The Phantom Opera

"I stopped, listened and sniffed. I saw no one. It was five steps before I saw the dung on my shoe."

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 12:43:16 GMT

Oh, perfect. I forgot a shitload about imaginarybeasts and missed one of the best themes (that I'd really enjoy writing for). *pounds desk in frustration*

Well. At least the class chalet was good and fun and fun and good. Pity that only about half the class turned up. ._. And that we stupidly waited for a sunrise that we never got to see. Sigh...

It's pretty obvious that I'm not in the mood to write much, I guess. It's not really that I'm tired, though. I'm not even dazed. I just feel really bored, even with the whole laptop under my command for an entire day (or for 12 hours so far, if you prefer) and the pile of reading material I have around me. (I'd picked a nice collection of books from a recent warehouse sale.)

All right. In order to give this post more length, I'll list the titles of the books I'd just bought. Lame thing to do, I know, but I want to ~~show off a little~~ share the joy. Humour me, if you will.

Urne-Burial by Sir Thomas Browne

An Attack on an Enemy of Freedom by Cicero

101 Sonnets (edited by Don Paterson)

Great German Poems of the Romantic Era (A Dual-Language Book)

Poets Thinking b y Helen Vendler

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Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:00:54 GMT

Isn't it wonderful that I have Internet access again? I feel pretty stupid now, though. Because I never did actually have the Internet cut off from me--it was the problem of the damn modem. Some resetting of the modem issue. Seemingly uncomplicated, except that the settings aren't exactly the computer's port settings, so I didn't figure it out until I was told that the house had always had Internet access and I had called Linksys's helpline. So much for stupidity. e_e

Oh well.

Anyway, I haven't entirely quit football yet. I've decided that if I can enter VJC purely based on academic merit, I'll be playing football. That means 6 or 7 points or it's bowling for another two years in whichever other JC I can enter. Should I score 18 points and above, I'm taking the O Levels again next year. ...if my mother is agreeable, of course. After all, I'm not paying for my own education, so if it is preferred that I not "waste" another year doing the same thing, I'll enter a polytechnic. Hopefully Ngee Ann.

Here's to my getting 6 points!

I should be explaining my reason for toying with the idea of quitting football, I suppose.

( Read more... )

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Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:04:53 GMT

Ahem. I really haven't appeared on the Internet for quite a number of days, and there's a reason for that: I have not Internet access in my home. Long story short, we're waiting till after Christmas (or the Chinese New Year) before getting our Internet back on, hopefully with better contractual offers. I'm typing this post in a public library, so that explains.

Lots of stuff have happened in just the week or two that I've been gone, and I'll make a post of the stuff that happened, with minimal elaboration, later, or in a few days, as I should be leaving this place soon.

But, well, the most shocking news first.

I am on the brink of giving up football, at least in JC for now. It's breaking my heart and bursting my brains to say this. I may eventually decide to rescind this mad choice, as I've still time before the decision becomes final. But for now, that's how it is, and I'll explain this peculiarity at another time. I'm still virtually banging my head against surfaces on the issue, for the record.

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Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:58:25 GMT

I got this from a friend on Facebook who credits the quiz to herself:

First, get a pen and a paper. When you chose names, make sure its people you actually know. Go with your first instinct!

1. First, write the numbers 1 through 11 in a column like this: 1.
2.
3. ETC (:
2. Beside number 1 and 2, write down any two number you want
3. Beside the 3 and 7, write down the names of members of the opposite sex
4. Write anyone's name (like friends or family or cat :D) in the fourth, fifth and sixth spots.
5. Write down four song titles in 8,9, 10 and 11

Do this Without reading ahead to the answers :)

( Answers )

Here's my list:

1. 15
2. 45
3. Kun Long
4. Deborah
5. Bernadette
6. Tiffany
7. Nicholas
8. The Sword & the Pen
9. Ring of Fire
10 Toguro
11. The Boys Are Too Refined

It doesn't take a psychic to know that my list doesn't match the predictions. :P I just felt like putting this up, somehow. To prove that chance is something that exists whether or not its existence is acknowledged? Yeah, that must be it.

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wind blows

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:59:44 GMT

Were the world a better place,
needless tears wouldn't be shed,
children wouldn't be told that they'll understand when they're older,
teens wouldn't struggle for an identity
nor would they rebel.

