August!

Yes, it's almost August now, which also means that the new - and final - academic year is about to start. With each passing year, uni life gets a little less exciting. It's like replaying your almost-perfected S.O.P. year after year, although of course, things almost certainly never goes according to plan and new situations push us in new directions.

There's a proposal deadline hanging in the air, but not much inspiration has since transpired to materialise something, anything. For better or for worse, SEP has taught me that the last-minute warrior sometimes produces something vaguely intelligent with fairly little stress; it can be quite a miracle worker actually. Now's the time to catch the last days of holidays to read that book, watch that movie, or slack away guilt-free before the factory-like lifestyle of students kick in again. But, what a joy to be the student instead of the teacher.

My attachment also ended without much fanfare, but I'm glad to have met rather colourful personalities along the way. People are always interesting, but sometimes we get too caught up with our schedules and deadlines to really make time for people that really matter, the ones who provide meaning to our otherwise mundane existence. It's also much easier to stick to one's comfort zone and watch as time pass us by, occasionally amusing ourselves with a spontaneous break from monotony, only to seek comfort in our old ways when the uncertain appears too unruly, ill-disciplined.

Perhaps its most unfortunate to live in a place with virtually no seasons. With the coming and passing of spring, summer, autumn and winter, there is at least a sense of the cyclical nature of time, but also the impetus to occasionally catch a respite and take stock of life. What is the meaning of it? Why are we doing what we are doing? Should I try something new? Alas, living in a tropical climate spares us the need for immense wardrobes, but also denies us of much space to take in the variety and diversity of life.

But it does little good to lament. Make good use of whatever time there is. Life is meant to be lived :)

*

swirling thoughts

I kind of realised that my blog is rather boring. (ok, this is waaaayyy belated.) Perhaps this is because I don't lead a very exciting life - I take comfort in security, stability, serenity. I love 'high' points in life - when you snag that goal you're aiming for, the not-so-occasional/occasional social gatherings, the occasional kaching that comes in from tuition etc. (Oprah declared in 2008 that "Liking $ is good. I love $." I agree!)

But at times you think about how life should/could/might have turned out differently, if only one had done so-and-so at some point in life. Coming from a student of History, it might be rather funny, but life needs to be lived and experienced forward, not backward. Getting the direction wrong will only leave more room for regret.

Bad decisions can be costly. But is the cost of not doing anything even greater?-

*

it's the holidays!

Ok this post is rather belated, since this is theoretically the beginning of the 5th week of my holidays. For the past 3 weeks, I have been reliefing back at my alma mata, so I guess waking up at 5.30am isn't exactly holidays! So, for the past week (my 'real' holidays), I've been catching up with my shows (Desperate Housewives; it's important to learn to be conniving. Oops, I mean, discerning) and some random reading.

It's funny how whenever we're studying/working, we look forward to the holidays, but when it does come, we're kind of not sure what to do, or do things that, well, don't really add much value professionally/academically/intellectually. I should start doing something more 'useful', hmmmm.

Speaking of which, the exam results were released earlier last week, and that also provided a fairly clear signal that, yes, i should consider prospects of doing an M.A. more seriously. I'm not decided on any location yet (although the academic discipline to pursue is more than fairly certain), so I'm still opened to ideas/suggestions. I would also like to think that I wouldn't want o return to UBC, Vancouver. I love the college (check out their uber cool campus lip dup), the city, and the Canadians! (Give me marks for my use of alliteration!) As with all things in life, variety is spice. (Rhymes?) I prefer constancy to change, but it's always good to push beyond our comfort zones if we really want to grow. It's painful, difficult, but eventually it will all somehow work out.

In any case, there is still half a year to decide before the first round of paper trailing (application to colleges) are closed - that's when the second round of money-begging begins.

But for now, I need some brainwaves on HT topics. Maybe I should visit the school library to just sieve out past works. Too bad, they don't indicate the marks on the copies there. Who knows whether you're reading a B+ work or A+ masterpiece?


Best Wishes,

Exams!

Ok, this being the critical semester that will partly determine whether I do m post-grad, I wonder why I'm still blogging here. Heh.

I'm starting to realise that yes, we should have been doing more reading for Stan's class, not wait until like now. But hey, better late than never, right? lol.

Ok back to revising :)

*

the charge

Ok, assignments are all finally done. whew. Which also means, time to catch up on all the unread readings, before slacking, sorting out the lecture slides and getting them printed, then commencing my exam revision.

This is the rush. My overseas postgrad will depend on this semester. Woah.

*

April '11 update

Ok, nothing much exciting is really happening nowadays; its just school, tuition, tennis and the usual assignments' rush. But the three-months-holiday is just one month away!

*

Exam week(s)!

Just a quick update, since it's exam week(s)!

The school term has just ended, so I'm just rushing out my last paper, which would hopefully/likely be churned out by the end of the day. There are lots of revision to be done etc., but I guess it will all turn out fine eventually!

At the same time, I wished I had the time (and chance) to get to know some people better, although that did not quite happen for whatever reason. In any case, it's still not too late, and I'm glad that people have 'opened' up (or more correctly, we have all 'opened' up)!

My latest obsession is with Blenz Coffee's Belgian Dark Chocolate Cafe Mocha, which is like damn freaking NICE! Unfortunately, I don't think you can find the store, or even the drink, in SG! Will someone PLEASSSSEEE franchise Blenz in SG???

*Back to writing, then mugging!*