Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Because the very idea behind blogging, is for you to say whatever you want, right? And people don't really care about being politically-correct anymore anyway.
Well, I haven't really come across any blog that practises outward discrimination, so I don't really have a personal problem with that. I'm more concerned with how your content is being expressed, because several blogs I've read are little more than irksome.
I know I may not have much authority, but just consider me part of the "general audience" giving feedback, and show some compassion. And should what I blog about offend you, I'm sorry. I think I'll have just this one catharsis of sorts, unless circumstances are so unfortunate as I should feel inclined to go around offending people again.
So here goes:
Firstly, what is the appeal regarding blogging in a manner that abuses the English as much as possible? Let me give a few examples:
1. aLtErNaTe CaPiTaLiSaTiOn (It's so damn exhausting to type like that!)
2. Subst1tut1ng numb3rs for l3tt3rs (Okay, so it isn't that bad, but we are talking about a catharsis here, so bear with me.)
3. All pluralz ending with "z" 'z.
4. Bad spelin, ful of short-cuts
5. Indiscriminate use of Singlish lor
Next, you should know that having the intentions to use vulgarities, but not having the guts to spell them as they are, does reflect something on you that isn't too positive. Like, "what the f***", people know which word you are using, why censor it then? I'm not much of a swearer myself, but when the need arises, I let loose. When you are angry and you want to swear, I understand, and others will too.
Then some people say, "I don't want to be rude." Your asterisks and your "@#$%^&*" etc don't look very polite either, hell, you want to insult somebody, there is an infinite number of ways to do so without the use of swear words. I have plenty of suggestions regarding how to do so, trust me.
...
At this point in time, I think I've reached the end of this session of catharsis. And looking at the past half-hour in whatever retrospect that may exist, I suppose that this entry really is a catharsis, and it serves no other purpose, because the seemingly sad truth is that after this post is published, people will continue to blog in the same way which I cannot stand, and my frequent laments here will not be noticed.
And that, I conculde, ladies and gentlemen, is how the world goes round.
♥ The lights faded at 9:46 pm
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Last night was pretty much hell. I bled and bled. I bit the gauze until my jaws ached. I couldn't talk, eat, or even drink. It was a night of charades and text-typing on my phone. I got so distracted until I couldn't study for GP. So I went to sleep.
When I woke up, the bleeding stopped. It gave me a chance to take a look at my gums. It was horrifying and terrifying. Yes, very Gothic, for those who understand. The horrific thing is the blood and the two big gaping holes. The terrifying thing is that my teeth won't ever grow back, and now the only thing is that I have to wait for the braces to arrange my teeth so that the gaps won't be there anymore. Till then, I have to settle with the trauma, and not being able to eat properly. I have to take tiny bites of soft food. Sigh.
The scarier thing? I'm going to have two more teeth taken out on Monday. Help me.
♥ The lights faded at 9:26 pm
Monday, May 29, 2006
There was once, when I was quite young, probably at a single digit age, my mother went to have two wisdom teeth extracted. For hours later, her gums wouldn't stop bleeding, and it got so bad at night that she had to go to the hospital. I remember that I was sitting in the cab, crying my eyes out, because some thought had gotten into my head at that time, a thought that she might lose so much blood, and die. And that thought freaked me out like nothing else.
And so I looked out of the cab window and up to the sky, and made a promise that if my mother could get better, I would be well-behaved and obedient and all that for the rest of my life.
And yes, all this is true.
And with a few exceptions, I have been quite well-behaved, just in case you would like to know.
And yes, of course she got better.
Fast forward about a decade. I went to the dental clinic to have two adult teeth extracted today, as part of the whole braces procedure. The pain was nothing compared to the fear. What I felt was really more mental. I hadn't really expected the dentist to use pliers to do the job. And even though there were all the painkillers at work, I could still feel the pressure of my tooth getting yanked out.