Were the world a better place,
children wouldn't cry,
adolescents wouldn't slink unhappily in corners,
adults wouldn't sink into depression.

Were the world a better place,
children would smile for eternity,
the parents wouldn't fear obscurity,
the young adults would have vigour.

Were the world a better place,
people wouldn't hurt people
in order to feel better,
nor would the world lament
the daily loss of innocence.

Were the world a better place,
the world would not be strangers,
but acquaintances and friends.
the world would be empathic,
the world would be helpful,
the world would be a family,
together.

Were the world a better place,
people would wish,
sincerely,
and work together towards the goals.

-shameless, insistent cynicism can only be a selfish, silent wish for the world to crumble and fulfil the mind's perfect apocalypse-

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The children stop their play; one shouts: "The Iceman has FIRE on his ice-crown!"

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:37:13 GMT

I was reading the JAE/DPA booklet last night, the one listing all the details of the different JCs and polytechnics and the courses offered. I just felt like reading through it, although I've more or less already decided on the subjects I'd take and the school I'd enter.

Then I read about the H3-level subjects. Practically all of them were research papers! While H2 subjects were still bunched into the have-lightning-speed-handwriting-and-thinking-or-FAIL category. SIGHSIGHSIGH.

I enjoy doing research papers much more than written, timed exams. A whole lot more. I know, research papers are bound to take up much more of your time, and the timed exams format is where you actually "learn the ropes", so to speak, and meet the basic requirements of your chosen subject. But I just do not do well in timed exams. At least not for humanities subjects. I lack both the physical and mental dexterity to churn out quality essays after quality essays in twenty minutes flat, even if I had all the information and essay plans sitting before me. If I'm able to think really quickly, I'd have the essay virtually written out and complete in my head in ten minutes, but my hand can't keep up. If I scribbled my fastest, I'd lose my train of thought the moment I finish a sentence.

For research papers, on the other hand, you have six months to complete a paper of a few thousand words. There has to be time devoted to research, of course, and proof-reading, editing and meticulous effort in making all the words used precise and absolutely necessary. In other words, with the amount of time you're given for research papers, you're expected to produce perfect essays. And I can achieve just that (with a lot of energy expended, mind), I believe, for I'd have had sufficient time to look things through, and consider them well.

Also, I reiterate, I would enjoy working on research papers. I love reading, learning and checking things through--I love the time spent on research and writing convincingly, knowing that I truly am giving and performing to the best of my ability. I love doing things like that much more than I do squeezing my brain juices and sweat out trying to improve my speed to ferocious levels.

So, with all that I've said, it's pretty obvious that I won't have the chance to do H3-anything. And the point of this post? To lament on the lost possibilities. Yes, I'm long-winded when in the mood.

p.s. I'm not sure if I should believe that SRJC offers the English Language and Linguistics subject. I'm about to check their website, to be sure. If they really DO have it, I may well end up in SR than in VJ, though it's still rather uncertain--SR doesn't offer Knowledge and Inquiry, for some reason.

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Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:07:12 GMT

Oh ho ho, gosh. I'm ill to the point of being incapable of speech and had just overdosed on medicine.

The school prom's on Tuesday too, and it's Sunday right now. Sigh.

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I NEED HELP!

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:10:09 GMT

Apparently, there's a malware called "Poison Ivy" that my computer got infected with. I need antivirus software, but there isn't one that I can acquire at the moment, because there're no "trusted" free ones online, as far as I know. I'll have to pay for proper software, but I can't pay for it by credit. Goodness knows what other annoying junk there is parked and waiting in the machine; losing several hundred (or thousands) to scheming hackers is never on the agenda.

Any help I can get in removing the nonsense from my machine manually? I managed to do part of the job, but I can't stop the program from coming back, mainly because I never learned anything in programming and have no idea what "path" would equate "Disabled".

I apologise for posting so much. This is a desperate plea (despite me knowing that there's little chance of me getting any real help from this).

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"No, no, not the four-leaf clover. No, none of that. I'm talking about the 'thousand leaves' thing."

