Last Assignment

I handed in my last assignment of the semester this afternoon. Turns out the deadline was actually the next class, so I had a chance to make it better, but I couldn't be bothered. It's just Moral Studies anyway; the only reasons for putting extra effort into your work for LAN subjects is if you're just a few points shy of a High Distinction or if you're really close to failing. I'm hoping for an 8% or 9% out of 20%, so we'll see what happens there. It's only 1500 words long out of the 2000 word requirement, and it hasn't been proofread or spellchecked and it was written in two hours so the content is pretty horrendous, and there's no referencing, so perhaps even eight and nine is optimistic.

Also I got the results of the quiz I took last week for EMA. I got 28 out of 40, which is actually the highest I've scored on any test so far for that subject. That's nice to know. Mr. Joel said he was very lenient with the marking on this one, but it's still a victory. As usual, Sue Ann got full marks. She's the smartest person I know. If it hadn't been for a misunderstanding on principal roots she would very likely be finishing this subject with perfect marks, and it would be an insane understatement to call that an outstanding achievement.

Alessandra and Marcus were comparing their marks from psychology in English class. They both got eighteen-point-something out of twenty, which is only point-something less than the highest scorer in the subject. That is pretty awesome.

Also in English we got our results back from this practice quiz we did. I scored the highest in class with 51/68, but nobody was surprised. I do act like a bit of a smartass in English, so I can't blame 'em.

I realized that the dude who did the really incredibly gay opera singing and pole-dance-on-a-chair thing from the ball was in my Moral Studies group. His group was doing a presentation today. It was pretty hard to watch. I don't think I'd be wrong to say that that guy is the gayest dude in college. Annora agreed with me. She was staring at her table the whole of his performance at the ball. She had a much better time than me because she thought the dinner was really good. I did not go to the ball to eat. I went to the ball to go to a ball: fancy clothes, music, dancing, socializing, all that good stuff. There was not enough dancing.

After Critical Thinking Skills I looked through these pictures of the capital city of Kazakhstan. It's a cool looking place with nice looking weather. The pictures were from one of the dudes in my class who was trying to fix people's perceptions of his country. Apparently most people think that Kazakhstan’s like Iraq or whatever because of Borat and stuff, and that is upsetting to Kazaks. I guess those pictures are a good way to educate people.

I read through most of the manual for my motorcycle. I learned things I did not know, like how to operate the steering lock and at what speeds I should change the gears. It's good to know.

I rode home in the rain again. I'm not sure if I'll ever recover from this cough and runny nose.

I was going to celebrate my lack of assignments by playing Stronghold or partaking in some karaoke, but instead I took a nap and watched Bruno. The funniness of that movie does not balance out its gayness. Borat was better, I think.

Yeah I think that's it for today.

Failure and a Ball

I failed my first quiz of this semester. It was for EMA. I fell asleep studying for it the night before. It's not exactly a good omen.

I found out from Zach that there's a latch under the seat of every motorcycle where you can attach your helmet strap to so it doesn't get stolen. That would have been handy information to have before Thursday.

I managed to nap for around ten minutes before having to get ready for the ball.

I left for the ball in a perfectly fitting shirt, trousers, and tie with a slightly oversized jacket at 6:20. I took my brother's car, which he was gracious enough to lend to me.

I got stuck in a jam and then lost and only managed to find the hotel at 7:50.

While I was lost I saw a truck from the Sheraton Imperial, which I thought was a funny coincidence.

I parked behind the hotel and got charged RM10 for it, but I had the money it was okay.

I arrived at the elevators at the same time as Mr Joel and Ms Annie, my EMA & Calculus and Intermediate English lecturers, respectively. It took me a few minutes to be certain that Ms Annie was Ms Annie. I have trouble recognizing people when they've got makeup and really different clothes on.

I found out that the ball hadn't started yet. This was relieving.

I found my table. I knew three people there.

I found Elo's when Elo called me over. I didn't recognize her because of her makeup. Her dress was awesome, though.

I met Joanna and I managed to recognize her.

I met a few other people.

I sat at my table and listened to the opening speeches.

The dinner began and some performances started. I took off my jacket and left it off for quite a while after that.

I took some pictures with some people.

The performances were okay. Some were pretty awesome, and some were pretty lame, and some were really, really gay, but for the most part they were okay.

The ball bit kinda sucked because I didn't have anybody. I didn't even have anyone to hang out with and talk to. I just sat around and looked over at the lecturers, who were seated in front of me, the stage, and the people on the right side of the ballroom. I was looking to the right because of how I was seated and because there weren't many people I knew on the left.

