I don't really feel like joining the EBay craze just yet, but I'm trying to find a cheaper way to get the Jim Brickman Greatest Hits CD. I think I'll just pop by the Virgin megastore after exams if I can tahan till then. I can't believe no one has any of his songs on Sharescan!
By the way, Matt Redman is very inspirational.

I'm sorry.
I'm really bored.
And it's been 3 hours since my devastating Analogue exam.
Maybe I'll feel like studying again after this.

Name Four Bad Habits You Have

1. never brushing my hair
2. not exercising enough
3. eating... followed by sleeping... followed by eating again... followed by...
4. instinctively replying with "huh?" even though I did actually hear the question the first time

Name Four Things That You Wish You Had

1. a real brain
2. a real butt
3. a real heart
4. more wishes

Name Four Scents You Love:

1. food! any kind of food! the more garlicky or buttery or chocolate chippy.. the better!
2. people - after showers!
3. Body Shop Brazil nut body butter
4. lazy hazy rainy summer days

Name Three Things You'd Never Wear

1. stripey designs
2. A line skirts
3. those pumps with gigantic heels that could break an ankle

Name Four Things You Are Thinking Of Right Now:

1. I am thinking that I can't think of 4 things simultaneously

Name Four Things That You Have Done Today:

1. Woke up
2. tried to get out of bed
3. dropped alarm clock on the floor thinking "that should do it!"
4. got out of bed to pick up alarm clock which stubbornly refused to stop ringing

Name The Last Four Things You Have Bought Recently:

1. *rummages through hand bag for last week's Sainsbury's receipt*... here we are.. Item number one...

Name Four Drinks You Regularly Drink:

1. water (like a fish!)
2. green tea
3. nes-lo
4. milk (like a cow?)

First Grade Teacher's Name?
Mrs Loke! She still bakes cheesecakes for me when I come back for holidays. This is how much my teachers adore me *grin*... teacher's pet!

Last Words You Said:
(In reply to "So how was the Analogue paper?")
I AM SO SCREWED!!!!!!!!

Last Song You Sang?
Somewhere over the Rainbow

Last Person You Hugged?
Lionel! So so happy he's back from Bath! And I got presents! That deserves a double hug and kisses!

Last Thing You Laughed At?
I dunno... after the Analogue paper it surely seems like a long time since I laughed

Last Time You Cried?
In church

What's In Your CD Player?
It's bloody not working!!! It's decided that it doesn't like me

What Color Socks Are You Wearing?
Grey trainers

What's Under Your Bed?
Food!!! (all together: "DUH!!!"), shoes, sundries, luggage

What Time Did you Wake Up Today?
8am (you didn't ask what time I actually got OUT of bed)

Current Taste?
On the tip of my tongue I'd say green tea with too much honey!

Current Hair?
Too long! Badly in need of a cut and some good scolding and nagging on hair care from my all-time favourite hairdresser Shaun (who will never give up on persuading me to straighten my hair!)

Current Clothes?
T-shirt and tracks... It's comfy and baggy and messy and 'I'm tired of looking drop-dead-gorgeous since no one is looking' day for Charl...

Current Annoyance?
6 papers to go... SIX papers to go... did I mention how many papers I have left?? it's SIX!

Current Longing?
For freedom from this misery...

Current Desktop Picture?
Awfully cute photo of Lionel making a face at the cafe in Vienna (in retaliation to the awful photo of me making a face on his desktop previously)

Current Worry?
I failed Anologue... didn't I? Didn't I????

Current Hate?
That's tough. It's between myself and my procrastinating, lazy self and my 'where are your brains??' self.

Favorite Physical Feature Of the Opposite Sex?
Anything huggable!

Favorite Place To Be?
In my bed, under my duvet on a rainy day!

Least Favorite Place?
Anywhere within a 5 mile radius of an exam

Everyone's back from Brownsea! (Everyone being Lionel, and the not so random Linsteadians: Amar, Alex, Jacq, Vivian, Lu and Jing Ye and of course Jed who's almost a Linsteadian). I have new blue and purple wooden tulips! (So, someone thinks I need to be introduced to some new colours, huh?) My msn 'online' list looks more like it should. I am not lonely anymore! Everything is right with the world!

