Day 25: The little things that make me go "Boom"

1. I keep forgetting to take pictures. It's such a simple process, just slide and click.

2. Eye contact. The people I interact with lately don't seem to practice this crucial process in communication. Cultural differences maybe? On that note, it's difficult being hilarious while being Chinese. I'm still trying to figure that last part out.

3. My childishness. I drive myself crazy all the time. It's a weird paradox, but it can happen. I've seen it. Just imagine Kronk's dual conscience from the Emperor's New Groove. Only... I think I have about five more of those homunculi living in my head.

4. Inconsistencies.

5. My inability to scream. I'm super frustrated, but I don't know why. There's absolutely no reason for me to feel this way. Hormones... maybe?

Day 24: Being consistent once more~

My gawd... The room's so dark it's messing up the colors. So we had a very wet and cold morning, a glorious sunny afternoon, and a thunderstorm raging through the night. Been a while since I last heard thunder crackling like a bag of chips.

Day 23: Of messy tables, birthdays and sighs

The three "topics" aren't exactly related... they're mere sentiments I'm having at the moment in relation to my summer "vacation."

Yeap, I've moved into a new room in another residence hall. Damn, it's dark in here... This will only last until July 8th and three days after that, it's Malaysia once more~ I can't wait to get back... The long flight doesn't seem as intimidating anymore.

My table feels messy. Even though I've arranged the papers accordingly, it remains unsettling for some reason. I also have to work until 1am later tonight, so I'm really not looking forward to it, considering how I'm already nodding my head off.

Seiya's (my foster brother in Japan) birthday is next Tuesday and I successfully forced myself to send that card to him. I frustrate myself by always procrastinating with the greeting cards--it's not that difficult at all! I just don't understand how that could even be a chore. However, I do hope he would reply. I always have this fear of sending things away through air-mail. I keep thinking they would somehow disappear into the Pacific or something...

On sighing... it's just a habit that Alicia and I just picked up, and it's annoying us both like crazy.

Oh my, I am absolutely tired... I might just very well take a nap before reconvening with my group at 7pm...

9th Month, Day... 21?!

I'm not dead yet. And I emphasize that last word with ambiguity. Allow me to summarize my finals, my first week of summer and my job as coherently as possible. I'll promise not to rant along the way... if I could.

I must apologize for not updating the blog. Everything just seems to be pacing at the speed of light, and I'd much rather stop and smell the flowers. See? I've been separated from the writing board for so long that I'm spewing cliched expressions now. Bloody hell.

Despite that, I've been rather consistent with the six items.

...

Well... that's hard to say too because I don't exactly have my six items for May. I've been basically wearing either my pajamas or my NSE uniform (red polo and khakis, though I prefer to use the word chinos...). But I do have several items for May, for instance:

Seersucker shirt and denim shorts with flip flops. A staple for summer I suppose... I also have this brown shirt with a large puppy in front of it that I've yet to take a picture of. Aside from these three, I'm really just in my comfy clothes.

Now, for finals, it turned out pretty well. I'm still a 4.0 scholar and the pressure's on to maintain it during my final semester. Just one more, and I have nothing more to worry about, at least, for my undergraduate degree.

The first week of summer right after finals had been one of the best weeks for a long time. I had nothing to worry about, except the whole moving-in-and-out process--but even that was okay because I actually like packing my things up and arranging them (I know some who absolutely abhors the idea). Transportation was the only problem but even that was sorted pretty quickly.

Most interestingly, I did nothing but eat, sleep, shower and play Pokemon all day.

Stereotype. Stereotype. Stereotype. Stereotype. Stereotype.

I know, but it was fun. And somewhat nostalgic. It's the whole philosophy of "collecting things"... Our lives are made up of the things we see, touch, hear, feel... a "collection" of sensations, emotions, memories and experiences. This one just happens to appear as cute and bouncy sprites.

I had NSE camp the Monday after that glorious week, and this was the only photo I took of the camp:

Nothing fancy, but I find this therapeutic somehow...

A tree?

Yeap.

Just a tree?

Just this tree.

My job? Tiring. I appreciate the information, but I wish we had more hands-on experience. I feel more comfortable with that. To think, I never had training like this back at INTI when I worked for marketing. The results were the same now and then (customer-satisfaction-wise), though "training" then constituted only a brief informational session the day before enrollment.

So much to say, but so little time for expression. I'm actually doing my laundry right now, just when my roommate's entering a deep slumber. One can tell from the huffs... huffs... huffs...

I'm still not sure if I'll be able to update this regularly thanks to our hectic schedules (we even have to work weekends... goodness...), but I'll try. The only thing keeping me sane at the moment is writing to a silent (or absent) global internet community.

Days 19-24: Just one more week now...

Well this week seemed to be a record low for me... in terms of my outfits. Since it was cold, all I wore were the chinos, the shirt I woke up with, and a coat. It's either wet or windy... Gah...

Well, I'm done with my linguistics course~ Sort of... I finished my final paper and the final group presentation's looking good. Ironically, this makes me even more reluctant to finish the 40 pages I have left for my other courses... 20 by this Friday, and the remaining 20 by the following Wednesday.

