New Year's Eve All Over Again

It's that time of the year again and suddenly I'm hit by bouts of nostalgia.
Reminiscing the past, the simplicity and preferarity.
The failings of the year surpass mere numbers.
(I'm just rambling here, passing the hours)
The stack on my table a testament to the past.
The state I'm in, a bad shadow it casts.
Life ain't always a cinch, for it can make you flinch
And flinch I did, aft recounting my deeds.
A thought for the future, a resolution perhaps.
Work harder and better and smarter at that.
Find the signs leading to the paths
To here and there, near and afar.
Success and failure come flowing down the stream,
Math ability goes right of the edge
But it ain't alone, it never would be
For with it it takes very much of me
This and that, and all in between
Now to find the way back and get back upstream.


...
GDP 5.7%
...
I can't write rubbish without lapsing into rhyme? I'm pathetic.

ah well

HAPPY NEW YEAR (and stuff)
Hey, it's a new day.

Cherish it.

Walking the Walk

The path, however endless as it may seem, will eventually end.
The longest corridor is only 728 metres long
The ending may not be as obvious as the light at the end of the tunnel, but it'll come
Keep on walking, and you'll reach it one day.
A perpetual dreariness in between daunts you not,
The end you shall reach, and success you shall find.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everybody (that means all one of you.) ^_^

Didn't get around to the writing though. Pity.

T'was the night before christmas

(This professional poetic moment is brought to you by Clement Clarke Moore)

T'was the Night before Christmas
By Clement Clarke Moore

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"


(If I'm free enough later I'll write something or the other... It's good, but work is important =/)

Santa

Santa is the perfect CIA agent ^_^. Several reasons for that.

[Addenda: It appears this isn't new. Bah.]

Shadows

The light breaking through a fog outlines its path, a blur line, yet silently striking. Blurring upon the fringe, like the grey of one's mind.

Yet perhaps behind the shadows, in the darkness, there lurks the much-sought glimmer of hope and joy, as is the presence of light in the artificial darkness our mind weaves.


[Addenda: Interesting new proxy options that I now know of. Putfile doesn't seem to have anything of note. Also, Sonic Riders.]

Cracks

Cracks can and will appear in even the most beautiful of wonders.

Appreciate what you have, will it's still 'perfect', and perhaps the loss won't be as hard-hitting.

And when those cracks appear, maybe you'll know what to do.




[Addenda: I just knew I couldn't be trusted. Insanity knows no bounds. You have my sincerest apologies.]

No car flying allowed here*

Trespassers will be prostituted*

WTF?

*Actual signs

Of ... blind injustice?

If you don't know yet, do visit Putfile. If you have problem viewing the page, extract here...

Putfile Says Goodbye To Singapore

At dawn on December 2nd 2005, Singapore hanged a citizen of Australia, despite a plea for clemency from the United Nations. Whilst Putfile is not a human rights campaigning organization, we believe that if a country must have the death penalty, there is no need for it be barbaric. It is enough of a punishment, and a deterrent, to take someone's life in a painless manner, without having to be barbaric about it. Putfile prefers to not continue to provide our free uploading service to a country that executes prisoners by hanging, a method of execution which can take up to six minutes to painfully execute the victim.

For this reason, we are at this time terminating all service to users from Singapore. We shall be happy to restore service following any positive move from the government of Singapore towards abolition of hanging as an execution method.

Goodbye Singapore,

Putfile.

In the style of an excerpt of a recent book, "... ... ...", Discuss.

Later: Right... so now they've got "Material Girl" in Chinese... What's next?

Thought(s)

They say a miss is as good as a mile, but I very much think I'd rather have been a mile away than to have met you and simply walked on by. So much I should have known but didn't know. People whom I should have known but don't know. Fate is a cruel mistress.

Is it better to be a man, dissatisfied, or some creature of lower intelligence and awareness, satisfied? To have never attained success, or having succeeded once, failed ever since? Mindless thoughts like these screw my mind.

The more I get to know the people around me, the more my inadequacies and not noticing becomes, well, more noticeable. What others try to apply, I think I can try too, to have the guts to take action. But still I have not what others have, and perhaps, hope is all I have, if anything at all. I guess trying might hurt, but regret definately hurts more. At the very least, Guo Jing gives me hope...

