Things You Never Knew...

how sinister of lingwei to toy with my feelings.

quotes from previous entry:

statement one:
"If not from me then by my trusty sidekick leia who is not going on holiday and will be random in my place. (If she can tear hear browser away from etsy, that is)"

statement two:
"And okay, I will miss leia (who someimes seems crazier than my crazy friends, but thats another story) too, abit. "

so i can't decide whether to feel sore/grieved that i CANNOT do heaps of shopping and sight-seeing in the US, or feel oh-so-regal that i will be missed. har har.
and by the way, etsy.com is a very hip hip website. i strongly encourage. although i must say that having a good credit health is almost imperative, 'cause it's really addictive (:

and yes, since lingwei has decided to exploit my utter randomness ("Watch this space for updates! If not from me then by my trusty sidekick leia") , i'll be posting on his behalf till the jedi returns.

"i'm off!", said the madwoman. "have a nice life, everyone."

In a development that seems rather surreal, it's finally happened. All the months of planning and negotiation and mediation and goodness knows what else is finally drawing to a close, and in just over 6 hours I'll be stepping on a plane that first goes to Seoul, and then on to Vancouver. I'll spend the next three-and-a-half weeks or so living out of a suitcase halfway across the world, continuing the strange tradition that is grad trip.

Watch this space for updates! If not from me then by my trusty sidekick leia who is not going on holiday and will be random in my place. (If she can tear hear browser away from etsy, that is)

Special note to my crazy friends: Will miss you guys! There, I've come out and said it, happy? I could give a list including the picnics and the teas and all, but it's the whole, shall we say, experience? Aha. Going away together would be nice, but oh well... Enjoy your own trips (well, if Sha's actually happens) and will see you two when we all get back.

And okay, I will miss leia (who someimes seems crazier than my crazy friends, but thats another story) too, abit. Don't miss me too much k!

First it was the rule of 4, then 5. We broke all records today though. Mind you, this is just a small sampling of the photos we snapped. I think Sha was just happy I brought my old cam today. Huh.

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

In the past few days, as part of the Secret Project (apparently it's hip and trendy to do secret things nowadays so I'm joining the club and jumping on the bandwagon) I have had the chance to listen to my own voice. Over and over again, in different contexts. In particular, my singing voice.

And I have just come to a very startling conclusion. My singing voice sucks. I cannot sing for nuts. Many, many apologies if you have had to listen to it before, and more apologies if you have to be subject to it again anytime in the future.

*cringe*

Ed note - Yes, I understand most people don't really like the sound of their own voices. Except *ahem*. But I don't remember having to sit through so much of myself before so...

Not with a bang, but a whimper. Strange, after four years (well, three plus one) of blood and sweat, toil and labor, it would end so... mundanely. A half-exam, mostly a no-brainer. (I spent most of my time wondering if I had enough time to write whatever I wanted to) A simple tea with friends, except out of 4 of us 2 still had examinations so celebrations were somewhat muted. And now, back home to worry about the 203958209358203 things I need to get done before I fly on Saturday morning.

Hopefully tea on Friday will be better. A more suitable occasion to signal the end of 4 years of law school.

OK SOCCER POST COMING UP. PLEASE IGNORE IF THIS OFFENDS YOU.

20 Years and 10 months and 26 days ago, Diego Maradona scored a wonder solo goal against England in a world cup semi final, dribbling from the halfway line, skipping over the goalkeeper and sidefooting the ball into an empty net.

Fast forward to last week. Lionel Messi, another speedy forward from Argentina scored a remarkably similar goal. Albeit against Getafe in the Spanish King's Cup, the resemblance between the two goals is slightly uncanny. As the youtube video below shows, the moves were as good as identical. Fancy that.

(Commentary unfortunately in Greek, but well, who needs commentary.)

Sha pointed this out, and hey whad'ya know. That's me!

Great reasons to be a geek!

You’re probably very smart.

Yep that's right. Okay, quite smart, at least, depending.

It’s hip to be geek. Everyone is familiar with the stereotype of thick glasses, a pocket protector, an obsession with star trek, and social skills akin to a sack of potatoes. Times have changed: geeks are often fashionable, hip individuals who are very aligned with the trends of their own generation.

YARRRR.

You geek out on more than just your computer. Ever seen the movie collection of a film geek? Ever had an automotive geek work on your car? Ever seen the body of a fitness geek? The tenacity of someone like us, when applied to hobbies outside computers and the like, can yield impressive results.

Right now, the flavor of the month is board games! Check out BGG - www.boardgamegeek.com.

Geek humor is the best humor. This is perhaps a biased opinion, but I’ve never laughed as hard as I have while reading some of the random, funny things that came out of geek culture.

