This post began 'construction' on 11 February 2011, and was edited and posted on 12 February 2011.
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YES!
I got my first set of Copic markers today!
Well, but before I elaborate on anything else, I might as well just (not-so) lightly cover my day's journey.
Ah, I remember it just as it was this morning...which it was...but WHATEVER. ;D
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This morning I woke up with sleep still clinging onto me like water riding up the edges of a test tube. I was decidedly not a happy camper. However, knowing the serious consequences of being late to school would include a much dreaded booking as well as a most uncomfortable ride by public bus to school, I safely settled for getting my lazy bum out of the welcoming tendrils of warmth emanating from the bed, sandwiched under a soft layer of comforter.
Dragging my 10 tonne legs to the toilet I brushed my teeth almost lethargically while trying to stay awake, nevermind keeping my eyes open. My arm felt like some sort of lead contraption designed to make locomotion the most horrible thing you'll ever experience. Blearily, I rinsed my mouth with Listerine and stumbled "gracefully" back to my room to change.
Cold assaulted me as I slowly pulled my large night shirt over my head to toss into the laundry basket. Goosebumps were a definite presence on my overly-thermal-sensitive skin. Fumbling slightly, I rushed to get my blouse on before the goosebumps become a permanent fixture on my epidermis. My eyelids drooped yet again for the nth time when I put on the pinafore. Grabbing my freshly washed maroon jacket I stumbled down the stairs.
Blearily I pinned on my school badge and name tag to avoid any strange looks from peers and unwanted attention from suddenly flocking prefects. I tied my hair into its usual low tail and blinked tiredly for a few seconds to clear the fog from my eyes. Why does everything seem so unclear even though I have my glasses on?
We ran out of Soya Milk so I asked for a cup of water instead. It was the most bland thing you've ever tasted, but some liquid down my slightly parched throat was better than none. I tucked my lunch box into my bag before once again returning to a state of the living dead. I sat listlessly like a rather odd-looking doll until the national anthem played over the radio, signalling that it's 06:00, and also time I left home to board the school bus.
My school bag was its usual weight, which comforted me a little for queer reasons I am not going to bother to figure out. Ambling to the school bus, I gazed up at the lightening navy blue sky to look for signs of a secret moon before getting clumsily into the school bus. As the bus drove off I managed to settle myself down without colliding into the roof and causing a spectacular bruise to develop on my large forehead.
Like usual, I dozed off after a few minutes due to a great desire to catch up on sleep that had deserted me when they decided amongst themselves that I needed to wake up just 15 minutes prior. Unlike usual, however, I woke up a few times during the ride. As the first person to board the bus, I could spend about 50 minutes sleeping, but strangely enough, my brain gained consciousness at odd times without any apparent triggers.
I alighted from the school bus in the school car park, walking slowly and heavily to class. There was CES today, which meant that there would be an extra Mathematics lesson awaiting me to face my doom early in the morning which, after morning assembly, would be followed by another Math lesson 55 minutes long.
It turned out, however, that Ms Fan considered the fact that some students were unable to make it for the CES session, and so she turned it into a consultation period. Ah, what a waste. Today would be the first time I'm attending the PEP (Philosophy Enrichment Programme) which is held in the library as informed by an e-mail received 1-2 days ago. I am moderately pleased that I had the foresight to inform Mr. Lorenzo that I wouldn't be coming due to the scheduled CES, but what a disappointment CES turned out to be.
Before the CES lesson I turned on the computer to do a little research on Copic markers. I did a similar research before, but that was mostly out of curiosity. This time, however, I was planning to buy a set of markers for my own use, since my birthday would be coming up in 2 days and I've expressed to my mother my desire to own some of these markers. We decided to go to Bras Basah today, right after Art Club is dismissed from an exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM).
XinYu, who was supposed to do her English class presentation today, approached me and asked if I knew how to access her thumbdrive on the class computer, because she couldn't. I showed her a nifty solution to the problem as I've been faced with this before with one of my thumbdrives. I actually do wonder if she approached me with any expectations or simply out of convenience. I don't think I've cultivated an image of extreme IT knowledge in class or anywhere else.
I've also realised, as I was unpacking my back onto my table to prepare for CES, that I had forgotten my pencil case altogether. Before that, I had a sudden epiphany which led to me remembering that while Mr. Angullia had mentioned that we would need foolscap for today's lesson, I had clean forgotten about that and brought not a single sheet. Thankfully, I managed to secure a pen from ShuYing and a pencil and a foolscap from Jaslin.
When the minute hand neared the 30 minutes mark to indicate 08:30 at 08:20, I proceeded to the parade square, not donning my maroon jacket. I have come to realise that if I do not wear it in the school bus I would not likely wear it to morning assembly. As it was, I only draped my jacket around me during the bus ride this morning.
Finding ChuNing whom I know to be from the PEP since I looked through the e-mail receipients who were informed of PEP's location earlier yesterday, I asked her about what she did today at PEP. It seems that the first session was mightily unproductive, mostly introductions, so I was relieved.
Since it was a Friday the Lower Secondary students assemble in the hall in preparation for assembly which is their first block. This left the entire parade square to the Upper Secondary. Needless to say, most of the student body were too dense to realise this and still gathered in their usual positions, and it wasn't until 5 minutes before morning assembly began that they finally realised they were standing in a spot far different from where they were supposed to be.
Singing voices were barely heard over the booming instrumental of the national anthem. If I could wager a little I would say that little under than a fifth of the students actually bothered to sing. I was not one of them. I used to be, though, but after an entire week of intermittent bursts of sore throat I didn't feel it safe to use my voice, as it would probably come out as some husky, undetermined sound.
Little announcements were made, and we were dismissed without fuss. Weaving through the dense crowd I nimbly manoeuvred my way back to class, lightness in my steps starkly contrasting with their sluggish movements just earlier that morning. Fast-paced but not quite delicately, I was the first back in class and pressed the switches for the lights.
Mathematics, as the first lesson, was a decidedly disgusting move on the timetable department's part. To begin the day, a FRIDAY nonetheless, with a mind-blowing lesson was just too much. I did manage to survive the lesson, and prepared for assembly by readying my tie. With a expert tug here and a wrap there I neatly formed the tie's shape and then secured it to my collar with a flourish, making it look like I had my uppermost button buttoned when it was not.
Before I move on I must mention this little experiment I did on 1 February this year right before the Chinese New Year break. I wore my tie properly, but instead of showing it, I pulled on my maroon jacket like I always do, and this time zipped it all the way up so that no part of my tie shows through. I don't usually do this when going for assembly, but I was doing an experiment that day. I pushed up my sleeves and then brazenly walked out of class and to the hall.
I was slightly disappointed that I wasn't accosted to show proof of my tie when I walked past the hall's entrance doors, but it vanished when a prefect ran up to me after I had walked pretty much half the length of the hall to ask if I brought my tie, a pretty euphemism for, "I KNOW you didn't bring your tie. Now let me catch you in the act and book you." The prefect probably didn't have this conscious intention, but her inner justice was probably roaring this anyway.
So, nonchalantly, I unzipped my jacket. I imagine she was looking a little tinged when she left, but I was too flustered with success from the experiment to notice anything. So, if one wants to enter the hall but does not have a tie, one should not zip the jacket up full and roll up the sleeves. That would make you look like you're warm, but somehow or another unwilling to remove your jacket. Reason? Well, the prefects (and all other students, for the matter) probably think you didn't bring your tie.
Today's assembly was going to be a similar but different experiment. This time I zipped up full but did not pull up my sleeves. In addition, to complete the image, I tucked my fists into my jacket's pockets as if to keep them warm. I was filtered into the hall without much fuss. Huh, so this is what you should do if you want to enter without a tie. Now we all know what to do, don't we?
Assembly was radically unlike every other assembly. While it began with the singing of the school song with an innocent quality comparable to heaven's choir accompanied by a pure tune of gentle, piano notes distinctly rendering a graceful, lady-like quality to the song, its main agenda was to signal the end of Friendship Appreciation Week (FAW) and start the Student Congress discussions.
With a short clip depicting students thanking various Executive Administrative Staff (EAS) and a spoken testimony presented via the video of the EAS showing appreciation for their work in RGSS, it was an effective conclusion to the week. While each department's representative ascended the steps to receive a token of appreciation from our new vice-principal, I could not help but notice that the green men were awarded a resounding applause no other staff departments had. Well, I guess appreciation for green men have been successfully inculcated into us. Shouldn't we begin to appreciate the other EAS now?
Immediately after the proclaimed end of FAW'11, Student Congress stepped up and headed a discussion about Timetables and School Infrastructure. Without much doubt, there were some complaints brought up which were irrelevant to the topic. It was clearly stated by the Congress Speakers that applause are to be held until the end, but the student body clearly didn't have ears, or else their ingenius minds were smashed into goo the moment a moderately 'cool' issue was brought up.
The discussion first started out very slowly, but once the ball started rolling, stopping it was an issue. There were many times when the Congress Speakers suggest the same solution of speaking to relevant teachers, which we all know to do but somehow have no mind to think of it as a REAL solution. In fact, it wouldn't be too far a stretch to say that it got annoying how the Speakers kept dodging issues like that after a while.
We were dismissed for recess soon enough. Snatching up my lunchbox I flew with the swiftness of an eagle cutting through the blue skies to the canteen. All my preferred round tables were already taken up, so I made do with a round table on the side of the canteen closer to J-Block. Rachael Sim joined me not long after, and we chatted a bit before going back up to imitate lifeless sculptures in our chairs. At least, I did.
Then entire of English block was used for an FA on documentary review writing, so XinYu didn't present to the class today. The video was about surrogate mothers in India, and while I have no idea what the documentary was supposed to be conveying, I decided against writing a draft and started on my essay immediately. I noticed, much to my chagrin, that Jaslin, who was my desk mate to my right, was actually doing a draft. I felt horribly unprepared then.
The word limit was 300-350, but I overshot it by 10 words. Jaslin and Celine (especially Celine) wrote so much excess that their words sprawled over 1 or more pages while mine was confined to half a page. Well, the fact that I had forgotten to insert paragraphing probably had something to do with its apparent lack in length.
Social Studies went by without a hitch, other than the fact that I wans't particularly interested in how to write the essay, but more on reading the articles for leisure instead. I have interests that do not help my academics, but I am sure this form of enjoyment might make life much more tolerable than others. While Mr. Azahar went to photocopy 31 copies of an article for the class, I forgot that it was still Social Studies period and went to the toilet, coming back and getting mildly surprised that Mr. Azahar was still in class. During this extra time I played around with my hair, and gave it an insociant-ish apperance, which I kept until the end of the day.
Physics was a mess of cluttered information. There was so much to absorb in so little time, even if I actually found out the answers to the questions which I got wrong for before Mr. Thio went through them. There were new ideas brought up and old ones revised. I found I needed that extra reinforcement as my knowledge of Physics is severely limited.
Physics ended early enough for me to get a round table as well as food within 5 minutes. Grace who, like me, was from Art Club, joined me at my table in a while after PanYu, also another person from Art Club, did, and with Grace was one of her friends whom I assume is from Red Cross Youth (RCY). Grace mentioned that she had to do a worksheet when she visited SAM yesterday with half of Art Club. She also brought up the fact that only 2 Sec4 Art Club members were amongst the other Art Club and SAP pupils at the exhibition yesterday. Poor girl. Grace commented that she liked my new hair, though. =) I have to admit, I like it too. It looks professionally messy.
Grace accompanied me all the way to my class where I packed up belongings. Before leaving for the foyer where the half of Art Club (and SAP) who haven't been to the exhibitions yet are assembling, I made a quick detour to the toilet once more. I simply cannot help but want to be on the safe side.
At the foyer I saw AnYan (AY) playing the piano, so I walked up to her with Grace in tow and set down my bag at the foot of the piano. I soaked up the music she played with much gratification. Grace also played a song or two before I reminded her that she wanted to take a picture of my awesome hair. She took 2 photos, and I asked her to send them to me because I thought my hair was awesome too. I spied Mr. Wong beyond the yellow Singa and passed up my consent form, and also refilled my waterbottle at the cooler adjacent to the foyer.
AY and I stuck together like some sort of honey. We weren't as close as glue, although we did think of that since we didn't know much of the other Sec4s very well anyway, but close enough. I feel a little guilty for leaving ShuYing out of my fun, but I think she was close enough to PanYu to enjoy herself.
When we boarded a bus, it didn't move for over 15 minutes. We were then told to transfer to another bus. What a weird thing. Can't they simply transfer drivers?
We first went to a warehouse in Tanjong Pagar where art pieces were displayed in large, warehouse halls. There were some rather controversial images, such as one of the Japanese emperors with a pregnant woman's nude body and holding a shovel to signify the desire of the emperor to make up for horrible labour treatments by giving birth to the labourers again. It was pretty vague, but I could completely appreciate the technique that went into the painting.
An interesting thing to note is that we got lost both getting to and from the exhibition hall. Firstly, we took the wrong elevator up. It was a cargo elevator, so even though we arrived at the correct floor the entrance to the floor was sealed. Then, when we boarded a broad passenger elevator, we finally found our way. The doors of the elevators looked like thick metal, and slid down with a sort of slow, groaning movement. There were doors on both sides of the elevators, and they opened depending on the level. Mr. Wong told us that if we got our bodies stuck in between the door and the floor, we'd be crushed immediately. We found out later that that was an empty scare, for sensors at the doors would immediately force the doors to retreat should something be in the way.
The exhibitions there were creepy. Firstly, right in front of the elevator, was a ginormous installment of large clay pots punched in while the clay was still semi-wet in places to specifically form a likeless of humans singing. There was another memorable installment which was many dogs arranged in rows and collumns with 3 LED displays on the ground showing, in sliding movement, a testimony of a girl who survived the bombing at Hiroshima. The words used were simple yet hauntingly despairing. In a room in a seemingly unknown wall of the hall was a silent video screening, inspired by the life of two people so trapped in their own ideals that they work in a dreamlike state without interaction with the outside world.
As we took the passenger lift down again to level 1, the door on the other side opened. We found ourselves rather lost when faced with the unfamiliar sight. There were workers looking at us from the landing. I suppose they were the ones who pressed for the lift. We were facing the other side of the building! It would be a VERY long walk back to the side which we had been on. We tried looking for exit doors but they were emergency ones. As a last minute attempt, we gathered back inside the elevator and closed the doors, then opened them again. Thank goodness the door to the other side opened!
We visited the second hall at the warehouse without getting all that lost because we've been to that hall before, but not after the changed the exhibits. These exhibits are the controversial ones.
Next, we boarded the same bus to SAM. This meant that we left our bags on the bus while we were at Tanjong Pagar. Taking our bags with us when we alighted at SAM because we weren't going to take the bus again, we ran across the small distance from the bus to shelter because it was raining slightly. Within the lobby of SAM, we were each given a saturated blue-green circular sticker which read in white: I AM MADE FOR SAM which I later dropped on the bus home. Hmm. "Who's SAM? Someone's boyfriend?" was what was running through all our minds, sarcastically. Funnily enough, my mother later brought up that I had a cousin called 'Samuel'...
While we set aside our bags in a cage-like huge locker, AY and I decided to try and impersonate any one of our original characters (OCs) for the length of the visit at SAM. I chose Lucille Trinity, one of my latest OCs, as his personality was pretty much fixed, and I wouldn't feel TOO embarrassed imitating him since he, like me, has a lot of pride and wouldn't do anything silly that would stain my face a permanent red.
SAM's galleries were good, as expected. Heck, it was interesting! Especially the exhibition where this woman sewed velvet over her father's bones and made it so that they look like art exhibitions. It was amazingly beautiful yet creepy at the same time. There was also a small (claustrophobia-inducing, which might have been the desired outcome) room where everything was red, and shelves were lined evenly with bottles which contained "blood". Their labels even have instructions on how to consume them!
We were dismissed surprisingly early at 17:45, a very different time from what Grace said. She told us her group was released at roughly 18:30. Hmm, perhaps it's because Mr. Wong has already been to the exhibitions that he can gauge how much time is needed for each and herd us along appropriately. On our way out we picked up a free magazine near the counter called Muse.
Others left for home immediately after dismissal, while I stayed back and waited for my mother who said she'd be coming at 18:15 to go with me to Bras Basah to buy Copics. I was incredibly excited, but when I called her she said she'd take a while, so I read Muse while trying to pass the time. When I called her at 18:15 because she still wasn't there, she said she was still waiting for a bus, but she shouldn't take long, so I continued reading. It was probably the largest coincidence ever that just as I finished reading the magazine my mother called me at around 18:35.
It didn't really register that it was my phone that was ringing since I don't usually turn my phone off silent mode, so the ringtone sounded incredibly foreign to me. When I picked it up my mother told me that she was already nearby and gave me directions to a building which was probably some office of NTUC. I followed it, and stopped at a small road crossing even though there wasn't any traffic. Well, all I cared about was that I shouldn't cross when the red man is on.
Under the NTUC building my mother and I reunited and went on our merry way to Bras Basah. I was surprised at how close it was to SAM. My mother did show me the map yesterday but I didn't actually think it'd be THAT close. Excitement rising within me, I happily accepted my mother's offer of soggy fries from her lunch, picking them with much care with a serviet???????????? so as to not contaminate the fries with whatever strange germs I have on my hands.