It was a first for me. Before this, all the teeth that were ever taken out were milk teeth. Chicken feed. I took them out myself when their time came. And milk teeth don't have roots that extend deep into the gums.
But adult teeth do. And now, my gums won't stop bleeding, and it's getting really bad.
♥ The lights faded at 10:23 pm
It seems weird that I should feel like a tourist when in Sentosa, but I do.
Sad, it was raining, and soggy sand is so not nice. Plus, there were stupid flooded places. However, the rain didn't stop the hunks from playing ball on the beach, topless, no less. =p
CK, on the other hand, was disappointed because there were no suntanning babes due to no sun. Haha.
Underwater World! It was so fun! First, we went to poke at the fishes that we're allowed to touch. The starfish wasn't too fun, and the fishes usually swim away too quickly, but there was... the shark. Small shark, naturally, but nevertheless a shark. It was very passive, and the skin was very smooth.
To tell the truth, I was a little nervous, and I didn't want to touch the shark while some other stranger was touching it too. What if some joker were to poke poke poke, and then provoke the shark into biting, and my fingers happened to be the nearest to its teeth? I've watched too many episodes of AXN's "World's Most Amazing Videos" to know that freak accidents happen. And hell, I do not want the next episode to feature my missing fingers.
Then there's NJC Choir concert at ACS Barker, which is so out of the way. But the concert was worth it. NJC Choir is good; they can seriously kick MJC Choir's ass. They've got a lot of good soloists, and the generally the sound was like, whoa. Song choice was also quite tasteful. Yeah, only thing was I felt lame, watching Hong Yi's concert without Hong Yi there. (She's in Germany, lucky girl.) So Miss Lim was the only person on stage whom I knew. She still looks the same, so tall and so thin. And sometimes I miss her style of conducting.
Which reminds me...
AHS Choir is going to the pits, sad to say. It used to be so good. Now with new conductor, new teachers-in-charge, a couple of crappy bitches, of all people, as SLs. Yeah, so what is the world coming to, I wonder.
♥ The lights faded at 10:31 am
Saturday, May 27, 2006
The MJC Guitar Ensemble concert was quite good. Bernice and Justin Hui did a great job with the vocals. You guys rock.
After the concert, I went for supper with Holly, Geraldine, Ruihong and Justin Hui. I spent a whopping $4.85 on MacDonald's french fries: $2.50 on normal large fries, $2.35 on medium twister fries. I'm really grateful for a good metabolic rate; I feel quite sick thinking that I've consumed so many calories. Ha.
That was yesterday. Today, I went to watch X-Men 3 with Holly, Zheng Jie, Bernice, Rui Hong, and Ying Chuan, at Cathay Cineleisure. $9.50, so expensive. *Grumble*. But the movie was worth every cent. Jean Grey/Phoenix remains the coolest of the lot. The story was good, the effects were good... the only grudge I had was that there were a lot of characters, and there wasn't enough opportunity to see any one of them in depth. Otherwise, brilliant.
Before the movie, we went to the arcade, where I revisited my old habits. DDR, Para Para, Time Crisis II, I played them all. No... I'm becoming an arcade freak again. When I was in secondary school, I was like, always at the arcade. I didn't really get into much trouble, but hell, it's an expensive hobby.
A fun hobby, nonetheless. Can't wait for exams to be over. Argh, stress...
P.S. I saw Denise Keller along Orchard Road! Very pretty, but frightfully skinny.
♥ The lights faded at 9:55 pm
Monday, May 15, 2006
Hmm... So my cookies aren't very photogenic, but I can assure you of their good taste. The prices range from $1.20 to $1.50 for the cookies, the ones you see, and lots of others that my classmates are baking. And we'll also be selling nachos. Prices not really determined yet. These sales will take place this Thursday and Friday, in the MJC Canteen. All proceeds will go to the Children-At-Risk Empowerment Association of Singapore. So MJC people, please go on and warm the hearts of others, and warm your stomachs too.
