Omg, so awesome <3

I am totally having movie OSTs crush moment!
The Dark Knight OST is so awesome and intense <3 I wish I have a surround sound system at home...doing art to this music would be an interesting experience.

On the side note, came home yesterday after working on my psych lab report. After 2 weeks of school-side unproductiveness, I decided to roll up my sleeves and indulge in culinary therapy. Defrosted some bak kut teh for late dinner, then made spiced meat patties and a prune cake after.

( Spiced Mini-patties )

It was pretty funny though when the smoke alarm came on because I forgot to switch on the stove exhaust fan and open the balcony door for circulation. My sister ran around the apartment opening all the doors and windows and was NOT AMUSED though easily placated as she worked her way through the patties, leaving only 6 for me (I made around 20).

( Prune cake )
The prune cake was DIVINE when glazed and hot out of the oven. Supposedly, we don't have to worry about laxative effect of prunes for this cake. I didn't have a problem but my sister told me she got up at 4am in the morning to attend to it. It could be because I've been eating prunes pretty regularly while my sister hasn't...a sort of desensitising effect perhaps, if you will. But even so, I think the cake's worth it!

So...taking a break from finishing up (late) assignments arghhh... I present FOOD

scallops in a mandarin!

Craving something chocolate-y and dessert-y.
Baked a bastardised pseudo-cheesecake, bastardised because I was really just clearing the remnants of butter and cream cheese from my fridge so I didn't have the exact quantities and substituted this random thing for that random thing. Crumbled oat cakes (which was lying around the pantry for ages because it's basically inedible without honey and I ran out of honey) and butter for the base - baked it for 10 mins at 180 degrees, spread some raspberry jam on the base and then mixed butter, cream cheese, sugar, 2 eggs, a couple squirts of lemon juice, a couple drops of vanilla, and several enormous heaps of milo powder. Baked it in the oven for 20+ mins and it's now chilling in the fridge ^.^ At least 7/8ths of it is...I couldn't resist taking a bite or two when it was fresh out :) Pics later when it's ready!

I should be studying. But.

My firefox has 8 different tabs open showing me a variety of ways of making cinnamon roll, and a dozen more tabs of cheesecake recipes and well basically, any cake/dessert (chocolate truffle!omg, peanut biscuits) recipe.

My couch is full of half-torn-out recipe pages (flourless walnut cake and assortment of stews and soups) from my collection of weekend newspapers.

I have 20 hours left till my final paper.

MY GOD I  WANT TO  BAKE/COOK/INHALE CONFECTIONARIES SO  MUCH.

Apparently, baking that orange cake on friday didn't quite scratch that itch.

Should I give in to temptation and buy timtams: y/n?

Sister's birthday yesterday (she had a cooler birthday than I did hurrh).  I was frantically googling restaurant reviews in Melbourne, italian restaurant reviews  (because she wanted lasagna - seriously that girl buys frozen lasagna as her quick dinner option, I think she's ate her way through all the various options and her verdict: not great, sometimes terrible, so I wanted to get her good lasagna but wait! detour, let's return to the topic of the sentence) which offered good italian at decent prices (so my dad won't complain I'm some price whore) and a nice atmosphere for a birthday dinner. Settled on Casa Farro (161 Nicholson St) - actually I was planning on Tiamo but they were full on bookings and I wasn't sure we're all in the mood to wait for tables. Anyway the lasagna point was moot because Casa Farro doesn't serve that, on the other hand, lots of lovely wood-oven-baked pizzas and homemade gnocchi &hearts;. So another time, I guess. I've got a feeling that when I do find a lasagna place and bring her there, she will eat there twice a day until i) the owner changes the recipe and it doesn't taste as good and she is sad. ii) she runs out of $$ iii) her friends are all tired of eating lasagna. Such is the dogged persistence and loyalty of my sister to her food places.

