Remember remember...

The fifth of November
The gunpowder treason and plot
I know of no reason
That the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot

Another day passes without any form of recognition at all. It's like Singaporeans (or at least, the people I know) don't understand the significance of certain days. Oh well: Barack me Obamadeus got a landslide victory and Parliament House hasn't blown up yet.

Viva la Revolution
The Edna Man

Extreme Makeover!

Hey! Unless you're severely colour-blind, you'd have noticed the new look. It's made by Charmaine (blatant advertising =P) and I think it looks great! I'm gonna use it for a while, for a change, and there's still a number of bugs I can't figure out yet.

Calvin and Hobbes,
The Edna Man

THIS IS HALLOWEEN

Pumpkins screaming in the dead of night!

Everybody make a scream! Another passed Halloween, but this year, it didn't go uncelebrated! Not for me at least. In an attempt to make a reaper's costume, I fashioned an awesome scythe out of a long stick of wood, cardboard and aluminum foil. It's totally realistic, just that I couldn't get a long dark hooded robe. MEH.

Halloween party at Arun's house! Which is GIGANTIC; and that's just his room. The second time I've been in an attic! Watched a bit of White Chicks, which I think is scarier than any horror movie that they could have borrowed (Shutter could give it a run for it's money though). Arun's dog is really cute! And funny. And I think it could give Neil a Runny for his money.

Costumes... I had a vague spectral reaper outfit thing which was cobbled together with black garbage bags in absence of a real long dark hooded robe (SIGH AGAIN). It looked totally stupid and I couldn't see a thing through the material. Scythe saved me though. XD Charmaine was sporting a witch's costume complete with pointed witch's hat and broom, which was plastic and modern; along with a black shawl and heavy eyeliner. She actually looked like a pretty good witch. Ernest... the Elvis vampire! Cloak and pitchfork (pitchfork o_O) and a vampire mask with a really Elvis-looking hairstyle and big dark eyes that looked like sunglasses. Ally just had a vampire cape, but with her dark outfit and pale complexion, she really looked like a vampire queen. The rest didn't wear anything. (Costumes, I mean. Sheesh.)

Oh, and the cakes! I became apprentice baker for the day and helped Charmaine bake her lemon cake thing and brownies. I'm now bugging my mom to bake stuff, 'cos I found out it's so easy! Just chuck everything together, and then chuck it into the oven. Simple! Oh yeah, Charmaine has a dog too, Ginger, but she's more quiet and less hyperactive (as far as I could tell). Charmaine's grandmother is like mine, and I think it's awesome how she knows how to speak a bit of every language. She's still a bit scary though XD Oh, Charmaine's house is AWESOME as well; first time I've been in an attic! Apparently it used to be owned by some artistic genius, and on the walls of the attic is a montage of a whole bunch of stuff, really well painted. It's really very enthralling, just going up there and seeing it all round the walls. That is, if you can find it XD

Oh, I thought I'd be out the whole day, so I was carrying around my scythe all over Singapore, Ang Mo Kio Central and Paya Lebar. It's quite interesting; I kept a straight face, and just looked menacing and sullen. I kept getting second glances from passers-by as I strode around looking for a cloak. If only I had the robe, gaah. It would have been something out of Improv Everywhere, only better, 'cos I'd be doing it.

Oh, last but not least, how's this for a freaky way to start Halloween? At about 3.15 am this morning, I was dreaming about something, I can't exactly remember what. But then I had this instantaneous mental image of Ally walking through some kind of wooden-panelled kitchen, a large number of brown boxes crashing to the floor, and a knife, the silver tongue spiralling down, headed for her chest. At the same time, the boxes hit the floor, and I heard a number of thuds, and as the knife hit, a sharp, piercing scream that jolted me awake. And this is the really creepy part. As my eyes flew open, I could still hear the scream, fading away now, for about half a second, before silence fell. I was totally freaked out. I guess what must have happened is that someone outside screamed the scream (which in itself is really freaky, considering it's 3 am in the morning), and my brain impulsively hotwired this explanation from my imagination through to my dream-consciousness. Either that, or my latent psychic powers are developing and... uhh, I don't think I want to complete the sentence. Freaky freaky freaky.

Well, this was Halloween.

Everyone hail to the pumpkin king!
The Edna Man

The Game of Life

I've just been reading people's blogs again.

When you look around you: your family, your friends, your classmates, your teachers, colleagues, bosses, that lady who cleans up the table after you finish eating and don't return the tray; the salesgirl behind the counter of the jewelry shop you keep walking by on the way to your car; the middle-aged man sitting the air-conditioned comfort of the taxicab as you drive home from work. What do you see?

People. Faces, personas, characteristics, behaviours, psychologies, or maybe even thoughts.

I see stories.

Every single soul on this planet is a storybook. Each life is a tale, spun out of time and woven with actions, choices; sprinkled with drama and tension; bringing together a cast of loosely-related characters, each with a story of their own. Irony, imagery, comedy, tragedy; art imitates life, or the other way around?

If you could just reach out... reach out into the library of the world, and take down one of its stories, open the cover and flip through the pages. Each soul is a story, each life a book; unfinished, half-written; the final chapter written by the hooded figure with his scythe. But even without the ending, each story is unique, is exquisite; no two people's are identical. Similarities are abound, surely, yet with novels this length there can be no plagarism, no exact copies. Reach out... choose a book... and read.

As an avid reader, the idea enthralls me, enchants me... to read, to collect the stories of every single person on Earth, to see, to know... linking them all together, like a vast mystery being solved, with each passing word, sentence, chapter, slowly revealing itself. Behind every face is a new story, another facinating plot, another spellbinding tale...

And when you realise that, at the end of the day, all these stories are as fluid as water, and as irretrivable and unstoppable as the proverbial liquid in a cupped hand. Stories are ending, closing chapters being written, all over the globe, several thousand times a day, and there is no librarian, no storyteller, no loremaster; no bards, jesters, researchers, collectors... millions of stories are being lost, everyday, to Time and Death: Farenheit 451. Qin Shi Huang burned hundreds if thousands of bamboo scrolls; a paragraph compared to the collective library of the human race.

When the story ends, who will keep telling the tales?
The Edna Man

Live Life to the Max

I had an awesome time today (yesterday, post-midnight-post again). We had a "class" outing, which was really quite awesome because this time almost (almost) the whole class managed to turn up. Ernest is sick though (he said it might be dengue; I haven't called him yet in case he's like resting or something) and there's a bunch of other people who missed such an awesome event.

Met Justin at Bueona Vista first, quite fail because I was like, fifteen minutes late (I overshot the station 'cos I was reading and not familiar with the place, never having taken the bus that far before) and I find that I'm the second one there; Zeng Jie, who lives exactly opposite school, was there first. Well after hanging around for about an hour for more people to slowly stream into place, we made our way to Ghim Moh to grab snacks and drinks. Bryan cycled all the way from his house, and he was wearing shades that I assume were supposed to make him look cool or something.

After a delicious lunch of Ramly burgers (today was a Health Promotion Board's nightmare), a trek to Justin's house opened my eyes to like, the awesomeness of architecture. The place was built like some jungle fortress, with wooden walkways all over, and the swimming pool was - get this - double-decker. Oh, and it had this shallow area where there were half-submerged lounge chairs. Oh, that's not to mention the pond downstairs with the school of koi (Just keep swimming!). Oh, and Justin's house is like a maxi-masonette: it's got an upper floor AND a lower deck, which is Justin's room/floor/same difference.

Anyway we were all in the karaoke room, which was another awesome place for its sheer opulence, and Bryan had brought Meet the Spartans (don't ask me why he carries it around with him) and we watched it. Second comedy this week: quite funny, loved the blue screen, among other things. After that: karaoke! But without lyrics, 'cos no discs. Mikes, though! Awesome mikes! Singing is just so amazingly fun, and I managed to get more people to sing as well, but there's still a number of people (cough cough you know who you are) who still owe us songs.

I love performing; it's one of my favourite activites, and today I tried to perform every song I sang. Hip-hop, ballads, love songs, ROCK, everything, I acted it out. It was a great feeling, with all the cheers and applause and stuff, 'cos you know that you're making people happy, and that's always good, because when you help others, you can't help helping yourself. One of the Vertigo "impersonators" from Improv Everywhere said that there was always something that would separate rock stars from us normal people, the feeling of thousands of screaming fans watching your peformance. I experienced a small sample of that today, and it is awesome.

We got kicked out at 6pm one hour after our booking ended, so we all crashed Justin's place and ordered pizza. I never knew Canadian Pizza had a Singapura Special; what type of patriotic citizen am I? Good food, had more fun, mostly watching Neil play Bioshock (which is actually more freaky that it first appears) and scaring the pants off me (not literally). I was hiding behind Elvira the whole time; which reminds me, she plays more computer games than me, dammit. Why doesn't my mom understand what a deprived life I'm living? Oh yeah, Lorraine grabbed Bryan's bike and wandered off somewhere with it without her phone, so a seach party was sent out with supplies (surprize!) of pizza to find her. It was quite funny; she said she was knocking on the door for ten minutes, but nobody heard her.

Oh yeah, Justin's pure-white Maltese Falcon dog Minnie (Mini?) jumped me and licked half of my face. This is the first time I've been assaulted by a dog, and it didn't feel as wet as I thought it would be. I just hope, y'know, no rabies, 'cos if not I'll have to be like Phantom of the Opera (because she really licked HALF of my FACE.)

I dunno if I should mention this, but Neil took a shortcut to get out of Justin's condo complex. I'm not mentioning it here, lest he gets into trouble, but suffice to say that it was really quite... there's no other word to describe it but: Neil.

OM LATER TODAY! New batch of kids, and I think I've got a more proper lesson structure now, here's to hoping it works out over the next year or so.

In other news, my progress in !nk is moving up; I've done four graphics already, so yeah. Maybe I'll ask Henry if I can get a raise...

