Auntie ah! Bo ke Lu Lian Before ah?

Worked on Tues for some straneg musical performance. It wasn't that bad, the music I mean, the patrons were another thing. It was a free performance, and mid-day too, so well, Err, quite a few aunties went. And you can tell it was their FIRST time at the esplanade. Now, just for the record, I'm not an anti-old person nor do I bear grudges against the old old and the old but it was just amusing to see them gushing over everything, from the way the building was being cleaned, to the size of the concert hall, to the mere sight of the Merlion through the window. And they definitely weren't tourist-ly dressed. So that was the highlight of Tues afternoon.
Then I went to the gym. You know, i'm kinda considering bringing like butt cushions, cause after a while when you've sat long enough on the train seat, your butt just loses all feeling and all and kinda evolves into jelly. And while your butt is busily modifying its shape, your upper body's busy trying to subtly nudge the big burly guy at your right dozing away. His head is swaying from side to side like the leaves of a coconut tree in a breeze and eeew is that saliva collecting at the corner of his mouth. eeew. Whack in the leg or nudge in the ribs?? hMm!
So there I was, thinking very hard, when this girl just walks in. Okay la, she's not exactly that hot, and she's like only sec 3 or 4 and she's from TKGS (their uniform is so greenly distinctive. I think females in army uniform is TKGS uniform!!). Anyway, she [Well, I would love to say gazing but that would be so bhb] was staring at me. So, I like glanced her way occasionally to confirm and reaffirm the knowledge that nope I've never met her before and that I do not know her. And then, it strikes me. Her complexion is beeeeaaaautiful! Now when I say compexion is beautiful,I dont mean to say its palely white or ghostly [ghastly] white but rather that it's smooth and more of like an apple skin, smooth and nice to erm, [I just cant think of any other word, caress, as compared to say mango skin - face has moles, or [gasps] durian face - face with numerous pimples. It's quite interesting to see such flawless kin. So well, that's that. for Tues! Tata! That's four Ts in three words! =>

heex

So here I am again, satisfied with my Kimchi Instant Noodles and my bottle of Root Beer, my third and final meal of the day.
Having a meal at this hour reminds me of a long time ago, when I was cramming form my Os. okay la, it was just two years ago, not that long. Yet, those were the days, lying down on my room floor, with my blanket for warmth, [burps] my discman for music companionship, and [burps] all my textbooks. Woot! my previous two burps were the same kind!! By kind, I mean the pitch, length and graph. Both started with a high pitch before dropping to a low pitch. [burps] oh shucks different gender of burp le. heh. [beams with pride] I've never burped so many times due to a Root Beer before. heh anyway, back [burps beautifully], oh man that felt so good, to what I was saying, I kinda have fond memories of studying for Os. I know I know, how can studying for Os be a fond memory? But it is. The time you spent with your boobs, sorry, books [i couldn't resist that, forgive me moi ladies], is worth it! For as long as they last. heex. There's always the small print. Well, off to bed now. [burps] hehe burpy dreams for me. tata

construct operational definition ecological isomorphism attrition regression pre test post test solomon four group sensitization maturation inter-subject diffusion independent variable temporal ordering epistemology non-spuriousness hypothesis likert summated rating scale semantic differential scale nominal mutually exclusive coding sheet population census sampling error probability sampling lottery without replacement convenience network volunteer stratified multi-stage cluster longitudinal study inverted funnel inferencial statistics bipolar adjectives standard deviance variance range t-test chi-square chi-test t-square unitizing

Sorry. Just had to get that out of my head. and where better than on blogger. In case ya wondering what those cheemological stuff are, they're what I'm supposed to know for my test on Fri. Bleah. the subject is crazy manz, seriously. oh well, back to reading words that are made of letters from the English alphabet but dont look like English words to me. tata.

Signing off with eyes going round and round and round and up and center and left and right and straight and round,

R 4 N D Y

On The Last Week Of School

[sung to the tune of 'Twelve Days of Christmas']
On the last week of school,
my tutor said to me
here's chocolate and coffee
and a whole lot of chapters to read.

On the last week of school,
my tutor said to me
good luck for your exams
here's chocolate and coffee
and a whole lot of chapters to read.

On the last week of school,
my tutor said to me
see you all next sem
good luck for your exams
here's chocolate and coffee
and a whole lot of chapters to read.

On the last week of school,
my tutor said to me
here's your national day lanyard
see you all next sem
good luck for your exams
here's chocolate and coffee
and a whole lot of chapters to read.

