Nuts.

I'm bored. I'm so bloody bored I'm falling to pieces. Did two Chem test papers today but that was about the end of my productivity. Watched the finals of American Idol just now, I don't like either of them nor the songs they picked to sing.

I can't believe I missed JMAPS. Note to self, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS check the stupid house board. You never know what new thing's up there, especially a sign up sheet for JMAPS. It's like the closest thing I can get to storytelling/OI competitions here. They have like close to zero speech/acting based competitions for me to enter. GeramNYA. There's two parts to JMAPS, first is a ten minute speech like Forensics' OO, second part, almost like Forensics Improm. just that this one gives you 10 minutes to prepare a 3 minute speech chosen from two topics. Hahahah, ex0dus and H, bet you'll beat 'em all flat having so much time to prepare. Far cry from the one minute preparation for a 5 minute speech of Improm. =) I'll have to work on that second part if I'm to join next year of course. Improm was never really my thing. Can't think fast enough. And also, I never really dared to try. I prefer prepared scripts, and obviously, OI to public speaking, but well, I take what I can get.

I didn't know what JMAPS was until they announced the winner in assembly. Great. Thanks a lot. A bit too late for me to join now. Guess I'll have to wait for next year. WHY OH WHY won't they have a Forensics competition???! *sob.

Sigh. I'm sick. I think my sinus is coming back, I can't breathe all that well anymore. *...gripe gripe gripe...*

Nuts. Nuts. Nuts to you and everything and everyone. Hurgh.

I got my first phone call ever since I came here and a day-girl came to visit me today. That was the only good part. Without it, this would have been one miserable, miserable day.

Sigh. I miss y'all.

Metallica on cello sounds good...

Ha. Finally they came up with an okay looking (but not great) template that's green. Did some minor adjustments to it, nothing you can't do yourself. Hope you like the new look. And I'm doing this when my exam is just three days away. I gotta set my priorities straight man. I so wanted to enable comments at the bottom of every post, cause it looks cool =) But it'll make the flooble redundant. Oh well. Win some lose some.

Gotta study now. Exodus, check out Metallica on cello... =) Woah, damn good. Friend's gonna burn me a CD. Hopefully it comes, n I'll show you when I get back. =D

Du-de. Where's mah bed?!

A recap on my story up till now.

For the past two days, I've been sleeping on the floor. But not before putting a sheet over it of course. Why? Well, ever since I started sleeping on that crap excuse for a bed, my backaches have been getting worse. Then it got to a point where I couldn't take it anymore, and decided I might as well sleep on the carpeted floor, which turned out to be extremely comfortable. Really, I don't mind staying there, just that now every night and morning I'll have one extra thing to do, unfold and re-fold the sheets. Not too much of a hassle, if it means 7/8 hours of more contented sleep at nights. That marked the start of my subversive, rebellious acts against the boarding house. Actually, no. The first one was when I signed a petition to keep the BH open during exeat weekends so we don't need to keep moving around like stupid nomads. Don't know how that turned out, but I'll keep you posted (if you're even interested at all =).

So.

First morning after act of protest:

Enter Mrs. Fearn-Wannan

FW: GOODness ME! Who's thAT sleeping on the floor?!~
Me: (mumbles blearily from under the doona) Hmmpghfrghrubmphmmm....
FW: Why are you sleeping on the floor?!
Me: hrmghmmmgmpfhph-bed-too-soft-causes-backaches-hrghrmmmm...
FW: Hmm, looks like we've got to get you a new mattress haven't we? Okay...

Exeunt Mrs. Fearn-Wannan

Me: (thinks) SCORE!!!


Second morning after act of protest:

Enter Mrs. Fearn-Wannan

FW: Still on the floor?
Me: Zzzzzzz.
FW: Okay, so I was just saying, before you go to school today, could you please take the sheets off the bed? Your new matress is coming today.

Exeunt Mrs. Fearn-Wannan

Me: (thinks disbelievingly) DOUBLE SCORE!!!

