An Interesting Shopping Trip

Hmmm, did I mention a shopping trip? Correction. It's a tagging trip. =) Since my sis (after having insisted over months that I change my church bag because she so hates it) wanted me to get a new bag yesterday, technically speaking, we went to shop for it. But me being the usual me, it was a tagging trip. And as such, my previous-to-be bag shall be decommissioned as of this saturday (well, previous-to-be and saturday because I still have stuff it it, hence it's still officially being 'used' in a sense). [Oh, here's an interruption of the flow of my blog. My sis wanted to comment "good riddance" to the old bag. Okie, back to the initial flow of the post].

Well, unlike usual posts of my friends who put their shopping list on their blog, I'm not about to do it. Since I'm not interested in shopping anyway, it's not like I'm able to list a whole bunch of items after a shopping spree. It's (ie. a shopping spree) technically not possible to begin with. In fact, if anything I bought qualified to belong to a shopping list, it would probably look like this:

Shopping List for the month of XXX
- Lunch (01/XX/07)
- Dinner (01/XX/07)
- Lunch (02/XX/07)
- Dinner (02/XX/07)
- Lunch (03/XX/07)
- Dinner (03/XX/07)
- Lunch (04/XX/07)
- Lunch (05/XX/07) ... etc.

So, blogging about my shopping list would definitely be a no-no. In fact, it would bore so many readers such that no one would ever bother to load this blog page anymore. Why then, do I bother to blog? On the other hand, I wonder what's so interesting about blogging about one's shopping spree. Are people genuinely interested in what one would get (Of course, such a question cannot be answered by me - a tagger. Rather, only true shoppers could answer this question. But do let me know if any shoppers out there has an answer. I'm curious)? Come to think about it, I doubt people blog about their shopping list since it's usually the bought items that are mentioned. So instead, it is their shopped/bought/purchased list that they blog about. Oh, it seemed that I've digressed from what I originally intended to blog about.

OK, back to the topic - The interesting shopping/tagging trip. The reason why it was interesting was this: I noticed that my sis' sense of fashion was interesting, or even quirky to me. OK, maybe I was the quirky one, but it did interest me to know that she was fascinated with beads. Although it would seem abrupt to end here because this is the main gist of this entry after yet another looooong grandfather/grandmother/ancestor/dinosaur/pre-earth-dweller... etc. story, I shall blog about a theory that I formulated while shopping (nope, it's not about some maths related to the pricing of items when one goes shopping, although maths is involved somehow as you would realise as you read on).

You see, those beads that my sis was fascinated with are those big dark-brown/black, wooden beads of 3-cm diameter strung together with some other stuff into a long necklace. And somehow, those beads reminded me of the kind of projectiles that those high-monks/grand-masters in Shaolin use, when the monk would chant while rotating using those beads in their hand, only to fire them off as projectiles when a hostile character was stirring trouble. Considering that a bead of a mass similar to that of a bullet could actually hit a man off his feet and disable him without fatally injuring him, this could well be a lost art where the modern police force could use in replacement of guns in the event when they only want to immobilise a person.

Worked example:
Mass of target: 80 kg = 784.8 N
Displacement of target = around 2 m.

Assuming all energy is transferred from bead to person (ie. no energy loss),
Muzzle (or rather, finger) energy = 784.8 N * 2 m = 1569.6 J = 3x of a normal pistol = a rifle!!!

Thus, a Shaolin monk could easily out perform pistols with just a hand. Then again, this would mean that all police officers will have to be Shaolin high-monks. And as such, this theory is invalid.

Hmmm, I think I'd better end now and get back to my aerodynamics, before those CA questions kill me this wednesday.

This is bad bad Bad Bad BAD BAD...

Arrrgh... engineering school is totally off/absurd/ridiculous/nonsensical/off-limits/out-of-the-[earth/world/universe/galaxy/everything-else-that-exists]!!! And I can't believe it. Here I am ranting after recovering from a crappy minor depression of some sort last sem when it's only the... hmmm... (is it the 2nd or 3rd week already? Arrrgh, this is bad bad BAD... etc.) oh, yup, it's the 3rd week. ARRRGH...!!!