John Keats said "a thing of beauty is a joy forever" and because of that we have A Thousand Beautiful Things

whine

Everyone's on the Brownsea pilgramage road trip (everyone being Lionel and some other random Linsteadians), except me! Well ok, I wasn't the only one left behind. So were the rest of the EE engineers who have the joy of sitting for a paper on Monday. And it really shouldn't bother me so, because I should be mugging my brains out... but I'm lonely!!! Linstead is so strangely quiet! And eating dinner by myself on a Saturday night - I haven't done that since like... never! This is depressing. I should do more problem sheets to cheer myself up before I update Alex on the FA cup score and keep him in suspense for awhile...

I have an Analogue paper at 10am on Monday. I really should nail that to my wall in BIG BOLD red letters. I'm far too relaxed for my own good. And I don't know why I'm not freaking out yet. It's not that I'm any more familiar with analogue (which is now no longer a distant relative thrice removed but an unbearable in-law). I'd have to be (what's that word Sanjeev used? oh yes) a muppet to fail Analogue... but I do believe I might just be one!

I have to admit to a conspiracy regarding next year's group research projects. After struggling by myself to complete this year's design project (which is 10% of the year!!!) due to my two rather non-existent group mates (whom I honestly hope and pray pick up at least SOME programming skills before the end of the course or else become only PSEUDO Information System Engineers) I quickly made a pact with my new ISE buddies (who bully me like hell, but are at the very least competant programmers and interesting people) Kunal and Jeff, and well Sanjeev (because I pitied him) and my lab partner, Menaka (because I pitied her too) to form a project group for 2nd year. Much to my horror I discovered yesterday evening that one of my 'would-rather-sleep-than-go-to-labs' design group project mates had intruded into our little group without my consent. Sanjeev wasn't too happy about it either, so this morning as I dropped in the group project form I nonchalantly filled in only 5 names. It's probably mean. It probably means there will be a drifter who will be chucked into one of the smaller project groups. But I just CANNOT work with my group mates again. Not after what they did to me! Not when I almost single-handedly programmed an entire project meant to be handled by three people! Some days, you just have to guard your own ass.

I think some people are playing table football now. 1 AM is always foosball time in Linstead for us.

I think the engineering work has finally cracked me... or else I'm a programmer with a warped sense of humour...

{you know you've been programming too much when you end all your sentences with a semi-colon; and you enclose them in curly brackets without thinking twice;}

macro proc CodeToSummer(sunshine, flowers, &summerloving)
{
while(1)
{
do
{
hitch up those skirts
and in flimsy flip flops
or thongs
blatant on your feet
discretely beneath sheer clothes
run to lectures
past the wilting bluebells
forgotten in the bloom
of the red red roses
the daffodils have had their day
and now the tulips have come out to play
and the grass has never felt this great
as frisbees fly overhead
and the smell of barbecues
pulls me away from my books
} while (the sun is shining);
do
{
snuggle under my plump duvet
peek out at the falling raindrops
breathe in the fresh eau de summer
even in this faded English city
the sun never sets
undaunted by rainclouds
they don't get a chance
not in summer
just as my notes
don't stand a chance of being read
not in summer
as they flutter in the breeze
} while (summer rains are a pouring);
if (autumn should come) then
{perhaps it'll be time to take a break from this summer spell}
else
{i'll just enjoy this summer loving!}
}
}

Just felt the need to do something completely useless after spending the last 5 hours fruitfully studying. Analogue Electronics is now no longer foreign, but rather a distant relative, thrice removed.

Your High School(s): SMK (P) Sri Aman

1. nickname in high school? : Charl, Charly, Shallot, and every other possible permutation of my name. Girls in my high school were not very creative.

2. best subject? : Add Math or English Lit (Miles apart!)

5. worst subject? : Moral. Don't give me that knowing look!

6. a teacher you owe life lessons to? : Mrs Menon. You either hate her or love her. As for her Literature girls... we just worshipped the ground she walked on!

7. a teacher you wanna kick in the ass? : I actually adore most of my teachers. I'm a suck up!

