Thank you for your wonderful letter. It got stuck in my chicken’s intestines, but I got Mum to fish it out of his throat so it’s all good. Other than a greenish tinge to it, your letter has made its way to Stone and into my paws safely.
I still find it ridiculous that you found my address in the latest issue of the National Geographic magazine! For some reason, one of your kind probably floated into outer space and brought along an issue with him for reference because what I found was this:
My chicken was about to digest it but luckily I rescued it. Out of curiosity I flipped through it and it was pretty interesting, although there really isn’t anyone on Mars. Believe me. It’s like the most boring place ever. Anyway, I submitted my address to the magazine because I thought it would be amazing if one of you actually wrote a letter to me, and you did! Asdfghjkl, Hairy! (That’s ‘awesome’ in our native dialect, in case you didn’t know.)
To answer your very first question in your letter, yes I am indeed a real, genuine alien. Prove it?
First off, I live on a planet called Stone. It’s very difficult to pinpoint the exact location of Stone (we have a very paranoid King, you see) so let’s just say it’s a very tiny and obscure planet in between Saturn and Uranus, and takes the shape of a stone. Stone, stone. Get it?
My family and I live in a small hut near the edge of the planet. It’s a dangerous place to live, since any of us can fall off at any moment, but the scenery is worth it, besides the illegal bungee jumps my chicken and I love to try whenever my parents aren’t at home. So far, I have chicken #492 with me now. Let’s hope this one doesn’t fall off so easily like the other 491 chickens did.
I go to school every morning, and one of the reason Stone still survives is because of our “awesome” school system, or so people say. I go to Spanking School, one of the elite schools on the planet, and I don’t find anything awesome about our schools, or it’s probably just my school. I blame my teacher for my hatred for school:
I don’t know about anyone else, but he is always just…barking mad. Nutty. Squirrel-fied.
I also don’t have any friends…except for my chicken. I don’t know, I guess other Stoners just don’t like me.
But Chicken #492 has proved to be a very faithful companion so far.
We don’t eat much here, since almost everything is edible, food just sickens us. I mean, Chicken is edible! But he probably tastes horrible. Our hut is edible as well. You can dig up the soil here and eat it raw, it isn’t exactly an A+ dish, but it sure fills your stomach and is better than nothing. However, one of our famous Stoner specialties is definitely this:
Do you guys have this back at your planet? If you don’t, you guys are really missing out on A LOT.
The meat in itself is fantastic, add in some light bulbs and it is just pure bliss. Have you ever tasted light? Because if you have, everything else naturally tastes dull and bland. It’s like consuming energy in itself, and for me, it isn’t the “awesome” school system that keeps Stone running as it is, it’s this light energy fuel we run on on a daily basis.
So, Hairy, do I sound alien enough to you?
I could talk more about how wonderful Stone is, but then this letter would stretch on for too long and I’m not sure whether homo sapiens like you would enjoy stuffs that demand your attention for too long.
Before I sign off with a pretty photo of myself, I just remembered of an incident that happened just last week that involved a creature of your species. The Chief Stoner found a homo sapien wandering in his backyard and captured it! We’re not sure what he did with it, but there were photos circulating the Interstone (similar to what you people call the ‘Internet’…what a weird name, indeed) and I thought maybe you were interested to know of this incident. This is one of the photos I managed to find on the ‘Stone’:
…yeah, apparently people are saying that it ran off by itself (since the Chief forgot to tie its limbs…silly stoned Chief) and many believe that it’s probably jumped off the planet and is currently floating in midspace. I don’t know if you know who it is…but if you do, my condolences. Perhaps it would make you feel better to know that its last words were “I WANT PIZZA!” Hence, I am pretty sure it left this universe a happy, contented being.
Wow, putting my life into this letter sure sounds boring, doesn’t it? I would love to hear from YOU, what is Earth like and what you homo sapiens do with your lives etc etc. And now, Chicken is starting to get hungry and I must not let him have the last serving of bulbcon!
Lkjhgfdsa, Hairy! (That’s ‘goodbye’ in our native dialect, in case you didn’t know.)
Now playing: The Flight of Apollo- Angels & Airwaves
The mixed and confused feelings I had last August are back again. Probably worse than before. Being in the way of everything I do. Turning my mind into a giant ball of delirium and confusion. Making me feel ecstatic one second and absolutely devastated the next.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the obligatory Mighty Minds blogpost of the year brought to you by none other than yours sincerely.
And so it comes the time when I am roped in for this mentally-torturing yet incredibly thrilling challenge again, and I even had my previous team members from last year with me again: Ome and Razan. Upper secondary Asma Team 2 consisted of Aifa, Eel and Eah whereas Lye May, Intan Sophia and Lina Hosni were in the lower secondary Asma Team. I was the last one to arrive at Alor Setar Mall as opposed to the last two years.
So basically what we did was wander around the mall because we had to wait an hour more after the lower secondary MCQ round is over to register. A huge blow was delivered to my gut as I realised that a) I’ve already surpassed the Teenage (Level 1) stage which also means b) I am currently on Teenage (Level 2) which brings me to c) worse, nerve-wrecking, mind-twisting questions for the first MCQ round. Soon, it was already our turn and we entered the slaughter, I mean, challenge arena with palpitating hearts ready to jump out of our ribcage.
As soon as the first question appeared on the screen, we knew we were dead and gone. It had something to do with meiosis which has something to do with Biology Form 4 Chapter 5 apparently which we haven’t learned in class yet. And since there weren’t any Form 5 seniors with us in our team, we “hentam-ed” the first question…and got it wrong. No matter, it’s just the first question. More to come. Optimism optimism optimism! The second question appeared and once again our hearts dropped when we were asked for the normal of a circle. It’s probably something in the syllabus we have yet to learn or probably not, but either way we took another guess…and got it wrong again.
