didn't bother to leave a mark. Please do so, really. It'll spur me on to write more. Those who'd signed can go sign again. The more the merrier.

How do you like my representation of Super CHSian? Muscular, studious, donned in the ever fashionable uniform, khaki pants and a superman-like cape grabbed from the backstage curtains. Hah. With ultra thick lenses. Hope you're not puking now. Luckily I bear no resemblance.

I find myself plummeting into the depths of doom as the days draw nearer... be it ThinkQuest or the Promotional Exams. Hence... the journal will be taking a break [OKAY... I admit I'm lazy...] commencing tomorrow till the sixteenth of August, when the deadline for ThinkQuest's over. By then, I should have more time to dwell upon other subjects of interest. The class pages should come in too then. In the meantime, please bear with it and drool over "Yesterdays". Heh. Yeah. Can't bear to leave you too. :"( Humpf. Maybe I'll continue to write, if I can manage my time well. It's really hazardous to leave ThinkQuest in the lurch at this point of time.

Have you been bored by the ostensible repetition of the word "ThinkQuest" over and over again? I have. Met up with Ms Judy Lee today (1998 TQ Coordinator, ETD Officer, MOE) to retrieve some photos and my video interview. Told her that chances of getting into the finals would be quite slim this year considering the arithmetic progression of skilled workers as compared to my stagnant tasteless buds. Agreed. ThinkQuest is nothing but a competition. It's an incentive to win. Losing, on the other hand, should be viewed upon as experience gained. I believe that there's nothing for me to worry about, as long as I put my heart and soul into it for the next two weeks. So here I go. See ya two weeks later. I'll be virtually disconnected. Bon voyage Ms Lee [who would be furthering her studies in Indiana], good luck in your future endeavours! Bon voyage to myself too, as I set forth and sail the last stretch of the ThinkQuest journey and hope that I'll beat the odds and reach the final destination... in time...

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOOOOOO...............] 60.0%

Food of the Day
Spaghetti

Colour of the Day
Blackish White [Another Paradox]

0

[Gravitation Force = GMm/r² where G is the gravitational constant 6.67 x 10^-11...]

Ominous clouds shrouded the sky (must be, but I missed them) before the torrential rain fell upon the dusky streets. It was by far the biggest in the morning ever since the inception of this website. And oh, was it not cold in the bus... The tattooing on the roof top was audible even in the interior... which goes to show how ponderous the raindrops were.

FIY, I was late today, again, but this time it was deliberate. Heh. No attendance marking or flag raising as the class assembled at the swimming pool for swimming lesson. I had to rush in like a lunatic while the instructor lectured the rest on punctuality, how it would hinder the lessons' progress, how time would be wasted, etc. Perfect timing. Thank god I wasn't reprimanded. Humpf. The weird thing was, I was picked to demonstrate the front crawl. ME! The instructor must had regretted her decision after watching me swim full laps. I lacked the ability to propel, though I did pretty neat strokes. Yulp.

Felt so guilty. I gobbled down a drumstick. ARGHHH! SO OILY! SO FATTENING! SO DISGUSTING! I apologise for my uncultured mannerism. I take back my words. Yummy. =)

I did below my expectation for my Physics test. Structured questions were my pitfalls. I failed every part of that section. Miraculously, I did really well for Section A and C, which pulled me out of the pits. I have no choice but to aim for 200% for the Promos.

On the contrary, I did above my expectation for Section A of the F-Math Paper, though I still failed miserably. Hah. I expected to get a single digit score. But I got more than that, which gave me every reason to feel jubilant for a little while. Deep within me, though, I feel utterly ashamed of myself. I promise myself to practice ten problems from any topic each day. It should commence after the completion of today's entry. I hope. Well, I guess I'm one of those stronger ones who're immune to poor results. Let nature take its own course. It's no use being overly distressed. (Obviously, I wouldn't be writing so much if I am)

Tender Fresh has been officially regarded as our class's (or rather, IRCers, TKD kias, whatever) ideal irregular hangout[hideout?]. Hideously located on the third floor of Coronation Plaza (above Tai Zi, another favourite [expensive]hangout), it boasts its ever so yummilicious Lemon Chicken Rice. Decided to try something different for a change today and ordered the fish counterpart. It tasted equally well, but I guessed the auntie could have been more generous with the number of pieces of fish she gave. I was bestowed two puny pieces of batter fried fish while Slim, Dest and Psyclone received innumerous chucks of chicken. Oh well. The place possesses this uniquely tranquil atmosphere which allows us to chat till the cows come home and this was what we precisely did today. We didn't stop yakking till six in the evening. I had a plate full of melted ice with isolated strands of grass jelly floating about before me. Slim said it resembled moss. I said it resembled a gullible act. Ah well. I'm disproving the fact that people don't talk bad about themselves.

**********

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOOOOOO...............] 60.0%
OPS. Stagnant. This is bad.

Food of the Day
[Tender Fresh] Lemon Fish Rice (Dare to be Different)

Colour of the Day
Any colour that adopts bright tints

0

The tumultuous period began when Mrs Scowcroft "randomly" chose me to start off the series of speeches while I was nonchalantly trying to cool myself. My fanning action must had caught her eyes(I supposed so... I was right in front of her). Duh. And there I was leaning against an unstable chair rattling off a whole load of crap which no one comprehended. Humpf. I yearn for a hole!! I guess sweating has become much of a form of art when it concerns me. The trickling never cease whenever intimidation sinks in. Oh well. Fortunately enough, I had all my pals, mostly on the last row, who tried prettily in vain to get me out of this excruciating time. I appreciate the effort guys, but I recognise my own weaknesses. Oh well.

Anyway, I was late today. By thirty seconds. My resolution for tomorrow is not to be late.

A serious leakage resulting in a tremendous drain of energy leads me to wonder if I have punctured a hole in my body, somewhere most probably too obscure to be seen. I find myself getting weaker by the day, my bones ready to shatter given a slight tattooing. Two weeks of fallow led to a lost of stamina. I wasn't able to complete the usual distance which I covered in the past (round Chinese High, uphill, blah... downhill). Sigh. I shan't dwell upon it. I'm depressed enough. Gazing at the canoeist exercising their regime at the globe didn't make it any better. Enjoyed the run though.

Off to do research for my GP essay. I realised that today's entry's a bit short but it can't be helped. Bear with it. =) I may not write anything tomorrow as the prophecy decreed, "Galvin will study for his Further Math test on the 23rd July 1999". Heh.

**********

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOOOOOO...............] 50.0%
The train leaves this Saturday.

Food of the Day
Onion Rings. Can't control my appetite.

Colour of the Day
Black.

0

The very first time that I actually feel the predominant effects of Repetitive Strain Injury. Sigh. Must have worked on the computer for too long. In fact, I've been at it since I woke up, till now, which is 10:42pm exactly. Increment the minute by one. For now. Sigh. Make that another. What a fast typer[typist] I am... Oh make that another one.

I really wonder if I'll be able to complete the ThinkQuest project by the deadline. Sure, I managed to complete ten percent today, which goes to show how much I can churn out if I really wanted to. Sacrificed the time to revise for my Further Math test, which was what I really wanted to do initially for the weekend. The continuation of the journey of "The Hobbit" was hindered in the process as well. How many things am I going to keep on sacrificing to keep my ThinkQuest dream alive? Even my Pa's complaining that I didn't know how to set priorities right. The problem is, isn't ThinkQuest my top priority right now? The deadline's only THIRTY days away! ARGH. Heck. And where's that person who seems to have fallen off the edge of the Universe...

Much better there. You can stay off the edge for as long as you care.