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:42:37 GMT

I was going to make another one of those boring, "sick-of-this-shit-I'm-getting" posts this evening. And then I read a couple of pages worth of posts on the Friend's Page and was pretty cheered. LJ nearly never fails to lift my spirits. :D

Well, seeing as I'm here already, I'll just talk about one thing about what's happened in school. Remember that horrible English paper I'd talked about several weeks ago? I actually passed the composition component. I PASSED. I couldn't believe it, commenced laughing maniacally, as I usually do when ridiculous things such as this happen (scaring the classmate who sat beside me as I laughed), and asked my teacher, "You actually passed me?"

"Well, I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt."

I had actually informed her beforehand of what to expect from my script, and added that I knew that I was going to fail, because nothing like that ever deserves even anything close to a pass. She didn't actually reprimand me at all, only passing on what I take to be a warning, which included "that's very risky, you know", probably because she knew that I knew that I was aware of how grave an 'offence' it was.

Ending this post with a very simple quiz that I took off glowing_dragon:

( Leaves )

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"O cross! Too high to be enthralled to low."

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:47:22 GMT

Rawr. I think the stress has upset my system on an unprecedented level. My dreams in the past few nights have all revolved around the coming exams. The dreams don't all involve school (I still get the usual nightmares with the same theme--I'd mentioned it before somewhere, I think), but there hasn't been one night where it leaves me alone. I always end up finding out that I'd (for varying reasons) missed a paper or three. The most recent incident in Dreamland entailed me finding out that I had neglected to sit for two days' worth of exams. Then I went bug-hunting around my (imaginary) residence, partially to take my mind off things and mostly because it was what I had been preoccupied with before news of my wasted exams came about.

Oh, and another thing interesting about the bug-hunting dream? The paternal and maternal families were living in close proximity. Amazing! I also awoke to find my muscles taught in motion, just as I had been in the dream (I was standing on tiptoe, sprinkling powdered detergent onto the top of a high shelf while tightly keeping a handful of loose detergent powder in my left hand).

My memory has also been failing me spectacularly. Whole days and weeks have disappeared, and I cannot even remember crucial data.

Whoopsy! The wonders of the world, the wonders of the home, the wonders of children's stresses.

Adieu! Shakespeare, oh how I love thee! Yet, to more studying I must go. Hence we must starve ourselves of lovers' food until that time. Adieu, my love! Adieu!

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(Me, I'm Not) "Too lazy to title this creatively."

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:40:42 GMT

Happened to wander into Facebook and what did I see?

The official video for Crawl Back In by Dead By Sunrise! (That's Chester Bennington's solo project, by the way.)

vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=62723233

( Lyrics beneath the cut. )

The basslines snagged my attention first, and then the lyrics. I haven't read any official comment on the meaning or inspiration behind the words, so I can't say that I completely get the idea behind the song. Personally, I think that the lyrics express exactly what I've been feeling for so many years; that very same determination to "not end up like everyone else". ^_^

Aside from that, I just removed the micro-implants from my molars yesterday, so they're really sore right now. Those little titanium screws' absence means a hole in three molars--heightened teeth sensitivity until (hopefully) the little tunnels are naturally filled up. I don't know if it ever will, though. ._.

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"Just because I can," puffed he, pouting up at the older man, "and you can't. Gonna cry?"

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:16:38 GMT

Tralala, the weekends are finally here and I'm going to have a nice sleep for a while. The cramming resumes some time tonight. Sigh.

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Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:55:15 GMT

I am irritated. Very irritated.

Symptoms of a flu and all. Just three ____ing days before an oral exam. And like what, 70 days before The Big One? Really. Fuck. I want to put in twelve hours' worth of studying on the weekends and another five on weekdays. But my body can't seem to take it. And I've only been doing, what, three pathetic hours at the moment? Such a pathetic excuse for not doing the best that my MIND can. My body's being an annoying pain in the ass, just as it always has when it SHOULDN'T be. If anything, it's just sitting there at the table studying. No physical workout AT ALL. And the body's crumbling.

Sure hope it's not H1N1, seriously. If I start getting diarrhoea and all, you may just here me sputtering "____" out loud like a synthesiser. I've never been so upset over an illness before. Because of ALL ____ing times, it has to come now. NOW, when I'm working on the mental ascend that's been planned to peak exactly at the O Levels. Any disruptions can ruin the entire schedule. I am SO angry.

Fine, I'm sleeping at eleven today. Even though I'd had nine hours of sleep last night.