At Bras Basah we checked the directory. I read online earlier that morning about a shop called ArtMark which sold Copics as well as Art Friend. Well, we all know that Art Friend sells just about anything, so it wasn't much of a surprise. The directory told us that Art Friend was on the 3rd floor while ArtMark was on the 4th, so we decided to go to Art Friend first to check the price, as the thread I read said that ArtMark offered better Copics discount.
I was overwhelmed by the selection of Copic there, and was torn between Copics, Copic Sketch, and Copic Ciao. Well, I wasn't actually all that interested in Ciao since I read a feedback somewhere that was pretty negative. Even though the subsequent comments all had testimonies which denied the truthfulness of the negative feedback, I didn't want to risk anything. Copics were a little hard, so I decided to get Copic Sketch.
The sets were not present at the shelves but at the counter, and my mother helped me ask if they could show us the sets since I have no idea which colours to buy as it's my first time buying Copics. I was really torn. The choices within each set were good, but while one of the sets had colours for skin which I absolutely adore, the other one had another shade which was perfect as well. In the end I temporarily picked a set that looked most suited for skin, something I would likely be colouring most. One of the sets was a box of saturated colours, and I wasn't too pleased with that as it didn't offer me much choices for skin colours, if any at all.
Then, my mother suggested that instead of getting the sets we get the holder for the markers and then pick the colours I wanted. I wasn't really confident of getting nice colours, though, since I have no idea what I want and need. However, I accepted her proposition. It was a little tough to make this decision since the box would cost more separate from the set.
Before choosing colours we went up to ArtMark to check out the prices there. Turns out there wasn't a difference, and in fact, ArtMark didn't sell sets of 12 but of 36 and 72, which were way too expensive to afford. So we went back to Art Friend.
I spent a really long time selecting the colours. By the time Art Friend decided to close shop I had only picked 9 colours. The boxes were a little hard to tell whether they were for Copic Sketch or Copic Ciao or Copics, since all the markers had different shapes and sizes, and each box was custom made to fit their specific markers. In the end, my mother got a box which could fit 36 Copic Sketch markers. She told me that I could add more to my collection like this if I got a large box. I was pleased, very much so.
We decided to go to to ArtMark to get a few more colours. I picked another 9 colours, and clean forgot to get a normal red and green marker. I was too engrossed in choosing aesthetically pleasing colours that I totally ignored saturated colours. Well, that's a lesson for you to learn: Never EVER get too carried away that you forget your basics.
I realised that I left the Muse magazine in ArtMark when we had gone down by a level, so I returned to get it while my mother decided that nature was calling. I made my way up the steps alone, feeling incredibly creeped out by the acute lack of people in the area and also by the fact that the architecture was old. It felt like a horror movie, and frankly, I was afraid that some creep would come out and kidnap me. I held my bundle of precious (and EXPENSIVE) Copics close to me because I really didn't want to ruin them before I even have a chance to try them out.
Luckily, ArtMark was just nearly closing and hadn't closed yet, so I got the magazine without issues. Come to think of it, I was standing at the glass door and motioning at the magazine which was lying on the counter looking severely out of place, and the cashier lady seemed to understand what I was trying to say. Well, her face was a little scary although she was pretty so it was kind of freaky, but when I voiced my thanks she smiled and I was filled with some sort of, "Oh, so she can smile so nicely too." feeling.
The rest of Bras Basah still looked incredibly like a horror movie set.
I went to meed my mother in the toilet since she hadn't come to our designated meeting place yet, and walked with her down and to the bus stop opposite to get onto a direct bus, 133, home. The bus ride was remotely uneventful, except for when 4 teenagers came in, 2 Chinese girls, 1 Indian girl and 1 Indian boy. The bus became a little noisy for a while. Before they came in my mother and I sat in different rows since not many seats were available, but when the seats opened up, we sat in the second last row on the right, since there were no other adjacent seats.
The teengaers came in after we changed seats. One of the Chinese girls got the Indian girl to help her put on her earring, while the other Chinese girl commented that her ear hole was bleeding so they couldn't see the hole itself. It must be noted that they were attempting to insert the earring at the TOP of the ear shell, which likely means that the piercing is at the top. Strange, I've rarely seen these, and in most cases, in mangas. I actually like piercing my OCs' ears in odd places, though. =)
Halfway through the teenagers compacted into 2 sets of adjacent seats, one in front of the other, while my mother and I sat behind them. My mother suggested putting the Copics into the box we bought, and I thought it was a good idea to pass time. When we unwrapped the box from its multi-layered plastic wrapping, we found that it was cracked, though. I didn't really mind the crack, but my mother lamented about how expensive the box was (S$7.00+) and that it was such a pity. We couldn't really have noticed the crack, though, since so many layers of plastic was wrapping it that it marred out vision.
While I rearranged the markers, I also tried to arrange their caps to face the right direction. While doing so I accidentally dropped the cap of an orange Copic Sketch, which led me to squat and look about for it. I must have looked a littlel like a pervert... When I was unsuccessful and now feeling a little depressed, my mother told me to hold the box while she took it. She found it near her seat. I didn't actually expect it there, since the bus lurched forward and I thought the cap might have flew forward as well. My mother then told me not to do anything else, and I completely agree with her. I don't want to lose a cap (or a marker!) for good. They were so EXPENSIVE! ><
We arrived home at around 20:20, and had dinner immediately. The bus ride was approximately 30 minutes long. Yes. If you do the Math, we spent a LONG time at Bras Basah. Oddly enough, my father was getting some stuff out of the car boot when we arrived home. I assume he just arrived as well. My mother asked him why he was so early (I was all, "EARLY?!") and she added if my brother had CCA (Astronomy) today. My father replied negative, which made everything make a lot of sense.
My brother's Astronomy CCA is held at night on Fridays, and ends at around 22:00, see.
At home I consumed dinner and a very odd looking gummy bear which was actually 4 gummy bears melted into each other to look like a piece of shapeless gummy. The interesting thing about it is that out of all the many possible colours, red and yellow were the make-up, and in equal amounts as well! Even more queer is that it is arranged in such a way that it almost forms a square, with the top right gummy being yellow, the bottom right red, the bottom left yellow and the top right red. Interesting, isn't it?
When I thought that the box didn't come with a cover after opening it on the bus, I just didn't notice that the cover was tucked OVER the base. I found that out right at the end of the day when I discovered to a dent in each narrow side of the box. I held the box up by those dents, mildly interested in their purpose, when the cover fell off...well, colour me surprised.
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FAST FORWARD to 12/02/2011
My mother decided that she wanted to exchange the broken box for a new one, since there was a 3 day warranty/exchange limit at Art Friend. So we took the bus to Bras Basah after lunch. There, I picked up another 3 colours, red, green and blue, and bought a Sakura Micron pen as well. My mother and I spent a long time browsing through other shelves just to take a look at what they sold. Art Friend really did sell a lot, but I don't get the feeling of a friendly air in the store...I wonder why.
I bumped into one of my cousins, YuXuan, at Art Friend. Because he was MALE, I felt completely weirded out. It's not like I hate him or anything. Actually, looking back, I didn't even recognise him. When he called out, "Er4 Jiu4 Ma1" from behind us my mother turned around to look, and exclaimed my cousin's name. When I myself turned to look, I didn't recognise him at all, and thought there was some strange mistake, until my mother insisted that the tall boy behind me whom I didn't recognise was YuXuan. Oh dear. I guess he just changed too much over the course of the 1 year I haven't seen him. It's not much of an excuse, though, since I do see him every year during Chinese New Year, and IT HAS JUST PASSED. O.o
We took the bus back, and at home, right now at my computer, I remembered that some of my favourite characters' hairs are blond, and I HAVE NO YELLOW COPICS. Wow. Epic. I don't want to go all the way there again to get one...I have an orange-ish colour which could double as a very dark shade of yellow, though, but most of my characterse have very light blond hair. Perhaps one of the very light brown shade I got would do...but it doesn't look very yellow!
So, I shall present a complete list of the marker colours I bought, if anyone wants a reference. There are 21 markers in total.
V01, V06, RV42, R02, R17, R59, YR00, Y38, G14, G21, G99 BG49, B000, B28, B3, E29, E30, E57, C1, 0, 100
V likely refers to violet, R red, Y yellow, G green and B black. I have absolutely no idea what E represents, but the colours of Es are brown-ish. C=Cool, a set of gray colours. 0 is a colourless blender, and 100 is black. There's a 110 called 'Special Black', but I honestly can't tell the difference...
I feel quite unique, you know, because most people start off with a set of colours pre-picked for them, while I selected my own colours. I hope to get more, but I think I can do a lot with what I currently have. =) I will try not to let the money go to waste! Each marker costs S$5.85!
Friday, 11 February 2011
Thursday, 13 January 2011
The Flower that was Mute
It's been a LONG time since I last posted something. I'd be surprise if anyone is still reading this.
I've gotten back from the holidays and dropped right back into school head first. Needless to say I didn't quite like it when how I use my time was no longer that much under my control. I had to wake up at 05:45 again, and I have only just gotten used to it once more. I was really lethargic on the first day of school because I was so...anxious about school that I couldn't sleep on the bus.
The Secondary 1s look so tiny and innocent, looking up at us from where they were down there in the amphi. I could still vividly remember when I myself was a Sec 1, fresh out of Primary School and all bright-eyed. I was looking up around me in awe at all the seniors, wondering when I can finally be like them, veterans of the school, and so much wiser. I also remember trying to look cool. XP
Now that I'm in Sec 4...I don't really feel all that much wiser. I just gain a sense of superiority since most of the school's student population is younger than me. I'm born in February, if you must know. Looking back on the students I can actually tell who is from what year.
Year 1: The make-a-good-first-impression stage. Very neat hair, crisp blue uniform that isn't artistically splashed with acids, bases, and salts, and also cover their knees modestly. They're also rather short and have an acute lack of pimples. Some have been caught trying to look 'cool' as they probably have been in Primary School.
Year 2: The experimental stage. Hair starts to hang over their faces like curtains, and belts are pushed to an all time low a little too unnaturally. They have yet to master the art of breaking school rules beautifully. Skirts are riding up their thighs rather unpleasantly. Entering the 'sexy' and 'rebellious' stage, overly confident of themselves, and it annoys me.
Years 3: The senior stage. More or less rule-abiding, but now with an air of proportional self-confidence they didn't have in Year 2. Hair is so-so, a little mussed up here and there but over all satisfactorily neat. Those with short skirts are mostly those who can't be bothered to buy new pinafores. Perhaps their beginning to see themselves as role models for the younger ones?
Year 4: The OMG-I'M-GOING-TO-GRADUATE stage. Each person has their own distinct style now. We don't have to try and look cool, we already are. School uniforms are old and worn, and appear to have shrunk in the wash since Year 1. Hair is neatly and casually styled, so it doesn't look like we put in too much effort. We know we are the seniors, and proudly display our yellow name tags. We don't need to try to get our respect. ;)
I'm adjusting to senior life quite well, thank you. I've just gotten used to being called a 'Year 4'. The only complain I quite have this year is that my classroom door doesn't close very well even if you slam it. I have such a headache trying to control myself from running from my seat to close the doors. My new seat (effective since yesterday) is smack in the middle of class, where the air-con blows the strongest, and where my jacket becomes useless.
Our class computer epic fails as well. Today, during Biology, 1st block, Mr. De Souza spent 15 minutes of the block trying to get the project to show SOMETHING that's not a default image. We called in the computer dudes. 2nd block was PE followed by recess (as the new school timetable is supposed to follow PE then recess rule), we shall skip that first. Then during Physics we had tonnes of trouble getting the powerpoint slide on the projector. I'm not sure if we called in the computer dudes. 4th block Math also met the same trouble, but we gave up on the computer and just started on lesson. 5th block English needed the projector, so we called in the computer dude again. Our computer EPIC FAILS.
PE, and we started on floor ball. I'd actually say I'm rather decent at it, if not good. Even though I may not know to hold the stick (or whatever it's called) at the end by my dominant hand, I was able to play smoothly and apply the right amount of force. You wouldn't believe how many people had their hollow, holey balls flying because they whacked them. Gosh, common sense, people.
When Mr. Desmond Ng, our PE teacher, told us about the proper way of handling the stick (see previous paragraph), I was all, 'NO WAY. I'm not comfortable at all with that position.' So I just went back to using one hand. We were supposed to use 2, but I think I have more control with just one hand, as well as more freedom. My left hand is so clumsy.
Well, after school there was an Art Club-SAP combined trip to Stage Arts exhibition at...I don't really know where. It's close to the Esplanade. There, Grace, Lou Shan and I huddled in a group and wandered about. The SAP students were supposed to stick together, so us, the 3 poor Art Club souls pranced about ourselves.
We stopped by a model of a bulldozer made up of frames of Gothic Cathedral themed pieces (approximately 1:4 size), and we were immediately enthralled by it. Grace and I were, that is. Lou Shan wasn't all too impressed. I took out 2 pieces of paper, a pencil and an eraser and started drawing the designs I particularly liked. Grace brought it up first, so I thought I'd just follow her example since it was a great idea.
While we were happily copying a Straits Times reporter/journalist walked up to us and asked for an on-the-spot interview. We were all stunned, to say the least. It's nice to know that my first commercial interview occured in an art exhibition, but by gum I'm totally not prepared for it! I think I saw her snapping photos of the bulldozer thing, but then again she might have been snapping us who were right beside it. Her angle was slightly off.
She asked for our school, then our names, if we were there for a club activity, and what kind of art we did. Grace answered most of them perfectly well, with fantastic impromptu answers. Then, somehow, the conversation strayed to our preferences (or rather, why we were copying the designs). Grace to the rescue once again, and she mentioned how she and I were both fantasy genre fans, as well as manga fans.
Then I, having the most 'ingenious' brain, butted in and rambled about how we were entranced by the Gothic design of the bulldozer, how it would deeply inspire us in our character, clothes, and other random fantasy designs, when I have absolutely no idea where the words 'Gothic themed' came from. I'm just glad that I used them correctly. I just checked up Gothic designs, see, and it seems I didn't say the wrong thing. Phew, I though I'd told her something wrong...and give her the impression that RGSS girls like to talk about things they don't know about.
The interview ended with her asking for one of our numbers. Grace gave hers, mostly because I held my hand out to her to indicate, 'You do it.' Then the reporter thought that she'd rather be on the safe side so she asked for another number. Lou Shan gave hers. I imagine I must have been shaking my head rather badly then. I don't mind giving my number to a Straits Times reporter, but I'm afraid of what nonsense I'll tell her, so it's better not to give any opportunities to tell her anything at all.
We continued on our way, and somewhere somehow, we lost Lou Shan. The exhibitions were wonderful, and I became the unofficial time keep for both Grace and I, because we could always be too captured by the wonderful art to remember the time. We had to assemble back outside by 17:30, see. We pranced about, noted a few artists, and were awed by the last exhibition we deemed we had enough time left to visit. It was a large cylindrical thing, and we had to climb up a very steep set of steps to see the art in it.
I was wondering what kind of art could possibly be inside the cylinder, but when I looked in...wow. I was blown away. It's the kind of rotating thingum where lights blink so very quickly to give us the illusion of watching 3D figures climbing up a ladder and into a hole. Well, the 3D part was real, but those figures weren't actually climbing. More like stuck in a position, with the next one advancing a little, or something. The light coordination had to be incredible. I saw this technique applied in one of Disney's exhibitions from last year at Science Centre as well.
I think the trip to the galleries from school stole 30 minutes of our time, but those 30 minutes were well spent. I flipped through a ton of Grace's drawings, which, by the way, have improved tremendously over the holidays. Her style changed quite a bit too. It was odd looking at the things she draw and trying to connect them with her older style. I say her style is beginning to mellow, but her skills have definitely improved. I believe I remained stagnant, though...
When we left I thought I'd take the bus with everyone to an MRT station and get home from there, but when I found out (at the last minute too...) that 133, one of the services which could get us near City Hall MRT station, could give me a direct lift home, I boarded it, bid those people who were alighting in a few stops (which was everybody) goodbye, and proceeded to the top bunk of the bus. Ooh! I love double deckers. I rarely get to ride on one.
The ride home was uninteresting, very uneventful, unless you count having a guy reeking of cigarette smoke sit in front of you eventful. Gosh, I tried to breath through my blouse the entire time he was there... On the way home I called home to ask my sister to make the rice for dinner (since I'll probably be home after 18:30 as I boarded at 18:00, and I was). She said, 'No' without any hesitation, and I was annoyed. Very annoyed. I emphasised that I would be home late again, but she denied me again like I was some pest she wanted to get off her. Needless to say I said a quick goodbye and hung up. She's so annoying, no matter how much I love her as a sister.
I arrived home at 19:00, and immediately set about to make rice. Ugh. The bag was running out of it rather quickly. After I started the rice cooker I went up and the rest of the day proceeded as usual. Not much to talk about there since my daily routine is rather boring.
Well, so long for now. I actually wanted to talk about the very interesting conversation my brother, my father and I had about how we should say, "Jesus is our saviour" instead of, "We believe Jesus is our saviour" that was held on Saturday, 8th January, but I'll leav it to a later time. It was a conversation where I felt I couldn't find the right words to express myself with, so it kind of ended really disappointingly in their favour...
