STOP FORWARDING STUPID EMAILS

Shit has been happening in my life and I'm not referring to the bashing.

When I say it's shit, it's definitely not your usual oh-dad-refuses-to-buy-me-a-Bentley kind of shit. It's real shit.

So understandably, I've been quite irritable and mean these 2 days and when I received a "Free Laptop from Sony Ericsson" email for like the 5th time, I almost lost it.



I was on the verge of sending the person an extremely sarcastic reply that would have made him question his overwhelming intelligence for the first time.

Almost.

But I didn't.

So now I have to vent my frustrations on you.

Seriously, to all kind people out there who needs a brain...PLEASE STOP FORWARDING STUPID EMAILS!!!

Why do I say 'kind' people only? Well of course, those are the ones who actually give a shit about what I say right?

Evil people couldn't care that less that they are irritating the shit out of people.

In that case, please attach a "Gotcha!" tag line to your email for added humor and differentiating purposes. You wouldn't want people to associate your ingenious joke with people too kind to use their brains right?

So yes, the target audience here today is 'kind' people.

All kind people please listen up, 7-year-old Amy Bruce isn't going to die of lung cancer and neither is Jessica Mydek dying of Cerebral Carcinoma...so stop spamming my email with the same crap over and over.

You say: What's the big deal? They're just trying to help what...

Yes...all these people trying to be 'kind' in the name of helping poor, dying kids...at no cost to themselves. How convenient.

If you want to claim to be kind, get out there and do something substantial instead...stop spamming my inbox.

..........


But sorry to burst your bubble, but Bill Gates is NOT going give you his fortune for forwarding stupid emails, thank you very much.

Neither is Sony Ericsson giving away free laptops for nothing. WHO WOULD BUY THEIR non-existent LAPTOPS IF THEY ARE GIVING THEM AWAY FOR FREE?

It doesn't require an IQ of more than 100 to figure this out.

It's not funny when you try your very best to stay calm and ignore a stupid email and TADA! 5 more copies of the exact same email appears in your inbox.

All I can think is, fool, fool, fool, as I read the names of those who sent it to me.

Your image in my heart has gone down like THIS much.

...........

I have nothing against funny or interesting chain letters even though most of them threaten to CURSE ME if I don't forward them to like-minded minions.

For all other emails that claim certain things, whether it's FREE STUFF, FREE MONEY, DYING KIDS, VIRUSES, DISASTERS or whatever, please freaking Google it before you forward.

If the search result comes up anywhere near the phrase "email hoax", it's probably not a good idea to send it. Unless of course, you want to add a "Gotcha!" tag line to it ;)

It's not a good idea to take me seriously, and 'kind' people mentioned should take this chance to take out the tufts of straw in their brains and fill it with this wisdom called GOOGLING IT, giggle and exclaim "What a steal!" and run away.

Lastly, don't worry I won't be mean all the time. :)

I Got Bashed For My Previous Post

I was sacrificing sleep, trying to finish my Premarital Sex post when Wei Jie told me someone wrote a post criticizing my post "My Blog Is A Failure".

For convenience' sake, I shall paste his post, entitled "Your Blog Is A Failure" here.

"Recently I came across this blog post on Nuffnang innit. It says something like my blog is dead or something like that. "My Blog Is A Failure" And I must say that this kind of post irks me to my spine. It's annoying. Annoying in a sense that you drag everybody along into your melancholy and your infinite sadness. Seriously, I think the writer should have not blog and get a better life instead.

She blogs about giving it all up just because there's simply not enough hits for her blog to make money. Duh! What a way to grab attentions. Well, it works - it does grab my attention and I can't help but to feel sorry for this poor little soul and it kinda remind me of this song "I'm Just a Kid" by Simple Plan. Typical SGD, being kiasu all the time. Patheticly, utterly, totally useless.

Let me just reply to all that :

First and foremost, say you want more hits on your blog right? So I'll ask you this question, what did you do to deserve more hits? If you right a post and just sit there and hoping that hits will fall of from the sky, don't dream of it, don't even think of it 0- it won't get you anywhere because in this context you want hits and hits will bring you more money (since you mentioned that you want to have more money from advertisement) and I presume that you right good stuffs that at least half of the tennants of planet earth would be dying to google for your articles online, am I right?

But sadly - No. You don't have a niche market. You write ... Oh well, not worth mentioning but seriously, if you want it to be good, work on it. And why am I talking about niche market here? It's insane.

Anyway, is not all about making money and getting hits unless you're a serious full time blogger and you make a living out of it. It's a hobby, a passion and something you can live without as per say. You blog because you want to, because it's a new way of socializing, interact with people, with friends and like talking to your audience and if there is no audience it's like a diary, a diary that you want someone to read about and to remind you of what have you done, what you've accomplished and what not.

If you think that money is the focus of you blogging, then treat it like a business and stop buying HOPE! *period"

My comment:

Hello, the target of your lashing is here :)

For people to reference the post, it's here: Vicissitudes of Life

Let's do a thorough analysis of your gratuitous criticism.

"It says something like my blog is dead or something like that" Well it certainly does not say so. ^^ Please check, it doesn't hurt to refer back and get your facts right, right?

