Vertigo

The flourish that nobody is talking about because they're too busy gaping at it.

Exams Over...

... Or almost, at least. There's just the MCQs left. But bleh.

Anyway, I'm beginning to get back to my art again. I'm re-familiarizing (is that a word?) myself with Photoshop again. I intend to get back into landscape art again. Whether I'll go back into space art is debatable, but I might, with the appropriate inspiration. I'll need to practice the techniques again necessary for starfield creation, nebula painting, planet texture collating and manipulating, and worst of all, LEARN PROPER COMPOSITION.

Not that I don't know that dead center isn't always the place to put a subject of focus. I know the Rule of Thirds and some other random stuff. Still, there's always more to learn.

Terragen can't put grass. Argh.

Nevermind, I'll find a way around. Vue looks promising. The ability to put in ecosystems is pretty cool.

Anyway, next.. Cards. :)

Sick of it by now, you guys? Maybe, but its my hobby. I'm sure you all have hobbies that you like, don't you?

Admittedly, it's become more than a hobby to me now. This hobby has transitioned from mere playing to a strict training regimen. I set aside time now to focus on improving my ability in this art of display and form. I do not know what I am trying to achieve with card manipulation a.k.a cardistry ( a term I'll probably use more often ) , but nevertheless I'm driven to improve myself, if only because its one of the most challenging tasks I've ever undertaken.

Now I'm going to focus on 2 cuts: Pandora and Jackson 5. The Jackson 5 as shown in the post below, is done by either Dan or Dave, no idea whom. I can do the whole thing now. Not as fast, or as smooth. I'm far more prone to dropping my cards as well. :)

Then again, I'm proud of my Pandora.

Hahaha.

Ciao.

The much-talked-about Jackson 5. Enjoy.

Angry German Kid and the Trilogy

Title says it all.

Trilogy / System

I finally received the Trilogy. FINALLY. W00t! It looks fantastic. I snapped a few photographs of it using my pathetic phone camera. My other camera is STILL being a bitch. Had an affair with some arse out there I presume. I tried to fix the pictures as well as I could with Photoshop, so bear with me and pretend these are studio quality. I will post up a better version of these shots.

ANYWAY. Ahem.




There we have it. Above. The super slick cover of the 3-DVD set. A glossy black DVD set that comes in a black jacket of the same material as seen in first picture. The silver Sharpie marker signature is that of none other than the Buck twins themselves. Below: Leno Cut by Bucks.













Flipping open the DVD set, this is instantly what hits my eyes. Dang, the Buck twins have a LOAD OF STYLE. That symmetry is sick!

The case further flips out into 4 panels, one panel holding a single booklet, the rest all holding the sleek WHITE discs.

Ahahaha. My dream come true.

But it didn't come cheap.

A Bloody Chain

I got one of these. Oh well. May as well do it.

Top 5 Birthday Presents You Wish For:
1) Happiness, i.e. skill as a flourisher, a concept artist, a high paying job)
2) Synonymous with (1) perhaps: friends
3) Title deeds and legal ownership of Apple, Microsoft and Adobe
4) 20 bricks of Jerry's Nuggets Casino Playing Cards (each cost over 500 dollars)
5) 20 dozen Tally Ho Playing Cards (why the fuck are they so expensive)

Answer The Following Questions:
1) The person who tagged you is?
Huimin, i.e. GOD.

2) Your relationship with him/her is?
Worshipper.

That's Czech for ordinary friend, you silly bastards.

3) Your 5 impressions of him/her?
Friendly, funny, witty, a little siao, and rather helpful.

4) The most memorable thing he/she had done for you?
Listened to me.

5) The most memorable words he/she had said to you?
"I'm GOD."

6) If he/she becomes your lover, you would?
Nuh-uh, not possible.

7) If he/she becomes your lover, things he/she will have to improve on is?
I said it's not fucking possible.

8) If he/she becomes your enemy, you will?
Not possible either, methinks.

9) If he/she becomes your enemy, the reason would be?
The reason would be that it's all in your head.

Remember, there is no spoon...

10) The most desired thing you want to do for him/her now is?
Say thank you.

11) Your overall impression of him/her is?
Bloody popular.

12) How do you think people around you will feel about you?
Eccentric bastard.

13) The characteristic you love of yourself is?
Self-proclaimed bastard.

14) The most ideal person you want to be is?
Me.

Ideally I wouldn't want to undergo a skin transplant just to be someone else, thank you.

15) For people that care and like you, say something to them.
There's probably only a few of these people, but I can only say thank you for noticing my existence.

I'll finish the rest of the crap later.

Edit: Huimin REALLY is waiting for the rest of the crap. Oh well, I shall oblige.

Ahahaha I'm posting the rest more of because I want to do the questions, not because I want to know how they feel about me. They probably don't know of the existence of this blog anyway. Some have received the quiz already anyway.

With the exception of a few. The few on my Links list. And a few others. :)

Don't worry, none of them are the Larger-than-life's.

16) Pass this quiz to 10 people you wish to know how they feel about you.
1) Peiyang
2) Huimin
3) Yixian
4) Natalie
5) Huilin
6) Sophia
7) Jane
8) Yishun
9) Weini
10) Jasmine

Who is No. 6 [Sophia] having a relationship with?
Ahahahahahaha what an irony!

Is No. 9 [Weini] a male or a female?
Pretty much a female. Exhibits characteristics that are symptoms of having testosterone in the bloodstream nevertheless.

If No. 7 [Jane] and No. 10 [Jasmine] are together, will it be a good thing?
It certainly would be an entertaining show.

How ’bout No. 5 [Huilin] and No. 8 [Yishun]?
Well, if they're together, I can do nothing about it, can I? ;) Wish them good luck, people!

What is No. 2 [Huimin] studying about?
The Art of Godliness, textbook being "Being a God for Dummies". Chapters include "How Genesis Works", "How Not to Screw Up When Creating Living Things", "Why Manifesting Self to Humans is a Bad Idea", "Garnering Worshippers and a Massive Fanbase" and "Answering Millions of Prayers Daily".

When was the last time you had a chat with No. 3 [Yixian]?
Friday. I always chat.

I'm a nice guy.

What kind of music band does No. 8 [Yishun] likes?
No clue. Wanna tell me?

Does No. 1 [Peiyang] have any siblings?
As far as I know, no. But he makes up for it.

Would you woo No. 3 [Yixian]?
No.

How about No. 7 [Jane]?
No.

Is No. 4 [Natalie] single?
Apparently so. Why all the dating questions? Finding prospects?

What is the surname of No. 5 [Huilin]?
Chong.

As in Worm.

What is the nickname of No. 10 [Jasmine]
Neko.