I was texting Hannah and Athirah, the girl Hannah met at the AAR concert when she was lost. It was better than doing nothing. Also at one point this girl sang You Belong with Me, so I called Hannah and let her listen to that.

At Hannah's suggestion, I didn't dance.

At one point I stepped outside to look around. I hung out in the unofficial smoking room for a while and held Jo's bag while she did something.

Most of the people at Elo's table left early to go to a pub. The ones who came back near the end only stayed for a very short while before leaving again.

When it ended with a closing dance I was looking for anyone I knew so I could invite them to dance so that at least both of us could say we danced with someone at the ball. I didn't find anyone; I think they were all gone.

After the ball I talked to the lecturers for a bit and took some photos with them. Ms Annie said she was proud of me for getting a High Distinction in Intermediate English last semester. That was nice.

I took a few of the leftover goodie bags and picked up a complimentary ticket to a nearby club. I wasn't sure whether to go to the club or not.

I hung around until the last few people were leaving. They talked me into checking out the club, which I decided to do.

Finding the club was easier than I expected. It was right next to where I had parked my car, so that was convenient. There was supposed to be pole dancing or something, but the poles were empty. I got bored of the loud, dark, and smoky club pretty soon and left without doing anything.

I got lost driving home, but I got home anyway.

Now I have to prepare my uniform and study for the Advanced Drill Badge test tomorrow. I'm not going to get very much sleep tonight.

A few thoughts about the ball and stuff:
I should have got a ticket at Elo's table. Mine was kinda boring, although it did have a good view of the stage.
The dude who performed with those oversized yo-yo things or whatever was awesome, even if he did drop them a few times. The glow-in-the-dark ones were like freaking magic or something.
The Michael Jackson impersonator was surprisingly good.
The people who decided not to go because they didn't have dates were the smart ones. I had a pretty miserable time.
I didn't talk to Juria at all. In fact, I was actively ignoring her when all of us were leaving after the ball. I'm not sure if that was the right thing to do or not. Now I still don't know where we stand. I'm going to guess that it was the wrong thing to do. Should've said something. I'm never gonna get any damn closure at this rate.
The city is a terrible place to drive in at night for me. I get lost too easily. I can get home from anywhere, but if I don't know where my destination is supposed to be then it will be a long, long while before I get there.
I probably would have been better off not going to the ball at all.

This post would have been so long if I wasn't tired.

My Helmet Got Stolen

Somebody stole my helmet. That was quite inconsiderate of them. I had to drive home with my head completely unprotected. It started raining, too. When you're on a motorcycle and rain falls on your face it is like a thousand little bees all stinging at once. Also, I got new contact lenses and they almost got scratched up by dust flying into my eyes. I hope whoever stole my helmet has his motorcycle stolen. That would be some serious karmic justice.

Streamyx cut our internet line last night. My dad stopped paying the bill three months ago because of how shitty their service was, but because of how inefficient they are, they only got around to doing something about that recently. So we got three months of internet connectivity for free. Now we're running on a Maxis line, and it is so much faster. It's beautiful.

The ball is tomorrow. Holy shit.

I've got a quiz tomorrow for EMA. I said I would study for it, but I haven't. I'm going to after I post this. I will be up late tonight.

I want to get into a fight with someone and win. Beating someone up would be awesome. Unfortunately (Or fortunately), I haven't met anyone who I could both beat in a fight and justify fighting. Oh well.

College was okay today, except for my helmet getting stolen at the end of it. I got my English midterm results back. I had 16.13 out of 20, but I managed to talk the lecturer into giving me another .27 marks for one of the answers in the cloze passage. I could have gotten a bit more, but he doesn't believe that "habitats" was the right word to use to describe the "seas around Johore". Man, I was only using a plural noun to refer to a plural noun. That shit should be totally legit. Ah well, 16.4 is pretty good. Still .6 away from a HD average, but good. Especially since it's higher than Joanna's score. Scoring higher than other people is one of the great joys in my life.

I read a chapter of my Critical Thinking Skills textbook today about Science. It's the most interesting textbook I've ever read. It's called THiNK and it's by Judith Boss. Judith sounds like the kind of person I would have liked to be friends with back in primary school. Too bad she was in primary school four decades and an ocean away from when I was. Ah well, at least I got an awesome book.