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Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:23:08 GMT

I FINALLY GOT A WORKING PC BACK!!

Pity it still lags as frequently as before.

( Error: Irreparable invalid markup in entry. Raw contents behind the cut. )

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NINE INCH NAILS NINE INCH NAILS NINE INCH NAILS NINE INCH NAILS NINE INCH NAILS NINE INCH NAILS

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:39:51 GMT

AUGH! I seriously feel like throwing all sense to the wind and do whatever I want to do in the night.

( Images under the cut. )

Seriously, my heart feels like scrunching up when I think about missing it. AND I KEEP GETTING REMINDED ABOUT IT ALL THE TIME. So you know what I really want to do now? Run down there and take my chances with sneaking in. Pfffft. MY head's gonna explode.

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"Oh, for the love of--" he exclaimed, hands thrown into the air. "--fairytales," she completed.

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 06:13:20 GMT

This was months ago, but I'm still crazy over Fairytale by Alexander Rybak (performed at this year's Eurovision contest). :D

Thank you SOSOSO much, sakurazukalori, for talking about it on your LJ at the time. :DDD

Everything about the song and the performance is so amazing, so good. The lyrics, vocals and the choreography, especially, it comes out as a sort of sweetly painful memory, the song. I'd use the word "melancholy", but it's way more than just that. *_* It's like I can relate to the song so much so that I kind of get goosebumps from the feelings the chorus evokes in me. Strange combination, I know. Nevertheless, it is just amazing.

Never thought to share about it until now, somehow. ^^;;

Here, the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAHxiTlWWvw&feature=related

And here, the lyrics!

( Read more... )

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STOMP *STOMP STOMP "SPI-CO-DER-CROACH! WHO THERE'S COME UPON MY COACH?"

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 03:40:54 GMT

I just found a spider in my room and disposed of it.

Yesterday, it was a cockroach that refused to leave my room alone.

'the hell is going on? Fancy getting so many annoying things in this house.

( Error: Irreparable invalid markup in entry. Raw contents behind the cut. )

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Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:14:59 GMT

This one here's really tired. She has decided that it makes more sense for her to study everyday after school for a couple of hours at the library, much as she will be tired, for she is even more inefficient in trying to cram an entire week's revision, along with weekend homework, into ten hours that span over two days (and she neglects to specify that it is actually just five hours of sitting at the table at a go each time). She has aged to the point where the strained brain cannot function as it should after one hundred and fifty minutes or so of continuous problem-solving. Therefore, it is through the gates of consistent studying with her, and she must not grumble nor complain nor procrastinate much more than is necessary for sustaining the delusion that she is still going along at her lovely snail family's pace. There is perhaps ten weeks left to the O Levels.

Ah. She has just slumped against the table. And my keyboard.

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"Do you see where the heart truly lies?"

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:26:39 GMT

On Sunday, I received this message from a number that my didn't match any of the contacts stored within my phone:

"Are you lyk watching the football match... Which i totally don get.."

To which I replied:

"Er, who are you? Huh, match? >< What time does it end? Ah Shit, i've to cut my hair first. ><"

Unknown Person: "Hc.. No idea.. Why will you tell a stranger you are cutting yr hair"

Me: "Cos you're the only person i know who uses "lyk". Was just making sure."

That's what you get from a person who (if in workable condition) registers every detail, right down to the *perceived* difference in tone brought about by deliberate misspellings. Yes, I actually read short forms and misspellings as they are, not as the word that they're supposed to represent. For example, "teh" will be read as "teh" (as in "the"'s vowel sound) and "lyk" will be read with a longer vowel sound, as in "dike".

p.s. for the record, I'm not a Liverpool fan. All I wanted was to watch a good match of football. Can't say that it was one of the best matches I've watched, though, despite the number of goals. A good load of them were the result of defensive lapses, not the strikers' own brilliance.

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SQUEE! SURPRISE! -poof-

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 08:44:46 GMT

I want so very much to watch Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince again. For surprising reasons. Um, well, for the aesthetics.

Then again, I would settle for video clips of mid-range quality, because I didn't love the whole show; just some parts and some characters. :P

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"Beans scattered around, as if spilled. And there on the table sits a full glass of milk."

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:19:08 GMT

Two things sort of inspired me today.