I've gotten back from the holidays and dropped right back into school head first. Needless to say I didn't quite like it when how I use my time was no longer that much under my control. I had to wake up at 05:45 again, and I have only just gotten used to it once more. I was really lethargic on the first day of school because I was so...anxious about school that I couldn't sleep on the bus.
The Secondary 1s look so tiny and innocent, looking up at us from where they were down there in the amphi. I could still vividly remember when I myself was a Sec 1, fresh out of Primary School and all bright-eyed. I was looking up around me in awe at all the seniors, wondering when I can finally be like them, veterans of the school, and so much wiser. I also remember trying to look cool. XP
Now that I'm in Sec 4...I don't really feel all that much wiser. I just gain a sense of superiority since most of the school's student population is younger than me. I'm born in February, if you must know. Looking back on the students I can actually tell who is from what year.
Year 1: The make-a-good-first-impression stage. Very neat hair, crisp blue uniform that isn't artistically splashed with acids, bases, and salts, and also cover their knees modestly. They're also rather short and have an acute lack of pimples. Some have been caught trying to look 'cool' as they probably have been in Primary School.
Year 2: The experimental stage. Hair starts to hang over their faces like curtains, and belts are pushed to an all time low a little too unnaturally. They have yet to master the art of breaking school rules beautifully. Skirts are riding up their thighs rather unpleasantly. Entering the 'sexy' and 'rebellious' stage, overly confident of themselves, and it annoys me.
Years 3: The senior stage. More or less rule-abiding, but now with an air of proportional self-confidence they didn't have in Year 2. Hair is so-so, a little mussed up here and there but over all satisfactorily neat. Those with short skirts are mostly those who can't be bothered to buy new pinafores. Perhaps their beginning to see themselves as role models for the younger ones?
Year 4: The OMG-I'M-GOING-TO-GRADUATE stage. Each person has their own distinct style now. We don't have to try and look cool, we already are. School uniforms are old and worn, and appear to have shrunk in the wash since Year 1. Hair is neatly and casually styled, so it doesn't look like we put in too much effort. We know we are the seniors, and proudly display our yellow name tags. We don't need to try to get our respect. ;)
I'm adjusting to senior life quite well, thank you. I've just gotten used to being called a 'Year 4'. The only complain I quite have this year is that my classroom door doesn't close very well even if you slam it. I have such a headache trying to control myself from running from my seat to close the doors. My new seat (effective since yesterday) is smack in the middle of class, where the air-con blows the strongest, and where my jacket becomes useless.
Our class computer epic fails as well. Today, during Biology, 1st block, Mr. De Souza spent 15 minutes of the block trying to get the project to show SOMETHING that's not a default image. We called in the computer dudes. 2nd block was PE followed by recess (as the new school timetable is supposed to follow PE then recess rule), we shall skip that first. Then during Physics we had tonnes of trouble getting the powerpoint slide on the projector. I'm not sure if we called in the computer dudes. 4th block Math also met the same trouble, but we gave up on the computer and just started on lesson. 5th block English needed the projector, so we called in the computer dude again. Our computer EPIC FAILS.
PE, and we started on floor ball. I'd actually say I'm rather decent at it, if not good. Even though I may not know to hold the stick (or whatever it's called) at the end by my dominant hand, I was able to play smoothly and apply the right amount of force. You wouldn't believe how many people had their hollow, holey balls flying because they whacked them. Gosh, common sense, people.
When Mr. Desmond Ng, our PE teacher, told us about the proper way of handling the stick (see previous paragraph), I was all, 'NO WAY. I'm not comfortable at all with that position.' So I just went back to using one hand. We were supposed to use 2, but I think I have more control with just one hand, as well as more freedom. My left hand is so clumsy.
Well, after school there was an Art Club-SAP combined trip to Stage Arts exhibition at...I don't really know where. It's close to the Esplanade. There, Grace, Lou Shan and I huddled in a group and wandered about. The SAP students were supposed to stick together, so us, the 3 poor Art Club souls pranced about ourselves.
We stopped by a model of a bulldozer made up of frames of Gothic Cathedral themed pieces (approximately 1:4 size), and we were immediately enthralled by it. Grace and I were, that is. Lou Shan wasn't all too impressed. I took out 2 pieces of paper, a pencil and an eraser and started drawing the designs I particularly liked. Grace brought it up first, so I thought I'd just follow her example since it was a great idea.
While we were happily copying a Straits Times reporter/journalist walked up to us and asked for an on-the-spot interview. We were all stunned, to say the least. It's nice to know that my first commercial interview occured in an art exhibition, but by gum I'm totally not prepared for it! I think I saw her snapping photos of the bulldozer thing, but then again she might have been snapping us who were right beside it. Her angle was slightly off.
She asked for our school, then our names, if we were there for a club activity, and what kind of art we did. Grace answered most of them perfectly well, with fantastic impromptu answers. Then, somehow, the conversation strayed to our preferences (or rather, why we were copying the designs). Grace to the rescue once again, and she mentioned how she and I were both fantasy genre fans, as well as manga fans.
Then I, having the most 'ingenious' brain, butted in and rambled about how we were entranced by the Gothic design of the bulldozer, how it would deeply inspire us in our character, clothes, and other random fantasy designs, when I have absolutely no idea where the words 'Gothic themed' came from. I'm just glad that I used them correctly. I just checked up Gothic designs, see, and it seems I didn't say the wrong thing. Phew, I though I'd told her something wrong...and give her the impression that RGSS girls like to talk about things they don't know about.
The interview ended with her asking for one of our numbers. Grace gave hers, mostly because I held my hand out to her to indicate, 'You do it.' Then the reporter thought that she'd rather be on the safe side so she asked for another number. Lou Shan gave hers. I imagine I must have been shaking my head rather badly then. I don't mind giving my number to a Straits Times reporter, but I'm afraid of what nonsense I'll tell her, so it's better not to give any opportunities to tell her anything at all.
We continued on our way, and somewhere somehow, we lost Lou Shan. The exhibitions were wonderful, and I became the unofficial time keep for both Grace and I, because we could always be too captured by the wonderful art to remember the time. We had to assemble back outside by 17:30, see. We pranced about, noted a few artists, and were awed by the last exhibition we deemed we had enough time left to visit. It was a large cylindrical thing, and we had to climb up a very steep set of steps to see the art in it.
I was wondering what kind of art could possibly be inside the cylinder, but when I looked in...wow. I was blown away. It's the kind of rotating thingum where lights blink so very quickly to give us the illusion of watching 3D figures climbing up a ladder and into a hole. Well, the 3D part was real, but those figures weren't actually climbing. More like stuck in a position, with the next one advancing a little, or something. The light coordination had to be incredible. I saw this technique applied in one of Disney's exhibitions from last year at Science Centre as well.
I think the trip to the galleries from school stole 30 minutes of our time, but those 30 minutes were well spent. I flipped through a ton of Grace's drawings, which, by the way, have improved tremendously over the holidays. Her style changed quite a bit too. It was odd looking at the things she draw and trying to connect them with her older style. I say her style is beginning to mellow, but her skills have definitely improved. I believe I remained stagnant, though...
When we left I thought I'd take the bus with everyone to an MRT station and get home from there, but when I found out (at the last minute too...) that 133, one of the services which could get us near City Hall MRT station, could give me a direct lift home, I boarded it, bid those people who were alighting in a few stops (which was everybody) goodbye, and proceeded to the top bunk of the bus. Ooh! I love double deckers. I rarely get to ride on one.
The ride home was uninteresting, very uneventful, unless you count having a guy reeking of cigarette smoke sit in front of you eventful. Gosh, I tried to breath through my blouse the entire time he was there... On the way home I called home to ask my sister to make the rice for dinner (since I'll probably be home after 18:30 as I boarded at 18:00, and I was). She said, 'No' without any hesitation, and I was annoyed. Very annoyed. I emphasised that I would be home late again, but she denied me again like I was some pest she wanted to get off her. Needless to say I said a quick goodbye and hung up. She's so annoying, no matter how much I love her as a sister.
I arrived home at 19:00, and immediately set about to make rice. Ugh. The bag was running out of it rather quickly. After I started the rice cooker I went up and the rest of the day proceeded as usual. Not much to talk about there since my daily routine is rather boring.
Well, so long for now. I actually wanted to talk about the very interesting conversation my brother, my father and I had about how we should say, "Jesus is our saviour" instead of, "We believe Jesus is our saviour" that was held on Saturday, 8th January, but I'll leav it to a later time. It was a conversation where I felt I couldn't find the right words to express myself with, so it kind of ended really disappointingly in their favour...
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
When the Sanguine Smell FOUL
...I will be there to catch you as you fall
With a brilliant smile on my face
I will say, "I'll miss you darling"
With no pain in my eyes
When the sanguine feel foul
I will forget you I promise
With the rising of tomorrow's sun
I will lick the filth off your face
With the tongue you loved to restrain
When the sanguine is foul
I will walk toward the horizon
With barely contained shivers
I will laugh at your wide open eyes
With no remorse that I stole your life
When the sanguine coat my body
I will abandon humanity
With death drenching my soul
I will walk this road alone
With bodies littering the trail
-------------------------------
Oh gosh, that sounded really morbid...ah well. I just thought the title looked like a really nice starting line for a poem so I wrote a continuation in the post. It somehow expanded to include 4 verses...
I have nothing much to write/type about, but maybe I should share with you guys my incredible success with my new tablet? Okay, so I'm ego-ing a bit, but hey, how many people can say they learnt how to paint digitally in...around a month? I'm not saying my painting is WONDERFUL, full of sunshine and rainbows, but I am good for an amateur. Okay, tooting my own horn...
Let me just share with you some of the things I have done with my tablet. They're not the best digital works there are around, but they're precious to me, because I painted them while I was learning (still am, though) the ropes of digital painting. Goodness, the tablet was so difficult to use when I first tried it...
These are in chornological order, but I skipped some pieces cuz' they weren't particularly beautiful (or were simply sketches). All of them are linked back to the original page on deviantART which hosts them (click on the images, not the titles). If you'd like to find me on deviantART I'm here: Ferrero13
Elements: Keryiall (an additional character from my element story)
Er...she is not a confirmed character in the element story, but she might be included.
Hetalia: Independence (a Hetalia fan art, obviously)
This is not shounen-ai (boy love). These are my 2 favourite characters from Hetalia, and they share a rather complex relationship, and I think the monochrome suits this depressing piece just fine.
Cake (er, the name's kinda complex, so I'll just leave it at this)
This is part of a birthday commission for Zann, but well, you can see it's kinda late for a birthday present...
Apple (Part 1 of the Fruit Faes series)
Part 2 is already complete. It's somewhere down, just scroll, but I don't think you'll get a very good look at it cuz' it's pretty...small? This image is good as a wallpaper.
Mango (Part 2 of the Fruit Faes series)
Yeah, the image proportions are a little extreme, but they work for the concept I had in mind for Mango.
Elements: Snowy Sentiment (Boron from the element story)
Unlike Keryiall, he IS a confirmed character. I mean, of course he is! He has an element name. This is my most recent piece, and the one I'm most proud of. Fur coat!
I'm working on another piece, which I expect won't be too nice. For one, this next one has line art, and the lines are a little too thick to be considered nice. Ugh, should have gone with a one pixel line or something like that. But the background should be rather interesting, though, because for the first time in digital painting history, I'm going to paint a proper background, not a haphazard abstract one. This next one is going to be a sky, although I'm not expecting much out of it since it is my first time painting proper backgrounds after all.
I think it'd be rather interesting to note that in the next piece I will most probably be including a poem...in CHINESE. Oh, the world is going to end. Gosh, my Chinese is so bad I had to check up almost every word of the poem, which, by the way, I should have known since...dunno, 2 or 3 years back or more. I seem to be forgetting how to write a lot of those characters...
There isn't much I'd like to contemplate about. My days at home during the school holidays mostly consist of reading manga online, downloading manga, playing some facebook games (I'm only playing 1 this holiday though, since playing more would be an epic waste of time), updating my element story, cementing characters from the element story, randomly browsing the internet, drawing, and now I'm adding digital painting to the list.
I want to paint something for my parents for Christmas since well, I wouldn't be painting anything digitally if not for them, but I can't find a suitable image to paint! I can't paint real people without references (not that I've ever tried painting them before), so yeah.
Hm, I'm not very talkative in this post...mostly, probably, because I don't have anything in mind to talk about. I just thought, if I don't update it sometime soon people are going to think I got killed or something. It's not too farfetched of an idea since I'm pretty sure my annoying personality and sour (not to mention scary!) face makes many people hate me easily.
Ugh. I really need to learn how to socialise, especially with the people whose personalities I find the most annoying...although, truly, I am infinitely, indefinitely, impossibly irritated by superficial people whose mouth spout one thing while their hearts give off a feeling of rot...or maybe my senses are off and they're actually giving off some flowery fragrance...
Meh, I'm not here to discuss about people I dislike, which most people may find it easy to relate to. Perhaps I should start a post listing the kind of people that make me want to smash their faces into walls. Well, let us begin, shall we?
1) Those who act like they're sexy/beautiful/pretty when in fact they aren't
2) Those who smile like an idiot but at the same time give off an incredibly nefarious and uneasy feeling
3) Those who take things without asking for permission (or indeed, just take without restraint
4) Those who ask questions when the answer was just stated ONE SECOND AGO (gosh, you have a brain, use it!)
5) Those who think that just because they are are sexy/beautiful/pretty they deserve ultimate respect in all areas such as academics, which has nothing to do with beauty pagents
6) Those who take others' things and expect others not to even touch theirs, in short, hypocrites
7) Those who spout vulgarities as if they are talking about the weather
8) Those who demand for unreasonable things continuously even after being denied
9) Those who can't tell when their logic has been proven false and persist in their stand
10) Those who are inconsiderate pests who do not spare even a gram of their brain to think about others, in other words, those who are selfish
These are the top ten kinds of people I find most annoying. Feel free to make up your own list.
Now I do not mean to say I don't commit any of these things which I really detest, because I do from day to day, in small amounts, or as revenge, which, by the way, is very ungodly so I shall try to refrain from it. I don't particularly mind if people have their moments of 'annoying-ness' once in a while but doing these things on a daily basis really makes me feel like strangling them.
Meh. I think today's post is a little strange, very not like me, but that's probably because I'm trying to squeeze out a post when I have nothing to write about.
So long.
-------------------------------
...when the sanguine smell foul
With a brilliant smile on my face
I will say, "I'll miss you darling"
With no pain in my eyes
When the sanguine feel foul
I will forget you I promise
With the rising of tomorrow's sun
I will lick the filth off your face
With the tongue you loved to restrain
When the sanguine is foul
I will walk toward the horizon
With barely contained shivers
I will laugh at your wide open eyes
With no remorse that I stole your life
When the sanguine coat my body
I will abandon humanity
With death drenching my soul
I will walk this road alone
With bodies littering the trail
-------------------------------
Oh gosh, that sounded really morbid...ah well. I just thought the title looked like a really nice starting line for a poem so I wrote a continuation in the post. It somehow expanded to include 4 verses...
I have nothing much to write/type about, but maybe I should share with you guys my incredible success with my new tablet? Okay, so I'm ego-ing a bit, but hey, how many people can say they learnt how to paint digitally in...around a month? I'm not saying my painting is WONDERFUL, full of sunshine and rainbows, but I am good for an amateur. Okay, tooting my own horn...
Let me just share with you some of the things I have done with my tablet. They're not the best digital works there are around, but they're precious to me, because I painted them while I was learning (still am, though) the ropes of digital painting. Goodness, the tablet was so difficult to use when I first tried it...
These are in chornological order, but I skipped some pieces cuz' they weren't particularly beautiful (or were simply sketches). All of them are linked back to the original page on deviantART which hosts them (click on the images, not the titles). If you'd like to find me on deviantART I'm here: Ferrero13
Elements: Keryiall (an additional character from my element story)
Er...she is not a confirmed character in the element story, but she might be included.
Hetalia: Independence (a Hetalia fan art, obviously)
This is not shounen-ai (boy love). These are my 2 favourite characters from Hetalia, and they share a rather complex relationship, and I think the monochrome suits this depressing piece just fine.
Cake (er, the name's kinda complex, so I'll just leave it at this)
This is part of a birthday commission for Zann, but well, you can see it's kinda late for a birthday present...
Apple (Part 1 of the Fruit Faes series)
Part 2 is already complete. It's somewhere down, just scroll, but I don't think you'll get a very good look at it cuz' it's pretty...small? This image is good as a wallpaper.
Mango (Part 2 of the Fruit Faes series)
Yeah, the image proportions are a little extreme, but they work for the concept I had in mind for Mango.
Elements: Snowy Sentiment (Boron from the element story)
Unlike Keryiall, he IS a confirmed character. I mean, of course he is! He has an element name. This is my most recent piece, and the one I'm most proud of. Fur coat!
I'm working on another piece, which I expect won't be too nice. For one, this next one has line art, and the lines are a little too thick to be considered nice. Ugh, should have gone with a one pixel line or something like that. But the background should be rather interesting, though, because for the first time in digital painting history, I'm going to paint a proper background, not a haphazard abstract one. This next one is going to be a sky, although I'm not expecting much out of it since it is my first time painting proper backgrounds after all.
