Of Height.

I have flu today. Idunno what it is, but I feel SICK.

..

AWESOME!

except fer the runny nose. That part sucks. SUCKS.

-ZAN DUHRR

Bax

Fortune cookie says:

The God of Fortune is with you today!

Anyways. The last Hongbao has been taken, and the counting shall BEGIN.

...

...

Woah!
More than I expected. Way more. Woot.

Dinner with the Wongs was interesting, and it was interesting to see Andrew after he'd gone through the most significant physical change in one's life - puberty.
Heck, he even had those little moustache-ends.
And his height! He's extremely close to my height, and I shall blame this on his association with basketball and his apparent 'bad eating habits', because protein helps you grow, and with a lotta eating comes alotta protein, I guess.
Rar.
Oliv and Andrew were quiet at the table, though. Quieter than usual, that is. I guess that's what happens when we have teenagers at the table. Adults kept the noise going, though. The conversation, I mean. Vic was the loudest of the children at the table, though. To me anyways. I can't blame her cause my ear was right in front of her..
Edward still a happy guy. Bouncy. The fact that Andrew's been teaching him the stuff he knows is great.
Hey, he'll be of Primary school age next year. Interesting.
I seem to be using that word a lot recently... to the thesaurus!

Oh, right, gotta meet Chris tomorrow.
Commonwealth, 11am
Woah, it's past 12!

I guess this is the last event I'll be having for a while, so I'll be going back to the old observational posting after this.

Two, two and six.


-Zan

The Obligatory Flag Day Post

Flag day was pretty good!
As I look back at this morning/afternoon, I notice how the hours didn't draaag by as one would expect 8 hours of collecting donations to. Maybe it's because I didn't have a watch. Heh. Or a phone. Or any other chronologically informative device. It was also funny how people in the morning were more willing to donate than the afternooners.
Here's my list of people that were more likely to donate:

People on the phone, for some reason.
Suave looking Indian dudes. (Sunglasses)
Old Caucasian couples that are above 60. Those below are less likely to donate.
European couples.
Mothers with children (of any race).
Teenage couples.
People with their friends. (Adult or teenage. Of any race, even Chinese. Bonus points if they are of different race.)
Smokers. (Who knows why, but they seem willing to donate.)
Women friends.
Thin middle-aged Chinese guys. They're always nice!
Families.
People with earphones, for some reason.
Men with business pants. They seem to always have a pocket fulla coins.

And that's all, until something refreshes my memory. Now here's the list of people who were less likely to donate.

Normal-bodied middle-aged Chinese guys. They just give you this grimace.
Chinese teenagers that are female. (They don't even smile. They'll look at you if you're lucky. Friends are an exception though.)
Caucasians. (with the exception of elderly ones, and those with their children. Well, at least they reject with a smile.)
Fathers with their son.
Teenagers that are alone. (With the exception of Indian ones, for some reason. They're awesome.)


Note that the lists are based on my experience, meaning you might have a different one (based on how you look or ask for donations, probably.), and the lists do not apply to your donation-collecting.

All that aside, I'm grateful for the coins and notes I got. The fact that we got anything at all shows us that Singaporeans aren't really the 'typical Singaporeans' we think they are. Some of us, anyway.
And just a little tip I remember:
Do not fill the rim of your can with stickers. Put stickers on one by one, so people will get the impression that they'd be taking the last sticker. Makes them feel special, maybe. It worked for me!
Another tip:
When asking for donations, walk slower a little. Look like you're prepared to stop, because people will just pass by if you look like you're just flowing past.
Another:
If you bang around your can (sloshing around the coins), and people see this, and hear this, you are less likely to get a donation out of the same people afterwards.
Also:
If it is windy and some guy is trying to put a dollar bill in your can, do not help. This will raise the chances that the bill will accidentally fly away.
And:
Banging your coin-filled (coinful?) cans to the tune of "We Will Rock You" is crazy-awesome.
boom-boom-BAP, boom-boom-BAP


Eating with the ex-neighbours in about 45 minutes. Woo.

