Momentum.

I've completely lost the momentum to write blog posts lately. School and in particular Research Congress has been sucking the life out of me lately. Although tiring and boring, I actually enjoyed research congress this year. Lately, I've been feeling a bit of desolation, like everything I've done has been in vain. But when presenting in research congress, on my research, the look of wonder and interest on their faces as I present gives me a sense of achievement. That I've contributed, however slightly, to the sum knowledge of everything gives me a sense of satisfaction after so much hard work. To that effect, I'm actually quite excited about SSEF. I know many people, including close friends of mine, did and did not get in, so not wanting to appear conceited or arrogant, I've been playing down SSEF. In fact, I'm quite excited and honored by it. However much people say SSEF doesn't really mean anything or doesn't look good on your transcript; the fact that random people can look at my hard work and independently agree that its good just validates my work in a way friends or teachers, who may be compelled to like it, does not.

Heh, I'm sounding like Bryce now. But fear not, I'll still clean the toilet :D I just really need this nice thing in a shitty week right now.

Highlight of the week: UK people. I haven't hung out with them enough to make any judgments, but I find them to be a laid back bunch, probably a bit stiffer and on guard in foreign climes. The fact that we're feeding them all sorts of weird stuff doesn't help XD All the UK buddies having the time of their lives as usual :D Although I'm insanely jealous. As I sit here typing this, they're probably having drinks in Timbre or a BBQ at Ms Tan's house. >:O But good for them all the same :)

Lost the momentum to do all the homework I set out for myself today. Will try again tmr. Listening to simple plan now. The earlier songs. Reminiscing about the past. I realised I've lost a lot of friends along the way. Not really lost. More of forgotten, as I've made new friends. In chronological order, Robert, Song Jing, Issac, Jeremy Tan, Boon Kuang, Zhi Ping, Byron, Jan. And these are just the few I can remember from primary school. I wonder if I could recognise their faces today. Probably not. Not to mention the New Town crew, Bukit Merah crew, random scouts, random people I've met. Sigh.

Perhaps I should give some of them a call. Or one of them.

Dry Spell

Woah, I haven't been posting for a while. Since Vday actually. Not discussing that stuff here. Too much drama recently in 605. I wish it could go back to post Tioman mood. That was so nice in hindsight.

Lots of things going on at the moment, none of them particularly interesting or fun. Research Congress, thats a big one. Making the poster took up a whole weekend already, and I'll still have to get it proof read, printed, and get script cards for the presentation. Sian.

APs are getting closer, which is bad because I don't particularly feel like studying. APs are important and stuff, US university and the Big Plan in the sky with the diamonds. Then of course, 2.4km run tmr, my barrier to OCS. My stamina is crappy, i think its the way i breathe when i run. The rest should be fine.

UK people coming tmr! :D Ronald's got a buddy, that should be super fun XD I love the British, they're a lot more subtle and sophisticated than Americans :D Oh oh. I've been watching the Ricky Gervais Show for hours on the end, while doing up the poster. Ricky Gervais is the most awesome British comedian of this generation :D Go watch him!

Sigh. Everyone's having fun now. I feel kinda outside all of a sudden. Not a very usual feeling. Just an odd, aching kinda feeling. Ah well, chin up.

Next 3 days will be hectic. Monday: Poster proofread, print, 2.4 run, give invitation to Dr Tomczak, PAP internship at night.

Tuesday: Do everything not done on Monday, rehearse presentation

Wednesday: Research congress. 6 hours of standing around looking nervous.

I was pretty overjoyed when I got into SSEF, slightly downed when I found out that a lot my friends didn't, they'll probably be touring the Science Center without me on the day :( And now SSEF is proving to be a whole shit ton more work. Oh. And Amanda didn't make it either. Not sure how i feel about that...

Oh. Bright side of things :D JM sent me Portal 2 pre order today XDXD

40 quid though. Changed my wallpaper to Portal 2 :D Time to forget Black Ops. Even though I've only played it for 6 hours o.O 6 hours for a call of duty game? I clocked 80 hours on MW2. Thats weak Treyarch. Weak.

New thing

No news today, so i'm gonna freestyle.