It's amazing how engineering school simply loves to give the most basic of examples, and ask the craziest things on earth/milky way/black hole/the-5th-dimension/the-6th-dimension/whatever-else-dimensions-there-are-out-there/heaven/whatever... etc. in their tutorials/CAs/exams. Hmmm, since I'm feeling somewhat crappy too... allow me to phrase it in certain 'languages' to elaborate what kind of madness takes place in engineering at a daily level.

Language 1: Mathematics
It is something like:

Lecture notes:
The '+' operator adds, the '-' operator subtracts... etc. E.g. 1 + 1 = 2; 4 - 3 = 1... etc.

Tutorial question:
Solve the following: Abs( log (tan [45.678 e ^-lg(cos (43/pi))]) - ln 56.34 / ln (84.54 cos 23.4) ) ^ (23.54 - e^ (tan 45.3)), giving your answers up to 15 significant figures, if applicable. If this solution doesn't exist, identify the operator causing this, and state the reasons why it leads to no solutions.


Language 2: RPG Games Guide/Walkthrough
It is something like:

It is the start of the game where your main character starts in bed at home. You could rest in your bed anytime to recover your HP and MP. Your character has the following starting stats:

Equipped: Copper sword (Attack + 3), Padded armour (Defense + 1)
HP/MP: 32 / 9
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 8
Intelligence: 9
Spells: None
Items: Bun x1 (Heals for 20 HP)

Now, there's nothing much to do in your home. Walk out of the house. As your main character steps out of the house for the first time, it meets the final boss (Attack: 450, Defense: 240, HP/MP: 320,000/40000, Strength: 214, Dexterity: 198, Intelligence: 201) in the game, and somehow, you're supposed to defeat it. As a consolation, you could rest in your bed once to recover your HP and MP (when it's actually full in the beginning, so it's pretty pointless) before facing the final boss. As you face the final boss, start by attacking, and using the Bun when your HP drops below 32... and remember to save your game first before stepping out of the house.


Language 3: Sports
It is something like:

After a little kiddo has learnt to walk, you pump the kiddo with a can of 100 Plus or H2O, then take the kiddo out on a full marathon run...


Language 4: Music
It is something like:

After a person has barely passed his/her grade 1 piano practical exam, he/she is given a 90-page score with tonnes of tau geis, inclusive of at least 100 bars of 32 demesemiquaver notes (consisting of at least 3 notes at any one time, played using two hands) in each of those 100 bars. Oh, and did I fail to mention that the tempo is about 178 crochet beats per minute?


Thought: It is something (ie. as ridiculous as) like: hoping that I would be able to understand anything soon. ARRRGH!!! And crap... I regret rejecting two music kiddos last sem. ARRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!! (volume doubles that of the previous exclamation. Hence double the letters and exclamation marks)...

Repetitive/Looping History

Although similar incidences have happened before, and that I have come up with enough rationalizations to convince myself that perhaps it's was "just them" and not me... I have reached a point in time when the effects of my rationalizations have started to diminish/fade/collaspe/crumble/erode/vanish-into-thin-air/vanish-into-thicker-air (ie. at sea level, where the air pressure is higher)... etc. Just this week, history repeated itself again. If you're thinking what kind of repetition of history could actually erode the effects of my rationalizations, perhaps this would paint a clearer picture: History repeated itself not once, not twice, but thrice!!! And at each repetition (in chronological order), the erosion increased in magnitude:

History Repetition Number 1
When Shannon's two friends came over to my hostel to explain a FYP problem to me, one of them took the lead in describing the problem (in english, that is). But she, being more comfortable in chinese (it seemed - read on for the context), started explaining concepts to me in chinese excitedly (and yup, I had to redirect lots of brain processing power for dedicated chinese language retrieval and decoding). Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks, then asked Shannon (and not me!) in chinese "eh, ni3 de4 pen2 you4 hui4 bu2 hui4 jiang3 hua2 yu3?". My goodness... Do I look like I can't understand chinese so badly (although I was nodding my head in agreement and somewhat understanding what she was saying) that she didn't even bother to ask me, but Shannon??? And just as I rationalised that perhaps it was just her preference for speaking in chinese, and that it was probably a coincidence...