The bestest webcomic is xkcd. (also recommended by Sha. Huh) But as a random sampler, check out the O RLY owl.

You listen to good music. Geeks have access to tools that allow us to hear music that extends well beyond top 40 radio. Want the entire discography of Aphex Twin by tomorrow afternoon? Ask a geek. Not only do they listen to good music, they can find just about anything you’re looking for in a heartbeat.

I can do that. Whoever Aphex Twin is. But ubernet.org is a good place to start.

You make good money. If there’s one stereotype about geeks that usually rings true, it’s that they rarely have trouble earning a decent income.

Ahem. I shall reserve judgment on this for the time being.

You fix stuff. Everyone loves a handyman, especially one that can fix one of the most frustrating devices ever conceived: a personal computer.

I charge $30 per job for this, but I do good work!

You’ve got your own stuff going on. You’ll never meet a geek who runs out of things to do, they’ve got lots of hobbies and interests and are more than happy to dive head first into one of those when they’ve got some spare time. In other words: they won’t rely on you to give them a life.

Note to self. Next freetime block - memorize e to about 20 digits.

You’re very articulate. Compulsively reading a few hundred RSS feeds a day yields a vocabulary that could put most college English majors to shame.

What can I say? (Pun wholly intended)

You’re passionate. When a geek becomes interested in something, they tend to immerse themselves in it entirely. They’ll strip a new gadget down to nuts and bolts and re-build it with an xhtml compliant grappling gun. This intense passion can extend to many areas of a geek’s life, not just computers and hobbies.

Again, YARRR.

To our fair young readers, and all who might believe us,
We begin a tale of long, long ago;
Of castles and dragons, and beer by the flagons
And all the corniest jokes you'd know.
For our story begins in practical things,
And a place called the Cornflake Land,
And it starts at the top – and later will stop –
With this Land's most powerful man.
He was young but wise, and could eat, for his size,
Meals of a hundred and one things,
And these he always got – for he was, was he not?
The Cornflake Land's beloved King.

He was happy and kind, and he always had time
For the old and the poor orphan kiddies.
But though he was shy, and a SNAG type of guy,
The only girls around were old biddies.
It troubled our king, this wee minor thing
Of not having someone to marry.
Furthermore all his pals had wonderful gals;
So he thought, "No more shall I tarry!
I'll look, and I'll leap at the first chance to keep
A pretty maiden who can win my favour;
She'll be funny and kind, and I know that I'll find
Her jokes to have a corny flavour."

So the king decided no longer to hide it:
The fact that he was seeking a wife.
And before he knew it, his palace was strewn with
Young lasses wanting a queen's life.
They were young and they were stupid, and hoping
that Cupid's arrow would make the king blind.
But he was not fooled, and in annoyance he ruled
that he'd see girls of only one kind.
They'd have to be witty, and sing him a ditty
About the cereal that they liked best,
And for the finale – he loved this part –
they would have to pass a secret test.

So the selection began, and as time slowly ran
The king felt farther and farther
From his goal of a bride to walk by his side;
It just got harder and harder.
He'd reached the few around five hundred and two
When he decided he'd call it a day,
He said quietly to Five Hundred and Three,
"Thanks for trying; now please go away."
She stood there and stared – or maybe she glared –
And finally she retorted,
"I'm not here to compete in the impossible feat
of trying to get your head sorted."

The king was surprised: not here for the prize
Of his noble hand in marriage?
The girl then continued, with irritation renewed,
"I've come for that half-eaten cabbage."
The king was befuddled: it seemed he had muddled
up a suitor with a palace maid.
And being polite, just like a king might,
He apologized for the mistake he'd made.
"You see," he said sadly, "it's been going quite badly,
this search for a princess soulmate.
Whomever I find must be one of a kind,
And I know that she'll be worth the wait."

"Then what's wrong with waiting?" Her scorn now abating,
the servant felt sad for the king.
"I don't want to wait, for it's getting too late,
and without love, life won't mean a thing."
Seeing his need, she was sorry indeed
And promised to help him keep looking
For a girl who loved corn, and might for him be born,
And incidentally, would be OK at cooking.

So with his newfound assistant and a path less resistant,
The king began feeling quite strengthened,
And though they spent hours discussing chocolates and flowers,
He didn't mind when the days lengthened.
Months they became, though all stayed the same:
Much talk, and no wedding in sight –
The king didn't care, for his new friend was there –
Till at last she told him one night
That she'd found him a girl, alone in all the world
Who might be the one he deserved.
She'd like much to meet him, and perhaps beat him
to the happiness of falling in love.