Finished Assassin's Creed 2. Recommended to KT. Awesome game.

Thusly said, I have no more games. I am sad.

I have no idea how to write a poster. Thus putting it off. Sadder.

SDYC today was boring, could've saved 3 hours using an email chain.

Today was boring ok?

So I propose a new game. Find someone on MSN, convince them to go offline, take their profile picture, and change your display name and pm to theirs. Chances are, people won't notice the email address is different and start talking to you as if you were your friend. Hilarity ensures :D See how long before you're discovered or try to fish for information XD

Colors of the wind as a title makes so much more sense now :D

Eh.

Its a slow news day.

Headline:

I visited scouts today. I finally attended CCA after 3 months :P I sat at the back and evaluated the current state of affairs, which were admittedly, dismal. The most colorful part of scouts had been removed: The mixing with the New Town and Bukit Merah folk across the street. Honestly, I think this is one of the most important parts of scouting, and you can teach NUS High people scouting skills all you want, but they wouldn't survive in camps and competitions without contact with people outside our school. Mixing with mainstream people enhances your view so much, builds your character and teaches you how to mix with people outside your comfort zone. Many of my friends in scouting were from New Town, and I still keep in touch with them. Removing this really dulls the experience for scouts. Sigh. I feel really detached from scouting now, like I can't be bothered to help them reconnect ties. But looking around at the rest of the Year 6s, being detached from CCA is normal.

In education today, people are complaining about physics test. In a school where fail is set below 75%, these things are bound to happen. Chins up, to everyone emoing.

In weather, there is a low pressure wave of emo sweeping over everyone these few days. Chins up too.

On the brighter side of things :D NCC was spotted on the concourse today doing parade foot drill to the Ke$ha song We R Who We R. It is as awesome as it sounds :D

Also realised Eugenia and Yan Ling were in my DSA group 6 years ago :O Only remember Stuart XD

Achievement Unlocked: Unlock achievements

I shall have a new gimmick. At the end of every post, I shall hand out achievements like xbox live :D

CNY. Whoop dee doo. An excuse to meet with relatives and drink endless cans of soft drinks, eat all sorts of goodies and have a reason to celebrate. So far, CNY is relatively uneventful. Reunions are okay, hongbao income is moderate, and homework is not done. So yay!

Main events that happened today:

Ms Sie's house! Its exactly the layout of my aunt's house, and Stuart's grandfather's house, so it felt familiar the moment I stepped in. Pizza party for lunch, and we all sat around talking about school, life in general and bemoaned our lives. It surprises me how much I miss in terms of school gossip. Everyone's like, "This teacher left, this teacher's married" and I'm like "really? Didn't notice" But mostly I was clued in, just gossiping life as usual. The main attraction was Ms Sie's cats. CATSSSS. SO AWESOME. They are like little furry assassins XDXD Jumping and climbing like pros, and yet cute and cuddly when they want to get close to their target. If they became intelligent and got weapons, I would never sleep. Luckily, they're quite lazy after food :D

Personally, I wouldn't keep pets, the responsibility of having to answer to their schedule would be too much for me, cos I like the flexibility of going out anytime. Hostel was awesome for that. I miss hostel ):

Anyway, I had to leave early for SAF CDF CNY dinner. Thats Singapore Armed Forces, Chief of Defense Force, Chinese New Year dinner. The military loves acronyms, any project you want to suggest to them has to have a cool acronym for them to consider it. Anyway, my dad got invited back even when he retired, which is awesome. Usually Bernard is there, but he couldn't make it today, so I had to talk to Yi Hui, 5 minute conversation tops :P

So I went around pressing palms. My dad introduced me to most of the Senior Commanders and Officers, who are seriously some of the most capable and intelligent people in Singapore. Good to meet them. As an unexpected plus, their families have kids around our age too, so spent some time scouting talent :) Useful connections for NS really, and for later in life, but I don't think I'll join the military. Ms Sie is right, I lack the focus and dynamic ability to be on top of many things at one time. I'm more of the focus on an interesting problem for a long time kind of guy.

