Sunday, August 24, 2014
C.S. Lewis Quote, Mere Christianity
"Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out. Is one’s first feeling, `Thank God, even they aren’t quite so bad as that,’ or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies as bad as possible? If it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils. You see, one is beginning to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see grey as black, and then to see white itself as black. Finally, we shall insist on seeing everything - God and our friends and ourselves included - as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed for ever in a universe of pure hatred." - C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Education Rant, University Stuff and Other Stuff
The coming Monday will mark my 3rd week since lessons started. I do not look forward to studying at all. D: I know I'm whiny haha.
Education Rant
Studying used to be a privilege that only the best of the best, those with brains, money and time could afford (or you can just use money to override everything else). Studying is a means to know more information and upgrade yourself. Well, theoretically at least. It all sound very romantic, but that is just not true for me. The main reason why I even enrolled in college at all is because I have no idea what I want to do with my life and I'm dragging the deadline for a career. I don't know what I'm good at. I'm not good at anything. It's like, no matter how good you think you are or how much effort you put in to perfect your skill, there will always be a buttload more people way better than you. Good thing is, this thought keeps you humble. Bad thing is, it is also extremely depressing.
To be honest, there is nothing that is 100% this or that. Everything is a grey area. If white is good and black is bad, everything we have is just varying degrees of grey. Moral values, laws, family, technology.... So same goes for knowledge. If you know too little you are ignorant. If you know too much, you become judgemental because it is just easier for your brain to compartmentalise according to what you already know.
I am unable to enjoy studying. I'm trying to change that, but in my 15 years of education and conditioning according to society's demands, I was forced to learn things that only became progressively (how do I put this nicely) useless as I climbed the education sector. Honestly, what can I gain from knowing how to calculate the number of mols of a very specific and rare element, say cobalt, and what happens when you drop it in water or if you drop it in another equally unaccessible chemical. Really, what are the chances of you just happening by a piece of cobalt when walking on the road.
Of course, if I actually liked chemistry I might have found studying these reactions fascinating. I'm not saying I completely learned nothing from my 2 years in JC, but at this point which is about 8 months after my A Levels, I only retained about 10% of the information that my school shoved down my throat.
A few days ago I was just talking to my mom and I realised that hey, what happened to studying to quench your thirst of adventuring the unknown?
While I cannot account for education in other countries, I have been in Singapore education for 15 years of my 19-year life so I think I am pretty qualified to complain about the education system.
The whole point of schooling is no longer to educate us. Rather, we are all stuck in the never-ending paper chase where, somewhere along our evolution, a piece of paper with some writing on it becomes tantamount to decades of hard work and is known to employers as a decent enough judge of character. No, schools do not care how much information we actually retain after we leave them. They care only about the results we give in one round of gruelling examinations.
Ministry of Education may argue and say that they are trying very hard to promote an "all-rounded education" and they are, but that's not the point. Students are unable to receive an "all-rounded" education because we have reached the point where education has become a passive chore. The main purpose of schools has eventually become to train us to answer examination questions.
Take me for example. I did not understand a single crap about say Chemistry even after 6 years of "education". I knew what reactions would give what results, but I never understood why. I memorised it and managed to pass my exams, but really, I still understand Chemistry as much as when I was 14. I don't.
I am going off topic, ranting about the past 19 years of my life. I just... I don't know. It doesn't feel like 19 years well spent. My posts start nowhere and end nowhere. I don't have an introduction nor a conclusion. I just type whatever I'm thinking of right at the instant.... and perhaps, that's the beauty of informal writing.
Notice: Not that I'm hating on Chemistry (I totally am), it's just the hardest subject to study for me. I am a subjecist exercising subjecism on the subject Chemistry. (Yeah I'm lame like that.)
University Stuff
Oh yeah, about my university life, nothing much happened. I found out that Architecture students have absolutely no life and according to what Horsefly (formerly known as Poh or Lizzy) says and my observation of her recently deranged brain, most of the first-year architecture students have gone crazy staying up all night, night after night, to draw hundreds of lines, circles, and triangles.
A typical (wayy dramatised) scene in the archi studio: imagine yourself with baggy eyes, clouded mind and empty stomach, stuck in a enclosed air-conditioned room with many others in the same state as you as you draw, oh you draw, repeatedly, the same lines, lines, lines, hundreds of them, on gigantic pieces of A1-sized papers as you screw up paper after paper and have to repeat the whole process.