What is the hobby of No. 4 [Natalie]?
Err, pretty sure it's Pottery.

Does No. 5 [Huilin] and No. 9 [Weini] get along well?
I sure hope so. Rivalry between girls means World War II.

Where is No. 2 [Huimin] studying at?
Institution of Heavenly Worship. Apply by drowning yourself in turpentine.

Talk something casually about No. 1 [Peiyang].
Hm.

Um.

Er.

Nice guy. Ya. Yes!!

Oh, and.

I hate your laugh.

Have you tried developing feelings for No. 8[Yishun]?
You sick pervert.

Where does No. 9 [Weini] live at?
Hahaha, you want to visit her? She lives at Weini's house.

Are No. 1 [Peiyang] and No. 5 [Huilin] best friends?
No. But they're friends. More than associates.

Does No. 7 [Jane] likes No. 2 [Huimin]?
In more ways than one I'm sure.

And there's a grammatical error in the question.

Sorry, I'm a grammar nazi. Godwin's Law of the Internet hereby comes into effect.

How did you get to know No. 2 [Huimin]?
I was in the same class as her.

Does No. 1 [Peiyang] have any pets?
No. If he does, I don't know about it. Pretty sure they wouldn't last very long though.

Is No. 7 [Jane] the sexiest person on Earth?
You sure leave the sickest questions to the last, don't you?

Fin.

Ciappi

Lol, another fantastic display of skill.

Two days before the end of the holidays.

Lol. What have I done these holidays? Academic-wise, that is?

Well I've read through the Physics textbook thrice (screw you, Fleming), the Chem textbook twice, and the Chem guidebook.. err.. quite a number of times. OH YEAH, I also did a little A-maths.

Not a lot eh...

As for cards, I've done a lot. A lot a lot.

For one, I clocked up about 12 hours of practice on Friday.

I think it was Friday at least.

A little less, for the other days. But Dan and Dave cannot claim to have done more in a day ;)

300

Holy... Shit...

300 Bucks.

CYA I'M OFF TO STUDY, KTHXBAI.

The Virtuoso

The Virtuoso. Future flourishing gods of the XCM field.

And Singaporeans to boot.

MOAR MUDKIPZ

Okay, I kid you. More musings, more like.

I was just thinking about my recently taken up hobby: card manipulation. How long has it been... Hm, let's give it a bit of history.

In the past, hah, I really got impressed when my cousin did a simple riffle shuffle. Granted, it's simple, but the way he did it was really stylish. That set me thinking: "What if I could do that, and more?"... And, yeah, I learnt the riffle shuffle very quickly.

Next up was the Charlier Cut.

I didn't learn it from videos though. I learnt it from online text that tried to explain it as best as text could. "Place your index, middle and ring finger along the long side of the deck..." I spent 2 weeks learning that, mostly because I was trying to figure out what the hell the text was trying to say. I hadn't seen a Charlier Cut in action, but there were pictures of it in progress, so I could guess. That's one small step for card manipulation, and a massive step for ME. Yeah!

And what comes after...? Ah yes, the infamous One-Handed Shuffle. Yes, that was the third piece of manipulation that I learnt. I was seriously impressed that a person could shuffle a deck of cards neatly and in a most flashy manner, in the amount of time it takes for an average person to down a glass of water. Here's what it looks like:
It's VERY easy to screw up, but admittedly I can do it better than him :) I know I'm a braggart.

What comes next is just mish-mash mumbo jumbo that really takes more knack than actual dexterity to master. Things like the flipback, which brings the deck from your palm instantly to the back of your hand, etc. You're good, it doesn't fall. AND yeah, fanning a deck of cards. I'm fairly proud of that. Most of the times I can get a pretty good fan, UNLESS you hand me one of those nasty plastic decks, or a really manky paper deck. Not even the pro's can handle it :/ let a lone a weakling like me.

The previous were basics. The following are now really more of modern card manipulation. Extreme card manipulation standard. Things like the Sybil, the Madonna, the Mary Jane.. In fact, most of these come from the Dan and Dave Buck twins. I've mastered those already, though lack of practice slows me down. I'm focusing on other cuts at the moment.

A list of a few famous card manipulators, and my thoughts on them:
De'vo: very high standards, but he overdoes it with the "cultish" style

Jerry Cestkowski: bah, this guy is fantastic at flourishes. All the classic ones, that is. He's most famous for his perfect fans.

Jeff McBride: An all-rounded entertainer who combines magic, flourishing, dance and miming into a beautiful performance. Even though he's not fantastically outstanding at magic or flourishing, he is one of those at the top of his field, and his unique performances are what help him.

Dan and Dave Buck: Which one's Dan? And which one's Dave? I don't know, and I don't care. For some reason both of them are equally as good in card manipulation, and when I say good, I mean they are the very very best. David Blaine, amongst other famous magicians like Dai Vernon, all gave them praise. They have style. A lot of it. And it's not forced, like De'vo's.

True, cannot teach style. Must be born this way. - Suyuan

Bahahaha, what a way to end.

On further thought, my progress has been... bloody fast to say the least. I actually started learning things like the Sybil in February. Its been almost half a year, and now I guess I do have something to show for it. Not much in terms of magic; I've no showmanship skill at all. But as for flourishing I probably can do a few things. Given that I almost never let go of a deck of cards when I'm at home, and that I casually practice every single thing as I go through the day, I can rack up to 4 hours worth of practice time daily.

Why did I go off on this tangent? I was really reminded of the whole thing by Huimin, who kindly tagged me recently :) And now you're probably going to go like, "wah, I inspired a wall of text!".

Yes, well, you catalysed the reaction. I don't know how come you're so sure I can impress, but I only can thank you for your confidence. :)

Prelims - Over

Owned. Can't say it was an easy fight though.

Seriously was difficult to get through. But I didn't really cheer much when it was over. There's still the O'Levels ahead. Though I can say its going to be a piece of cake compared to the Prelims.

Oh well. Miscellaneous news (that I'm sure most won't bother/want to find out about). I bought a Zippo lighter. Cool little gadget there. The flame doesn't go out easily, and it looks nice. I might take a picture of it, if my camera weren't such a bitch.

Learning some new flourishes and practicing old ones. Haven't updated my progress log yet though. I will check it and update it, perhaps later. The Dan and Dave - Trilogy 3 DVD set has come out.

Take a look at the trailer.



Smacks of pure salivatory (word? Don't know) goodness. I'm going to get it.

Look.

Yeah. I wasn't bragging. Check that out :)

Ah well. I'm bored. I really need a challenge.

Stress. I mean, really.

Yes, stress. For once in my life the stress is getting somewhat overpowering. Not because of all the subjects that people might normally find hard. Oh no.