Missed out on the Orchard outing today. Yeah. I'm setting my priorities right you can say that again. The guys actually managed to obtain batik shirts for the Anniversary Dinner for just thirteen dollars. Leylong leylong... Just hope what they bought fits me. I think they've gotten a blue batik hibiscus shirt for me. You know, those that senior citizens wear to Grassroots functions... Hmm. Hope the buttons won't pop. Guess I wouldn't have any use for it after the dinner.

**********

I just can't grasp the meaning of life. Mundane lifestyle oppresses. Dull ole routine depresses. Why ain't anyone seeking for a breakthrough in life? Is there really such a place called paradise? Why did the socially well-off coin this term, this noun, this place? No. The society has never been perfect. How does communication come about? Can you communicate? I know I can't.

A month has passed and I find myself staying where I am. Academically wise, linguistic wise, weight wise, feelings wise and most importantly communication wise. I'll have to conjure up an imaginary friend to keep me company. Hello there. Would you talk to me? Send me a guestbook greeting won't you? ;)

We're going to the zoo zoo zoo, how 'bout you you you, you can come too too too, we're going to the zoo zoo zoo...

**********

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOOOOOO...............] 47.0%
There goes. Ten percent up.

Food of the Day
Nasi Lemak
(English Translation - Muslim Rice Combination Set. So lavish.)

Colour of the Day
Black.

0

Yeah. It has drained off every bit of enthusiasm in me. It forbids me to exhibit any tinge of interest I have for anything. The routine of monotonous trotting life is meant to be broken. Like I said. I've lost all energy. I'm in desperate need for rejuvenation.

Another day just passed. Nothing special in particular. 'Cept that I'd learnt a couple more new words at the GP lesson today. Yeah. GP Lesson's getting more interesting now that I realised. Mrs Scowcroft showed us this prize-winning letter by an RJC student about the banning of R(A) movies and asked for our comments. In the end, we concluded by exercising our right as a Hwa Chongian - by saying that the piece was inclined to the author's own biased viewpoints against R(A) films and that she mistook R(A) movies with X-rated movies, which display purely explicit nudity, not to mention the lack of plot and the altered manifestation of artistic values. Oh well. Mrs Scowcroft seemed to adopt a bias standpoint too. "RJC what. PUI!". The entire class rocked in laughter. Ah well. No offense of any sort.

And there's this stand-in PE teacher for Mr. Joe Lim. Her innocent look covered up her ill intentions. I had this feeling that she was trying to compete with the other PE teacher to see who would be the better tormentor. She made us do push ups for no reason as a welcome ritual. She made us do more as the other class dillydallied and merged with us. Next we had to do scissors jumps, roundhouse stand for five minutes, et cetera, et cetera. I have to admit the entire physical conditioning regime wasn't really tough, but that is not the point. Thought we could get away with games rather than exercising. S32 got to play Captain Ball. Why can't we? We can't expect things to get better when Mr. Joe Lim returns as out PE teacher next week. Can we? Humpf.

I really don't know. But there's this saint in me that bugs me to do my homework. I found myself getting more inclined with my homework, now that I've gotten interest mixed within the parchment and ink. Guess it's time to get back to my Further Math problems. Yeah. Got to study for the Physics test as well. It's time to cut down on my weekly online schedules. Hey. I'm contradicting myself.

Food for thought. I hate rumors.

I didn't mean not to talk to you. We just had nothing to talk about. As yet. We need some things in common to generate a working conversation. I'm sorry. In the meantime, I guess we'll have to stay with a couple of hi's and byes, as in my earlier entry, ""Hi... Bye... Smile?". Apologetically yours. Things will improve. Hope you'll agree with me.

I realised fatigue has gotten all over me, so much so that when I try to think about a poem to write, my mind blanks out. Ah well. Will wait till the juices crawl back. A million years perhaps. Can't you sense that I'm just kidding... ...

**********

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOOO..................] 37.0%

Food of the Day
Milo. Scanty eh?

Colour of the Day
Black.

0

Mr. Cumulonimbus spun a magnificent ominous patchwork of grayish matter over the sky this morning, marking the beginning of a bad day. Indeed. It was a very bad one. Damn.

First of all it was the inaugural lesson of the froggie, free willy series. We arrived at the pool fifteen minutes late and received no reprimand. Heh. That wasn't too bad. We didn't know we still had to report to the pool under such a weather condition. I joined the "Not so strong in swimming" group and bored myself to death. For the entire lesson, we only did two laps at the baby pool. ARGH. Should have joined the other group.

Next a tumultuous thunderstorm raged through, propelling Saturday's Math Test papers to their respective owners. Prayers fell upon deaf ears. Never mind. Somehow one way or another, the result I got today spurred me on to start on my academic revision. Let's see... I'm supposed to complete a couple of tutorials and finish revising Circular Motion today...

I'm starting on this little true-life recollection of my past. Hold on tight. I might sound childish at times.

**********

Childhood Mem'ries

(1) Teacher's Day

It was supposed to be a joyous occasion. Yes, it was, till the very end, when the celebration's over, when everyone returned and when I was left alone at the bus stop waiting patiently for the feeder bus to arrive. I was too small then to realise how precious time is. This was where it all started... (dreamy dreamy state, blurry blurry vision, envisage yourself in a moving SBS non-aircon feeder bus about to alight).

One of the syrup containers I was carrying slipped and dropped into the obscure corner of the alighting steps. This threw me into frantic anxiety. I was small then, remember. My undeveloped mind and height denied me of my ability to bend down and retrieve the bottle. The worst thing was that it jammed the doors. My eyes swelled. People from the front turned back and those at the back continued to stare. I had to swallow hard to keep my heart from pounding up my esophagus. If I had not remembered wrongly, I broke out.

Fortunately, a kind hearted man helped me out of this horrific situation by picking up the half crushed container. I quickly rushed down the bus, in the process forgot to thank him.

(2) Library Book

It was on this same feeder bus number I had my little misadventure. I actually left my school library book on the bus. Sigh. Had to pay for it, of course. The Librarian Teacher wasn't one to be trifled with.

Hmm. I guess this isn't a good idea. I guess I'll just leave this portion and scrap the rest. Or maybe I'll just write about it what I feel like it. I'll rather stick to poetry.

**********

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOOO..................] 37.0%
Changed the way the sidebars' programmed

Food of the Day
Milo Ice Cream

Colour of the Day
Black. Maybe I should scrap this section too since it's been too stagnant.

0

Cacophony brews up in the background
while reticence dominates the fore -
a juxtaposition of living peace and war.
Hey you, don't you dare unfurl a frown

Cause this ain't a poem
to be read at the podium
Just a frivolous attempt of mine
to make nonsensical things rhyme

Guess that does it. Ho ho ho.
(Eeks. Reminds me of the Milo ads. Or was it Holicks?? ARGH! Or was it Ovaltine?? Did I get the spellings right? ARGH! Why am I so paranoid today...)

Da. Da da da dum. Da. Da da da dum. Da da, Euuuu. Heh. An affinity to Fann Wong's songs wouldn't do me any good. Credit goes out to the composer/s. Ah. I'm forcing myself to lie. Indeed, Fann's vocal ability increased at least ten-fold, the way I see it. The catchy tunes entice me to play them over and over again. Fann haters out there, don't hate her too much alright? Compared to the rest of the TCS "singers" (Okay okay, I'll exclude dear Evelyn, cause I enjoy her songs as well. Heh.), Fann deserves a certain amount of credibility. Am I not wrong (perfect example of anti-summary skills. Duh.)? Luv Luv Luv...