3 days of doing the same assignment, deprived of sleep, you finally manage to get your hand into a momentum. You are happy; relieved. You've never known such peace as your brain shuts down and your hand is able to move by itself. You start to get into your assignment. Lines start flowing perfectly from the pen that you paid too much for when suddenly, the guy sitting beside you starts laughing to himself. He stops. You ignore him and continue drawing your lines. One line, two lines, three lines. He laughs again, only this time, you detect a slightly more noticeable hint of insanity in his outburst. He must have triggered something in the room, because suddenly, the girl sitting at the back starts mumbling to herself. Her mumbles grow louder, louder, then they stop abruptly. You think it's over, you release the breath you didn't know you were holding. You start to turn back to your assignment, but he laughs again and she mumbles again. You are trapped. You are desperate. Help me.
Notice: Horsefly told me about the mumbling and the laughing but I made everything else up HAHAHA. If you want, you can make up a story about FASS students too. xD
Other Stuff
So... This happened.
This is proof that insanity is transferable from archi students (namely Horsefly) to us normal humans.
Bye~
Education Rant
Studying used to be a privilege that only the best of the best, those with brains, money and time could afford (or you can just use money to override everything else). Studying is a means to know more information and upgrade yourself. Well, theoretically at least. It all sound very romantic, but that is just not true for me. The main reason why I even enrolled in college at all is because I have no idea what I want to do with my life and I'm dragging the deadline for a career. I don't know what I'm good at. I'm not good at anything. It's like, no matter how good you think you are or how much effort you put in to perfect your skill, there will always be a buttload more people way better than you. Good thing is, this thought keeps you humble. Bad thing is, it is also extremely depressing.
To be honest, there is nothing that is 100% this or that. Everything is a grey area. If white is good and black is bad, everything we have is just varying degrees of grey. Moral values, laws, family, technology.... So same goes for knowledge. If you know too little you are ignorant. If you know too much, you become judgemental because it is just easier for your brain to compartmentalise according to what you already know.
I am unable to enjoy studying. I'm trying to change that, but in my 15 years of education and conditioning according to society's demands, I was forced to learn things that only became progressively (how do I put this nicely) useless as I climbed the education sector. Honestly, what can I gain from knowing how to calculate the number of mols of a very specific and rare element, say cobalt, and what happens when you drop it in water or if you drop it in another equally unaccessible chemical. Really, what are the chances of you just happening by a piece of cobalt when walking on the road.
Of course, if I actually liked chemistry I might have found studying these reactions fascinating. I'm not saying I completely learned nothing from my 2 years in JC, but at this point which is about 8 months after my A Levels, I only retained about 10% of the information that my school shoved down my throat.
A few days ago I was just talking to my mom and I realised that hey, what happened to studying to quench your thirst of adventuring the unknown?
While I cannot account for education in other countries, I have been in Singapore education for 15 years of my 19-year life so I think I am pretty qualified to complain about the education system.
The whole point of schooling is no longer to educate us. Rather, we are all stuck in the never-ending paper chase where, somewhere along our evolution, a piece of paper with some writing on it becomes tantamount to decades of hard work and is known to employers as a decent enough judge of character. No, schools do not care how much information we actually retain after we leave them. They care only about the results we give in one round of gruelling examinations.
Ministry of Education may argue and say that they are trying very hard to promote an "all-rounded education" and they are, but that's not the point. Students are unable to receive an "all-rounded" education because we have reached the point where education has become a passive chore. The main purpose of schools has eventually become to train us to answer examination questions.
Take me for example. I did not understand a single crap about say Chemistry even after 6 years of "education". I knew what reactions would give what results, but I never understood why. I memorised it and managed to pass my exams, but really, I still understand Chemistry as much as when I was 14. I don't.
I am going off topic, ranting about the past 19 years of my life. I just... I don't know. It doesn't feel like 19 years well spent. My posts start nowhere and end nowhere. I don't have an introduction nor a conclusion. I just type whatever I'm thinking of right at the instant.... and perhaps, that's the beauty of informal writing.
Notice: Not that I'm hating on Chemistry (I totally am), it's just the hardest subject to study for me. I am a subjecist exercising subjecism on the subject Chemistry. (Yeah I'm lame like that.)
University Stuff
Oh yeah, about my university life, nothing much happened. I found out that Architecture students have absolutely no life and according to what Horsefly (formerly known as Poh or Lizzy) says and my observation of her recently deranged brain, most of the first-year architecture students have gone crazy staying up all night, night after night, to draw hundreds of lines, circles, and triangles.