The next few questions were really tough and out of the 20 questions, we only really, truly, genuinely answered 6 or 7 questions, and the remaining were just guesses, tosses of the coin, and miraculously enough, we got about 4 or 5 questions correct out of lucky guesses. This time, despite the fact that we were dubious with some of our answers, we still keyed in our answer before the 10-second countdown, after the incident last year when we very, very nearly did not make it to the Top 15 because we were too slow.
After the 20th question, we were prepared to pack our stuff and go home, having little faith in ourselves and no expectations at all, but surprisingly we bagged the 12th place in the scoreboard! Celebration! Fireworks! We were in the Top 15! Caleb “Calebous” Lee and his team made the Top 15 as well, bagging the fifth spot (right?). Unfortunately, Aifa’s group didn’t make it. Right after the marks were announced, we were whipped to one side of the stage, given a briefing on Round 2: the hands-on challenge, and set to work at our respective tables immediately.
This time, we expected nothing but literal slaughter for our hands-on challenge. And ding ding ding ding! We were right.
We had to construct a shoe closet that can hold a large amount of shoes but occupy little space, complete with a manually-operated conveyor.
As usual, we were given a bag of materials (this is starting to remind me of the Barney Bag):
We completed out model with 5 minutes remaining which we spent by clearing our table very slowly, so you can more or less guess how “well” our model turned out.
We didn’t wait long for the results. I wasn’t wholly surprised when one of the judges said all of our models this year were disappointing, because that’s what I thought as well. For upper secondary, some of the teams that got into the Top 5 were SMJK Keat Hwa, SMJK Keat Hwa II, SM Sains Sultan Mohamad Jiwa and I couldn’t remember the rest. Sorry. Sasha turned up as well and we had lunch at KFC before she dropped me home.
I guess I should thank the peeps from Mighty Minds for mentioning that you guys “found someone from Kedah blogging about Mighty Minds”. So, here’s to hoping that you guys notice this blogpost again?
One last year next year!
Related links (to make this sound like a professional blog):
I joined the 9th National English Debate Competition Tan Sri Datuk Paduka Dr Hajjah Saleha Debate Cup 2011 held at HELP University College on the 23rd and 24th of April. Despite the friendly debate with SMK Jitra prior to the competition, it was my first “real” debate experience because, well, the friendly debate was too “friendly” to even be considered a legit debate, as those who were present as well would understand. Our debate team consisted of Aifa, Alia and I, chaperoned by Teacher Bedah and her 20-year-old daughter (please please please forgive me for not remembering her name).
On the 21st, my parents drove me to KL because they also wanted to visit Xiao Ku in the hospital anyway. I haven’t really explained anywhere on my blog what had happened to my aunt. Okay, well she got a serious stroke during work one day and was rushed to Damansara Specialist Hospital immediately, where she collapsed as soon as she reached the place. It was horrible and the largest damage was impacted on her brain. Just the last Thursday (21st April) we visited her after she was discharged into a normal ward from the ICU. She was, well, different, but doing really, really good for a stroke patient and I am so thankful towards God for that. I don’t think I would be considered a religious person but in cases like these we really do see these miracles performed by God and how true His grace is.
The next day, Dad sent me to Hotel Peninsula at Jalan Semantan where most of the debaters from foreign states stay at during the competition. It was around 8pm when I reached there, and we started research and discussion for our first motion immediately. Thus that proved to be the first neverending, hysterical and mind-torturing night of our debate trip. What else do you expect from three superhyper teenagers with extremely short attention spans? I outline the two nights we spent more than four hours in the hotel lobby (where there was Wifi) like this:
Stage One: “Okay, let us start. What’s our caseline for this motion?”
Stage Two: “I’m just going to go on Facebook for a while…”
Stage Three: “I’m hungry.” *fishes packets of cookies from backpack*
Interlude: “Guys, come on, we really need to start on the motion.”
Stage Four: “We need to think of a nickname for him…” “Anne Sullivan?”
Stage Five: *abuses Talking Tom the cat on my iPhone*
Stage Six: “I’m so tired oh my god I’m so tired of debate I’m so tired of doing this I just want to sleep.”
Stage Eight: “…what is our caseline for this motion?”
Stage Nine: “We need help!” *giggles* “We need help! Help University…GET IT?”
Especially during the first night, we had no idea what was in store for us and we were pretty much freaking out over everything.
And because I am such a responsible tweeter, let me just show you some proof (one of the lessons learned from the mechanism of debating) of these restless nights:
I woke up feeling so cold and nerves were just attacking every part of my body. We cleaned up, got dressed, and boarded the prepared shuttle bus to HELP University which wasn’t too far from our hotel. When we reached the university, we went through the registration procedure etc etc and then as we found somewhere to sit and wait for the start of our first debate, which was scheduled to begin at 8.30am, I just couldn’t stop shaking and it was only natural that I started to feel nauseated and had a horrible stomachache at the same time.
The debate crowd at HELP UC
First round (Government)
Vs SMK Seksyen 19
Motion: THBT Malaysia should subsidize education of all children irrespective of what form of school (public or private) they go to.
It was the first debate and what do you expect other than a lot of flailing about and complaints of nerve wrecks? However, we soon found out the debaters from SMK Seksyen 19 were friendly and awesome and we made our first friends from this competition: Claudine, Katherine & Aisyah.