I will not refer to CNY dinners as money collecting.
I will not refer to CNY dinners as money collecting.
I will not refer to CNY dinners as money collecting.
I will not refer to CNY dinners as money collecting.
I will not refer to CNY dinners as money collecting.


-Zan

[Title]

[Introduction of topic]
[elaboration

[sub-topic derived from topic]
[elaboration]

[random noting]

[dash]
[Zan]

Maybe That Millisecond Isn't Gone

Wikipedia is great. One can go from reading up on Stanley Kubrick to internet memes to April Fool's jokes to Google to Time Travel.
I chanced upon the article on John Titor, and it made me think about myself in a future where time travel is possible.
I would definitely take a visit to see the past Me again.
I probably already have. Maybe I haven't spoken with my future self (yet?) because he decides not to interfere with the past, for he might turn out to be a vastly different person.
Maybe the future me is just sitting somewhere, watching me.

What an interesting thought.

-Zan

Har Har Har.

Eating Banana nut crunch cereal.

And I was thinking.
If there ever was a Mr. Banana NutCrunch, he would have...

... the WORST surname in the history of ever.

Ahahaahaha
Nutcrunch

-Zan

Cynical?

Well, I guess the fact that it involves magicians makes it cynical. To my eyes, anyway. A story about magicians can symbolize that all the magic in life must have a trick, a 'secret' behind it. It's all an illusion. A set-up.

Hey, you think it'd be really easy for a magician to go atheist? Kinda like Penn & Teller. Knowing so many secrets to so many acts that seem to be magic is bound to make one a skeptic. "Naw, it can't be real."
Even the machine that was said to be 'real magic' (in the movie) was later referred to as just being science instead.

And it's strange how I always wake up in the morning with this surprisingly slim body. No matter how much cereal I eat for dinner the night before, all that food takes no place in my body. Or at least appears not to anyway. Maybe all that energy is being used up when I sleep. Maybe my brain is excessively using up more calories to compensate for lack of physical activity. If that truly was so, I LOVE MY BODY. Maybe that's why I go to sleep with strange pieces of music being created in my head. Or wake up with completely random song lyrics sometimes.
Still, I don't wanna depend on my brain too much for my bodily fat-burning. (Or oxidizing.) My body has to get used to exercise. I do have water polo tomorrow. Damnit.

LESSONS FOR TOMORROW:
1MT
1SS
2EM
2PA
1SP
2C4L

The redder the font, the more I don't generally like the subject.


Hm. The weather forecast add-on in Firefox says it will be 'Cloudy with a thunderstorm for the next three days (including today).
It's still pretty sunny out. I'll base today's weather on whether I'll bring an umbrella tomorrow or not.

I wonder what's on Van's blog. Don't think she's updated it yet. Ar.
I bet Ada's updated hers. Off I go, then.

Oh.
Wait.
Just a word of thanks:

Thank you, Hero. I didn't know why you kept barking so awkwardly in the dead of the night, but I do now. I now see that your actions, although selfish, have spared Marang Road from being overrun by that pack of stray dogs. You get a mental cookie.

Hey, why is everything in tiny size? I hate this error.

... And that is all for this morning. Off I go!

-Zan

The Nails on My Leg

Another thing people do wrongly that makes me frustrated:

They confuse their feet with their legs.
I've constantly heard people refer to their feet as their legs, and don't really see the difference when I point out this error to them.
Hopefully somebody sees this:
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/8673/legfootey4.png

While I'm at it, here's another:
THE WORD 'FILM' IS PRONOUNCED 'FFFF-ILL-MMM.'
IT IS NOT PRONOUNCED 'FFF-LUH-MMM'.

I swear, every time I hear someone pronounce it as 'flum', I get this horrible cringe in my head. It just makes me mentally go 'arrg!'. It's so very annoying.
Maybe it's because they pronounce the 'L' in the word by itself. Assuming that they pronounce 'L' as 'Luh' and not 'El'.