Casa Farro was lovely, the reviews all commented on the rustic, cosy ambience and such - red brick walls, solid wooden furniture and all. Me, I was like cool! Grungy Chandelier! and so many mirrors that Bloody Mary from Supernatural would have a field day. Grungy!Chandelier was interesting, a wooden ring with light bulbs hung from the ceiling - they looped the thick wire around the ring a la Chandelier design which was kinda adorable. Dinner was really good - roast duck pizza (my mom on the phone later: roast duck pizza?! does that really work?; Yes, I gush, it works beautifully. Roast duck, slow-cooked potatoes, onions, cheese, oh the love) and also gnocchi in osso bucco ragout. My sister was full, but I pressed for dessert because birthday!=cake! which is important. So we got tiramisu and a plate of biscotti, sis wasn't too keen on the biscotti but enjoyed the tiramisu - who wouldn't? Plus it was a pretty big serving, lovely expresso sauces mmm. My dad made a crack that one day he'll bring me to Fullerton to try their tiramisu: half the size, three times the price. Oh dad, &hearts;. The waitress was bubbly and friendly and reminded my dad of my aunt in her younger days. Heh. I suggested ice-cream (oh I know this awesome icecream place! my dad and sis: *look at empty tiramisu and biscotti plate, back up at me, and wave the white flag of surrender* me: bad teenage boy stomach, bad!).

My dad drove there so my sis got chaffeured back home. I cycled there and the bike wouldn't fit in the boot so had to peddle my way home. On the bright side, it might have worked off some of that icing sugar and tiramisu but ye gods, it was bloody cold and cars are freaky in the dark. The good thing about Melbourne is that all ways lead to home (angular, streets cutting into most other streets at 90 degrees) so I found my way to the city and navigated back home safely despite the constant terror of monster!buses! and ocassionally homocidal cars. 

A Little Night Music was wonderful, lovely gorgeousity made flesh! Okay, I exaggerate shamelessly - but the singing was top notch, as was the acting. The plot was pretty decent (very neat, I feel, for a play about mismatched lovers) and the set while not as impressive as some other musicals I've been to was just enough, there was no need for piling on overkill. The voices omg were so lovely - i think they sourced most of them from Opera Victoria, which explains the generally better than average calibre of everyone on stage - you could tell that everyone except for Desiree's actor perhaps, was musically trained. And Charlotte! and Petra! and Madame Armfeldt ... I love the humour and the sly overtones (F: my wife is married for 11 months and still a virgin! D: Yes...what!?! NO!; Henrik tries to kill himself and his v. young stepmom, the love of his life, sees him and her first reaction is: Oh Henrik! You're so comical!) and the awesome lyrics and and the music is so lovely and layered! &hearts; &hearts; I came out of the theatre and beamed all the way back home.

Uni is showing 1776 movie-musical, which is hilarious and fun and ABOUT THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! There is singing by stodgey men and songs about national birds (dove, eagle or TURKEY)! I am definitely looking forward to next tuesday. Musicals smoothe out the creases in everything in life: exams, missing and not finding people, frustration with trying to fiddle with world view, stupid administration systems, my backspace key of utter fail, computer programs+me fail etc. Though I did get the strangest craving for coke during the intermission, which is strange because I hate fizzy coke.

...

ESSAY + ME + DEADLINE + ANNOYING ACADEMIC BITCHFEST = PROCRASTINATION + FAIL + INEVITABLE LATENESS + CUPS OF TRIPLE SHOTS OF  BLACK COFFEE

PARENTS + AUSTRALIA = CAR ( POTENTIAL X 100 - NOT ALLOWED TO DRIVE) + HOMECOOKED MEALS (JOY X 100)

ME + COMPUTER + BERMUDA TRIANGLE = MY BACKSPACE NOW HAS PERIODIC FAIL

Hm, this almost looks like one of those cryptic puzzle things that you have to assign numbers to.

You'd think that if most of the students are going to log in and grab tutorial slots then they should have at the very least bolstered the very frail and hopeless servers. What's the point of all the high-techery if everything's just keeps crashing?

OBAMA won. : )

I was almost near tears, because it's such a significant moment in history. I'm not American, but it's just wonderful seeing someone decent rally people for a cause that I can believe in and with the message of hope and change that rings true; it's a promise bolstered by the strength of a united will that sometimes, if we all believe and do something about it, we can actually get what we ask for. Change for the better is, if we want it bad enough, possible. We aren't doomed to the status quo (realism in politics really gets me down sometimes). I figure at the very least America's foreign policy under Obama will be less disastrous compared to one under McCain anyway; I know that there'll be screw ups and disappointments along the way but the promise of honesty moves me (in his presidential speech where he acknowledges his humanity - there is a touch of vimes there; i know politicians all make the right motions in this regard, but it's a lovely touch there and I appreciate that) and his understated, cautious, calm joy in winning and the speeches ♥ (it was a beautiful, beautiful speech, btw). I'm blown away, because I've seen how many people have thrown their hearts into this campaign of hope. I wish him all the best, I've prepared myself for future graffes, but there is a small tendril inside of me something like hopedelightyeswecan that is singing and for the first time in a long while, time's halted for a second and the future of the world (dismal politics, forecasts of climate doom, inevitability of perpetual wars and all the problems of the world) seems a little brighter - a temporary rainbow in the horizon.