On the last week of school,
my tutor said to me
grab your pen and paper cause the mindmap's being flashed up
here's your national day lanyard
see you all next sem
good luck for your exams
here's chocolate and coffee
and a whole lot of chapters to read.

On the last week of school,
my tutor said to me
questions comments complaints
you're the best bunch of students
grab your pen and paper cause the mindmap's being flashed up
here's your national day lanyard
see you all next sem
good luck for your exams
here's chocolate and coffee
and a whole lot of chapters to read.

The Date.

Well, if going by the definition that a date is 'An engagement to go out socially with another person' [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/date], then I went on one yesterday. And it was rather satisfying. And by that, in no means sexual.
At first, I thought, hey what's new. I've been with girls like since sec sch and now in a course where males are the minority, surely some of my well-honed skills would prove useful in charming the girl. Gee. How very wrong I was.

So we agreed the time and place to meet. I waited and saw her looming in the distance.
Okay, that's an exaggeration. She's too small to loom in the horizon.
I saw her walking towards me and then suddenly, my mind blanked. Not because of I nervous or what k, but cause I've never really physically chatted with her before. Sure we messaged each other [a lot], and chatted on msn [frequently], but chatting in VR ain't the same as chatting IRL. For your info, VR is virtual reality and IRL is In Real Life.

Anyway, time for a commercial break. I'll be right back after you listen to the commercial. Click the play symbol. And feedback on its effectiveness using my tagboard.




Okay. Back. That advertisement was brought to you by yours truly and others. =D

Now as I was saying, I went on a date with a girl yesterday. She ain't your Jane Doe. She's rrrreally different. But the key here is the date and not her.
So there we were. she's walking towards me, I'm rooted to the ground, my mind thinking which approach should I use. Ask how was her day? Or compliment her? [sweet-talk, my love ] Or talk about the weather? Or ask if she's hungry or.. or.. or..?!?!?!
Well, I ain't gonna say what method I used but I managed to coax a few words out of her. and several heart-warming smiles. But that's not quite the point.
Ya see, we went to Yoshi for dinner. And I bloody dropped my chopsticks. Now you may be thinking what's the big deal? It's just chopsticks, just pick it up and continue eating la. But! Bear in mind, it's me, my nerves are a little higher than usual, I'm trying to ooze calm and control and all, and now i'm tihnking "Oh crap!" I've kindof severed the whole tempo and all.
But of course, mentally cursing myself wont help much so I put it out of my mind and proceeded in making small talk. I wonder why they call it small talk. More of fast talk cause it always ends up in one-word answers. To think of it, I managed to extract a few complete sentences of more than ten words from her. Hee! =X So proud of myself.
Anyway where were we?
Oh yesh. So there's e chopstick incident. So dinner's over. The ice is nearly completely broken. So we go upstairs. And then, I realized I forgotten that Gelare isn't there no more. [Oh btw, there's a shop in that vicinity selling stick-on sandals. Don't ask me how they do it. But it appears to work though] And so I bring her down again and we go haagen daaz for ice cream.
And we lived happily ever after. oops. wrong fairy tale.
And from then, it wasn't that much of any problems or anything. In retrospect and self-critique, I'll give myself a 7 out of 10 for pulling her out of her icebox, and if it were to be judged in romance and related, I would give myself a 4. Honest.

So I've been thinking and maybe we guys need some educating in dates and stuff and I've come up with three Rs to help us. No, not the reduce reuse recycle kind of 3Rs but more of Research, Reflect and Refine.

Research on the eatery places and her favourite choices of food and what tickles her or not and ai yah. simply put, do your research before a date. Can le. Save face. lol.

Next comes reflect. Every date should be better than the previous one. and in order to achieve that, reflection is in order. No la, reflecting isn't just about standing in the mirror and then asking 'wo de tou fa luan bu luan'. It's of one-self, one's date-self, and previous dates.

Lastly, refine. Refine your ways, your methods, your thoughts, your pre-planned speech and every action to be done during the date. Refine.

Alright, there I leave you now. It was good. and remember your 3 Rs. Well, it would be 4 if you include the remember inside. Till next time, this is Randy, [hey, another R], tc and happy dating! :D

Today.

Today. 14/8/2006.

On This Day, the first book that was printed was published in 1457.

On This Day, France became the first country to introduce registration plates in 1893.

On This Day, Pakistan became independent of British rule in 1947.

On This Day, U.S. ended its bombing of Cambodia in 1973.

On This Day, Hans christian Oersted was born in 1777. He was a Danish scientist who discovered electromagnetism.

On This Day, in 1945, Steve Martin, American Emmy Award-winning comedy writer, comedian, actor, author was born.