I want to talk to someone for a really really long time. Like, just sit down and have a conversation that goes on for hours. Maybe there would be snacks involved, or musical instruments. Or swings. Or just really really comfortable furniture. I do not know. I just want to talk.

I'm kinda lonely, you see.

Greetings, and also Wednesday is Satay Day

So I'm dateless for the ball. It's unsurprising, but it still kinda bites. Ah well, until the ball I'll tell myself that I'm gonna hit on one of the single chicks there. Of course, when the actual day arrives I won't, but I'll then I'll tell myself that I totally would've if it hadn't been for one little thing I couldn't've anticipated.

Anyway, today. Today there was a quiz for Moral. I didn't understand most of what was being asked. It wasn't really because I didn't know the material; it's that I literally did not understand what the quiz wanted from me. I hope I score more than half marks on it, though.

Today I also ate satay. The satay dude comes to Pusat Bandar Damansara every Wednesday and he makes the best beef satay I've ever tasted. I had eight sticks today. As anticipated, they were delicious. I really missed them when he wasn't around for the fasting month and the next few weeks after that. Six weeks without Wednesday satay, that is a hell I would not wish on my worst enemy. Mostly because I don't have one, but also because that satay is so delicious that deprivation of them could very well be considered inhumane.

Also today I saw this dude run a red light. I was on my motorcycle facing his lane and waiting for the light to turn to green so that I could turn. When it turned, I began to turn in, but then I saw that he ran the red and tried to make the turn, too. As I swerved to avoid him I was all "Dude [you're] breaking the law" but he did not hear me because I did not say it loudly and he was in a car. I really wanted to flip him off, but I decided to restrain myself when I realized that would require taking at least one hand off the handlebars, which would make the motorcycle quite a bit harder to control. When I overtook him I found that "he" was actually an old Indian lady, but I'll allow you to make of that what you will.

Anyway, I got to thinking about greeting people today. Usually when I see someone that I recognize in college I'll greet them in some way. With friends I'll raise my hand or nod or say "Hey man" or "Hi dude". I do this because I usually cannot remember people's names, which I feel sorta guilty about because everyone remembers mine, even people I do not know. With lecturers I'll say "Morning/afternoon/evening sir/miss", because you gotta be formal with the lecturers. I'll only greet lecturers who teach or have taught me, and those lecturers that greet me first. If I'm really familiar with them I'll just say "Hi sir/miss", but I am rarely really familiar with them. If I'm suddenly greeted by someone who I do not recall meeting, I will just say "Yeah, hi" or "Hey" or something similarly noncommittal. I really need to figure out who those people are someday. They always catch me by surprise. Also, there's this lady that I met in the Mist Club during that fashion show thing a few months ago. I don't see her often, but whenever I do she always asks if I remember her and I say yeah and then we wait for a few moments while I try to remember where she's from and then right when I start saying "Mist Club" she says "Mist Club" and it seems like I have forgotten which is not true and makes me sad. She's nice, though. Also also, whenever I see people who I have not talked to in a long while because I've been avoiding them because I did something stupid that I have (weakly) apologized for with an apology they did not accept or maybe did accept but didn't tell me about, I'll panic a little as I watch them approach and wonder whether to say hi or not before deciding not to and looking elsewhere as they get closer and sidestepping when they get real close so they know that I'm trying to stay out of their way and also because they tend to sidestep, too. It's an effective system for avoiding both conflict and closure.

I like followers. I've only got two, but I'm pretty sure they don't read my blog. I know Hannah and Ebony do, though, but they aren't followers. If you've read this far, I'm not asking you to follow me, but, y'know, it would be nice.

I had Engineering Mathematics Applications homework to do. It's due in 10 hours. I didn't do any of it. I don't have a good excuse, I just prioritized less important things and now I'm too tired for it. I hope I know enough about vectors, because that was the homework and that's what's coming out for the quiz this Friday, which is also the day of the ball and also the day I have to study and get my uniform ready for the Advanced Drill Badge test on Saturday, so yeah, Friday's gonna be a long day with a long night. Yay, I guess.

On a perhaps unrelated note, I could do with a hug right now. Preferably from someone attractive, female, and unrelated to me. I will, however, settle for an adorable picture of a puppy, perhaps with a funny caption. I think Google can help me with the latter.

Materialistic Comfort

Went with my dad, his friend, and Hannah to go buy a shirt and some trousers for the ball. Managed to get something that I think looks really good. Or at least pretty good. Well, it's formal and I like the feel and look of it, so there's that. It cost quite a bit though, so I'm going to find more excuses to wear it after the ball to justify the cost.