A typical (wayy dramatised) scene in the archi studio: imagine yourself with baggy eyes, clouded mind and empty stomach, stuck in a enclosed air-conditioned room with many others in the same state as you as you draw, oh you draw, repeatedly, the same lines, lines, lines, hundreds of them, on gigantic pieces of A1-sized papers as you screw up paper after paper and have to repeat the whole process.
3 days of doing the same assignment, deprived of sleep, you finally manage to get your hand into a momentum. You are happy; relieved. You've never known such peace as your brain shuts down and your hand is able to move by itself. You start to get into your assignment. Lines start flowing perfectly from the pen that you paid too much for when suddenly, the guy sitting beside you starts laughing to himself. He stops. You ignore him and continue drawing your lines. One line, two lines, three lines. He laughs again, only this time, you detect a slightly more noticeable hint of insanity in his outburst. He must have triggered something in the room, because suddenly, the girl sitting at the back starts mumbling to herself. Her mumbles grow louder, louder, then they stop abruptly. You think it's over, you release the breath you didn't know you were holding. You start to turn back to your assignment, but he laughs again and she mumbles again. You are trapped. You are desperate. Help me.
Notice: Horsefly told me about the mumbling and the laughing but I made everything else up HAHAHA. If you want, you can make up a story about FASS students too. xD
Other Stuff
So... This happened.
Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees the rap. xD
This is proof that insanity is transferable from archi students (namely Horsefly) to us normal humans.
Bye~
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Periods
I guess I really am running out of things to write given that I've been hermit-ing in my room for days.
Anyway, for the girls out there who are just starting to go through puberty, I got you. ;D
Frequency
PMS
Bigger Boobies
Cramps
Some have it, some don't. If you don't properly take care of your body, you'll get it one day and believe me, it is horrible. I didn't use to have cramps and I took that for granted and continued eating ice cream, drinking cold drinks, and sleeping late and now I have cramps. T^T
Sometimes I forget that it's that time of the month and I'll forget to take precautions. If I slept late or had cold foods the day or the day before my period came, the cramps would be so horrible. It's like someone repeatedly stabbing your uterus (where the womb would be if you're pregnant) (lower than your belly, slightly above your bladder area). Or someone slowly peeling away the walls of your uterus, leaving a bloody mess (this is essentially what is happening inside your body).
So, moral of the story, take care of your body.
Sleepiness
Body Odour
Pads / Tampons
On the side note, do you know that pads and tampons are a very recent invention? My mom didn't have them in her school years so they had to stuff big wads of tissue in their underwear instead. And big wads of tissue fall out really easily. The students often find wads of bloody tissue lying on the ground and nobody would dare to go pick it up because how embarrassing is that?? And she was in a co-ed school. Tough times, tough times.
In very conservative countries like India, periods are considered as punishment for girls and is shameful and taboo. Thus they are embarrassed and often use the same piece of cloth, over and over again, without washing because they are too ashamed to wash it in case anyone sees. This is extremely unsanitary and needless to say, the women have contracted many diseases.
Article here (warning: harsh reality)
Alright I hope I shed some light on things regarding menstrual periods. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Half the world population have it or had it, and that's about 3.5 billion now.
University starts next week. GAHHH.
Note: I got all the images from google images search. I must have the weirdest image search history.
Anyway, for the girls out there who are just starting to go through puberty, I got you. ;D
Frequency
Everyone's body clock is different. Normally periods have a 20-40 days cycle. Mine is about 30+ days so it comes later and later every month but that's normal. I have a friend whose cycle is like 3 months. -_____- Apparently it's genetic. As long as the cycle is regular there is nothing wrong.
PMS
They are very, very real. Secondary school biology will teach you all the names of the changing levels of hormones in your body. If you find yourself getting all moody -sudden bursts of anger, happiness, hilarity etc- then you are most probably experiencing PMS (Pre-Menstrual Syndrome) and your period should come a few days later.
Bigger Boobies
Yes they do get slightly bigger. Part of PMS.
Cramps
Some have it, some don't. If you don't properly take care of your body, you'll get it one day and believe me, it is horrible. I didn't use to have cramps and I took that for granted and continued eating ice cream, drinking cold drinks, and sleeping late and now I have cramps. T^T
Sometimes I forget that it's that time of the month and I'll forget to take precautions. If I slept late or had cold foods the day or the day before my period came, the cramps would be so horrible. It's like someone repeatedly stabbing your uterus (where the womb would be if you're pregnant) (lower than your belly, slightly above your bladder area). Or someone slowly peeling away the walls of your uterus, leaving a bloody mess (this is essentially what is happening inside your body).