Sing your heart out,
The Edna Man

Yes, please!

It's now 12.59am on an early Wednesday morning and I feel amazed and humbled at the same time.

There's this girl in my class. Her name is Charmaine. I've known her for about seven, eight months. In all that time, I figure she's the studious, hardworking type; very friendly, enthusiastic actress, best friends with Lorraine (another girl in my class). In the past hour, I've discovered a whole new dimension to her character. I've found out that she's awesomely creative, and that she likes making stuff (jewelry and graphic design, as far as I know for now). It's amazing, really; she has her own online shop (co-owned) and everything! Apparently she's been doing it for two, three years now. I can't believe that in the past half-year I never found out this amazing talent of hers (to be fair, she never mentioned it in class either).

I'm humbled because I thought I was good at this sort of thing, at knowing people, their motivations, characteristics, behaviour, talents, skills, likes, dislikes, etc. Or at least being able to make a good guess. Apparently I'm not skilled in this art, because I obviously deluded myself into thinking that I was good at it. I find out that I'm rather detached from most of my current classmates, because mainly a) I haven't been hanging out with them much (sorry!) and b) maybe I just haven't been around them enough to preempt their next move. Living with a GEP family for over seven years, you kind of figure out who everybody is and their most likely reaction to certain situations, their stereotypes and so on. I mean, that's how TNN was born! So now, little old me is trying to superhero-ize my class, because it's awesome fun, and also to see if I can do just that.

I guess this is part of the new philosophy (did I have an old one in the first place?) which I picked up after reading this article. It talks about the power of saying "Yes!" to get more out of life, and by voluntarily picking myself up and asking Charmaine about the blog address in her Personal Message, I found out more about one of my friends. I did it yesterday too (technically, two days ago, on Monday). I went out with practically all the girls in my class (and Justin, but he's not a girl) to have lunch, and then they dragged me to watch House Bunny. Normally I'd refuse to watch a chick-flick (groovy-movie? lacklustre blockbuster? film... film... cripes nothing rhymes with film), but I remembered the article and let myself be persuaded. Well, I did have a good time, and the show was really quite funny, and I have no regrets! I'm going to need to go to the library soon and check out a whole bunch of books on improvisational theatre, especially that one.

Yes!
The Edna Man

Pensieve

In an ingenius stroke of brilliance, my mom brought back a couple large pieces of dry ice from the butcher's a couple hours ago. It's almost all gone, but when she came back she chucked then into a pot (with remnants of my instant noodles soaking in the sogginess) and left it for a while. When I came out to investigate the source of all the bubbling sounds, I found, to my delight, that my sink was full of the misty white stuff, which looks exactly how J.K. Rowling describes thoughts in the Penseive so prevalent in her Potter books. It was so awesome, I tried plunging in headfirst into my kitchen sink (I strongly advise anyone who would like to repeat this experiment to make sure there's nothing else in your sink first) to see if I would go strolling through other people's memories, but alas, no luck. Perhaps I'm just not magical enough.

Another interesting note: if you add a sparing drizzle of detergent into the water and mix it up (yeah!) you get enormous bubbles that don't burst until they're huge, enveloping your container in large mists of white fog. Also, it's awesome to see sublimation on this scale in a sunken (haha sink, sank, sunk, sunken) container without the mist simply rising up and diffusing away, like they do in those wine glasses at fancy weddings.

And now, for a brilliant idea, probably influenced by watching Improv Everywhere (the greatest geniuses this world has ever seen) all last night, but here goes: what we need now is a couple kilogrammes of dry ice, so much such that if you dump it all into a public swimming pool you get this awesome bubbling froth in the centre, with waves of ethereal mist wafting out over the water's surface. That would make anyone's family outing a whole new unreal experience. Wonder where to get all that dry ice though. Oh yeah, and then you'll be contributing to the global warming effect. That's if you don't get arrested for the unwitting murders of a couple dozen people by carbon dioxide axyphation. I wonder if that could happen.

Pensively,
The Edna Man

Extreme!

I had a vaguely interesting idea this morning while I was snoozing in my bed, trying not to get up. In a bid to practice my narrative ability, I'm going to do it this way:

-----

John shivered with excitement as he looked out of the porthole. The sky was clear and cloudless. John was slightly disappointed; the propect of passing through a cloud was the second-most event he was looking forward to.

"We'll be going off soon, dear!" Rachel said, seating herself beside him. "The pilot just told me."

John nodded, holding her hand in his. "This is going to be awesome," he grinned. "Think anyone's done it before?"

"Well, it's rare, but I'm quite sure there are people crazier than us," Rachel replied with a laugh. "But I don't think it's as fun underwater," she added.

"Yeah, how will you hear anything?" John asked. "This way is much better."

Suddenly, one of the personnel came over. "Almost time," he said. "The priest's good to go, and we're almost there."

"Excellent," John said, zipping up his black suit. Beside him, Rachel did the same to her pure white one. She laughed as she said, "Well, at least we save a ton of money on the gown."

Chuckling, John and Rachel made their way over to the sliding door. The priest was waiting there, all suited up. "All ready to go then?" he asked them.

John and Rachel grabbed the heavy packs and strung them over their shoulders, tightening the straps and making sure everything was in place. Years of experience had taught them the importance of safety.

"Let's go," said John, his body numb with expectation. Smiling slightly, the priest grasped the handle and shoved the door open.

Instantly, a howling wind tore at them, rushing into the cabin and dragging their voices away. Rachel had squeezed John's hand more tightly as the wind rushed in, and John patted it with his other hand consolingly. He had a perfect view of the fields below, with a streak of blue winding through the flatlands, a river snaking through the plains.

"From one plane to another!" Rachel shouted, her voice dampened by the raging high-altitude winds. John smiled at her again; she always know how to make him laugh.

"We'll be simplifying a lot of things today," the priest yelled, "since there's not much time to do it traditionally." John and Rachel nodded in assent, keeping a firm grip on the railing above their heads.

"On the count of three, then!" bellowed the priest. Rachel's grip tightened. "One... two... THREE!"

The couple leapt off the aircraft, enjoying a fraction of a second's worth of the sensation of flying, before gravity grabbed at them and dragged them earthwards. Adrenaline pumped in John's veins as the wind rushed through his hair; he looked to his right and saw Rachel's hair sticking straight upwards behind her head. She was exhilerated: her mouth was open in screaming laughter which was carried away by the wind.

In seconds, the priest was beside them, a couple of feet away. "All ready?" he shouted again.

"Yes!" they replied.

"Alright!" Sticking out his hand as far as air resistance would allow, he shouted, "John, do you?"

"I do!"

"Rachel, do you?"

"YES, I DO!"

Smiling, the priest roared, "Then I pronounce you man and wife! You may now kiss the bride."

Pulling themselves closer to each other, Rachel and John managed to hold each other close enough, so that they were kind of hugging sideways, fifteen thousand feet in the air. Then his lips met hers, and John forgot where they were; the entwined newlyweds spiraled to the ground, lips locked for what seemed like eternity, still kissing as they popped their chutes and drifted slowly back to reality.

-----

- How has the writer used concealment of information and suspense/mystery to achieve his effect?

- Comment on the writer's use of dialogue in the passage.

(25 marks)
The Edna Man

Pick-Up Lines for Muggers, Part V Math

Pick-Up Lines for Muggers, Part V: Mathematics

1. Hey baby. What's your sine?
2. Let's make like a composite function and plug in that x-factor.
3. Of all the combinations of people in this world, we're the perfect permutation. And that's a factorial.
4. Maybe we should integrate ourselves.
5. I'll take you to your limits and see if we converge.
6. Is that a parabola in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
7. You're so s times Euler's constant to the power of variables x and y.
8. Vector? I hardly know 'er!
9. You must have fallen from seven, because you're an angle.

The best one ever!
10. I must be f(x) = 1/2 u^2 because when I try to derive some meaning in myself all I get is u. (Credit: Jun Yi)

---

Math paper today was a killer. Well, as least it was more of a massacre than a homocide, so it's not so bad.

Quote from a conversation with The Jarrel Seah:
Me: "Did you finish your paper?"
The Seah: "Yeah I finished my paper."
Me: "Okay, wait. I need to judge how tough this paper was. How much time did you have left?"
The Seah: "Uhh, about fifteen to twenty minutes."
Me: "Oh cripes, this was a damn tough paper."
The Seah: "Oh, but that was only after I finished all my alternate solutions and triple-checkings and writing the apology on the front page about not reading the instructions."
Me: "...damn."

The Edna Man

Pick-Up Lines for Muggers, Part IV Physics

Pick-Up Lines for Muggers, Part IV: Physics

1. Ever since you came here, you've inverted the population, causing me to have a spontaneous emission. (Credit: Ernest)
2. You won't need a compound microscope to see my simple telescope.
3. If I were a light ray, I'd diffuse through your thin slit anyday.
4. Let's go back to my place and make some simple harmonic motion.
5. Are your legs tired? 'Cos you've been accelerating around my head at 9.8 m/s all day.
6. I wish you were the image distance, so I could be the object distance and v all over u.
7. I must be looking through a convex lens, 'cos the image I see is real, magnified and upright!
8. I'll increase my frequency if you can increase my amplitude.
9. You'd light up my life, if you were a monochromatic coherent light source on a disc with angular momentum of 3.14 rad/s shining on a diffraction grating which is then incident on a thin slit in front of a cathode ray oscilloscope measuring your intensity.
10. You're so hot, I don't think I can take you with my low specific heat capacity.