"you drag everybody along into your melancholy and your infinite sadness" The tone of my post is far from melancholic, it is one of relief. You need to be better at deciphering tones :)

"She blogs about giving it all up just because there's simply not enough hits for her blog to make money." Please enlighten me where I blogged about "giving it all up"? Because the last time I checked, I didn't. ^^

-Grammatically correct version-
"What a way to grab attention*. Well, it worked* - it did* grab my attention and I can't help but *feel sorry for this poor little soul and it kinda remind me of this song "I'm Just a Kid" by Simple Plan. Typical SGD, being kiasu all the time. Pathetically*, utterly, totally useless." I have nothing to say about your baseless accusations, but if you insinuate that I'm a kid...then you are basically verally abusing a poor child right now :D

"First and foremost, say you want more hits on your blog right?" Once again, where did I say that I want more hits? :) It's easy to make accusations and don't even let people refer to the original to verify them right? ^^

-Grammatically correct version again-
"So I'll ask you this question, what did you do to deserve more hits? If you write* a post and just sit there and hoping that hits will fall off* from the sky, don't dream of it, don't even think of it 0- it won't get you anywhere because in this context you want hits and hits will bring you more money (since you mentioned that you want to have more money from advertisement) and I presume that you write* good stuff* that at least half of the tenants* of planet earth would be dying to google for your articles online, am I right?" No you are not right. Like I said, I did not say I want more hits, and you are in no position to judge whether I deserve it or not since you have NO IDEA of my efforts. Again, I did not say that I want more money. I said I shall be contented with whatever I'm earning. Thank you for presuming I write good stuff, but you are in no position to judge.

"But sadly - No. You don't have a niche market. You write ... Oh well, not worth mentioning but seriously, if you want it to be good, work on it. And why am I talking about niche market here? It's insane." Lol, it's really amusing how you assume the simplest thing and write a whole bullshit out of it, whilst trying to throw some sarcastic remark in here and there.

"Anyway, is not all about making money and getting hits unless you're a serious full time blogger and you make a living out of it. It's a hobby, a passion and something you can't**** live without as per say. You blog because you want to, because it's a new way of socializing, interact with people, with friends and like talking to your audience and if there is no audience it's like a diary, a diary that you want someone to read about and to remind you of what have
you done, what you've accomplished and what not." What a nice story you have here...irrelevant. No one said it was all about getting money and hits, no one.

Seriously, you come across as an overly critical personwho doesn't even bother to get your facts right before you criticize. I suggest you do that next time, and get a spell checker. :)


I think I will respect you a little bit more if you actually publish this. Do try to save yourself some integrity. :)

It's honestly hilarious how he can cook up a storm from baseless accusations.

Since he took to great pains to illustrate how "I'm just a kid" compared to him who is "a mature adult"...it doesn't reflect well on adults does it?

;)

UPDATE: Since many people told me to remove his link, I will. Don't accuse me of plagiarism :)

My Blog Is A Failure

I hereby declare that MY BLOG IS A FAILURE.

There, I can finally stop stressing over my traffic.

..........................

I do things in an obsessive way.

It's either I watch anime like crazy, or play some game like crazy, or train squash like crazy, or study like crazy, or blog like crazy.

I have a one-track mind and the phrase "with moderation" doesn't exist in my dictionary.

By convincing myself that it's a failure, I abandon all ambitions I harbor for this blog and thus relieve myself of undue stress.

This blog shall resign itself to be a very humble one (in terms of traffic) and I shall make do with whatever peanuts I'm earning from advertisements.

Without blog promotion, the good news is...I HAVE MORE TIME TO BLOG!

And the bad news is...I HAVE LESS MOTIVATION TO BLOG!

But I think I love writing enough to blog on a regular basis.

Usually what stops me from blogging is the fear of boring people to death, but now that it's not a problem anymore (since few living things will be left to read my blog without blog promotion)...I can rant until I get a nosebleed.

p.s, I actually published the Premarital Sex post this morning but I took it down 3 minutes later for further amendments. Sorry to The Bad Blogger, your comment was auto-deleted because of that :(

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

I've heard this song before, somewhere...I don't remember. Finding this again is like finding back a piece of myself, lost in the depths of my memories.

When I discover little pieces of happiness like this over internet, I feel...screw those internet porn addicted kids, screw little naive girls who meet horny old geezers over the net, the internet is still such a wonderful thing.

p.s, I'm still working on the premarital sex post. It's like struggling with a very tough piece of steak, and I'm almost certain it'll fly *flop* on the floor and get ruined.

Swiss Traditional Cusine - Rösti !

Ok, initially this post was supposed to be about "Sex and the Sanctity of Marriage" but I realised there's so much to say about "Premarital Sex" before I can even bring in the "Sanctity of Marriage" so I started my research on "Premarital Sex". From there, I stumbled into "Cohabitation" and now I'm stuck after reading article after article...

Gah! I need more time to think things through!

...........................

Meanwhile I shall distract you with food I made today :D

Rösti! A traditional Swiss cusine that Jia hong told me about.

It's actually somewhat like a very big hashbrown.



What I did was...



Skinned and boiled 2 potatoes for about 20 minutes until they are half-cooked.



Chopped up 3 slices of picnic ham.

I didn't wait for the potatoes to cool in the fridge overnight like the video directed but I guess it's alright if they aren't too soft.