♥ The lights faded at 10:32 pm
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Nothing much to say, really, just a happy mother's day to all mums, especially mine. Because mothers are the greatest women in the world.
Old photo, taken in 2004 I think.
♥ The lights faded at 7:59 pm
The TJC Choir Concert, if anything, was quite disappointing.
Firstly, the venue: of all places, why ACS Barker? Was it because VCH was already booked? In any case, ACS Barker is like, one of the most out-of-the-way places ever. And the hall is like, child's play. And not to mention it looked really small. I thought it was some 400-seater or something, then Rachel (from MJ Choir) told me that it's actually an 800-seater. Gosh.
The entry was quite original, really. They walked down the aisle and sang. The choice of songs were impressive, but they didn't really deliver the full spirit of the songs. Songs that spoke of pain sounded quite pleasant. The energetic songs lacked support and rhythm. The musical was simple and catchy, just a little too soft.
That said, I think the MJ Choir concert was better, and I'm not the only one who thinks so.
And that said, I thought the encore was brilliant, and very much redeemed the concert.
And CK kept complaining that it's very difficult to find a pretty girl in TJ. He may be right. For now the only pretty girl from TJ whom I can think of, is that hot babe Rachel from dance.
(I am a little hesitant about blogging about this. For all you know, she may be reading this.)
Keng Foo and me, post-concert. Do you think he looks like Jacky Cheung? Cassandra, MJ Choir senior, apparent thinks so. She was like, chasing him at the MJ Choir Concert. As for me, I never did think about it until she said it. Well... He does, actually, just a little. Hmm...
And I digress from here. The whole resemblence thing is quite intriguing. Children resemble their parents, that's a matter of genes. But resembling someone whom, as far as you know, is a complete stranger, how is that explained? I once heard a rather cute explanation from a friend, who said, "God ran out of ideas, so He photocopied."
Interesting point. I'll end here.
♥ The lights faded at 1:34 am
Friday, May 12, 2006
10th May 2006, was a beautiful night. A night I'll never want to forget.
Let's start with the day: no lessons! No sitting in boring lectures and tutorials, no facing of those bleaghs. Just warm-ups and rehearsals.
Plenty of breaks, so it wasn't tiring. Photo-taking!
Jo, Holly and I in our "we-are-oh-so-cool" shot.
Channelling S.H.E. in our "we-are-super-cutesy" shot.
The altos, with a very narcissistic me in the front. =p
After lunch, we headed down to VCH. This place brings back good memories, like AHS choir days, last year's concert...
"Yes, everything's as if we never said goodbye."
I was singing this as we walked into the hall, and a junior said that I have a mellow voice that is very nice. Yay, thanks! =)
Breaktime.
Not long after, it's time to get dressed. Yep, time to get into our Chinese Restaurant waitress uniforms. That's what the dress looks like. But standing together on stage, we look quite nice actually. Better than the plain silver-grey dress of AHS.
My nu-er, Priscilla, and me the geisha. Damn, I wasn't so fair in person, only in the photos. I look so ghostly!
Holly and me!
Yeah, the concert itself was great. Sure there were some pretty bad screw-ups, like we got too excited/nervous/anxious and we rushed. Some parts were quite off-key. I screwed up major in my emcee-ing, because I was so damn nervous. My mother a.k.a. my harshest critic told me that I spoke too fast and too aggressively. My first time as an emcee, what do you expect? My mother was so mean lah, she asked me, "Aiyoh, why they choose you as emcee?". *Sob!*
Anyway, I mainly screwed up when I went up alone. When talking with fellow emcee Justin Hui, I'm a lot less nervous. Anyway he did way better than me. My mother said that he sounded a lot more sincere.
Justin and me, post-concert.
I think the musical was good, though the audience laughed at inappropriate times. But now come to think about it, the revelation that the butler, who writes hundreds of fan mail a day to his fallen film-star employer, is really her first husband, is well... hard to believe, I guess.