Cousin's house tmr. Darren, the guy from Challenger, awesome gamer. Have to warm up for Black Ops VS marathon tmr. I'll probably lose super badly, I've had no practice :(

Achievement Unlocked! - Not touch homework for the whole CNY - 200G

Achievement Unlocked! - Talk to Yi Hui 100G

And thats that.

Caution: Ranty post ahoy.

This marks post 36. Thats the number of posts on my last blog, which you should not attempt to find.

Ever.

Random note, I love using new paragraphs to add effect.

Like this.

It gives a sense of body language, which being on the internet sorely lacks. Like on MSN, you can't tell if the other person wants to talk to you and is actually engaged; or they're just humoring you. Face to face, you would be able to tell the difference after one sentence. However, entire nights can go past in this limbo of social awkwardness.

January is almost over. Which makes me feel how long this month has felt. So much has gone on in 1 month, enough to fill half my blog so far. Even more has gone on in my head. School, friends, birthdays, activities, other stuff. And it boils down to this.

I'm exhausted.

So I'm sorry. With my investor confidence at about 5% and dropping, according to The Economist, I should liquidate my assets before I hit bankruptcy.. Perhaps the future will be kinder, and I'll buy my way back someday. But I just need a break right now. Needless to say, if you don't know what this means, don't ask

I keep putting off gym. Thats bad. Will try to solve that.

CNY is shaping up to be pretty good. House gatherings, cousins, video games and alcohol. Go family :D My only regret is I may not be able to go to Ms Sie's house on Saturday. I have ST electronics company lunch until 2pm, and SAF CDF dinner at 5pm, i wonder if Bern is going. Will ask. Social networking ftw. Its good to have powerful friends.

Been involved in several secret activities lately, will not talk about lest I accidentally reveal them. I'm very good at that :D

CNY celebrations tmr. I'm thinking shiny charcoal shirt with sleeves rolled up and jeans of course with trademark leather shoes. Blazer would be too much. Comments?

Weird Weekend

Weekends for me aren't really that special. Family time, sure. But nothing really interesting or worth reporting about happens.

Except today.

No, not really :D Got your hopes up didn't I? Haha.

Anyway, Saturday was bleak. Went for SLI and SDYC in the morning, both in the 9am to 12 noon timeslot, so I'd expected dashing from one venue to the other, like a comedy sitcom where the main character tries to date two women at once. Sadly, the reality was sitting bored at SLI talking to Ivan while Xinyi sleeps on the chair beside me, or sitting bored at SDYC talking to Thng. So yup, morning gone, had lunch with Teck Chye and Pan, after the glorious match vs Dunman, and caught up a bit with both of them.

Had Chili's with family. German beer ftw. Tried a margarita, fruity.

Sunday was super weird. AWESOME WEATHER. It was so dark and gloomy, cold and bleak, fine freezing rain coming down in sheets. Feels like being back in London :D

Had my sister's birthday party today, which is weird, because her birthday is on 16 Feb. You're 11! The party was at Laser Quest. Why? Because they're 11, thats why. As the brother, I was forced to attend. Sitting, looking at my iPhone while 17 11 year old girls scream and run around. The generation gap between me and my sister is way too large. Seven years. Anyway, more importantly, my mom noticed my boredom, and to make up, they'll sponsor my 18th birthday.

So, ideas anyone? :D Not unlimited budget mind.

Oh and I bought a can of hair wax. Hilarity ensures on Monday :D

Random rambling.

Alas that love, so gentle in his view,     Should be so tyrannous and rough in proof!

JINGMIN DON'T EMO

ITS WINTER-EEN-MAS BITCHEZZ.

Not much homework this weekend, which is good :D With GTA 4 on the pipeline, and hopefully it works, I'll have an awesome Winter-een-mas.

Gerlynn's house today! Last saw it at Vijay's party, but today we experienced the renovated house. Her couch and really fit at least 7 people :O I arrived with Yanling, Stuart, JM and Ji Eun when they were starting to bake. I was mostly eye power XD But with Dylan, Rachel, Gerlynn and WX helping already, too many cooks spoil the soup, so I took my cue and played Mario Karts. After a while of playing Mario Karts, we switched to DDR and I took the mat.

DDR. SOOO GOOD.