He who paces sluggishly out of the Lecture Theatre after Double Math Test II depicts a born loser. Apparently, the questions were nothing but simple regurgitation from the tutorials. Being a born loser, this unrepentant fellow fails to listen to advice and finish all the tutorials, hence suffers tremendously under the constant beating of the cold air from the gargantuan air shaft hovering directly above his brain-fried container. He who fares badly has got nothing else to say about the issue. He who has got nothing to say anticipates the Physics Test next week. O'er his dead body he's going to do badly again, he mumbles unconsciously.

It appears that the song we sang for the audition sounded muffled, as commented by the teacher judging it. Ah. This shows disunity among ourselves then. How? There is no how. Either we get into the finals and we put our hearts and souls in it or we do not get into the finals and we let the song settle in the dust. The later realisation would be pretty cruel to our hard work eh? Close your eyes, look upon the shooting star and pray. If there is one. Either way, I think it would be cool to have it as our official CT song, changing the lyrics here and there. As a matter of fact, the lyrics fit in perfectly well! Hmmm... and maybe we can compose an English version of it as well. Hehe.

Humpf. Targeted deadline for completion of my ThinkQuest project is only two days away. I'm stuck with thirty percent of work done. I'll need a sudden burst of energy today to elevate the percentage by another twenty. Well. I definitely hope so. But I feel so haggard now. Haven't slept since twelve midnight. I'm ready to doze off anytime.

The Island Awakens

Shines upon
the break of dawn
Upon the lawn
Luscious jade springs
Web of life woven strings
River of soul sets the fringe
Island awakes thee
Where the air is free

**********

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOO...................] 30.0%

Food of the Day
(Tender Fresh) Lemon Chicken Rice.

Colour of the Day
Pale Orange

0

Ah. I actually learned a new noun that represents me wholesomely. I'm a nebbish! A timid, meek, ineffectual person! HAHA! Nah.. just kidding.

Nothing special on today. The suicidal talk wasn't of much interest. The speaker's oratorical skill was left much to my disgust. Not that I could muster up enough courage to stand in front and speak, but the speaker iterated her points so much so that it made me feel irritated. I was showing respect by staying awake. Hee. You don't need people to instill common sense into yourself, do you? Tell me when you contemplate suicide. Maybe I can offer you some guidance from Mr. Suicidalopus. Heeh.

I find myself getting more and more acquainted with the school library. Never thought I would treat it as a hangout till the beginning of this term. It's really a very conducive place for homework and all your reading pleasures, a place for chao muggers. Me? Nah... Me no chao mugger.. Me perfumed one... Hehe. You should have known it earlier than I, cause I'm always the last to realise something is good. Did my differentiation revision in it. The air conditioner should have been a little bit cooler though.

Talking about Math... Mr Chan Kok Leong is back to lecture us! Weird though. Seemed to absorb more readily. And how cool it was for him to give us so many tips on the Double Math test happening this Saturday! Now I feel much more confident, knowing what types of questions will be asked. Heh. Maybe I do have a chance in passing the test. =)

Well. Mdm Yeo's lesson was equally grueling as of any other day's. One can die of plain boredom. That's for those who don't bother with her tutorials. Stttooooop. Clarification. Not that I didn't want to bother, the tutorials were just too hard on me. Today the tutorials took another step and morphed from alien hieroglyphics to encrypted non-existent codes. A blank piece of paper would be much more interesting to look at. Nevertheless, I'll try to finish three Math tutorials today, for I need to pass my test this Saturday.

Yeah. About classroom cleanliness. This is way too unfair for us! Classes who patronise our love and pride mess around and trample on it. Tissue papers littered everywhere and tainted window panes. As if it was left to nature's hands for god knows how many billion years. Those classes should exercise some self discipline. We keep our classroom clean every week and it turns out mucky with ancient dirt every week without fail. Maybe we should learn how to dirty other people's classes as well... Hehe.. Oh. Evil evil. *grin* Nah. Would I do such a thing?

Completed my exercise routine. What a great feeling! I feel so thin! Well, like what Mingwei said, I'll be if I believe in myself. So here's to my sub consciousness. Cheers!

They sky experiences a wonderfully breath taking sunset. Heard from Mom that a comet had exploded. Now the sky boasts a myriad of mystifying colours edging towards the tints of orange. Awesome.

I'll end this entry with this piece of poetry inspired by my feelings. Duh. Wonder what'll happen to the presentation on Friday. Hopefully it'll turn out well.

**********

Friends

(I)
Met and forged
what we call a bond in
the name of fate. Substantiated
mutual understanding served as
the adhesive mandatory to
our very existence.

We would study together,
laugh in cohesion
and call each other
for the sole purpose of catching up
in the light of care and concern.

Perhaps one day this force will weaken,
but we know it's just
a matter of reinforcement.
A tint of you will always reside
in the heart of my cerebrum should
you decide to let go. Friends forever
is but a myth, a legend, a hoax.

Cherish our friendship,
my friend.

(II)
Some of us come and go
like commuters on the road.
Gush of wind too fast
it's hard to catch.
We've been together so long
it's really hard to believe
that we do not and would not want to
know one another more.

A common front brought us together
in the midst of confusion. Now that
it's gone, we go
on our separate ways
and even if we meet, we come upon
as total strangers on the road.

A greeting would be nice.

(III)
A mythical force links us together
though we hardly know one another
This is what the beginning brings -
a series of hellos and byes followed by
gradual inclinations.

(IV)
We may not know each other
but time will tell.

**********

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOO...................] 30.0%

Food of the Day
Spaghetti. That guy gave an "underdose".
And it cost two bucks.

Colour of the Day
Black Black Black...

0

I feel academically rejected. Tutorials appear before me like alien(ancient) hieroglyphics. I had to check the notes to answer each question. Even so, I still didn't manage to answer them. I guess I'm academically paralysed. My socks are down. I need to pull em up. Real high.

Had to use sis' alarm clock to wake me up. Both my clocks died for no reason. Maybe they didn't want me to go to school. Heh. Managed to clock the earliest time to reach school this term. Yay! (You should realise by now that I've got nothing else better to say)

Ever since school started this term, I find myself prone to slacking. "Never touch tutorials till the very last minute" has become a definite regimen in my book of Dos. Pondering if I should buck up. Maybe I should. Duh. I'm at a loss of words today.

Wow. Got thirty-two marks for our GP written work. Last minute work. Hoho. And others who spent a little more time on theirs got half a mark more. Hehe. The video this coming Friday will blast everyone off. Can't imagine Mrs Scowcroft rolling on the floor laughing. Duh.

Got myself worked out pretty well today. Crunches, weights and skipping! Had a very good sweat. I'm starting to love working out. Hurray!

Maybe I should stop here. I mean for today. Oh yeah, I named this title "Total Excretion" to remind me of some incident which happened today. Better not delve into it. Heh.

Now I laugh like mad whenever I remember Kelv's dying scene in the video. HAHAHA. Here's a poem by Dest. Nice sunset. Hee.

Guess I sound a wee bit childish today. Hee hee.

**********

Sunset by Destrius
6 July 1999

Paintings glaze the sky,
The final dance
Of quiet Nature

Endless blue
Interrupted by a spark of brilliance
Liquid colours of light

Melted rubies glow
Admist strokes of violet
Dissipated by the sun

Yellow fades to red
Bursting into gold
Fireworks of a softer kind

The show ends slowly
Golden eye sleeping
As silver ascends its watch
Guardian of the night.

**********

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOO...................] 30.0%

Food of the Day
Unique flavour of fried rice, self cooked.
Nah. Dad cooked. I warmed it up. Heh.