In randomosity, Shoebill 1, Lungfish 0

To be, or not to be...

In response to all those of you who have been asking me for what I think on this, I'll try to condense it to this much.

Let he who hast not sinned cast the first stone. Know what you speak of before crying "havoc" and letting loose the dogs of war. The butterfly flaps it's wings and forms the hurricanes. Similarly, contrary to the old adage, words can hurt, and leave irreparable damage, especially if perpetuated by an irresponsible media (extra interest related reading on the side: Responsible media analysis). One man's meat is another man's poison. You can't please everyone, so you gotta please yourself. Left and right are always relative. Walk a mile in another's shoes and perhaps, just perhaps, you'll find something agreeable.

This has been another garbled rubbish moment courtesy of yours truly

On the side, the 2005 stamp collection arrived today. ^-^

Attitude

Success is a goal for all mankind,
Achieved through thought and a state of mind,
That strength of purpose we cannot exclude,
For success depends on our attitude.

So hear yourself, your voice within
And let it guide you through your life herein,
Six days of labour, one day of rest,
Shrug not your shoulders, do your best.

Take not in life the mild approach,
The results you receive, you will not boast,
So give your all with plenty of drive,
For none of us leave this world alive.

Labour and learn in pursuit of your dreams,
The best things in life are all upstream,
What you put in, is what you get,
Pain of discipline beats regret.

Life is too long not to do well,
If you do not try, it's a living hell,
So play out your hand, enjoy the ride,
Don't live to regret, for not having tried.

And so it starts again

Just realised that the double-digit count started shortly before the trip. 86 to go. A yearly striking off of days to nothing in particular, a whimper, a whisper, for it's yet another day in a life less lived.

For Life...,

For life is a game, and I'm but the Jack.
The joker before, who has since lost his knack.
A faux show of knowledge, for there really is naught.
A hunger for more brings this mind to a halt.

For life is a stage, and to each his own part.
Through weal and woe for many a heart.
A hit or a miss, it's all over too.
The show must go on, whatever you do.

For life is a risk, the biggest one yet.
But fear must not stop, and still we must bet.
Throw down your chips, for none can last.
Have all your fun, before the time has past.

For life is a race, through many a path.
And the winner is he, who has the last laugh.
The ways might be varied, the sights unique.
But the end is the same, and boy is it bleak.

For life is a melody, the maiden swan song.
We'll be at the end, before too long.
Regardless of race, religion or hue.
The choices you make will soon define you.



Sheesh. Another episode of rubbish writing brought to you by the rubbish generator.

To every end, there is a beginning

Copied off old place...

Well, I'm back, and a new post appears to grace the top of this deadly silent place. If I ever get around to blogging properly again (?), ought to get something more functional and practical for the layout.

10 days in China, and it's all over, yet again. Back in the chair, in front of the computer. 10 days of learning, 10 days of fun. 10 days of laughter, and the 10 days are done.

Quick recap. 20/11/2005 - 29/11/2005. 人大附中 in Beijing.

Day one, plane, same airport, bus, food card, hostel beyond expectations (^-^), walk to dinner (^-^), dinner, walk back, sleep...

Okay, maybe too quick a recap. I should (by what force of compellation, I know not,) write much more detailed-ly, but that's not what I do... -.-

Day two, First breakfast. Available: 包子(as said by GG, good stuff.), 油条, 豆浆, porridge and some other stuff. First lesson, P&C. Generally ok, Chinese doesn't prove to be as large a stumbling block as expected. Appear in front of school during assembly. Meep. Big populace, though school compounds is small (supposedly no larger than RI). Astroturf grass, dismissal through 'Dismiss'. Lunch, 'Western' food, fried rice with chopsticks. Nothing of note. Afternoon, walk to Carrefour, tour of school, dinner in teacher's canteen, buffet dinner. Short speech by principal of school. 20 minute walk to visit to bookshop. Only 6 guys went. 4 storeys, big area esp. on 3rd & 4th floors. Bought Rome Total War. Good walk. Walk good. Green bicycle red man shot.