It was held in a conference hall, and we actually had to use microphones. Well, doesn’t this just add on to my train of nerve wrecks? I took the advice Teacher KKL particularly gave me during the friendly with SMK Jitra, which is to not read off my script, and I thought I did okay for a first round. However, the win was given to the opposition because us both teams were debating on two very different caselines and they seemed much more convincing so the adjudicator gave the win to them.
I wasn’t expecting any win at all for all 4 motions during this competition, so I wasn’t bothered that much. What’s a lost match compared to three new friends?
Alia, me, Katherine, Aifa, Claudine & Aisyah
After that, we had a 3-hour period to prepare for our second round. The total of six hours for both days was the most horrible period of time during this competition. Two hours of preparing for both sides for the motion, and the last hour to finalise your preparation after the lots are drawn. We got government for the second round, which was such a huge relief, and we also found out we would be debating against SMK TTDI.
Second round (Government)
SMK TTDI Jaya
Motion: THBT developing countries should introduce minimum wage legislation.
I wasn’t as prepared for this round than the first, but nevertheless I felt quite confident.
It was a mistake though, because the horror happened as I delivered my speech as the first speaker. Towards the end of my speech, I realised the bell hadn’t been rung yet, and I was starting to worry. It couldn’t be, the length of my script was exactly the same as the mine in the first round, and I talked way past the seventh minute in the first round. However, there was nothing I could do but end my speech, take my seat, and solemnly hope the timekeeper had forgotten to ring the bell or that I was quite close to the seventh minute.
To my absolute horror, the timekeeper announced that I had only spoken for five minutes.
My bubble of thoughts right then was “HOW COULD I HAVE SPOKEN FOR ONLY FIVE MINUTES YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME YOUR STOPWATCH IS FAULTY WAIT WHAT HOW COULD I HAVE SPOKEN FOR ONLY FIVE MINUTES”
Later on, as I compared my first and second script, it was indeed way shorter than the first script.
I was starting to get worried. Because of me, our team might just lose this round. But then the first speaker of the opposition spoke for approximately five minutes as well so that calmed my nausea a little.
In the end, we won the round! And Aifa was awarded Best Speaker for this round. We won mainly because the opposition’s points were pretty nonsensical and vague, so we were actually really lucky this time.
The debates ended for the day and we went back to the hotel feeling pretty accomplished to have won at the very least a round. And, as you might have already predicted, the night mirrored that of the first night and carried on until 2am, an hour later than the first night.
24th April
I woke up feeling pretty emotionless. Maybe it’s because too much irrational thinking the night before has led to the exhaustion of emotions…I don’t know. I didn’t feel optimistic or pessimistic for the third round, in which we were opposition against SMJK Sin Min. Silly me actually thought it was the Sin Min school from Alor Setar but it was actually the one from SP, the one Ming Qiu went to.
Third round (Opposition)
Vs SMJK Sin Min
Motion: THW ban use of unmanned vehicles in conflicts/wars.
My lack of emotion turned into mild confidence as I entered the debate room, for reasons I still cannot be sure of. My confidence rose a few notches as I heard the first speaker speak.
I thought I did my best in this round compared to the other rounds. My confidence was at its peak and despite the stutters, I felt like this was the “engaged debating mode” people speak about.
We also won this round and I was even awarded Best Speaker for the round! Such a shocker, I know. (My parents still snort whenever I tell them this. They think I’m bluffing.)
As with all the other rounds, after this round, we shook hands and congratulated the opposing side for a good debate well done. Such great debating spirit, woot!
The next three hours, as predicted, were chaos with last minute cramming, phone calls to Teacher KKL and Aunty Amelia and furious scribbling of our scripts. After we drew lots, I got the worst shock when I found who we were going up against as opposition.
“Em. See. Kay. Kay?”
MCKK. Malay College of Kuala Kangsar.
My hope for another round of “engaged debating mode” was then long gone even before I made it to the debate room.
Fourth round (Opposition)
Vs MCKK
Motion: THW ban setting up any new nuclear energy plant.
And now before you ask how the debate went, let’s just say our team was bluffing throughout the whole round and we, as Alia had actually predicted on the first day, “lost with shame and indignity”. I was just rushing through my script, reading my script without knowing what I was really talking about. I was terrified and nervous and intimidated and now so embarrassed and guilty and everything lame. It was a shame we had to go home with such embarrassment. We had hopes of going all out for the last motion so we can go home with a sense of pride but preparing our points three hours before a debate isn’t going to help us achieve that, obviously.
But still, considering I hadn’t expected even a single win in this competition, two out of four wins sounds too good to be true for me. At least we can now tell people that we won half of the number of rounds in the competition!
With the debaters from MCKKExactly 52 playcards used by three of us.
This competition has honestly helped me tremendously, to realise my weaknesses and faults, what debating is really and actually like, and infuse the “debate spirit” within myself so that I actually found the courage and confidence to speak out and really, you know, debate. Besides making new friends (like Claudine, Katherine and Aisyah), I also met old friends (like Jeremy from NSCFL Camp two years ago). Despite the mental exhaustion it has inflicted upon us (two debate rounds in a day! Sleeping for four hours at night!), it was truly an amazing and thrilling experience, and I can honestly say I have love for debating.
I would like to thank Aifa and Alia for being such great debaters for our team, Cikgu Bedah for putting up with us and waiting for us and arranging everything for us, Teacher KKL and Aunty Amelia for offering tips in desperate moments, and to everyone else who helped and offered support etc. I will now accept my virtual Debater: Beginner’s Level plague and walk away now.
EDIT (27/4): LOOK THE RESULTS ARE OUT !!!