---

"Dreams are a testament to human creativity. If your subconscious minds can make up a story so vivid and captivating that it can give us a good show while we're asleep, there's no limit to what we can create. All that remains now is to bring that creativity forward from the subconscious." --Quoth the Raven (nevermore)

I had an awesome dream this morning. I had to get a number of tattoos (for medical reasons). They were all done by one of my uncles, and they all looked more like company logos than tattoos: square, and multicoloured. I remember that there also about five or six of them, about 10cm a side, which all would not have fit on my arm normally, but I seem to recall flipping through a book-like thing to see all of them. Problem is, after the tattoos were done I suddenly remembered that tattoos weren't allowed in school (fancy that). So I asked my uncle if these were permanent and he said, "Yes, those are permanent, 'cos I didn't put the Dettol." Well, so now I've got some reality-defying tattoos on my left arm and I've got to go to school. Or maybe I was already in school, 'cos I remember walking past the Auditorium on the 4th floor (with Ernest, who had appeared from I have no idea where) and a teacher (I can't remember his name, but I know who it is) called me over and said that I wasn't allowed to have tattoos in school. Well, I told him it was for medical reasons, and he said, okay, but next time he would have to see a letter from an independent doctor. So anyway I keep walking and I meet Lorraine and Juztin (Ernest has mysteriously disappeared at this point), presumably coming from BB 'cos they're wearing BB polo tops, and Lorraine says, "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Then she explains something about being late for her English class, and asks me if I would like to see the reason behind why she was late. I agree, and she leads me to this entrance of an underground carpark, and it's raining now for some reason, and she points at it and says, "There! That's why!" So I'm utterly bewildered and when I turn around I'm at the roundabout at my school and Hui Jun is there and he asks if I'm taking a bus home. I say yes, and soon enough a bus come round to the roundabout (haha) and we both hget on. Then after a short while I think I missed the stop we wer supposed to be getting out at, and I said, "Whoops! I forgot to press the button!" The bus wouldn't stop for two more stops because Hui Jun and I were supposed to be going somewhere we've never been before. We got off at some weird bus park to chheck if we were at the right place and then the bus leaves without us! So with all our bags and stuff on the bas, we try chasing after it, but we got confused because all the buses looked the same and we couldn't tell which one was ours. Then I remember seeing some tall African guy, really tall like twice normal height, dressed in pure white clerical robes and stuff, and I remember folding my arms to hide my tattoos (Remember? I had tattoos!) in case I attracted the attention of some rival biker gang. Then I woke up.

My dream beats yours, Jonny.
The Edna Man

Pick-Up Lines for Muggers, Part III Economics

Pick-Up Lines for Muggers, Part III: Economics

1. If you ever demand for more of me, I'll be there with an elastic supply. (Credit: Ernest)
2. I'd like to reallocate your ample resources, if you know what I mean.
3. Every time I see you, it causes inflation.
4. A Date (AD) = Consummation + Intimacy + Groping + (X-treme fantasies - Mums) (Credit: Ernest)
5. Wages aren't the only things which are sticky downwards around here.
6. Hey, you look like a recession. Need some government intervention?
7. Just wait until my economy goes boom.
8. Oooh, you're a merit good if I ever saw one: so good, yet underconsumed.
9. Nice externalities.
10. Woah, let's get fiscal.

Pick-Up Lines for Muggers, Part II English

Pick-Up Lines for Muggers, Part II: English

1. If you come back to my place, I'll let you Huckle my Berries.
2. Jim's not the only one with big magic hair-balls, if you know what I mean.
3. I'll be your Siddhartha if you be my Kamala.
4. You've experienced enlightenment! Let me kiss your forehead! Or your lips; I'm not picky.
5. You must be an unseen text, 'cos I don't think we've met.
6. Say, when a cow's laying down, which end of her gets up first? Answer up prompt, now - don't stop to study over it. Which end gets up first?
7. I'm one-thirds a Brahmin: I don't think, I don't wait, but I can do it real fast!
8. I'll get my canoe, you get your raft, and let's go down south together.
9. I'll be your ferryman if you let me cross your river.

-----

Once again, I fail to understand the logic behind English exams. Here I am, working through the texts, and wondering how on Earth am I supposed to memorize quotes for a host of topics which could be anything under the sun, and not having a clue or an ounce of confidence that I'll be able to do anything tomorrow. I hate quotes. Whoever first came up with the idea of quoting for examinations should be shot, even if he's already dead.

-----

10. I forgot my pickup line because I couldn't memorize my quotes.
The Edna Man

Pick-Up Lines for Muggers, Part I Chemistry

Pick-Up Lines for Muggers, Part I: Chemisty

1. Would you like a covalent bond? No? Then how about a dative?
2. Woah! You're so hot, you're exothermic! *sizzle*
3. Let's you and me go and hybridize our orbitals, if you know what I mean ;)
4. You must be a visible wavelength of light, 'cos I'm an electron and you excite me.
5. How'd you get through security, 'cos baby, you're the nitroglycerine!
6. You've got more curves than a charged particle in a mass spectrometer.
7. You're like silicon chloride and I'm like water; when we're together it's basic chemisry.
8. Excuse me, does this smell like ammonia to you?
9. Whew, you're so hot, the temperature's going up... and my volume is increasing.
10. You're so perfect, you make the entropy of the universe decrease.
11. Your face is real symmetrical, it's like cis-but-2-ene.
12. Call me a ligand, 'cos you're so complex.
13. Are you an atomic spectrum? 'Cos I think I just had an emission.
14. You must be reducing the vapour pressure, 'cos you're making my blood boil.
15. Sick of Biology practicals? How about a little more Chemistry... (Credit: Elvira)
16. With dipoles like that, you're the solution to all my problems. (Credit: Elvira)
17. Wanna have my test tube baby?
18. Are you sulphuric acid? I want to test out my contact process.
19. You must know the Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion theory, to have such a perfect shape.

-----

In other news, today was another case of Jarrel Seah's "for someone so smart, you're quite dumb". Note to self: never let Jarrel pick two from a list of four ever again.

-----

And my number 1 top Chemistry-based pick-up line:

20. If I could rearrange the periodic table, I'd put Uranium and Iodine together.

The Edna Man

What do you do when it's the end of the world?

The student's prayer: "I hope I've covered everything, and if I haven't, may it not come out."

Good luck for exams, see you at the end of the end of the world.

12 days. Survive.
The Edna Man

Savvy?

Arrr, another Talk Like a Pirate Day has sailed off inter tha sunset, and yet again I find meself all alone at sea. Thare were rare few pieces-of-eight in this here sea of shipmates, and I found meself manning tha sails while everyone else was weighing anchor, if yer get my drift. A whole day devoted ter callin' yer shipmates scallywags and scurvy curs, swashing yer buckles and wondering why the rum's gone. It does seem a shame to lose something so fine, ain't it, lads? But tha devils of examinations rob tha fun of days like this, since them landlubbers have their noses pressed so close to their parchments they fail ter observe tha finer points in life.

Also, it be tha only day in tha whole year where yer can say, "Nice booty!" and get away with it. What's not ter like?

This year, I'd be comin' to tha realization that thare arr countless ways ter speak like a swashbuckler, without referrin' ter tha normal "Ahoy!", "Avast!" and "Aye!". That thare be simple talk, naught but fer simple pirates. Thare be much more ter piratin' that cannons and keelhauls; thare be storms and shipwrecks and Kraken and tha like. But arrr, they're more like guidelines than actual rules.

Unfortunately, I completely overlooked tha bearing of this particular circadian until tha postmeridian temporal, atwhich tha bisected diurnal had erstwhile dissipated, and although my efforts in aggrandizing this festivity was ineffectual, and my acquaintences were disinclined to acquiesce to my request. Means "no".

Arrr, but if ye consider time zones, it still be midday in tha Caribbean!

I'll be damned to tha depths of Davy Jones' Locker if I'll be stopped by tha likes of yer.
*Captain* Edna Mann

Now that's a presentation!

Woohoo! I did my Theory of Knowledge mock presentation today - what a blast! It doesn't matter so much that my presentation didn't conform with the dictated standards; I had my presentation, I knew what I was going to do, and I had fun doing it!

I'm diagnosed with an oprical anomaly. I'm not colour-blind; the rest of the world is.
The Edna Man

I'm Taking Taxi Back!

I'm Taking Taxi Back - Parody of Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake
I'm taking taxi back
The MRT's fallen off the track
The bus is full of people; really packed
Got to get home so I can hit the sack

Take me to the bridge

[Bridge]
Uncle, please
Can you take me right down to Tampines?
Why your back seat don't have those small TVs?
How come government must raise all your fees?

Take me to the city

[Chorus]
Please keep right
Twenty cents, per half minute
No traffic lights
Twenty cents, per half minute
ERP
Twenty cents, per half minute
No gantry
Twenty cents, per half minute
Let me see you've got peak surcharge
Twenty cents, per half minute
Pay me more tips
Twenty cents, per half minute
Out of range
Twenty cents, per half minute
Keep the change
Twenty cents, per half minute

And hail that taxicab
Twenty cents, per half minute

And hail that taxicab
And hail that taxicab
And hail that taxicab
And hail that taxicab
And hail that taxicab
And hail that taxicab

And hail that taxicab

I'm taking taxi back
It's really late now and the sky is black
I'm scared if I walk home I get attacked
Who knows what kind of weird people I attract

Take me to the bridge

[Bridge]
Taxis are
The best alternative to driving car
Perfect for people who drunk half the bar
But if you see ghost you should drive far far

[Chorus]

I'm taking taxi back
You see the driver's name carved on a plaque
When you pay fees it better be exact
I only wish it were a Cadillac

Take me down to Clarke Quay

[Chorus]

------------------------
I have to say I don't really like the original song. It's kinda... fail. But oh well; for the parody!

2:22:22

Couple of stuffs recently. Let's rewind and go back in order...