I started writing a letter during Physics and finished it up during lunch. I haven't mailed it yet, and I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to that. Hopefully I will because letters are cool.

Took a four-hour nap after lunch while waiting for the rain to stop. It didn't stop. The motorcycle ride home was damp and kinda miserable. It probably didn't help that I've been feeling sick the past few days. I've had a runny nose and a rather painful cough for the last two days or so, and all I've done to try and fix those problems is suck on some Strepsils and sip some tea. They kinda help, I guess.

Effie wasn't in HELP today. Jia Yin told me that she had left college already, so last week was her last week here. That kinda really sucks.

I've been putting off work for a while due to illness and tiredness but mainly laziness. Ugh, I hope I don't fail any subjects. I really really need an easy third semester. I've got to get my Moral Studies survey done soon so I can compile the report that's due next week. Also I tried studying for the quiz that I'll be taking tomorrow, but I forgot what was important. We'll see how things go.

Yeah that's it for now I'm tired and I really need some rest.

Ten and a Half Hours; No Breaks

I'm tired, so here's my attempt at a short post.

1st class was EMA from 8 'til 9:30. Learned some cool new stuff, got a bunch of homework for some other day. Also got my quiz results. 22/40 compared to the other students' 40/40 and 37/40. I lost a shitload of marks due to careless mistakes and failure to check my work. It's still a really tough subject, though, so at least I know I've got a couple of geniuses to turn to if I need any help.

2nd class was CTS from 9:30 'til 11:00. Learned about fallacies and stuff. Was okay. Didn't drag. Projector wasn't working.

3rd class was Advanced English replacement for the one hour I missed yesterday. It was from 11:00 to 12:30, but I was leaving early. I made some new friends and listened to Mr. Dharminder talk about his experience at an Ali Maju the other day with Mr. Joel, my EMA (and formerly Calculus) lecturer, which involved them sitting across from a table of loud, vulgar students. Apparently all the vulgarity was coming from the girls. We had to explain how "the f word" had changed since his time as a student, and become a very versatile adjective instead of a swear word. That was fun.

4th class was Physics tutorial in one of the KPD labs scheduled to last from 12:00 to 2:00. It took me around ten minutes to get there. Fortunately, we managed to complete all six questions quite quickly and left with 20 minutes break.

I spent that break getting money to get my ticket from Roopa, who had booked a table for the ball. The ticket is pretty cool. Also when I was running to the ATM I figured out how to simulate drowning: get your heart rate up, then hold your breath and sprint. That was quite an interesting experience.

5th class was Advanced English from 2:00 to 3:30. I gave a presentation and was evaluated by the class. The presentation didn't count towards the continuous assessment mark, but it did help for the next class.

6th class was Moral Studies from 3:30 to 5:00. I had to give a presentation that was worth 10% of the total marks for the subject. I asked one of my classmates to help me out by asking questions so I could stretch my five slides of content to last for fifteen minutes. She agreed to help me out, so that was nice. I managed to get a bit of audience participation going on by way of a Q&A, and my presentation lasted 16 minutes. My classmate, Annora, actually lifted up a sheet of paper that said "14 MINUTES" at one point, so I knew when to start wrapping up. Yeah, that was nice. When my presentation was done there was another presentation by two dudes, the first half of which was presented quite well and the second half of which was pretty much a comedy routine. There are some funny dudes in HELP. I think they're gonna score pretty high. After class was over I got to see my score and I got 8.5/10, which was awesome. Annora's group got 7.5 but I'm pretty sure they did better than me, since their slides had visual aids and animations and stuff.

7th class was the Moral Studies Quiz, which I wasn't prepared for. I didn't understand what the questions were asking of me, so I was tempted to pull out my notes and cheat. I actually managed to get them from my bag to the desk before I realized that cheating during a Moral quiz, although deliciously ironic, wouldn't be worth the consequences of getting caught, so I put the notes away and reached into the recesses of my memory for the answers. I'm not sure if I answered correctly, but I passed a much more practical moral test that class.

When I was done with the quiz I talked to Davinia, who I apparently hadn't spoken to in ages. She asked me how things were with "Junita, or Julia or whatever" and was shocked to hear of my motorcycle accident last week. I said something along the lines of "Oh wow, it really must have been a while since we last talked. You don't know the name of the girl I can't shut up about, you don't know about my motorcycle accident, heck, I bet you haven't even heard about my dad's funeral." Her reaction to the last item on that list was worth the horrible fabrication. I forgot what we talked about next even though that was less than two hours ago. Again I will blame sleep deprivation.