Colour of the Day
Black RULEZ!

0

Morn began with the notebook failure. Switching on the power, the dreaded "Invalid System Disk" message flashed the screen. Threw me into a flurry state at 2am. Apprehension told me that the hard disk had met with a grave mishap. Kept my optimism brewing and slotted in the Rescue CD. Ah. I had to reformat the entire disk and reinstall everything over again. At least the hard disk didn't spoil. In the midst of reformatting, I dozed off with my glasses on.

The knocking on my door woke me up at 6am. Dad wanted his CD player back. Checked the notebook and realised it'd ran out of battery. Luckily the reformatting and reinstallation had completed. Too lazy to connect it back to the AC source. Dizzy spells drove me back to sleep.

Woke up at 11am when Mom and Sis were about to leave. Installed Dungeon Keeper II successfully. Grin disappeared just as the starting screen reverted back to the windows screen. Tried launching the game again, same result. I guess I'm not fated with a lot of games. Last time it was Star Wars Racer, which needed a 3D Accelerator which I don't possess. Now I don't even know where the problem lies. Brought it to the notebook and tried. Same thing. ARGH.

I swear I'll never play games anymore.

Off to improve my writing. Nice to know you, Dennis. :)

**********

I Am Gone

Will life go on as usual
in this place I call my home?

Will you grace my funeral
and shower upon my tomb?

Will you flip through the journal
secretly tucked in my room?

Will you ever remember
the things we always assume?

The things we deem are best
The things we live for
The things we do with zest
The things which make us soar

Now that I'm gone
There's no need to mourn

Treat me as a passing wind
Cascades down your skin

For I am gone

**********

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOO...................] 30.0%

Food of the Day
Mushroom Soup

Colour of the Day
Black stays.

0

'Tis a Sunday. I'm feeling extremely sleepy. In the midst of my bluriness, I stumbled upon the lyrics of "Shakespeare In Love". Finally.

I have no drive to do anything 'cept to rot away at the moment. Guess I'll wait till tonight before I continue with ThinkQuest again. Sigh... The targeted deadline is only fourteen days away...

Anyways. I really do hope I can get into the finals again. Pardon me if I sound too materialistic, but I will never have the chance to fly again if I fail to get in. Man shouldn't invent money. Really.

Money drives people nuts. It's a wedge that tears everything apart. The overlord of super species, it possess the unnatural abilities to ignite squabbles, create false imageries and ultimately kill. Why then did people invent such a monstrous evil doer? To err is human. To err again is still human. What's more to say?

I'm contemplating if I should go catch "Two Days One Night". Nobody seems to be interested. I'm in the Science faculty remember. Most probably I'll just forget about it.

I actually pissed someone off. From the bottom of my heart, I sincerely apologise. Not that I'm lazy, not that I'm irresponsible (to a great extent), but I guess our meeting will prove unfruitful today. I shall complete my presentation, finish up the script and get it done and over with. I'm a sinner. Does that make me any thinner?

I'm overwhelmed and so disappointed in myself. I trudged to the meeting place (aka Kelv's house) in defeat. Pressed the bell umpteen times and received no response. Thought of leaving for home. I persisted, called him and got myself into his house. Malfunctioning bells. Duh.

I'm glad I went. Had such a wonderful time there and came back with Dungeon Keeper II. Heh. I'm so glad I looked so natural on video. Guilty conscience at work I reckoned, but it seemed that I acted doubly well. Keep in mind I'm a camera shy guy.

Took the long way home. Blasted the 3EB album as the bus took its toll along the darkening road. Absorbed a few pages of "Dress Gray" along the way.

Here's a little nonsensical poem dedicated to the little cute ant I saw on the bus. I hope my writing improves soon. There are millions of younger people out there who write a zillion times better than me. Inferior complex shows. Discontinuing Word of the Day. I'm being selfish here. Heh.

**********

The Ant

Dons an armor
luminous red
Lingers along
the tints of grey
Ponders about
the road ahead
The lighter shade
appeals

A stolid front
it manifests
Troops forward
in solitude
Into the light
it crawls
The lighter shade
appeals

Reaches a hill
five-fingered
Down the first trench
a soft tremble
Magnitude intensifies
a sudden jerk
The lighter shade
it flies

(Absurdity at its best)

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOO...................] 30.0%

Food of the Day
McChicken Meal

Colour of the Day
Black stays.

0

Well, not really. Let's maintain some solemnity shall we? Ah, I've come to reach a paradox too soon. How shall I continue? Let's find some irony in life shall we? Hey! The sun rose at night! Duh.

Pardon my crappiness.

The Computing test was a breeze, that is, from what I see. I managed to crap my way through! Thought Section A would be the pits. Alas, alas. Wrote more than a page for each question! Wow! Applause!

I'm tainted with crappiness. Mucky mucky...

Didn't collect much SV fund this morning. In fact, I only managed haul a hefty fifteen dollars, which amounted to only one person paying. Here's the catch - That person wasn't me! Sorta expected isn't it?

Something truly interesting happened today. I actually whirled myself into a squabble which yours truly emerged victorious! Hah Kelv Kelv... you lose!! KO! =)

I do think that all these minute happenings really perk me up. Else everything would be dull as scorched earth. Barren land exposed to immense solar radiation resulting in, well, barren land. The cycle continues till rain finally decides to pay a visit.

And the cycle continues, this time taking a right turn towards the dreadful jungle of numbers and indices. "Me no failure, me now go study for da test". Notice it's within parenthesis.

Didn't do much for ThinkQuest today. Actually, I did none. Fatigue overwrites everything. It rules my body and mind. Now that I realised, maybe I should retire early and wake up refreshed for intensive indulgence tomorrow. Adios.

**********

Nothingness

The beating sun shines
upon the exposed body
What do you really see?

Wake me up sombre
and cover my eyes with dust
Thou shan't see nothing

Summer rain gently
sweeps the fireball away
I still see nothing

Soon the night falls
into depths of darkness lure
Could nothing be seen?

The cycle repeats
A continuous process
What's there to be seen?

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOO...................] 30.0%

Food of the Day
Nachos and a Dog

Colour of the Day
Black again. I guess it's getting permanent.

Word of the Day
Brought to you by Merriam-Webster Inc.

deipnosophist \dipe-NAHS-uh-fist\ (noun)
:a person skilled in table talk

Example sentence: "What this dinner party needs is a deipnosophist who could interject some brilliant dialog to save us from terminal boredom," sighed Leonard.

Did you know?
Next time you are at a dinner party, you might want to try working "deipnosophist" into the conversation to impress the other guests with your sparkling vocabulary. When they ask where the term comes from, calmly explain that it is taken from the title of the _Deipnosphistai_, a 15-volume work written by Greek grammarian Athenaeus in the third century. The deipnosophists of Athenaeus are learned guests at a banquet whose table talk, presented as a series of lengthy quotations from about 800 authors, covers subjects from poetry and grammar to food and philosophy. The work's title is the plural of the Greek "deipnosophistes," itself a combination of "deipnon" (meaning "meal") and "sophistes" (meaning "wise man" or "sophist").

1

Driblets of rain bounced off the misted window and accelerated towards me, right here in front of the system. I should be in my room slogging through the computing textbook. Somehow I just bear this feeling that I'm jaded, fatigued, exhausted beyond hope. Every part of my body is aching, every joint falling apart. Some days I just feel like lying all day in bed enjoying the serenity of dead boredom instead of working out my busted brain in school, like today. Felt so lethargic. Zombied all the way to school to find out that I was late. Streamed into the practical block with the rest of the seniors having their block tests. A perfect evasion plan which resulted in me getting off scot-free. I marvel at my ingenuity.