History Repetition Number 2
Right after the meeting with Shannon's friends, Shannon, Joel and I headed to the canteen for dinner. After slowly choosing what to eat, and finally deciding on the western stall, I went over to that stall to order my food and noticed that the store holder was a chinese national. Immediately I was greeted and she spoke something in chinese. Because the canteen was too noisy, she wasn't speaking too loudly, and that she was standing some distance from me, I responded with a "huh?" alongside a look that tried to convey (well, I guess 'tried' would be the best description, since it didn't quite work out, as you would find out as you read on) a sorry-but-I-couldn't-hear-you expression. And to my horror, her immediate response was to change her language to English. NOOOO!!! At this, I tried to think out a rationalization, but... sigh, it didn't really come out. And just as I was thinking about it the very next day...

History Repetition Number 3
It was lunch alone during my one-hour break, and a girl came to my table and asked me if I could understand chinese, with the intention of introducing me some organization of some sort. Well, my immediate rationalization was "Hey, she has to be more comfortable speaking in chinese. Yup, that's for sure! She could be new in her job/cca/sai kang/whatever-else-along-those-lines and chinese would help her express herself better.". And after she left, she proceeded to the table behind me. As she had to face a group of people, she increased her volume, and as such, I could hear her speak. But, but... this time... to my alarm/unexpected-of-unexpecteds/shock-of-shocks/horror-of-horrors-after-two-terrible-horrors/horror-of-many-other-horrors-excluding-two-recent-horrors... she started speaking to them in chinese without even asking them for their language preference. I was speechless/rationalizationless. Thoughts ran through my head. Sadly, no rationalizations could be found among those thoughts however hard I may have tried I tried to convince myself that it wasn't because I looked like I didn't understand/speak chinese, but that it was "just her".

Then again, I guess I should be thankful that most of my friends speak to me in English. And for that, I have no complaints. =) Oh no... what if they spoke in english because... Nah, they could well be english-speaking people (hmmm, that sounded/read obvious. If they weren't english-speaking people, what else could they possibly be?). Yup, yup, that must be it.

Thought: If history's art (and exponential rate) of eroding my rationalizations were translated into physical soil erosion on Mount Everest starting wednesday, it would have been a grassland by the end of this week.

A Sick Piano =\

Just as my piano is finally tuned up... the keys are messed up. My favourite D note (because my favourite key is the key of D, and this note is really important as other keys require it too) refused to pop back into it's original position should I use the sustain pedal. Why (with echoing effects of decreasing volume that go: "why, why, why, why, why... etc.")???!!! Could it be that my piano is getting old? Come to think about it, my piano is close to 9 years old already.

Hmmm, perhaps this could be a sign that I should practise up my keys of Ab and B more often since there is lesser usage of the D note? But then again, random keys would happily stick to the base of the keyboard at random intervals also. This is simply irritating...

Thought: Perhaps it's time to change the piano. But nah, that's quite unlikely considering that it cost my parents around $4-6.8 K.

A Chinese Discovery

It was a celebration for my cell friend's dad yesterday, and as I was waiting for some late guy to arrive, I did something which I have not done for quite a looooong time, which was to watch a chinese program (aka proggy[s]) without english subtitles. The confusing thing though, was that the programs were all about the Chinese New Year (CNY) such that I almost thought that CNY was that very day or the day after (well, I could be quite blur at times, and I'm not denying that I'm not sure exactly when CNY is, but I guess I'll know soon enough. Thus, I was almost convinced CNY was near, very very near).

Anyway, as those people in those CNY proggys were having a dialogue, I came across a phrase/ci2/词 (hmmm, did I use the correct word/zi4/字 [hmmm, did I use the correct word/zi4/字{hmmm, did I...(...{...[etc. etc.]})}]) (OK, I shall not be funny with infinite recursions, or brackets within a bracket anymore) that I've heard about a million times (OK, it's not that much literally, but I did watch chinese proggys since I was a kiddo - though not anymore. In fact, I hardly watch TV anymore): mo4 shui3. Since I have no idea how it's written, I shall not attempt to pick two similar sounding words at random lest it should confuse anyone.