Not A-Maths, not E-Maths, not Physics (bahaha), not Chem (okay, I lie, but not as much), not MT (I pwned the subject in June, what can I say?), not Literature.

Its Combined Humanities. I'm pretty much confirmed dead for this one. It's just how dead that's worrying.

When someone who wants to kill you, gives you a choice between a stab in the guts with a parang, a death by electrocution, a slow-acting poison, or any other painful way you can imagine, what do you say?

What's worse. I forgot to bring my SS textbook home. I forgot to bring my SS essay notes home (if I even had them in the first place). It means I won't be able to write jack shit for tomorrow's essay.

I'm fucked.

Okay, lets look at my choices for L1R5.

MT is a confirmed A1, I'll take it.
English is an A1 or A2, I don't know.
A-Maths will probably range from A1-B3.
E-Maths - same as above.
Physics - I hope its an A1 or A2.
Literature usually garners a B3 for me.

Lets count.

1 + 2 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 3 = 14.

Wow. :)

That's a pretty large number. Can't really say I like the figure. This is for O'Levels by the way, not Prelims. Add 2 full grade drops to each of the subjects for that, if you want, please. :)

Ohh fuck...


Oh well. Academic stuff aside, other things are not going TOO badly. :)

For one, my CS skills apparently are now on par with the Expert bots in the game.

Though I can't QUITE slam my mouse in the right direction fast enough whilst scoping in and hitting the fire button, somehow I always manage to kill Expert bots before they do me. Unless of course, they see me first. In that case I can't do much.

I can't grow eyes on the back of my head. Give me a break.

Also, I hacked the Battle for Middle Earth II game credits. I put my name inside. I mean, really, not photoshopped or anything. I might post up a screenshot or something. I put myself as director of the game production. Fun, no? A friend of mine was SHOCKED to see it.

:) Look, you should have expected it right? The game's based in Los Angeles. I've been stuck in Singapore all the while.

Bah, I need my breakfast.


Edit:

Phew. Oral's over. Was a little odd... But okay...

Mr Chan assures me I got an A2 for my CCA. Hm, means I get to deduct two points after all. XD

I got the SS notes. Thanks loads :) Study chapter 7.

Tear

Today, I was on the bus home from school, sleepily thinking about how little homework there was. In front of me was a young Primary School boy. He looked pretty ordinary.

Until, of course, he took out a pen and a book from his bag. "Animal Farm" was the title of the book, the story of which I hope MOST of you are familiar with. It was not a hard cover book. I wondered what he was doing, so I watched him out of the corner of my eye.

And then he opened the last page of the book, and ripped half the page out without blanching.

What. The. Hell.

That sort of treatment of books really makes my blood boil.

He took the page, crumpled it up, and stuffed it into his breast pocket along with his pen.

Mindless destruction.

I don't know what purpose he found in it. Was it supposed to be fun or something?

Baaaaaad!

Well. My dad got his phone serviced, and we went off to the collection centre. The service was terrible.

Hmph. One of the counters had 4 staff members serving a single customer. Odd, I didn't know so much manpower was needed.

Ohh wait, they weren't even serving! They were... what? They were having a bloody chatting session, talking and laughing. WTF!

"Ya, my son also got his phone from Lot 1."

Yeah, right, like its our business. Looks like the customer was charismatic enough to get all the staff members to flock over. Hmph.

Pressing the appointment number ticket machine thing, the approximate waiting time we got was... 13 minutes.

The actual time? 45 minutes.

Screw that.

When we were finally "served", we went to the counter.

I say "served", because, well, when we arrived at the counter, the desk there looked like below. The name of the person serving is blanked out if you can't see.



And the desk stayed like that for a full five minutes. That was a fun time. We waited for what seemed like an eternity, before, FINALLY someone came along.

Oh wait, she barely sat down, before suddenly taking off again, as though she had forgotten to retrieve something; is that counted as "coming along"?

Nevermind. "Service" is like that in the corporate world.

Brian Tudor

Another skilled and famous card manipulator. His dexterity is pretty much unparalleled, to the extent that nobody is able to complete the challenge that he issued. He set out a challenge, that required people to do the routines he did in the above-shown video as smoothly and as fast as he did. To date none have managed to do so.

Its apparent from his face when he's doing the series of mind-boggling one-handed cuts that its all as easy as pie to him.

Probably because its his giant hands that do the trick. I just can't execute one of his cuts properly because I can't put my fingers around them the way he does. I can only wait till my hand grows bigger. Bah.

He's a horrible teacher though, for all his skill in cards. He uses the word "essentially" at least once every few sentences during teaching.

Speech impediment? Probably.

It is over

The Mother Tongue O'Levels are over.

I believe I did okay for it. Might get an A2. Or a B3. In which case I'll have to retake it at the end of the year.


And.. ah.

So much has changed. I did not understand, or even grasp the change until early last week. Now things have changed significantly between us two.

I think its for the better. Don't you?

Oh and, watch the goddamned video if you haven't already.

Dan and Dave: The System

You may as well get a look at what I'm learning.

All flourishes are recorded in real time. Enjoy.

Holidays

Just realized how horrible my HTML code was. I completely revamped it, removing redundant bits and adding some notes here and there for my own personal reference. Hopefully it speeds up loading, even if its just by a few milliseconds ;)

Anyway. I got my report book back today. And I found I got 8th place in my class. Not too bad I guess, though I suspect my level rating is horrible. Never mind that. It's the holidays now.

Though in 2 days and 12 hours it'll be my MT O'Level exams. I hope I can ace it. We've been crammed with so much information on the examinations its difficult to breathe.

I guess we can do it.

I'll probably update this post in the near future. Otherwise if I'm lazy I'll just go on a posting spree.

After my O'Levels that is.

As a... form of celebration with reference to the end of examinations for now, I decided to continue on with my artwork. Hmm. It's supposed to be a joyous occasion, however this piece appears to be dark, moody and brooding. I'll leave it up to you to decide. I wrote a quick monologue for it. Here's my deviantART page for it, as well as the story: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/55119048/

My next piece that should be done within the next week will be substantially more uplifting, I think.

Oh, and, Near, I haven't forgotten the signature I promised you, so, chillax ;) I said it'll be done before the June holidays.

Liberated at last from the clutches of examinations. The feeling sure is good.

Hah, now I can have a good rest. But in the end, there's always that one hurdle to cross: the O'Levels.

I seem to be very unlucky.

Here are the results I got.

English: 69% (not counting the Oral exams yet)
Chemistry: 59%
Physics: ?
Mother Tongue: ?
A-Maths: ??????????????? (shit...)
E-Maths: ?
Social Studies: ??...... (ah well...)
History: ??...... (resigned to my fate)


Dammit, so far my results all lack just that one mark to get to an A or a B. Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu... :( I will be updating this post as I get back my results.