Made a fool of myself up there, but hey, thats what 403 is for :D

Then the cakes were ready. CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE. (Y) Moist and rich on the outside and runny and chocolately on the inside. SOOO GOOOD. Little bites of moist heaven.

Afterwards, American Idol. Don't understand the allure of the show, but the new judge, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith is SUPER FUNNY. He is completely random, going and singing with the guy who is auditioning and screaming at random points. Plus I only watch the first and last parts, because they're funny and good respectively.

Dinner came and went, Mushroom rice (Y) Then we had Gerlynn's frozen yogurt and ice cream. Both homemade :D Also, totally awesome, comparable to commercial products. Got WX a bottle of Chilean white wine as a belated birthday present. Good vintage, but I wouldn't know.

So new theory. Everything in Gerlynn's house is tastes great.

Tiring day.

Perhaps I'm imagining it.

The world is upside down.

Literally.

Thanks to Rahul, I'm finally learning how to do a handstand. A proper one, and trying to hold it there as long as possible. Learning to control a handstand is a basic move for lots of breakdance moves, and mastering it will go a long way. That and twice weekly gym sessions i'm doing now.

Monday:

We took mats from the Hall and set up at the corridor during the CCA period. We ninja'd our way past the dancers on stage, and the dance people in the dance room to get the mattresses to the corridor. Got stuck on one of the mattresses, and one of the dancers may have saw my face. So if anyone from dance remembers a light blue ghost, that was me :D Not very ninja-like. Rahul schooling us on acrobatic moves, while I try to teach him some floor exercises, and Bern does his own hip hop stuff. On the whole, we're making good progress :D

Tuesday:

SSDD. But we actually took to the hall today, laying out 4 mats and doing cartwheels, rolls, and floor moves on them, while the 04 girls did some korean dance beside us. May have almost hit them with flailing legs at least once. Also, a reminder to bring change of clothes happened. Luckily, Han Siang has some unorthodox skills, at least for guys. *intentionally vague* Then we went out for Starbucks! Starbucks sessions with JM and Bern are almost therapeutic. Coffee, cakes and gossip. Just discussing stuff and venting secrets: whatever said at the table, stays at the table stuff. We could use more people to go along though. So this is an advertisement for people who like coffee and secrets. If you're free around 3 - 5 and pays for their own coffee, you're invited! Tentatively.

In other related news, 35 people were killed in an airport bombing. Condolences to all involved.

In other non related news, I discovered that twitter can be dangerous. Very dangerous. Reminder not to be so candid when posting. Remember, prudent posting saves lives. And reputations.

Game programmers are not funny. Ever.

Just watched VGA 2010. I know i know, I'm super slow, it happened in December. But the way they chose the games is so completely arbitrary, its more fun to watch the show itself.

AND NEIL PATRICK HARRIS HOSTED IT.

Seriously, he's the only funny guy there. The other programmers try to make jokes, jokes that are not subtle at all, lousy references, or downright vulgar, to a silent room. But NPH can make silence into a joke, and even subtly referenced his on homosexuality haha. Anyway, VGAs are the only major event for Gaming for the year, so as a Gamer/Game connoisseur/ aficionado, its my duty to sit and cringe through the jokes that game studios make. They can render blood and gore in cinematic 1080p in a way that is both artistic and humbling, but they can't tell a joke to save their lives.

Anyway, Fabia has informed me that we have 5 pieces of homework due this week.

Ah well,

Still time for some GTA :3

Smoked Salmon > Sashimi

Don't argue, you know it to be true.

Insubstantial post today. I got a purple shirt :D Well, purple with black stripes. Its pretty cool, especially with blazer. I wonder when I'll get to wear my blazer. Singapore's too hot to wear it casually, and when you have to dry clean it everytime, you've got to be careful where you go. JM suggests that i wear the blazer to class, instead of the math teacher jacket. Interesting. May consider. But I'll look like Barney, wearing a suit everywhere, and everyone's gonna touch it, making cleaning inevitable.

Mache is awesome, smoked salmon with herbs on rosti, and German beer. I don't get the whole "Beer is awful" concept. Tiger and carlsberg is on the bitter side, but German beer is perfect. Utkarsh downed a whole stein once, and enjoyed it. So beer is an acquired taste. Stop saying it sucks.