I love the dancing part. My sister told me that when all of us first went on stage for the second half, the guy behind her said, "Wah, Michelle damn sexy sia!" I'm so flattered, thank you, whoever you are. And own up if you read this!
Anyway, I was saying that I love the dancing part. Keng Foo told me that I was dancing so erm... energetically, he feared that my top would fall off. A few seniors also said the same thing. Hmm... thanks for all your concern, but my top was pretty safe, so no worries! Only thing was the strapless bra, kept slipping off... Hmm... too much detail.
(At this point, I want to thank all my friends for coming for the concert. You guys are the greatest. Muack.)
Post-concert, a big group of us went to Lau Pa Sat for supper. Such a long way to walk, and I was perspiring in my stockings, and I couldn't change out of my stockings, 'cos I'd then get blisters. Ate a bit of this and that at Lau Pa Sat; I drank some vodka again, only this version tastes more like Sprite, for some reason. Then we caught the last train home.
So this was 10th May 2006. May not sound like much to you, but it was a beautiful night to me, and more. And it was a night I'll never want to forget.
♥ The lights faded at 11:47 pm
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
So the world is becoming a smaller place, thanks to blogs and thanks to Friendster. I guess it would have been anyway.
If you have read my tagboard, you would have seen my sister's tag that says "your text quite difficult to read leh", which leaves me perplexed.
My blog, difficult to read? How is that possible? Especially since I go through a fair bit of pain to make my blog as comprehensive as possible. I use paragraphs, and I try to keep them short. What's so difficult? You want me to blog in point form meh?
And I type in standard English at least 95% of the time, throwing in the occasional bits of Singlish. I vary my style to keep things interesting. I blog about things that most people should understand. I don't use foreign jargon. So what is so difficult?
On the other hand, some things that are second nature for a lot of people to type and read, is hellish for me read.
For starters, I really don't like the term "wor", which is ten times worse when it somehow springs into plural form: "worx". Ew. It's such an unwarranted word; the only time I use it is when I'm saying how much I don't like it.
Something less criminal in my unofficial, unwritten book of law is punctuating every sentence with a "haha" or a "heehee" or the equivalent. I'll naturally assume that you're on Prozac.
The winner of the lot? AlTeRnAtE cApItAlIsAtIoN. I'll quote Dr. S: "What's the deal with that?" Enough said.
Maybe I'm being too judgmental, but I can't stand alternate capitalisation. Every time I come across blogs and friendster things sprouting such things, I'll most likely move on without bothering to read it.
On a lighter note, I was reading my miserably few Friendster testimonials, and here's 10+1 things my friends say about me:
1. Sassy
2. Good in English
3. Kind-hearted
4. Cute and pretty =)
5. Multi-talented
6. Nice voice
7. Great senior
8. Vain =p
9. Obsessed with tarot, astrology, Greek mythology...
10. Gullible
10+1. Positive and optimistic
Wow, I'm really flattered, and a little worried. Man, if it weren't for the "Good in English" part, as well as the "Multi-talented", I could well be mistaken for an intellectual lightweight. Which, I assure you, I am so not.
Whatever.
Damn, now I really sound like a bimbo.
♥ The lights faded at 12:54 am
Monday, May 08, 2006
Saturday:
Happy Birthday to Zhou Rui Hong! (Pokes rib. Haha.)
Haha, they missed out one small candle, so now it says 17 instead of 18.
I'm getting so darn broke from going out. Seems like I'm the only one feeling the sting whenever I take out my wallet to pay for something. But I really treasure going out with my friends, so I kinda go all out to have a good time.
In any case, let's see how much I spent:
Lunch: $3.50
Pool: $3.50
Dinner: $6.80
Movie: $9.50
Jim Beam Cola: $8.40
Skirt: $19.90
Total: $51.60
Bloody hell, I spent so much in just one outing! It's a good thing I didn't buy a pair of shoes as well. I was looking for shoes to wear in the second half of Wednesday's concert, and I found this pair of black DMK pumps that looked so damn good on my feet, but they cost $26.90 and I don't think I'll be wearing them more than three times or something. So maybe I'll just wear my court shoes, but they'll look quite frumpy. Argh.