...

"Well." I thought, "That went pretty well. My protest got quite a response." Maybe they're afraid of me telling people like the BH is abusing me and making me sleep on the floor or something. =)

Pah. I should have known. If it's too good to be true, it damn well probably is. Today came back from school, entered my room and gasped. *shock *horror my ENTIRE BED was gone, ENTIRE BED being the wooden bottom part that you put the mattress on. And on the floor, with my doona neatly covering it, lay the offensive mattress. On the doona was a note, saying your bed is being fixed and will be ready by tomorrow.

WHAT?! Who said there was anything wrong with the wooden part of my bed??? DAMN! It's like saying Doctor I think I might have broken my toe and then having him check your teeth for cavities or something. Sheesh. Like, get with it?! And to rub it in, the mattress was still the same one.

Sigh. *shakes head solemnly* All the lesser beings that I have to suffer myself with.

40 Hour Famine

40 Hour famine started yesterday at 8pm. It'll go on for the next 40 hours (how profound =) and end at Sunday noon. But first, rewind rewind, let me explain what I'm talking about. It's actually a thingy where participants fast for 40 hours and they're given a little booklet to try and raise money for the poor in Tanzania by getting people to sponsor them. I do feel a little uncomfortable having to ask people for money, whether it's for charity or anything, but I've collected a modest sum from school friends, boarding house people and things (cause we're not really encouraged to go door to door, safety reasons) so I'm pretty pleased. Will try to raise more in the next few days though I would have stopped fasting by then. Anyone interested in sponsoring me? =) Hahahah, but you're all too far away to be of much help unfortunately...

Yes. So as I was saying, it started at 8pm. Dinner was at 6 and after dinner I was thinking hmm, if I get hungry later I'll probably go get a biscuit before 8. Well, that didn't happen of course. After dinner I was wandering about wondering what to do, and eventually I decided to go to the music room to practise the electric. Now that's a big decision okay? Everytime I even think about practising the guitar, I'll mull over it for some time first, weighing the odds. Cause I know when I get started, everything else, work homework study will be tergendala for the next 2 hours.

I didn't have any homework desperately due, so off I went to the music room. Playing there gives me the freedom to crank up the volume of the amp, because, heck man, having to settle for a 12W tube amp after using a 16W one for so long can be hard to get used to - sound quality wise. Tube amps sound better the louder the volume is. Otherwise, the distortion will sound puny and undistorted, and that's sad man...that's sad.

As expected, two hours later, replete with frozen fingers and aching finger joints, I emerged. The frozen fingers were because there was only one plug point near me, and I had to decide between plugging the amp in or plugging the heater in. So much for that. But it was good fun, and as Charlene (my roomate) said, I must have been smoking something to put me on such a high as I was last night. In actual fact it was just spillover euphoria from playing the electric. *contented sigh....I love the ESP. =)

That was about 8.15pm then, so I went out into the foyer to play with Sam the dog. He's so ADORABLE!!! ESpecially yesterday because he had finally went on his twice-a-year visit to the grooming service. How unhygenic is that? Apart from that, he doesn't get any baths. So poor Sam before was all a tangled mess of matted fur, but now, just bathed, just cut, just clipped, just combed, he was adorable. I'd been petting him, giving him rubs, ruffling his fur the whole day yesterday, and after guitar I went to him again. Before that I stopped by the office to get a biscuit and then went out to sit with Sam.

Two bites later, I'm like OH SHIT! 40 hour famine! How could I forget? I wasn't even thinking when I took the biscuit. I realized how out-of-habit, almost subconsciously I did that. How I take eating for granted. I, who has never lacked food, till eating comes so naturally I don't even think twice. In fact, I don't even think. Maybe I should start saying grace too. =) I looked at the one-third remains for the biscuit in my hand.

...

*crunch crunch crunch

...

"You liked that didn't you, Sammy boy? Huh? Huh? You liked that eh?"