I will be able to tell my kids (if I ever do have any) that I lived through moments like these, deep-earth-rumbling moments where what was is redefined as what can be, where hope proves that it hasn't quite lost its value as a currency of promise and (because I'm a speechbuff) where speeches haven't yet lost their clarion calls for a bolder, brighter and greater vision.

Celebrated with bad burgers. But still. : )

I've been keeping myself fairly busy, so I haven't let myself just sit down for any extended period of quiet time. It's nearly 2 am here and since tomorrow is a holiday, I'm planning to do my MASSIVE WRITING DAY to email and post  and upload the few photos that I've managed to take(mainly me in bad lighting). 

I'll like to say thanks to everyone (Cass Wufan Denise Michelle Vanessa Syl who called (never did receive that text unfortunately) Faith Joey Sharmaine Sarah Yuelin Jasmine Luke Fabian Michelle Uncle Quee Uncle Tan Aunt Mary the nephews) who came to see me off. It was a big of a strange feeling because I've never done a 'call more than four people to come and gather due to something in relation to me' kinda thing. Ever. Seriously, I've never had like a huge class birthday party - the birthday lunch denise organised was probably the largest gathering of that sort (aside from last thursday's - i feel so strange saying last thursday, it seems so long ago and so distant) that ever happened to me. >.< So I was pretty nervy because I felt to some irrational extent that I was making a big thing about something that wasn't so big (which might go some length to explain the short notice thing). But THANKS YOU GUYS, because it was a beautiful, wonderful awesome memory that I brought to australia and it'll be something I'd think back often about and smile (perhaps randomly and weirdly in public places, but who cares!) Those that weren't able to make it, I STILL LOVE YOU. Also thank you Jas Yuelin Sarah <3333 for that wonderful night at Amara (which makes it sound like we were in some orgy, but not so racy lah, more like the PG version of drunken debauchery) thank you denise for that lunch, thank you wufan michelle joey faith and ying dan for the wonderful dinner and night out and helen for coming to see me.

Everytime I look at the letters or the presents or think of the people and the hugs, I get a really nice achey feeling (that perhaps says more about my masochistic tendencies than anything else). I can't really say thank you enough and I wish I could be there for your Changi departures or your pre-uni celebrations. 

I've got a pretty good handle on the emo at the moment, i guess it's all about active choice and reconfiguring the inside of one's brain wirings. The hardest part was probably when I crossed the first threshold at the departure gate and when I turned back and saw everyone on the left at the glass waving and just being there to see me off. That was when it properly struck me that I was going to do all this alone. I stopped the trolley and waved back, pushed it forward a bit and waved back, pushed it forward a bit and looked back then finally steeled myself and continued pushing and looking to my right instead. 

I read all the letters on the plane and smiled dorkily at them and chewed on Wufan's baked goodness and set there for a moment to let everything settle. I saw your book and opened it up as you said, Jas, but I didn't read through the whole book - because I really didn't want to start crying on the plane. (It is a lovely lovely gift though)

Because I don't want to be too sad really. Because sad has too many finalities that I don't really want to accept as inevitable. And really, I have this incredible opportunity in front of me and so many close friends that love me. And these are GOOD things, so why be sad when there is so much Good things to feel blessed about?

So instead I'll be achey XD

I'm going to carry that ache with me; but it's a good sort of ache, not a bad sort of ache. It's the kind of ache that gathers heavily in my chest (almost like a prelude to tears but not) and weighes me down in a good way (here I am thinking about the unbearable lightness of being hah!). This is an ache that carries all your best wishes and love, all my memories with you, all of your wonderfulness and friendships, a distilled concentrate of my time with you guys. It'll always be with me, whether in the forefront of my mind or not, and it's almost like the feeling of multiple invisible strings spanning from you guys to my heart, tugging at it from time to time whenever I'm thinking about you all (direct connection man). 

I haven't cried yet, perhaps I won't (not for a long time at least  - I've always been a repressive crier), perhaps I will when I see your pictures or reread your letters or touch your gifts. I've always been more of an achey heart person rather than a tears person anyway. But know this, that I love and adore all of you and always.  