F-I-Luh-M.
Ffffff.....iiiiii......luh...mmmm..
fillum.
flum.


Maybe.

Nothing more to type about for now, except that I find myself becoming more concerned about working on the retreat than I usually am concerned with any project. It's a good thing, but it just seems... odd, for me. I'm usually the one who doesn't work that much.
Your body isn't the only thing growing, Zan.

Heh, I still hear rockets outside. at least I think they're rockets. Making that "pphhhwwweeeEEEEEeeu" sound and all.


The Prestige is AWESOME. Bowie plays a great Tesla, and the plot is great. A little grim, perhaps, but great. Like I told Joshua, the scene where Borden snaps the fingers of an innocent woman just to get back at Angier is the part that really set the movie for me. Makes it so much more serious.

And about snapped fingers:
The concept of having fingers you could never use again is actually very sad. Think about the many things we do with our fingers. The first time I thought about this was when I read a moral-bearing story where a father smashed all his son's fingers just because he was angry. The son asked his father "When are my fingers growing to grow back?", and the father killed himself.
Is that sad or what.

And my mind is already looking for something else to type about. Relax, fingers.
Reeeelaaaaaaaaaaaxxxxxxx.

I 'liked' her again today. Funny how one moment my mind thinks of her and melts like butter. On a frying pan. Above the sun.
And yet thinks about her the next moment and feels nothing about it.

Oh how you puzzle me, FakeLove.

Here's another "And Also":

And also, I've noticed how my past few blog posts are more muddled as per usual.
I need something to blame.
Rawr.

-Zan

You foxy thing, you

ENTER THE FIRE PIG.

News for the new year. Or, rather, today:

FIREFOX IS BACK.
All it took was to completely uninstall my current (unworking) Firefox, and reinstall the new one. That's all it took! And here I was, mourning over how all my history and bookmarks would be uninstalled with the rest.

Kickass.

Smashmouth - Diggin' Your Scene is playing. Corny name, but does it ever fit the mood.

KickKickassass.

Aw, it's over.

Asskick.

Also: WE NOW HAVE 48 CANS OF HEAVEN&EARTH MANDARIN ORANGE.

KICKKICKKICKASSASSASS!



Also...



In honour of the Lunar new year, I shall paste bits of astrology involving, well, my year.
NYAH.

Here we go:

I am born in the year of the Metal Goat/Ram/Sheep.

The Sheep, or Goat, oddly enough, is thought to be the most artistic sign of the zodiac, perhaps because this is a very creative sign. The Sheep is artistically talented and has a great sense of fashion (Ha!) . Chances are that this type will prefer to be a designer or painter, or go into the kind of profession where he/she can make the most of his/her gift for creating beautiful things.

These people are considerate creatures - they think before acting, and try not to hurt anyone's feelings. If it ever happens that the Sheep person causes unforeseen problems, it is very likely that he/she will step forward to rectify the situation (Meaning: If I did anything wrong, I didn't mean it!) . This side of their character helps them maintain a healthy social life (Double Ha!) as well as enabling them to deal with life's ups and downs.

Sympathy is very important to these people as is the approval of people they respect. However, they sometimes require too much attention and impose too much on those who are close to them (I wouldn't know. You tell me.) .

Sometimes they are too sensitive for the real world; they often misinterpret situations. People born in this year are insecure. They need to feel loved and protected. They are easily drawn into complex predicaments. This being so, they usually shy away from confrontation, pull back when faced with heavy decision-making situations, and blatantly refuse to take an unpopular stand in a conflict. (I hate this paragraph.)

Zodiac Location	8th
Ruling hours	1pm-3pm
Direction	South Southwest
Season and month	Summer, July
Gemstone	Emerald
Roughly equivalent western sign	Cancer
Polarity	Yin

(just for the record, I'm a Libra.)


... and I just came back from Mount Faber. It conveniently had to rain when I came back from the hill, though. Rr.