Flash Drei - Impossible Stack

Well, what can I say. This is probably one of the hardest non-aerial 4 packet swapping cut that you may ever encounter. The move involves splitting the packet into 3 right at the beginning, before breaking the centre packet into two and orbiting one around the other, before closing the deck and squaring.



Doing it is easy. Slow, that is. And that's only if you don't mind the packets splitting in between your fingers, OR the top card of the packet that you have to straddle between the top of the index and the ring finger slipping off.

I destroyed an unknown number of decks learning this. And I'm. Still. Not. Fast. Enough. Right. De'vo can do it in 4 seconds. Or maybe less. And it takes me 8 seconds to do it. o.0

Time for practice again.

The Cobra

The hardest one-handed cut in the world: Basic Cobra, Triad Cobra, Quad Cobra and King Cobra. Enjoy.

...

"What's with you and those cards? What's with you and those cards?"

"What the BLOODY HELL is with you and those cards?"


What the bloody hell is with everyone asking me this? Granted, it's a little odd to see someone holding a deck of cards 75% of the time, but what's with the same question over and over again?

Well, here's what. I felt bored. I didn't like sitting around at home doing absolutely nothing. I found staring into blank space an utter waste of time. I also found that computer games are, though relaxing, rarely aid in any form of development. I felt dissatisfied with how things were going.

Wake up. Go to school. Study. School ends. Return home. Mad gaming. Homework. Revision. Mad gaming. Sleep.

Is that... really meaningful? School is a necessary part of life. It's the basic building block of development that everybody should possess. I thank my lucky stars that I'm born in a place where the people are able to have a strong, solid, first-class education. And all of you should too. But is that really all that you want?

I mean, okay. Let's take a look at ambition. Don't try and drag Macbeth into this; being the king is not an option here. How many of you here actually have a firm grasp of who you want to be, and what you want to do when you grow up? How many of you have even attempted to find your niche in life?

Academics are not going to get you everywhere. Like I said, it is the basic building block; pretty much everyone will have it. If you don't have it, you might be able to get a job still. If you do, not much use either, because anyone who is worth his salt has a diploma. So what IS it that you need here?

Elementary, my dear Watson. It is a SKILL. Mm, yes, a skill. And what skill? Any skill that can get you employment. Is that not simple at all? Sitting on your ass doing nothing is a waste of time. And no, when I say "sitting on your ass", I don't mean it literally. You can be very active for all I care and the same phrase can still apply to you. Flouncing around in shopping malls and wasting time window shopping in Orchard Road means you're wasting your life away.

And how come? Because that amount of time can be used to develop and specialize in a skill that you may never hope to get when you grow older. Firstly, what makes you think you'll have the time to undergo personal development when you're older? You'll be too busy struggling to get a basic job for your own survival. I'm not saying you absolutely need to have a skill to survive in the future, but sheesh, just observe, will you? People who are highly specialized in their field, no matter what field, are not only in massive demand; they also face little to no competition at all. They hold a monopoly in their field.

Let's take ethical hacking as an example. Few people are specialized ethical hackers. And fewer even know who they are. For your information they're just people who corporations hire to test their network security, and even security in terms of personnel. And their pay is immensely high, simply because there are far far too few people who know anything about network security.

In these cases the old adage "demand creates its supply" is not applicable. That's because humans are lazy inactive assholes who can't be bothered. That is in general, though, not applicable to some people in the world. And these people are the people who make it big in the world.

Now some may understand a little more about why I have stepped into card manipulation. Personally I am giving it a go because it is a fantastic challenge. It trains and hones your dexterity. It also is something that can truly increase your self-esteem, and it gives a sense of self-satisfaction. It is a distant relation to pen spinning, but I suspect only a rare few can make the connection.

...

Nevermind. I will make the connection for you. Both are forms of contact juggling and require an intense amount of coordination. In order to master both, a great deal of dedication and hard work is necessary.

Card manipulation, if nothing else, is a possible career path. And no, this is not the only skill I'm developing. A simple quick glance at the left on my profile would already tell you what skills I am trying out or are already developing.

Upon reading this, I'm guessing the majority would laugh. You would laugh at how lame what I have said is. You would laugh at how stupid card manipulation appears.

Until, of course, you realize that card manipulation is a career path that pays well. And until, of course, you realize, that every second that you sit at home or utilize to dance around Orchard Road to go "waaaahahahaha nice leh!", is draining your usefulness to society, bit by bit, piece by piece.

Until, of course, you realize that learning anything is better than learning nothing. Like what a lot of you are probably doing now. Because learning nothing at all...

... renders you a needless burden on society.

If you already have cultivated a certain skill for self-enrichment, good for you. If not...

Triple Turnover

Mmm. Triple Turnover. Apple turnover. Delicious. ;)

Social Studies

The paper went FAR BETTER than I could possibly have hoped for. I'm fairly sure I'll pass. Even if I don't, it's nothing worse than what I would have thought last time.

Anyway I added a new section below my tagboard.

Disclaimer

I thought it time to add a disclaimer all the way at the bottom of the page. You can read it here.

And I advise you to, since down there it's so small it really hurts your eyes.

---------------------
Disclaimer: By navigating to this website, viewing this page, reverse-engineering the source code, or by using any method or tactic at all to view the content on this page in a bid to circumvent this particular disclaimer, you agree that all information that can possibly be derived from this page is merely representative of the thoughts of the writer, and that should you feel shocked, enraged, livid, angered, astonished, or lapse into a period of depression, you agree not to hold me, the writer, liable or responsible in any manner at all, in fact compensating and indemnifying me regarding any possible monetary fees.

If you disagree with this disclaimer, then you are wrong.
---------------------

Yes, it was made hard to read for a reason. In the sense that it's legal gibberish, or legalese, and also in the sense that it is hell of a lot smaller than people (normal people anyway) can read.

It is also a humorous ploy that leaves me an out.

Corporate Idiocy

Well, sometimes I wonder if professionalism goes too far.

Here's a quick outline of a situation.

If I were to put 50 1-cent coins into a (presumably) weightless envelope, and send it to a reputable credit card company, the weight of the coins would increase the postage costs.

Assuming these costs are charged to the credit company, they would then write back complaining about it, and demanding money back.

You make a ruckus out of the whole thing, yelling at their customer service, demanding your money back, banging the table (figuratively, and if you ARE good, clever, obnoxious and headstrong enough...


Several days later, you will, in your hands, hold a paper cheque mailed to you by the credit card company, that when cashed, will add to the value of your bank account by precisely fifty cents.