Teachers' Day celebrations on Friday. (Incidentally, Happy Teachers' Day today for all you educationals out there.) Kinda spent the week working on a massive Lyrics Project, which is a PowerPoint version of Don't Forget the Lyrics. Kinda epicly failed on Friday 'cos of unforseen circumstances with the timetable and harrassed teachers who (I just realized) weren't... um... I don't know how else to put this because each and every way I phrase it in my mind, it sounds like I'm insulting or complaining about them, which I'm not. I'll just say that they're not westernized enough to just cut loose and sing along with the music. This remark is in no way insulting or condescending at all, okay? I just had higher hopes that my teachers were more awesome than they appear to be (and most of them are quite awesome already, so.). As I said before, I'm not blaming them, I'm not complaining or anything. As it is, I kinda feel bad for trying to force them into doing something they're not comfortable with. High expectations and the excitement of making something so awesome must have clouded my judgement.

Kinda makes you wonder, what's so important about face. Must be an Asian thing. There's a lot of theories that I could come up with explaining why "face" is held in such high regard in our society, but I don't really want to talk about that now.

On a semi-related yet unrelated (quasi-related, I think the term is) note, it's quite disappointing that my parents don't appreciate the creativity and ingenuity that went into making the presentation. It's similar to the one I did last year, with The Millionaire Show, but it's much much bigger than that. It's the little things that make you jump out of your chair and shout, "YES! I DID IT!", but it's depressing when your mom comes back and roars at you to "Go do your homework and stop spending so much time on that thing!" It's like there's nothing left for my parents to be proud of me anymore; I'm doing stuff in areas which they think is a waste of time. Sigh, oh well, at least my friends liked it. Got positive comments from Ernest and Elvira and Herrick and Shaun; don't know about The Jarrel Seah, Programming Lord and Master though.

Fast forward to... Saturday. Went for MGS Eccentrics OM celebrations party-slash-get together. Quite fun, seeing all the girls again, and well, I tried to teach them new games but failed epicly (second time this week) 'cos there wasn't enough motivation. I mean, hyperactivity + girls just wanna' have fun =/= organized activity. Yeah. Well, but it was fun, talked to the parents a bit and had nice stuffs to eat =) Kinda sad that a lot of them aren't doing OM next year; I guess only time will tell if they're going to go the same way as my OM team from back in 2K5.

Still, I kinda felt vaguely out of place. The girls are all together in the same school and most in the same class and they've all got happenings that are centred around them; then there's the parents who are at the table talking about their parental stuff. And then there I am again, the middle man, doesn't really fit here or there, but is like a birdge between the two. I kept feeling that I should be doing something but I didn't know what to do, actually.

Yesterday... Nike+ Human Race! Got lots of freebies which I paid for (hahaha paradox), and was quite fun run/walking the 10K with Florence and Elvira. But then Florence disappeared into the distance. I tried to get Elvira to chase after all the vehicles going in our direction, but she didn't. -__- Well, at least now I've got bragging rights that I finished ten kilometres without stopping, and I finished with a time of 2 hours, 22 minutes, and 22 seconds! Well, almost; it was like half a minute after that, but close enough lah.

And then I kinda vaguely enjoyed my first live rock concert, Boys Like Girls. Quite weird, how people will scrabble for stuff the band throws into the crowd, like their water bottles and guitar picks and their sweaty shirts. I didn't really know many of their songs (they should put the lyrics up somewhere, like karaoke) but the energy and stuff was kinda infectious. Except the music was just deafening; I couldn't really hear what the guy was singing. But yeah, quite awesome all the same. Maybe next time I'll go for a concert at a band whose songs I know so I can sing along. Oh yeah, Josh got a free iPod, lucky bugger XD

Well, that's the latest news. Catch us back tomorrow, same time, same channel.

Next year, I'm doing my ten clicks on the Internet. That's like, five double-clicks!
The Edna Man

You're all in denial

I forgot to blog about this: on the 9th of August, I purposely put a green flag in my Display Picture, representing my colour-blindness in society. After talking to a couple of people, I can safely conclude that the world is colour-blind without knowing it. Because after talking to those people, nobody said anything like, "Hey! Your flag's the wrong colour!" Which goes to show that even staring at them in the face, they can't instinctively distinguish between green and red. I.e. the world's colour blind. Go scientific method!

On a side note, I think a karaoke party is an awesome idea. No that we have to go to one of those karaoke booths with all the songs we don't know (or worse still, in Chinese), but you can just get people to go to someone else's house, bringing their favourite songs (plus lyrics, of course, if you need them) in a thumbdrive, and voila! Instant karaoke party. I have got to do that sometime.

Admit it, c'mon.
The Edna Man

Gender discrimination, anyone?

I've been thinking about this for some time now. It's about gender equality. Specifically, it's about gender equality in looking good.

When you think about it right, girls have so much more stuff to wear than guys. Think about it: all guys can wear are shirts. Maybe singlets. Girls can wear shirts, tank tops, halters, tube-tops, blouses, dresses, polo tees, camisoles, crop tops. Guys can wear pants, shorts, or bermudas. Girls can wear pants, bermudas, shorts, boyshorts, dresses, skirts, minskirts, gowns, robes, shawls, smocks, frocks, petticoats. Guys: socks. Girls: socks, stockings, thigh-highs, leggings, tights, garters. Guys: shoes, sandals, boots. Girls: shoes, sandals, boots and high heels.

It's not just clothes. Girls have lipstick, foundation, eyeshadow, lip gloss, powder, rouge, mascara, nail polish, concealers, eyebrow pencils. Guys? They don't wear make up. Usually. Girls: necklaces, chokers, hair pins, earrings, tiaras, bracelets, bangles, rings, brooches, anklets. Guys: bling. Guys have bow ties, neck ties, suspenders, and scarves. Girls can wear all these.

Hats: caps, helmets, bearskins, bowlers, cowboys, fedoras, fez, hard hats, porkpies, sombreros, top hats, turbans. Girls can wear all these plus bonnets, headdresses, circlets, tiaras, fillets. Women can wear gloves; men can but it's not normal for them to. Sashes, feather boas, handbags, purses, pouches. Guys only have belts. Underwear: boxers or briefs. Bras, corsets, thongs, G-strings, boyshorts, knickers. Pyjamas. Babydolls, camisoles, negligees, nightgowns, bustiers, torsolettes, girdles, tap pants, slips, teddies, corselets.

Maybe the only thing we guys have more of is facial hair. We've got moustaches: handlebar, toothbrush, Hungarian, Dali, Imperial, pencil, walrus, horseshoe, whiskers, Fu Manchu. We've got beards, goatees, chinstraps, sideburns, stubble, royale, five o'clock shadow. But guys only have crewcut, buzz cut, comb over, cornrows, dreadlocks, mohawks, flat top, afros, mullets, bald spots. Girls have all these plus beehive, ponytails, pigtails, buns, French braids, French twists, highlights, perms, pixie cut.

Wow, you really learnt a lot, didn't you?

Spot the head-fake,
The Edna Man

Silence

Ever had those nights when you're sitting at your computer all alone and you see all these friends around but nobody's talking to you and you don't really feel like starting a conversation with them either so all you end up doing is singing your heart out?

Yeah.

Kinda vaguely watched the NDP Parade tonight. China's Olympic Opening Ceremony totally pwns ours, like, a thousand-fold (interestingly, their population numbers do the same thing with our population numbers). It's kinda awesome and scary at the same time to realize how many people there are in China. But seriously, it was awesome. No other country was, is, and ever will be able to match up to its awesomeness. China: respect.

Calefare is hilarious. First Class less so. I think there could be better acting in First Class. Have I mentioned that Calefare is hilarious?

Viva la China,
The Edna Man

Respeckt

And so we come back to this. In an incident mirroring one that happened a couple years ago, we were once again treated to a less-than-interesting lecture/presentation, but this time the inappropriate behaviour of the cohort was met with swift, silent punishment by the assistant dean.

Here's where it's going to get tricky. I am putting forward the proposition that he was wrong. Gasp. I think the charge leveled at us was misdirected: it is not a matter of respect, it is a matter of self-control.

The basic premise of his 30-minute lesson was that at any given time, a student should "give respect" to whatever speaker is up on stage. This is where I disagree. My beliefs are impregnable in this aspect: respect is something that you have to earn. It is not intrinsic in whatever position you hold, whatever seniority or whatever delegation. You want respect, you have to earn it. Do something to get people to respect you. Your office holds no respect; it is what you do that defines you.

Said assistant dean doubles as our English teacher, and it is a subtle irony that he is grading us on presentations this term. Once again I fail to see how teachers put so much effort into teaching this generation when their generation makes all the mistakes and has all the shortcomings which they try to steer us away from. Can't they teach themselves? Can only younger ones be taught? Don't have walls of text; let your points appear one by one; know your audience. Are these rules only for students under curriculum? It seems that once you get into working life, they don't seem to matter. What role-models are teachers if they don't follow their own guidelines?

Another example, from just a couple minutes ago. My dad is always telling us that it's good PR not to say "No" outright in response to anything. It's always better to be humble, and rephrase it in a nicer way. Today at dinner he was talking about Microsoft Office, and how he has to keep buying new copies to use on other computers. Recalling that there's an office version that can be installed on up to 30 computers with the same liscence, I told him so. He immediately said, "No, cannot be." I tried to persuade him that I had encountered it before while browsing the Internet, but he was still adamant. Why is it that when you get old, you think you know everything? Like the youth is always wrong because we have less experience.

Back to respect. I would like to ensure that nobody misunderstands me in my stand. I am not condoning my actions today. I accept that what I have done is socially wrong. But it is not the social constant of giving respect which I have flunked, it is the social wrong of lacking self-control. I understand that I should have kept to minimum silence and at least made it look like I was listening to whatever was being presented. But to ask me to give respect to the presenter would be going to far. There is a fine line between looking respectful and actually giving respect. I hope you can make the distinction.

I can predict that because of today, a number of students will hold said English teacher in lesser eyes because of the apparent injustice he did to them by holding them back another half hour or so. However, I continue to respect said English teacher, not because of his position, but because I believe in him. (I realize that saying that is rather role-reversal.) He had the power to stand behind his own convictions, and he did what he thought was right. I cannot fault him for that. I've known him for a number of years, and he has done nothing to make me lose my respect for him.