Huh, thats actually quite substantial.

604 is better than us at English.

Its 1142 am on a saturday and I have no plans. How sad is that.

Turns out that the moving thing at Ms Sie's house has been postponed, so oh well.

That and earlier this week, we were going to see this dance festival, but interest fell through the floor, so oh well.

Or I could go to scouts meeting and lend my experience and expertise to Michael who is single handedly trying to hold the CCA together...

HAHAHAHAH, no. So oh well.

Nothing much on Friday. Except that classes with 604 are awesome :D They provide the laughter and jokes while we provide the correct answers and take notes. I mean guys, this is English class. EVERYONE knows the right answer and right definition. Any two bit, mugger who can read knows the answer. But it takes finesse and a sharp, quick witted mind to turn the question on its head and make people laugh with an answer that is not only funny, but relevant and has references. And by that logic, 604 is better than us at english.

Math was pretty much the same. But after that, oh man, Jing Min whipped out Stuart's 1080p, Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and put it up on the big screen. Needless to say, if we ever need some kind of bait to catch all the guys of Year 6 in one place, this was it. The classroom was crowded within minutes. I kinda played GTA at the back of the class, keeping one eye on the models and one eye on the cars. But seriously, after you've seen the show 5 times, and without Stuart to commentate for you, it gets kinda monotonous. You have to create contrast: So next year's show should feature the musical stylings of Susan Boyle. Everyone would appreciate the models much better, a "You only appreciate something after its gone kinda effect". To quote a chinese saying...

HAHAHAHAH no.

So after that was the college counselor. Gerlynn, JM, Ming Yan, Aik Ann and I went down together and browsed through some of the brochures they had. I found some for Cornell, Colombia Engineering. And I've always been pretty sure of my plans, but now I need one more thing. A zing. Like, member of a rock band, youngest member of an orchestra, circumnavigated the Earth, something like that. All I've got now is Senior Patrol Leader for Scouts, Black Belt in Taekwondo recognized by the International Taekwondo Federation, volunteered for DSA and Orientation many times, and now, SDYC 2011 Operating Committee.

Black Ops, has been updated, will check that out.

This is an abrupt stop.

Wow.

This is amazing. The blog has been dead for such a long time. Only pity, remorse and a touch of nostalgia has pressured me to write this damn thing again.

Anyway, this is 3 weeks since Christmas in a flash:

NYE party at padang with bern, JM and ming yan!

Met Belinda, her sister and Chong there too haha awesome.

The first week of school. That was a killer. Felt awesome to be back with the gang though. 605 got the fishbowl classroom, but on the bright side, it makes us unique and we have air conditioning whenever we want it. The sound system is awesome too, although i'm rapidly running out of songs to play.

Birthdays! SO MANY BIRTHDAYS. My wallet weeps in 10 dollar bills as time of celebration rushes past. First of the year: Ronald's birthday! We left him in school and hopped off to vivo for drinks and shopping. It was a blast and shopping for gifts are helping me cultivate fine taste, a great skill for later in life. We went over to Jaben's and got him a spanking pair of awesome headphones. SO JEALOUS. It sounds so clear and the sound quality is great, plus an amp the store manager threw in for his birthday haha.

Next one, Jing Min's birthday present! This has a special mention for the secrecy that we managed to keep it under. We planned it early, but somehow i managed to let it slip that xinyi and bernard were buying something :X Oooopss. So quick thinking, I told him it was Raghav's present from the exco, which is pretty reasonable, in fact, i wonder if they are actually getting Raghav a present... Anyway, the grand cumulation was in actually buying Jing Min's present while we were buying Ronald's present with Jing Min. Like ocean's 13 XD. The presentation was a bit flawed, but the look on his face was priceless haha.