So, moral of the story, take care of your body.
Sleepiness
I don't know about others, but this is true for me. I sleep a lot when I'm on my period and get tired really easily.
Body Odour
Your odour becomes really concentrated because of hormonal change. This happens to all animals. If your female dog suddenly smells really strongly, then she's in heat (fertile period).
Pads / Tampons
Please, please use the right type of pads/ tampons. If you know you have a really heavy flow then get the gigantic ones. It is really embarrassing and annoying when you 'leak'. Some friends 'leak' almost every single time and I don't understand why. Can't get bigger pads? Bad positioning?? Bad sitting posture?
On the side note, do you know that pads and tampons are a very recent invention? My mom didn't have them in her school years so they had to stuff big wads of tissue in their underwear instead. And big wads of tissue fall out really easily. The students often find wads of bloody tissue lying on the ground and nobody would dare to go pick it up because how embarrassing is that?? And she was in a co-ed school. Tough times, tough times.
In very conservative countries like India, periods are considered as punishment for girls and is shameful and taboo. Thus they are embarrassed and often use the same piece of cloth, over and over again, without washing because they are too ashamed to wash it in case anyone sees. This is extremely unsanitary and needless to say, the women have contracted many diseases.
Article here (warning: harsh reality)
Alright I hope I shed some light on things regarding menstrual periods. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Half the world population have it or had it, and that's about 3.5 billion now.
University starts next week. GAHHH.
Note: I got all the images from google images search. I must have the weirdest image search history.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Hi there
So I was just browsing YouTube and I found some videos I wanted to share!
Marianas Trench
I really like their style.. Which I can't pinpoint haha.
Another artist: Moriah Peters
She sings Christian-Pop~
Her voice is ♥ ♥ ♥
Marianas Trench
I really like their style.. Which I can't pinpoint haha.
Like how they stutter-sang
And made a satire song
Pop music 101
Some simple instructions
For a good first impression
Now lets start with a first one
A minor chord, tensions grow
Fade in the bass, like so
Now, with momentum, go, stop
And bring the beat back
It’s called "four-on-the-floor"
A beat you can’t ignore
I’ll bring sexy back once more, yeah
They’ll love that, yeah, fo sho!
The chords are 1-4-6-4
Now I’m talkin' familiar
Harmony in thirds, not fourths
Will take you into the pre-chorus
[Pre-Chorus]
Real quick now, don’t you bore us
Hurry up and get to the chorus
Dumb down, they won’t ignore us
[Chorus]
Get to the floor
And here’s some words you should know
Like, “DJ, never let me go”
"Pour shots and then we'll lose control"
Or, “Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby”
How about one more last word like
"Hey girl, we’ve only got tonight"
Some things just go together like
"Higher", "desire," and "fire"
"Higher", "desire," and "fire"
[Verse 2]
Guitar and strings like these
To sound like Black Eyed Peas
This ones a filtered swing
This one’s a legend key
Hipster music on cassette
But you probably don’t know that yet
808s, hey, ho, hell yeah!
Heartfelt pop anthems from Mumford and his Sons
Gang vocals, here we come
Thinking, “I will always wait”
Drop more bass
[Pre-Chorus]
K, slow down
Take it to the chorus
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
I can pitch shift my voice if I want
I can pitch shift my voice if I want
I can pitch shift my voice if I want
I can make my voice low
The bridge is
The part when
You bring in
A rapper friend, 'sup?
Simplify, slow the beat
Abbreviate "feature" to "feat."
[Verse 3]
Quick now, fill in the gaps, I'll try
Right up and down, eliminate that which you really would rap and
Give them a classic, like, "Get get get"
[Chorus]
Oh, yeah, dance
[Outro]
Boots and cats and boots and cats and boots and cats and boots
Joshua Ramsay
Boots and cats and boots and cats and boots
-From Jackie Toews comment
"boots and cats and boots and cats" XD
Another artist: Moriah Peters
She sings Christian-Pop~
Her voice is ♥ ♥ ♥
Friday, August 1, 2014
My Weirdly Wired Brain
First things first, hello! I am now officially a freshman at National University of Singapore, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS).
The things is, FASS operates very differently from other faculties because you're already majoring the moment you enter uni in other faculties, but in FASS you only declare your major by the end of your second semester.