There's a fine, fine line.

In other news, I've decided to give up on the happy note sad note thing. I realize that it cannot encompass whatever I can write about.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
The Edna Man

Requiemly

ON A HAPPY NOTE,
Just came back from visiting Mrs Hah and her one-month-old baby! So cute! XD I got to carry the little tyke and he kept making weird faces at me XD Caught up with Mr Poon again, and met Mr Chan, my primary school science teacher. Good memories, good times. Ahh.

ON A SAD NOTE,
It's quite depressing how important your image and reputation is. Because of a (quite disturbing) joke I made yesterday, I've got this sick rep following me around. Dneo is getting suspicious about my cleanliness and stuff (but ON A HILARIOUS NOTE, Got mah!)

ON A SAD NOTE,
I think my behaiour at Mrs Hah's place today wasn't very... good. I mean, I should have gone around, talking to Mrs Hah and her husband more, or at least do what I was supposed to do and occupy the girls I coached for OM. (Curse you Herrick.)

ON A SIDE NOTE,
I'm starting this new thing with my blog which will hopefully inspire me to write more. It's an idea I had a long time ago with one of the posts, "Orchestrated". On a happy note; on a sad note; add the notes together and you get the melody of my life.

Orchestratingly,
The Edna Man

True Colourless

Blame Ernest for this one. He was the catalyst that sparked this idea.

True Colours - Parody of True Colours by Cindi Lauper
You with the bad eyes
This isn't violet
Oh I realize
You can't be a pilot
Or an electrician
Traffic lights are such a big fuss
And all decorations
Look the same at Christmas

But I see your true colours
Shining through
I see your true colours
And that's why I love you
But you know that I'm lyin'
'Cos I'm colourblind
Your true colours
True colors
Are a mystery
Like a noir show

Don't talk colour wheels
Dreamcoats or dream homes
It's a great ordeal
To see in monochrome
I mix up blue and purple
And even aquamarine
That's not the end
'Cos I can't tell red from green

I can't see your true colors
How 'bout you?
Can't see your blue colors
If only you just knew
How painful it is when people all quiz
You on the True colours
True colors
Unknown to me
On a rainbow

Boringitis

Gaah

I just did my IOP today and it was so boring. I mean, I had the interesting voice, but the presentation itself was boring to heck. Nothing interesting, few jokes, mostly content... gaah.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: It's not worth it if you can walk away from a presentation and say, "Yeah, it was okay." Marks are just numbers to be ignoreed. Everything that you do must come off with a "OMG THAT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME!!!" sense of achievement after it, or it wasn't worth doing at all.

My presentation had no kick. It had no driving force, no humour. Boring boring boring.

Gaah.
The Edna Man

Misfits of Society

How do people belong?

When there are so many groups of people you participate in, where are you supposed to go? When you are a sheep in a hundred different herds and flocks, how do you choose which one to be in?

How do people with many different groups of friends coordinate their lives? Doesn't it feel like you're being dragged between two places in a tug-of-war with only one winner? Marvel Civil War: Which side are you on?

I belong everywhere; thus I belong nowhere.
The Edna Man

Dr Horrible

Couple of things today!

First: Dr. Horrible! Awesome shot film produced by the Whedon brothers and starring Neil Patrick Harris. Aside from the epic music sequences and snide humour references, (Oh, look at my wrists, I have to go!) this isn't just another short look-at-what-I-can-do-with-a-small-budget film. It's deep. Very deep. You can tell like, right away when you notice the dichotomy of the superhero/supervillain and the juxtaposition of the two extremes against each other. It's artistic; it's funny; it's got awesome music; what more could you want?

Go Bad Horse!

In other news, today during Racial Harmony Day I was emcee-ing and during the award ceremony for the best-dressed ethnic costume I accidentally pronounced a teacher's name wrongly. Gaah. I felt so bad, and I tried to apologise to her after the whole thing, but she just gave me a mysterious smile and didn't seem keen on talking to me for long. So yeah. I doubt she reads this blog, but well, I'm really really sorry for what I did.

In other related-yet-unrelated news, today we got another dose of National Education in one big last-minute blast. Supposedly aimed at the even-numbered years, for some reason we got stuck there as well and had to endure half an hour of why we should say nice things in a survey that we were not even going to take at all. You could just sense the subtle message they were trying to control; here we are telling you how your school environment and your country is so great so you shouldn't be saying negative things about your school environment (ahem) in your survey response.

It's not that I don't like my school; I think it's being driven in completely the wrong direction with an absolutely wrong method. There's more politics going on here than half the world put together.

Today I overheard a conversation between one of the higher-ups and a teacher; it went something like this:

T: There's a compulsory 10-minute video that we're going to show.
HU: Are we getting them to write a reflections about it and putting it in their PC file and-
T: No, we should be but we're not going to.
HU: Then will we win the National Education award?
T: *Laughs*

It's not quoted exactly, but the gist is there. I mean, Racial Harmony Day: living peacefully and working together with other nationalities to foster friendships and build nations. Nothing to do with fulfilling some NE award that might increase the school's already extravagant image. Aren't there things more important than gold?

Aaaanyway, I'm off to sing somemore Dr Horrible songs =)

Signed, Bad Horse
The Edna Man

You look negatively happy!

Gosh and golly, it's bin a long time since I've blogged, innit? Well, I'll see wot I cun do 'bout it, g'v'nor.

Hmm... recent evnts... visited Mrs Hah in hospital! Met little George Amadeus Hah, and Mr Hah as well. Was trying to surprise her, but unfortuantely, people register with their maiden name whenever they get pregnant (something I don't have experience in, come to think of it). So we were about to check with Xi Min's sister when the receptionist calls the only Katherine in the maternity ward and figures out that it's her. Supplies! Juzzie, Herrick, Xi Min, Jax, Jarrel and me. Six merry men. Everyone else too busy. Which means they miss out on an awesome discussion about vampire cats and buttered-toast missile guidance systems.

I love being a GEP.

In other news, exams have come and gone, but cold dining halls are forever. Results are back; and Jarrel pwns the competition! I'm left in the lurch once again, being your average "average guy". Heck lot of 4.09ers are in top places all over the subject levels. Hell, we're probably gonna take over the world someday. Whoops, I meant, they're.

Get Smart! Watched it on Youth Day. Awesome, and hilarious! Someone should really go out with his class more. Waiting for The Dark Knight to come out...

Been singing more lately. It's like I need to get rid of the weight I keep carrying everywhere, and music helps.

Must... perform... more! Need OM T_T

Old blog posts are... freaky o_O I think I used to think better before this (Herrick thinks so too).

Oh well. Bedtime.

I thihnk I know what you're driving at, but I don't think you know the route.
The Edna Man

Of Consciousness and knowing that you know that he knows that you know etc.

I'm supposed to be doing my English Essay now. But you know the Law of Distractability...

Anyways I was reading some other people's blogs and I was just wondering. If the people who write these things are conscious of the impact of what they're saying on other people who read it. If they can understand or at least vaguely predict what the response of a number of more well-known associates would be like after this post. Does it impact their writing? Will it cause them to censor some things? Or bring out others? Or is it just: I've got a good idea and I'm not sure what my friends would say about it but it'd be good to know so I'll post it on my blog and see what they say.

Does the importance of the statement outweigh its inherent corniness? Or the other way around?

Meh. Anyway, I'm sorry to hear about Herrick's cat; (s)he was really cute even if (s)he didn't do much.

Jx's conversation with his anonymous friend was rather intriguing. I'm probably not serious enough to have conversations like that. "Ironically, armies exist because other countries' armies exist." Gotta love that line.

I can't believe school's starting again. I feel like I need a holiday to relax after this infernal "name-is-a-lie" one.

What is it about the Singaporean environment and mentality that causes us to be like this? Money, power, pursuit of happyness... I've got all these friends who're seriously mugging their brains out and I see them say things like "I haven't done any studying today I'm so screwed". My god, even guilt has been programmed into them so perfectly that anything deviating from the so-called "desired path" causes a severe system backlash.

I've been really influenced by comics recently. DC's Infinite Crisis event was totally awesome, and I guess I learnt a lot more about people and life. Kinda ironic, isn't it? Learning about reality from fiction?

Sigh. Back to work I guess. 24 month jail term.

Counting down to Final Crisis (tomorrow),
The Edna Man

Let's go Ride a Bike

...up to the highest height! Oh wait, wrong song.

I finally learnt how to ride a bike (that's bicycle for you) today at East Coast. It's damn awesome once you get going, but it's darn scary weaving in and out through other more experienced people who sneer at you as you swerve all over the track and crash into trees. Meh. My butt still hurts from that.

Anyway. Next stop: rollerblading!

Now knows how to balance on two wheels,
The Edna Man

The Fifth Place

I'm supposed to be logging about my journey to the US of A but I haven't and probably might not ever come round to doing it. But there is something I want to put up: our Action Plan Presentation at FPS International Conference.

Basically it works like this: you've got an Action Plan you come up with at the end of the report; now you have to present it in 4 minutes or less using three required stuffs. This year it was a whisk, a butterfly net, and a quote: "If you want creative workers, give them time to play." --John Cleese

Anyway, with OM still on my mind and Whose Line ringing in my head, we decided to come up with a musical.

Background info: The problem was about Child Labour, where in the future there's this game called Star Seekers which is like WoW today. Dozens of shady "Star Schools" have popped up over the glove recruiting children from less-fortunate households to play the game 12 hours a day, basically farming stars which can be sold for real money. So that's basically the scenario. Our solution was that since these children will have no means of supporting themselves if Star Seekers goes out of fashion, inventing a Dream School Machine which teaches them different skills in their sleep can help them outside this specific "industry".