The king was excited and gladly invited
The servant girl's choice for his mate
To dinner and wine, in his courtyard divine:
Just the two of them, promptly at eight.
The day took forever: soon, however
It was time for dinner at eight.
The trumpets were blowing, and he couldn't help crowing
To his palace, "I've got a date!"
He primped and he preened and was nervous, it seemed
But managed to keep himself steady.
And at last at the call for him through the hall
He strode down it, with roses held ready.

The courtyard was dim – how could she see him? –
And the poor king stumbled his way there.
“I’m sorry, dear miss, for a darkness like this,”
And he collapsed in the opposite chair.
“It’s fine, Your Majesty,” she said quietly,
“At least we’re not starting late
and as for the dark, please pardon my snark,
But it gives new meaning to the phrase ‘blind date’.”
There was a deep pause, probably because
Her joke was so very lame,
But the king began to laugh at a joke so daft,
For he knew he’d have spoken the same.

Off to this start, with great warmth of heart
The king and the maiden had dinner
And they both spoke of very lame jokes
And together they laughed themselves thinner.
Soon it was cake, and the king thought he’d make
One last try to give her a test.
“You’ve shown me you’re witty: do sing me a ditty
Of the cereal that you love best.”
At first she was quiet, but soon she would try it.
She sang of her cartons of milk,
And how she waited, with breath all bated
For her cornflakes and those of its ilk.
She loved Frosties most, they were better than toast!
But there were corn pops and popcorn too;
And corn-on-the-cob – that was a nice job –
And cornbread, with hot chicken stew.

The king was struck dumb; his tongue had gone numb,
And he stared hard, with his eyes blazing.
Could it really be that his soulmate was she?
The girl smiled and said, “It’s a-maizing!”
With that final word that the king heard,
He knew he had no time to waste.
“Dear maiden,” he said, “you’ve gone to my head,
Please let me see your sweet face.”
And then in a blink, before he could think,
The torches around them flared brighter.
The girl he now saw – why, he’d met her before!
She made his heart feel much lighter…

For it was she who volunteered to be
His advisor in things of the heart,
And now that he knew, he knew too what to do.
“You and I,” he promised, “shall never part.”
They were married on the morrow, and no more of sorrow
Did either of them now feel,
For all day they talked, and everywhere walked,
And were so happy that this love was real.
So our moral is this: if you’re looking for bliss,
Be first a person of value.
Love others, and then if you’re patient, in the end
It is Love who will come find you.

(c)marciav.2007

Quite possibly, the most elaborate flash game I have ever seen. The graphics are hit and miss - nice if you like the type, a bit odd if you don't - it's a hit in my book though. So cute! Production values are generally high, even if the theme of the game is a bit odd. Help a milk-deprived family steal some milk from Fort Fridge. Hah.

Try it out at http://www.gettheglass.com/

Warning - load times can be insanely long, multiple times. The music is decent, but like all looping music can get extremely repetitive. Still worth a shot though, in my book.

Edit - After about 45 minutes of my life I won't see again, I completed the game with 4770 points. Not too shabby, but only something like 16000th place out of 47000 people. What's your score?

To quote Jason, "Titus Bramble store power for 5 whole seasons just for tonight".

BUT WHY MUST IT BE TODAY OF ALL DAYS. WHY CANNOT LAST WEEK OR NEXT WEEK. OR THAT TIME THE UEFA CUP OR WHAT. WHYYYYY

But ok, to give Newcastle credit, the other centre back, Taylor, was pretty good too. Bahhhh.

Whooosh.
What looked like an insurmountable lead a few weeks ago doesn't seem so bad anymore. Thanks heaps to Portsmouth and Middlesborough for cutting the lead down to a paltry 4 points, which can be cut down to a solitary one tomorrow if Chelsea have their way at Newcastle, which isn't so tough.

Still to come though are visits to Emirates and the showdown at Stamford Bridge. It's heady days! Sadly I will be halfway across the world where football == NFL which is interesting in it's own right but stillllllll.

10-9-8-7....
Well not so much, but when I woke up this morning I realized that by this time next week, I A. will not be an undergrad (for all intents and purposes) anymore, and B. I will be somewhere over the South China Sea, flying towards Seoul and then Vancouver. Hohum.

In honor of the occasion (and also because everytime I talk to mh on MSN I get reminded of it too) I put up a countdown timer on the sidebar to remind everybody of the momentous times we live in.

==============================

Oh, and as I told the 3-5 guys yesterday. We are now entering exam week. In case I don't see you (whoever you may be) around school (and that's highly likely) good luck and all he best for your exams, enjoy your grad trip, and see you around raffles place.

Thanks in part to a little nudge in the right direction by Grace, I HAVE FOUND MY WORD. Yes, the word worth a free lunch.

Announcing: Hypocoristic
A hypocoristic (or hypocorism) is a lesser form of the given name used in more intimate situations, as a term of endearment, a pet name.