I know my dad says all these cynical things about friendships and time and fading, but at least for now, keep the knowledge of this love as a truth of the moment, a truth of the present - and what are our lives but moments of the present all strung up together? So keep this as a Truth and I hope that when the loneliness hits, you'll have more than enough in your arsenal to fight it. 

It's 2.44 in the morning here. I'm such a night owl. I just cooked dinner for my sick cousin and I - pictures will be up soon so  you can all marvel at my incredible cooking skills - i made vegetable mountains. I met cool retirees on the plane - they'd just come back from an Eastern European tour and the guy who's like 70 plus still goes skiing and lawn bowling and stuff, while his wife goes to all the cultural stuff - plays, musicals, ballets, dances etc. What a life! He was really nice and friendly and gave me a quick geography lesson, so adorable. They were so happy when the air stewardesses came around serving hot chocolate and icecream. I guess they were a wonderful anti-emo weapon. I got their number! XD

I'm turning in now. The weather's not so bad today. I'm introducing my cousin to Rilke. 

Love and missing you all.
Veron

I'm a bit slow at spreading the news and have been scolded for it several times >.< So....

I am flying off on the 5TH OF JUNE to Melbourne! It's a one way ticket, so I have no idea when I'll be back! 

Flight details: QF 10 departing from Terminal 1 at 1945, so I'll be there at 1745 onwards. 
Arriving on the 6TH OF JUNE at an unholy hour of 0445 in the morning in Terminal 2. 

Much love to you all! MWAH

This is for Sarah (if she even gets on lj to see this) and Xi An as a cheer-you-up kinda piece. I mean, discounting the fact that there are still university results pending(zer Americas), scholarships to apply, things to do yadda yadda; school's OUT. The As are over and frankly the thought of no more morning assemblies (not that I attended much of them, anyway; or if any of you guys are temping as relief teachers, in which case, Ha)and well, some degree of freedom that comes out of having NO HOMEWORK (not that we had much, or did much, really) and...gaah, my point is well, take a breather - we are (kinda) free!

Springtime of youth, my little grasshoppers! So, smile a little, feel free to smirk at any passing primary/secondary/jc student/person-in-a-uniform and rejoice in the fact that we don't have to touch the books until at least 6 months later. :)




I started this piece thinking of what Xinxue and I were discussing about backgrounds and colours and after reading someone's post on the awesomeness of capturing a moment in photography - immortality to some extent. I finished it to the tune of Grace Kelly. Ha. Maybe something Popart next. Or not. My mother's first response was, 'bras don't have wrinkles like that' to which I replied 'Mother, that is not a bra'. Her second was 'I keep staring at her throat, is that your unintended focus of the picture?' Well, actually, I really like the green button...

Done in 2h45min. Terribly sketchy and I mussed the whole thing up because I figured ozymandias=egypt=sand=old=grainyeffect and also because I'm tired and it is now 2.54.

Because Xi An and I decided to play Lit trivia and I remembered how much I adored the poem

Because I promised myself I'll work in colour more

Also, I feel despair quite acutely.

Drinking black coffee (no sugar) might have something to do with it as well.

/cut midnight early morning ramblings/

Dammit. I have to go to work midnight today in 6 hours time.

And because I am particularly proud of these babies (painstakingly drawn out bit by bit - no pattern brush nothing >.<)





As evidence that:
i) I am not dead and rotting somewhere in Nebraska
ii) Contrary to popular opinion I have not been too much of a bum
iii) This journal has not been COMPLETELY abandoned >.<

Much love,
Veron

So. I'm going to take back all I said yesterday about how my birthday didn't make me feel any different - the actual delight only dawned on me close to midnight, emerging full blown the next day (which is today), granted a day late, but nonetheless, it's a wonderful and awesome feeling and I feel incredibly cheerful. It isn't so much being eighteen as opposed to a 'it's my birthday!whee!glomp!' kind of feeling. I feel like I'm on a sugar high (not quite at the insane stage of hairspray, but close enough that I'm feeling vaguely giggly, resisting the urge to beam repeatedly at my monitor and doing a jig in my chair while my dog pauses from her morning explorations to stare at her strange, strange bully-object - I don't think I qualify as her owner, more like, I'm her human and she's her own dog). Cheerfulness, that hasn't dimmed, despite my desperate attempts to ignore the piles of revision that has been building up and is ominously hovering in the horizon - and this is getting pretty literal, I'm afraid >.<
I'm writing these down, so that I can and will remember, which is the main purpose of this whole jizzamass.