Day three, Sequences. 马兰拉面 lunch. Afternoon 颐和园, standard stuff. 大笔书法家 x2. Sunset photography attempt. Forgot contrast adjustment. Group photo, moving head. Dinner out, buffet dinner again. Return to hostel. First use of recreation room tonight (I think). Korean guys come, play table tennis with Wai Sum, get thrashed and leave, never to return in our presence (bah). Returns to room and bounces ping pong ball.

Day four, Number theory. 雍和宫 aka llama temple or somesuch. Ticket comes with small vcd with 5 minute documentary thingo. Funkiness in a can, or a paper sleeve, rather. 孔庙. Whole place renovating. Nothing to be seen. Some shopping place, see people bargain, buy nothing. Dinner out at some hotel with a huge lantern, Ms cho and split table rule. '少林功夫' show, mostly gymnasts and ballet dancers (?). 永和大王 supper. Logo like Colonel Sanders, sell some dian xin, noodles. Specialise in 豆浆 and 油条. House special 豆浆 comes with no sugar, instead derives it's taste from some sweet beans added to each cup. Return to hostel, no trumpets sign in school too. Girl appears in rec. room after washing clothes. They start using the room.

Day five, Functions. A lot of people reported sick in the morning, 10 girls, 2 boys. Class half empty. Afternoon 长城 visit cancelled. Proposition to visit universities first, but no trip made since classes at universities were ongoing. Sick people get porridge with salted veg and some red tofu (?) for lunch. no one touches the latter two. Healthy people go to Carrefour (again). KFC dinner, Chong Min and smart ordering. Very late teachers, search party, Coke with Salt. Sick people playing table tennis, cards in rec. room.

Day six, Inequalities. Sick people better, joined in class. Free early afternoon time. Spent in rec. room instead of in front of computer. Played soccer. Meet sunday students. Return to room.

Day seven, 天安门广场, 故宫, 天坛, standard beijing viewing.

Day eight, sunday, go out with students. Public bus, good expeirience. 香山, good climb via the steep way, nice view via cable car. Slightly late lunch at 香饼居 or similar. Specialising in some prata like things with various fillings. Tasty. Short walk to botanical gardens. Not much to see given season. Did NOT pay 40 yuan to see tropical plants (-.-). 卧佛寺 closed for the day just before we arrive. Fail to see main attraction. Return.

Day nine, test thingy. Wasted lots and lots of marks. P&C, best area, yet utter carelessness causes everything. Afternoon go 长城 in substitution of Thursday. 没香山那么起经. Mostly a stroll. Stone at the top for long time. Singing on the way back. Mostly Chinese. Dinner, then sing school songs. Bad idea to attempt Yellow Sub. -.-

Day ten, return test, wasted marks everywhere, as with every other maths paper. Failure to spot square pattern cost 8 marks, sheer idiocy cost 3, and an hour of blur-ness cost 20. Return to the airport again, sadness over the over-ness of the trip. Got out of a ST seat, Smoothest landing ever (?). Ying Xiang was unaware that we had landed. A final goodbye, the end.

Some random notes...

It's really freaky how people you never knew existed, or even not know after x days know so much about you.
Most girls knew all the guys' names by what... 4th day dinner? Most guys still don't know all the girls' names (to match to faces, at least)

I manage to pull off looking horrible(or like me) in all the photos. Figures that I should concentrate on my non-me photography.

I really need a new camera, a proper one preferably, not a point-and-click type. =/

Somehow I can manage to forget stuff repeated so often (songs?), even things like titles. Meep.

To whoever who asked for 'Hey Jude' on the ninth day, sorry but I couldn't remember past the chorus the first time round.

Some people can really sing ^-^ Hidden talents galore.

Some things can't wait till the end. When it's too late, it really is too late. Regret solves nothing. Not everything can, or will wait. When opportunity presents itself, grab with both hands, (and legs, if required). Regret leaves just a mere shadow of a man.

It's never to late to make new friends. =)

Welp, thus ends the longest post in a long while, unless I decide to write another big analysis again.

To every end, there is a beginning, and to that beginning, the end.

A New Window to the Life Less Lived

Too complicated, too confusing, too much afoot.

A new place, a new face. A clean slate upon which one might clear the plate.

Round 2, as they say, begins now.

^-^