Grate the potatoes and dump them in together with the ham and fry for a bit. Throw in some salt and black pepper.

Pat them into a pancake and flip them using a plate like in the video! (My brother said I looked pro when I did that XD)

*Caution: Remember to separate the Rösti from the frying pan before attempting to flip it, or some will get stuck on the frying pan like mine did... :(


Fry until golden brown on both sides and serve!

There's a hole in my Rösti cus my bro nipped it before I could take a picture...

Superbly simple but yummy!

I shall perfect my Rösti and make it for DC when he comes back :D

Space Storm In 2012 - What Would I Do When The End Of The World Is Coming?

"IT IS midnight on 22 September 2012 and the skies above Manhattan are filled with a flickering curtain of colourful light. Few New Yorkers have seen the aurora this far south but their fascination is short-lived. Within a few seconds, electric bulbs dim and flicker, then become unusually bright for a fleeting moment. Then all the lights in the state go out. Within 90 seconds, the entire eastern half of the US is without power.

A year later and millions of Americans are dead and the nation's infrastructure lies in tatters. The World Bank declares America a developing nation. Europe, Scandinavia, China and Japan are also struggling to recover from the same fateful event - a violent storm, 150 million kilometres away on the surface of the sun.

It sounds ridiculous. Surely the sun couldn't create so profound a disaster on Earth. Yet an extraordinary report funded by NASA and issued by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in January this year claims it could do just that."

Source: New Scientist

For those who are unaware, there has been more and more predictions about disasters and possible end-of-the-world-s including the one above.

In no position to dispute the credibility of the information, I shall just talk about what I would do if The End Of The World was coming soon.

Pretty simple, really.

What Would I Do If The End Of The World Was Coming

I would marry DC right away, travel the world with him and return the Singapore during the last few days to die together with my family.

Heck studies, heck this blog, heck getting a job. Who really cares?

I know this would sound silly in years to come if I didn't end up with DC, but that's what this silly 19 year old really think NOW so who cares. bleah.

Amazing Acoustics

I always had a love-hate relationship with music.

There was once when I wanted music as my career, even if it meant setting up CD shop if I wasn't good enough to be a professional musician.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a pro. I played the Electronic Keyboard and Acoustic Guitar but I'm noob at both. Yes, I had great dreams for my mediocre skills :)

Now my obsession with music have pretty much faded and I'm settling to be a silent appreciator of music.

Here are some amazing acoustics...

Antoine Dufour - Reality

Howie Day - Ghost


Miyavi - Selfish Love


Honestly, I think the acoustic guitar is the most versatile instrument ever. What other instrument can sound like a whole symphony?

The musically erudite are welcome to dispute me on this point. ^^

Separation

It's been a really a long time since I did an emotional post about my life.

I'm at NUS (National University of Singapore) right now. In one of the dead labs of the School of Computing faculty, typing this using Internet Explorer, which crashed on me multiple times because of my crazy tabbing habits.

DC is in another lab using his 5 insane desktop PCs concurrently. I accompanied him to work in a bid to spend more time with him...

He's leaving for China in exactly 38 hours from now.

For 4 whole weeks.

I'm sorry if you don't see what's the big deal. No wait I'm not.

......................

This whole week I could almost feel each second ticking, like the pulse of blood behind a bruise. (see The Truth About Time) Sometimes it lurches forward when I'm not looking, when I'm happily distracted in the way humans are always distracted from what is important.

When I think of it again, time slows to a crawl and unexplainable guilt from letting those precious seconds escape grips me, drowning me in the air that I breathe. Suddenly I'm swallowing lumps in my throat and cupping my mouth with my hands. Emotions are magnified by a million times with the stop of time and in the silence of my mind. I'm looking forward to the next mindless distraction...

......................

I've been desperately trying to remember how it feels like to be in his arms but I think it's impossible, because the joy and warmth that I feel isn't even remotely comprehensible.

It's a wonderful feeling probably beyond what God meant for this world (if he exists), known only to me.

......................

3 am.

Have you ever had a special someone whom your world revolves around as long he or she is within your vision range?

In a crowded room, I'm always able to find him easily because there's always a spotlight shining on him, dimming out everyone else.

He's like a drug to me, always working as long as he was in sight. Effects include obliviousness to everything except for him and baseless euphoria. Other unwanted effects are muddle-headedness and losing any sense of direction I once had.

But the sun of my solar system is leaving.

Today, my dear is leaving today...

It feels harder to breathe, just thinking he would be so far away from me.

It's so hard to put it into words, when I say it's like all the joy has been sucked out of my life - because it feels worse than that.

When you can't help but smile when you see this person, life becomes black and white when he's not in it.

.......................

5.30 am.

I'm getting desperate...I have to see him now, with this little safety charm I made for him.

Concealed within it, my deepest wish, shall take my place until he returns to me...



See you soon my dear.

What Should I Blog?

I really should tie up some loose ends from my Why Do I Blog? post which I abandoned halfway to attend my Grandpa's Funeral.

Today, May 15 is exactly 4 months since I started blogging.