You can catch the video here: Star School Musical
or if you want better sound quality but an odd angle, there's this awesome guy fron Kazakhstan who put it up here.

Lyrics
Kevin:
Ladies and gentlemen, this… is Star School Musical. (American Idol Music)

Kek (Daniel):
We’re soaring,
Flying,
Shooting down enemies that we can’t see
Aliens dying,
It’s a killing spree
Playing this forever
Stuck in this virtual reality
But I bet there’s other things
In this world to see
Something that is different from
Conquering galaxies
I’ve got a dream
Hey Boss, man
You can
Teach me another skill, not just how to play
I’ve been doing this almost everyday

All: Star Seekers: Labour in Disguise

Boss (Zhang):
In your dreams
Do I look like I care?
I just want to be a Millionaire?
This is just my money-making scheme
In your dreams
Why should I teach you new stuff
Isn’t half a day of gaming enough?
If you want to learn something extreme
Ha! In your dreams.

Kek: Dream? Dream? That idea’s supreme!

Dream Teacher (Me): Did someone say Dream?

Young man, you wanna learn something new
I said, young man, what are you gonna do?
I said, young man, let me give you a clue,
You can do it while you’re in bed
Da da da da da
You gotta use that Dream School Machine
You gotta use that Dream School Machine
If you’re tired of games
Everyday is the same
Then you just put this on your head…

Dream Kek (Kevin): Wow, I’m slimmer! And I have perfect vision!

Dream Teacher (Me):
The Classroom in Dreamland; what a wonderful place
The Classroom in Dreamland; better than outer space;
I’ll be your teacher, to guide you in your ways
You’ll learn anything
And everything
The Classroom in Dreamland

Why, looking at these two things
Kek: What are these two things?
Dream Teacher: In the realm of your mind, you can do what you will
Just with these simple things, you can learn any skill

You can climb a tall mountain, and stick in the flag
You can wear a small hairnet, so your perm doesn’t sag
Use it to cook, like soup on a stove
Digging for treasure in an old treasure trove

You can play the drums, or a xylophone
You can even make traps if you’re Home Alone
Dream Kek:
You could hit a home run for a winning streak
Or you could take a paddle up Kaka Creek

Dream Teacher:
Yeah, you got it, get creative
And your knowledge will be all automative

I used to be a gamer
Until I began to dream
Then I became a learner
Hard though it may seem

Working for long hours
Will lead you all astray
If you want creative workers
Give them time to play

It was totally awesome and after our performance for the rest of the conference we had people coming up to us saying how much they enjoyed it and how it was the best they've ever seen and stuff. It was so great! Hope you like it to =D

Redefining fifth place,
The Edna Man

Minesweeper

Another diary doodle. I had the idea of doing this because the diary page had three sections, and I wanted to do something which bridged all three. I got the idea of a three-storey mineshaft, and so here it is. Kinda warped picture; the giant drilling machine is WAAAY too heavy to be there on the top floor. And the guy at the bottom left? He's using ultraviolet light to spot iridescent metals in the rock. Whatever that means.

It's kinda strange that I keep doodling in my diary nowadays... but it's also kinda fun. I got a couple more pictures of tabletops after that Maps one... I'll see if I can put them up sometime.

OM is a blast, as usual, and I bet I'm going to be really really depressed when it's all over. I got most of the old gang back today to play Spontaneous with the girls. They were awesome at the Whose-Line games; think we got a bit rusty for normal Spontaneous XD Herrick keeps making fun of me help T_T

Oh yeah, last week Friday I met Henry's sister, Charlotte. She's Sec 2 now o_o The last time I saw her was when I was in Sec 2 o_o I couldn't even recognise her. At all. I was like, so shocked when she told me who she was.

Time flies, time dies.

The Edna Man

May Day! I'm hit!

It's May. I missed posting on May Day; what a waste of puns.

I'm in the middle of IOP essay outline preparations and I find out that my Internet is lagging (darn Singtel). I think about tomorrow, and what my teacher would say: "Why did you have to do it last minute?" And I come to this realization: that in the great scheme of neverending homework; inevitably, something has to be left to the last. It's just misfortune that thy assignment was relegated to the back of the queue. Hmm.

Well, IOP is kinda screwed. A bit too rushed: if we're supposed to do everything now, what's the point of having the June holidays? To study? (Irony, irony, irony.)

MSN seems a lot deader now. Fewer and fewer people initiate conversations; lost in the mire of homework or sunk too deep in their sea of more familiar friends to cast a landline to this piece of driftwood. Yet I don't feel lonely or unappreciated; solitare has a knack for expanding the imagination. My personage is changing; whilst before I used to wallow in self-pity and ponderation, it now affects me less than before; like I am numb to all external effects. Well, not really. Being happy still gives me kicks.

I kinda like that line. Realism is for pessimists.

I found another Outsiders volume recently. I figure that was our biggest mistake. We never forged a team; we created a family. And that's why it hurts so much.

Speaking of superheroes, a new TNN anthology is coming up, apparently. In many ways it mirrors No Other City, which is a slight cause for concern; nonetheless this new literature is fascinating, in a way. It allows more mature thought and focused writing to, apparently, "bring out our identity". Interpret what you will.

Well, back to The Rebel of China.

When I was small, and Christmas trees were tall,
We used to laugh, while others used to play.
Don't ask me why, the time has passed us by;
Someone else moved in from far away...
Now we are tall, and Christmas trees are small,
And you don't ask the time of day...
But you and I, our love will never die;
But guess who'll cry, come first of May.
The Edna Man

Maps

I drew this during ToK today. Mr Alvin Tan was talking about maps, and I just had a suden urge to draw a map. Then after the whole lecture, I decided to add more stuff to it. It turned out pretty funky.

Hmm, otah sales today weren't as high as expected. We should have beaten the lunch crowd. As such, I got home at 7+ today, something I haven't done since NPCC. But of course, this beats UYOs anyday.

Just one more thing. I saw this awesome advertisement on the bus today; it was about Heaven and Earth green tea. It's tagline was: Be Clear. It showed a lady with dark hair sipping a bottle of H&E and becoming vaguely enlightened. Then she picks up a newspaper which blared the headline: "Mystery Hero Saves the Day", with a picture at the bottom. And in the background, is a news journalist at his desk, with thick glasses on and a square chin, looking remarkably like the photograph. Ingenious XD

Oh well.
The Edna Man

Still Missing You...

I miss OM. T_T

It's been a week since national finals, and these past seven days have been like a story out of someone else's book. I keep feeling that I have to go somewhere at the end of Tuesdays and Fridays. I figured out that I couldn't decide what to eat for Friday's lunch because the past weeks I had been having heavy brunches during recess in preparation of the lack of time after White Space (they always take up too much time, don't they).

I kinda miss being weird. With OM I could do all my crazy stuff and it wouldn't be strange or shunned by others. It was normal. And I miss the people there. Life now feels so... empty. T_T

Ah well. Since I started doing announcements in the morning, my principal knows my name. Oh crubs.

OMMMMMMMMMg.
The Edna Man

FIFTY-SIX TROPHIES

OM is over T_T Back to the toil and trudge of work, seriousness, and conformity.

BUT BEFORE WE GO I'd just like to say one thing.

FIFTY-SIX TROPHIES IN YOUR FACE!

Each of the five MGS teams were all in the Top 4 for each division in each problem category. Two of them got tops for spontaneous, netting more trophies. Awesome! Today was a complete and total blast, and if I could I'd live it all over again.

Wheee, I'm so happy XD

I'm gonna miss all of the girls; coaching them this past three, four weeks was really fun, and I know all (at least most of them) by name and everything. It's sad that I might never see them again. T_T

Ah, well. To fifty-six trophies!
The Edna Man

Funny Quotes; Hilarious Quotes; Witty Quotes

Quote of the Day 1: "Footprints were what was left behind by Hansel and... his sister, whose name I cannot remember for the life of me."

Quote of the Day 2: "Can you imagine, just walking along when suddenly you fall into this flaming wet pool of wetness?"

Quote of the Day 3: "It could mean leaving behind a Deutchmark. It could mean leaving behind a boy called Mark. It could be someone who wanted to write, 'Today I left a market' and ran out of in half-way."

OM TOMORROW CAN'T WAIT
The Edna Man

Fool's April

All right! Today was an awesome day! Pulling pranks, playing OM, and generally having lots of fun. Let's go!

K, first off, the national anthem got interrupted by the opening African chant from Circle of Life. Quite interesting, but it would have been better (i.e. less illegal) to put it before the anthem, which can be explained away as the wrong track on the disk. The anthem is too sacred to interrupt.

Oh yeah, "someone" reported today that we're probably not getting funding for our FPS trip to the US, which means it comes up to around 4K each. I found it kinda... irritating? that during her telling us that we're not going to get funding, you could practically feed off the economic-ness of her speech (not that you'd want to, of course). Basically, the whole idea is that we're not getting funded because they only go for "niche markets" and that we were a "one-shot deal" with "high risk and minimal returns". I hate economics.

K, next! Yesterday I made a mock up of a summons and this morning, fined the Buggy in the parade square. XD It was fined for speeding (XD) and not having a liscence plate. In the middle of the day it got blown away by the wind, I think, so I put up another copy.

Also! Professor Dan O. Saur was in school today teaching archaeology. The Physics teacher was waiting outside when he came out of the class, apologising profusely for taking up her time, before hurriedly packing up and leaving. Later, I returned in normal school uniform, saying that I had a stomachache. Bird Hand Bird Bird Bush!

OM! Completely awesome! Played Two-Line Vocabulary and Questions, and it was HILARIOUS! Should I use my gun?

Happy April Fool's Day!
The Edna Man

OM Again!

Wow. I never thought coaching primary school girls for OM would be so fun.

I've been doing it for two weeks so far, on Tuesdays and Fridays and Wednesdays, and it's awesome fun.