I think it'd be rather interesting to note that in the next piece I will most probably be including a poem...in CHINESE. Oh, the world is going to end. Gosh, my Chinese is so bad I had to check up almost every word of the poem, which, by the way, I should have known since...dunno, 2 or 3 years back or more. I seem to be forgetting how to write a lot of those characters...
There isn't much I'd like to contemplate about. My days at home during the school holidays mostly consist of reading manga online, downloading manga, playing some facebook games (I'm only playing 1 this holiday though, since playing more would be an epic waste of time), updating my element story, cementing characters from the element story, randomly browsing the internet, drawing, and now I'm adding digital painting to the list.
I want to paint something for my parents for Christmas since well, I wouldn't be painting anything digitally if not for them, but I can't find a suitable image to paint! I can't paint real people without references (not that I've ever tried painting them before), so yeah.
Hm, I'm not very talkative in this post...mostly, probably, because I don't have anything in mind to talk about. I just thought, if I don't update it sometime soon people are going to think I got killed or something. It's not too farfetched of an idea since I'm pretty sure my annoying personality and sour (not to mention scary!) face makes many people hate me easily.
Ugh. I really need to learn how to socialise, especially with the people whose personalities I find the most annoying...although, truly, I am infinitely, indefinitely, impossibly irritated by superficial people whose mouth spout one thing while their hearts give off a feeling of rot...or maybe my senses are off and they're actually giving off some flowery fragrance...
Meh, I'm not here to discuss about people I dislike, which most people may find it easy to relate to. Perhaps I should start a post listing the kind of people that make me want to smash their faces into walls. Well, let us begin, shall we?
1) Those who act like they're sexy/beautiful/pretty when in fact they aren't
2) Those who smile like an idiot but at the same time give off an incredibly nefarious and uneasy feeling
3) Those who take things without asking for permission (or indeed, just take without restraint
4) Those who ask questions when the answer was just stated ONE SECOND AGO (gosh, you have a brain, use it!)
5) Those who think that just because they are are sexy/beautiful/pretty they deserve ultimate respect in all areas such as academics, which has nothing to do with beauty pagents
6) Those who take others' things and expect others not to even touch theirs, in short, hypocrites
7) Those who spout vulgarities as if they are talking about the weather
8) Those who demand for unreasonable things continuously even after being denied
9) Those who can't tell when their logic has been proven false and persist in their stand
10) Those who are inconsiderate pests who do not spare even a gram of their brain to think about others, in other words, those who are selfish
These are the top ten kinds of people I find most annoying. Feel free to make up your own list.
Now I do not mean to say I don't commit any of these things which I really detest, because I do from day to day, in small amounts, or as revenge, which, by the way, is very ungodly so I shall try to refrain from it. I don't particularly mind if people have their moments of 'annoying-ness' once in a while but doing these things on a daily basis really makes me feel like strangling them.
Meh. I think today's post is a little strange, very not like me, but that's probably because I'm trying to squeeze out a post when I have nothing to write about.
So long.
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...when the sanguine smell foul
Friday, 24 September 2010
Purple Porcupine Pickles Pepper
(I started typing this yesterday. Internet went down so I uploaded it today.)
I will start off my first post in about a gazillion years with about a gazillion (or a fraction of that) words about how completely narcissistic and impossibly materialistic American shows are in MTV. Seriously, what goes on in those producers' heads? Why on earth are they promoting this insidious over-reliance on all things tangible and the 'importance' of I, Me, Myself?
I caught the last few minutes of an episode of 'My Sweet Sixteen' or something along these lines just tonight when I went down for dinner. My sister was watching it, of course, since I would never, for the life of me (or so I think), willingly tune in to such a sickeningly sickening show. I'm not saying that all American girls act like this one I saw and that all American girls are materialistic and self-centred, but to show this kind of behaviour and deem in as 'COOL' and 'IN' is really over-doing it.
I'm not sure of the name of the person who was hosting the 'Sweet Sixteen' in the episode, but I do know that she is one of the first real life examples I've come across of the rather popular stereotype of 'blonds are bimbos and have none or one brain cell'. I don't really believe this so-called generalisation of the blond population because hair colour in no way decides how bimbotic a person will be, but by gum, this girl is challenging my very belief!
Her 'Sweet Sixteen' was a grand party in Las Vegas, complete with some gambling machines inside the hall area where her party is held. Before the birthday bash started she and her 'VIP's were already waiting for the guests in a back room which she will appear from later (escorted by a dude wearing nothing but black trousers and a bow tie, no shirt). I don't dislike her for wanting her birthday to be 'special' but what really got to me was the statement she made about her 'VIP's, the people who will be emerging with her from the back room later (like brides maids to a bride).
"They should be hono[u]red that they're here. It's a special privilege. They better not screw this up or else. I want my Sweet Sixteen to be perfect. It's all about me, I want all eyes on me." (Not accurate, of course, but just summarising the gist. No, I'm not twisting the meaning...)
I mean, what? Honoured to be at her birthday party? What kind of friend says this of her friends? Or does it mean that they aren't actually her friends? I don't really know the context of this situation but all I know is that people aren't dispensible like that. My goodness, if you want someone to honour you that badly, don't sound so high and mighty! Isn't it common sense that someone to be honoured should be someone who is respectable? As far as I know I'm not going to be respecting anyone like that soon.
For goodness sake, the world doesn't revolve around you! So what if it's your Sweet Sixteen? Congratulations, you're a second older than you were before, but so is everyone else! What I'm saying is, everyone is the same. There's no, "Oh, I'm more special than you since it's my birthday today." The world doesn't work like that! I couldn't be bothered who the heck you are or when your birthday is, and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't matter to the guests or the 'VIP's either.
I'm almost certain that what they'll remember from this party is:
1) Oh yeah, I had a great time.
2) This is the best Sweet Sixteen ever, but mine will be better.
3) Whose party was it again?
4) We really went crazy with the entertainment!
5) She's HOT, and so, so SEXY, but what's her name again?
And the list goes on and on. Point is, there is nothing more superficial than trying to please a crowd of people who likely don't know anything about at all other than your name and birthday, and are sucking up to you because you have great assets under your name and on your body.
I remember there was this once in the episode when the crowd was going wild over the (rather famous, I assume) band she invited to 'liven up' the party. Needless to say they livened the crowd up well. A little too well. She tried to call for the end of the little concert but the lead singer simply ignored her and said, "Your host thinks you guys should stop the party. But you know what I think? I think this party needs to rock on!" The crowd cheers, and the birthday girl stomps off mutter a string of censored curses.
You can see how much everybody cares for her here.
Earlier on her mother brought her to get a belly piercing, which she thought looked 'COOL' and commented on it, "Now I really feel sixteen!"
Yes, I can totally see how 'sixteen' you are just by looking at the belly piercing on your belly button. Oh wait, I can't even see it. *rolls eyes*
What does it mean to be 'sixteen' anyway? A large birthday bash? A sleek, beautiful Mercedes to drive around in and show off to your friends, having them clamour all over you and sucking up to you just so they can hitch a ride? A belly piercing? A sparkly, skimpy dress to prance around in and show off your wonderfully voluptuous figure? A boy in tight black trousers and a bow tie (no shirt, remember?) holding the hand which paid him to do so while walking toward a crowd of screaming teenagers who are either lusting after your flesh or the boy's well-toned abbs?
How about some maturity? How about some common sense? How about some LASTING friendships?
What's wrong with the pop culture these days? Can't they advertise the value of friendship instead of expensive celebrations and fragile relationships built on flimsy dollar bills and credit cards?
I can't help but compare what I'm seeing on the television with what I see around me daily. On the television I see raging hormones and glamarous expenditures, in Singapore I don't see any of this. Maybe being in a rather academically-focussed school has locked me out of some of the wilder sides of today's teenagers, but you don't see the local media adveritising that kind of selfish, money-minded and pleasure seeking lifestyle to our youngsters. The media, even with all its faults and opacity with issues like censorship, advocates lasting commitments and the value of emotional support and encouragement.
When I look at my sister in retrospect, I figure that hey, maybe she isn't so bad after all. Maybe, if I try, I can bring her back to the emotionally sensitive girl she was once before. Maybe, if I try hard enough, she will care less about the materialistic demands of her 'friends' and instead try to make real friends that don't need a S$30+ dress for her birthday present. Maybe, just maybe, if I try, I can make her see that she doesn't money so much after all.
I don't really know what is going to happen to the society if the media continues broadcasting these kinds of shows. I don't WANT to know what will happen. I hope that MTV will either stop airing these kinds of frivolous shows and start screening something of VALUE, or that Singapore will censor MTV's programs, like it does everything else.
I for one and glad for Singapore's strict censorship, because I cannot fathom what kind of future generation of leaders we will be nurturing if being a party heiress is something that is on their 'Top 10 Jobs I Desire' list. I simply cannot (and refuse to) imagine the future that lies ahead of Singapore should such wild behaviour be encouraged through the media.
I will not say I am a strong individual and am forever resistant to the increasing influential power of the media, so let me ask this favour of you. If you ever see me doing something as crazy as what MTV is promoting, let me know. Show me this blog post, and hope that I have enough sense left in me to figure out that what I'm doing is not what I want.
I want to live a fulfilling life knowing the value of friends, family, and the God up there who loved me enough to sacrifice his son for my redemption. I don't want a life of spirally disrepair knowing only of money and how to please myself.
I want to LIVE.
I don't want to blow up a picture of my pretty face and hang it in the entrance hall to welcome my guests and feel a burst of happiness when they say that the girl in the picture is sexy and beautiful. I don't want to show cleavage and smile like a thousand suns when someone tells me that they're jealous of me. That's not living. That's just plain degrading.
Of course, I neither have a pretty face nor some incredible cleavage, but I'm sure you get what I mean.
I want to LIVE.
And when I die, I want people to remember my NAME, not the party I hosted 50 years ago. I want them to remember that I'm the girl who lent them an eraser when they had none. I want them to remember me as the stranger that picked up a wallet and returned it when they dropped it. I want them to remember the sincere desire to help them, or just to let them know that I care, whoever they are.
I want to LIVE.
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I also watched an episode of ‘Teens Cribs’ or something where this 13 year old American boy was showing the TV crew around his magnificent home. I cannot deny its magnificence, but I also cannot deny that I thought, 'If you have money to build a basketball court, a pool larger than my home, at least 5 bedrooms twice the size of mine, 2 gyms, a movie theatre, a bowling alley, a golf course, a sauna and so much more, buy a normal house, spend time with your family, and donate the unnecessary money away to charity!'
The parents were commenting on how they want their children to have the best facilities, so that when their friends come over they will always have something to do. I don't understand their way of thinking. I really don't.
Shouldn't they be encouraging friendship built on emotional bonds? What are they doing about those friendships built on material wealth that is being accumulated?
I don't enjoy the way the boy goes, "Now that I've showed you my awesome room and awesome gym I'm going to show you XXX because I think it will amaze you." "This is where we play table tennis. I always win of course." "Oh, we play tic-tac-toe here too. Of course, I'm the best."
WHAT?
Did I also mention that each of the 5 children have a ride each, either a scooter or a motorcycle, and the dad has 2 rides, a very large jeep-like thing that seats the entire family and a rather cool looking bike that is huge beyond what should be allowed of something that's called a 'bike'?
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Today wasn’t spectacular, but it certainly started off rather interestingly. My father overslept today (didn’t hear the digital alarm clock go off) and since he was my alarm clock, I overslept too. I ended up waking at 06:15, a whole half hour later than when I usually do wake up. I missed the school bus, quite obviously.
Because of this my father decided that he would send me to school directly by the car, which I was elated to hear because I hardly ever take the car. In fact, I don’t take it unless it’s a weekend or a special day because I don’t need the car to get to and from school. Being very new to waking up at 06:15, I didn’t really know what to do. Well, yes, I knew I had to brush my teeth and tie my hair, but I was rather lost outside of that.
My father dropped my mother off at Toa Payoh MRT station before sending my sister to her school. To be honest, her school looked like it was located in the middle of nowhere. Traffic was almost non-existent, something very odd for a school with that kind of prestige (St. Nick’s). Perhaps we were early, because my dad was rushing to get me to school on time.
I arrived at school at around 07:05, 15 minutes later than I usually do. Morning assembly went on as usual, and classes bored me, same as ever. The first period was PE. We all went down to the field and those who weren’t helping Amanda take her PE assessment were made to run 2 rounds around the track.
ShuYing and I did run the first one until she got a stitch under the area where her heart is supposed to be, so we stopped running and walked for a while. Mr. Ho saw us walking and yelled at us to continue running. I was rather amused at how he didn’t bother checking the situation before demanding something from us. But we ran though, because Mr. Ho can be scary when he wants to be and we dare not take risks.
We completed the first round, and were completely horrified to find out that we were ‘ordered’, so to speak, to run twice. Being horrified and mortified by the prolonged running period did not stop us from running, though, because it was teacher’s orders, and we are good students after all.
However, due to the ‘chronic’ fatigue caused by the first round around the track, we walked half the entire stretch of the track before continuing to run, and ended up as the last to return back to the finishing point, wheezing and panting like we had ran a marathon. For a person as unfit as me, yes, I do believe this can be considered a kind of physically taxing race.
After some stretching led by Thao (it was her, right?) we proceeded to the car park area which doubled as a parade square to play some very ruthless Captain’s Ball. Well, not ‘we’, more like ‘they’. ShuYing and I stood off to a corner of the court where our Captain was and waited like soldiers on guard duty for a ball to come our way.
It’s rare for the ball to head our way, that’s for sure, because neither of us really have a history of being fantastic at sports, so people find it much harder to trust us than those physically active people like Annabel. I completely understand, and since I myself didn’t really want to get my hands all funny smelling and dirty by touching the ball, I was satisfied.
Then the moment when the ball flew our way came. I am inclined to believe that this ball was a stray ball, because I can’t think of any reason why anyone would pass the ball to this ‘hopeless at sports with zero motivation and spirit’ person, especially when it was so close to the goal.
Being the nice team mate I was I scored ‘beautifully’, and it was nice having people say, “Nice one” to me for a change, although it did feel a bit awkward and I turned away immediately after confirming we had scored successfully. It was nice knowing that for a few moments people relied and depended on me, but I shouldn’t get caught up in this feeling because people don’t naturally gravitate towards me. I have to do something to get people to do so, and I am not willing to try and take my place among the ‘athletic’ group of people. I was never really athletic in the first place, just a little more physically fit than others.
The ball came my way many times afterwards, and I believe I heard ‘Pass to (insert my name here)’ a couple of times. Wow, didn’t know my ‘trustworthiness’ at handling balls and scoring shot up by so much with just one goal. This kind of feels a little superficial, like what I was ranting about earlier, except this does not deal with material wealth but ability to score (which, by the way, is a completely useless ability unless I decide to delve into a sporting career, which I will not).
I missed a goal and the ball never came after that.
Huh, talk about fickle-minded.
The game ended with Celine being carried off quite literally by all fours because she injured herself trying to defend her side. I found out later that she was injured so badly she needed a wheelchair to move about. No bone was broken whatsoever but her ankle swelled up really badly so she couldn’t wear her shoes without further aggravating the injury (hence the wheelchair).
I was told to carry one of the chairs used to the PE room, which I had no idea where it was. As I was making my way there after some nice soul told me it was down the slope and far away (and apparently very smelly too, I reminded myself, since that’s where all the PE equipments came from and the equipments stink), Mr. Ho turned to ShuYing and I and accused us of not playing, to which I retorted with a, “I got touch the ball lor!” Well, excuse my horrible English. I’m usually like that unless writing or trying to speak in a formal setting (like the English orals which I didn’t do quite as well as I would have liked).
The chair didn’t stink as bad as the ball, so I was okay with carrying it. I just didn’t really like that I had to walk that far with this blue thing in my hands (and above my head, because I like carrying things that way). Thankfully I was told to leave the chair outside the PE room, which was a win-win situation for both me and the teacher. No smelly rooms, and someone brought the chair back.
Makes me wonder, why couldn’t the teacher bring it back himself?
Recess was next, and a horrible recess it was too since, among the rush in the morning due to the late awaking, I did not bring my usual triple-decker sandwich and had to purchase some really expensive buns and still not be full. I had a papaya later to try and fill my stomach. Didn’t work.
Chinese lesson was rather okay. I drew a bit, but nothing much, because we were going through a practice paper we did the earlier lesson and I needed to copy down the answers. I learnt quite a bit, although I’m not sure it will make much of a difference in my Chinese grades.
Assembly consisted of a talk by Mrs. Hoo which overshot the time limit and ended up eating into Social Studies. Mr. Lim came late anyway so I guess it didn’t change anything. I don’t remember much from the talk, all I did recall was ‘Not all that can be counted counts’. Heh, I thought it sounded cool, so maybe that was why I remembered it.
Social Studies went on as usual, with a bit of revision here and there and everywhere. The entire lesson was a revision one. I drew during this lesson, filling up the sheet of paper I drew on in Chinese class with the same character and his ‘foster’ daughter who is only three years younger than him.
Math lesson after that was quite a bore. I did get quite some things done, but not a lot. There was a bunch of new worksheets to be done that was given out today and which I dread doing (a lot). But I really do need to work on my radians and geometrical properties of a circle because I just stink at those topics, so the revision material was good, I guess.