8. Form 1: 1 Erat! Formed the "We hate Roslina Bagawi Club" with Maggie. (Oh! now I recall a teacher that I DID want to kick in the ass). Actually went through the rituals of donning the maroon prefects vest and tight skirt. Tormentous end of year watching both my best friends become bitter enemies.

9. Form 2 : 2 Damai! Class with 14 prefects, and forever at loggerheads with 2 Cekap. Form 2 was a rather strange year, embedded in a part of my brain I can never get rid off. Both my closest friends still steeped in pure venomous loathing of each other. Watched them attend counselling sessions which was as useful as crap. Trying to prevent another close friend from suicide attempts. Finding out that one of your close friends lives in a complete fantasy world (national swimmer? boyfriend died in a car accident? goes horse riding for recreation? oh, come on!). Getting caught by the Prefect teacher advisor for skipping classes and playing poker (and I STILL had my prefect badge then!). Form 2 was just emotionally exhausting. Scarred for life.

10. Form 3 year : 3 Fasih! Breathe of fresh air after form 2. Completely new and incredible group of friends who played the silliest games (even when we're 50 I think we'll still be playing the song game and our own version of monopoly! Jalan Ali Abdul Rahman... what the heck?), formed the Chaka-chaka club, made up weird songs about diarrhoea and fried kuay teow, co-founded the Single Women's Club with Maggie and Anu (which we banned Jilly and Ying eternally from), stepped into the Interact world and found God through CB and confirmation classes.

11. Form 4 year : 4 Sains Cekap! Notorious for containing the most POWER social groups in one small and swelteringly hot container classroom! Formed some very firm friendships. And those were the days when BBians suddenly become very much entangled in our lives - from which we probably learnt the best of life's lessons. A Sri Amanian should NEVER date a BBian! Volcano waiting to kill an entire village, that is! Took on the post of Interact VP. Many many ups and downs and tears and laughter and sweat and relief - but we achieved the incredible! So many other ridiculous memories we still laugh over at mamak sessions. Winning the zone Choral Speaking competition which I conducted leading to observations of my butt by afore-mentioned despicable BBians (well not that despicable, I still love some of you!). The much hyped hacking of our Interact website which was littered with pornography and a personal vendetta directed towards me. Forming the dynamic duo... turning out possibly the most ludicrous bitches Sri Aman ever saw. BRATs! And all my sisters in Christ in CB who kept me uplifted every single day. Wow... that was one hell of a year!

12. Form 5year : 5 Sains Bakti. Sat alone because I am really antisocial. Worked out for me because I got 2 desks to myself which had a rotation of visitors every other lesson! Busy, busy, busy year. Interact, Rangers gathering (I was the squeaky MC... I will admit that now!), CB problems and of course taking on the crazy attempt of 11 papers for SPM!

13. your best friends? : Stopped believing in best friends after form 1.

14. cafeteria food sucked? : I was too busy to spend time in the canteen.

15. most hilarious school rule? : I wouldn't know. I adore rules!

16. wore uniforms? : Yeah! My ever comfortable blue pinafore and baju kurung. And the maroon straight jacket for 2 years... I actually thought the prefects uniform looked good! Or else, I just looked good in it!

17. how was the prom? : Hah! snort! Sri Aman having a prom while Maharani was still pengetua (principal)? Fat chance. (As for RJ's prom, I still have my misgivings about it... but I got flowers, so I should shut up)

18. who was prom king and queen? : Some unimportant people. Unimportant because the ones I voted for didn't win!

19. any achievements? : You're kidding! Check out my CV...

20. were you popular? : In some notoriously bitchily strange ways...

21. best song that reminds you of high school? : Maju Penuntut Sri Aman, and R.Kelly's I believe I can fly... (not his version but Choo's version: I believe I can fry... char kway teow and yao char gwai...)

22. unforgettable high school crush?? ROFL!!! Everyone knows my most tragic high school romances, affairs, heart-crushing moments and what nots... they make for such entertaining stories now. Like I used to tell Maggie after every stupid incident "I was young then!" (even if 'then' referred to '2 months ago')

23. most embarrassing moment? : I embarrass myself ALL the time, it's become a norm.

24. memory you'd like to forget about high school? : Form 2... ALL of it!

25. best memory? : I don't know... personally, I enjoyed college more!

