aH of smiles and tears: November 2006

Thursday, November 30, 2006

halloo all! (and happy birthday to joy!)

just thought i'd say hello. this semester's really just whizzed by, but it feels like it's neverending, maybe because i'm not going home to singapore for christmas =( so sad. in any case, thanksgiving just went by, and i wanted to list 3 things that i'm grateful for this thanksgiving, other than turkey and mashed potatos:

1.) my parents, who despite their nagging and sometimes rather frustrating ways, have always been pillars of support and exemplary in every way.
2.) my family- my 3 siblings who are retarded, but precious to me because they are. family's like that.
3.) my classmates- another kind of family to me. i'm grateful for each one of you, and how you've been a blessing to me.

hope everyone is doing well. =) drop me an email if you have time, it's always good to hear from ppl. as for me, i'm writing a whole bunch of papers now, and taking exams soon.. before the break. and i dont know what to do for break. any ideas? other than that, i just came back from london over thanksgiving break with yp, playing bass last minute for this musical candide b/c they needed someone, and in the middle of a paper on St. Benedict of Nursia's Benedictine Rule for Monasteries.

and now for some photos:

btw, the last picture is me, khoon liat and yp stepping on the m'sia plaque with our dear m'sian friend there...

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

halloo!! all the best for examssss :D :D

yup i'll b back on monday(4dec) morning @ 1am. woah. :)
5dec-8dec i'll be at Wesley's FEAR Camp.. that's exciting.
apart from that, i dun haf any settled plans...
hint hint?

haha. my number is 9237860 which has no caller id and no free sms..

cya soon?? :D

and i'll be around til..15 jan i think. (a round.. hmm..after all the eating.. i'll be a very round something..)

Monday, November 27, 2006

eh josh... Free Hugs in Singapore too..

Friday, November 24, 2006

random thought:
my english honours class just spent about an hour arguing over the appropriateness of writing a formal essay in the first person.

now if i remember mrs cref and dolly's advice from jc days right, it was always to CROSS out all mention of "I" from our essays on pain of being transformed into a unicellular lifeform imprisoned in the petri-dish of hell for the next billion years. reasons cited all had to do with maintaining a more professional veneer and about distancing yourself from the text in order to pick it apart on the operating table of critical analysis/ create a balanced argument.

it could just be a more western style of presentation, but the main thrust of the pro-"I"-users this morning was that to use the first person in a formal essay would be akin to taking responsibility for the perspectives mentioned within. by vanquishing the objective viewpoint, you'd would actually simultaneously erase the "arrogant" assumption that your words were holy universal writ, as well as provide a more forceful argument by making it unique. and no, we're not allowed to take the tangent that as long as the point is made, it doesn't matter.

i was actually hoping to pass off the whole not-using-"I" as a british peculiarity, but my in-favour-of-it-prof is from england. i know i've written this post so far in the first person, but that's because it's a blog post to all you lovely ah babies. so if anyone (anyone!) has further thoughts/advice/non-related blather on this, please let me know.

(it just makes me feel.. discomfited when i find that someone in my class who wrote "this sequence of words gives me a creepy feeling, kind of like i don't know what is happening, and i think that the poet is doing this because he wants to show..." gets an A. and no, it's not because i'm jealous of the grade or because i dislike him (i don't) or because he's smarter than me but can't express himself well. it just makes me feel like i wasted all my time trying to pretty up my own essay, and i spend an average of 3hrs per essay just working on thought presentation.)

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

This is an announcement to Brandon Chew:

I can never reply your MSN msgs because I'm not allowed to. Instead, this always pops up

[ Zone Labs Security alert: Your message was blocked because you are not on brandonchew@hotmail.com's contact list ]

Go figure.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

IN HONOUR OF MY FRIENDS:

ORD LORH!!!!!!!