Method of getting past Hero the Wonder dog upon arrival:
Picking up some stick on the way home, and throwing it away from me when Hero started running to me. This diverted him for a while and by the time he started running back to me I'd reached the stairs. Mission successful.

Time of post start: 1545 hrs
Time of post end: 1721 hrs
Hey, I was distracted through the course of writing this.

Hey, this is my blog's second ever CNY. Woo.

PS: To J:
How's this for not thinking too much?


-Zan

Just pointer-outers

Just for those that may not get it:

ONE:
-This blog, as it is called, is a Thought Bubble. If you read these posts or even comment on them, that would be really cool. But for the reader that goes 'wtf did that last one mean, be less vague', be reminded that this is but a thought bubble, and what I think goes in it, vague as it may be.
I may even start a post with

"ARGH. Look at what you did. Now I can't tell them.

I wish you wouldn't show him anymore. Argh."

... that. Because, once again, the posts in this blog represent what exactly I am thinking at the time. So don't be confused.


TWO:

Just to keep people from getting further confused here - see that profile on your right there? That hasn't been updated in two years. Don't let it mislead you.

-Zan

SCORE.

I will never forget that time, and that location until I DIE

laa deedaaaa
GLEAM

And I think it's time FOR ANOTHER...
-Zan

Happy Points.

This morning I pondered about something I shall call 'Happy points'.

Happy points are a unit of your happiness. For example, watching TV and eating would usually have a HP (Happy Point) level of 60, due to its unstressful nature and lack of effort required in doing it. Whereas something such as working on a school project on 'The history and principles of our education system'... or something like that... would be worth 8HP, if not less.

The Happy Points administered are based on how people I KNOW would feel. Meaning they are based on how an 'average person' is supposed to feel.
Meaning not everybody has the same HappyPoint system.
Thus if you are a unique and different individual, sod off. These won't apply to you.

Anyways.
My question is
What is the ideal way to use your Happy Points?

Would it be to save them up and then reap the benefits later?
i.e:


















Or would it be better to remain with a constant level of Happy Points throughout your life, without any lowering (or 'saving') them at all?
i.e:


















What got me thinking about this is the O levels. They led to this question:
Would it be better to work reeallly hard at the start of your life, so that you'll be successfull and work a lot less later on, or would it be better to work at the same rate throughout your life, having an equal balance of work and leisure throughout.
I guess that's what determines the graph lines up there.

Graph one:
WORK+
LEISURE-
after time:
WORK-
LEISURE+

Graph two:
WORK neutral
LEISURE neutral

Heh.
So the question you should ask yourselves today, young readers (I wonder if I have real 'readers' anyway. I need a tagboard, just to see who reads this thing, I guess.) is:
How should I use my Happy Points?


-Zan

O

After observing reactions of my seniors and my friends who have received their O level results, I have made the following instructions on how one should react:

IF YOU DO NOT LIKE YOUR SCORE:
-Only tell your score when asked
-Stay away from friends you know are smart. They probably got a really high one. This will create unnecessary hatred.
-You have the right to hate your friend a little - no, wait, a lot -if their score is higher than yours, ONLY if e tells you without you asking, and especially after e heard your score.
-Always state your L1R4 score with your R5 score, so you at least have a lower mark to state.
-Please don't feel too bad about it.
-Please.
-Turn off your phone. If you don't, you will have millions of people call you with the following words prepared: "SO WHAT YOU GET". And it really sucks when you have to repeat a number that you don't like over and over.

Note:
I have decided that how a student should think for the O levels is to aim for the absolute best and expect the absolute worst afterwards.
anyways, moving on:

IF YOUR SCORE IS REALLY, REALLY GOOD, AND YOU LIKE IT TOO:
-Do not tell anyone your score unless you are asked. Be humble.
-When telling someone your score, do not go into it (eg. 'I really expected myself to get a C for those subjects, surprised that I got an A!'). This will make your friends hate you, unless their scores are higher than yours. Or they are really good friends.
-Avoid bragging to people you know are smart. They might get back at you if their scores are better.
-Do not call or sms or message your friends for their results unless you know they would get good marks beforehand. Otherwise it would be a real downer if their marks were really far from what they expected.
-If you are speaking with your friend on the phone and e has bad grades, do NOT make a long pause and continue with "Aaaanyway, I got really good! In fact, I got blablabla", cause that's really mean.

