Friday, July 20, 2007
The National Library called up today to say that my copy of Preludes and Nocturnes (Sandman Volume 1) didn't disappear magically from the reservation list. Surprise! It disappeared intentionally. That totally explains it. It's been withdrawn from the library because of objectionable content. Apparently there were complaints on NLB's forums regarding graphic novels-not merely the Sandman series, but GNs as a whole. And guess whose PW group is researching the topic of GNs? No, shit! How could you guess?
Did I mention that our project aim is to bring GNs into school libraries? Jeez, if public libraries object, what chance do we have when it comes to school libraries (which I like, RESOLUTELY believe are more stringent)? Hooray for us. On a (falsely) positive note, maybe that will make evaluating our project easier.
Anyway, my Art in a Box seems to actually be making some progress. My soap bar is starting to look like a flower, which is moderately exciting. Good luck to me.
11:11 PM;
After getting back our individual progress reports, I am now convinced that I have schizophrenic tendencies. According to what the teachers say, I'm both an exceedingly quiet as well as a cheerful and bubbly personality. Ah.
What can I say about my grades? Basically, I got really lucky for art. Maybe beginner's luck does exist (and econs is an exception). Actually, it's probably because no one really knew what SOVA required. Everyone went in blindfolded and I just happened to be the one who, by sheer luck and coincidence, managed to hit the target. So I shall just smile at my 100 percentile while it lasts and be contented, because I really feel undeserving of this. My other subjects are only about a few light years away. E is for Econs (both literally and academically).
This week has been so, so, so hectic. Likely because I spent the whole of last Friday and Saturday doing PW posters and Sunday afternoon going for PW meeting, which left barely any time to do ACTUAL schoolwork. Like maths, studying for maths, SOVA essays, P&P notebook (Mr Dasler, you can't say impossible is nothing to everything. take this for example), etc etc. And because I didn't clean up all these weekend to-do's during, well, the weekend, I've ended up with about 2 tons of overdue and nearly-due homework breathing down my neck. A little voice at the back of my head is telling me I can't handle the stress of the JC curriculum, and I'm not exactly the most optimistic person. Ha. An understatement in full swing.
Thank God it's Friday. Tomorrow.
1:13 AM;
Sunday, July 08, 2007
When I have the time (which recently is not much at all), stopping by Flickr is one of the things I like to do and I've just come across an amazing contributor, Stuck in Customs, whose photos are to die for. Like, his HDR pictures are only totally unreal. Period. I came across the guy when I was looking around for shots of Rome's Colosseum, which is a definite Place I Must Visit Before I Die. And it's been voted one of the new 7 wonders of the world, so I've read. All those Gladiator-weepy moments are flashing through my mind right now.
Last week in GP we watched the film No Man's Land, which is a Really Depressing film. It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2001. Oh, and on a completely separate note, it gives a really rotten impression of the UN. But watch it because of the dark humour (for the most part of the film), and because of the excellent plot which lays out quickly. And the last scene is just plain scary. It's one that stays in your mind for a long time and makes you hope it's just an exaggeration. It's not like, some ghostly flick, but it does give some serious goosebumps.
And here's a quote of the day! Amanda (from Ugly Betty, on seeing a made-up Christina and a...made-up Betty): Oh, look. Carrie Bradshaw and a sack of potatoes.
10:48 PM;
After Friday's PW lecture I got pretty freaked out. No. Not because the title slides had those creepy Lord of the Rings characters (the faceless ones in hooded cloaks which scream way too much) on them.
Deadlines (particularly PW deadlines) are just not something I have a good relationship with and there are many to meet in this term alone. And term just began, what, two weeks ago? It didn't help that when Zhonghao visited us on Friday (and sat in for the PW lecture) he blubbed that he was done with the written report, which we haven't even started thinking about yet. Well, now I'm thinking and I have a Very Bad Feeling about the whole issue because we haven't exactly got a lot of information to use, and it's partly because we couldn't find much in the first place. And we were at the reference section at the national library, okay. I seriously reckon I could write the book titled Hard Times if Dickens hadn't got there first.
On a happier note, I passed chinese, which is by far my Best Subject. And I'm really thinking that it will be. Compared to everything else I've gotten back it's better by only about twenty miles. That gives a pretty good picture of my results, and is also a considerably loud wake up call. Speaking of chinese, oral exams are on tuesday. Chinese oral is just such an excruciating experience, and just recollecting my O level encounter gets my tongue all tangled up.
Yep, that leaves nothing more to say. There wasn't a pun intended there. Honest.
3:14 PM;
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Wow. So the JCTs are actually really over, and I am just relieved to have survived the whole experience. That also applies literally, because GP, maths, lit and chinese were all done in the lecture theatres, which means I'm currently sufferring from a broken back and neck. Seriously, crouching over a tiny table in almost the same frozen position for 3 hours straight (in the case of chinese) is hazardous to health.
On the other hand, how I fared is not exactly something I want to think about :) It's more like something I want to/will push back to when it's actually time to take back those exam scripts. Oh, and there's still the holiday homework left to worry about now. There's a Pride & Prejudice journal thing to be done, which requires a chapter-by-chapter analysis. For all non-P&P readers, that's an immense lot. Gargantuan. (If this post is sounding all doom and gloom, things are pretty much really this way.)
And I haven't read The Tempest, which we'll be covering as part of literature paper 4 , I think. But I was just reading The Tempest by Neil Gaiman, which is interesting to think about, since it's mildly related after all. It's a chapter from The Wake, which is the tenth book in the Sandman series, but isn't really related to the main story in this volume, since the Sandman is still alive here. It follows a story from earlier on about Shakespeare, who owes our King of Dreams a last play, which is The Tempest itself.
I wonder what Mr R would think of it.
1:06 AM;