Every day some one dies and some one is born. It may be someone you know of, it may be not. It may be someone you might in the future, an employee of yours or perhaps even your boss, or it may be not.

Today, I thank God. For today. The fact that the people born today I may never meet, the people who died today I never knew, is a fact. The fact that keeps us going. That fills us with compassion and makes us humane.

We humans are a troublesome lot. We groan about our work, we moan about today, the troubles, the hurts, the pains, the sorrows and then we worry about tomorrow.

Relax. Why worry about tomorrow when you have enough on your plate.

I thank God today. For my friends. For new-found friends. For the outing I had with a female friend today. For showing me that despite the roughness in this world, where dark and morbid things lie in wait, there are people who are sensitive. Who are kind. Who are gentle. In fact, so gentle they appear to be coaxing the rice onto the spoon. Who does not live on a planet higher than those around her. I thank God for humility.

I thank God for friendship. and the fact that it never changes

From the moment we learn to speak, till the second we take our last breath of the air of this earth, friendship is there. To keep us alive, to hurt and wound us till our body is broken, to bring memories both bitter and sweet, to highlight the chracteristics of people both good and bad, to make us aware of who we are.

I've found an interesting friend. Have you?
I've thank God for her. Have You?

Memories

I slept to this song. The song on my blog. One I heard on numerous nights of long ago; at least a year. I remember then, I would turn on to NewsRadio 938 (now known as 938 live) before I slept, around elevenish. Every Wednesday night, there would be a program called Uncommon Sense, hosted by a certain Mel Gill. In the program, he gives advice to callers. It would be from 10pm to midnight and his opening song for his program would be this song "Nothing's gonna stop us now', that's on my blog. I believe he's a psychologist and trainer of sorts. I remember him giving advice ranging on all matters from education to relationships to marriages and its electrifying discharges.
Those were the nights.

I overheard an interesting conversation, or lack of it, today. I was in the bus on the way home from school and behind me sat a mother and her teenage daughter who was on the phone. She was chatting rather loudly and was hushed by her mother. Here was how it went:

Girl: You think I dont know that word ah. My friends were using it the F word in sec two lor. I heard it in kindergarten...

Mum: Oi. You're on the bus. Dont talk so loudly. You're not at home you know.

Girl: [seems to ignore her] Ai yah. If I can, I also want to be perfect lor...

Mum: Nobody can be perfect. Who you think you are. Nobody is perfect. Only Jesus is perfect.

Girl: [murmurs for awhile before silence. It appears her conversation with her friend is over]

Mum: You dont use the F word ah. It's not good.

Girl: I know la! You think I so stupid is it? My friends always use it, but I dont okay.

And then they alighted from the bus.

Some points that can be inferred:
1) Generation gaps will always exist.
2) The family's a Christian family.
3) Parents need to learn how to grow along with their teenage children.

Let's review that conversation together, shall we?

First of all, the mother interrupted the conversation. Hey, I know we teenagers are famed for our multi-tasking skills but show a little respect wont ya. Let us end our conversation before you speak to us. Cause we know you'll blame us after that for being rude and not replying/acknowledging your questions/naggings/comments.

Secondly, note that the mother seem to refute every thing her daughter said, from the F word to perfection. Sure, she's young, just a teenager. you, on the other hand, were a teenager (I just cant resist saying this) nong nong ago, and living and growing up in a completely different environment as us. Oh mama, grow up wont ya.

Thirdly, the conversation between the daughter and her friend was over. And you come and drag the past back again?? The mother referred back to the F word part that she heard. Hey, give the kid a break man. Nobody likes to be reminded of what we said ya know.

Now, I know this post is like so bias towards teenagers but you know what, we teenagers need to make our voices heard. parents need to realize that the authoritarian methods they're using on us are no longer effective. They need to realise that their kids are kids no more but teenagers.

Yea, it is kindof easy to say "oh, it's just a phase, it'll pass over' or "it's just teenager angst" but everything we do or say, has a meaning, a hidden agenda behind it. And if you can examine or seek or discover it, you just might be the one that people'll ask "how do you and your teenage children get along so well? I'm so envious!" or "how do you all remain so close? My dear old boy left me a nong nong time ago". [couldn't resist it again :)]

It's time for parents of teenagers to acknowledge their faults. Stop pushing blame onto other things. Dont use handphones or instant messaging clients or going out with friends as a scapegoat for the distant communication between us teenagers and you parents.

This post is kindof one-sided ain't it. Well, here's the other-sided passages.

It is real good that parents have tried to bridge the [generation] gap. You've barely caressed technology, learning computers and IT-related stuff, and SMS lingo but sometimes you try too hard yea?