*vomit*

Finished the poetry book. It was informative.

Finally managed to make my way to the Post Office to foot the bill. However, my modem failed to reconnect no matter how hard I tried at punching the reset button. 'Tis the time to display my gold plated mouth to some stranger over at the Cable Modem Helpdesk. After a lengthy conversation which proved unfruitful, the guy asked for my bill receipt number. Said he would call me back a few moments later. Typical jargon. Ah. I'm finally back in action!

A monotonous lifestyle isn't what I sought for, but I got it anyway. School, eat, sleep, computer, eat, sleep, school. Duh. What's the use of lamenting? I'm already broken.

Guess I'll go study for the test now.

**********

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOOOO...................] 30.0%

Food of the Day
Spaghetti

Colour of the Day
Black

Word of the Day
Brought to you by Merriam-Webster Inc.

limn \LIM\ (verb)
1 : to draw or paint on a surface
*2 : to outline in clear sharp detail : delineate 3 : describe

Example sentence: In her novel, Deborah limns a vivid picture of life in the rural America of the 1950s.

Did you know?
Allow us to shed some light on the history of "limn," a word with lustrous origins. "Limn" traces to the Middle French verb "enluminer" and ultimately to the Latin "illuminare," which means "to illuminate." Its use as an English verb dates from the days of Middle English; at first, "limn" referred to the action of illuminating (that is, decorating) medieval manuscripts with gold, silver, or brilliant colors. William Shakespeare extended the term to painting in his poem _Venus and Adonis_: "Look when a painter would surpass the life / In limning out a well-proportioned steed . . . ."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

0

Sigh.

Sigh.

Everything seems to be down... the server downtime which caused me a couple of accolades, my mind which seems to screw up every now and then and my heartless(humpf) personal computer which keeps on hanging up on me. Must as well hang myself if this situation persists for the rest of the week. The grating cacophony sprouting from the midgets at the back of the processing unit drives me terribly mad. To add on to my misery, my Aunt just bought a new system furnished with technologies double that of my present one. PII450, 17.3GB HDD, 17" Monitor, etc. Comparative to mine? HAH. Would somebody donate a new computer?

I'm stressed under pressure. Just got back my Math Inventory Test. Devastation. You wouldn't believe how I fared. An S3 Faculty student getting such a grade. I should be ashamed of myself. Looking on the bright side, I guess I'll do much better the next time since I've started to like to strive academically. Heh. Hope all goes well for the common tests ensuing this week. Oh by the way, nothing really special happened in school these two days. First day of school was spent playing tennis, dozing off, erm... Humpf. Nothing else! How productive.

Borrowed this "Lingguistic Guide to Poetry" book from the school library, which generated a plethora of uninvited attention. More of annoyance. Sometimes I really wonder if it's plain ignorance that people make fun of me. No offense here. Can't I study out of my present interests? Poetry doesn't need to be applied to a specific theme only you know you narrow-minded people. If you've been visiting my site you should know. Again, no offense here. Just to let you people know how I feel.

Really under tremendous presure, a huge slice attributing to ThinkQuest. Shucks. To think I only have forty six more days to complete the half finished project.

Sigh.

Sigh.

**********

Thinkquest Status
[OOOOOO.....................] 20.0%

Food of the Day
Duck Rice. Duh.

Colour of the Day
Undefined. Ops.

Word of the Day
Brought to you by Merriam-Webster Inc.

paroxysm \PAIR-uhk-SIH-zem\ (noun)
1 : a fit, attack, or sudden increase or recurrence of symptoms (as of a disease) : convulsion
*2 : a sudden violent emotion or action : outburst

Example sentence: "In this violent paroxysm the whole top of the mountain is believed to have been swept away." (John Phillips, _Vesuvius_)

Did you know?
"Paroxysm" didn't just burst onto the scene recently; its roots go back to ancient Greek. The word ultimately derives from the Greek "paroxynein," which means "to stimulate." "Oxynein," a parent of "paroxynein," means "to stimulate" or "to sharpen" and comes from "oxys," a Greek word for "sharp" (that root also underlies the word "oxygen"). In its earliest known English uses in the 15th century, "paroxysm" denoted agitation or intensification of a disease or its symptoms. (A still-used example of that sense might be "a paroxysm of coughing.") But "paroxysm" soon took on a broader sense of "outbreak" as well, especially a dramatic physical or emotional one.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

0

After the series of nightmares and a couple of days suffering from insomnia, I hereby make the following conclusions, that:

0

I'm not out of water actually... just out of juice. Can't think of anything to write today. I'll just simply recap what I did today. Nothing. Yeah. A couple of phone conversations, talking about the GP project meeting which is supposed to be held at my home tomorrow. I feel real lonely lately. A couple of phone conversations help. Oki doki... What else... humpf. Stayed at home all day glued to the computer. Uploaded stuff to the Thinkquest server.... Sigh. Guess I'm off to do my homework. Sorry to disappoint. Yeah. When school starts, the journal entries may get blend, cause I'll most probably be documenting my daily activities. Well, unless interesting things happen everyday. Heh.

Thanks Dest for signing my guestbook. Thanks Kelv for phoning me and signing my guestbook. You will win NSC, have faith in yourself. Thanks to everyone else who visits my site regularly. Sign my guestbook please?

There are many things which I wished I'd taken part in, but will never have the chance to do so anymore. Ah well. Fruition of the oblivious disciple. My just deserts.

No poems or lyric today. Still searching for "Shakespeare in Love" but can't find it. Sigh. Accumulating juice till it's hundred percent saturated before I start writing poems again. I guess I'll write some long ones next time. Till next time! Hoommmeeeewwwwwoooooorrrrrrrkkkkkkkk...

Thinkquest Status
[OOOO.......................] 3.7%

Food of the Day
Long John Silver's Fish and Chicken Combo

Colour of the Day
Black. Slack. I betta pack my bag.

Word of the Day
Brought to you by Merriam-Webster Inc.

mahatma \muh-HOT-muh or muh-HATT-muh\ (noun)
*1 : a person to be revered for high-mindedness, wisdom, and selflessness
2 : a person of great prestige in a field of endeavor

Example sentence: By her countless acts of philanthropy and her unfailing adherence to the principles of truth and justice, Christina has proven herself a true mahatma.

Did you know?
"Mahatma" is an adaptation of the Sanskrit word "mahatman," which literally meant "great-souled." As a general, uncapitalized English noun, "mahatma" can refer to any great person; in India, it is used as a title of love and respect. When capitalized, however, it usually refers to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the great leader who helped guide India to independence in 1947. Renowned for his policy of nonviolent protest, he was widely known as "Mahatma Gandhi" or "the Mahatma." The title was reportedly conferred on him by poet Rabindranath Tagore in 1915, but spiritual leader and author Paramhansa Yogananda claimed that Gandhi never embraced it himself. According to Yogananda, Gandhi never referred to himself as "Mahatma," but rather "made some humble, and witty, protests about the title."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

0

I have this feeling everytime I'd gone through an extended certain period of time staying at home all alone (parents and sister aside) all day without attending school. Simply put, the semester holidays. No, I'm definitely not an introvert, neither am I an extrovert. Ah. I'm "uncategorised". Didn't feel like going out. Got sick of using the computer actually. But here I am punching the dirt-filled keyboard, gazing at the minute thirteen inch display. A mockery. A graphics designer with only a thirteen inch monitor. Maybe that's why I am so good(not), cause I never let my inspirations escape through the permeable membranes of the tiny box. You believed me? HAH.