This is enough to make a middle-aged lumberjack to cry tears that can flood the entire nation...

...

I... don't see how that could ever possibly relate to my own misery.

Day 18: I sound different...

I thought I'd never need to wear wool again for a season or two... Well, I've been proven wrong:

Hang on... what's that behind me...?

Ahh. That... made me ill. I'm now plagued with the flu and a bad cough. This should not be happening to me when it's a fortnight away from the end of semester....

Days... 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17: I told you I would be gone for a while...

Day 12:

Meh... Just a regular Tuesday...

Day 13:

Well... I was lazy to put on anything really. I almost ran out in my PJs, but I decided to put on the chinos in the end... with a belt... and the cardigan. Though, I did spend quite some time deciding flip flops or shoes. Part of the motivation also stemmed from the fact that I had been invited to do a reading of my published story, so I guess I had to make some sort of an "appearance."

Here's proof:

Spot the odd one out. 8) It shouldn't be that difficult.

Day 14:

Class was cancelled. So I practically lounged in my room all day with messy hair and... well, messy hair.

Day 15:

Damp. Just... Eurgh... Misery misery misery. I swore not to wear anything made of wool the day the sun came up and I was forced to put on a thicker jacket just because it was so cold. Dang it. I forgot to take a picture, though... My apologies. Other than that, it was just the chinos and my my slumber (to those who understand... "selamba") shirt.

Days 16 & 17:

Weekend. Need I say more?

I guess I'm beginning to see my relationship with this blog as a relationship "relationship"--the longer the separation, the more excited I am "meet" it again. What can I say about the past week? Just more literature that fucks with my mind. Oh and final projects too. I've got my coffee by my side so I'm well equipped. I'm adamant on finishing my linguistics narrative tonight, so we'll see where that goes~

I'm feelin' PRODUCTIVE.

Days... 8, 9, 10 & 11: Wow...

Day 8:

Day 10:

Day 11:

For Friday and Sunday, I had to put on formalwear because of two honors convocations I attended. Otherwise, I literally exeunt my room in PJs... In my defense, I only had one class on Friday (my linguistics course had been cancelled) and, well, it was a Sunday.

Now aside from the final projects I have, I need to do my laundry. It's been put off since Friday and I'm about to run out of my... ahem. Not good. While I'll be doing this, my barley will be boiling and I can't somehow tilt the lid in a satisfactory angle--I want it to boil but I don't want it to spill over the cooker. Well... this is what I get for using a rice cooker with only two preset options--"Warm" or "Cook."

I find the structure of my sentences primal... somehow.

Oh, in addition, there's a high chance that I might be on hiatus for about a fortnight or so. The pictures will be up, no less, though that's gonna be it until the end of April. Two weeks is one heck of a short period to finish 40~50 pages...

Day 7: Wet wet wet

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Splish. Splash. Splish.

Sigh...

I didn't even bother to change since it's so...

Day 6: I almost missed today's as well...

I forgot to take today's photo too! Gah... But it wasn't very different from yesterday's outfit. I wore the shorts again with the striped shirt. The other striped shirt. Otherwise, nothing much going on 'cept for my sudden addiction to my PSP. Which is uncanny in my opinion since just the week before, I was ready to bash it to the ground due to frustration. Oh well.

Day 5: I know I missed...

And then it got too warm for the cardigan...

Day 4: Plastic...?

So... I wrapped my assignment in plastic and handed it in to Dr. Vogt... I wonder if he'll get the statement... Oh well, he likes avant-garde, so I hope that would appeal to him in some way.

Day 3: Okay... so I wouldn't be sleeping tonight after all

Only because I slept for most of the day. Even though it was a beautiful day. Now, it's just cold and windy. Well, I've got my mug of coffee and I'm prepared for another night of complete academic isolation.

Oh, before I leave, I find this a little ironic: IF one is prepared to leave Facebook for 3 weeks, in hopes of separating oneself from an addictive social network website, why continue to use Twitter then?

... hmm... Let me rephrase that.

I find it funny, somehow, that some people would refrain themselves from using Facebook, yet still maintain they're reachable via Twitter. Why not go all out? Just stick to emails . Remove all notifications from Facebook/Twitter to avoid temptation/distraction. Sure, in this time and age, technology seems almost inseparable to us. We're virtually married to it. And it makes me quiver to think that the longhand might be extinct in a decade or so... Think about it, all it takes are high schools to implement using computers for assignments and ta-dah, no one would care about legibility anymore since everything can be done with a keyboard. Is it... sad? Or is it just an evolution of language itself that I should learn to accept?

...

Waaaay off topic here.

Anyway, I just thought it interesting how we occasionally act. We say something, and then we subtly defy them. We live in a paradox. We are a paradox. Nothing makes sense anymore! I blame Ander Monson's Other Electricities... Since he mentioned that the book was supposed to be uncomfortable to the reader, I couldn't bring myself to finish all of the stories. Out of 159 pages, I stopped at 139. Mindfuck. MindfuckED.

Language poetry... Hmm...

Day 2: Time to pull it together!