Anyway, the movie was "Mission: Impossible III" and I wish I'd watched it at Princess Cinema instead for only $5. The entire movie was like, over-the-top explosive action. And we (choir friends and I) were sitting in the 3rd row. I got a major headache, and silly me, I thought that maybe drinking Jim Beam would make the headache go away, and so I took gulp after gulp, and the headache got worse. And I was freezing away.
But I had fun. It's all about the company you hang out with. And I'm so looking forward to the choir chalet in June. I want it 5 days 4 nights, can? =p
Sunday:
Terrible days make great blogging material.
TJC Chinese Cultural Club performance at TJC Auditorium, 3pm. I was running late, and I took a cab from Century Square at 2.45pm.
"Uncle, Temasek Junior College, thank you."
"The Tampines Avenue 1 one is it?"
"No no, not Tampines, the Bedok one."
"Bedok which avenue?"
"Ehhhhhhhh... Uncle, since you don't know where it is, I'll get off and take another cab."
And so I alighted, and I walked back to the taxi stand. When the cab arrived, I had to make sure first.
"Uncle, you know where Temasek Junior College is?"
"Temasek ar? Yeah."
Hmm... Safe enough, so I got into the cab.
He drove to Temasek Polytechnic.
"Uncle, not Polytechnic, Junior College."
"Oh sorry girl."
Then he drove me to Tampines Junior College.
"Uncle! Not Tampines, Temasek Junior College."
Driving from TPJC to TJC, the cab passed by Century Square. I could die. The meter was like, 7 bucks. Luckily, the cab driver reset it and kept apologising.
It was like, 3.35pm, by the time I got to my destination. What the hell, I could have taken the train.
By the way, I thought the performance was only so-so. Maybe it's my prejudice against chinese drama plays, but in my opinion, a lot of today's performance was exaggerated and leaning towards melodramatic. And I seriously thought that CK was playing himself in the play; his character is quite like him in real life. Ha.
And I had fast food again. Darn, I just can't control myself. Choir concert in (gasp) two days! I'm pretty excited and anxious. And do come and watch. The psychic in me says that it will be good. Haha.
♥ The lights faded at 11:12 pm
Friday, May 05, 2006
I'm pretty darn upset, because of a number of things.
I burned my right hand.
Damn it, I had beautiful hands. Now they're permanently marred.
Taupok is now banned. I can understand that it's potentially dangerous, but life without it seems so boring.
I have a lot a lot a lot of work piled up.
Today during choir practice, there's a dance step that required the guy to lift the girl. Wilfred and I were practising, and he dropped me. OUCH. Now both knees and my right big toe hurt. Wilfred, you owe me big time.
And I've got a whole lot of stuff to do now, but all I want to do is sleep.
Like I said, I'm pretty darn upset now.
♥ The lights faded at 10:09 pm
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
I don't remember if I've put this piece of advertisement on my blog before, but I'll do it anyway.
Meridian Junior College Choir presents
La Risonanza III
Victoria Concert Hall
Wednesday 10 May 2006
1930 to 2130
Yes, please tell me if you're interested in going. The tickets cost only $12 each. There's going to be a variety of music presented, so there should be something for everyone. Yeah, that's about it. =)
Yes yes yes please please please go lah! It's going to be really good, I guarantee.
♥ The lights faded at 10:59 pm
Monday, May 01, 2006
I had a lot more to say initially.
I had a good weekend.
Then somehow tonight became one of those nights when I feel sad, lost, and alone.
Cliched as it sounds, I really would like a shoulder to lean on now.
Because cliches are cliches for a reason.
My dreams won't come true. Not tonight.
♥ The lights faded at 12:17 am