26. any regrets? : I shouldn't have gained a reputation for being heartless and mean

27. would you like your "future child" to attend your high school? : Yeah! I say a school like Sri Aman would do a kid some good!

28. were the bathrooms clean? : Yeah... once every second rising of a blue moon

Maybe mother was right
Another autumn comes by again
So fast
What happened last autumn?
I don't know
And raindrops
Look pretty from your window
But the lightning's killed me
Did it kill you too?
And I think I shouldn't
Shouldn't write these poems anymore
Shouldn't wonder why you never call
Shouldn't think of the loss
mine or yours?
And perhaps I should
Enjoy my bit of sunshine
And stop bringing
My own rainclouds with me

Hadn't been reading blogs in awhile, so caught up with the usual regulars.

The Rafflesians have been blogging about Move and Groove. And I'm sitting here as the London sun sets and thinking how I should never say never.

Like how when I first set foot in RJ, I said I'd never fit in here.
The day I signed up for Odac, I told myself I'd never be an active member.
And certains 'never's I told a certain geek
And when I left RJ, I said I'll miss the people, but I never thought I'd end up feeling sad over the thought of a building with just so many memories now being put to rest.

Do you know what I see when I think of RJ moving?
I see the sun setting over the track and the lights blink on, one by one in the specs gal. I see birds flying overhead to nest for the night as the echoes of Odacian voices and a basketball fade away and runners finish their last lap. I see the Odac room covered in a greyish hue, and the bean bag sits silently in its corner, the gel bottles have dried up and the immortalised words on the blackboard are wiped off. I see the few lingering councillors clear miscellaneous rubbish off the Council room patio, and behind it the ropes have come down from the rock wall and the gate is locked. And I see a bunch of 20 hungry, tired, sweaty (and probably stinky) Odacians leaving the Odac table in a delightful mess - which I'll never get to clear up - as they head to Ghim Moh for Johnson duck rice and a train noisily passes by for the last time...

Maybe it's time to pack away some memories in unlabelled cardboard boxes tied in sweet pink ribbons and let them set sail with the wind. Please stop haunting me...

Isn't my little sister just the sweetest! She wrote me a Friendster testimonial, albeit with lots of spelling mistakes and the most atrocious grammar. It's things like these that set us apart like chalk and cheese and it's almost an irony that we're carbon copies looks-wise.

The panic should be building up now. Yes, NOW! Less than 2 weeks to my first paper (analogue electronics which is as foreign to me as say, African studies!)

At the same time several people are turning 21 (and 19 in Lu's case). Just for their sakes, here are some shout outs that are due:

10th May : HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY MAGGIE!!!
Cheers to the dangerous scalpel wielding half of the dynamic duo!

11th May: HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY SOHA!!!
Who would have known that the first person I met at the fresher's reception would end up in the same hall as me, same department as me, and hang out in the same circle of friends as me! You owe us drinks, girl!

13th May: HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY LU!!! (in advance)
It's a pity you're still a minor. All the same: cheers to your last year of teenhood. Use it wisely! And NOT by absorbing all that alcohol!!!

My day's are being torn off swiftly like the pages of a calander. Maybe I should start a countdown too... as seems to be the culture swiftly taking over MSN nicks. 28 days to freedom. Panic rating 7/10. Nervous, Scared, Terrified! Never start really working till your nervousness has scared the hell out of you, and your scared self starts shaking with terror! *cough* that was pathetic...

A small dedication to the boys in my life***:

Between the innocence of babyhood and the dignity of manhood, we find a delightful creature called a boy. Boys come in assorted sizes,weights, and colors, but all boys have the same creed: to enjoy every second of every minute of every day and to protest with noise when the last minute is finished and they are packed off to bed.

Boys are found everywhere; on top of, inside of, climbing on, swinging from or running around or jumping to. Mothers love them, little girls hate them, older brothers and sisters tolerate them, adults ignore them and Heaven protects them. A boy is truth with dirt on its face, beauty with a cut on its finger, wisdom with bubble gum in its hair, and the hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.