Read more at (where else?) wikipedia.

Now, to buy myself lunch.

Now, you might be thinking *huh* when you read the title. Guess what, so did I! In one of the odder occurrences in my life lately, I mistakenly downloaded this article from HeinOnline while trying to download some aviation article. To be accurate, it got appended to the end of my article so after I happily finished reading Major Changes in International Air Law: The New Montreal Liability Convention I had a bonus article at the end!

Apparently the Egyptians had a decently well developed legal system with fixed procedures for dispute resolution, recognized the importance of due process and all that. They kept records of their decisions so they could resolve similar problems in a consistent fashion. Although there were no professional lawyers per se, scribes specialized in preparing legal documents, and also wrote wills and other documents of a legal nature.

Well, whadya know. We might not be part of the oldest profession in the world, but lawyers go way back.

One day I'll fly away
Leave all this to yesterday
What more could your love do for me
When will love be through with me

Why live life from dream to dream
And dread the day when dreaming ends

Well, not so much cruisin' as er. how to put this delicately. heart-stopping car ride of doom? okay, more like the kind of thrill ride you get at amusement parks where it looks like you're gonna crash but you swerve away at the last possible second. anyway, some choice sound bites:

"When I say slow down, I don't mean stop!"

"He doesn't fasten his seat belt when he drives but it's fastened when he's in the back seat?"

(instructor)"Turn right in front. its a sharp turn."
(panicked driver)"eek eek can someone else do it?"

"Grace lee looks like she's going to throw up"

"Er, I can't park, can someone else do it?"

(much cannot be transcribed as they consist of odd high pitched whine-y noises that don't transcribe well)

But all's well that ends well I guess. Huh.

reasons why i love nelly tan.

scene 1:

nelly:
(all of a sudden) i want to watch freddie mercury.

[ silence ]

me:
but he's dead.

[brief pause]

me:
you know that right?

nelly:
oh.
nelly:
issit!
me:
this is the funniest conversation i've had all day. congratulations.



scene 2:

nelly:
i've always wanted to be a robin. a blue robin. their eggs are so pretty.
me:
nel, you have strange ambitions for your life. i mean, you want to be a BIRD?



scene 3:

nelly:
why can't you go shopping with me tomorrow! why WHY WHY!
me:
because.... i am employed miss tan. i have to work so that i can get my pay so that i can go shopping with you.
me:
another day that is.
nelly:
okay. hey let's go apply for another job after you're done with this one. okay okay?
me:
ummm. yar. okay. but, i am going to slack first, for at least a week and half. i don't fancy writing another resume that soon.
me:
its depressing when your life is only worth two pages long and possibly less, depending on the size of your font.
nelly:
oh silly. let's just go scoop ice-cream together. i guess you don't need a resume attall! just tell them, i can memorise every single flavour you sell here! and, i like to eat ice-cream and people!
me:
i think you meant, i like to eat ice-cream and i like to see/talk to/interact with/am friendly with people.



scene 4:

nelly:
i like spongebob squarepants. he's so stupid and funny.
me:
yar, just like you.
hannah:
i agree with mich.
nelly:
you two suck.
hannah:
but that's the truth! even though i think you're cuter OHKAY. spongebob is so ugly. he's this ugly......thing. no. sponge.
nelly:
attack spongebob again! don't talk to both of you anymore.
me:
oh what a friend we have in nelly tan.

"Do you really think there is only one perfect mate? ... how can you be certain to find them? And if you do find them, are they really the one for you or do you only think they are? And what happens if the person you're supposed to be with never appears, or, or she does, but you're too distracted to notice? ... let's say God puts two people on Earth and they are lucky enough to find one another. But one of them gets hit by lightning. Well then what? Is that it? Or, perchance, you meet someone new and marry all over again. Is that the lady you're supposed to be with or was it the first? And if so, when the two of them were walking side by side were they both the one for you and you just happened to meet the first one first or, was the second one supposed to be first? And is everything just chance or are some things meant to be?"

- Prince Henry from Ever After


i think i'll just set up my own Alone Forever Club, and play Catan and Risk and Twister, and bake things, for the rest of my life. WHOO! ^^

(Ed note: I do not in any way condone the playing of Risk or Twister. Settlers of Catan... maybe, once in a while, for old times' sake. But Risk or Twister? *turns up nose a-la-Sha*)

Some people have names that are automatically short-formed. I'm not talking nicknames, I'm talking about things like Richard-Dick, Robert-Bob and William-Bill. (and, I'm told, Alexander-Sasha)

There should be an overarching term to refer to this kind of names. No, nickname and shortform are not what I'm looking for.

What is it? Lunch to whoever can tell me.

As usual, no studying was done in the process of creating this work.