WE RANK NUMBER FORTY FOUR! AIFA EXPECTED 60+ AND I EXPECTED 90+ BUT WE GOT FORTY FOUR! CEEEEEEELEBRAAAAAATE GOOD TIMES COME ON!
Today started off with a diary entry early in the morning that goes like this:
“Why? Why do you feel the need to hurl your brain out of the window at 8 o’clock in the morning? What horrible thing has happened? Please enlighten me.”
It could be an incredibly amazing thing (or dream, to be more precise) or a terribly horrible one. Incredibly amazing from a self-absorbed, conceited angle; terribly horrible from a realistic angle. Let’s just say that it is a great dream nonetheless because I am conceited and despite the fact that my dream will have zero chance of ever coming true, it truly is a great dream which I will not tell all of you here because it is extremely personal and I have only jotted it down in my diary.
Right, so my morning got chaotic just because of that one dream and a couple of tweets. Then, off to Penang I go to change my braces.
Before I continue, might I also add that I added the sentence “THE DAY OF PREMONITIONS!!!!!!!!!!” in the entry above before signing off and boy, how right am I. (See, that is already a premonition in itself.) Well, okay, maybe not exactly premonitions in its contextual definition, but it was a sort of positive version of “freaky Friday” day without “soul-changes” etc.
I really should just stop trying so hard to explain my day and just say it as it is, shouldn’t I?
Well I had Katy Perry on the radio all the way to Penang, green lights all the way to the orthodontics, an empty waiting room (as opposed to a usually crowded room), Pixie Lott all the way home, absolutely great time during the 3-hour choral practice session at school, and basically just how strong the dream affected me the whole day (it all points back to the dream, my brain really needs a brain therapist to differentiate reality from dreams). The only down side was the orthodontist took off the wires around the upper and lower molars and left a sort of “box” for both the upper and lower jaws and now the wire-less metal stubs are cutting my lips every time I speak and that is dreadful because the whole of next week and the week after that are “talk-non-stop” weeks where there is choral speaking and debates and debates again.
Can I just throw my schedule at you so you can sympathise with me:
17th April- Friendly debate with SMK Jitra
18th April- District level choral speaking competition
22nd-29th April (dates depending on whether we make it to the octo-finals & finals)- Debate at HELP University
9th May- Hari Anugerah Cemerlang
11th May- Exam starts
Somewhere in June- Violin Grade 6 Exam
19th-27th June- MCKK Youth Summit
<This is a sentence filled with whines and complaints.>
Oh, and Princess also gave birth to 6 puppies today:
As to why I got pink & black…I just wanted striking colours. That is the only reason I can come up with right now.
My hands are starting to ache, so this must be a sign that it is time for me to go (I’ve been away from the laptop for so long it’s almost unhealthy, even my typing skills are deteriorating).
This morning, I did the mistake of randomly clicking a past blogpost dated in 2009 titled ‘100 Truths’. The chaos that ensued was terrifying, but fortunately only witnessed by myself and no one else when I screamed and sobbed to no end alone in my room. 14-year-old Michelle was…ghastly. Take a look at it yourself. Back during the days when every sentence ended with a ‘=)’ or ‘xD’ or ‘=.=’ and words were spelled like ‘thx’ or ‘4’ or ‘teh’ or ‘sux’. If you follow me on Twitter, you would know the huge fit I had over that particular blogpost. And that’s not to mention the hundreds other posts I made during that time. (Okay, maybe not hundreds but these cases deserve their hyperboles.)
I cannot remember being like that, being fourteen. I cannot see myself writing things like that on the cyber web merely two years ago. That person is the perfect example of people I facepalm over. That. Cannot. Be. Me.
Remember one of my Open Topic posts where I wrote how I wished to turn back time and return to the past? I take that back.
On another note, a thankfully less humiliating one, my assignment got published in the latest issue of Stuff@School! I didn’t really expect it to be published because I wrote it during the eleventh hour in a rush, but the world is unpredictable, huh? This is also a true story, by the way. Perhaps not fully accurate, but a bird really did poop on Shun Jun’s shirt in class, and that memory popped up immediately after I got the prompt for my assignment which was ‘Funniest Misadventure In Class’. People who got mentioned in this article: Shun Jun, Chun Tat and Chia Shin. I couldn’t mention everyone, as much as I want to (because seeing your name in print is genuinely, really exciting) because then it would seem redundant, but consider this a tribute to my classmates of 6M of year 2007. Thank you people for giving me wonderful memories alike this to cherish forever.
“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”
-Albus Dumbledore
I don’t think I will ever fully comprehend how my mind works. Complicated doesn’t even begin to describe the baffling organ that is the brain. Have you ever recalled something from the depths of your mind, then have to actually take a minute or two to figure out if it really happened or it was just a dream? My dreams and reality are so hard to differentiate right now, and it actually, genuinely frightens me how strongly my dreams affect me when I wake up and walk through my daily life. I imagine it to be like this: when I’m asleep, my subconscious stretches out a menacing claw out of its right side and starts to dig up past memories and feelings, while its left side is a paintbrush, smearing figments of dreams that are so closely related to reality that my conscious being always fails to recognise reality from dreams and vice versa.
By now, I have no idea what I’m writing about. It’s 12:36AM and lately I’ve been running on a tight-knit schedule that I grab every chance of slumber I can at night; but since it’s the weekend tomorrow, I’ve allowed myself to stay up to roam the cyberworld which I have ignored for the past few days. Needless to say, my body is incredibly grumpy about this decision and it is now grumbling at me, telling me to hurry up and finish this post so it can get some rest on the scheduled time which is not later than midnight.
I still have no idea what I’m writing about. Right, good night Earthlings.