Yes. I was sufficiently mortified after that. Then I remembered in that envelope that the booklet came in, there was a tattoo sticker thing they gave us of a little blue figure with 3 fingers two big eyes a red cape like Superman, and a hole in its stomach.

I stuck it on the back of my right hand. So that if ever I reached out for food again, it'd be the first thing I see. Imagine that. So much food that 40 hours without, I have to make an effort to remind myself not to eat. And what about the hungry in Tanzania, or in the slums of India, or really, anywhere else in the world?

I spent the rest of the night trying to study for my upcoming Physics test, but with Charlene sitting right across the room, and when WL came in then Minnie came in, hahahah, the four of us got about talking till 11? Around there. Physics had to be put aside, making way for even more ridiculous repartee with CHarlene. Sigh. We have such an abusive relationship. =) After those two left, Charlene and I talked some more till 12 something (Dorcas was having a sleepover at someone else's room) and Sharlotte came in. =) So much for my 'night of study'. Eventually I decided to sleep and have a 'morning of work' the next day (which is today) instead. And here I am typing away at the blog. That's the problem with living the the boarding house man. It's hard to get things done. At least, the things that supposedly matter.

This morning I woke up, and I thought, 9am. Hmm. The dining room is still open. Good. Let's pry my eyes open, get up, go brush teeth and we can have some breakfast.

Wait.

40 hour famine! Th-at's right.

No breakfast. Good, now that I remembered, let's go brush teeth and sit down and study. Since I save time not eating, that'll mean extra time for work.

Anyhow, I really should go study Physics now. I have a Maths and Physics test next week, three different CHemistry homework due next week, an English essay due next week and and Econs essay due next week too. And next week is sadly, two days away. Sigh. English essays are a lot harder to write. Here, there's a distinction between essays and compositions. They never write compositions. It's always essays essays essays. How boring.

"Out of all the characters in Fringe of Leaves, it is Ellen who shows the greatest strength. Discuss."

"Optimism is a quality shared equally between men and women in the novel Fringe of Leaves and House of Spirits. Compare."

And the like. Ooh, by the way, you know how for different subjects I go to different classrooms, I just found out yesterday, our exams are held in a common hall. Whoa, I mean that's like PMR and stuff. In retrospect, I'm like duh yeah why wouldn't it be that way since we don't have a proper classroom with the same classmates? But it's just the whole stark difference of the concept and system here compared to CHS that stood out to me lah.

That's enough rambling for today. Hopefully, this long long post may, to a certain extent, soften my long absence from the scene.

Over and out, yours truly Down Under.

Reflections.

Wow, strangely, it didn't feel all that long since I last blogged, but the date on the previous post speaks otherwise. What's that mean now huh? That time is actually passing quicker than I thought it would be? That's a good thing I suppose, the sooner time passes, the sooner I'll be home.

Just came back from dinner at a Malaysian restaurant coupla tram stops up. Really satisfying to have good food once in a while. =) I love the Melbourne weather, especially in autumn, especially at night. Most nights, the sky is beautifully clear. All I recognize is Orion, but that doesn't matter. The moon hung exceptionally bright today. The air is crisp and chilly, and if I stay out long enough my nose turns cold, my cheeks turn cold. I kinda like the feeling of that. More so if I'm taking a nice, quiet walk, wrapped up in a scarf and my thoughts. It has been raining quite a bit, midnight right through to morning, evening, anytime. But it's all right in the rooms, and the heater's on so it's pretty comfy. Nights like these, they're just begging for someone to come out for a walk. Most times, that someone is me. Of course, it'd be nicer if I didn't have to go walking with girls all the time. Hahahah... =)

Either way, it's beautiful. It's all good. Australia's a beautiful place...and y'know what'd be cool? It's barely feasible of course, but it doesn't hurt to think about it...It'd be fun I reckon, a road trip with the gang along the Great Ocean Road. =)