So far I've received some compliments, mostly saying that I write well :) Thanks so much, I never knew I could write. -.- My Independent Study (3000 word research paper for Knowledge and Inquiry A Levels) was bashed so badly I was convinced I was a moron (not the teacher's fault, he's was great - I'm just really a moron).

To date, I also have 2 invites to be a guest blogger and people who actually blogged about me here and here. Yesterday, I also discovered I made it into this girl's list of "blogs she reads". I'm really really flattered and each discovery made me really happy! :D

This blog has evolved so much from my first post (check them out...it's totally different from what I post now...) and it is still evolving but slowly I'm affirming my writing style and kneading this blog into what I hope will be a successful one.

From Why Do I Blog?, I mentioned:
-I blog to express my opinions about the things I'm passionate about.

It's still true. I've realized that writing actually helps me think. It's like I've got the ideas in my head, but I never really come to a conclusion until I write it out and see all sides of the issue.

Is it the same for you?

-I don't blog about what I did today, where I went, what I ate...

Thank god this has not changed. If I ever go like:

"Today I met up with DC and we went to his house and watched Harry Potter. Then we bought noodles for dinner, and then he sent me home..."

Please kill me. I think I would have died from boredom myself. (although this seems largely true for most of my daily life -.-)

-I aspire to write timeless posts which will be a good read anytime

Still working hard at it...

-This is not a blog where I post random camwhore photos of myself

This point might change! Before you pengsan (malay for faint), I'm just considering writing more FEMININE POSTS i.e. Tips for Skincare .etc and maybe throw in a few pictures here and there.

Please don't run away yet!

Firstly, notice 4 out of 5 my top 5 commenters are MALE.

Where the hell are my female readers!? (sorry, not discriminating against guys...just wondering why is this so -.-)

Can someone enlighten me?

Anyway, I have can either set up another blog specially for feminine posts, or continue writing them on this blog to attract more female readers.

I doubt it'll affect my intellectual crap posts as feminine stuff are surprisingly easy to write (not much thinking and brain-racking involved you see), it'll just be in addition to the usual posts I write.

I'm considering writing it here because I don't want to start from zilch again but I'm afraid to lose whatever little readers I have now.

Dear whatever-little-readers-I-have,

This is your chance to shape the future of this not very popular or very important blog! Aren't you excited? Blehhh.

I need some questions answered:

1) Are you male or female?

2) Why do you read my blog?

3) Your thoughts on me posting feminine posts in addition to the usual crap I post.

Or whatever you want to say...I'll be scrutinizing every comment carefully!

Ok if there aren't many comments on this post...that means you're telling me "Wahahaha, GOTCHA! I subscribed to you just so that I can LAUGH IN YOUR FACE in a such situation!"

:(

Let's Eat Some Human Heads For Lunch !

How about having some of these heads for lunch??

(for the benefit of the faint-hearted, I didn't post the full size of the photos here...or else I would be too grossed out to visit my own blog -.- for the benefit of sadistic readers...click on the pictures to see the full size)

This is not a joke.

You can really eat them.

.................

Actually, they are bread sculptures are created by Thai artist Kittiwat Unarrom (whose family also runs a bakery). The "body parts" are sold at his family's bakery in Ratchaburi, Thailand.

He doesn't only make heads, he also makes body parts like feet, hands, internal organs...each one grisly blood red.





All of these "body parts" are sold at his family's bakery in Ratchaburi, Thailand.

Apparently, they taste like normal bread as they are entirely made of dough, raisins, cashew nuts and chocolate.

They also come displayed impaled on hooks, like this:



Honestly, I can't deny his skill in sculpting. BUT WHY DID HE HAVE TO SCULPT IT ON BREAD??



This is not an issue whereby I can rationally discuss whether I'm for it or not, it's simply a matter of preference (and sanity).

Is this art??

If it is, why not create art with a LONGER SHELF LIFE?

Is this cannibalistic?

I don't like to judge, but honestly if you eat this, a small voice in my head would call you a beast.

WHO EATS THIS ACTUALLY!?

I can't even look at it without fighting the urge to puke.

How is this even profitable...unless they actually sell it at high prices as "art".

Oh, maybe wannabe cannibals bring pictures of people they want to feast on to him to make life-size bread people that the cannibal can cut up and enjoy.

How twisted is this?

Source and pictures: STOMP

Should We Be Proud Of Our Inherent Propensities?

I wasn't planning to post today...

However, I came across an intriguing post which I shall post here as food for thought :)

Read: The Propensity to Say, "Get Out of my Elite Uncaring Face"

For convenience's sake I shall post the gist here:

"The Wee Shu Min saga got me thinking: where do we draw the line between what we've achieved, and what we've been blessed with at birth?

Consider Wee Shu Min:

She is smart. This is God-given.

She is rich. This she was blessed with at birth.

She is in RJC. Hard work, some might say, coupled with her natural smarts. BUT! Can we not say that her propensity for hard work was God-given as well? If so, where do we draw the line? I can practice very hard at tennis, but my propensity to practice tennis is also God-given!

So the takeaway from here is this: we should not feel proud about anything that we've achieved. We are merely the sum of our propensities. In the same way that we should not be proud of having two eyes or nipples, we should not be proud of our inherent propensities."