I’m sorry everyone, for being gone for so long. I don’t think I really have been gone that long, since my last post was dated late March, but it certainly felt like ages to me.
The reason(s) I’ve been away:
There was an inter-school English debate in late March.
Catching up with missed classes and schoolwork.
Xiao Ku got admitted into the ICU and we went to KL for 3 days.
Catching up with even more missed classes and schoolwork.
Kawad practice starts. (For district competition in early May.)
Choral speaking practice starts. (For district competition on 18th April.)
Orchestra practice starts. (For Hari Anugerah Cemerlang in early May/late April.)
Quit kawad for orchestra practice.
Stuff@School assignments.
Stuff@School subscription issues.
Homework.
Violin practices. (For exam in June.)
Homework.
Tuitions.
Homework.
And now, just today, Teacher KKL dropped a bomb on me that we’ll be having a friendly debate with SMK Jitra next Thursday and this time, I’m going to be speaking, really debating instead of enjoying the comps as only a researcher in the previous inter-school debate. The bomb was so abrupt I cried on the spot. I blame my tear glands for being so impulsive, but I was taken by such surprise, I didn’t see it coming at all. Maybe I did, but only in a year’s time so I had nothing to worry about…yet. But now this happens and I am left flailing helplessly, absolutely frightened because a) I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DEBATE and b) it’s like being haunted by a nightmare.
“What the? What do you mean by your clichéd teenager statement in b)?”
Two nights ago, (I swear to God this really happened, I’m not fabricating a lie to make my dilemma even more exaggerated.) I had a horrible dream. I was a speaker for my school team in a debate…against Kolej. (Can you actually believe the things my subconscious subconsciously feeds me in my sleep? And it also had to be that person.) For some inexplicable reason, I was the only speaker for my team, and vice versa for the opponent, which means only two people are debating in a round. Somehow, my snobby, arrogant alter ego was the main star of my dream, and being the ultimate snobby, arrogant alter ego of myself, I thought to myself, what’s there to prepare? So I didn’t, and decided on speaking spontaneously instead because people fare better spontaneously, right? I was actually brimming with confidence until the moment I stood up and had the mic in front of my mouth. No words came out at all. I was literally paralysed with fear. I could feel everyone’s stare on me and I started to panic but I still couldn’t speak at all because what am I going to speak about? I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be speaking about!
I woke up feeling so humiliated and afraid but I realised my dream won’t happen, at least not for another year.
And thus this is the moment I point my finger at my naive self and scoff at my foolishness or should I say, brilliance because I could be potentially prophetic!
Well if this is the truth and I get prophecies alike this every week, then there won’t even be a speck of ash left over from my incapacitated body when they are through with me. (Maybe ‘cremated’ would be a more suitable word…or maybe not.)
In addition to all of this, I have gained so much weight lately that I’m starting to disgust myself. Most people find themselves losing weight rushing around from all the busyness but because I am such an odd specimen, the more problems headed my way, the more I have my own ‘Intimate Binging Hour’ to take my mind off everything to focus on the food in front of me. It’s not exactly healthy but it’s proven to be effective.
Let’s see if I can survive this horrendous fourth month of the year.
Hatred is a strong emotion. Once it takes dominance over your life you start to hate everyone and everything relentlessly, but mostly you hate yourself, every single cell that makes up who you are as a human being, more than anything else in the world because you have honestly never met or seen anyone so worthless and pathetic and you know right away that the world will be a much better place without her. Removing a weed from a field of crops, eradicating a parasite from society, that is what everyone wants for the people of this planet, isn’t it? The world will be better off without me.
The dream I had last night was beyond horrible. I dreamed that I was part of a volunteer team and managed to get into Libya to help out, together with my parents. I remember feeling so happy with myself, because I finally, actually got to do something to help the people in Libya.
You know how dreams are like, they usually get all weird in some places and don’t make sense at all. The same can be said for the next turn of events.
When I reached the country, there was this military person in a wheelchair and I was in charge of helping him, I think. So I collected the chairs he seemed to be collecting as well, and then watched him teach some kids a dance for an upcoming celebration in their village that I wasn’t aware of. I also found Devon helping out in the village as well.
This part of the village must be relatively peaceful, with people still hiding out in their houses.
The scene then fastfowarded to the village chief shouting in Libyan language to the villagers with an amplifier, calling them out for the celebration events he prepared, but nobody came out of their houses, because of the chaos the rest of the country was in. And then in the end, as a desperate attempt, he shouted something else, and the effect was immediate, kids started running about, carrying fireworks. I asked a villager what was it the chief had shouted and she said he shouted, “Gong xi fa cai”, (which means Happy Chinese New Year in Mandarin).
I will never understand how my mind functions because I honestly don’t see something like that happening right now in Libya.
The turning point of the dream happened when I walked around the village (celebrations were over) and actually got the chance to look, really look at everyone’s face, and they looked frightened. That’s when I realized how much danger we were in. How a bomb could land upon this village anytime, how mercenaries could be driving tanks towards this village right this second. Who knows what the insane madman was capable of doing? We could be dead in less than a second. That’s when I got scared, and contemplated asking my parents if we could go home now. But then that would just seem downright selfish, wouldn’t it? I came here to help, not to chicken out, and by coming here I should already realize the danger I was putting myself in, and being able to risk my life to help the people of Libya. But that still didn’t put an end to my fears, especially after hearing news that the village Helen was helping out at was attacked. I didn’t even dare check Twitter in case there was something bad headed our way and we were too late to escape.
I woke up, found myself safe and sound in my bedroom, and realized exactly how fortunate I was.