Next up, Fabia's present. Or more accurately, Jing Min's present for Fabia. I went along, to refine my cultured taste for picking stuff, something Jing Min is way better at. And yet, I surprised myself and JM that day by picking out a reasonable notebook, a tasteful pen, and a flashy presentation of both together :D Another step on the way to be classy and cultured :D

Also, been planning for 403 Grad Trip. This is like choosing where to host the Olympics. And Australia was my vote, a sunny beach trip down the wild countryside and late night partying in cities down south. Switching between lazy nights on the beach veranda watching the stars, and dancing and clubbing in downtown Sydney and Brisbane. Sounds awesome :D

School's been pretty good to me so far, classes are ok, timetable is slack, homework is minimal, and tests are easy. But a more uncomfortable future looms. College applications. US has always been part of the plan. The plan. The acceptance rates has always been just numbers to me, but I found out the real human cost of Ivy League: 2 people, in the entire level accepted. I shudder, especially since these people are miles ahead of me, even the ones rejected. What's unique about you? Nothing much really, I'm a medium fish in an ocean of talent. Suddenly the future seems to be a lot harder. I'd always thought it was pretty clear, Ivy League, work a bit in the industry, found my own company, be a millionaire before 30. But now, its like, NUS, 9 to 5 job, 4 room HDB flat, get married, stay here forever. Mind you, I'm not complaining, the middle class of Singapore is still a pretty comfortable life. In fact, the future will probably be something in between the two, so its pointless to worry now. Just do my best and fate will take care of the rest haha. As long as I have my health, my friends and my family :D

Oh, and I'm regularly hitting the gym now. Wednesdays with Ronald and Thng. And running on Fridays. Goal for the year: Gold for NAPFA, bench press my weight, and go for runs with ODAC and DB people without worrying about collapsing. Minding your physical stature is important, but if I ever get to the protein shake drinking stage, slap me. Thats just scary :P

In other news, I'm not sure if I'm making any progress, but a challenge is a challenge, and sometimes, the challenge is the fun, and if I ever complete it, I may be stuck thinking what to do next...

I'll try to keep this more updated since the term has started, so you won't have to read such long posts.

So yup, if you're still reading this, you actually care enough about me to read this far. You are officially my best friend. Post "Ernest Huang is my best friend :D" on twitter on completion of this post. Each post costs 50 cents :D

News: 23/12

Its 2 days to Christmas!!! Oh who am I kidding. Christmas in Singapore is just another day for me since I'm neither religious or my family exciting. Thats about it. Happy Holidays I guess.

In other news, I found out today that I cannot work in a committee :D Today after the hard labor of moving stuff 50 meters to the right, campfire comm sat down to plan the opening of the campfire. And as I sat there, hyped up by the endorphins in my system after some good hard exercise, I gave suggestions and participated! A bit too much. You see, I would suggest an idea, and someone else would also suggest an idea, I would argue until I got my idea written down. Its not that my ideas were trash or even better than the other. They would be similar in merit, but i would fight to have mine used. Like any good scientist, I experimented on how much force it would take for me to sit back and accept another person's idea. Sadly, it took a lot of restraint to sit back and say "Thats a good idea." So lesson learnt. Try to value other people's opinions more. Or failing that, restrain yourself better.

Also, got GTA San Andreas from Dao Han. THANKS! New game to play :D Installed and works just fine.

NEW SHORT STORY!

Yay everyone new short story. I've been watching clips of Heavy Rain and was sorely disappointed to see that its only on PS3. Its a wonderfully cinematic experience and i'll be proud to say i've played it. Its a genre defying innovation. So here's a story heavily inspired by Heavy Rain.

Murder Suicide

Darkness. The light flickers in the dank corridor, marred with organic brown stains of dilapidated dry wall. The faded and frayed carpet beneath his feet stained by the alcohol spilling from the bottle. Muted sobs. Broken glass. A picture, happy people, torn in two by fate. Harsh music plays on, percussive heartbeats of despair itself. Rain splatters against the glass, creating shadows in an already dark room. He staggers toward the glass in a final testament of his resolve, hurling himself out, a final crescendo, and is heard from no longer...