Exams

Not updated in a long time. And no, this isn't really an update. It's a last-ditch attempt to keep myself awake. Before I sleep. Contradictory, no?

Anyway. Exams, exams, exams. What to say...

Let's see about the various subjects we have, shall we...

English
A-Maths
E-Maths
Physics
Chemistry
Literature
Mother Tongue
Combined Humanities

And let's see how I think I'll do for them. Pre-exam analysis.

English. Not so much of a problem here. I think I will be able to ace the compositions, though the comprehension = fail. And no, I don't literally mean "fail". I just mean that I may well do average or below that for it.

A-Maths. Kaboom. Fail. Or the more extreme version of the word. PH@1L.

E-Maths. An A2 or B3, given that I haven't been paying attention in class.

Physics. I think I can get an A2 for it. Fairly confident about this one. Otherwise. PH@1L.

Chemistry. Maybe a B3 or above. Also feel relatively confident.

(above two may be inaccurate because of practical. I always end up getting some nasty black sticky un-cleanable substance when I should get a clear solution for Chemistry)

Literature. B3. No questions asked. Or wait. Maybe a question. I may get a B4. For some reason I suck at Literature.

Mother Tongue. 'tis a C5 or C6 I believe, according to past experience.

Combined Humanities. NOOOOOOOO SAVE ME! I REALLY WILL PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L PH@1L! I don't feel like putting the F9 here, but it seems it MUST be placed here.

Let's see..

My average L1R5 for this Mid-Year probably will go about 12 or so. Depends on the A-Maths. If I score for it...

Damn. Now I'm in deep shit.

I need a hug.

Dead Body In First Class

I thought I had seen the worst of it all, but this one just takes the cake. And the very fact that it happened in real life makes it far more... disgusting.

Read this article




I cannot believe this. A woman dies on an airplane, and the stewards put her body in the first class compartment, right smack next to another man, of all places.



I can just imagine the kind of lawsuits that could arise from this: sue for negligence in duty, sue for causing unnecessary emotional distress, sue for causing a possible panic attack (or any other panic-related or breathing disorders for that matter, if the person concerned has them)...



I understand they were working in difficult circumstances. They couldn't have put the body in the flight attendant's seat, since it would have blocked the flight attendant's access to the galleys, which is against FAA regulations.

They couldn't have put the body in the toilet, since it's rather obvious that the toilets can't be locked, and coming upon a dead body in an enclosed space would probably cause a heart attack more readily than would having one not in such close proximity. It could possibly also raise issues of disrespect.



However, I think it was really incredibly irresponsible to put the body right next to a sleeping man. Here's an excerpt from the man's interview:

"I didn't have a clue what was going on. The stewards just plonked the body down without saying a thing. I remember looking at this frail, sparrow-like woman and thinking she was very ill"



Apparently, the stewards didn't deem it necessary to at least inform him that they were placing a corpse right next to him. Only when he questioned them did he get an answer.

If I were him I'd have gotten a panic attack, maybe even a heart attack, and possibly be the second dead person on the flight. Then the stewards would have ANOTHER case on their hands.


...



They could have covered her with a blanket at least.

But wait, that WOULD be a dead giveaway (pun intended) that there was a corpse in the plane, would it not?? Perhaps if it were in the economy cabin, it would have caused a lot more reactions. After all, the people who travel first class usually are sparse.



It's going to be frigging hard to sue, seeing as there is no legal precedent for it, and I doubt even an experienced lawyer can get much out of this.

I guess that's it then.

Conservapedia

Great.

Just when you thought the Internet couldn't get any more ridiculous, it surprises you.

Again.

The worst thing is, it wasn't intended to be ridiculous, but somehow, it turned out so.

No surprise really.

http://www.conservapedia.com/Main_Page

Bahahaha, a SPINOFF of the well-known Wikipedia - a relatively credible source so far, but one which you need to use with caution.

First off.

Ridiculous thing number 1:

Minors under 16 years use this site.

• Posting of obscenity here is punishable by up to 10 years in jail under 18 USC § 1470.
• Vandalism is punishable up to 10 years in jail per 18 USC § 1030. We will trace your IP address and give it to authorities if necessary.

WTF!

That US law doesn't even cover vandalism. Good grief, you need to fire your lawyer and hire a better one.



Ridiculous thing number 2:

"Read what Wikipedia conceals at Examples of Bias in Wikipedia and abortion."

Lol, very amusing. A massive community-maintained encyclopedia, with close to 1.7 million articles in the English section alone, having how many biased articles pointed out?

30+? Is that all you can do?

Not saying that those are the only biased articles in Wikipedia, given that a community-maintained project necessarily is biased one way or another - but the constant editing ensures at least a somewhat even balance.

But your wiki? Your beloved Conservapedia? No more than 8000 articles, and already close to half of them are biased.

Hm, let's see: even using BCE and CE IS considered biased. We have to use BC and AD now, do we?


Ridiculous thing number 3:

It's NICE to finally see that someone in Conservapedia realized Japan IS in East Asia, and that Brazil IS in South America after all. Because someone didn't seem to know their geography before they wrote jack shit.

You, Yourself, Yellow

Man, it's one thing to have an inflated ego, but it's completely another to have that proven irrevocably and convincingly by a machine.

And it's Wikipedia, at that. How cool is that?

Take a look at this:


Got this lot of stuff while I was surfing Wikipedia. I highlighted the box in red, and underlined all the... amusing entries in red too.

I established the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory in 1885, which maintains the longest-running meteorological record of any observation site in the United States.

Wow, man, even I didn't know I could be so useful. The line "you hold 15 entries in the Guinness Book of Records for material properties, including best insulator and lowest-density solid?" brought me a stomach ache, sufficient to say. The line "is a rare infection of subcutaneous tissues that results in the you of the flesh?" is rather depressing though, however it doesn't make sense so I'm inclined to discard it :)
Awesome. I love me.

The Divine Punch

A really, really, odd question once popped up.

X asked incredulously:

"How can anyone believe in something they haven't seen?? Has anyone ever seen God at all?"

I felt pressed to answer.

"No, He filed a restraining order to the Supreme Court of Justice against you, and therefore you can't see him. And no, I'm not telling you where He is, or you'll continue your stalking."


But seriously, why the hell do people always want a literal answer to everything? In any religion, when the people say they've "seen" God, they just mean they acknowledge him, in whatever form or manner that happens to be so for them. Why in the world do you have to take it SO. BLOODY. LITERALLY?


Geez, just get an imagination, will you? Learn some basics on metaphors, similes and other language devices, and you may JUST make your way through this world. :)


I seriously wish I had a Divine Punch or something to deal with stupid people like this.