***
I recounted my dream to my dad in the car and he chuckled, adding that “Libya doesn’t need your help.” And I realised he was right. I and I myself alone cannot possibly be of any help to a country whose leader is killing his own people from within. Libya doesn’t need my help, Libya needs our help.
The first party everyone turns to in the event of a nationwide crisis is the United Nations. What are the UN doing? I know they are constantly expressing their concerns and threatening intervention if Gaddafi doesn’t cease assault, but what exactly are they doing? What is anyone doing? Do millions worth of oil fields really matter more than the lives of millions?
“Japan is suffering from natural disasters, and these people are fighting a war among themselves.” I literally facepalmed and wanted to punch myself in the face when I heard someone say that. Are you really going to blame these chaos on the people? Really? If you had a leader as crazy and insane as Muammar Gaddafi, would you have quietly followed under his reign? There are some things that shouldn’t be oppressed and concealed forever. There are rights to be claimed, a proper ruling set right, a country that should be rightfully led by its citizens, that would only be logical. There are also situations that cannot be compared in any way, the uprisings in Middle East and the Japan quake are examples of that.
The world is under siege right now, if everyone is still blinded by prejudices and bias, there is no hope left for a better turning. We are all human, and if you are still going to judge someone based on their race, religion and beliefs, you are nothing less of a bigot, a chauvinist. Are you really going to stand by and point fingers as a pandemonium unravels in front of your eyes just because you are of different colour, of different beliefs? The world is in danger right now, and we are the only hope she ever had, and has left.
You write your snide bullshit from a dark room because that’s what the angry do nowadays.
-Erica Albright
All I ever do is write, write and write and whilst I have many opinions, when it comes to the moment when I have a chance to voice out, I keep quiet because I am just so afraid and even if I do speak out, my words come out in stammers. It’s like what people say to me all the time, you’ll die in the outside world, and I don’t doubt them at all, because no one expects anything from a socially inept nuisance like me.
I had no idea what colours I should change for my braces so I picked the one fandom that reigned dominant in my head for a few months now: The Social Network fandom.
So now you know I chose blue and white because I am addicted to the movie about Facebook, and not Facebook itself.
Although, trust me, if I could choose the two shades of brown that make up Andrew Garfield’s hair, I would.
This trip was on a Monday, yesterday, because I couldn’t attend my Friday appointment due to a morning upset stomach. It was a fairly short trip, but a great one nonetheless. The doctor said I didn’t have to hook my bands all the way back to my upper molars anymore, only on both the upper and lower canine teeth.
Although, who am I kidding. The real joy of the day was my visit to Borders, because I found not only one, but two of the books I’ve been pining for for months.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich
I bought Never Let Me Go because the adapted film stars Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan, and I bought The Accidental Billionaires because…well, you know.
I am currently on page 70 of The Accidental Billionaires and so far it has done nothing but made me cry and laugh at the same time.
“The great irony is that Facebook succeeded by bringing people together- but its very success tore two best friends apart.”
“Eduardo grinned to himself; in a matter of a few short weeks, he and Mark had become close friends. Even though they lived in different houses and had different majors, Eduardo felt that they had a similar spirit- and he’d begun to notice an almost strange feeling that they were supposed to be friends, even before they were. In that short time, he’d grown to really like Mark, and had begun to think of him like a real brother, not just someone who shared a Jewish frat, and he was pretty sure Mark felt the same way about him.”
“Maybe feeding the chicken chicken was a mistake; how was he supposed to know what chickens ate? The thing hadn’t come with a manual. Eduardo had gone to a Jewish prep school in Miami.What the hell did Jews know about chickens,other than the fact that they made good soup?”
UGH, BEN MEZRICH, YOU ARE A GOD.
I have come to a conclusion that everyone involved in the making of The Social Network is a god, bamf, some kind of unearthly and ethereal creature that leaves glitter and sunshine in their footsteps. (Eg. David Fincher, Aaron Sorkin, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer, Rooney Mara, Joe Mazzello, The Chicken…you get my point.) And now I welcome Ben Mezrich to the club with open arms.
This is slowly and dangerously transforming into a TSN-rant post, so now I bid you all farewell for now as I return to my current sanctuary which lies behind the pages of The Accidental Billionaires.
8.9 Earthquake in Sendai, Japan; Tsunami ensues, also affecting nearby Asian regions.
Total death toll: more than 600 dead, 700 missing [source]
What is happening to the world right now?
Mother Earth is majorly pissed at us, that’s what. At the rate all these disasters are happening, I wouldn’t have been surprised if natural disasters start occurring once a month. Humans are getting more and more aggressive and self-seeking, not stopping or even hesitating in the slightest at every chance to reap the Earth of its resources that she cannot take it anymore; and now she’s fighting back. She’s fighting back and we’re suffering the consequences. It’s this huge, natural cycle that starts leading people to think about The End, as in the Apocalypse.
This is what I think: it may or may not be the apocalypse (I personally don’t believe in 2012, but my paranoia is giving me doubts) but at the rate things are going, the Earth certainly doesn’t need an apocalypse to rid itself of its inhabitants, and we certainly don’t need one to realise our faults in this! It’s like having Mother Earth flashing signs everywhere saying, “See? This is what you’ve made of me!” And us humans are guilty, oh so very guilty indeed. It is time to act, in a way where we must stop what we are doing, to put down all our axes and chainsaws and oil tanks and realise how each of our action is harming the Earth.