And here are my comments:

If you adopt the perspective that we should not be proud of our inherent propensities, then I don't think the rhetoric of free will is a problem at all. Simply because it can be argued that free will doesn't exist because everyone has a pre-programmed tendency to act in a certain way or make a certain decision in a given situation out of their control. If being hardworking is a inherent propensity that we should not take credit for, then neither should we claim free will over our propensity to make certain choices in certain situations.

Regarding whether we should be proud of our inherent propensities...I say: why not?

I think you disapprove of being proud of our inherent propensities in the sense that people take credit for their inherent propensities. However, assuming the concept of "objectively good" exists, it would be possible to proud of our inherent propensities in the sense that "I'm glad that my inherent propensities are objectively good" without taking credit for it.

Otherwise, how would you justify the pursuit of good in this world? Or do think the pursuit of good is pointless?

Therein also lies the problem of ethics. If you think that we should not take credit for our inherent propensities, then why should we punish a murderer? If according to you, he should not take "credit" for his inherent propensity to kill then why are we justified to punish him?

This post (mine) isn't quite the well concluded post I like as I'm just taking things where the blogger left off and many things here are simply assumed.

Are your strengths and qualities God-given or self-determined? Do you think you have the right to be proud of your strengths and qualities and why?

I would like to hear more views and ideas so FEEL FREE TO COMMENT!!!

The Princess and the Frog

Disney is finally making another CLASSIC Disney movie!!!!!!

I love Disney movies! My favourites are The Hunchback of Notredame and Beauty and the Beast! :D

I love The Hunchback of Notredame because I'm sick of it always seeing PERFECT, BEAUTIFUL princesses fall in love with PERFECT, HANDSOME princes. The Hunchback of Notredame 2 says "Ugly people can find love too. The world isn't as bleak as you think."

But it's been sooooooooo long since Disney used traditional animation for their movies (even Tinkerbell was made using 3D modelling)...until...

The Princess and the Frog


In cinemas December 09!

Weeeee~

Also anticipating Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June 09), UP (June 2009) and Iron Man 2 (2010) !!!

Did I mention that Iron Man is the BEST SUPERHERO EVER? I don't care what people (and my boyfriend) says...Iron Man can kick Batman's butt ANYTIME! :D

Are you getting bored of my shallow posts yet?

Don't worry, upcoming avalanche of pompous intellectual crap. ^^

Almost A Pet Cat

Honestly, I don't really like to post about my life because I feel VERY BORING when I do that.

Like, "Why the hell would anyone want to read this?" (or maybe I just feel unsatisfied when I'm not imposing my views on innocent victims)

However, since the poll showed otherwise (based on 33 votes, when asked what they like to read, the no. of people choosing "more about my life" was on par with those who chose "opinions on issues") and I wasted another night zinging up my blog, leaving me no choice but to spam pictures rather than bombard you with pompous intellectual crap.

.........................

On my way home one night, I paused at the lift lobby waiting for the lift.

Out of nowhere, a cat strolled over and sat down in front of me at the lift door as if she was too another tired resident returning home after a day of laborious work.

She slipped in through the door as soon it opened.

Warily, I followed in and punched my floor number, keeping my eyes on her at all times lest she comes lunging at me with glinting claws (I got nipped by a cat once).

As soon as the door closed, she waltzed to the front of the door and sat down most daintily and surely like she was waiting for servants to serve her usual high tea.

*Ping!* She pranced out as soon as she could squeeze her head in between the doors.

Oh my god, she isn't going to let me go home is she?

Sure enough, there she was! Poised by my house door, ready to make a lunge for the door as soon as it opened.

Shit!

When she saw me approaching, she started "meowing" at me.

No one was around, so I spoke cat language with her.

She seemed to accept the fact that I was the authority and meowed in expression of her total submission to my rule.

Keeping my eyes on her (I wasn't taking any chances), I started working the lock behind my back...

Then I made a quick break for it!

Whew~ I was safe.

Cat out, me in.

Surprisingly, she kept her word and didn't move an inch from her spot.

She just kept meowing at me...and I felt a pang of guilt looking into her wistful eyes...

But I know my parents would never allow a cat. :(

The only pets we had are fishes and birds, (my dad liked them) but they always die mysteriously one by one...

Hearing her purrs, my brother came prowling for his prey.

Suddenly, she was the poor tormented victim instead...with lots of head patting and attempts to scare her by "booing!".


We were extremely afraid she would try to squeeze her way in...


Torturing the poor cat...her eyes are screaming "Help me, please!"


It's a female! My brother touched her...breasts!? while picking her up. =S


Sending her off in the lift...(still in 1 piece don't worry, just a little traumatized I think ^^)

Anyway, she keeps following me and my brother home whenever she sees us after that. She's like a half family :D

I think she really wants a home...

On Bullshit !

Pretty obviously, I have changed my layout!

I know it's plain, but bear with it for a while until I find some way to jazz it up somehow... =X

Anyway, all is for a good cause because the previous layout was buggy (the archives got cut off halfway, can't add labels .etc)

As usual, I'm tormenting my brain cells by depriving them of sleep...but before I go off...

CHECK OUT THIS feisty little book I nicked from the library yesterday!



On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt.

I haven't finished reading it, but I might do a post on it if I find it worth a mention ^^

Weeeeeee~zzzzzz...

