I am very lazy to even blog. So many movies I did not do reviews on.
Anyway, went out today and met up with a couple of friends. Quite nice to see everyone again, and thank you all for coming along.
More to come, and more people to meet. Meanwhile, time to sleep. Totally drained.
I still need a little bit of tuning to he new time zone. I have been falling asleep at 11 and waking up at 7. Gah.
Anyways, I have gotten myself a new number, so for those who still did not know, I have not been using my XXXX1144 or XXXX5575 number since I left for Australia, so stop sending SMSes to those numbers. You could SMS the 5575 number though, if you need my new contact.
Off to help out at UniMelb's Singapore pre-departure briefing for the local students. It should be fun, and I'm pretty sure it would be okay.
Still have a lot of planning to do, especially for all the outings and stuff.
I have not been really writing much here recently, and that's probably because I have not been able to sit down and spend time with myself to think. But anyways, given more spare time to kill now, I guess it should start again soon enough.
I really wanted to grab my laptop and type away on it while on the plane, but I ended up not doing anything but watch my movies on board the flight.
Mum: How's your flight?
Me: -Takes out boarding pass slip for her to see-
Mum: FWAH!
Well, basically I got a little treat and got quite pampered because I got 'upgraded' seats. Hehe. No complaints for sure, and the flight was good. So here I am, at home, whining about the heat.
Just yesterday night I was shivering and cursing at the cold. Today, I'm cursing all over again.
Made a trip in to Malaysia shortl after touching down, and I just got home again. So I'm off to unpacking. Sort out all the gifts.
Went down to the market today to get some stuff to bring back, and I ended up spending quite a fair bit on all the food. Nuts, nuts and more nuts. But you can't deny that it's probably the easiest and most convenient thing to bring back. Oh well.
I don't even feel anything special although I'm flying tomorrow, just like how it was the night before I flew here. Time really passes and it's been an entire semester already. No doubt it's only like 4 months, but it really feels as if it were 4 weeks.
The weather reports I have gathered on Singapore isn't exactly what I'm looking forward to, despite being in the cold here for some time already. Change isn't always good, especially when you have to move from 12C to 32C overnight. But anyways, it's still good to be home.
Back to packing, all the stuff to shove into my tiny little luggage. I think the gifts already take up about 4-5kg. Pfft. Everyone at home, sit tight and wait for your gifts to arrive. Don't bother to worry how troublesome it is to get everyone little somethings or how heavy my luggage would be. Afterall, everyone expects gifts from those who step out of airplanes, don't we?
I woke up today feeling as if I just gained consciousness after falling from a 20-storey building and the docotor forgot my morphine after finding me still alive.
It's been an entire week since I wrote here, the longest break ever, and nowithstanding the fact that I should be more free to post nowadays with only 1 paper to go.
Anyway, I did some shopping here, and I still have more shopping to go. It can be a real headache just trying to figure out what to buy for who. I need my shopping list.
I have gotten myself a couple of tees and another sweater. I probably need to get more jeans. And I need to drop by the market to go get nuts and stuff for people back home, and well as more gifts here and there for more family and friends.
Boredom is very much a happy problem for most people, and boredom that manifests itself in the lives of students like us can take on rather different forms.
Boredom is the root cause, and one of the most obvious symptoms of PES, or what I know as Post-Examination Syndrome. PES develops due to the psychological and behavioural differences that occurs as a student moves from Exam-mode to Non-exam mode. The sudden change in patterns in the mind and body result in an anomaly due to the body's inability to cope.
Students who suffer from PES usually surf the net for absolutely nothing, or visit Yahoo! just to see what is on the front page, refreshing every hour or so to check for updates. They also surf random blogs, watch YouTube videos, play SuperPoke on Facebook, or simply sit and stare at the sky ceiling.
Although there seems to be hardly a cure, PES itself is not considered to be very harmful, unless a mutation occurs, giving rise to Premature-PES (PPES). PPES happens when students unknowingly shift into PES-mode when they have not reached the end of their examinations.
Symptoms of PPES include not only those mentioned above, but also the following: inability to concentrate when reading text, unexplainable cravings for the bed, high levels of thirst and/or hunger that cause sufferers to walk to the kitchen 5 times an hour, and in severe cases, they can hear objects calling them, like their computers, gaming consoles, and even the fridge.
And I forgot, they write blog posts that have no meaning whatsoever, only hoping to draw some laughter from readers.
Come on, people, laugh.
Being bored can be a really big but happy problem, and I am proud no announce that I AM BORED.
