Literature modules

In view of the shortage of time I previously had, I have only begun taking Literature modules from this semester again. To be honest, the more I delve into the concept the Literature, the more I hate it. I understand why "model" or guided thoughts needed to be fed when I was taking this as an O Level subject. However, why do the lecturers still expect solutions to fit within the mould? That simply goes against the idea of Literature, where people have the freedom to interpret what they read, with evidence from the text to back them up, of course. Why would literary texts always seem debatable to begin with? Texts are never straightforward and limited to a single perception.

I decided to take a little risk with these ten marks for the discussion board for Singapore Literature and venture off the beaten track. And I think I might have been a little too bold and I'm prepared to lose the marks thoroughly. I've never felt so awful about any modules so far and solutions have never felt so beyond my reach.

Oh Lord, I really need your help. I need your wisdom to see what the model answer is, and of course for a little less boldness to stay on the beaten track and contribute the model answer. Isn't that what the lecturer wants? Why, really, did the University remove half of its face-to-face sessions? Especially when the target audience of the course do not have the theoretical background in literature and require more examples to help them think critically.

Instead of whining, I ought to head back to my TMA and write on the safe side. Though, it has been a terribly disappointing start to Term 2.

Language Acquisition

It's extremely annoying that when I was working on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) essays, research articles about First Language Acquisition kept popping right before my eyes like popcorn. And now, when I need something about good-ol' Chomsky and his vintage nativism readings, searches like Universal Grammar led to SLA. Fell asleep on my notes for an hour. And it's 5.00 pm.

Spent some time cooking an awesome pot of udon, which was supposed to be a person's portion but I can never finish that. I've split that portion over breakfast and lunch and there is still that tad bit left for dinner.

Cost of my meal(s):
Packet of udon: Approximate 60 cents
Packet of miso with dried Japanese seaweed: 50 cents
An egg: 25 cents
Mushrooms: 1 dollar

So that works out to be less than $2.35 for my breakfast, lunch and maybe dinner.

I believe in taking small meals.

But I'm not sure if that means eating something every (other) hour.

At six, I had a (small) chicken ham sandwich.

At seven, I cooked the first proper meal for myself ever. Scrambled eggs with milk and boiled asparagus.

At eight, I had a bowl of cereal.

At eleven, I'm having a small cup of yoghurt.

I'm sure I'll be craving for those oranges at midnight. Provided I'm bothered to peel them cos I hate having the fibres between my teeth if I bite them from sliced ones.

And I'm most focused between eight to eleven. That's only because I deleted the Instagram app on my phone. Too little progress today, my dear.

On a good note, the printer is set up and I don't have to go allllll the way back to Random Road just to get my slides printed. Thankful for a fiance who places my needs before his so this can be possible.

Ran some errands at the nearby malls. It was pretty fruitful except for the fact there is only ONE store that sells flip flops for men in two malls. With the exception of that buy-and-throw-away store. Which I must absolutely mention - the salespeople weren't the kindest. I would expect salespeople to be able to tell me if a certain product runs a tad larger in size, or vice versa. I mean, I could go down a size for some flip flops, and he might just be able to, too. The elder looked at me with the most peculiar stare and wondered why I kept asking if a person wearing size 11 could wear a size 10. And for the many shoe stores we've ever visited - Aldo, Hush Puppies, Pedro, Clarks, etc., I'd never encountered one who asked if the size 11 was based on UK or US sizing. Boy!

So I spent 18 minutes on Instagram this morning.
Approximately 30 minutes on a nap.
Maybe some 10 minutes on Instagram again before I typed this.
And another 15 minutes or so on this entry.

Insomnia

Moments before my day end are usually accompanied by some reading materials. Be it a physical book or an electronic device where I get to catch up on interesting articles via Pinterest or something else. And the other half simply can't take any bit of light when he sleeps so that's horrid. I can foresee us sleeping at different timings daily as our sleeping habits differ so much.

Tonight's Semantics class takes us back to familiar ground - the non-mathish, legitimately linguistic ground. Phew. I'm not sure if I could live through anymore of the predicate logic (that seems totally illogical to me). Discouraged after being thrown off the track during the previous class, I prayed for wisdom and intellect to understand the session today. I'm glad it turned out relatively well and I want to give glory to God for that. I guess relying on God will truly get us further than what we can ever do based on our own strength.

If only God can somehow illuminate predicate logic as well. I'll be eternally grateful.

Memory loss

It's happening so frequently that it's freaking me out.

And this time I think it's the air-conditioner. I really pray somehow it's switched off.

Pin-drop Silence

Been staying over at our new place to catch up on readings and work on my assignments. Initially, the silence was so quiet that it was almost creepy. Now that I'm used to it, I enjoy the lone moments a little too much that hanging out drains every bit of my energy. I once came across this article that describes the traits of introverts and I can totally relate to one of them right now:

... needs to spend time alone to recharge...

Having spent all my years in a noisy home, I never really had much silence around and I'm definitely relishing this now.

Time to get my lazy arse off the couch and head back to town to get my laptop!

Housework reminders

Couldn't stop sneezing as I worked my way through the dust bunnies. Damn the allergy! Gonna get some surgical masks for the new place and put them on before I get to work. And I must remember to bring my moisturisers down as well.