I was miraculously cured by the air-con and a couple of left over pills in addition to a panadol pill which I managed to find after scavenging though the first aid box. Felt much much better. Sorry Doc, didn't give ya a chance to pounce on me this time. Guess I'd given too much to the doctor for the past few years. It's time I learn how to cure myself - physically and mentally. I should be more outgoing, go to movies more often, do some healthy window shopping with friends, blah... Somebody close my gap??

Remorseful. Yeah. Always had this feeling after the end of a semester holiday. Being ever so tangible, the feeling crawled through my body, devouring my inner self. Now I feel so demotivated. School starts in a couple of days and I've yet started slogging through the piles of homework. All a matter of time management. Can't help but blame myself. When will I ever learn?

Rongmin called me today. A routine call to update on ourselves. We talked about how simple his job as a clerk in Mindef is and then drifted on to the dreadful topic of Basic Military Training (affectionately known as BMT). I was telling him how antagonised I am currently for not completing my homework. At least I know I wouldn't feel that way when it's my turn for BMT. I wouldn't have a chance to slack at all. None at all. Maybe I should go break my toe... Heh. Just kidding. I look forward to the challenge. Well, not a hundred percent for now, but I definitely hope so.

**********

Emotions Run Wild

Running through the wilderness
caressing the soft spoken
winds, a kind of
natural fondness
deep rooted within
Hands upon the head
gently swirling,
feeling the breeze
inward twirling.

I long for this crazy day.

Thinkquest Status
[OOOO.......................] 3.5%

Food of the Day
Economical Rice Set

Colour of the Day
Black. Slack.

Word of the Day
Brought to you by Merriam-Webster Inc.

stentorian \stehn-TOHR-ee-uhn\ (adjective)
: extremely loud

Example sentence: "'To the battlements, ye loitering villains!' he exclaimed, raising his stentorian voice till the arches around rung again. . . ." (Sir Walter Scott, _Ivanhoe_)

Did you know?
Nobody ever had to ask the Greek herald Stentor to speak up. His voice always came through loud and clear. In fact, in the _Iliad_, Homer described Stentor as a man whose voice was as loud as that of fifty men together. Stentor's powerful voice made him a natural choice for delivering announcements and proclamations to the assembled Greek army during the Trojan War, and it also made his name a byword for any person with a loud, strong voice. Both the noun "stentor" and the related adjective "stentorian" pay homage to the big-voiced warrior, and both have been making noise in English since the early 17th century.

0

Had a terrible dream which can almost be considered a nightmare. Now I'm half-awake, or am I half asleep? Funny though, the dream was so lucid I could remember every detail I dreamt. Well, not all the details, but I swear I remembered most of them. Dreamt of getting into the finals of Thinkquest 1999. Yeah, that would be damn good a dream. But...

Touched down in Los Angeles Airport once more. Funny though, there wasn't the transit at Narita Airport in my dream... Guess my sub consciousness likes taking short cuts as well... duh. Traveled to Hilton hotel. Skipped the entire preparation, tour and prize presentation stuff. Didn't know which prize I got. Everything actually started after the awards ceremony. Received a call from Singapore(god knows who had my number in US). Some sort of emergency which I'd got to attend to immediately, which means immediate flight back to Singapore. Everything fouled up. Took a plane home. The interior of the plane was one of its kind, kinda looked like a train. Humpf. Everyone sat in a row. Argh. My sub consciousness needs lubricating. Upon my return, I realised there was no emergency afterall.

The scene traversed boundaries and landed me in a restaurant having dinner with my friends. Then I suddenly realised I forgot my luggage, which was still nicely tucked in the hotel room in Los Angeles. Ulp. Frantically rushed out of the restaurant and dashed across the road towards some unknown destination. God knows why I have to see a motorcycle tumble towards me in fancy three sixty somersaults and the motorcyclist shooting out and plummeting into a nearby drain. Just kept on running...

That was where the dream ended. I refuse to comment on it further.

**********

Sigh... life's so miserable when you agree to help someone out, especially when that person is some relative of yours. Thought it was all over the day she treated me to Episode 1. Good things never come easy. I should have known earlier. Not that I didn't know actually, but the thing was that I was sort of cheated by her. "Don't worry... only one page... A4 size..." It turned out to be more than thirty pages. Spent another day just to complete the Chinese documents for her. That wasn't all. She wanted me to scan in photos and print them as well. Told her it would be more economical to colour photocopy. Luckily she respected my "expertise" view, or I'll have to spend a hell lots more time scanning and rescanning (my system likes to swallow the scans). Thought that was the end of everything.

She phoned me a moment ago. It seems that I can spin a never ending tale out of this. Now I have to help her print out some address list on address labels, which means loads of time spent on alignment. I respected her that she respected my views. Told her she could type out the addresses beforehand on any word processor. If not, I'll have to do the typing as well. What does she take me for? She should hire herself a secretary... really. Not that I'm unwilling to do... I'm just a weenie little bit, well, pissed. I still have my tutorials, revisions and above all, Thinkquest. She is being plain selfish.

**********

Narcolepsy

is but an illness,
makes you sleep in the
most awkward situations
The more you resist
this dreadful disease
The more you tend to
doze off in
unexpected places

Once you sleep you
never wake till
someone who cares
calls you up
Be it a dream or
couple nightmares
Lucid or vivid
Nevertheless, you
wake up in a blurry
state and slip into
another one

By the time you
awake thee
find yourself alone
at the end of
the MRT
As silent as it is
You find no one
but yourself
slipping into
yet another one...

It never stops
This dreadful disease
You never wake
Never

Thinkquest Status
[OOO...........................................] 2.8%
The forum brings me loads of satisfaction

Food of the Day
KFC Zinger Meal

Colour of the Day
Blue. Shoe. Moo.

Word of the Day
Brought to you by Merriam-Webster Inc.

Stakhanovite \stuh-KAH-nuh-vite\ (noun): a Soviet industrial worker awarded recognition and special privileges for output beyond production norms.

Example sentence: "The New York Times", referring in 1969 to the prodigious literary output (100 books in 20 years) of Isaac Asimov, called him "the last Stakhanovite of letters."

Did you know?
In 1935 a Russian coal miner named Alexei Stakhanov was said to have developed a new system for cutting coal that dramatically increased productivity. Stakhanov was made a hero by the Soviet government, which swiftly began encouraging workers in all fields to become "Stakhanovites." The top Stakhanovite workers were rewarded with medals and higher salaries, upgraded living quarters, even automobiles. English speakers were rewarded with a new name for a workaholic (although the term is mainly used to refer specifically to workers whose output exceeds expectations). In these post-Soviet times, the word is often used attributively, modifying another noun, as we have done in the third sentence of this paragraph.

0

Decided not to continue with retrospection today. Got a little bit burned up at my brains trying to think about the past and slamming a thousand words everyday unto my website. This is getting really tiring. Good that I decided to rest today. Phew. Don't worry, I'll continue with it. Not today though.

These few days had been total boredom. Had a rather fruitful session at the SV Exco meeting on Monday. After that, it was my Home, my Computer and I. Even my mom was getting a bit worried. I'd been munching on comp chips till the wee hours as long as the hols lasted. Thinkquest here, Thinkquest there, it seemed to get pretty out of hand. Sometimes when I wasn't even doing Thinkquest, I would use it as an excuse to prolong my Net life. I wonder how life's like if there's no Internet... Maybe I would be the top student in school? Humpf. Yeah... Maybe I'll get to enjoy more outdoor life... Oh well. Let's chant together: Thinkquest, Thinkquest... Ogashaga Boom...