Ta-dah~ I think I skipped this process for the past two months, so I'm indoctrinating it once again. The chinos are lavender, though it isn't very obvious here...

So, it's work night on a Saturday and I'm feeling pumped! Sure it's the weekend, but I wanna sleep on Sunday night, so might as well "cram" now.

8th Month, Day 1

Happy April Fools' Day! Thought I'd wear something loud just for the occasion... Both the shirt and pants are part of the six items anyway. The glasses, however, was borrowed. It's a little skewed to the right... Still, it completes the whole geek chic look.

I'll be posting the other items tomorrow, since my night has been spent entirely on scrubbing shoes... Yes, the damnation for not discovering talc as a solution to sweaty feet. But they're clean now, so I'm happy~ What a way to celebrate April Fools'.

Day 31: What an inglorious way to end the last day of March

Well, I don't have pictures for today either, that's because I woke up at friggin' 6pm. Yes, I missed my class for today (luckily, I only have one class to attend on Thursdays). Oh, and I realized I should've at least mention what I wore yesterday even though there weren't any pictures to solidify my claim... Well, it was the striped singlet and the blue Y-neck shirt. And the pair of jeans. And my... not-so-white pair of shoes. Without socks. With a lot of talc powder. It works... aromatically.

I'm just annoyed with myself for being unable to participate in what would have been a very interesting class discussion on the feminist interpretation of the Arthurian legend--Mists of Avalon. Sure, the number of pages can be a quick turn off but the characters are so moving! At first glance, Igraine might've been some ordinary housewife who's (soon to be) the unwilling wife of Uther Pendragon and mother of the future High King of Britain. Bradley did a stupendous job changing that part of the legend. Igraine actually wants to be with Uther, not with Gorlois. And her character just shines through above all the other whiny knights and rulers of pre-Round Table Londinium.

I just love that woman's attitude. For instance, she likes it when Uther asked Gorlois to divorce her so Uther could marry her. But at the same time, she's equally mad at Uther for daring to request this without even asking her consent to the matter. Sooooooo feministic... all the more reason why I'm hooked by the first five chapters (which spans for about 70 pages... not a light read).

And the fact that Bradley treats religion (well, Christianity mainly) through a feministic lens is eye candy for me. Her arguments are sound and she points out the many ironies--things English majors live for and by. Sigh... I swoon over great literature...

Alright, I've had and still am having my caffeine so I'm pumped for tonight! And I shall be posting my clothes for April tomorrow~ April's about to look more... floral-sy... if there ever was such a description. The stakes are higher... I suppose, considering how difficult it will be for me to not get sick of them by the end of April, as I am of March's selection.

More colors? Yes. But the individual pieces stand out in themselves, so it would exactly make a lot of sense to layer it with even more accessories...

Argh... I guess you'll find out what I mean by tomorrow... Good night and good day!

Day 30: Mists of Avalon

Okay, so I chose not to take pictures for today, just because I was tired... Once the pair of jeans were slipped out, forget it!

So... Dr. Lyons warned us that The Mists of Avalon would "challenge" our faiths. Should be interesting, considering I'm not a Christian. I should like to see how this faith is portrayed by Bradley.

Day 29: Whoops...

Yikes... I didn't realize I hadn't posted yesterday's post. Miserable, miserable weather. I really hope it will get better by the end of the week..

Day 28: Undecipherable

For some reason, Blogger refuses to upload my pictures... Sheesh. Sorry for being late. Completely slipped my mind. I really should be sleeping at the moment, and I really don't feel like going to one of my classes tomorrow... But I must! sigh...

Okay... something's definitely off with my connection, if not, my browser. Everything seems to be opening up a tad too slow for my preference...

I might crash soon. It feels imminent. I'm too tired... and it's been only a day! SHEESH...

Well, listening to lively Japanese conversations over the radio is soothing somehow... Though I can't understand a single word they're saying. Maybe it's through this confusion that I'm able to appreciate the language itself... How very odd yet wonderful~

Update:

Well, I got it up. And yeah... I look... deceased. Eurgh...

Day 27: The "Ideal" Language?

Catherine Prendergast's Buying into English hit it home for me. Her book focuses on how English has been commercialized in post-communist states, quickly rising to become one of the leading commodities for anyone who wishes to succeed in a neo-capitalist nation--Slovakia. Is neo-capitalist overrated, or aptly put? Perspectives differ, though the effects are obvious. I can relate to that, to a certain degree; though the motivations of my "English" seemed more imperialist than capitalist.

And here I am, learning the language I love, hoping to teach Japanese students, in some suburban town off Tokyo, English. I feel the choices Prendergast's characters (though... this really is a research based book, the people Prendergast interviewed have been given pseudonyms) have had to make during the transition from a communist state to a nationalistic one. Well, for a decade or so.

In all honesty, looking back at the English I had been exposed to during my primary and secondary school years, I can't help but wonder if the British Council's "English" really had been England's "black gold." Peter and Jane by Ladybird colored my toddler-hood, if there was ever such a word. Did they perhaps imply something else with their golden locks and happy smiles? Do I like Peter?

Critical pedagogy is slowly beginning to look very appealing to me...