When Reality Is My Haven

Two days ago, I woke up abruptly in a pool of cold sweat at 10.30am.

A great feat considering that I sleep like a dragon in deep slumber, roaring occasionally. I can only be wakened by my Mum's relentless slapping or a phone's ringing, since my ears have been well trained to ignore alarm clocks and is able to hit the snooze button for unlimited number of times whilst unconscious.

I had barely slept 4.5 hours before I was jolted to reality by no apparent external force (I usually need to sleep more than 12 hours before I can manage to achieve consciousness by myself).

I woke up petrified, my heart mashed into a lump.

Completely arrested by fear, I lay frozen on my bed, trying to make sense of what just happened.

What I thought was reality moments ago came back to me, flashing in short, disconnected scenes.

"What?", I advanced towards my Mum.

"He bought this breakfast for you just before it happened..."

My father was dead, died of an heart attack.

I reached out and cradled the packet of fried noodles in my palms.

I shook.

It wasn't raining but the brown paper wrapped noodles was getting soaked...

Emotions paralyzed me. My knees buckled and I collapsed at my mum's feet.

"Why, why does it have to be now? When he's getting better? When he's becoming a better dad...why now? WHY?"

I still remember when I was primary 5 my dad had a serious heart attack. The coldblooded me looked at him in the hospital with unwavering, guiltless eyes while mum cried herself out beside me.

That was 8 years ago, when my dad was still a cruel, unreasonable monster. Someone to be afraid of, not someone to feel sad over.

8 years down the road, his change came so quickly but I can't pinpoint the cause of it. Suddenly, he stops smoking, he starts being nice, he starts bringing us out for occasional dinners and shopping trips, he starts asking concerned questions instead of interrogating me - the guilty-until-proven-innocent suspect.

The 11 year old me thought that we (my family) would be better off without him, without his tempers, without his furniture throwing, without his smoke polluting our lungs, without his prisoner treatment (to me).

Now 19 year old me suddenly realizes that I finally have a dad.

But he's dead.

"WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY?" The loss seared me again and again.

A flash of light.

I was in another room. The phone's ringing was deafening in my ears. I picked it up...and dropped it again.

My boyfriend was dead, died of a chronic terminal illness that he never told me about.

It was just like him, I thought.

There was a terrible ache in my heart. My heart felt like it had been ripped out and squeezed until it splattered, mutilated pieces on the floor.

The void where my heart once was, was filled with pain. Not sharp, cutting pain but dull, trembling pain consuming my entire being.

I couldn't hold myself up...

Tears couldn't come out fast enough to express the despair I was feeling.

The shiny, bright image of my future suddenly went blank.

My world felt like it a piece of paper torn to little bits and scattered.

I was so consumed by despair that I couldn't envisage myself doing anything other than crying.

Then I woke up.

My heart thumped wildly with fear at the remembrance; despair isn't something that needs to be real to be feared.

Trembling slightly, I propped myself up on my elbows and gazed at my dad across the room, sleeping unusually quietly and serenely for a loud snorer he was.

It's a marvel how much he has changed in my eyes...

I stared at him for a while, concentrating on his steady breathing.

After that I called DC and recounted my nightmare. Verbalizing the despair I felt was even more overwhelming, I start crying hysterically...

I was really really really glad to be back in reality.

Though I know that death is constantly creeping up on us...

Though I know that my nightmare might someday become reality...

Though I know that I will have to face it eventually...

The 19 year old me wants to preserve this moment,

this moment when all my loved ones are with me,

this moment when all my loved ones are healthy,

this moment when I'm healthy,

this moment when I'm happy,

this moment when everything is going right,

this moment when my future is bright,

this moment when troubles seem far away,

this moment when I'm truly loved.

Even when someday everything has fallen apart, and I have to face the battering forces in life...

I want to keep holding on to this moment...clenched in my 19 year old fist, locked in time.

LOVE STORY (Taylor Swift) meets VIVA LA VIDA (Coldplay) - Piano Cello

I have no words to describe this, just that I don't believe anyone can not like this.

UPDATE: I found another great Taylor Swift video on Chester's blog :D


She is like SO pretty la.

My First Bloggers Gathering!

Hohoho! It was my first bloggers gathering yesterday! ^^ We went to Seoul Garden!


From the left, Kai Xin, Jia Qi, Fyn, Meldric, Asher, Joyce, Hong Peng, Wei Jie, Si Yi, Kelvin.

(I'm not inside cus I left earlier to meet DC, cooked him pasta for dinner ^^)

Well everyone knows I'm introverted and socially awkward in real life (ok, maybe not everyone)...

I can hardly carry a casual conversation with someone unless it's about philosophy of some form.

So here's the gathering in the point of view of the socially awkward! =D


Introverted people like to walk behind and take photos ^^

In this photo, we actually got split into 1/2 on the way to the Esplanade! LOL.


2nd time being photographed by a DSLR, I'm honoured! (and secretly feels happy to be a model ^^)


One decent photo where I look NORMAL, before...


YOU BURST OUT LAUGHING!

Seriously, why do I look so comical? I DARE you to enlarge this picture!

Never knew I got the Mr Bean gene. -.-

Look at Si yi punching Fyn too!


I like this picture the best! Cus I look the best in it lorrr lol.