I feel helpless, because I am nothing, a speck of dust among the many other influential and all-around powerful politicians and leaders of our country, our world, and people are already pointing at my post, saying, “Shame no one gives a damn about what she thinks and what she writes because she is just a kid,” and yes, I can’t stop people from cutting down trees and I can’t stop factories from flowing their chemicals into the river but I promise, I will do everything I can to, for lack of a better and less-clichéd word, make the world a better and cleaner place, so why don’t you join me as well? Save energy when you can, protect the environment at all costs, these are the actions we can afford, but it’s better than nothing. It shouldn’t take all these disasters (or more) to realise our mistakes and actually do something, but there you go. We are humans, filthy hogging humans, and we need to stop being egotistical and ungrateful creatures. I am aware this is just falling on deaf ears but it’s 1.49AM and I am feeling passionate and vehement and this might or might not be the aftereffects of late night bingeing or just lack of sleep. Delirious or not, my intentions are true so you, yes, you reading this post, know that it is up to only us, us destroyers, to make a change for the better for the world we live in, so do your part and spread the word.
This is a video I found of an inspiring 12-year-old from Brazil who addressed delegates from all over the world in a United Nations assembly concerning the issues we face, fighting for her rights as a member of the younger generation. You should watch it, it’s people like this that make me still harbour hope for humanity.
Link of the day: world statistics updated in real time. This site never fails to blow my mind, it shows the neverending growth of our world socially and economically and makes me realise how fast our lives are speeding right in front of our eyes.
Lastly, my prayers to everyone who suffered in the Sendai earthquake and following tsunami. There is just…no words, to describe the horror our world is facing right now.
THIRTEEN. THIRTEEN, SIMON FULLER, THIRTEEN. REALLY? DID YOU REALLY JUST KICK ELEVEN PEOPLE OFF THE SHOW IN ONE NIGHT? I WONDER WHAT WAS GOING ON IN YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU INTRODUCED TO THE WHOLE OF AMERICA AND APPARENTLY THE WHOLE OF PLANET EARTH AS WELL THIS “NEW AMERICAN IDOL WAY” WITH THE ARRIVAL OF TWO NEW JUDGES. HONESTLY, HOW IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO KICK OFF HALF THE CONTESTANTS IN ONE NIGHT? WITH ONLY ONE PERFORMANCE NIGHT FOR THEM TO FLAUNT THEIR TALENT? THIS IS INJUSTICE. I N J U S T I C E. YOU MIGHT HAVE VERY WELL GOTTEN RID OF THIS YEAR’S AMERICAN IDOL WINNER. SUZANNE COLLINS WASN’T EVEN THAT MEAN I BET SHE DIDN’T KILL OF HALF OF HER TRIBUTES IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE GAMES. WHAT THE HELL? THE ONLY TWO CONTESTANTS I REALLY LOVE -RACHEL AND BRETT- ARE OUT AND IT’S YOUR FAULT, FULLER. I WOULD REALLY LOVE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS RUNNING THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN YOU THOUGHT OF THIS, BECAUSE I AM NEVER WATCHING ANOTHER EPISODE OF AMERICAN IDOL AGAIN.
This is a very, very late post about the previous episodes of American Idol and I apologise, but I just wanted to clear a few things here.
Firstly, you must really be wondering, what happened to Michelle’s obsession with American Idol? Why did she suddenly shut up about American Idol after strongly expressing her enthusiasm for the show in thesethree posts? Did she actually stop watching it altogether? Really? After those three posts?
It’s okay if you’re not wondering about that because I myself am wondering about that.
Yes, I still do watch American Idol every week, though I must say the main reasons why I didn’t constantly blog about it are, a) I lost interest in the show , b) I lost interest in the show because of the uninteresting judge panel, c) most of the time I get back from tuition and miss half of it anyway and can’t be arsed to write about it. I pretty much miss a lot during Hollywood week, and only started to really watch it “seriously” in the two-hour episode where the Top 24 are picked. Here is what I think about the Top 24 contestants:
Girls
Ashton Jones
Never heard of her until now, sad to say. I only know she’s from Nashville and I have this thing for singers from Nashville. (Most probably thanks to my obsession with Paramore.) I think she’s good. Just good, you know. Like, good-but-you-probably-won’t-stay long type of good.
Haley Reinhart
Never heard of her either. She has awesome hair though. Anyway…methinks she’ll be out soon as well.
Okay, that’s harsh, but some of these Top 24 people fail to leave an impactful impression. (I know right, I don’t know anything yet I still want to write a post about it, how shameless of me.)
Julie Zorrilla
Oh my God. Who on Earth is this, I honestly cannot remember her at all, I’m sorry.
But that is a really awesome surname.
Karen Rodriguez
I cannot remember who this is as well… God, Michelle, what were you doing when you were supposed to be watching the Top 24 episode?
Kendra Chantelle
AHA! This I remember! She sang Bluebird with another favourite of mine, Paul McDonald, also from Nashville. They make an incredible duo, but I am not a fan of her voice. I think people like Kendra are overrated in this show.
Lauren Alaina
I actually loved Lauren’s performance with Scotty and this other girl I don’t remember during Group week, when they sang Hello, Goodbye. She gave me an impression of a girl with a big voice. But then, holy Moses, she had to wear that horrendous pink (PINK!) barbie-esque dress that actually “floated in the air” together with pink (MORE PINK!) knee-high boots, and that’s not all because her outfit doesn’t just stop there no, she actually giggled throughout the whole sit-down with the judges and I’m sorry, but this turns me off really, really badly. I don’t like you, Lauren Alaina.
Lauren Turner
I know this name and I know this face but I cannot remember any of her performances hence this means she did not leave an impression so I will not attempt to exhaust my brain cells trying to recall who she really is.