The rain poured down, mingling with the dirt on the pavement, and the blood seeping onto the street as an apartment building loomed over the scene like a watchful guardian. Detective Franklin Lenox didn't have to work on Christmas, and he damned well knew it, but since his wife had left him and taken the kids, he had nowhere else to go, except back to the bottle. The brown, red mixture seeped toward him and stained his leather boots. He shook off the haze of half a bottle of Jack Daniels and glanced down at the scene. Not pretty, as usual. A young lieutenant sidled up to him, and Frank could tell, by the look on his face, it was his first field job. The queasy, nervous look on his face; "Figures, Christmas eve and they send me a boy" The scene had been taped up by uniforms already, and the curious, pressing faces of the crowd told him that there were no witnesses. He looked down at the body. It was curiously peaceful, for a guy who had a hole in his chest. Limbs were twisted beyond recognition, and his skeleton was pulp. Christmas was a common season for jumpers and Frank had seen another two today. The only problem was the hole in his chest. It was a through and through, the ribcage jutting outward like petals of a flower. This was no suicide, it was murder. He looked up at the building and spotted a broken window. He turned and the lieutenant hurried after him...

The apartment manager sweated profusely as he followed the detective up the dilapidated stairs to the deceased's apartment. "Didn't know 'im that well, I swear it..." He mumbled, "Quiet fellow, kept to himself y'know? There was this girl that followed 'im around, I ah, forget her name. 'Cept, she don't come around no more, y'know?" The young lieutenant was taking notes, and Frank was happy to let him deal with the red tape. Frank Lenox didn't get to be a top detective by taking notes. He felt the surroundings. Became one with them. That way he knew what was out of place straightaway. The dark, dank corridors, rotten walls and flickering lights spelled suicide nice and clear. This place was depression personified. "'ere we are, room 401." The manager took out the keys and opened the door with a creek. The one room apartment was dark. Musty wallpaper hung off the walls, and the streetlights outside gave the room an eerie glow. Rats scurried around the kitchen counter and a light flickered in the bathroom. Frank walked over to the window. Shards of glass hung off it, and looking down, was the body it had failed to restrain. The only table was crowded with liquor bottles and nothing else. Ripped pictures of a girl and the victim littered the floor. "Textbook suicide" Frank called out. "No guns anywhere though." Added the lieutenant. "Strange" thought Frank. But other cases needed his attention. As he left the apartment, a single scrap of paper caught his eye. He picked it up and eyed it over, but had no clue what it meant. It simply said:"1/6"...

Frank settled in the office for what seemed to be a rather bleak evening. Two drunken teens had just been brought in for drunken partying and he had to do the usual red tape.

"So, what are you teens in for then?" He asked.

"We didn't do no nothing" The larger of the two exclaimed. "We were just drinking and playing russian roulette and blasting music and stuff."

Frank sighed "They called the police because of that music, and russian roulette? Are you guys frickin nuts?"

"Yea, that kid upstairs hated our music, screamed at us a few times too. Then he showed up at our door today with our revolver and said we should play again."

"Again?"

The smaller one piped up, "Yea, we play russian roulette all the time, but with no bullets, to get ourselves buzzed. Its an ancient revolver see? Can't get bullets nowhere. 'Cept tonight." He sniggered.

"Tonight?"

"He showed up with our gun, we hadn't seen it for days. He screamed at us a good bit too, but we were buzzed as hell. He gave us our gun and left with a bottle o rum. So we tried the gun out the window and it actually fired! We were so stoned that we laughed." And with that the smaller one fell off his chair and lay still. "Hang on, where did you live again?" Frank asked, suddenly sharp.

"Room 301 at the Carter building, at Queens. Why?"

Peace on Earth man...

I realised we should probably stop wailing on the religion folks.

Of course we could tell them that they're wrong, or science proves this or that, but why rock the boat, especially if their boat isn't going your direction? They have their beliefs and you have your's, so unless they manifest and clash physically, there's no reason to respond to them.

The cause of today's post is:

1. I have nothing much to say, except for the 403 party at Dylan's house. That was awesome.

2. I overheard this conversation on an mrt about 2 guys arguing over theological theories.

They walked away both upset and both equally unsatisfied.