Well, upon clarification, I realised that should someone be said have mo4 shui3, it goes to show that he/she is learned/talented/whatever-that's-along-those-lines. And that's about the gist of this post. But I guess it could be quite weird going at lengths to describe a grandmother/grandfather/ancestral/[ape/amoeba/big bang] (for evolutionists)/adam (for those taking the opposing view to that of evolutionists) story and ending here. And as such, here's a list of guesses that I made with the word "mo4 shui3" before:

(1) If someone has "mo4 shui3", he has a sense of humour since I remember the chinese proggy, "gao3 xiao4 xing2 dong4", would usually have someone using that phrase to describe Moses Lim.

(2) If someone has "mo4 shui3", it could probably be that he loved chinese calligraphy of some sort (and hence learned), because he has a lot of (ie. "很有", which were the usual preceding words before "mo4 shui3") mo4 (ie. the black ink that ancient chinese scholars/officials used) shui3 (ie. water, being the solvent to dissolve 'mo4').

(3) He could be a dark, mysterious character since the word mo4 sounded like the black ink the ancient chinese used, and there's a chinese saying that goes something like, should someone get closer to mo4, he gets blacker whereas should he get closer to pearls, that would get him whiter. Simply put, it meant bad company corrupts good character, and vice versa, just that the word mo4 was used (although I'm not too sure if they're even the same word to begin with, though they sound the same).

Well, I guess I should stop crapping/blogging about my chinese although these were seriously the guesses I made about the word "mo4 shui3". I wasn't convinced by the above 3 theories though. And now, to the land of the cheerleaders (ie. la1 la1 dui4) lest I cannot wake up for service tomorrow.

Thought: At least I do not have to guess anymore...

Crappy Responses

Yesterday was my non-NTU cell, and during the discussion, a reflection question was being asked: When [A female's name - I'd rather not use it cause it sounded weird to me, and I wasn't sure if it were female to begin with. But since words like 'her' were attached to that name, my guess was that it's a weird female name] asked [Some guy - well... it's complicated, but the word representing that person was 'you', but we're speaking from a 3rd person's point of view on behalf of that 'you'. Don't understand? Don't bother. Just treat it as some unknown guy out there, simply because it's not that we know who that female is to begin with] to join her in a marathon, which also included a 3-month training of some sort, he declined. Why do you think he declined her request/offer/whatever?

Although the more standard answers would be that he wasn't commited enough or that it required too much effort... etc., well, my mind came up with crappy responses as usual:

(1) He's morbidly obese (ie. >200kg), and getting him to do a marathon is murder done the legal way.

(2) He has never exercised for the past 50 years for his life. Suddenly getting into a marathon...

(3) He's old (I mean, very old, really really old...) at the age of over 95. It's ridiculus to even consider going for a heart examination...

(4) He may be crippled in both legs.

(5) He's purely lazy/nua. It was a pointless request.

(6) For some reason, he hates her. Unless he has hatched a plot to murder/harm/backstab her during the marathon trainings or on the actual day, there was no reason to stick to her for the next 3 months of his life. It's simply out of the question.

(7) He simply didn't understand her question. Thus, it's safer not to agree to anything blindly (or rather, 'dumbly' [ie. not thinking]/'deafly' [ie. if he missed certain keywords like 'marathon' and 'training']).

(8) He might well be deaf, and she was communicating verbally. Hmmm... communication breakdown...

And as usual, not forgetting the ultimate responses:

(1) It could be a pathetic marathon such that the final day only involved the both of them. Well, 'two' if he decided to join her. Also, they would have to play the crowd, judge, event coordinator, logistics, time keeper and all at the same time.

(2) It could be a senseless marathon such that she would be driving while he is running.

(3) He's, well... at his deathbed.