Math was singularly depressing, as math always is. Saw rachael, sarah and syl and distributed birthday hugs. Next, out of the auditorium to meet up with liew qi and yuj and caught up with faith, shao and cherlyn along the way. More birthday hugs galore. Thanks for the presents and the books are pretty and cool and I was reading about the bloody chamber some days before and it was an interesting note of confidence.

The coolest thing was lunch, because it's probably the beginning of the crescendo (was going with surge, but that made me think of Bush, haha) that finally crashed on me at midnightish :) Denise surprised me with the whole lunch thing - though the waiter did give it away, but I didn't expect the rest to be there (at the corner of my mind I was wondering how we were going to meet during the course of the week, with everyone being busy busy busy with studies). So yay, and thanks you guys for being there and everything!

So we had a kinky-themed lunch, because sarah and helen have dirty, dirty minds and yuelin misinterprets my incoherent leaps of logic, and michelle and denise, worldly wise and weary, despaired at our lack of dignity. The chorus singing made me laugh till I cried, because helen and denise alternated between sounding like donkeys (they were trying to sing an octave or half apart - ended up growling the notes vastly more discordantly) while sarah, wincing at the background, was in charge of the suprano parts. Lemon meringue was delicious, I think I burnt my fingers while trying to put out a candle, conveniently forgetting the most important step was to wet your fingers and then pinch the wick delicately. But it was interesting and my finger didn't combust into flames, so I suppose the damage could have been worse. Denise's new doggy love looks like a mop though I'd grant that it has potential to be a cute mop and michelle despaired at my faulty memory with names (I end up not remembering the essentials and need prompts, my brain connectors don't seem to work the same way as most people's do >.<) People usually say, oh do you remember this guy/girl/person [insert name here]? The typical answer would be No and my pleading for a prompt, physical features or something to connect name to person. Then they'll be like, oh this guy who's got really long lashes or big eyes or something. And I'll frown and struggle into the deep recesses of my memory before emerging with oh, you mean the one with thick eyebrows or some weird detail! Then they'll be like [long pause and stare]...oh yeah.
Anyway, lunch was lovely, I blew out a candle, made faces with the lighter and practised my aim with helen by aiming chunks of candleswax, that denise has unearthed (barbarian!) from some decorative fixture, into empty cups - the waiters are going to hate us forever and ever.

Joey came by after lunch and before graduation started and I dispensed more Birthday hugs - I should just have a sign saying "Free Hugs!" taped across my back. Much, much love to Joey and take care of yourself and don't stress too much. Worst comes to worst, we can run off to Tahiti, where you'll come up with some cool discovery that will win the Nobel Prize and I'll practise painting the natives and chanelling van gogh and gaugain (and do the starving artist/experimentor thing together) while Ying dan (!) and Faith earn big money and support us for the good of human civilisation.

Dinner was funny. We plotted a food revolution because the teachers refused to open up the second round of tables for the students, though it was obvious the first row of buffet spread would not be able to satisfy the hung pangs of the entire Apollo faculty. We crowded around a cocktail table and the murmurs of a revolution were in the air as we sang - Do you hear the people sing? and debated between getting out of school for food or waiting for the long long queue to disperse. In the usual manner we had of deciding things, eventually three groups emerged. The guys and Adeline (who had cool shoes that night along with Michelle's shiny heels which were masquerading as boring office pumps) headed off to Thai Noodle House, a smattering of us went to Coro in order to get light snacks and drinks and the rest turned back and somehow managed to wrangle their way in order to get the teachers to open the second round of buffet tables.

Grad night was fun, then boring, then marginally more interesting and boring again. The guest of honour was our humanz senior from the early batches, and he was like, nice to know humanities hasn't changed that much - a wry nod to the crazyodd quirks that make up the HC humanz; and hi Mr Barnard, nice to know you're still alive and kicking, if a little bigger around the edges. The first speech reduced Hee to tears (though it could be much left of him to begin with because of the combined forces of Joy and Adeline - Joy: Tim-tam and Hee hee; Adeline: Whoohuh?; Hee = slain). Got Fish to sum up all of the HC experience, everything that HC means ladidah to him in a single word- no mean feat, but one has to sit through a great deal during grad night and he came up with it: growth. Which is similar to change though the latter is a more ambivalent entity than the former and is something that both terrifies and draws me in, because uncertainty is comrade in arms. I came up with something more irrevent: shit. Good shit, bad shit and bull shit, because hwachong can simultaneously feel like a horrible pit, yet the company you keep is the high that keeps you going and I believe that the friendships - everything, is something I want to remember and keep alive for as long as possible. And everyone that comes out of hwachong is schooled to varying degrees of competence on the last one. >.< The photo montage was done by the very amazing Greg, who is a whizz on such things, and as denise puts it, is totally like how we do things in 06a14: we have fun, make memories, happy days, sad days, but with an ineffably indie slant to everything. It was a lovely job and the third surprise of the night (the second being that my dad rushed here from work by cab in order to make it on time, love you dad <3) was a happy birthday message after the montage. Thanks so much.