I gotta say though. It's very exhausting. There's like twenty or more girls and most of them are all so hyperly-active I wouldn't be surprised if they bled chocolate sauce. And the screaming. Man, that hurts badly. Like all they can do is scream. Most of the time, anyway.

But aside from that, these girls are pretty awesome! They've got lots of creative ideas, and it's immense fun playing Whose Line? games with them. We've done Props (a favourite), Emotions, News Reporter, Helping Hands (the most favourite of them all), Party Quirks, Sitting, Standing, Lying Down, and a lot more but I think I forget. IT'S SUPER FUN. It's one of the things that I'm looking forward each week now.

Oh yeah, I think one of the most creative ideas: We were playing props, and the scene was that some people were moving house and the rest of them had to be objects. We prevented them from being ordinary stuff like tables, chairs, etc. One group of four turned out to be a FAMILY PORTRAIT! That was the most astoundingly creative idea of all so far I think.

Well, can't wait for the next coaching session. FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN

By the way, all you sick dirty people. THERE IS NO INNUENDO HERE.
The Edna Man

Life After People

I just watched the above show on the History Channel. I think it's awesome, both the channel and the programme. THC can definitely rival the Discovery Channel and give it a run for its money.

Back to the programme. It seems so... demoralizing? That the traces of our civilization will only last another thousand years at best, if we are completely wiped off the face of the earth at this point in time. Nothing we made today can stand the test of time. It's so ironic that the ancient Egyptian writings, carved into stone and clay, will outlast and have outlasted our CDs and paper. It really puts things into perspective: we're nothing really, compared to time. Nothing.

Oh yeah, another thing. Went up the mountain cemetary again today. For the last time. I've been going like, ever since I was 7. Or 12, I can't remember. Anyway, for the past 5 or 10 years I've been climbing up that hill and paying respect to Chinese traditions and my long-gone great-grandfather and now they're going to exhume the corpses and move them all away so they can build something else. I'm not really happy nor sad, but well. It's different.

Everything changes.
The Edna Man

Even if you don't love me anymore

I got the call today,
That I didn’t wanna’ hear
But I knew that it would come
Old true friend of ours
Was talking on the phone
She said you found someone
And I thought of all the bad luck,
And struggles we went through
How I lost me and you lost you
What are these voices outside love's open door
Make us throw of our contentment
And beg for something more?

I’m learning to live without you now
But I miss you sometimes
And the more I know, less I understand
All the things I thought I knew, I’m learning again
I’ve been trying to get down
To the heart of the matter
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter
But I think its about
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don’t love me anymore

All these times are so uncertain
Though the yearning undefined
And then people filled with rage
We all need a little tenderness
How can love survive
In such a graceless age?
The trust and self-assurance that leads to happiness
They're the very things we kill, I guess
Our pride and competition
Cannot fill these empty arms
And the work I put between us
You know it doesn’t keep me warm

I’m learning to live without you now
But I miss you sometimes
And the more I know, less I understand
All the things I thought I figured out
I have to learn again
I’ve been trying to get down
To the heart of the matter
But everything changes
And my friends seem to scatter
But I think its about
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don’t love me anymore

There are people in your life, who’ve come and gone
They let you down, you know they hurt your pride
You better put it all behind you; ‘coz life goes on
You keep carrying that anger, it will eat you up inside

I’ve been trying to get down
To the heart of the matter
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter
But I think its about
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don’t love me...

I’ve been trying to get down
To the heart of the matter
Because the flesh will get weak
And the ashes will scatter
So I’m thinking about
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don’t love me...

Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness

Even if you don’t love me anymore.

--The Heart of the Matter, The Eagles.

Cam-pains

"It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well."

--Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Improv Everywhere!

Hey, JC just directed me to this site: http://improveverywhere.com/

These people are totally awesome. I mean, they've got something going! They create scenes, just to add some fun into people's lives. I mean, they got 200 people to freeze for five minutes in New York's Grand Central station! THAT WAS SO AWESOME!

I feel like following in their footsteps. It sure'll make life more interesting.

Spontaneously,
The Edna Man

Sixteen Going On Seventeen

Hey! I'm seventeen! My birthday was quite AWESOME. I can't remember having this much fun in two and a half months.

Kk, first things first. Went to watch The Spiderwick Chronicles at Cineleisure. It was quite awesome, but not of epic quality. I so definitely want to read the book now. We were supposed to watch at 1pm, and meet for lunch at 12pm. But apparently everyone was late, so we had lunch after. Oh yeah, I called Dneo like, five times at 11 to wake him up, and each time he kept hanging up on me. And eventually he woke up at 12:10pm only. And Boey Yang allegedly overslept, and missed the movie 'cos he "had to have lunch" first.

Kk, so after that, we went to Taka to have lunch. Herr kept koping my noodles. Then he went to buy his own. Pfft. XD Oh yeah, Mrs Hah called me up to check if I can help her and her OM team with Spontaneous. I think it's going to be quite fun, but I don't know if my humour is too old for them to understand.

After that: FLYER! WHOOOOOO IT WAS AWESOME!

Okay, first, while we were walking there from City Hall MRT, we saw this plane flying towards it. We were all immediately like, OMG MAS SELEMAT. But it made a turn and swerved off in another direction. It would have been so cool if I managed to catch a picture of that.

K then, FLYER! Wow, the view from up there is so amazing. You could see Indonesia. You could see EVERYTHING. Man, being right at the top, 150 metres in the sky, that was awesome. It's like being at the top of the world! And Dneo's scared of heights. Like, how can someone so awesome be scared of heights? Well anyway, I got like a ton of pics, but my battery ran out around halfway. Oh yeah, near the end, Zhang and Darrell started doing those -__- NeoPrint girl pose things. Ewwww. And then Louis and Zhang did the M18 version XD Oh yeah there was this couple who got married in the next capsule, I think. I was wondering what they do for the full half hour or so inside. The priest gives a long speech, and then at the top they say "I do!" And then, for the rest of the time, they just sit around, going "Now what?" Oh yeah, they took our photo on the ground in front of a green screen, then edited the sky in so it looks like we were on the flyer XD Oh, Louis, Jason and Zhang got me a Singapore Flyer cap! So awesome =D

Okay after Flyer, had to take a 75 all the way to Rail Mall to get to Lorraine's house. I was with Jason, and I was so scared that the bus would like, overshoot or not go the right way or something, 'cos it was over an hour and we still hadn't reached. Well, finally I managed to get there, and I didn't get lost! Oh yeah, I saw this fruit-bat thing climbing a tree. I tried to take a picture but the flash only got its reflective eye. Still, it looks quite creepy.

Class party! I arrived pretending to be lost XD I managed to get a picture of Arun stripping during Strip Poker! And Lorraine's house is super-far away from the nearest food. Chocolate sauce can only make things better! And omg Jarrel's mom makes awesome cakes!

Then I got home at about 11 and had another family cake XD Woah too much chocolate XD

All in all, a wonderful birthday, I think. Go read Herrick's blog to hear what he has to say about reunions and "It's the people you bring on it that counts" or whatever he said. There there, Herrick, you'll be alright. *pats*

Oh yeah, presents! I got a puzzle message-thing from Kwong, which I haven't had time to put together yet; Boey got me the Teen Titans comic I was looking for when I was looking for his present, haha! Oh yeah, and the super-awesome cap from the Flyer from Jason, Louis and Zhang. Darrell Neo and Herrick are supposed to get me a set of rechargable batteries with charger. XD And I think my classmates are giving me stuff too, but on Monday, 'cos they didn't expect me at the party. XD

FIVE HUNDRED TWENTYFIVE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED MINUTES
The Edna Man

Walking at 30+ kmph

Whee! Yesterday I walked the distance of an MRT train, from nose to tail. It was quite cool! I tried searching Wikipedia for the speed of our MRTs but I couldn't find it anywhere. But man! How often do you get to walk at speeds of (estimated) 30+ kilometres per hour!

Boey's party yesterday. I really hope he liked my present... I think I spent about four hours alone just searching for the material components. Did you know that those photo album sold at that fancy book place at Taka cost like, $30? That's enough for a trip on the Flyer. I couldn't afford it, so in the end I just used some card and string and bound the whole thing together.

Darrell got dunked in the pool! Haha, that was funny XD He was dripping all over the floor. And the joy of Munchkin has been spread all around!

Hmm, again I didn't get much to eat XD BUt I guess it's okay lah. Oh yeah, Bryan Ong shoved me out of a taxi carpool even though he was the last one to join. I didn't want to keep the taxi driver waiting so I decided to leave and take the MRT instead. Meh. I'd have gotten home like, abour 40 mins earlier. At least he apologised. I'd say more, but well, it won't be good.

Hmm. Juzzie commented that I rebel against the system "when it's most convenient for you". Or something like that. But well, I'm not sure if that's true or not; I mean, standing in the rain because I think the system is flawed isn't really convenient for me; neither is giving my seat up on a taxi to take an extra 40+ minutes to go home. And then you come back to the argument on consciousness, and whether these examples are just elaborate explanations given by a self-preserving subconsciousness to make it seem like I'm doing the right thing while actually being an excuse to cover up the hideous heresy this particular personage is criminally committing. Argh, alliteration overload.

WELL. Birthday in TWENTYFOUR HOURS. WHEEEEEEEE~!

Almost Had You

I was in Takashimaya today hunting for a present component for Boey and I went down to Kino to see if they had any Teen Titans comics. I FOUND ONE AT ONLY $13. I had a budget, so I decided to come back down later after I checked Borders and Popular. When I came back, defeated, THE COMIC WAS GONE T_T

I have no idea whether my present is going to make Boey more emo.

It's like, only been two months, and I can't contact anyone anymore. Each person I called today never picked up. Until like, much much later. Makes you realize: you've got to start doing things by yourself. Which is why I'm bringing my camera around from now on.