I ate lunch with AY and a few of her friends which gathered around the table like salt crystals growing from a seed suspended in a solution of dissolved salt.
Math remedial was okay, but I was a little late since I couldn’t find the classroom. I finished worksheet 4 for geometrical properties of a circle and did some questions about angle properties. I like angle properties. I like angles. The sad thing is, I can’t memorise the names of the proofs.
The bus ride home was uneventful as usual. The walk home, however, is a different thing altogether. I quite enjoyed it, in fact.
It started raining while I was on the bus, so when I got off I whipped out my trusty umbrella, put it over my head and walked out of the bus stop and into the pouring torrent. At first I was bent on keeping my entire body dry, but I soon came to learn that it was a rather futile attempt since the winds were as unpredictable as my grades.
So I focussed on keeping my bag dry and calculator from fizzing out in a beautiful display of bright red sparks. The rain soaked my entire pinafore from the tip to the top. Even my glasses weren’t spared the splatter of tiny raindrops on them. MY GLASSES. They sit right at the top of my nose, not at my feet. If my glasses can get wet, anything can get wet. No, I’m not walking on my hands, if that’s what you’re wondering.
The rain was incredibly heavy, and the gushing waves that curled and hurled in the drains threatened to engulf it entirely. You could see the power and raw force spurring the rolling waves forward, sending them crashing into the stone sides of the drain and trying to break free. The sound was music to my ears, and the sight a feast for the eyes. I adore these things.
The cars that rolled by me splashed water all the way up to my waist. The water felt dirty, but I couldn’t really tell because the pinafore had already turned into a very dark shade of blue by then after soaking up so much rain water.
I was really tempted to throw my umbrella off my head and dance about in the rain since I love this kind of weather, but what held me back was the fact that I had important worksheets in my bag that cannot, ABSOLUTELY CANNOT, get wet. Oh, I would be doomed if I had to photocopy every single one of those…
It was also rather cold, and I got goose bumps and shivered like an intelligent chicken in a slaughter house. I still love the rain. Thank God that the heavy rain was on Friday, if not I wouldn’t know what shoe to wear tomorrow since it probably wouldn’t have dried yet.
Wednesday’s rain was moderately heavy, so my shoes got kind of wet. They weren’t dry by the next day but I still wore them anyway since they weren’t that wet. Thursday’s rain was fairly light in comparison. My shoes didn’t get as wet, so they had dried when this morning rolled by. Today’s rain was on a completely different level.
My shoes turned into sponge on overload mode and with every step I could feel water being squished out of the cloths of the shoe, and my feet could practically swim in them. It was an odd experience, but I have come by it before a few times.
Ah, monsoon periods are beautiful.
Now all I need is a pair of back-up shoes.
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Oh, I don’t think I mentioned this yet.
I PASSED MY PIANO EXAM! So yeah, maybe it was only Grade 5, maybe it was a bare pass (and by bare I really mean it), but that is still a pass, and that still means that after my EYAs are over I can immediately unwrap that tablet waiting for me downstairs and use it right away! Isn’t that exciting! I can’t wait to try it out! How will my art change after that?
Heh, the fine string on which the tablet was hanging from has been cut! The tablet now sits a few laps away; all I need to do now is run to it. The race will end when EYAs end. I wish it was sooner.
I will start off my first post in about a gazillion years with about a gazillion (or a fraction of that) words about how completely narcissistic and impossibly materialistic American shows are in MTV. Seriously, what goes on in those producers' heads? Why on earth are they promoting this insidious over-reliance on all things tangible and the 'importance' of I, Me, Myself?
I caught the last few minutes of an episode of 'My Sweet Sixteen' or something along these lines just tonight when I went down for dinner. My sister was watching it, of course, since I would never, for the life of me (or so I think), willingly tune in to such a sickeningly sickening show. I'm not saying that all American girls act like this one I saw and that all American girls are materialistic and self-centred, but to show this kind of behaviour and deem in as 'COOL' and 'IN' is really over-doing it.
I'm not sure of the name of the person who was hosting the 'Sweet Sixteen' in the episode, but I do know that she is one of the first real life examples I've come across of the rather popular stereotype of 'blonds are bimbos and have none or one brain cell'. I don't really believe this so-called generalisation of the blond population because hair colour in no way decides how bimbotic a person will be, but by gum, this girl is challenging my very belief!
Her 'Sweet Sixteen' was a grand party in Las Vegas, complete with some gambling machines inside the hall area where her party is held. Before the birthday bash started she and her 'VIP's were already waiting for the guests in a back room which she will appear from later (escorted by a dude wearing nothing but black trousers and a bow tie, no shirt). I don't dislike her for wanting her birthday to be 'special' but what really got to me was the statement she made about her 'VIP's, the people who will be emerging with her from the back room later (like brides maids to a bride).
"They should be hono[u]red that they're here. It's a special privilege. They better not screw this up or else. I want my Sweet Sixteen to be perfect. It's all about me, I want all eyes on me." (Not accurate, of course, but just summarising the gist. No, I'm not twisting the meaning...)
I mean, what? Honoured to be at her birthday party? What kind of friend says this of her friends? Or does it mean that they aren't actually her friends? I don't really know the context of this situation but all I know is that people aren't dispensible like that. My goodness, if you want someone to honour you that badly, don't sound so high and mighty! Isn't it common sense that someone to be honoured should be someone who is respectable? As far as I know I'm not going to be respecting anyone like that soon.
For goodness sake, the world doesn't revolve around you! So what if it's your Sweet Sixteen? Congratulations, you're a second older than you were before, but so is everyone else! What I'm saying is, everyone is the same. There's no, "Oh, I'm more special than you since it's my birthday today." The world doesn't work like that! I couldn't be bothered who the heck you are or when your birthday is, and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't matter to the guests or the 'VIP's either.
I'm almost certain that what they'll remember from this party is:
1) Oh yeah, I had a great time.
2) This is the best Sweet Sixteen ever, but mine will be better.
3) Whose party was it again?
4) We really went crazy with the entertainment!
5) She's HOT, and so, so SEXY, but what's her name again?
And the list goes on and on. Point is, there is nothing more superficial than trying to please a crowd of people who likely don't know anything about at all other than your name and birthday, and are sucking up to you because you have great assets under your name and on your body.
I remember there was this once in the episode when the crowd was going wild over the (rather famous, I assume) band she invited to 'liven up' the party. Needless to say they livened the crowd up well. A little too well. She tried to call for the end of the little concert but the lead singer simply ignored her and said, "Your host thinks you guys should stop the party. But you know what I think? I think this party needs to rock on!" The crowd cheers, and the birthday girl stomps off mutter a string of censored curses.
You can see how much everybody cares for her here.
Earlier on her mother brought her to get a belly piercing, which she thought looked 'COOL' and commented on it, "Now I really feel sixteen!"
Yes, I can totally see how 'sixteen' you are just by looking at the belly piercing on your belly button. Oh wait, I can't even see it. *rolls eyes*
What does it mean to be 'sixteen' anyway? A large birthday bash? A sleek, beautiful Mercedes to drive around in and show off to your friends, having them clamour all over you and sucking up to you just so they can hitch a ride? A belly piercing? A sparkly, skimpy dress to prance around in and show off your wonderfully voluptuous figure? A boy in tight black trousers and a bow tie (no shirt, remember?) holding the hand which paid him to do so while walking toward a crowd of screaming teenagers who are either lusting after your flesh or the boy's well-toned abbs?
How about some maturity? How about some common sense? How about some LASTING friendships?
What's wrong with the pop culture these days? Can't they advertise the value of friendship instead of expensive celebrations and fragile relationships built on flimsy dollar bills and credit cards?
I can't help but compare what I'm seeing on the television with what I see around me daily. On the television I see raging hormones and glamarous expenditures, in Singapore I don't see any of this. Maybe being in a rather academically-focussed school has locked me out of some of the wilder sides of today's teenagers, but you don't see the local media adveritising that kind of selfish, money-minded and pleasure seeking lifestyle to our youngsters. The media, even with all its faults and opacity with issues like censorship, advocates lasting commitments and the value of emotional support and encouragement.
When I look at my sister in retrospect, I figure that hey, maybe she isn't so bad after all. Maybe, if I try, I can bring her back to the emotionally sensitive girl she was once before. Maybe, if I try hard enough, she will care less about the materialistic demands of her 'friends' and instead try to make real friends that don't need a S$30+ dress for her birthday present. Maybe, just maybe, if I try, I can make her see that she doesn't money so much after all.
I don't really know what is going to happen to the society if the media continues broadcasting these kinds of shows. I don't WANT to know what will happen. I hope that MTV will either stop airing these kinds of frivolous shows and start screening something of VALUE, or that Singapore will censor MTV's programs, like it does everything else.
I for one and glad for Singapore's strict censorship, because I cannot fathom what kind of future generation of leaders we will be nurturing if being a party heiress is something that is on their 'Top 10 Jobs I Desire' list. I simply cannot (and refuse to) imagine the future that lies ahead of Singapore should such wild behaviour be encouraged through the media.
I will not say I am a strong individual and am forever resistant to the increasing influential power of the media, so let me ask this favour of you. If you ever see me doing something as crazy as what MTV is promoting, let me know. Show me this blog post, and hope that I have enough sense left in me to figure out that what I'm doing is not what I want.
I want to live a fulfilling life knowing the value of friends, family, and the God up there who loved me enough to sacrifice his son for my redemption. I don't want a life of spirally disrepair knowing only of money and how to please myself.
I want to LIVE.
I don't want to blow up a picture of my pretty face and hang it in the entrance hall to welcome my guests and feel a burst of happiness when they say that the girl in the picture is sexy and beautiful. I don't want to show cleavage and smile like a thousand suns when someone tells me that they're jealous of me. That's not living. That's just plain degrading.
Of course, I neither have a pretty face nor some incredible cleavage, but I'm sure you get what I mean.
I want to LIVE.
And when I die, I want people to remember my NAME, not the party I hosted 50 years ago. I want them to remember that I'm the girl who lent them an eraser when they had none. I want them to remember me as the stranger that picked up a wallet and returned it when they dropped it. I want them to remember the sincere desire to help them, or just to let them know that I care, whoever they are.
I want to LIVE.
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I also watched an episode of ‘Teens Cribs’ or something where this 13 year old American boy was showing the TV crew around his magnificent home. I cannot deny its magnificence, but I also cannot deny that I thought, 'If you have money to build a basketball court, a pool larger than my home, at least 5 bedrooms twice the size of mine, 2 gyms, a movie theatre, a bowling alley, a golf course, a sauna and so much more, buy a normal house, spend time with your family, and donate the unnecessary money away to charity!'
The parents were commenting on how they want their children to have the best facilities, so that when their friends come over they will always have something to do. I don't understand their way of thinking. I really don't.
Shouldn't they be encouraging friendship built on emotional bonds? What are they doing about those friendships built on material wealth that is being accumulated?
I don't enjoy the way the boy goes, "Now that I've showed you my awesome room and awesome gym I'm going to show you XXX because I think it will amaze you." "This is where we play table tennis. I always win of course." "Oh, we play tic-tac-toe here too. Of course, I'm the best."
WHAT?
Did I also mention that each of the 5 children have a ride each, either a scooter or a motorcycle, and the dad has 2 rides, a very large jeep-like thing that seats the entire family and a rather cool looking bike that is huge beyond what should be allowed of something that's called a 'bike'?
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Today wasn’t spectacular, but it certainly started off rather interestingly. My father overslept today (didn’t hear the digital alarm clock go off) and since he was my alarm clock, I overslept too. I ended up waking at 06:15, a whole half hour later than when I usually do wake up. I missed the school bus, quite obviously.
Because of this my father decided that he would send me to school directly by the car, which I was elated to hear because I hardly ever take the car. In fact, I don’t take it unless it’s a weekend or a special day because I don’t need the car to get to and from school. Being very new to waking up at 06:15, I didn’t really know what to do. Well, yes, I knew I had to brush my teeth and tie my hair, but I was rather lost outside of that.
My father dropped my mother off at Toa Payoh MRT station before sending my sister to her school. To be honest, her school looked like it was located in the middle of nowhere. Traffic was almost non-existent, something very odd for a school with that kind of prestige (St. Nick’s). Perhaps we were early, because my dad was rushing to get me to school on time.
I arrived at school at around 07:05, 15 minutes later than I usually do. Morning assembly went on as usual, and classes bored me, same as ever. The first period was PE. We all went down to the field and those who weren’t helping Amanda take her PE assessment were made to run 2 rounds around the track.
ShuYing and I did run the first one until she got a stitch under the area where her heart is supposed to be, so we stopped running and walked for a while. Mr. Ho saw us walking and yelled at us to continue running. I was rather amused at how he didn’t bother checking the situation before demanding something from us. But we ran though, because Mr. Ho can be scary when he wants to be and we dare not take risks.
We completed the first round, and were completely horrified to find out that we were ‘ordered’, so to speak, to run twice. Being horrified and mortified by the prolonged running period did not stop us from running, though, because it was teacher’s orders, and we are good students after all.
However, due to the ‘chronic’ fatigue caused by the first round around the track, we walked half the entire stretch of the track before continuing to run, and ended up as the last to return back to the finishing point, wheezing and panting like we had ran a marathon. For a person as unfit as me, yes, I do believe this can be considered a kind of physically taxing race.
After some stretching led by Thao (it was her, right?) we proceeded to the car park area which doubled as a parade square to play some very ruthless Captain’s Ball. Well, not ‘we’, more like ‘they’. ShuYing and I stood off to a corner of the court where our Captain was and waited like soldiers on guard duty for a ball to come our way.
It’s rare for the ball to head our way, that’s for sure, because neither of us really have a history of being fantastic at sports, so people find it much harder to trust us than those physically active people like Annabel. I completely understand, and since I myself didn’t really want to get my hands all funny smelling and dirty by touching the ball, I was satisfied.
Then the moment when the ball flew our way came. I am inclined to believe that this ball was a stray ball, because I can’t think of any reason why anyone would pass the ball to this ‘hopeless at sports with zero motivation and spirit’ person, especially when it was so close to the goal.
Being the nice team mate I was I scored ‘beautifully’, and it was nice having people say, “Nice one” to me for a change, although it did feel a bit awkward and I turned away immediately after confirming we had scored successfully. It was nice knowing that for a few moments people relied and depended on me, but I shouldn’t get caught up in this feeling because people don’t naturally gravitate towards me. I have to do something to get people to do so, and I am not willing to try and take my place among the ‘athletic’ group of people. I was never really athletic in the first place, just a little more physically fit than others.
The ball came my way many times afterwards, and I believe I heard ‘Pass to (insert my name here)’ a couple of times. Wow, didn’t know my ‘trustworthiness’ at handling balls and scoring shot up by so much with just one goal. This kind of feels a little superficial, like what I was ranting about earlier, except this does not deal with material wealth but ability to score (which, by the way, is a completely useless ability unless I decide to delve into a sporting career, which I will not).
I missed a goal and the ball never came after that.
Huh, talk about fickle-minded.
The game ended with Celine being carried off quite literally by all fours because she injured herself trying to defend her side. I found out later that she was injured so badly she needed a wheelchair to move about. No bone was broken whatsoever but her ankle swelled up really badly so she couldn’t wear her shoes without further aggravating the injury (hence the wheelchair).
I was told to carry one of the chairs used to the PE room, which I had no idea where it was. As I was making my way there after some nice soul told me it was down the slope and far away (and apparently very smelly too, I reminded myself, since that’s where all the PE equipments came from and the equipments stink), Mr. Ho turned to ShuYing and I and accused us of not playing, to which I retorted with a, “I got touch the ball lor!” Well, excuse my horrible English. I’m usually like that unless writing or trying to speak in a formal setting (like the English orals which I didn’t do quite as well as I would have liked).
The chair didn’t stink as bad as the ball, so I was okay with carrying it. I just didn’t really like that I had to walk that far with this blue thing in my hands (and above my head, because I like carrying things that way). Thankfully I was told to leave the chair outside the PE room, which was a win-win situation for both me and the teacher. No smelly rooms, and someone brought the chair back.
Makes me wonder, why couldn’t the teacher bring it back himself?
Recess was next, and a horrible recess it was too since, among the rush in the morning due to the late awaking, I did not bring my usual triple-decker sandwich and had to purchase some really expensive buns and still not be full. I had a papaya later to try and fill my stomach. Didn’t work.
Chinese lesson was rather okay. I drew a bit, but nothing much, because we were going through a practice paper we did the earlier lesson and I needed to copy down the answers. I learnt quite a bit, although I’m not sure it will make much of a difference in my Chinese grades.
Assembly consisted of a talk by Mrs. Hoo which overshot the time limit and ended up eating into Social Studies. Mr. Lim came late anyway so I guess it didn’t change anything. I don’t remember much from the talk, all I did recall was ‘Not all that can be counted counts’. Heh, I thought it sounded cool, so maybe that was why I remembered it.
Social Studies went on as usual, with a bit of revision here and there and everywhere. The entire lesson was a revision one. I drew during this lesson, filling up the sheet of paper I drew on in Chinese class with the same character and his ‘foster’ daughter who is only three years younger than him.