I've argued with religious people before, and its tedious and frustrating when someone else doesn't see things your way, especially with a concept so ingrained into the mind that it is hard to extract without permanent damage such as religion. So here's a list of reasons why not to argue with a religious person:

1. You view his viewpoints as ignorance and disregard any reason he has to offer.

2. You try to tear down his mental framework and replace it with your own, no matter how flawed, i.e conversion.

3. You feel you are in some way superior to him because he doesn't share your beliefs.

4. You become condescending and believe it is his ignorance and stupidity that prevents him from seeing things your way.

5. You've just sunk as low as religious people. Congrats, you are now one of them.

If a religious person does try to force his beliefs on you, then feign disinterest or engage in witty banter. If executed correctly, he will feel frustrated enough to be discouraged. If he can't take a joke, steer clear.

On a lighter note. Dylan's house was awesome XD And i realised I love starting fires haha. Its like an adventure when you start out, and having to make split second decisions and judgements with the physical thrill of the heat of the flames teasing you. Its awesome to start fires :D

And so many 403 people showed up today! It really feels like family again, and I can't help but smile when I looked at everyone :) Wanted to play Guitar Hero badly though. Too bad really. But the victoria secret show more than makes up for it though ^^ Played with Dylan's dog a lot too! She's soooo cute! I want a dog when I get my own place. Not sure about the responsibility though, cause I'll probably be gone a lot at night. Ah well. BBQing stuff is awesome.

And I still maintain I make the best charcoal toasted marshmallows this side of Singapore :D

Chuck is awesome

I'm watching the entire season of Chuck now. Season 3 to be exact. Its pretty awesome :D Although people say it kinda defeats the purpose of a nerdy geek fighting evil, i think the intersect in his head is still the essence of Deus Ex Anima. But the thing about Chuck really is the whole love hate relationships between the characters. Its so complicated and frustrating looking at Chuck blow it so many times. But I really feel like I want a girl again. The whole thing with Jan was complicated and messed up. But I think I finally know the reason why it didn't work out in the end.

It was age.

Back then we were too immature to ask if this was what we wanted, if we knew where we were going. So we blindly followed the stereotypes of what a boyfriend and girlfriend was supposed to do. We so blindly followed this that when we actually knew what we wanted out of the relationship, it was too late. It fell apart.

But the warmth and security and physical intimacy. I miss that. I really do.

Having someone to be with, no barriers or secrets, to hold each other. I want that. I want it again.

Honestly, this is going to be the one quote from "Love Guru" that I'm going to follow.

"You must love yourself, before you can love someone else."

So. What am I?

(a) A Scotch drinking, partying, Barney Stintson?

(b) A down to earth, devoted, caring and emotional boyfriend

Now to see how many readers I have. Pick (a) or (b) if you think that's what i truly should be and tag me on Twitter. And don't reference the blog :P I'll release it when I want.

I'm pretty tired. But I'm still posting. Hey!

Damn I'm exhausted.
Day after day of 9 to 5 ARP takes its toll. In the dead silent lab, watching the night sky with my microscope. Its actually quite amazing. Quantum dots are really beautiful. They twirl and swirl around in random directions, sparkling like shooting stars. Hang on, I may have a video.

Nope, I don't

But here's some nice shots :D

But still, work is tedious and exhausting, watching the tiny pixels on the screen for hours. It somehow drains you of life.

Trying to finished before Christmas and New Year, so that I can get some fun in order with the 403 gang. Which means I'm in overdrive now, its the only thing keeping me focused.

An introverted gamer nerd,

A debonair party animal,

A dreamer looking for romance.

Pick one, all me :)

OH NOOOOOO

play the video in the background as you read my post.

1. Mentor says my ARP has been done by 8 PhDs in Korea in a National Science Lab.

OHH NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

2. My mentor declares last 4 months of ARP as "backup data" and requests I start again with a new batch of quantum dots.

OHH NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

2a. The deadline is in 3 weeks.

OHH NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

3. Twitter is now extremely addictive.

OHH NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

4. I have no more games to play.

OHH NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

5. Taylor Swift is growing on me after being introduced by someone.

OHH NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

6. There are no more decent parties for a while.

OHH NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

7. The video is extremely annoying and you would have turned it off by now.

OHH NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

If you haven't turned off the video, congratulations! Have a cookie on me. It'll help you get over your hearing loss :D

Bye.