(4) He was just discharged from hospital after finishing an amputation of his two legs due to a terrible accident.

Tuesday Aqua Blues

Well, school starts in less than 12 hours, and right now, I'm feeling the anxiety of school (Just in case you're wondering why I termed it the tuesday aqua blues rather than the tuesday blues, well... (1) My school days start on tuesdays. ie. Tuesday blues. (2) I'm feeling anxiety and fear of some sort. ie. white (3) I got a feeling I'll feel sick if this quirky anxiety goes on. ie. green. Therefore, mixing of the 3 colours would probably generate an aqua blue.).

Arrrgh... this is really bad. I'm feeling uncertain about this coming term. And on top of that, I'm afraid, very afraid, really afraid I'll enter another mode of depression of some sort again and that's truly going to be the end of me. Perhaps I haven't had such a huge fall in my schooling life since 7 years ago and now I'm pretty much shaken. Perhaps I feel totally inadequate in a crazy class of aerosp*ce students. Perhaps, perhaps... I don't know. Whatever the case, I'm feeling jittery/anxiety/shaky about tomorrow and goodness knows why I'm feeling this way (hmmm, this might be confusing as I've already mentioned that I'm feeling anxiety about school. Rather, it should be: I know it's anxiety that I'm feeling, but I don't know what caused such an anxiety to pop up at the eve of my school term). =/

Please pray for me.

Art Time! =\

Well, it was NTU cell on saturday, and the topic was on BGR. This time round, Shannon wanted something different, and asked us to depict what would be the ideal girl/guy to us in a pictorial form rather than in words. And since my art was terrible since primary school, and that I didn't want anyone to have a wrong impression, and that I know I would really hate what I would draw without even trying... etc., I resorted to something technical...

I must say that I was pretty surprised when the cell liked what I drew. Hmmm, did my art improve? I guess not. The words looked terribly unproportional, and so are the cubes that I charted/mapped out. Well, at least I'm glad that was probably the last art class/session I would ever attend, until Shannon decides to do this again in ten years or so... I think.

Conclusion: I'm glad I do not need to bank on art for a living. =)

Finally...

Finally, (well, this finally certainly does not refer to the opening of school though it is coming soon. I must be crazy if I was actually looking forward to it) my piano is going to get tuned by a piano tuner who uses an electronic tuner. The last time round some guy did it by ear, he de-tuned my piano by about 0.2 semitones per key for the last octave, and goodness knows what other kind of denomination of tones in between all my keys and all. And finally, it's going to get tuned in about 14 hours time. Yay! After this, there would no longer be any:

1) Quirky sense of notes/music when I use octaves/scales/arpeggios/whatever that would involve the top 2 octaves in my piano.
2) Messing up of my chord/music sense when I play something to demo a chord.
3) Feeling that my playing went wrong although I pressed the correct notes that do not conflict with the chord.
4) Irritation at the above mentioned points.
5) Irritation at the piano tuner who messed up my piano.
6) Feeling sian that I have a de-tuned piano.
7) Yearning for a piano tuner to tune up my piano.
8) Feeling of guilt for procrastination in contacting another piano tuner.
9) Trying to ignore those guilty feelings through rationalization.
10) Feelings of conflict when rational rationalization is done against the above rationalization.
11) Irritation at such conflicts, and resorting to going back to my playing in order to forget the whole issue.
12) Erm, well, go back to point 1...

Also, with a request to make the keys somewhat harder/stiffer/heavier/whatever, there would (hopefully) no longer be any:

1) Usage of super soft keys which caused my touch on the piano to be very light.
2) Teasing by my dear piano teacher that girls smaller sized than I am could play louder than I thunder on the piano (I can't remember the exact words she used, but the idea is there).
3) Hoping that my touch on the piano would be harder.
4) Missing/losing notes on other people's piano as a result of my light touch on the piano.
5) Loving of other people's piano more than mine because those could possibly increase my strength on the piano.
6) Wishing that my piano keys were harder/stiffer/heavier/whatever... etc.
7) Crappy ideas that the practice/celeste pedal, being able to soften the volume, might well be a good training tool to increase my strength on the piano by trying to hit the keys as hard as possible to restore the lost volume.
8) Getting irritated at the muted sound over time because the sound quality is, and will always be, terrible.
9) Giving up on usage of that practice/celeste pedal, and loving the sound quality without that pedal.
10) Enjoying my usual playing on my piano without the practice/celeste pedal so much (erm, with respect to the above point. It's not like I love to use that particular pedal to begin with, and there's certainly no enjoyment with that pedal even after my piano is fixed up).
11) Well, once again, refer to point 1...