Omg, I don't look fat...thank god for Squash training, it was worth every drop of my sweat!

By the way, it is NORMAL to look at your face first when you look at a group photo for the first time right?????? Tell me yes please, or else I'm too narcissistic for my own good.


CAMWHORES caught in action!!!


Camwhoring ANYWHERE, ANYTIME you like - even while walking.


STILL camwhoring. By this time, I was snapping away too lol! (notice the our group in front moves further away...)

There are two types of bloggers here - the photographers and the camwhorers.

Usually, the camwhorers are sad cus no one wants to photograph them and the photographers are sad cus people are too shy and don't want to be photographed.

But when they meet at this gathering, WHAM! Major explosion of pictures!

We sure make a good bunch! ^^


The Star trek's Vulcan Salute!


Kai Zhi, the oldest at 22 is in charge of the finances :D


Food !!! Yong Tau Foo like stuff.


More food! Fried rice and spaghetti (lots of sauces!).


Holy crap, look at the amount of MEAT! -wrinkles nose- I never really liked meat except for fish and seafood.


My "vegeterian" plate, or so the rest of them claimed.

No lor! Got fishballs, octopus balls and sausages!!!

And SPINACH NOODLES rules! :D


I can never put it into my mouth once I see the white strips of fat -.- (sorry if I'm spoiling your appetite)


New Dish Alert! EGGS ON BEEF.

I actually took a weeny bite of it, it's an improvement from beef itself actually. ^^


My self-made Ice Kachang! :D Soursop galore!!!!!!!!!!


LOOK at the amount of food...I think we consumed a cow.


The aftermath.

After I left to meet DC, they had another camwhoring session...and out of the lot, these are my favourites! :D





Jumping shots look nice no matter how you take it! :D

Overall, although I think Seoul Garden wasn't quite worth my money, it was a VERY NICE change to meet even more avid camwhorers than me :D

Hurray for bloggers!

Facts which I know about Star Trek and its casts

Note: This is a blog post for a Nuffnang contest. Hope I win the tickets to watch with DC! :D



Honestly, I hesitated to write a post about Star Trek simply because...I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT ALL! Being normal was never one of my strengths...and poor girls like me can't afford to go to movies often lol ( i watch like, 2 movies a year? oh shit, no one's going to believe my opinion on Star Trek now is it?)

I hate to do things halfway, so I did my research :)

For Sci-Fiction dummies like me, here's quick "Star Trek for Dummies".

Star Trek is a science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 to September 2, 1969. It is now called Star Trek: The Original Series (ST:TOS or TOS) to distinguish it from the spinoffs that followed, and from the Star Trek universe or franchise they comprise.

Set in the 23rd century, the original Star Trek follows the adventures of the starship Enterprise and its crew, led by Captain James T. Kirk, his First Officer Mr. Spock, and his Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy.
(adapted from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_(film))

The upcoming movie is the 11th spin off based on the original series!

Sypnosis

Note: Spoilers ahead!

From the first scene the Star Trek universe as we knew it has changed forever. Kirk is now an angry wayward young man looking for trouble. He fights with Starfleet cadets in Iowa when a Capt. Pike takes an interest in him, finding out he's the only 'genius level repeat offender in the Midwest'. Pike dares Kirk to join Starfleet, goading him with the legacy of his father. A young Spock is tortured over his mixed heritage, the emotions he fights to control and the very different paths he has before him. He must choose between the Vulcan world which will never accept him as anything other than 'half human' and Starfleet Academy, worlds away from everything he has ever known. We meet Dr 'Bones' McCoy and a young linguist Uhura at the Academy and watch as a headstrong Kirk wreaks havoc on Starfleet's rules and regulations. Kirk's antics culminate in his reprogramming the famous Kobayashi Maru test and consequent disciplinary hearing. He comes face to face with the scenario creator, Mr Spock. As this unfolds; a vicious Romulan from the future is hell bent on vengeance upon 'Ambassador' Spock and nothing will get in his way. The fleet is called to arms as peril aims at the heart of the Federation and Kirk and Spock are irrevocably pulled together to save the galaxy - for the first time.
(source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0796366/synopsis)



I'm impressed with...

1)
Star Trek was created at a time when racial segregation was still firmly entrenched in many areas of the United States, Roddenberry (the creator) envisaged a multi-racial and mixed-gender crew, based on his assumption that racial prejudice and sexism would not exist in the 23rd century. He also included recurring characters from alien races, including Spock, who was half human and half Vulcan, united under the banner of the United Federation of Planets.
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)

Though the total banishment of racial prejudice and sexism is still a dream, I applaud the creator for believing in the human race.

2)
The fact that Star Trek did not attain success overnight. The original series almost got canceled but look now it has the largest number of spin-offs among all television shows in history in the Guinness World Records.

3)
There's even a Star Trek themed attraction at Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas opened in January 1998 called Star Trek: The Experience.



After watching the trailer, I was pretty much blown away. Seriously, who cares what the story about! Looking at all the fancy space stuff will attract flies into your mouth cus your jaw will be open most of the time. (Please remember to close it!)





After reading all the great reviews on Star Trek, there's no reason not to watch it anymore!

.................

