Saturday, April 29, 2006

Labels

Ok. It's been a reeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaalllly long time since I've blogged. There are quite a few things I wish to say, but either insufficient words to say them, or a sense that it's inappropriate to say. Which means I might have to set up a new blog. Hmm!
 
OK, let's start with happy stuff.
 
I finished my (one and only) exam today!! Yes, I only had one, but as a Master's student, I don't really have the luxury of a one-week Reading week to study for the exam, I spent reading week scanning subjects, and repeat-scanning subjects who were unlucky enough or didn't-follow-instructions-enough to have to come for a repeat, marking term papers (ack) and working on my independent research project (smaller scale run-up to my thesis, which hasn't taken any written form yet). Yikes. To make things worse, I foolishly left the house at 8 for the 9am paper (*slap head*) resulting in my being late by 10 minutes  =(  Never mind. Managed to get most of what I had to say but as I left the venue I was mentally slapping myself for spending too much time flipping notes (it was open book) and thinking than writing down the thoughts I'd already thought. All this combined to form a slightly disturbing sense of heightened physiological function (heart rate, slowed digestion etc) that lasted even by the time my fellow Master's student, YY, and I reached Holland V for lunch. Yikes! But going to Holland V was a great decision. We had yummy Thai curry rice sets at Thai Express (sigh, where else?) and then, even better, we went SHOPPING! You'd be surprised, but there are quite a few very nice shops in Holland Village. One in particular, Closet Treasures at the Windmill, was so nice that I bought 2 items and YY bought 1! Our combined purchases got us 4 chops on a collect-a-chop card - 12 chops would get us 30% of our next purchase. Quickly, we calculated that coming back to the shop once every month for the next 2 months would achieve that goal. Then the shop girl told us that new arrivals come every 2 weeks. Save me!
 
Yes, that was my shallow moment of the day. Even as we were leaving the shop my eye was caught by a gorgeous shade of royal blue belonging to a Victorian-style top near the entrance, and YY had to firmly drag me away. Heh. Well, today I also got started on the next phase of my project! Fine, it didn't involve much effort on my part - a computer script detailing the mouse movements and clicks needed to get BrainVoyager to run statistics on each of the 42 brain regions I had identified to be of interest had already been written by my supervisor and a former research assistant. So all my supervisor had to do was show me how to use it. We troubleshooted a tiny thing, and then the procedure was off and running. Sup said, "OK, that's probably going to take 2 hours, good excuse for you to go home now." At 4pm! Whee, my kind of day.
 
Well now, the bad thing about shopping? With my new outfit I need new shoes. Hmmmm. *Self-control!!!*
 
Updates (in point form, like at the end of the exam when you have no time to form a complete sentence)
- Met a really old friend, and found out that he is moving all the way from Clementi, to the next street from me! Altogether now, SMALL WORLD!
- Have become a bit more organized (any progress is good in my books)
- Realize I am... impatient
- Would like to be more... patient
- And less... snappish at times. PMS and stress do not justify rudeness to my family  =P
- Stuff to do now that exam is over!!
  ->Finish knitting my cropped cardigan. Muaha. Maybe I can finish it before the dang things go out of fashion.
  ->Bake bagels!
  ->Watch MI:3. No I don't like Tom Cruise, but it'll be a good family film.
  ->Go rollerblading, swimming and running
  ->Read
  ->Sleep (so what am I doing now?? Sheesh...)
  ->Finally go to the art museum??
  ->Read up on scuba diving
Right. Meant to make the list short and manageable. Well... OK, I think most of this stuff can be done in a couple of weeks  ;)
 
Resolutions for 2nd quarter:
- Learn to priortize
- Learn to do things faster
- Learn how to motivate myself in healthy (non-ice cream) ways.
 
Hmmmm.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Modern Crystal Ball

itunes oracle

My dear independent friend did this on her blog and it was hilarious. Fun for a frazzled night.

Instructions: Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING.
[Music player of choice: iTunes 6 on Dell Inspiron Notebook.]

How does the world see me?
Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
[Musical but tragic]
 
Will I have a happy life?
Genki wo dashite - Hitomi
[Apparently it means Cheer Up in Japanese! So that's good]

What do my friends really think of me?
Desafinado (Slightly Out of Tune) - Quarteto-Jobim
[Ha! True...]

Do people secretly lust after me?
The Way You Look Tonight - Michael Buble
[Yeah, baby]

How can I make myself happy?
I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm - Steve Tyrell
 
What should I do with my life?
Separate Ways - Faye Wong
[Split myself in two???!!!]

Will I ever have children?
Goodbye - Alicia Keys
[Oh no...]

What is some good advice for me?
The Remedy - Jason Mraz
[Perform in a comedy, or embark on a dangerous liasion!]
 
How will I be remembered?
Donde Estas, Yolanda? (Where are you, Yolanda?) - Pink Martini
[They won't even get my name right at my funeral]

What is my signature dancing song?
Cheek to Cheek - Steve Tyrell
[True! This is creepy...]

What do I think my current theme song is?
Be Still and Know - Steven Curtis Chapman
[A good one to keep in mind]

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
Rhapsody in Blue - DA PUMP
[Funky]

What song will play at my funeral?
Ela Carioca (She's a Carioca) - Quarteto Jobim
[Although I hold a Singaporean passport, secretly I'm a true-blue native of Rio de Janeiro]

What type of men/women do I like?
Men: Twisted Logic - Coldplay
Women: X & Y - Coldplay
[I like twisted men, or manly women.]

What is my day going to be like?
Fly Away - Corinne May
[My favorite pastime]

Saturday, April 01, 2006

That was in '04...

and they still haven't got their act together.Maybe I should file a class action suit too? Argh.