When you are busy a boy is an inconsiderate nuisance, a bothersome jangle of noise. When you want to make an impression, his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a savage sadistic jungle creature bent on destroying the world and him in it

A boy is a composite- he has the appetite of a horse, the digestion of a sword swallower, the energy of a pocket size atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the lungs of a dictator, the imagination of Paul Bunyan, the shyness of a violet, the audacity of a steel trap, the enthusiasm of a fire-cracker, and when he makes something, he has six thumbs on each hand.

He likes ice-cream, saws, knives, the boy across the street, woods, water (in it's natural habitat), large animals, Dad, trains, and fire engines He is not much for Sunday School, company, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barber shops, girls, overcoats, adults or bed time. Nobody else is so early to rise or so late to supper.

A boy is a magical creature - you can lock him out of your workshop, but not out of your heart. You can get him out of your study but not out of your mind.

Might as well give up. He is your captor, jailer, boss, and master - a pint sized bundle of noise - but when you come home at night with all the shattered pieces of hopes and dreams - he can mend them like new with the magic words: "Hi Dad" or "Hi Mom, I missed you."

~Adapted from the original by Alan Beck~ Essay submitted by: Harry Updegraff,Jr.

*** I hang around with way too many boys and not enough girls... But I wouldn't have it any other way... how could life be complete without my Odac boys, Bhai, Jere, Ravi, and co. or the Linstead boys and above all my little brother who will always be a little boy... ***

It's thunder-storming in London! Yes it is!

It's times like these that I miss home, and the good ol' rainy ODAC days. I am obviously NOT the rain god... because it doesn't rain enough in London.

Well it does... but it doesn't rain the way I want it to. Torrential buckets just sloshing from blue-grey skies - that's REAL rain. Not the constipated droplets we get throughout winter.

Writing a lab report in 4 hours, 3 hours before the deadline, should not be something to be proud of! To be repeated to self until insanely saturated, 5 times a day.

This term has produced the worst (or best?) procrastination track record I've ever come across! It doesn't help that I've been getting 'A's for all my assignments - it only propels my procrastination to greater heights! Every single essay, coursework or assignment this term has been completed minutes away from the deadline, sustained by caffeine overdose and the company of darkness. I seem to be addicted to putting a noose around my neck and then saving myself just before the weight is dropped and my precious little neck is fatally constricted.

3 more weeks to finals. I should really look into hermit lifestyle options.

Oh my gosh! Is it light outside already???

******

[Kitchen matters]
Had a really good dinner of French onion soup with garlic bread and grilled Chicken with Mango chutney, solely prepared by our novice cook, Lionel. My boyfriend is turning out to be a better cook than me... and this is only his 2nd try! I'm going to be demoted soon according to the standard's of Amar's QAA! Must buck up after exams are over.

The more free time you have the less the chances are of you spending it on working! Ever tried that?

Today is the second day of the long weekend. Bank Holidays aren't dished out generously enough, so don't mind me dancing with joy over a Monday holiday. Maybe my initial plan was to work my ass off and proudly produce a completed coursework, lab report and extensive knowledge on management by Monday, but my plans have screwed up as usual.

Beginning with a very long MSoc comm meeting in my room on Friday evening - 10 people thrashing out the Fresher's Reception, and then scaring Chien Liq silly with the 'Milkshake' video (the most violent reaction we've seen so far). [Half time advertisement - Have you got a wicked sense of humour? Then ebaumsworld is for you.] Followed by a walk to Odeon with the whole gang to see Kill Bill. (Dissapointing! Nothing can beat the style of the Oren Isii fight scenes. And Pai Mai? Honestly! Lame!). Came back at nearly 3 in the morning. Lionel and I put 2 garlic baguettes in the oven, fell asleep and woke up 40 minutes later to find the kitchen in smoke! Luckily the fire alarm didn't go off. No one would be amused at being woken up at 3 in the morning by a fire alarm.

Woke up really late on Saturday. Nah, woke up early enough... just couldn't get out of bed till 1pm. Then helped the DSTA girls carry the picnic stuff over to Hyde Park for Kai Leng's birthday picnic. Played frisbee with the Singaporeans in the cold... brrr... Need a proper coat! I think I'll go look at the pink ones at High Street soon. Did other miscellaneous and unblogworthy stuff and I still haven't started on work yet. I amaze myself at how well I can waste a day!