Well, I guess it's applying time for them folks.
My unexperienced advice to those taking their Os this year:

-Aim for the best (a six!), expect like... a 40. This way your personal standards will affect the way you work during studying, and you won't be all cut up if you get a mark that's really bad, because it's still below 40.

-Really study. Really.

-Bring tissues for results day. Crying will occur, whether marks will be bad or not.

-Look everywhere for O level papers from the past. Ask your teachers!

-It is worth sacrificing your time to study for your O levels (I reckon.). This is purely because if you get a high score, the higher powers will be more biased towards you, even if the skills required to pass the Os will be forgotten by you in, like, 2 weeks. So take the time to study. STUDY.

-STUDY.

Which reminds me of a thought I had earlier this morning, which I shall type about in my next post. Till then!

-Zan

Chicken or Egg

Woah, Ada really blogs a lot.
I love these pants,
I love these socks,
I love this shirt,
I do not love suspense. MALINA, HAVE YOU FOUND OUT YET?!



Anyways, good luck to all y'all Sec 4 and 5's getting your results tomorrow.

-Zan?

Simple Mind = Simple Life?

Came up with this thought at the balcony.

Looking out from the balcony for the millionth time, I wondered if I was really taking notice of the trees right in front of me, and wondered if I would recognise them at once if shown a picture of them.
So I looked at the tree on my right, analysing it in all its glory. Its branches were extremely tangled and twisted together, which made me think of all the complications in this world that shape our personalities and our lives. And at the same moment made me think of how complicated our brains are.
What made me think of these, I think, are the books 'How to overcome your difficulties' (a very Buddhist-influenced book) and 'How To Use Both Sides of Your Brain' (which repeatedly stressed the complexity and wonder of our brain throughout the book), which I had read recently.

I then thought: If our brains were extremely simple, would we lead simple, peaceful lives as well?
And I thought of things which complicated life, one of the first being Race.

Before you read the next few lines, know this to help you understand it better. I believe that our physical and cultural differences are caused by our locations, our surroundings. One of the things that influence me to think this is that most people with darker skin have origins in countries that are mainly around the equator. There are more, but that's not for now. Anyways, moving on -

Then I immediately thought: Why isn't this planet we live on smaller?
If Earth were smaller, there would be fewer people to argue with, issues would rarely be settled by bombing because countries would be too close to each other, there would be a lot less land to argue about, people would look a lot less different from each other, it would be easier for countries to communicate, deadly changes in the planet like, say, the atmosphere, would be easily observed by people, it would be harder for couples to cheat because there would be fewer places to hide, and so much more. Sure, we might become less capable to problem-solving (because of the reduction of problems) and thus become less smart, but we wouldn't have any smartypants people to compare our intelligence with, and thus wouldn't care. Our minds would be smart enough for this new world. Wouldn't a smaller planet be awesome?

Hey, what if we were given these mind-exercising complications for a reason?
I mean, none of us enjoy the complications all that much. Maybe we're smart for a reason of a larger scale, a bigger picture.

I also wonder: What if someone wished for this before, and we do indeed have a smaller planet than before? I wonder how chaotic that world would have been before this one.
Maybe it is true, maybe the world has become smaller, and maybe we haven't noticed because, similar to the adaptation theme throughout this post, everything on the Earth has become smaller with it as well.
Heh.
How funny.

Well, in that case,
Wouldn't it be better if Earth had a smaller planetary mass, but everything on it stayed the same size?

I love that balcony.
The calmness of it just... forces me to ponder.

-Zan

VD

...

Should I?


... ...

Really, should I?
It would be 'sweet'.


It would also be embarrassing.



...
Should I?

-Zan