Naima Adedapo
Naima I do know. Who can ever forget someone like her? (This is how you leave an impression, guys, appearance- and voice-wise.) I can’t say she is a favourite…yet, but she I definitely have an eye out for her.
Pia Toscano
I liked Pia immediately the first time I saw her. In a way, she reminds me of Paris Tassin (too bad Paris didn’t make it…what a sham), although mostly because of their appearances. They both have great voices, but in different ways. Pia’s is much stronger, and I think she has a chance at this.
Favourite #1.
Rachel Zevita
Definitely my favourite among the girls. She was an early favourite, remember, back in New Jersey? A petite girl with a huge and outstanding voice. I love her.
Favourite #2.
Tatynisa Wilson
I can’t recall who Tatynisa is. Sorry.
Thia Megia
Thia, Thia, Thia. Fifteen-year-old Thia. I don’t dislike you, and I think you are really talented for someone who is a year younger than me (low self-esteem right here), but I honestly don’t see what the judges see in you. In the judging room, if I were presented with you and Jessica Cunningham, I would’ve chosen Jessica. Honestly, I thought Jessica was going to make the cut. It must be a horrible, horrible feeling to try out seven times (this being the eighth) and still fail to make the cut. I don’t blame her for taking the piss on the judges, and on her birthday as well. I have nothing against young contestants, it’s great to have young contestants because everyone love young contestants but logically, young contestants never make it far. There’s a reason why they are called young. Now don’t start being mad at me, if I were to join American Idol, I wouldn’t expect myself to be chosen, because honestly, I know everyone else is older and more experienced than me, and why not wait a few years to gain aforementioned experiences before joining as someone more matured? Just my thoughts. Don’t diss me because I know Thia is a popular favourite.
Boys
Brett Loewenstern
I am honestly in love with Brett. (Already an early favourite as well.) I’m not just talking about his voice, because he is such a fantastic and kind and friendly person. I don’t care if you think he’s corny because I think he is sweet and you honestly cannot find many people like him in the world. When Colton Dixon, Jacee Badeaux and him went into the judging room together, his little question, “Can we hold hands?” just confirmed the fact that I will always be rooting for him. And when the judges finally announced the name of who would be in the Top 24, you would know, just by the look of his face, that fracture of a moment when his face turned from all smiles into one of complete astonishment; because he was ready to congratulate either one of his partners. In that short moment when all kinds of feelings rushed within me, I knew that Brett was one of a kind. He is just absolutely great, and he might not have the strongest voice among the rest, but he sure has the best personality.
Favourite #3.
Casey Abrams
I never really payed attention to him in the beginning, when they introduced him and all, because even my parents were saying how Simon would’ve frowned upon his nonchalance and goof-around ways, but when it came to his last performance with only his voice and his double bass, it totally blew me away. One of the strongest voice this season. Not really a favourite yet, but I’ll be keeping an eye on him.
Clint Jun Gamboa
Hmm…don’t remember him.
Jacob Lusk
I have deduced that Jacob Lusk is not a human being and functions on rainbows or some other kind of otherworldly substance because dang, this man has too much energy! I actually spent a good whole ten minutes cracking up when he jumped around the whole place after hearing he got into the Top 24. Not a bad voice, either, I’ll give him a favourite star for being the way he is.
Favourite #4.
James Durbin
Aha! I bet this guy is the one you’re all waiting for, huh? Well then, don’t kill me for saying this, but I honestly thought “meh” when I first watched his audition. As the weeks progress, people start comparing him to Adam Lambert and while I will not deny that I have done some comparison myself too, I don’t find him particularly outstanding or anything. I’m sorry, it’s just what I think okay? I don’t know yet. Maybe I’ll grow to like him, maybe I won’t, but it’s too early to tell yet, but for now, I am just putting him under the “meh” section.
Jovany Barreto
Eh. I can’t remember who you are.
(EDIT: Oh yeah you were the guy who took his shirt off…can’t remember anything else about you singing, though.)
Paul McDonald
I absolutely love Paul’s voice. It reminds me of the Gibbs brothers’ voices. You don’t find this kind of raspy voice anywhere, and unique voices are really what’s…”in”, you know, since most people’s voices are highly overrated nowadays.
Favourite #5.
Robbie Rosen
I remember this guy! Justin Long with Nick Santino’s nose! I will always remember him as that. Despite him being an early favourite…meh. I mean, I didn’t really pay attention to him, but I hear he is also a popular favourite (ahem Wahed) so I’ll be keeping an eye out for him as well, I guess.
Scotty McCreery
How can you not fall in love with Scotty’s baritone? How can you not? Because the first time I heard him sing…my mind was completely blown. I have no idea anyone could actually sing like that. And while many might not be a fan of his amazingly deep voice (eg. my mum) I am a loyal fan and I expect Scotty to get to great heights with his voice.
Favourite #6.
Stefano Langone
Am I the only one wondering what it is with mixed ethnicity and American Idol Season 10 this year? Because there are a great number of Latino, Puerto Rican, Filipino etc contestants this year.
I can only recall Stefano as one of the better contestants in the Top 24. And that my mum likes him.
Tim Halperin
Wow okay it’s finally the last 24th contestant and…WHOA HOLD UP. Who on Earth is Tim Halperin I have never seen you before on my TV.
…honest to God, I have never seen this guy before.
Early favourites that didn’t make the cut: Chris Medina, Colton Dixon
*Of course, you must know that people change hence opinions change so this is what I think right now but it might not be what I think a week or two weeks later, so don’t judge me too quickly. It’s just a TV show.
I had no idea what colours I should change for my braces so I picked the one fandom that reigned dominant in my head for a few months now: The Social Network fandom.
michelle teoh 