First, the measures taken by schools to prevent the transmission of the flu virus.

Our recess periods are staggered now, so every level gets an individual timeslot to eat and rest. We have about 25 minutes each, and any contact with other classes (even within the level itself) is strongly discouraged. Therefore, everyone has to sit with their own classmates at the tables in the canteen. Every class is designated a table. No switching, no moving off elsewhere. Announcements interrupt classes every hour, sometimes several interruptions in the 60 minutes. All co-curricular activities cancelled, except for AYG- and SYF-related activities.

I'm not hinting anything here, because I know the seriousness of the issue at hand (that justifies such measures), but don't you think that introducing a deadly virus into a population would be a very good way of controlling the people's lives without much resistance and even with voluntary compliance? There you go, another twist to the "biological warfare" theory. Yeah, that was a plot bunny hopping in. I kind of wish that imaginarybeasts hadn't used the Cities theme for May.

Second, I spotted two students kissing in the rain while on the bus. Why is kissing in the rain considered to be a romantic setting? The contrast between the cool rain and warm passion? Or the rainwater itself? Any answers? x.x

Wonder why it's so hard for me to get even a decent grasp of Chinese...

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"Stop and rewind, people. See that again."

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:38:14 GMT

Everything below was about to be posted on Tuesday (if I'm not mistaken) before my computer crashed again. It's been crashing like a plane without wings that is continually launched into the air even though it has never been given new wings. Therefore, a warning, people--DO NOT PURCHASE ACER PRODUCTS. My computer's less than a year old; the warranty's not even expired, though thank goodness it hasn't.

I had earlier made a backup of the messages I'd had in my now-stolen phone and copied that file from the phone's memory card to the computer. Of course, that file wasn't a text file. It's a file that can be put to use only within a phone with a make up similar to that of mine. But it's a backup, all the same, and the information within it can be recovered just by slotting it into any similar Nokia phone.
( Read more... )

On another note, I did so little work today

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"Fire home, baby," good ol' Rider called. "Do that and you'll hitch a ride to my place."

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:51:24 GMT

I need assessment books. Believe it--I really am saying this now.

But not any stupid, jumble-of-stupid questions assessment books. I need assessment books with questions as tough as the papers Anderson Secondary sets for their students (or tougher, it doesn't matter; as long as I'm unable to do the questions decently on my own) with full, complete model answers.

Of course, I'm talking about A Maths.

I'm actually upset that my problem-solving skills are so poor that I can't even pass a school paper; I don't think that I would've got myself even an E8, had I timed and tabulated my scores. What a puncture to the confidence, one much worse than the "careless mistakes" problem. But hey, at least I know that I have something to work on now.

If only assessment books aimed at helping students study on their own without the help of pricey tuition were widely-distributed and hence, easily found.

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NINE INCH NAILS NINE INCH NAILS NINE INCH NAILS NINE INCH NAILS NINE INCH NAILS

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:34:10 GMT

Even now, I'm feeling pretty sore about having to miss Nine Inch Nails when they play here. It's as bad as having to miss Pierrot. Because finally, after so long, NIN is coming to this pathetic little dot for one night, and Reznor'll be going on an indefinite hiatus (for possibly, literally, forever) right after this year.

The concert's in August. Then tenth, I think? That's uh, a month or two from the O Levels proper, probably preceding (or in the middle of) Prelims, too. There's really no chance of me, going, is there? Sigh.

Oh, and if you're wondering why I'm using Pierrot as a means of comparison, it's because Pierrot's disbanded. Reznor's not abandoning NIN altogether, but he doesn't plan to tour and perform any more. Until he changes his mind, of course. Which is as good as "disbanding", as in, you know, disbanding the band that he pieces together for tours, although he'll still be making music. Of course, it's much more likely that the world'll see NIN on stage again than seeing Pierrot come together even for a one-night reunion, but it's still highly unlikely. Jeez, really.

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Two men stood five metres apart, facing each other. One threw snow; the other threw leaf balls.

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:51:49 GMT

DEAR FIREFOX: I LOVE YOU AND ALL, I'M PRACTICALLY EVEN MARRIED TO YOU. SO COULD YOU PLEASE STOP FREEZING UP FOR NO EXPLAINABLE OR RESOLVABLE REASON?

It's the third time in fifteen minutes already, jeez.

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