Hohoho, the half-vulcan, half-human Spork with the hairstyle secretly desired by all guys in the world! (they don't cut it like him cus they are afraid they can't pull it off xD)





People who can't stand seeing my ugly face, please bear with me. ^^



Check out this site to know everything you need about the Star Trek movie!

Catch Star Trek in cinemas on May 7 !

Stupid Atheist Professor

Saw a blog post that posted this email:

Science Vs Religion

(Please read till the end to find out who is the student)

'Let me explain the problem science has with religion.' The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?'

'Yes sir,' the student says.

'So you believe in God?'

'Absolutely.'

'Is God good?'

'Sure! God's good.'

'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?'

'Yes.'

'Are you good or evil?'

'The Bible says I'm evil.'

The professor grins knowingly. 'Aha! The Bible!'

He considers for a moment, 'Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?'

'Yes sir, I would.'

'So you're good!'

'I wouldn't say that.'

'But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't.'

The student does not answer, so the professor continues.

'He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?'

The student remains silent.

'No, you can't, can you?' the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax

'Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?'

'Er...yes,' the student says.

'Is Satan good?'

The student doesn't hesitate on this one, 'No.'

'Then where does Satan come from?'

The student falters, 'From God.'

'That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?'

'Yes, sir...'

'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?'

'Yes.'

'So who created evil?' The professor continued, 'If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.'

Again, the student has no answer.

'Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?'

The student squirms on his feet. 'Yes.'

'So who created them?'

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question, 'Who created them?'

There is still no answer... Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized.

'Tell me,' he continues onto another student. 'Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?'

The student's voice betrays him and cracks. 'Yes, professor, I do.'

The old man stops pacing, 'Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?'

'No sir. I've never seen Him.'

'Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?'

'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'

'Yet you still believe in him?'

'Yes.'

'According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?'

'Nothing,' the student replies. 'I only have my faith.'

'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats. 'And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.'

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. 'Professor, is there such thing as heat?'

'Yes,' the professor replies. 'There's heat.'

'And is there such a thing as cold?'

'Yes, son, there's cold too.'

'No sir, there isn't.'

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet.

The student begins to explain...

'You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees.'

'Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero(-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.'

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

'What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?'

'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation. 'What is night if it isn't darkness?'

'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. 'So what point are you making, young man?'

'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.'

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time, 'Flawed? Can you explain how?'

'You are working on the premise of duality,' the student explains...

'You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought.'

'It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it...'

'Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?'

'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.'

'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?'

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

'Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?'

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

'To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.' The student looks around the room, 'Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?' The class breaks out into laughter.

'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.'

'So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?'

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers, 'I guess you'll have to take them on faith.'

'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,' the student continues, 'Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?'

Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.'

To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.'

The professor sat down.

If you read it all the way through and had a smile on your face when you finished, mail it to your friends and family.

PS: The student was Albert Einstein .

I remember receiving this email years ago but it was not like I had anything much to say then; I had zilch critical thinking skills at that time.

I posted a long comment for the blogger and here's how it goes:

Hello, prepare yourself for a long rant :)

Firstly, if you just Google this, you will find that this is actually an Urban legend. Whoever that student was, it wasn't Einstein.

Source: http://www.slantright.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1568

Sure, in the discussion the atheist professor got pwned (the title of the blogger's post was "Atheist Professor OWNED"), but only because he was stupid enough to try and prove his student's beliefs was wrong by criticizing the method - faith. Why stupid? Simply because, no one can deny that they rely on faith. For example, how do I know that the roof will not collapse on me this second? Reason can tell me that since it's been built properly, and it has never collapsed before...it is UNLIKELY to collapse. Take note, unlikely but not definitely not. So if we rely on reason alone, the roof MIGHT collapse on me! But why am I not hiding? Because I have FAITH that it will not. Because everyone relies on Faith at some point, you can't question the faith of others without questioning your own faith. Let's say I say that "You are stupid to believe in God based on blind Faith." Then, I'm also saying "I am stupid to sit here and wait for the roof to collapse based on blind Faith too!"

No one in the right mind would say that "Oh, your belief sucks cus it is based on faith!" as they will soon realize...."Eh, no wait, MY BELIEFS are based on faith too!" I suppose that this fact might not be obivious to the lesser trained mind, but if that conversation really took place...I'm really disappointed with the professor.

"To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.' "

The student was right about the duality flaw in the professor's argument and has also successfully disproven his argument that "God does not exist because God is good and yet there is evil."

However, the student has hardly proven that God in fact does exist. He has merely shown that the professor's argument was wrong. In my opinion, it is written in a way that it takes advantage of the fact that lesser trained minds would automatically assume that since "God does not exist" (the professor's argument) was wrong, naturally it means that "God does indeed exist". It probably didn't occur to them that there might be other arguments for "God does not exist" out there and they might not be wrong.

If this conversation wasn't real, this would be what we call setting up a Straw Man argument. The author of the email has apparently made the Atheist Professor say a stupid argument (aka Straw Man) so that his "clever" student can pwn him :) The use of Albert Einstein's name was probably just to instill awe into whoever read it, in an attempt to mislead them to think the student's argument was flawless. Which normal person DARES to accuse that Einstein was wrong? I don't deny that I fell for it once years ago =D

just my 2 cents ^^

(i added more stuff in into my original comment)