Good thing is, you have more time to explore. Bad thing is, you have to plan EVERYTHING from the start. You have no core modules. You have to bid for all 5 modules the first sem. And for people like me- antisocial and didn't join any camps- they only give you 2 days lecture orientation (each subject only has 20mins) which is NOT ENOUGH. I can't base what I want to study for the next 6 months on a twenty minute lecture!
FASS introduced a new scheme called Gradeless First Semester to encourage us freshies to explore as much as we want without the consequences. You can opt 'gradeless' or not for a specific module after you get your results. YAY~
They said they're doing this to promote their 'liberal arts' (which, officially, FASS is not classified under liberal arts education. The only one in Singapore is Yale-NUS).
Also, they don't tell you much about their bidding system in the lectures. I am damn lost and now there is a high chance of me not even having a single modules man.
Research more online and ask your peers!
Okay, next thing. So yesterday I was playing 'Kill Shag Marry', 'Truth or Dare' etc with Ger and we got to the point where she asked me who I thought was the prettiest girl in our cohort (when you play these things you unspokenly do not include the participants... I mean how vain would it be to say yourself HAHA. Kidding.).
I realised that I have officially lost the perception of 'physical beauty'. At this point in my life and psychological condition, all faces look the same to me. Really. I can't really connect an unmoving face and body to words like 'pretty' or 'beautiful' or 'handsome'.
For example, I think that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is really cute because he smiles like a siamese cat or defenseless puppy.
Also, I am obsessed with the song~ (I am very late haha.)
Running Man is a korean variety show that is damn funny. The members have great chemistry and interactions and the missions they do are really creative~ Just google "Running Man" and a lot of links to english-subtitled episodes will come up~ Each episode is about 1.5hours so if you have the time and just want a good laugh then I really recommend watching it. GO! :)
The things is, FASS operates very differently from other faculties because you're already majoring the moment you enter uni in other faculties, but in FASS you only declare your major by the end of your second semester.
Good thing is, you have more time to explore. Bad thing is, you have to plan EVERYTHING from the start. You have no core modules. You have to bid for all 5 modules the first sem. And for people like me- antisocial and didn't join any camps- they only give you 2 days lecture orientation (each subject only has 20mins) which is NOT ENOUGH. I can't base what I want to study for the next 6 months on a twenty minute lecture!
FASS introduced a new scheme called Gradeless First Semester to encourage us freshies to explore as much as we want without the consequences. You can opt 'gradeless' or not for a specific module after you get your results. YAY~
They said they're doing this to promote their 'liberal arts' (which, officially, FASS is not classified under liberal arts education. The only one in Singapore is Yale-NUS).
Also, they don't tell you much about their bidding system in the lectures. I am damn lost and now there is a high chance of me not even having a single modules man.
Research more online and ask your peers!
Okay, next thing. So yesterday I was playing 'Kill Shag Marry', 'Truth or Dare' etc with Ger and we got to the point where she asked me who I thought was the prettiest girl in our cohort (when you play these things you unspokenly do not include the participants... I mean how vain would it be to say yourself HAHA. Kidding.).
I realised that I have officially lost the perception of 'physical beauty'. At this point in my life and psychological condition, all faces look the same to me. Really. I can't really connect an unmoving face and body to words like 'pretty' or 'beautiful' or 'handsome'.
For example, I think that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is really cute because he smiles like a siamese cat or defenseless puppy.
SEE SEE ♥♥
Who knows, maybe I have some missing neurones in my brain or something.
How attractive I think you are 100% depends on how much I like you.
Say most of the people find this popular girl in my secondary school very pretty (including Ger) but I never did. I'm not bitter, really, I just can't wrap my mind around it. Like if I were to analyse her -big eyes, slender body, smooth skin- then yes, I can admit that she is very pretty according to society's standards but I personally don't find her pretty.
You can say that I am just extremely biased (I can't deny hahaha). I find every single one of my friends attractive, really. Some of them have really pretty eyes, or a nice smile, or have charisma.
Because I'm weirdly wired like that.
Also, I am obsessed with the song~ (I am very late haha.)
They are all Running Man members~
Running Man is a korean variety show that is damn funny. The members have great chemistry and interactions and the missions they do are really creative~ Just google "Running Man" and a lot of links to english-subtitled episodes will come up~ Each episode is about 1.5hours so if you have the time and just want a good laugh then I really recommend watching it. GO! :)
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