*sighs with relief*

Finally! Exams are over! For now. I'm still finding it hard not to still be in super intense stressed out mode because every time I think about what I'll be doing for the holidays, it includes more work. But the point is, it's at a less stressful pace - or so I have to keep reminding myself.

First random act of the holidays: checked out the new mall opening. Bleh :-/ The Parkson there was disappointingly small, very few shops were open but I guess once it's properly open, it could be a pretty decent place to shop.

I'm also finding it hard to balance how much I want to go out and do stuff against just wanting to bum at home and relax. I'm thinking of canceling on watching movie with my friends tomorrow... Gina will you still watch Rapunzel with me? If I cancel on them, there'll be no one else left to watch it with me.

On a side note, I think this says something about the kinds of actual movies that are being made these days. I'm opting to watch stuff like Megamind and Rapunzel instead! Btw, Megamind was pretty fun! :)

Who is that?

I used to be the kid who didn't really bother with studying all that much. I just did enough to get by with decent grades and that was it. I think that was how it was all the way up to pre-U. But in the past three years, I guess I must've gradually evolved with each test and each semester. Now I find myself trying to stuff in the entire contents of my very messy, long-winded and structureless marketing textbook into my head. What happened to me? Even up to a year ago, I don't think I was this nuts and I would've had more faith in my reasoning abilities. When did I become one of those people who felt compelled to memorise everything? Slap me, Jo.

sometimes consumerism just rocks

Okay I debating consumerism is waaaay deeper than anything I'm going to say here. But just bear with me. Let me babble about it in one of my more bimbotic moments.

Recently my friends and I have been going to this coffee place, run by a sort of charitable foundation. They sell their merchandise there, where the profits, I assume, go to the running of the foundation and their cause, and they also provide a sort of cafe which is frequented mostly by students who spend the afternoon studying there. It's a nice place, with a nice ambiance, and the only thing lacking is really proper lighting I'd consider suitable for studying. But, you know, to keep the ambiance, I get it. But apparently, they can dictate where you sit, the volunteers who run the place. And apparently the tables nearer the window with lots of natural light is off limits to people who are there to study. It's only for 'guests'. Right. It was a bit of a turnoff for me. Especially when Gina and I had been sitting there for about 2hours - nobody had said anything to us when we came in, and the tables further in were all taken up anyway- and when a group of kids left, one of the volunteers actually asked us to move in there! Like, come on. I had a clear view of the entrance of the place and frankly, there weren't that many people coming in just for a drink, and those who did come definitely didn't have a problem with whatever seats were available.

The other thing that so totally annoyed me was that that same volunteer was pretty much bugging all the people who were just there for a drink. A couple came in shortly after Gina and I settled in to study. And he kept talking and talking and talking to the couple, pretty much selling their cause to them and being the kind of pushy that makes me want to run away from evangelists. It got to the point where he was trying to convince them that they should give him their address so that they needn't come all the way to give their donations - they could just have them collected every few months (Yes, I'm saying that in my head with a very cynical tone). Later after this couple had left, a teenage couple came and sat at that table. And this fella was bugging them, too! Asking how they were doing at school and what game the guy was playing on his cell phone. Urgh. I just wanted to tell the ass to just shut up. But you can't. Because he's some old guy who thinks he's making the world a better place by being a volunteer for a charitable organisation. And for that same reason, you feel bad about saying that it's hypocritical of them to provide a place for people to read and enjoy and yet insist that if you're there to study, you gotta take the crappier seats at the back.

But you see...when you go to a coffee shop... the kind where you pay about RM10 for a cup of coffee...they give you napkins made of recycled paper, unlimited drinking water, and the lovely coffee-scented environment with lots of natural light and comfy tables and chairs. Don't forget power points and WiFi. Don't forget the coffee that's actually really good and in larger quantities. Oh and yes, the staff there can't dictate where you sit. And even if they do, you can complain to management, bitch about it online and basically shut them down - and feel damn good about it. And right, they're more honest and up front about their intentions. I provide you this awesome package of product and experience in exchange for your money and continued patronage.

"You've put on weight."

I know in Chinese it's supposed to be some kind of compliment. But really, why do random acquaintances who really have no business saying much to you other than asking how you are, always feel the need to tell me I look like I've put on weight? It particularly annoys me when I know for a fact that I've lost weight.

I've lost another half kilo since the last time I talked about losing weight. Not very impressive, I know. But come on, how do you lose much weight while being chained to your desk all the time? But sigh....I met one of my first year tutors today. She can't even remember my name but oh yes, she just had to tell me that I've put on weight. WTF. What do I have to do to get people to stop saying that? Suddenly lose 10kg and look haggard?

Sigh...But it does remind me that I'm on a mission to go back to being below 60kg by the end of January. That's only another kilo to go. I'm pretty sure I can do this.

time's a-wastin'

This is most probably me just being neurotic but seriously, I just hate it that most other people at school don't seem to have a life and so I perpetually have to put the rest of my life on hold for school stuff.

This time it's about another meeting for a society next week. Except that it's on belly dance class night too. Right I know...school vs belly dance class is usually a no-brainer. But here's the thing. Our advisor has called for this meetings like 3 times this semester - and had to cancel at the last minute the previous two times. This has happened before in previous semesters. Not that I blame him...I'm pretty sure he's got pretty good reasons. But the difference is, he doesn't have to tell me his reasons. I have to tell them mine if I can't make it. And quite frankly, I don't need a pep-talk which I'm pretty sure is what the meeting's about. But well I don't think telling my school I'm going for belly dance class instead of going for a meeting I should go for is pretty smart either. And the worst part is nobody else ever says a certain time is not good for them because none of them ever seem to do anything that's not school related; with the exception of commitment-less forms of entertainment. It always makes me seem like this annoying prima donna who likes to act like she's got an entire calendar full of stuff to do. God I hate that feeling of being checkmated into submission.

friend (the verb)

My first installment on my love hate relationship with social networking. Let's face it. Grew up with it. Can't do without it. But kinda like school. It's fun to play with your friends. But the Queen Bee and her gang are out there, too. And there are people whom you'd still like to restrict from seeing photos of you at the beach or drinking (though both are not mutually exclusive)...or sharing you distaste for a lecturer in very colourful language.

Now here comes the latest bit of how social networking is encroaching, and in some ways making up for some bits that are lacking, in real life. I've yet to meet his family. Only his parents, they're the ones who live in the same state as me. But his brother, cousins and some of his friends don't. And in the time since he graduated and came back, I've been in school and so can't go anywhere with him. So apparently, in lieu of actually meeting me, they've decided they'll meet me online. By friending me. Fine with the brother...I have met him, even if it was a long long long time ago before I was even his brother's girlfriend. But the cousin....accepting this friend request basically breaks my number 1 rule of social networking - never friend anyone you've never actually met in person. While in some ways I find it nice that his family wants to get to know me whatever way they can for now (thank God the aunts haven't started), in other ways, it's just a bit....hmmm

Then again, the cousin might just need another neighbour to visit to earn points in games.

headaches

The more I study, the more tense my shoulders get, and also the more tired my eyes get.

The more tense my shoulders are, and the more tired my eyes are, the more likely I am to get a headache.

And apparently once I have a headache, the probability of the neighbour two doors down who calls himself an 'artist' deciding to continue his never ending home improvements which almost always include noisy drilling, increases exponentially.

Or the kids from next door decide to start screaming.

FML