Math lesson after that was quite a bore. I did get quite some things done, but not a lot. There was a bunch of new worksheets to be done that was given out today and which I dread doing (a lot). But I really do need to work on my radians and geometrical properties of a circle because I just stink at those topics, so the revision material was good, I guess.
I ate lunch with AY and a few of her friends which gathered around the table like salt crystals growing from a seed suspended in a solution of dissolved salt.
Math remedial was okay, but I was a little late since I couldn’t find the classroom. I finished worksheet 4 for geometrical properties of a circle and did some questions about angle properties. I like angle properties. I like angles. The sad thing is, I can’t memorise the names of the proofs.
The bus ride home was uneventful as usual. The walk home, however, is a different thing altogether. I quite enjoyed it, in fact.
It started raining while I was on the bus, so when I got off I whipped out my trusty umbrella, put it over my head and walked out of the bus stop and into the pouring torrent. At first I was bent on keeping my entire body dry, but I soon came to learn that it was a rather futile attempt since the winds were as unpredictable as my grades.
So I focussed on keeping my bag dry and calculator from fizzing out in a beautiful display of bright red sparks. The rain soaked my entire pinafore from the tip to the top. Even my glasses weren’t spared the splatter of tiny raindrops on them. MY GLASSES. They sit right at the top of my nose, not at my feet. If my glasses can get wet, anything can get wet. No, I’m not walking on my hands, if that’s what you’re wondering.
The rain was incredibly heavy, and the gushing waves that curled and hurled in the drains threatened to engulf it entirely. You could see the power and raw force spurring the rolling waves forward, sending them crashing into the stone sides of the drain and trying to break free. The sound was music to my ears, and the sight a feast for the eyes. I adore these things.
The cars that rolled by me splashed water all the way up to my waist. The water felt dirty, but I couldn’t really tell because the pinafore had already turned into a very dark shade of blue by then after soaking up so much rain water.
I was really tempted to throw my umbrella off my head and dance about in the rain since I love this kind of weather, but what held me back was the fact that I had important worksheets in my bag that cannot, ABSOLUTELY CANNOT, get wet. Oh, I would be doomed if I had to photocopy every single one of those…
It was also rather cold, and I got goose bumps and shivered like an intelligent chicken in a slaughter house. I still love the rain. Thank God that the heavy rain was on Friday, if not I wouldn’t know what shoe to wear tomorrow since it probably wouldn’t have dried yet.
Wednesday’s rain was moderately heavy, so my shoes got kind of wet. They weren’t dry by the next day but I still wore them anyway since they weren’t that wet. Thursday’s rain was fairly light in comparison. My shoes didn’t get as wet, so they had dried when this morning rolled by. Today’s rain was on a completely different level.
My shoes turned into sponge on overload mode and with every step I could feel water being squished out of the cloths of the shoe, and my feet could practically swim in them. It was an odd experience, but I have come by it before a few times.
Ah, monsoon periods are beautiful.
Now all I need is a pair of back-up shoes.
-----------------------------------------------
Oh, I don’t think I mentioned this yet.
I PASSED MY PIANO EXAM! So yeah, maybe it was only Grade 5, maybe it was a bare pass (and by bare I really mean it), but that is still a pass, and that still means that after my EYAs are over I can immediately unwrap that tablet waiting for me downstairs and use it right away! Isn’t that exciting! I can’t wait to try it out! How will my art change after that?
Heh, the fine string on which the tablet was hanging from has been cut! The tablet now sits a few laps away; all I need to do now is run to it. The race will end when EYAs end. I wish it was sooner.
Friday, 30 July 2010
Throwing Light
(This post is around one and a half months late. I did write it earlier on the 30th but the internet got cut off so I kind of forgot about it...until now.)
*YELLS*
*SCREAMS*
*YELLS SOME MORE*
*SINGS GAILY*
*PRANCES ABOUT*
*YELLS AGAIN*
*SCREAMS*
.
.
.
.
.
.
*takes deep breath of air*
MY FATHER GOT ME A TABLET! OH! THIS IS WONDERFUL!
*sings and prances off*
-brief moment of absolute silence-
*comes back with silly deranged smile on face, but much saner than earlier*
It was actually rather anti-climatic, the way my mother told me, but whatever. I GOT A TABLET~!
...which I can technically only start using after I pass my piano exam. Oh horror.
Ah well, one more motivation to actually try an pass the exam. Oh, wait, it's actually the only reason I'm trying to pass the exam. I'm not exactly sure if you can count "I don't want to do another exam because my mother will make me retake it if I fail" as a reason...
Anyway, it was a rather unusual day today. The morning was rather cold, and so was the rest of the day because the rain just wouldn't stop. I know I love the rain and the cold weather it brings, but seriously, this is getting kind of extreme. On the really hot days I feel like melting, and on the colder days I just want to shrivel (yes, shrivel) up in my nice, thick comforter and snore the day away.
I am really sensitive to the cold, see. Well, I technically am just sensitive to temperature. Period. I can function within a very small range of temperature, anything other than that I tend to kind of go haywire, if you get what I mean, not that I'm functioning very well at my optimum anyway.
Because of the seriously freakish cold weather today, my jacket became my best friend of the day. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'D DO WITHOUT THAT RELIABLE MAROON THING BY MY SIDE.
Yup.
So I went home, debating about seedlings and whether the term is of any use at all with ShuYing on the way home on bus 105. Needless to say, the conversation got cut short rather abruptly when ShuYing had to alight to transfer to the MRT. I spent the rest of the bus ride in relative silence, but there were these people sitting in the row behind me talking about...something.
I first gained an interest in the conversation when a male voice asked the person next to him, "So was RGS your first choice?" I was all...'WHAT IS AN RGS GIRL DOING WITH A MAN???'
Yeah, and then the conversation continued, and I found out the man had gone through NS, and I was rapidly going through possibilities of the relationship between the two. 1) Counsellor. 2) Boyfriend. 3) Stalker. 4) Friends who met on the bus. etc. etc.
Yup. In the end the conversation led to me figuring out that the man was a teacher at RGS and it kind of made me wonder, 'Is this some sort of forbidden teacher/student relationship?' Yes, I know I've been reading too much manga. So sue me.
I'm not really sure what their exact relationship was (so I settled for a normal teacher/student relationship who just so happened to be taking the same bus) and also kind of figured out that the student was giving directions to the teacher, because when she alighted (2 stops before mine) she told him that Lorong Chuan should be 1 or 2 stops away.
Before I alighted the teacher asked me if the stop I was alighting at was near Lorong Chuan (I was in the midst of getting off my seat, see, so he noticed), then I kind of froze for a moment and then spoke really awkwardly an affirmation. I hate talking to guys. D< I'm not sure what he was going to do at Lorong Chuan, though. All I know is that if I were the student he was conversing with earlier, I'd have decided to take the next bus instead after giving him directions...
So yeah. My tuition teacher arrived at around 15:30, and we had our tuition until 17:30. 2 hours long, and also quite boring, but we started talking about movies towards the end (the conversation began with me telling the teacher that was watched 'Ip Man' at school today) so yes, the tuition did end on a high note...well, kind of.
I made rice at about 18:38, and then continued using my computer. I bathed at around 21:05 because I was reading something online and didn't want to be cut off in the middle. It was rather weird though since neither my parents nor my siblings have returned home even though it's already so late. I entertained thoughts of them getting caught up in a road accident but brushed it aside quickly. I don’t want them to die so early…
I went down for dinner after my shower, during which my mother returned home and asked me why I hadn't eaten yet. Look who's talking (...yes, I do know she has work so she can't eat, shut it). I replied by saying I'd eat once I finish showering, and true to my word, I did eat after showering.
I went back up after dinner at about 21:45 and continued using the computer (you can see how much I LOVE my computer...). My father came back with my sister and brother during this time, and nothing much happened.
Then, at around 22:40, my mother suddenly raised her voice and said to me from the first floor (I was on the third) about how my father got a tablet or something. My first reaction was 'you're kidding, right?' because I'm pretty sure they said they wouldn't get me one until I had finished my piano exam.
My next reaction was 'OMG, if this is real, I really want to see it'. At that time I was still reading something online, but then all thoughts fled and all I could think of was 'if this isn't real, someone just wake me up from this beautiful dream, hopefully I'll really find a tablet when I wake up'. So I pranced all the way downstairs with anticipation (and bracing myself for disappointment, because I know my mother is capable of deception when she wants to…).
I saw my mother, who didn't look like she was joking at all and I asked her where the tablet was. She just pointed to the bunch of bags at the side and I rushed over to them. I spotted this big box inside one of the reusable bags and took it out, marvelling at the entire piece of equipment (okay, so maybe I wasn't admiring the equipment but what was supposed to be inside the box which was supposed to contain the equipment) and staring at it with wonderment and awe (see, Habit of Mind).
Everything felt so surreal, you know. Because I kind of resigned myself to begging for a tablet for Christmas and so totally didn't expect one to just appear right before me in the middle of the week out of freaking nowhere. I'm not sure why my father got the tablet today, or why he even got it in the first place, but for what it's worth, I'm entirely grateful, although the fact that the tablet came with really thick strings attached kind of scares me.
WHAT IF I FAIL MY PIANO EXAM? O.O
I believe I will kind of 'die' if I do. I mean, the tablet it just there. It's just THERE. I don't even have to source for it. My dad got it for me. For ME. Because I wanted it. This is so unbelievable. I would so totally be devastated if my piano results came back and told me I didn't pass. THE TABLET IS JUST RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME BUT I CAN'T TAKE IT AND USE IT.
Okay, yeah, I do know that I kind of decided that I wouldn't touch the tablet until all my exams (that means the EoYs too) are over because I'm pretty sure they'd be a great distraction to my studies. <--Look, I'm actually concerned about school for once...all hail me...
Yes, so even though I won't be touching the tablet until end of exams, I will still be disappointed if I fail my piano exam. That's because if I fail I'm gonna have to wait until I pass it, which would mean about at least another half a year of torturous piano lessons and going through another nerve-wrecking piano exam...
I DON'T WANT THAT.
If I had to do that, I'd rather wait till university (if I ever decide to pursue university education, that is) to get a tablet. I don't want to have a tablet dangle in front of me on a thin strand of thread but be unable to just grab it, only able to graze it. I don't want this kind of desire. It will probably drive me crazy.
And you know how much I love my sanity. (Oh, the irony...when was I ever sane?)
*YELLS*
*SCREAMS*
*YELLS SOME MORE*
*SINGS GAILY*
*PRANCES ABOUT*
*YELLS AGAIN*
*SCREAMS*
.
.
.
.
.
.
*takes deep breath of air*
MY FATHER GOT ME A TABLET! OH! THIS IS WONDERFUL!
*sings and prances off*
-brief moment of absolute silence-
*comes back with silly deranged smile on face, but much saner than earlier*
It was actually rather anti-climatic, the way my mother told me, but whatever. I GOT A TABLET~!
...which I can technically only start using after I pass my piano exam. Oh horror.
Ah well, one more motivation to actually try an pass the exam. Oh, wait, it's actually the only reason I'm trying to pass the exam. I'm not exactly sure if you can count "I don't want to do another exam because my mother will make me retake it if I fail" as a reason...
Anyway, it was a rather unusual day today. The morning was rather cold, and so was the rest of the day because the rain just wouldn't stop. I know I love the rain and the cold weather it brings, but seriously, this is getting kind of extreme. On the really hot days I feel like melting, and on the colder days I just want to shrivel (yes, shrivel) up in my nice, thick comforter and snore the day away.
I am really sensitive to the cold, see. Well, I technically am just sensitive to temperature. Period. I can function within a very small range of temperature, anything other than that I tend to kind of go haywire, if you get what I mean, not that I'm functioning very well at my optimum anyway.
Because of the seriously freakish cold weather today, my jacket became my best friend of the day. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'D DO WITHOUT THAT RELIABLE MAROON THING BY MY SIDE.
Yup.
So I went home, debating about seedlings and whether the term is of any use at all with ShuYing on the way home on bus 105. Needless to say, the conversation got cut short rather abruptly when ShuYing had to alight to transfer to the MRT. I spent the rest of the bus ride in relative silence, but there were these people sitting in the row behind me talking about...something.
I first gained an interest in the conversation when a male voice asked the person next to him, "So was RGS your first choice?" I was all...'WHAT IS AN RGS GIRL DOING WITH A MAN???'
Yeah, and then the conversation continued, and I found out the man had gone through NS, and I was rapidly going through possibilities of the relationship between the two. 1) Counsellor. 2) Boyfriend. 3) Stalker. 4) Friends who met on the bus. etc. etc.
Yup. In the end the conversation led to me figuring out that the man was a teacher at RGS and it kind of made me wonder, 'Is this some sort of forbidden teacher/student relationship?' Yes, I know I've been reading too much manga. So sue me.
I'm not really sure what their exact relationship was (so I settled for a normal teacher/student relationship who just so happened to be taking the same bus) and also kind of figured out that the student was giving directions to the teacher, because when she alighted (2 stops before mine) she told him that Lorong Chuan should be 1 or 2 stops away.
Before I alighted the teacher asked me if the stop I was alighting at was near Lorong Chuan (I was in the midst of getting off my seat, see, so he noticed), then I kind of froze for a moment and then spoke really awkwardly an affirmation. I hate talking to guys. D< I'm not sure what he was going to do at Lorong Chuan, though. All I know is that if I were the student he was conversing with earlier, I'd have decided to take the next bus instead after giving him directions...
So yeah. My tuition teacher arrived at around 15:30, and we had our tuition until 17:30. 2 hours long, and also quite boring, but we started talking about movies towards the end (the conversation began with me telling the teacher that was watched 'Ip Man' at school today) so yes, the tuition did end on a high note...well, kind of.
I made rice at about 18:38, and then continued using my computer. I bathed at around 21:05 because I was reading something online and didn't want to be cut off in the middle. It was rather weird though since neither my parents nor my siblings have returned home even though it's already so late. I entertained thoughts of them getting caught up in a road accident but brushed it aside quickly. I don’t want them to die so early…
I went down for dinner after my shower, during which my mother returned home and asked me why I hadn't eaten yet. Look who's talking (...yes, I do know she has work so she can't eat, shut it). I replied by saying I'd eat once I finish showering, and true to my word, I did eat after showering.
I went back up after dinner at about 21:45 and continued using the computer (you can see how much I LOVE my computer...). My father came back with my sister and brother during this time, and nothing much happened.
Then, at around 22:40, my mother suddenly raised her voice and said to me from the first floor (I was on the third) about how my father got a tablet or something. My first reaction was 'you're kidding, right?' because I'm pretty sure they said they wouldn't get me one until I had finished my piano exam.
My next reaction was 'OMG, if this is real, I really want to see it'. At that time I was still reading something online, but then all thoughts fled and all I could think of was 'if this isn't real, someone just wake me up from this beautiful dream, hopefully I'll really find a tablet when I wake up'. So I pranced all the way downstairs with anticipation (and bracing myself for disappointment, because I know my mother is capable of deception when she wants to…).
I saw my mother, who didn't look like she was joking at all and I asked her where the tablet was. She just pointed to the bunch of bags at the side and I rushed over to them. I spotted this big box inside one of the reusable bags and took it out, marvelling at the entire piece of equipment (okay, so maybe I wasn't admiring the equipment but what was supposed to be inside the box which was supposed to contain the equipment) and staring at it with wonderment and awe (see, Habit of Mind).
Everything felt so surreal, you know. Because I kind of resigned myself to begging for a tablet for Christmas and so totally didn't expect one to just appear right before me in the middle of the week out of freaking nowhere. I'm not sure why my father got the tablet today, or why he even got it in the first place, but for what it's worth, I'm entirely grateful, although the fact that the tablet came with really thick strings attached kind of scares me.
WHAT IF I FAIL MY PIANO EXAM? O.O
I believe I will kind of 'die' if I do. I mean, the tablet it just there. It's just THERE. I don't even have to source for it. My dad got it for me. For ME. Because I wanted it. This is so unbelievable. I would so totally be devastated if my piano results came back and told me I didn't pass. THE TABLET IS JUST RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME BUT I CAN'T TAKE IT AND USE IT.
Okay, yeah, I do know that I kind of decided that I wouldn't touch the tablet until all my exams (that means the EoYs too) are over because I'm pretty sure they'd be a great distraction to my studies. <--Look, I'm actually concerned about school for once...all hail me...
Yes, so even though I won't be touching the tablet until end of exams, I will still be disappointed if I fail my piano exam. That's because if I fail I'm gonna have to wait until I pass it, which would mean about at least another half a year of torturous piano lessons and going through another nerve-wrecking piano exam...
I DON'T WANT THAT.
If I had to do that, I'd rather wait till university (if I ever decide to pursue university education, that is) to get a tablet. I don't want to have a tablet dangle in front of me on a thin strand of thread but be unable to just grab it, only able to graze it. I don't want this kind of desire. It will probably drive me crazy.
And you know how much I love my sanity. (Oh, the irony...when was I ever sane?)
Monday, 26 July 2010
Grey Sting of Metal
This is a this cat,
This is a is cat,
This is a how cat,
This is a to cat,
This is a keep cat,
This is a an cat,
This is a idiot cat,
This is a busy cat,
This is a for cat,
This is a 40 cat,
This is a seconds cat,
Now read every 4th word.