And the Lord spake, saying, "And in the beginning, there was the Hand. First shalt thou close the Five Fingers of the Hand, no more, no less. Five shalt be the number of fingers thou shalt close, and the number of fingers closed shalt be five. Six thou shalt not close, neither close thou four, excepting that thou proceed to five. Seven is out of the question.

Once thou closest five fingers, five being the fifth number, thou shalt form the Holy Fist. Upon formation of thy Fist, thou then shalt proceed to launch thy Holy Fist at thy foe, whom being naughty in my sight, shalt kick the bucket.

:) End.

SPS

Hmm...

SPS...

Before I go into what SPS actually is, its specific details, and what it spells for mankind in general, I must say I really, really, really detest going into crowded shopping malls.

It's not just the crowd. It's the difficulty in navigating your way through the throngs of people, whilst having them rub your mucus, sweat, dandruff and all that onto your nice new shirt you just bought yesterday. What's worse, people tend to organize contests/shows in the malls, in the most spacious places, such that it suddenly becomes packed with people, and it's hell to get through.

It sure would be a good idea to organize a "MAKE YOUR WAY THROUGH A CROWDED MALL CONTEST".

Speaking of which, this brings me to SPS.

SPS stands for Spontaneous Parking Syndrome. What the hell is wrong with people? These people, traversing across the mall, tend to stop for absolutely no rhyme or reason. These people, I notice, tend to be of the opposite gender, but it goes both ways; some guys do it as well. You'd probably end up crashing into a group of people which suddenly parks itself right in the center of a narrow chokepoint, conveniently blocking your path. And then it's YOUR turn to say, "Oh, I'm sorry!" with them glaring at you, when it should be the other way round.

Spontaneous Parking Syndrome.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sarge, Private Perks reporting for duty, mission code N472LN3, over."

"Acknowledged, Perks. How are our boys doing?"

"Fine, sarge. Howitzer tanks rolling, ETA 1427."

"Everything's going as planned. Transmission out."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Shit, sarge, one of our tanks got stuck! Looks like a trench, sarge. Over."

"Damn, I need to go take a look. Tell the men to prepare to break for cover and hold positions, over."

"Acknowledged."

...

"SHIT! IT'S NOT JUST A GODDAMNED TRENCH! IT'S THE DREADED SPONTANEOUS PARKING SYNDROME!"

"What, sarge? What's that?"

"Spontaneous Parking Syndrome! That shit our commanding officer told us about! It's the enemy's secret weapon."

"I thought our tanks were invulnerable sarge?"

"You stupid fool, that's just propaganda. How the hell do you think they'd have gotten you to join?"

"O...kay..."

"They're now using "Inconsiderate" and "Unreasonable" branded weapons! TELL THE MEN TO BREAK FOR COVER! FALL BACK!"

"No, sarge! I see it! It's the revolution!"

"Shut up, Private Parts!"

"It's Perks, sir."

"Perks. Shut up."

"No sir, it's the revolution! We must join the revolution sarge! The Spontaneous Parking Syndrome is a symbol of divine and holy power, sarge! That's what my grandmam told me sarge!"

"None of your superstitious bullshit, Private. I'm the commanding officer here; I give the orders, the buck starts HERE."

"SIR BUT IT'S THE TRUTH! WE'LL ALL BE LIBERATED BY PARKING OURSELVES IN THE CENTER OF NOWHERE AND BLOCKING ALL PROGRESS..."

"I order you, Private, give the order now.

"Sarge, please, we mus-"

"It's a now or never moment Private. Your chance to get a bloody promotion. You know how long you've been a private? 2 BLOODY YEARS, THAT'S HOW LONG."

"Sir, with all due respect, sir-"

"I SAID, GIVE THE BLOODY ORDER NOW, OR I'LL CUT YOU DOWN!"

"Sarge, no!"

"Is this mutiny, Private?"

"No but, sarge..."

"No butts. That's my order."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To be continued.

Now continued.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We have absolutely no choice. We must begin extermination of the Spontaneous Parking Syndrome."

"How, Sarge?"

"Classified information, Private Par-..."

"It's Perks, sir, PERKS."

"...-ts, but I'll tell you all the same. It's known as the Elbow."

"Sir?"

"Yes, our ultimate weapon to counter them, the bastards. The Elbow is always useful in a demanding situation, when you feel yourself hemmed in, in all directions by your foes, then unleash your wrath in the form of the Elbow, and they'll all fall to their knees groaning!"

"Shit, sarge, that sounds nasty!"

"They deserve it, the bastards!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Here they come, Private. Here's your chance to make a name for yourself."

"But sarge, they're the saints, the holiest-"

"What the hell did I tell you about that hocus-pocus? This is your chance to get promoted and jump-started out of this hellhole! Shut your trap and do what I say!"

"Sarge, I protest!"

"Press the red button."

"Sarge, no.."

"Press the red button."

"Please, sir, no!"

"I SAID, PRESS THE MOTHERFUCKING RED BUTTON!"

Deet.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Phew. I think that was all of them."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"HOLY FUCK, THEY'RE BACK!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fin.

The Great Question!

The answer. To the great question. The one and only question that dwarfs all your algebra, all your calculus, all your physics and all your theology.

The question: Life, Universe, and Everything.

I CAN ANSWER THIS ONE! ME! ME! TEACHER! PICK ME!

And a giant voice booms out of the rolling clouds, "YES, YOU MAY ANSWER THE QUESTION. THE QUESTION OF LIFE, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVERYTHING!"

Awesome. Go, me!

Oh shit, wait, it's not a question. Questions need question marks right?

No duh! So wokay, let's add some.

----------------------------

What's the meaning of life?

Shit, what kind of answer you expecting? It's the same as asking "What's the meaning of mouldy Swiss cheese?". Aww, disappointing. :( I had expected to be able to answer.

But hey, there's more.

Why are we here?

Oh shit, what the hell. Where else were you expecting to be? Buried in the depths of a hot sun twenty kilometers in a dense fireball of hydrogen? Shit! I guess your deity put you in the wrong place eh? No worries man! I'll note your deity to drop you somewhere in that vicinity in your next lifetime.

What's the meaning of everything?

Kinda the same as question 1, really. But there's a definitive answer for this one. I mean, YAY! I get to answer a question. WOOTS!

The answer is...

Is...

Is...

Is...






Is...


















Is...









FORTY-TWO!



I mean, yeah, that's the answer, all right. And if you still haven't gotten my posting style yet, highlight the above to find the answer.

Mm.

Frustration

After a long time, I finally managed to get a music player up and running on my blog. It was bad enough finding a good player, since I can't write Java worth crap, and C++ isn't suitable. Sourcing a proper web host was also a giant problem. All of them seemed to be run on Apache server machines, which effectively prevented any attempt to link out from their servers.