CASH makes the world go round: Creativity, Action, and Service Hours
The Edna Man

Transcendentalism

Do you believe that there's something more powerful about the human spirit which allows it to go beyond convention and change the world? I do. I feel it is so possible, I'm actually trying to do it. There's probably some argument that all our flaws makes us human and if we're perfect we're not human, etc. Maybe it's time to redefine the definition of "human". I'm not saying we become gods; I'm just saying that we, as a collective human race, can be more, so much more, than what we are now.

There's something about transcending the basic human purpose of survival. There's something about not caring about life to such an extent that you're willing to sacrifice your health and welfare for something you believe in. (Something good, of course. Not like terrorism or anything.) There's something about detaching yourself from this material world so much that nothing matters anymore, and you don't feel anything; pain, pleasure, sadness, joy, nothing.

Going beyond,
The Edna Man

Unconnected

The reason why we can't have free press is because the readers of said press aren't mature enough for it yet.

I think I'm too nice for my own good.

I want to stop caring but it's not working.

No sided love is hatred, one sided love is obsession.
Two sided love is friendship, three sided love is depression.

The break is a lie.

Have no sympathy for the weak
Show no mercy for the wounded
Weep no tears for the dead
Grant no redemption for the damned
For this is our world
And our fate.

It kinda says something if you can't go to your own birthday party.
The Edna Man

Shocking!

I have experienced a Van der Graff generator. My life is now complete.

In related news, Mr. Bernard Taylor is AWESOME.

In other news, Jarrel Seah is AWESOME. And DAMN FREAKY. Uh. AWESOMELY DAMN FREAKY.

I hope the terrorist guy gets caught soon so I can Singapore Flyer with peace of mind.

Grounded!
The Edna Man

Pointless

Judging by the posts and comments of other people on their blogs and my clickybox, it didn't really matter standing in the rain in the honour of ceremony.

So what good fight are you fighting if the people don't need you to?

The opposite of war isn't peace; it's creation
The Edna Man

Rain on my Parade

I think it's time to really stop depending on other people. Thanks to the power of self-interest, you can't expect anyone to follow you, to go against the grain by your side. Each and every individual is isolated, persuing his or her own goals, dreams, objectives. Survival demands it. Survival requires it.

Rain washed out the 122nd Founder's Day parade today. Except that the Guest of Honour was over half an hour late, in the rain, which meant that the UYO squads had to freeze in the rain. And there was no wet-weather contingency, no Plan-B, nothing. Freeze in the rain, get a cold, all for some stupid ceremony. Tradition, ceremony, professionalism; all more important than the health and welfare of the individual.

I should have kept standing in the rain. Fight for what's right.

Viva la revolution.
The Edna Man

Leap Year!

It's the 29th of Feburary! A day that shifts into existence only once every four years! And... there's nothing special about it. No special events, no special celebrations, no special things that you should be able to do only on this day and no other day of the year. It's quite sad actually. I tried thinking of stuff I could do today, but the only thing that came up was that you could look at the horoscope for today, since the Greeks or Romans, whoever they were, didn't have leap years; the Gregorian calendar was only introduced in the second millenium.

Sigh. There's so much reason for something to be special, yet it isn't. Because in the end, it's just like everything else.

Well. Happy birthday to all the lucky people born on the 29th of Feb! At least today was special for you.

Because reason says I should die three years ago
The Edna Man

The Raven's Cry

The tears are streaming down her face:
Falcon's splendor, peace of dove;
Her arms locked in feathered embrace
Around the one she's come to love.
She never would have guessed before:
Stubborn, proud; her hatred burned!
Bound to him forevermore
Till he expressed care and concern.
Tomorrow will bring wings of change,
Freedom would be understood;
But winds of fate demand exchange:
Their love for the greater good.
Yet high above where eagles soar
Will always sound the raven's caw.

------------------------------------------
Repeat after me: I have no talent. (I have no talent.) Jonny has all the talent. (Jonny has all the talent.) If I'm lucky, some of Jonny's talent will rub off on me. (If I'm lucky, Mr. Talent will rub his tentacles on my art.)

Wow. Just... wow.
The Edna Man

Lumdar

What is happy if you've never been sad?
What is good if you don't know what's bad?
What's a blessing if you've never been cursed?
What's feeling better if you've never felt worse?

What is joy if you don't know what's sorrow?
How do you lead if you never have followed?
What is hope without despair?
What is here without a there?

What's free will if you don't know what's fate?
How do you love when you don't know what's hate?
What's desire if you're always content?
Which path's straight if you don't know what's bent?

What is crying if you always laugh?
Is your life whole if you're only living half?

------------------------------
Boey is making me think. He's really upset about the splitting up of GEP, and he still is, after two months. Not saying I'm not, but it's making me think. You know how people always tell you to be happy and all the other positive stuff? Well, here's a question: why? What's so good about being happy? Sure, you feel better, but are you really living life, if you're always happy, and never know what sadness, pain, remorse, pity, longing, or disappointment are? Boey's got my sympathy.

Half-life,
The Edna Man

Singapore Flyer

What should I do when my birthday comes around? Ever since I found out it's opening on the first, I've been obsessed about going to the flyer on my birthday. The price per person is $29.50, without express check-in or whatever. I've checked my angpao money; I've got $230 I think. That means I can bring 7 people (including myself). But if I only subsidize two-thirds the price, that makes it 10 people; half the price, and it brings it up to 12. My mom says that I should see if I can get a student-bulk-discount and like, go with my class or something. But there are some things about the uncalcuable power of certain acts which go beyond any mere human understanding.

If I do go, who should I bring? Old friends, to reinforce the friendships? Or new friends, to construct my identity? Or a mixture of both, and resort to being mediator between two warring factions like Isaac's party? (Hahaha, that was like, WAY long ago XD)

Well, I want to go anyways. Try and stop me.

I really liked my last poem; I don't know why.

Autumn
The Edna Man

Autumn

A smile that's wiped off from your face;
An angel which did this from grace.
It's that which comes after a pride;
A shooting star, a meteorite.

Into traps and on hard times;
Soldiers do this into lines;
Into rhythm with a song;
Into place: plans don't go wrong.

What night and silence do so well;
When prices thus more goods will sell;
Water pours from the cliff above;
What you do when you trip into love.

Everlasting Love

Unrequited Love - Parody of Everlasting Love by Jamie Cullum

A deeper feeling
That you have for someone
It's so appealing
But when you've just begun
They say they don't
Really like you back that way
Work out it won't;
"But we can still be friends, okay?"

Open up your eyes
Then you'll realize
This is what is called
Unrequited love

Need them by your side
But you got denied
No one knows you cried
Unrequited love

Reciprocate
Doesn't mean that they love you
It must be fate
'Cos although your love is true
There's always others
Who will draw their gaze away
You're just another
Face that they see everyday

Listen to the lies
Get ready for goodbyes
You're the one who dies
Unrequited love

Even though you tried
Still the great divide
You and I collide
Unrequited love

Two of us apart
Breaking up my heart
Wanting you forever
Unrequited love

Don't you know nothing lasts forever
Don't you know nothing lasts forever
Don't you know nothing lasts forever
Don't you know nothing lasts forever

There's no love that lasts forever

Sometimes Love just ain't Enough

Some guy in Sec 3 committed suicide yesterday.

I think it's very wasted. From the information released, it sounded like an impulse suicide. Which isn't the best form of the art; as in, if you want to go out with a bang, doing it just to escape your problems isn't the best way to solve your problems. But if you're making a statement to the world, if suicide is the only option for people to notice you and take your message seriously, if your life is the price you're willing to pay to let the world know and hopefully change, then the death is less in vain. I'm not like, advocating suicide or anything; but if you really have to do it, then doing it for personal reasons isn't they way to go.

Here's a hypothetical question: if you're not connected to the world anymore, does that give you the right to release yourself from this plane of existence, instead of being forced to cling onto it due to societal conventions? Existential angst.

Student Council elections coming up. I find it very... wrong that just missing the camp/LYS automatically disqualifies you from the nomination process. It makes no sense; someone who's more appropriate for the job could miss the leadership position just because he's busy that day.

I... don't think I want to join Student Council. I doubt I'm charasmatic enough, and I lack one of the seventeen essential qualities: school pride. But seriously, I'm now even less inclined to participating in an organization. It feels so claustrophobic. I seriously don't want to do it if all it does is look good an a CV. Wonder how many people have that as sole reason.

Love, actually.
The Edna Man

Walk with Me

I think I finally figured out why people need a God. One of the reasons, at least. Because people are all so different, there is not a single person - friend, acquaintence, lover, whatever - that will walk with you or will want you to walk with down the path of life. Because everybody's different, with different self-interests and different paths they have placed in front of themselves to walk down. So people create a God to convice themselves that there is someone who will walk with them down the path of their life without going his own separate way. And the difference between that and an imaginary friend is that while each person can have his own single individual imaginary friend, everyone can have God walking down his or her path because that's what God is supposed to be, omnipresent.

Why is it that some things are designed perfectly while so many other things aren't?

On the road less travelled,
The Edna Man

Happy Chinese New Year!

Yeah, what he said. I love eating over CNY =D

There's one thing I noticed though. If you ever want to be an international superspy, become a waiter. Or waitress. (But not both at the same time.) After you hover around the table where the President of Another Country is sitting with his Delegates you might be able to pick up enough information to sell to YOUR government for big bucks. Really, waiters are like the ultimate eavsedroppers.

I don't feel like the last five days were holidays. Time seems to be slipping by so quickly. After all the meetings with relatives and stalling at people's houses I don't feel like there's been a holiday at all. Oh well. At least I learnt Mahjong: Advanced Rules.

Kinda interesting how lots of other people find their families irritating. As in, extended families.

I was looking at my blogposts again since the beginning of time and I realise that I was really different three, four years ago. My thinking was so... childish, naive, streamlined. Now it's just chaotic.

Well. Happy CNY!