-------------------------------
Uh, yeah, I didn't mean to waste your time or anything, but I saw this and I just had to put it up somewhere. Just for the record, I am not an idiot, and I figured this out at 'This is a keep cat'. Yes, just so you know and don't use this against me. I found it hilarious, and I was completely GLAD that I figured it out before the last line...hopefully I'm not insulting anyone who couldn't figure it out, because I know just how easily I can unintentionally hurt someone with something I said in the passing.
-------------------------------
Yesterday I witnessed the glorious aftermath of a car accident. Of course, I wasn't involved in the crash at all, but it was the closest I've gotten to a real accident (other than the very, very soft bump against my familys car's back bumper). It made car accidents so much more real to me, since I've always thought they were something that happened, say, 20 miles from home.
One of the cars had its hood crushed beautifully. I don't think it'd work even after heavy servicing, but hey, with modern technology many things are possible. The other car, alas, was so much more unlucky. It was on its side with the back windshield smashed completely. I could see the underside of the car. The people whom I assumed were involved in the crash were circling the overturned car. I remember there was an old man (who looked quite spritely), a middle-aged man and a young boy. The old man was holding the boy, who didn't look traumatised at all, close.
I stared at the car until my father drove round a bend and behind a large expressway support pillar. I remember there was this policeman (quite young) with one leg propped up on the kerb standing over the shattered mess of glass. He looked kind of out of place.
-------------------------------
...oddly enough I saw Darren again yesterday at church, so that makes it before witnessing the accident. It was...odd. I was minding my own business in church during service when WHAM. The pastor said to a person sitting to the extreme right of the room, "Darren Lee, you're Darren Lee, right? Tell me, what do you do when you like a girl?"
I was all 'O.o'. 'ARE YOU FREAKING TELLING ME HE'S COMING TO SUNDAY SERVICE FOR GOOD???' *smacks face*
I really want to crawl into a corner, curl up and just emo for a few hours, but of course I didn't do that. I just felt like doing that for that one moment. I mean, I do forget things quite easily. I'm not quite sure why I wanted to emo. Maybe it's the prospect of facing some GUY I know? I fail at socialising. I fail at socialising with males more. I FAIL. *pulls long face*
-------------------------------
BREAKTHROUGH NEWS! URGENT NEWS! NEWS FLASH!:
Announcing that this dunce, this idiotic girl who cannot remember anything to save her life, has remembered when her Mathematics Unit Summary is due and has submitted it on time! This astounding piece of news is a phenomenon many scientists would never predict be possible, and even if it could be accomplished, would never be for it the possibility is so slim the prediction when it occurs exceeds her life expectancy. I repeat, THIS IDIOT HAS SUBMITTED HER UNIT SUMMARY ON TIME!
Whether or not she passes (with flying colours) is another thing altogether. It will be another miracle is she passes.
-------------------------------
I have recently gotten into Axis Powers Hetalia, a crack web manga which got published and turned into an anime. It was fantastic. I'm not really sure how to explain what it is, but the basic idea (and unique trait) is that it personifies each nation, so China is this 4000 year old immortal man who wears a red traditional garment and looks like a seme and an uke at the same time (when you view fan art, that is). America is this hamburger loving blond with glasses over his blue eyes and wears a bomber jacket. U.K. is a short blond with really, really thick eyebrows and is a complete tsundere. And there are many, many more countries. I think South Korea is just there for the lolz.
U.K. is my favourite character. I'm not really sure why, but maybe it's just because his really thick and fuzzy eyebrows make my own rather thick and fuzzy eyebrows feel not quite as thick and fuzzy as it really is. His tsundereness is just another plus point, as well as the fact that he can't cook. Oh, did I mention that he believes in fairies, unicorns and all sorts of magic? He can actually do magic, although...most of the time something goes wrong.
His relationship with Alfred (that is, America's human name) is really, really interesting. Arthur (U.K.'s human name) brought Alfred up, but Alfred ends up 'betraying' him to gain his independence, and in the process hurts Arthur terribly. Their relationship is much better now, although Arthur tends to show a lot of displeasure at whatever Alfred does, which I attribute to his tsundereness. Lol, you know you still love him, Arthur, don't deny it! I mean, how can anyone forget the affection they've nurtured towards someone whom they've brought up since young? Whatever kind of affection it is, that is.
Hetalia kind of makes History fun. For whoever who takes History, go read. It's interesting, you'll love it. Now everytime I see the words 'U.S.A.' or 'America', I keep thinking of Alfred, and it is kind of funny. Same goes for 'Italy' and 'Germany', and, of course, not to forget my favourite character, 'U.K.' or 'England' or 'Great Britain'. It makes life so much more fun, don't you agree? Now if only that could happen for elements...
YAY FOR IGGY!
...oh, Iggy is England's nickname. England in Japanese (as I assume from the subbed anime) is 'Igirisu', so the nickname 'Iggy' is derived from it. Really, England does have a lot of names, doesn't he. Let us count...
1) U.K.
2) United Kingdoms
3) The United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Northen Ireland (that technically counts as 2 countries...they've kind of merged or something)
4) England
5) Great Britain
6) Britain
7) Arthur Kirkland (England's human name in Hetalia as he requires an alias since he is human in physical form...)
8) Igirisu (England in Japanese, as I assume)
9) Iggy (England's nickname, derived from assumed Japanese name)
10) Igiko (England's fan name whenever he appears in his female form, which doesn't look like him at all due to the missing thick eye brows)
That makes 10...and I might still find more as I read more about it...
I am officially mad about Hetalia. And England. I like China too (Wang Yao). And Hong Kong. And America (Alfred F. Jones). And Austria (Roderich Edelstein). And Canada (Matthew Williams). Wait. I'm noticing a pattern. THEY'RE ALL MALE (even though I get super awkward around them, it apparently doesn't affect my manga preference...I draw a lot more guys than girls too...). Well, I don't really like Russia (Ivan Braginsky) though. I'm not sure why he's so popular...he's too weird. I mean, I know I like weird people but he...is weird in a way I don't like.
And I here end my rant on my life and Hetalia.
HETALIA!
(Yes, I know I lie, but doesn't everyone love liars? I think the world will be in much more pain if we don't lie diplomatically, or out of politeness.)
This is a is cat,
This is a how cat,
This is a to cat,
This is a keep cat,
This is a an cat,
This is a idiot cat,
This is a busy cat,
This is a for cat,
This is a 40 cat,
This is a seconds cat,
Now read every 4th word.
-------------------------------
Uh, yeah, I didn't mean to waste your time or anything, but I saw this and I just had to put it up somewhere. Just for the record, I am not an idiot, and I figured this out at 'This is a keep cat'. Yes, just so you know and don't use this against me. I found it hilarious, and I was completely GLAD that I figured it out before the last line...hopefully I'm not insulting anyone who couldn't figure it out, because I know just how easily I can unintentionally hurt someone with something I said in the passing.
-------------------------------
Yesterday I witnessed the glorious aftermath of a car accident. Of course, I wasn't involved in the crash at all, but it was the closest I've gotten to a real accident (other than the very, very soft bump against my familys car's back bumper). It made car accidents so much more real to me, since I've always thought they were something that happened, say, 20 miles from home.
One of the cars had its hood crushed beautifully. I don't think it'd work even after heavy servicing, but hey, with modern technology many things are possible. The other car, alas, was so much more unlucky. It was on its side with the back windshield smashed completely. I could see the underside of the car. The people whom I assumed were involved in the crash were circling the overturned car. I remember there was an old man (who looked quite spritely), a middle-aged man and a young boy. The old man was holding the boy, who didn't look traumatised at all, close.
I stared at the car until my father drove round a bend and behind a large expressway support pillar. I remember there was this policeman (quite young) with one leg propped up on the kerb standing over the shattered mess of glass. He looked kind of out of place.
-------------------------------
...oddly enough I saw Darren again yesterday at church, so that makes it before witnessing the accident. It was...odd. I was minding my own business in church during service when WHAM. The pastor said to a person sitting to the extreme right of the room, "Darren Lee, you're Darren Lee, right? Tell me, what do you do when you like a girl?"
I was all 'O.o'. 'ARE YOU FREAKING TELLING ME HE'S COMING TO SUNDAY SERVICE FOR GOOD???' *smacks face*
I really want to crawl into a corner, curl up and just emo for a few hours, but of course I didn't do that. I just felt like doing that for that one moment. I mean, I do forget things quite easily. I'm not quite sure why I wanted to emo. Maybe it's the prospect of facing some GUY I know? I fail at socialising. I fail at socialising with males more. I FAIL. *pulls long face*
-------------------------------
BREAKTHROUGH NEWS! URGENT NEWS! NEWS FLASH!:
Announcing that this dunce, this idiotic girl who cannot remember anything to save her life, has remembered when her Mathematics Unit Summary is due and has submitted it on time! This astounding piece of news is a phenomenon many scientists would never predict be possible, and even if it could be accomplished, would never be for it the possibility is so slim the prediction when it occurs exceeds her life expectancy. I repeat, THIS IDIOT HAS SUBMITTED HER UNIT SUMMARY ON TIME!
Whether or not she passes (with flying colours) is another thing altogether. It will be another miracle is she passes.
-------------------------------
I have recently gotten into Axis Powers Hetalia, a crack web manga which got published and turned into an anime. It was fantastic. I'm not really sure how to explain what it is, but the basic idea (and unique trait) is that it personifies each nation, so China is this 4000 year old immortal man who wears a red traditional garment and looks like a seme and an uke at the same time (when you view fan art, that is). America is this hamburger loving blond with glasses over his blue eyes and wears a bomber jacket. U.K. is a short blond with really, really thick eyebrows and is a complete tsundere. And there are many, many more countries. I think South Korea is just there for the lolz.
U.K. is my favourite character. I'm not really sure why, but maybe it's just because his really thick and fuzzy eyebrows make my own rather thick and fuzzy eyebrows feel not quite as thick and fuzzy as it really is. His tsundereness is just another plus point, as well as the fact that he can't cook. Oh, did I mention that he believes in fairies, unicorns and all sorts of magic? He can actually do magic, although...most of the time something goes wrong.
His relationship with Alfred (that is, America's human name) is really, really interesting. Arthur (U.K.'s human name) brought Alfred up, but Alfred ends up 'betraying' him to gain his independence, and in the process hurts Arthur terribly. Their relationship is much better now, although Arthur tends to show a lot of displeasure at whatever Alfred does, which I attribute to his tsundereness. Lol, you know you still love him, Arthur, don't deny it! I mean, how can anyone forget the affection they've nurtured towards someone whom they've brought up since young? Whatever kind of affection it is, that is.
Hetalia kind of makes History fun. For whoever who takes History, go read. It's interesting, you'll love it. Now everytime I see the words 'U.S.A.' or 'America', I keep thinking of Alfred, and it is kind of funny. Same goes for 'Italy' and 'Germany', and, of course, not to forget my favourite character, 'U.K.' or 'England' or 'Great Britain'. It makes life so much more fun, don't you agree? Now if only that could happen for elements...
YAY FOR IGGY!
...oh, Iggy is England's nickname. England in Japanese (as I assume from the subbed anime) is 'Igirisu', so the nickname 'Iggy' is derived from it. Really, England does have a lot of names, doesn't he. Let us count...
1) U.K.
2) United Kingdoms
3) The United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Northen Ireland (that technically counts as 2 countries...they've kind of merged or something)
4) England
5) Great Britain
6) Britain
7) Arthur Kirkland (England's human name in Hetalia as he requires an alias since he is human in physical form...)
8) Igirisu (England in Japanese, as I assume)
9) Iggy (England's nickname, derived from assumed Japanese name)
10) Igiko (England's fan name whenever he appears in his female form, which doesn't look like him at all due to the missing thick eye brows)
That makes 10...and I might still find more as I read more about it...
I am officially mad about Hetalia. And England. I like China too (Wang Yao). And Hong Kong. And America (Alfred F. Jones). And Austria (Roderich Edelstein). And Canada (Matthew Williams). Wait. I'm noticing a pattern. THEY'RE ALL MALE (even though I get super awkward around them, it apparently doesn't affect my manga preference...I draw a lot more guys than girls too...). Well, I don't really like Russia (Ivan Braginsky) though. I'm not sure why he's so popular...he's too weird. I mean, I know I like weird people but he...is weird in a way I don't like.
And I here end my rant on my life and Hetalia.
HETALIA!
(Yes, I know I lie, but doesn't everyone love liars? I think the world will be in much more pain if we don't lie diplomatically, or out of politeness.)
Monday, 12 July 2010
TAG! You're 'It'.
MY TYPE OF (MANGA) GUY [or manga girl]
Which is to say, describes my preference for characters in mangas. No, seriously. I don't exactly go 'goo goo gaa gaa' about any character in particular, so these are just characteristics I'd like in the characters who do appear. Because if the characters are persistently annoying...I'll drop the manga and pick up another one.
AnYan tagged me on facebook, by the way, but I'm posting it here.
The 'quiz' (meme?) starts NOW.
Now, here's what you're supposed to do, and please do not spoil the fun. Copy and paste this into your notes, delete my answers, type in your answers and tag 20 of your friends here in facebook to answer this. Then see what happens.
if you're a guy - post this as my kind of girl..
if you're a girl - post it as my kind of guy..
1. Do you need him/her to be good looking?
Yes. As in, the manga kind of good looking. Any kind of good looking. If he looks too bad it turns me off as well. Mangas with horrible looking characters don't hold my attention for long because manga is all about the art, no?
If it's a girl, all the more. I get annoyed by girls much more easily than boys so, yeah.
2. Smart?
Yes. This is much preferred over brawns. Look, currently, even main characters of sports manga use their heads a lot.
Girls need to be smart. Or else they're going to appear really air-headed, and air-headed characters (especially females) can go drown in a pool of boiling acid.
3. Preferred age?
Late teens, I guess, although early 20s is fine too. They tend to be more interesting around this time of their lives. Too young = CHILDISH. Too old = TOO WISE (they don't make any mistakes, so it's not exactly very interesting).
4. Preferred height?
...165cm and taller. Short males are fine, as long as they fulfill most other criteria. I mean, it's not as if you can actually tell their relative heights to you in manga anyway...
Females have got to be 155cm and above if they're already in their teens. Short females are just crying out for me to disrespect them...
5. How about sense of humor?
Does not have to be present. It's perfectly alright for him to be unable to make jokes but as long as his attitude, reactions and behaviours are funny (whether he realises it or not) it will be
5. How about sense of humor?
Does not have to be present. It's perfectly alright for him to be unable to make jokes but as long as his attitude, reactions and behaviours are funny (whether he realises it or not) it will be satisfying.
I like female characters who are either sporty or serious, so go figure.
6. How about piercings?
Yes please! Only on the ears, though. Maybe exceptions in some places but definitely NOT on the tongue or any parts of the face. You can pierce as many holes as you want on his ears, so long as the lobe does not detach from the head. Of course, it depends entirely on his personality and status...
Females...I'd say it doesn't really matter. I mean, if I said yes, I'd be hating myself, which I don't exactly. Earrings for the more glamorous ones, sporty ones don't need to have them.
7. Accepts you for who you are?
Breaking the fourth wall much?
8. Pink hair?
...possibly. =) Wacky is good, too, although pink does fit Euphemia quite a lot even if she's not strange in that many ways.
9. Mushy or no?
Uh...maybe? Well it completely depends on their characters. I like the two extremes as well as the tsundere kind of characters. They're interesting to play around with.
(Tsundere: Used to describe a person who does not show his/her affection openly and expresses feelings like dislike instead, doesn’t want to show his/her soft side, wants to appear strong)
10. Thin or fat?
Thin. Not anorexic, of course, but Lelouch is acceptable because all the characters in Code Geass are stick thin anyway. I guess he is rather normal by Code Geass universe standards. Females have got to not have too much body fat.
11. Skin colour?
Exotic is good (dark skin + super pale hair!). Of course, pale is fine too. Yellowish Asian skin should be the best, though, since it is manga after all.
12. Long hair or short hair?
Both are fine. It really depends on the personality, type of hair, hair colour and such random stuff. I generally prefer male characters with hair that are long, though, but I tend to favour drawing males with semi-long hair. Females preferably should have long hair (lol, stereotype much?).
13. Plastic or metal?
It would help if I understand what this question was going on about...but metal, thank you. It's shinier.
14. Smells good?
OF COURSE. Unless he's a hobo or something. That's forgivable.
15. Smoker?
NO. But the act of sticking a twig between the index and middle finger and holding one end of the twig to his mouth does appeal quite a bit. Hands would be quite empty otherwise. If he was a real dude who stepped out of a manga or something, definite no. NO SMOKING OR YOU PAY THE FINE! Also, I am sensitive to air pollution, so yeah.
16. Drinker?
No thanks. Unless it's vital to the plot or something. Have you ever seen a 17 year old manga character downing beer like there's no tomorrow because his girlfriend broke up with him or he flunked a ridiculously hard Math test?
17. Girl/Boy-next-door type?
What? What does that mean?
18. Muscular?
Well-defined, please, but no overwhelming muscle definition. That'll be hideous. Gosh, imagine... I like male characters slightly on the thin side, as mentioned above. Or they can have no muscle definition at all. Females should NOT have too much muscle definition...definitely not.