Finally I found a good place. Yay.

And the player's somewhat cut off.

Anyway, I'm thinking of changing my blogskin. I already got a header. A new one XD It will look pretty kewl.

I'll put it up later. It doesn't really match the color scheme so I'm phasing the whole template out as it were.

Recent Stuff

Been having problems with some of my programs lately. I completely reformatted my drive because I was switching over to one twice the capacity of mine. As a result, beforehand I had to backup each and every single program to an ISO image. Some of them didn't seem to make it afterwards though. I couldn't run Counter Strike - Condition Zero for some reason. The rest APPEAR to be fine for now.

I bought 1GB of RAM today. Stupid ripoffs, it was selling for $105 in one shop, but it went out of stock. The next cheapest was $119 in another store! A price difference of $14... Man, now there's my red packet money + a considerable sum of my remaining savings gone.

I'm still pretty happy over the purchase though. Fitted my motherboard out with it, and zip! Damn, was it fast! Battle for Middle-Earth 2 doesn't lag the slightest at all on highest settings now, and even Oblivion rarely encounters slowdowns now, despite my high settings and the ungodly amount of modifications I forced on it.

Well well well, what a weekend.

Trendwhores

Yes. I'm talking about you, stupid fool. The one who has the ego the size of a planet, and an attitude to match.

First off, what gives you the right to define what "cool" or "nerd", or any other of these slang words mean? It's almost as though you own Urban Dictionary! "cool" doesn't mean MCR, Shakira, or otherwise "b@nds 1 h@pp3n 2 lyk3", it merely is a reference to an entity, whether it be an object, activity or pop idol, which is generally considered to be part of a trend by the majority of young people. It has nothing to do with what you like; get that stupid foolish thought out of your head. What you like has nuts to do with what's known as "cool".

Similarly, you can't just go ahead and label someone "nerd" as you like, because it's a bloody stereotype. Lumping people together in groups without considering each individual's merit is an extremely fallacious and dangerous thing to do. You may think someone's a nerd, and proclaim it if you want. I'll defend to the death your right to say it. But freedom of speech is NOT EQUAL TO FREEDOM OF INTENTIONAL IDIOCY AND STUPIDITY.

I reiterate.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH
||
---
||
FREEDOM OF INTENTIONAL
IDIOCY AND STUPIDITY

That means, despite being able to speak your mind, if you say something INCREDIBLY STUPID, then be prepared to be flamed all the way to Hell and back on a two-way train ticket.

For some reason, I'm going off on a tangent on freedom of speech, so I'll try to move back.

Hence. I don't have to take your bullshit from you. You call me a nerd, fine. I admit the amount of time I spend in front of the computer could be considered to be more than average. But you're completely ignoring the fact that I could possibly have other hobbies that are completely unrelated to computers at all. For example, I'm particularly interested in music, linguistics and design, and plan to pursue these courses the first chance I get in university. And yet, you continuously disclaim what I say, as though your word is absolute.

... And the trendwhore addressed the awed onlookers, and proclaimed "Hence shall my word on trends, nerds, bands, idols and the like be absolute, for thou art not worthy. Hear me! For those faithful followers of the trendwhore such as thine shalt receiveth the glory and power due thee. Condemned forever be those that oppose us, and damn them!" And the crowd cheered.

A weak ending, somewhat. But I'll try harder next time.

V-Day

Saint Valentine's Day in full.

Yes well, I'm getting something regardless of the fact that I'm not giving anyone anything for romantic purposes. It's the closest thing to IFD on August 5th this year. I doubt I'll have that amount of time and energy to buy something during August, seeing as it's the O' Levels. So I'm spending a third of my entire savings to buy presents for a specific 8 people.

A whopping fifty dollars. Okay, not entirely, the Jell-O change girl gave me 45 cents as change. I guess it's hard to total up gifts that match fifty dollars exactly.

Meh, I'm tired. Not much energy today. And yay, my "Hello World" works perfect.

Nevermind if you can't understand what I'm talking about now. It's supposed to be random. Well, almost.

The Phoenix

Well, my latest piece, as promised.


Statistics:

Time: 5 hours
Number of Layers: 12
Technique: Brushing and smudging like hell
Colorisation: Painted general colors atop, gaussian blurred, then blended


If you've got a devART account, do go have a look ;)

"Atheistic, Immoral Scum!"

I swear, some people do the most stupid things.

The below Wall of Text may be mildly offensive. I have no idea why it would be, other than the fact that it touches on religion. However I must make one thing clear:

I AM NOT AGAINST RELIGION, NOT NOW, NOT LATER, NOT EVER. I AM MERELY SICK OF THE PEOPLE WHO FIND IT FUNNY TO KEEP CONDEMNING ME TO HELL ONCE EVERY TWO DAYS. I DO NOT DISLIKE THEIR RELIGION, ONLY THE WAY THEY PRESENT IT.

With that. Let's go:

Oh wait, you can't see it? Oh I'm sorry. Just highlight it there. Right below this sentence.

For goodness' sake, I already said I'm perfectly contented with my life. I do not need you to tell me whether I'm going to Hell after this life or not, because I can form my own opinions on that. If you think I am, fine by me, I don't care what you think, but if you think shoving that stuff down my throat is acceptable then you're wrong.

Before anyone jumps down my throat, no, I am not discriminating against religion. Religion isn't bad in my book, simply because it has a wonderfully calming effect on people. It teaches people how to lead their lives properly and in fact has done a fair bit for the world. Moral values, valuable anecdotes and insightful stories can be found in their holy books, for example the Bible. Some of my best friends are religious; I really do not see the point in dissing their faith since it would serve no use at all.

But hell, that does not mean you can start shoving your religion down my throat. Introducing it to me is fine. Yes. Telling me about your religion is fine. Breathe, yes. Even asking me to convert, I'll feel a little awkward, but yes, you can talk to me about it. I've had perfectly civil conversations on religion with religious people, and we always part on a friendly note.

However, when I politely refuse, you sure as hell cannot jump up and down and scream like a monkey, "BURN IN HELL FOR ETERNITY!!!!11 YAAARGH!!!!!!1111one" I've grown sick of your "You nasty, sick, immoral, atheistic scum of the earth!!!!!1111oneone" bullshit. I'm choosing to stay in this frame of mind, simply because you're keeping it closed. Your incredibly childish and immature acts don't reflect well on the religion you belong to.

If you want to talk to me, you jolly well better act your age and stop your bullshit. Why not start presenting your words in a more polite tone, rather than yammering out your discontentment? If you could lessen your "!"s tenfold, and run your posts through even the most basic spell checker, for example the one in Microsoft Word or Firefox, then you'd be a far more attractive conversationist, would you not?