Well, I've got one last paper on next Wednesday. And also, I do have a flight to catch that very midnight. Three cheers.
Okay, so I have been sourcing around for online games to play again, and I guess I found one for now. My law matertials are sitting beside me, awaiting my return. My mind is nowhere near those materials, it's, uhm, lost in cyberspace.
Okay, off to a new adventure. Shopping.
I was talking to a friend online and I mentioned that there is money to be made via advertisements on blogs and such. The first and very expected question in response to my 'entrepreneurial' comment was "How much?".
Somehow, that simple "how much?" made me hesitate, and probably even shudder as I struggled to formulate an answer that would not seem too stupid. After pondering for a few seconds, I decided that there was nothing I could do to hide the sad truth that each click earns publishers like us a measly couple of cents. And I went on to tell my friend how much money I have 'made'. (Perhaps 'accumulate' would have been more apt.)
"So cheap."
I thought the comment was directed at the advertisements and the payout, but no, it was at the blogger. (Ouch.)
This kind of sat me down to think if monetizing your blog really brings you much returns, if any at all. I, for one, do not have much traffic and there is no way I can rely on this as a steady of income. Not even a steady trickle, just a few occasional drops. People who earn enough money via blogging to be able to survive with just another part-time job are really drawing in huge crowds to their sites, and without huge volume, small payouts per visitor do nothing but keep your payouts small.
So does this mean that all small-time bloggers should just log into their accounts and clear their blogs of all advertisements they have put up and cancel all their publisher accounts? Notwithstanding the fact that I barely make any sensible amount of money to be so proactive about blogging, I would still keep things the way they are. Even if no attempt is made to try to earn a larger income via blogging, I guess being able to see some form of returns, no matter how small, can be a form of recognition for yourself. And perhaps for some people, it acts as a form of motivation to simple keep a blog active.
Some people have this idea that "if it doesn't make big money, it isn't worth my time at all". It sometimes becomes a very narrow-minded perspective that obviously ignores the bigger picture. Yes, granted that even 100 clicks a day can't feed you all 3 meals a day, 36,500 a year could probably get you a decent treat for your brithday. Also, even the biggest bloggers start with 1 visitor a day (probably their own selves), to 10 a day, to a hundred or even more. And if you consider the fact that some bloggers earn money on their blogs without a lot more effot, just adding an extra line of HTML or two and doing what they normally do, an income from a blog starts to seem to make a little more sense.
People tend to think that those who try to make money online are suckers, or that they are being lazy, impractical and more or less unrealistic.
1. Suckers do not know of, or bother to try their hands at new opportunities, or even know what HTML is.
2. Lazy people do not deal with layouts and bother to come up with content.
3. Impractical people are those who believe that one should take action only if it can earn you a million bucks.
4. Unrealistc people really believe that making a million bucks is their only goal in life, and if blogging does not get you there, you drop the idea.
Blogging for money can be a seriou business to some people, and I somehow applaud their effots and envy the results they achieve. I know that I cannot set my mind to this task as of now, but nothing is stopping me from doing what I would like to do even without the money. The money, to me, is merely a bonus, not a basic requirement, nor is it a commission of sorts. If money is the only basis for your blogging and you aren't earning an income you desire after a few months at it, then you probably might want to worry a little, but if money isn't the sole reason, then no-money isn't a reason to give up blogging anyway.
I don't quite like the idea of having 'blogging for money' as a hobby, because to me, anything that requires a form of financial return isn't quite a hobby. (But we still can't deny that there are people in this world who have a hobby of making money, and are pretty darn good at that.) Whatever the case, to any bloggers out there who might just be feeling the same thing as me, keep it going, and just do what you like to do. Don't stop blogging totally just because your advertising network only pays you a few cents a click or never gives you new ads. If you really enjoy blogging, keep the money part out of your mind, let it come naturally, and blog like you would. Checking your balance everyday doesn't earn you a sigle cent more.
All things can end either with a bang, or fade quietly into oblivion, but they all share a common point.
Here's a real classic.
Anyways, the major papers are over and it's time to party. Well, at least for a week. Mugging resumes a week after, and I'll be home in no time.
Blink, and half the year's gone.
Yep, it's about the biggest talk in town, and everyone is dying to lay their hands on one of them.
This is the first time I ever got excited by an Apple product.
Then again, I still can't see myself paying for that. Just don't know why.
Can't deny its beauty no matter what.
It starts today, 2 hours from now.
What a day.