Believe it or not, I was dragged to watch "The King and I" with my Mom and Sis on Tuesday. Not that I didn't want to watch, but I lacked the mood. My Sis threw a tantrum when I refused to go, cause that would mean no movie for everyone(see how great I am). She was saying if I could watch Star Wars with my cousin, I should watch the cartoon with her. As childishly as she could put it, it sounded reasonable. Oh well. There I was forced to end my Thinkquest work for the day abruptly. "Maaa... I have no more pants to go out..." What a futile attempt bound for failure.

I had no expectations for the show at all. Ms Anna sails to Siam and enlightens Mongkut. How many times must I go through this? Sigh... If I had any expectations at all, I would be terribly disappointed. Poorly illustrated characters, none of whom can be compared to those of Anastasia or any of Disney produced cartoon slicks. If the story wasn't based in Siam, I wonder how lack-lustre the scenes would turn out to be. All in all, it was plain boring. It wasn't worth watching at all. Luckily it only cost five bucks instead of the usual seven. I would rather catch NottingHill. Grow up, my little Sister, so we could watch better shows.

Sad to say, it's pretty boring doing Thinkquest everyday actually. However, the huge amount of incentives at the end of it is enough to drive me through. I'm waiting for that day.

Sorry if you find me writing in bits and pieces. I can hardly think no more. Oh yes, now that I've remembered, I created this little site through the wee hours the day before as a direct result of sticking my bum to the chair in front of the computer whole day long. It's called "Aspiring Writers Online". It's supposed to be a place for aspiring authors to submit their masterpieces... If you aspire to be a writer (like me) or you've written any wonderful work, please do submit it. You can visit it here. Humpf. Visit it when you're done with Narcolepsy.

SPOTCHECK: I'll like to know how many of you actually frequent Narcolepsy to know more about me. If you're whom I am talking about, please mail me and tell me you're visiting my site and will probably do so in the future. It'll be so fun to know who actually reads my journal. Heh. Of course, Kaijie, you won't need to mail me, cause I know you'll be reading my stuff. Heh.

Thinkquest Status
[OOO...........................................] 2.5%

Food of the Day
Instant Noodles

Colour of the Day
Black remains still. I wonder why.

Phrase of the Day
"Everytime you cry..."

0

With so much hype revolving around the movie, it's hard for me not to catch the show myself. I finally got this chance the day before for free by helping out my aunt type out some Chinese documents. Heh. Knowing Chinese word processing does has its advantage. We caught a nine fifteen show at night @ Lot 1 Shopping Mall.

The opening screen rolled out in front of me. It as all so familiar... like I'd seen it somewhere else... Yes. I have very faint memories of watching Star Wars movies in the past. I remembered watching them, but I remembered none of the stories (Contradiction??). Guess I'm going to catch the other episodes soon.

The effects blew me off my seat, especially the pod racing scene. I marvelled at all the wonderfully rendered scenarios and characters. Wondered when I will be able to acquire such skills to render such breathtaking scenes.

Always thought Star Wars is just a part of American culture, you know, nothing to do with me. Sci-fi stuff doesn't really interest me: all those weird names and stuff like that.

It all began last November when I flew to USA for the Thinkquest finals.

After the finals, I took residence in a friend's house in San Diego (the Anderson family). Throughout the journey there, Jason was telling me how his room is full of Star Wars stuff. Didn't really paid much attention to it then. Upon entering the room... the presence of the Force overwhelmed me... the whole room's FULL of Star Wars figurines and posters! Unopened figurines in tact with the packaging, a giant mosaic poster of Yoda... Jason showed me his two alarm clocks - Darth Vader and the Millennium Falcon! Awesome! I was "sucked" into the Force!

Episode 1 makes me wonder where I was all my life. Why didn't I watch the Trilogy? Now that I've watched the Phantom Menace, I'll make sure I'll go drool over the rest of the Saga. May the force be with me!

I'll leave you with a couple of introductions to the main characters from Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace (from www.starwars.com).

Anakin Skywalker
A disheveled nine-year-old with blue eyes, Anakin Skywalker is an earnest and hardworking boy who lives in the slave quarters of Mos Espa, on the planet Tatooine. A natural mechanic, he has a keen intuition with equipment and machinery. He can sense what makes an engine work. Leading a very humble life, Anakin dreams of becoming a starpilot and longs for a world of adventure. Good at heart, hopeful and optimistic, this young boy little suspects the destiny and fearful challenges that await him. He is to become the much dreaded Darth Vader.

Qui-Gon Jinn
An accomplished Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn travels the galaxy to protect the citizens of the Republic and uphold justice from system to system. Other Jedi Masters often use Jinn's focused sensitivity to the Force as an example for their pupils. Qui-Gon Jinn's own apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, is always at his side, and learns from his wisdom and experience.

Jedi Master Jinn possesses strong features and a piercing gaze. Powerfully built and speaking in a grave and determined voice, he has a very intimidating presence. He wears his long hair tied back so as not to obstruct his peripheral vision. Although a little past his prime, he remains a powerful warrior and a very active Jedi Knight.

Qui-Gon Jinn is closely attuned to the Force, and has a strong empathy toward all life forms. His focus is in the moment, and he follows his instincts even when others may consider them reckless.

Obi-Wan Kenobi
Trained by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, young Obi-Wan Kenobi is an excellent apprentice. His skills are already quite impressive, and Master Jinn is proud of his pupil's quick thinking and resourcefulness. He is not a Jedi yet, but his training is almost complete. His dedication to the Jedi way and the nobility of his character deeply honor the efforts of his mentor.

In accordance with tradition for human apprentices, Obi-Wan wears his hair short and even, except for a long, thin braid, and a small ponytail. He has constructed his blue-bladed lightsaber himself, as part of his training. His shoulders are covered with the traditional Jedi cloak.

Obi-Wan admires and respects Qui-Gon Jinn, even though there are times when Kenobi doesn't completely agree with his master's point of view. Young Kenobi's focus is beyond the moment, and he is inclined toward strict observance of the rules laid down by the Jedi Council

Obi-Wan's first meeting with the boy Anakin Skywalker on Tatooine sets him on a path of destiny that will have tremendous repercussions for the entire galaxy.

Queen Amidala
At fourteen, Queen Amidala rules over the Naboo people with the freshness of her young years and the efficiency of a true leader. Through her rigorous training, Amidala has demonstrated her dedication to the well-being of Naboo, and she has quickly earned the trust and loyalty of the people who elected her.

The Queen attends her world's needs and addresses the concerns of her subjects, ruling from her palace in the capital city of Theed. However, Amidala's regal presence is sometimes required at offworld political gatherings. In such occasions, it is customary for the Queen's handmaidens to follow their monarch and assist her, as well as for Captain Panaka to provide additional protection with a team of guards specially trained for offworld duty.

The Naboo people's faith in their leader is justified, for Amidala's heart is true, and her determination unwavering. But the threat looming ahead might very well put the Queen's abilities to the ultimate test.

Darth Maul
Completely embracing the dark side of the Force, Darth Maul is a fearsome Sith apprentice. His constant training, both in combat techniques and in the dark powers of the Force, makes him a formidable figure and a power to be reckoned with. His horned head, face tattoos and gleaming yellow eyes strike terror in the heart of all but the most focused opponents.

Since his master has great confidence in the pupil's abilities, Darth Maul is often entrusted with delicate missions. In return, Maul is absolutely loyal to his master, and devotes his utmost efforts to achieving the objectives laid out by his mentor. Although he closely follows traditions and protocols, Darth Maul is never one to blend in: he has built a double-bladed lightsaber, and trained himself to wield the unusual weapon with deadly accuracy. Only through his complete dedication to the way of the Sith was Maul able to bring the dark side of the Force to his aid in mastering such a dangerous combat skill.