19. Plays piano?
Yes. That'll be a nice bonus. He should have an appreciation for the arts. I like class (no, not class as in lessons, class as in elegance).
20. Plays bass and/or acoustic guitar?
Bass! I like the type of characters who are important but also rather background characters. Meaning that no one notices their importance, so when they die everyone's world crumbles apart and they finally realise their dependency on this character, but all is too late...MUAHAHAHAHA!
21. Plays violin?
Violins are nice additions to portraits. They look good. They sound good too, very soulful, so if the character is one who is more in touch with his/her spiritual self, I say go for it.
22. Sings very well?
YES. I also like characters who stand out. A lot. You know the way lead singers are always the ones being crushed on? Yes, same concept (minus the crush).
23. Vain?
Haha. Maybe. *laughs* I wouldn't mind if he/she has quality to back up their claims. I also like characters who have lots of self-confidence, though not so much that their heads could lift them into the air. This vain-ness, of course, should last only up till something serious occurs, then he/she should completely forget about it and focus on the task at hand. Show your serious side!
24. With glasses?
Ooh. Nice. Guys would be nice with them. Girl...not quite. I'm not exactly sure why glasses look good, but maybe they do cover up flaws in facial proportions after all...huh. I'm gonna draw much more glasses from now on, although my glasses suck.
25. With braces?
Are you asking if I mind them or if I like them? I think braces are quite nice. They make a character easier to remember and define them better. It makes the character unique, and they also have one more thing to complain about!
26. Shy type?
Oh, I like both extremes. The flamboyant and the shy, both appeal greatly as characters. They have their own quirks and personality definition that makes them SO fun to manipulate... *insert evil cackle*
27. Rebel or good boy/girl?
Both. Extreme again. Rebels are...cool. The nerds are...I dunno. But they are cool too in a much less outgoing sense. They're kinda docile, I guess, but there's nothing wrong. Oh! I get it, the nerds wear glasses more. So...I side with the nerds, maybe.
28. Active or passive?
Both, and neither. Don't make me decide! They're all great in their own way! The active make mangas much more dynamic and faster moving, the passive tend to focus on character development and the people in the middle are...a fine balance of both. I like action, psychological and school life manga just fine, thank you, provided the art proves to be satisfactory.
29. Tight or bomb?
Uh...both, again. Uptight people are fun. Their reactions are really great to make fun of. What's a bomb kind of person?
30. Singer or dancer?
Both? I think mangas about singers tend to revolve around spiritual aspects, like soul in the song and meaning of its words being conveyed through the tone of voice and everything. Dance is more of a physical thing, and the bodyline can be quite beautiful sometimes.
31. Stunner?
Yes, but hopefully not too much. It'll totally take the attention away from the plot (assuming the plot is good in the first place).
...or do you mean that gun in Star Trek where they use to momentarily render someone numb and immobile?
32. Hiphop?
Um, sure? This technically does fall under dance, right?
33. Earrings?
Oh, YES. Refer to whatever I said about piercings somewhere up, up above. I think earrings look great on certain kind of guys, and they're very nice things to add if you find your female character too plain or something.
34. Mr/Ms. count-my-ex-girlfriends-until-you-drop?
Uh...that would be an interesting character. Kind of like a gigolo or some play-boy, right? They'll be very fun and interesting to portray and/or read about. In a sense that they provide lots of comic relief, but on the other hand, there can also be a deeper, psychological meaning where they are not secure enough and yada yada, and the plot can thicken and so on. I like both.
35. Dimples?
Does that matter?
36. Bookworm?
Ooh, yes. Smart characters are good, remember? Of course, natural smarts is important as well, but we cannot deny the power of rummaging through thick volumes of Encyclopaedias and gaining fresh new insights to this rapidly changing world around us, no? Bookworms are good.
37. Mr/Ms. love letter?
Uh...if the love letter moves me, why not? I like manga that pull on my heartstrings. I seem to be reading a lot of these nowadays, and I'm loving it. I like that feeling of...oh, I don't know, of some sort of pang in your chest or something. It feels like I'm human, not that I don't know that I'm human, but well. Everyone likes some assurance.
38. Playful?
The kind that don't study for exams and still get good grades? Sure. The kind that likes to tie little ponytails out of some serious dude's nice blond hair? Go ahead. The kind that goes through girls like, I don't know, everyday? Well, I guess they're okay if they have some psychological trauma that's making them do that.
39. Flirt?
Uh, okay? I'm not particular about this or anything. You can be a gay for all I care, just don't rub your gayness off onto me. I'm Christian, 100% Christian. I do not want to be stained by yaoi or yuri. Oh, NO. *shudders*
40. Poem writer?
Ha, YES! Okay, I'm really into moving the heart and these kind of things recently. Everything about passive shows of affection to affection that is completely hidden (see Lelouch during the execution of the Zero Requiem, gosh, he's so...tsundere? Not really, but I just like the way he tries his best for those he loves). I like nice, enchanting, delicate (wow, so unlike me), meaningful, floaty kind of poetry. Flowery language, maybe? Of course, dark poems with a touch of class are great too.
41. Serious?
Oh, that, and those who completely lack serotonin
42. Campus crush?
Hey, who am I to dictate what goes on in their love lives? If it kinda gives them trauma or makes their personality interesting, way to go.
43. Painter?
Ooh! Nice! I'd like to learn from him, if I can, but seeing as the characters are in mangas...well, if they have deep meanings in their paintings, I say leave them be.
44. Religious?
That'll be nice, if the religion was Christianity.
45. Someone who likes to tease people?
Yes, yes, YES! Oh, those characters really are interesting!
46. Computer games geek? Or internet freak?
I don't really see the difference, but I suppose that would be cool. Think 'The World God Only Knows'. That guy is anti-social to the maximum because of gaming, but I think it's cool.
47. Speaks 20 languages?
Oh, great!
48. Loyal or faithful?
This is a prized characteristic. Characters who are unable to feel attached to something tend to be a little sad. Of course, I think that those kinds of characters have their own merits too, like being able to write sad poetry (oh, what's with me and poetry). Well, it would be nice to have a really faithful and loyal character though.
49. Good kisser?
That would matter how?
50. Loves children??
Haha, doesn't matter. Depends on if he's intending to have kids in the future, but preferably yes, I guess, although I won't hate him if he doesn't.
Erm...I tag...Kimberly (Art Club), Zann, and whoever else wants to do it. I mean...how many exactly can I tag?
Which is to say, describes my preference for characters in mangas. No, seriously. I don't exactly go 'goo goo gaa gaa' about any character in particular, so these are just characteristics I'd like in the characters who do appear. Because if the characters are persistently annoying...I'll drop the manga and pick up another one.
AnYan tagged me on facebook, by the way, but I'm posting it here.
The 'quiz' (meme?) starts NOW.
Now, here's what you're supposed to do, and please do not spoil the fun. Copy and paste this into your notes, delete my answers, type in your answers and tag 20 of your friends here in facebook to answer this. Then see what happens.
if you're a guy - post this as my kind of girl..
if you're a girl - post it as my kind of guy..
1. Do you need him/her to be good looking?
Yes. As in, the manga kind of good looking. Any kind of good looking. If he looks too bad it turns me off as well. Mangas with horrible looking characters don't hold my attention for long because manga is all about the art, no?
If it's a girl, all the more. I get annoyed by girls much more easily than boys so, yeah.
2. Smart?
Yes. This is much preferred over brawns. Look, currently, even main characters of sports manga use their heads a lot.
Girls need to be smart. Or else they're going to appear really air-headed, and air-headed characters (especially females) can go drown in a pool of boiling acid.
3. Preferred age?
Late teens, I guess, although early 20s is fine too. They tend to be more interesting around this time of their lives. Too young = CHILDISH. Too old = TOO WISE (they don't make any mistakes, so it's not exactly very interesting).
4. Preferred height?
...165cm and taller. Short males are fine, as long as they fulfill most other criteria. I mean, it's not as if you can actually tell their relative heights to you in manga anyway...
Females have got to be 155cm and above if they're already in their teens. Short females are just crying out for me to disrespect them...
5. How about sense of humor?
Does not have to be present. It's perfectly alright for him to be unable to make jokes but as long as his attitude, reactions and behaviours are funny (whether he realises it or not) it will be
5. How about sense of humor?
Does not have to be present. It's perfectly alright for him to be unable to make jokes but as long as his attitude, reactions and behaviours are funny (whether he realises it or not) it will be satisfying.
I like female characters who are either sporty or serious, so go figure.
6. How about piercings?
Yes please! Only on the ears, though. Maybe exceptions in some places but definitely NOT on the tongue or any parts of the face. You can pierce as many holes as you want on his ears, so long as the lobe does not detach from the head. Of course, it depends entirely on his personality and status...
Females...I'd say it doesn't really matter. I mean, if I said yes, I'd be hating myself, which I don't exactly. Earrings for the more glamorous ones, sporty ones don't need to have them.
7. Accepts you for who you are?
Breaking the fourth wall much?
8. Pink hair?
...possibly. =) Wacky is good, too, although pink does fit Euphemia quite a lot even if she's not strange in that many ways.
9. Mushy or no?
Uh...maybe? Well it completely depends on their characters. I like the two extremes as well as the tsundere kind of characters. They're interesting to play around with.
(Tsundere: Used to describe a person who does not show his/her affection openly and expresses feelings like dislike instead, doesn’t want to show his/her soft side, wants to appear strong)
10. Thin or fat?
Thin. Not anorexic, of course, but Lelouch is acceptable because all the characters in Code Geass are stick thin anyway. I guess he is rather normal by Code Geass universe standards. Females have got to not have too much body fat.
11. Skin colour?
Exotic is good (dark skin + super pale hair!). Of course, pale is fine too. Yellowish Asian skin should be the best, though, since it is manga after all.
12. Long hair or short hair?
Both are fine. It really depends on the personality, type of hair, hair colour and such random stuff. I generally prefer male characters with hair that are long, though, but I tend to favour drawing males with semi-long hair. Females preferably should have long hair (lol, stereotype much?).
13. Plastic or metal?
It would help if I understand what this question was going on about...but metal, thank you. It's shinier.
14. Smells good?
OF COURSE. Unless he's a hobo or something. That's forgivable.
15. Smoker?
NO. But the act of sticking a twig between the index and middle finger and holding one end of the twig to his mouth does appeal quite a bit. Hands would be quite empty otherwise. If he was a real dude who stepped out of a manga or something, definite no. NO SMOKING OR YOU PAY THE FINE! Also, I am sensitive to air pollution, so yeah.
16. Drinker?
No thanks. Unless it's vital to the plot or something. Have you ever seen a 17 year old manga character downing beer like there's no tomorrow because his girlfriend broke up with him or he flunked a ridiculously hard Math test?
17. Girl/Boy-next-door type?
What? What does that mean?
18. Muscular?
Well-defined, please, but no overwhelming muscle definition. That'll be hideous. Gosh, imagine... I like male characters slightly on the thin side, as mentioned above. Or they can have no muscle definition at all. Females should NOT have too much muscle definition...definitely not.
19. Plays piano?
Yes. That'll be a nice bonus. He should have an appreciation for the arts. I like class (no, not class as in lessons, class as in elegance).
20. Plays bass and/or acoustic guitar?
Bass! I like the type of characters who are important but also rather background characters. Meaning that no one notices their importance, so when they die everyone's world crumbles apart and they finally realise their dependency on this character, but all is too late...MUAHAHAHAHA!
21. Plays violin?
Violins are nice additions to portraits. They look good. They sound good too, very soulful, so if the character is one who is more in touch with his/her spiritual self, I say go for it.
22. Sings very well?
YES. I also like characters who stand out. A lot. You know the way lead singers are always the ones being crushed on? Yes, same concept (minus the crush).
23. Vain?
Haha. Maybe. *laughs* I wouldn't mind if he/she has quality to back up their claims. I also like characters who have lots of self-confidence, though not so much that their heads could lift them into the air. This vain-ness, of course, should last only up till something serious occurs, then he/she should completely forget about it and focus on the task at hand. Show your serious side!
24. With glasses?
Ooh. Nice. Guys would be nice with them. Girl...not quite. I'm not exactly sure why glasses look good, but maybe they do cover up flaws in facial proportions after all...huh. I'm gonna draw much more glasses from now on, although my glasses suck.
25. With braces?
Are you asking if I mind them or if I like them? I think braces are quite nice. They make a character easier to remember and define them better. It makes the character unique, and they also have one more thing to complain about!
26. Shy type?
Oh, I like both extremes. The flamboyant and the shy, both appeal greatly as characters. They have their own quirks and personality definition that makes them SO fun to manipulate... *insert evil cackle*
27. Rebel or good boy/girl?
Both. Extreme again. Rebels are...cool. The nerds are...I dunno. But they are cool too in a much less outgoing sense. They're kinda docile, I guess, but there's nothing wrong. Oh! I get it, the nerds wear glasses more. So...I side with the nerds, maybe.
28. Active or passive?
Both, and neither. Don't make me decide! They're all great in their own way! The active make mangas much more dynamic and faster moving, the passive tend to focus on character development and the people in the middle are...a fine balance of both. I like action, psychological and school life manga just fine, thank you, provided the art proves to be satisfactory.
29. Tight or bomb?
Uh...both, again. Uptight people are fun. Their reactions are really great to make fun of. What's a bomb kind of person?
30. Singer or dancer?
Both? I think mangas about singers tend to revolve around spiritual aspects, like soul in the song and meaning of its words being conveyed through the tone of voice and everything. Dance is more of a physical thing, and the bodyline can be quite beautiful sometimes.
31. Stunner?
Yes, but hopefully not too much. It'll totally take the attention away from the plot (assuming the plot is good in the first place).
...or do you mean that gun in Star Trek where they use to momentarily render someone numb and immobile?
32. Hiphop?
Um, sure? This technically does fall under dance, right?
33. Earrings?
Oh, YES. Refer to whatever I said about piercings somewhere up, up above. I think earrings look great on certain kind of guys, and they're very nice things to add if you find your female character too plain or something.
34. Mr/Ms. count-my-ex-girlfriends-until-you-drop?
Uh...that would be an interesting character. Kind of like a gigolo or some play-boy, right? They'll be very fun and interesting to portray and/or read about. In a sense that they provide lots of comic relief, but on the other hand, there can also be a deeper, psychological meaning where they are not secure enough and yada yada, and the plot can thicken and so on. I like both.
35. Dimples?
Does that matter?
36. Bookworm?
Ooh, yes. Smart characters are good, remember? Of course, natural smarts is important as well, but we cannot deny the power of rummaging through thick volumes of Encyclopaedias and gaining fresh new insights to this rapidly changing world around us, no? Bookworms are good.
37. Mr/Ms. love letter?
Uh...if the love letter moves me, why not? I like manga that pull on my heartstrings. I seem to be reading a lot of these nowadays, and I'm loving it. I like that feeling of...oh, I don't know, of some sort of pang in your chest or something. It feels like I'm human, not that I don't know that I'm human, but well. Everyone likes some assurance.
38. Playful?
The kind that don't study for exams and still get good grades? Sure. The kind that likes to tie little ponytails out of some serious dude's nice blond hair? Go ahead. The kind that goes through girls like, I don't know, everyday? Well, I guess they're okay if they have some psychological trauma that's making them do that.
39. Flirt?
Uh, okay? I'm not particular about this or anything. You can be a gay for all I care, just don't rub your gayness off onto me. I'm Christian, 100% Christian. I do not want to be stained by yaoi or yuri. Oh, NO. *shudders*
40. Poem writer?
Ha, YES! Okay, I'm really into moving the heart and these kind of things recently. Everything about passive shows of affection to affection that is completely hidden (see Lelouch during the execution of the Zero Requiem, gosh, he's so...tsundere? Not really, but I just like the way he tries his best for those he loves). I like nice, enchanting, delicate (wow, so unlike me), meaningful, floaty kind of poetry. Flowery language, maybe? Of course, dark poems with a touch of class are great too.
41. Serious?
Oh, that, and those who completely lack serotonin
42. Campus crush?
Hey, who am I to dictate what goes on in their love lives? If it kinda gives them trauma or makes their personality interesting, way to go.
43. Painter?
Ooh! Nice! I'd like to learn from him, if I can, but seeing as the characters are in mangas...well, if they have deep meanings in their paintings, I say leave them be.
44. Religious?
That'll be nice, if the religion was Christianity.
45. Someone who likes to tease people?
Yes, yes, YES! Oh, those characters really are interesting!
46. Computer games geek? Or internet freak?
I don't really see the difference, but I suppose that would be cool. Think 'The World God Only Knows'. That guy is anti-social to the maximum because of gaming, but I think it's cool.
47. Speaks 20 languages?
Oh, great!
48. Loyal or faithful?
This is a prized characteristic. Characters who are unable to feel attached to something tend to be a little sad. Of course, I think that those kinds of characters have their own merits too, like being able to write sad poetry (oh, what's with me and poetry). Well, it would be nice to have a really faithful and loyal character though.
49. Good kisser?
That would matter how?
50. Loves children??
Haha, doesn't matter. Depends on if he's intending to have kids in the future, but preferably yes, I guess, although I won't hate him if he doesn't.
Erm...I tag...Kimberly (Art Club), Zann, and whoever else wants to do it. I mean...how many exactly can I tag?
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