Now, of course nobody is perfect, like the daughter said, like the mother said, like everybody says and it's true. There can never be a perfect relationship. There can, however, be a loving relationship.

Do you, parent of a teenage child, promise to take care of your teen, to love despite troubled communications, to step back and give him/her some personal space, to provide financial aid as and when he/she needs it, to acknowledge that there are some things he/she can do better than you, to allow him/her the freedom to make his/her own choices without you shadowing his/her every move, to honor and entrust responsiblity worthy of an adult, to respect as with regards to important decisions, time management and life skills, to cherish and forgive our daily and numerous shortcomings, to let us walk on our own feet and not cage us up, to heal and comfort in times of sickness, whether physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually, and not reproach, in times of health, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, and not condemn, to love till death and beyond, till the end of time?

Do you, O teenage one, promise to love and care for your parent, regardless of age, gender, time spent together, emotional attachment, and relationship breakdowns, to buy that favourite hainanese chicken rice or changi village nasi lemak, when your parent requests you to, to take up the challenge to do the housework as and when the need arises, to try your utmost best to maintain the communication chain between you and your parent, regardless of love, time or space, to honor and cherish every of their word as if it were their last words, despite how healthy they glow physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally, to treat them with patience when it comes to sharing with them the gift of technology, to honor and respect, their decisions, their wisdom, their knowledge, their frequent walks down memory lanes, to control when they seem to be getting on your nerves and they display such insensitivity towards your feelings, to love and forgive till death and beyond, till the end of time?

DO YOU?

Oh, and the mother and her daughter? They happened to alight at the same stop at me. The girl was barely fourteen, the mother barely fourty.

Me.

So well, I'm gonna talk about me. Well, more of my idealogy.
See, I've been thinking about the girls i liked or rather, girls I had a crush on and somehow quite a significant amount of them start with J.
See firstly, there's my relationship with God. His Son is called Jesus Christ. His name starts with J.
Then, from chronological order, there's my Pri 5 crush called Juliana. Then there was Jacq in Sec 2 to 3. After that, there was Joanna, my ex. And then, now, there's this girl that has gotten my fancy who has a J in her name too.
After course I'm not exactly saying I'm superstituous or something akin to that effect but well, such common occurences do raise an evebrow or two.
Perhaps it's just my fascination with such divine coincidences if I may. [shrugs] I believe everything that happens in my life happens for a purpose even a period long ago where 80% of the time where I looked at the clock or my watch to check the time, it would be the thirtieth-seven minute of the hour. Talk about cool or what.
Back to my gist, it seems that the J-girls are quite impactful on my life. Note that this doesnt necessarily mean that all females starting with J are making/breaking my heart nor does this mean I dont have non-names-with-J crushes. Cause it's kindof bizarre if one selects 'targets' based on name or a certain letter of the alphabet.
And so as I laid on my bed, I was thinking of my life partner. Spouse, wife, darling, lover, whichever you want k.
So I'm thinking cause quite a few of my loves are like J-s so wouldnt my wife be J too?
But then it strikes me that one of my very-strong love's name started with R. So I ask myself do I really love her or is she very like me then it's like loving myself or perhaps I am just showering love on someone who understands me well enough that I feel understood and the love is a reward. After all, at that point, I felt she was the One. But then, maybe I just never met anyone like her to think that way.
But does that mean I love people who are very similar to me? Not really because there are people who are so similar to me that I snub them, indirectly snubbing myself.
Thought i met the wrong, maybe i was wrong. Then again, if she's the one, we'll be together next time. J? R?

i went shopping!

I went shopping!! For myself. lol.
Was quite bored after school today so I went shopping. Bought kimchi instant cup noodle and root beer in case of crisis. (you never know what might hit you) bought my face wash (changing from biore to gatsby) bought batteries (can you believe i'm still using a discman) bought my toiletries man. it's like pamper myself day. lol
anyway, i went compare prices between guardian and watson and ntuc and suddenly i kindof miss working in ntuc.
well, technically it's call fairprice and not much of ntuc cause ntuc is national trade union congress whereas fairprice is a supermarket and technically their price aint exactly fair but oh wells.
I miss the camaderie formed there. The intimate knowledge of a store that is frequented by people of all ages, shapes and sizes. I miss stocking goods and playing the how-many-boxes-can-you-squeeze-on-top game. Of course I dont miss the split milk cartons. the awful smell. bleah.
But i miss the spirit there you know. Though the pay is little and stuff but the staff working there are like spirited and cheerful and all. infectious enthusiasm.
memories will be memories.