After that I talked to Ms Usha because I wanted to tell her to call off the search since she still had not made any progress finding someone who I could ask to the ball. Apparently she had not told anyone that she was helping me, but somehow all the girls she asked knew she was talking about me when she told them about (her words) "a tall, fair, handsome guy" to ask to the ball. I told her of course they're gonna guess me if she uses the word "fair" in her description. With the exception of the international students, that word would only be used to describe two people, and although it could be argued that she is tall and handsome, Juria is most definitely not a guy. I guess that is the downside to a mixed heritage: you tend to stand out, even in three-word descriptions.

Ms Usha then said that her new plan was to get a column on the notice board for students to put up their phone numbers and descriptions of themselves and of what kind of person they would want to go to the ball with. I agreed to be among the first batch up on the board. Perhaps I should not have volunteered, though. It just seems a bit desperate.

While I was getting ready to go, this old dude with a terrible combover approached a group of students and asked how to delete text on a slide. When I started to answer him he grabbed my wrist and dragged me over to his computer so I could help him with it. I don't think I've met a bigger stereotype in my life before. This guy was a classic technologically illiterate elder. After attempting to help him get his presentation done for a while (he wouldn't tell me exactly what he was trying to do, just what he wanted me to do next, so all that ended up being changed was that the text in two slides were replaced by the text of two other slides that he didn't know where there, and one of those slides being moved up in the presentation), I gave up and set the alarm on my phone to a minute later, then picked it up and excused myself. Man, I hope I never get to the point where I'm pulling random college students into my cubicle to help me adjust the holoprojectors or reconfigure the teleporters or whatever.

I finally took my motorcycle home at 6:30. I wanted to take a nap, but my mum wants me to go to bed at 10pm so I don't end up staying late and getting only four or so hours of sleep like I did last night. Eh.

I figured today would be a lot harder than it was. I was riding on a sleep-deprived high for most of the day, and I only crashed when I got home. My mood's not too great right now, but I was pretty dang ecstatic for classes one through six. Ah well, that is the price you pay for not listening to your mother.

Anyway I'll end this here. I'm gonna go take a nap.

Edit: I didn't actually take a nap. I think I may actually go to bed at 10. I am really tired.

This Post Should Be Longer

So. Awards Day was today, as were a couple of replacement classes at college because of last Tuesday's holiday.

Awards Day was good. I got a whole bunch of badges, including a one-year-service badge I had forgotten to request four or so years ago and have been waiting for ever since, and my certificate of completion for Basic NCO Training Course, which I had been waiting for since '07. Lots of people got promoted, including my younger brother Jan and a whole bunch of my friends. I'm still a lance corporal, though, but you couldn't argue that I deserved a promotion anyway. Oh well, there's still a chance at promotion if I buck up before Enrolment Day.

On the way back home, my dad made a deal with me. If I got a date for the college ball, he'd pay the full ticket price, otherwise he'd only pay RM80 and I'd have to cover the extra fifty. I'd already been approached by one of lecturers, Ms Usha, who asked if I wanted help getting a date. I agreed and now she's out looking for someone who'd make a good match for the night. When I met her today she said it was a "work in progress". I am cautiously optimistic.

College was okay. It was a replacement for Tuesday, so all the classes were held at the same time in the same place. Tuesdays are my busiest day, with classes from 8am to 6pm with only a one-hour break the whole time. Fortunately my eight o'clock class was not on, neither was my twelve o'clock or three thirty class. All I had were Critical Thinking Skills at 9:30, which I had to miss and will be replacing this Monday, and English at two o'clock, which ended early because everyone was tired. After English I found a bunch of my friends playing hide-and-seek in one of the darkened classrooms and joined in. It was pretty fun. My friends seem to have been playing some pretty childish games lately. The other day we played Pepsi Cola and a rather interesting game of Truth or Dare.

So yeah, that was my day. I also found out when I got home that one of my friends had met Boys Like Girls yesterday night to celebrate her birthday eve. I cannot believe I did not know Boys Like Girls were going to be in KL yesterday. I need to stop missing opportunities like this. First it was the Hitz.fm crew at Mist, now Boys Like Girls. At least I still got to go to the MTV World Stage mosh pit and the fashion show at Mist, I guess.