And I keep telling myself that I shall return home with a feeling of satisfaction, perverse pleasure topped with a sick smile, knowing that I had it slaughtered. Yet, a smaller voice tells me it might be the lecturer with the smile as I lie on the chopping board.
I hope I'm right about the first part only.
Just got to be careful, Adrian, just got to be careful. Carelessness and complacency are total exam-hall killers.
Okay, off for my breakfast (no prizes for guessing what) and then off to the culling grounds.
I know, I was warned that my birthday cake's an OB-marker and I am not allowed to write or comment about it or risk prosecution, but I simply cannot resist. (Read: I totally loved that cakes.) Well, this is the 4th consecutive day I awake to a slice of cake. Not just any other cake, its a mud cake. Not just any mud cake, a birthday mud cake.
Okay, whatever.
Point is, notwithstanding the fact that having 4 days of cake is unhealthy and boring, I still love the cake. Really, and I mean it. (Gosh, sarcasm can be a real tricky problem when it comes to text.)
So here's what I have received: A Stussy sweater, an A/X Wallet, and 2 birthday cakes, triple chocolate and chocalate mud cake. And a nice wholesome dinner. I know, it's aleady the 9th and my papers are tomorrow, but I really can't be bothered about them whenever I think back about the celebration that night.
Once thank, thank you all.
Somehow, knowing more presents await me back home makes me want to rush home even faster.
Here's a little something I came across. I don't think every guy would wish for his voice, but honestly, I wouldn't mind.
Thank you everyone for the wonderful dinner. The cakes, the gifts, and just to gather together.
Thank you all for this really unforgettable 21st.
Happy Birthday to me.
This is my first birthday spent away from my family. I don't think I have ever missed one with them before, but anyways, this is the first, and yes, it's the 21st.
Now, don't go reminding me that I am old, or come pat me on the back and give the "Oh, you can now watch sick films in the cinema" wink.
I guess tonight should turn out to be quite fun with dinner and stuff. At least there are family and friends around I can meet up with.
And for the record, I hate blowing.candles.
I was chattng with my mum over the phone last night when I mentioned that me an my cousins used MSN to chat with each other if there's anything we need to say. I can't deny the convenience of doing so, and I guess it really is a lot easier than having to climb a flight of stairs just to utter a few words. However, it doesn't quite make things better from what I currently see.
Since Friday, I have more or less spent my days in my home, not wanting to travel down to school to use the library, partly because of the travelling time and the number of people cramming in there, and partly due to my own laziness. But anyways, my point is that besides the person I had to talk to to place my order during my dinner eat-outs, there basically hasn't been another human I have spoken to face to face.
When I was back home, I used to wake up to see my parents and usually not talk much at home, and I thought that maybe it's just me, that I don't quite like to talk and stuff, but really, it isn't just the talking at home that brings warmth. I think sometimes the mere presence of another person does bring comfort to a home, and that is what I am honestly lacking now. I know I'll get adjusted to this sooner or later, but for now, it can be quite disturbing to have to wake up and face a cold and quiet home.
No one is at fault, and if I really wanted to see someone I could always go down to the city and make myself feel more alive. It's just that this feeling has been within me for the last 3 or 4 days, and I almost feel like the poor chap from Cast Away, and it is starting to eat into me.
I guess it's all part of being away from home, and it's probably that a few other factors are contributing to this feeling and making everything seem really bad. I guess everything would be over in a jiffy. At leaast, I hope so.
For now, I shall go to the mirror and talk to myself.
No, kidding. I need to go have my lunch and talk to my usual chat buddy.
I hate it when I can't find a path, even when I know where I should head towatds. It can be a real pain in the rear to be left with no specific directions, especially with not much time left.
I guess I'll just have to wander around and hope for the best. Just gt to bear with this for another week.
I must admit that it really isn't a lack of time that has made me stopped writing more frequent posts, and saying that I have no time to do so is quite a blatant lie. In fact, I have not exactly been spending every minute studying with no rest, and when while I study, I do take some 'unofficial breaks', otherwise known as distractions. (Facebook - the number one distraction.)
Anyways, the real reason why I am not writing as frequently is because even if I were to log on to blogger, my entire brain would be filled with thoughts of statistics, accounting and microeconomics. So for that reason, I really have no more mental capacity to sit down and blog properly. I could do a hundred other senseless posts, or copy and paste thousands of YouTube videos (yes, that's one of the other big distractions of all time) on my blog, but that wouldn't be really nice, so for now, I guess I'll go much slower on blogging. There should still be at least a post a week though. I've got 1 plus week to the end of 3 papers.
I always conveniently forget the 4th paper. Selective amnesia.