Thought: I can't wait for a tuned-cum-hardened-keys piano. Yay! =)

Some Random Thoughts...

Although it's not beyond/around midnight yet, I guess it's fatigue that's causing me to feel somwhat crappy now. And so, here are some (note: not all) of the random thoughts that went through my mind today:

"Hmmm, what could you expect of my chinese, right?"
"Hey, I do know that chinese word!"
"I think I could snooze for 5 more minutes..."
"Oh no, I cannot snooze anymore!"
"Hee, I could well afford a cab..."
"Seemingly near, yet so far..."
"Seemingly far, yet so near..."
"Man, this is intimidating..."
"Phew, luckily those expressions aren't directed to me..."
"What a freaky and intimidating pose..."
"This is intimidating, yet funny/crappy..."
"I don't know how to answer this question..."
"Oh no, I need to eat faster..."
"Oh no, please don't ask me any questions..."
"Phew, this question isn't directed to me..."
"Hmmm, could this possibly be old and stale again?"
"Nope, it must be a common thing."
"Oh no, it's my turn again..."
"Phew, it's her turn now."
"He's off! I'm safe for now..."
"I'm feeling cold..."
"OK, I really need to eat even faster..."
"Nope. The rest have not finished. There's still food on their plates."
"Are they clearing already?"
"Suppress the crappiness, suppress it well..."
"Should I give a crappy answer?"
"Oh no, that might have been too crappy..."
"Luckily it was a condensed-crappy-quality answer I gave..."
"I'm tired eating fast. I'm giving up..."
"I don't mind if they forget the cake..."
"Oh no, there's still a cake..."
"Why's the cup back?"
"Hmmm, I thought they asked me that already..."
"Yay! They cleared the cake though... it was kind of a waste..."
"What should I do when I get back?"
"That's... fast..."
"Should I or should I not?"
"Okie, too late."
"Where do I cross?"
"Hmmm, is this a dilemma again?"
"Should I prop up my specs?"
"That sounds familiar..."
"Hey, this reminds me..."
"Arrrgh, don't think so much..."
"I'm sleepy..."
"Is it a good time to take a nap?"
"I don't feel like coming out of the house..."
"Hey, Grace was really surprised that I know chinese. Is it a good or bad thing?"
"I'm not hungry..."
"I wanna go home..."
"Does this statement make sense?"
"I'm so tired, I don't mind skipping dinner..."
"I don't understand what my relatives are conversing about in hokkien and cantonese..."
"I don't feel like moving about..."
"What a depressing show..."
"Hey, this is the 3rd time I'm watching TV in a week other than during dinner! A record breaker!"
"Why is my sis talking about her shopping to me regarding something she didn't buy?"
"Does my sis know that I'm, well, a tagger?"
"Oh no, I need to eat faster yet again..."
"Am I going to be last at dinner as usual?"
"Erm, that's too much food..."
"Cab's good, although I'm also ok with buses..."
"I want to play the piano later..."
"What???!!! You're (ie. my sis) making me walk just to save a pathetic 10 cents on the cab fare when I have over $65 with me? ... ... ..."
"Do not fail me again, singnet..."
"Are the undersea cables repaired?"
"Better not freak anyone out with memory tracing..."
"Why is it taking eons to connect to the internet?"
"Hmmm, I'm feeling crappy. Is it because I'm tired?"
"I'm think I'm too tired to play the piano properly..."
"What should I blog about?"
"Aha! I think I know what I could blog/crap about..."

Thought: Wow... I didn't know that this is such a long list. Hmmm...