Aha, I see your pretty head nodding up and down with sudden understanding. Yes. Now go clean your act up.



That being said. Yes. Let's talk about other things.

Finally I developed another bit of technique for painting. I hope to have the latest piece up on deviantART by tomorrow. I'll keep everyone posted ;)

Study

I've tried to do water this time.

No, really.

Admittedly this was with very close reference to a photograph. If you ask me to paint something like this without a reference source I'd be stumped. However noting the play of light and shadows on the waves is very interesting.

A fairly good case study I must say.



There we go now. A lot of smudging and brushwork for this one. It was done with a fairly large brush except for the white foam.

Nasty, nasty weather.

Now, barely a day after recovering from that stupid sore throat, I got ANOTHER infection: probably influenza or something similar. Sounds pretty horrible. Oh well, that's me.

Anyways, I went home, was bored, so I worked on a header meant for a blog I promised a friend. One or two hour's work produced this:



Pretty rough work, but that's the best I can do right now. I'm finding it hard to think about anything other than sleep anyways.

Do comment on the picture, it's still rough work anyway.

And if you steal this, like what happened before, you'll pay through your nose for it. I have the original file in twice as high a resolution as this, so.





Time for dinner.

50 hours without sleep.

Woot, now, isn't that fantastic? Today I was so frigging tired at school that I had a nasty headache, complete reduction of my vision to a faint blur (resulting in me not being able to read a single bloody word I write on a piece of paper).

I don't know, maybe it's a good thing. I want to get some hallucinations and see how fun they are.

Well anyway, screw that.

The birthday presents were pretty good and I liked them a lot. Even though there's ONE that I can't really see myself using in the long-term future, (hint: jas/maureen) but still it's the thought that counts ;)

And anyway jas spends too much money on presents. No wonder she went with a low budget one, which I can understand. Opening the present was hell though. I believe there were 13 layers of newspapers fully wrapped around the whole thing.

Gods, and everybody was sniggering while I was WTFing at the seemingly endless layers.

That was on Friday.

Today I got another set of presents too. Woot.


Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go tape my eyes shut so they won't try to keep me awake from the heavy dose of caffeine.

A fantastic day to get sick on. I got a nasty high fever on Friday, and so I did not have anything good to eat for my birthday on Saturday. But then again, I did manage to have some dessert, so it wasn't entirely a fruitless birthday.

The cause of it all turned out to be a stubborn sore throat, though I really doubt the doctor's diagnosis. I don't know, when the doctor actually asked if I'm taking any other medication, and I replied with the names of them, he apparently didn't know what they were.

Take out prescription pad.
Write.
Scribble off.
Say, "Umm..."
Write again.
Scribble off.
Say, "Ok."
Wrote first few letters of the name of my other medication.

I'm going to fricassee his intestines if he diagnosed me wrongly.

Thanks a bunch to all those who actually remembered my birthday.

Mmm

Hooray, hooray, it's a happy, happy day.



Then again, maybe not. It was pretty ordinary today. I made some headway in the conceptualizing of Ami's blog, since he asked me like, close to a week ago. <_< Looks like I'm procrastinating again, no? I promise, I'll do my best! Really.

I also started painting some white fluffy clouds today too. They were bullshit to be honest, but I was still experimenting with techniques. And I don't even know if I've gotten the style down right.

And goddammit, my bloody tablet is acting up again. When I move the tablet pen over it the central portion, the cursor instantly skids a quarter way across the screen, meaning I can't paint a single thing in the center. I may have to work without my tablet for a while then. Which means slow production. It won't be "Best Quality" <_<

Like that nasty crab that June Woo got from Suyuan in Joy Luck Club.

Another day, another story.

Oddly enough, I'm tired. I mean, really really tired. But woot, at least I'm still cynical enough to make an observation on human nature. Okay, this post may be somewhat boring. I know loads of people hate too much text.

Nevertheless, I'm going to post it. Here comes Wall of Text No. 1!


On all of the forums I've been to so far, for example deviantART, and in fact any place which features the posting of personal opinions, like blogs for instance, all of them largely consist of teenage emo girls (and occasionally some guys), who always post poorly-exposed, grainy, blurred cellphone photographs of themselves on the Internet, whine about how they've been mistreated, misunderstood, and hated in real life, and cut themselves to draw attention.

Yes, that's right. Cut themselves. For those of you who've been living under a rock for the past few years, apparently cutting yourself is the "in" thing to do right now. Nick yourself on the wrist, "n de physicle pain just washas aal the emotional hurt mii suffered"! They always always do it in private, so nobody else can see. Yeah, right, as advertised. It's obvious as to what the answer should be. One glaring question that just begs to be asked is, "IF YOU ARE SO BLOODY SAD, SECRETIVE AND UNHAPPY ABOUT IT, THEN WHY THE HECK ARE YOU POSTING IT ONLINE?" And that gets them every time.

In communities where popularity is actually measured by pageviews, like deviantART, such emo people go to the extremes of posting "Goodbye World :(" topics, in which they list out all their sorrows and their pains and their fears. Sure, naturally a whole load of people will reply to this, some cynical like me, but mostly sympathetic people who fall for their traps. They go to the person's page to encourage him/her, and BAM! Emo Person's Pageview + 1!

One week later, "Goodbye World :(".

Two weeks later, "Goodbye World :(".

Three weeks later, "Goodbye World :(".

Repeat ad nauseum.

What I don't understand is, if you really really want to kill yourself, to the point of posting what you're going to do 4 times a month on a forum where nobody could possibly help you, then why don't you just shut the hell up, and jump already? It's better for us all.

Oh wait, you're nauseous already? Sick of this WoT or of emo people? Hmm, both I guess.


Whoops.

Tired..

... and seriously behind in some of my work. I mean, really. Who owes several worksheets of E-Maths, two Chinese essays, some History and all that stuff? Not just that, I flunked two diagnostic tests. Looks like I really need to catch up on my History and Social Studies SBQ skills.

And still I procrastinate. I just love myself. Don't you?

Pfft.

A Good Start

Hmph, it's a beginning, at least. Not a fantastic one, though. Ran into so many problems with Blogger whilst setting it up. I even thought it was Blogger's problem and ended up deleting my own code out of frustration. How's that?

Anyways, everything is up and running for now. I did a quickie for the header. Didn't really spend too much time on it. Basically comprises the blog name, a screenshot of a Balrog, and my Elvish signature faded in. I may eventually paint something specially for the header, but for now, I'm just plain lazy. Probably the color scheme is a little ucky. Comments?

Ciao.