On his own, Darth Maul represents a real threat to the delicate balance of the Galactic Republic, which the Jedi Council strives to preserve. But with the powers of the master and the apprentice combined, there is no telling what terrible conflict awaits the Jedi.

May the Force be with you.

Thinkquest Status
[OO............................................] 1.8%

Food of the Day
Fishcake Bee Hoon

Colour of the Day
Black

Phrase of the Day
"May the force be with you"

0

People turn up late due to unforseen circumstances. The alarm clock went on strike or the bus refused to budge. Excuses. For a perpetual latecomer like me, thousand and one excuses can be churned out without much effort. Do you think so?

This week alone, I was late for a couple of times. All with reasonable excuses of course, as I see it.

I was supposed to reach Signature Park three days ago by twelve forty-five. Waited for a cab loaded with stuff on both hands. Fifteen minutes slipped past without my knowledge. By the time I got in one, time was already up. Checking the watch every thirty seconds was a norm for people like me. I reached there at one, was fifteen minutes late. The reason was obvious - I couldn't hail a cab in time. Oh really? Well... actually could have left home much earlier... Pardon my laziness, monsieur.

On to the creative thinking course that was held two days ago. Expectedly, I didn't turn up for both sessions. Woke up late the first day due to the strike incited by Mr. Doreamon (spelling?). When I reached school, I was already forty minutes late. It would be so embarrassing to enter the dark classroom with its only light source emitting from the overhead projector. Imagine knocking on the door and lights flickering on just for my grand entrance. The thought of it makes me shiver. Brr. So... off I went taking bus 171 all the way to Yishun just to spend my month's allowance on a Burger King meal. Ouch. Yes, I admit my fault. Better late than never: I chose the latter.

Learnt my lesson. Woke up at nine the next day so I won't be late. Heaven played a trick on me. Waited for the buses from ten onwards. Time took toil on me and by ten thirty I ran out of patience. The course was supposed to start at that very moment and there I was stranded at the bus stop miles away from school! Decided to trudge my way home. A step at a time. Looked up. Vrroom. Bus 67 zoomed past me. A few more steps. Vrrroom. Bus 961 zoomed past my fragile body. Took a left turn and trudged along. Vrrroooom. Bus 171 stood at the bus stop in front of me. I was so tempted to lift my middle finger, but being in the ever proud looking beige uniform, I flushed that thought away. Felt so stupid. Grr.

Anyway, if you happen to read this, do not learn from me. Always set off at least half an hour earlier than the time you decide to set off. Here's a song dedicated to the buses I saw the day before, sung to the tune of the chorus of Where Have All the Cowboys Gone by Paula Cole:

CHORUS
Waitin' at the busstop, feelin' rather low,
Where is bus 171, where is bus 67...
where is bus 961 and
Where have all the buses goooneeee....
Where have all the buses goooneeee....

(Talking)
Lookin' at my watch, glancin at the buses
They better come fast or i'll miss my classes
One after another, not the ones I need
Decided to leave, couldn't take the heat

CHORUS
Here comes 67, and then bus 961...
Took one right turn and found out
So angry I nearly shout
171 is not far out
Here comes all the buses which I neeeeeeeeed....
Isn't this just as irooooniiiiiic....
Aiyohyoh Alamak, Aiyohyoh Alamak....
Aiyohyoh Alamakmakmakmakmak...

There. Remember not to learn from me. Heh.

Thinkquest Status
[OO............................................] 1.8%

Don't Quit
Just received this from Yuntian.
Very meaningful, especially to me. :)

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low, and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won, had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,
It's when things seem worse,
that you must not quit.

Food of the Day
Seafood Ee Noodles

Colour of the Day
Brown

Phrase of the Day
"I wish you would step down from that ledge my friend..."

0

6:57pm... Gosh... Isn't Saturday the holy day for partying? I stayed at home all day! Alone! I'm stumbling in my way into world of terriblism... TERRIBLE! And what abnormal stuff I've been eating today. Woke up at 10:45am. Mom was about to go to work. Sensing I'm awake in my bed, she reminded me to do my chores. Her orders were simply ignored while I continued to lay motionless on my bed. The front door closed. Woke up and searched around for food (There is absolutely NOTHING in the kitchen). Ate a slab of malay-baked cake which tasted VERY funny. Continued with Thinkquest. 12pm. Time for lunch. Still at the computer working on Thinkquest. Ate another piece of that cake. 1pm. Stomach growling. Ate another piece of that cake. Before I knew it, there was only one piece left. Humpf.

Thinkquest... Thinkquest... Thinkquest... Everheard of addiction to work? Hmmm I guess I am a workaholic eh? I just can't stop doing Thinkquest! Not really. Deadline's not far away. August 16 if I remembered correctly. I still have lots of other stuff to do. Tutorials, revision, the Sensorium Vale website, the planning for HiTECH'99 (an IT competition which a few of us are thinking of holding), etc. Maybe I should rest a while. And then the thought of creating this website came up. See. I just can't stop working.

Okay... So I'm creating this website. Decided to make it text based after looking at so many similar websites. However I still want to give it a classy touch. In came the logo. Or title. Whichever is more appropriate.

Ouch. Me gettin hungry. Guess I'm off for a decent meal now. Maybe a Burger Thai meal? =)

Unusual Happening of the Day
Nothing in particular.... I stayed at home all day!

Food of the Day
The funny tasting Malay-baked cake... Hmmm Broke the Fast Food chain!

Colour of the Day
White. I'm all for white today.

Phrase of the Day
"Bye bye Luv... Bye Bye Luv Luv Luvvv" You know. That Fann Wong song.

0

12:38am... Hmmm TERRIBLE. Didn't work myself like this for a long time. Spent the entire day working on the layout to suit the stupid Netscape browser (imagine Netscape to be stupid, then Microsoft will be... hmmm). Worked till 5am. Couldn't take it any more and finally decided to engage myself in slumberland activities. Well, my stay was shortlived. Woke up at 10am in a blur state.

3:05pm... Well, late again, as usual. Luckily, the actual time for the CIP(Community Involvement Program you bodo) report time was 3:15pm. Met Kelv, Slim and Dest at the CT bench and off we went to tutor Outram Park Sec peers. Found out that they were all sec fives. Cool. Same age. Looking forward to next Wednesday for the next session.

Went to Westmall to meet Keepy. He's leaving for Australia tomorrow. I'm putting myself at risk by lending him my lappy cause my Dad ain't gonna be happy if he ever finds out. Hope he never notice the absense of my lappy in my room for the next two weeks... Pray Pray.... Hah. Finally got the money to afford the Mushroom Swiss today.

Back to Thinkquest. Spent a humongous amount of time trying to link the correct frames together with javascript. Finally got it done by twelve midnight. My eyes are drooping down while I'm typing this... And I still have to complete my self introduction before I end up in bed. This is terrible. Sheez.

Unusual Happening of the Day
Must be the tutoring session... It doesn't happen everyday. Thought I'll meet up with some bengs and be simply overwhelmed with their bengish looks. Luckily they aren't that bad as I thought. One of them looked bengish, but he was being tutored by another person. Phew.

Food of the Day
Burger King King Size Mushroom Swiss Meal (Large Onion Rings + Large Barley). Notice I had different fast food meals for the past consecutive days. This accounts for...

Colour of the Day
Brown. Simply Brown.

Phrase of the Day
"You know how to do?" Caught it during the tutoring session.