Mr Miles presented the bears like babies. My earlier summation of 'we came here to wait around for 5 hours in order to collect a toy bear as the sum of all our endeavours' though accurate in the general gist of things, misses out the usual stuff that we don't quite have words for, or when we have our own word limits to adhere to. We did grad night our way - as much as we could get away with doing so: ignoring the black cross marked out by the cousellors, taking twice as long compared to a normal class, because a mysterious photographer appeared to take our individual photos as we beamed, along with Mr Miles, at the general direction of the audience, and the comic, cheerful scene between Mr Miles and Mingqiu! Dramatics of passion and response all on stage.

THE EXCHANGE:
MQ: Please accept this, Mr Miles for everything you have done for us! (CT sessions *cough* CT session *cough*)
Miles: Oh erm, thanks. (Gets History Boys Soundtrack)
MQ: *Pauses* [Appropriate moment to show, as a representative of our class, our warm affection for Mr Miles - which is warm, indeed. Michelle wanted to hug him onstage, but was worried about cameras and the rest of the onlooking teachers and staff] *makes a general/helpless gesture interpreted as: I guess I should hug you - in a manly way! - but this is fast approaching the realms of awkwardness*
Miles: (sotto voce)Oh dear. *backs away dramatically* (you're not my type)
MQ: *approaches*
Class: *cheers*
Miles: (gives up) Bends down a little and awkwardly hugs Ming Qiu - in a manly way! - with the obligatory thumps on the back
MQ: *smiles*
Class: *cheers*
Miles: *staggers back to seat* (should have had some alcohol before this: Dutch courage!)
The rest of the night was largely uneventful. I drew pictures for Sarah and Fish, because I was starting to get restless - maybe I have ADHD? Then took our religious fundamentalism notes and only finished the first page. Angsted about how we didn't get the one of those cool valedictorian speeches from someone funky. Fish sang his opretto - swan song! Sarah messaged Greg who was dying the slow death of boredom. Syl started drawing funkily. His style is fun and interesting! When the end of graduation was announced, we all stood up and threw our bears in the air - for lack of a better substitute. Then PHOTOWHORE.

Headed off to KAP with the remnants of our class, while Helen and I occupied ourselves by swaying drunkenly and making voices. Jasmine and Denise had an embarrassing encounter with the counter-persons, who thought they were lesbians - and they weren't doing anything! Hee, Jack and Fish tried to prove their manliness. Amanda got niaoed, which was inevitable once the brotherhood's out in full force. Michelle and Helen were nice to lean on. Waited with Amanda and Tristain for our respective parents to pick us up from KAP.

When I got back, the final surprise of the night was a vase of beautiful, beautiful red roses on my table. Happy Everything, was want it really meant, because my parents didn't specify whether it was for my birthday or graduation. The roses are in full bloom now (this morning, I mean) and they're still sitting there on my table as I try to figure out how to clear enough space on my table in order to get down back to the humdrum monotony of revision.
So good luck to all, be well and boy am I looking forward to the 26th of November.

omg. I'm DONE.

*awed*

After nearly 8 months of work, I'm finally done - drawing, inking, scanning, cleaning up, screentoning, edited etc.

(now all I have to do is to keep my finger away from the edit button and lock up my graphire until the A levels are over.)

P.S. Anyone interested in buying the comic anthology? It's 5 separate oneshots by each of us, on the theme of fantasy. It's quite pretty and fun as a whole, though the standard of art isn't all that consistent among the 5 of us. Granted, a first-time semi-professional effort but I'm really proud of what we have achieved. $7 with a jacket. Non-existent profit, since most of it goes to cover the printing and publishing costs. Should be in print by August.

After feeling nervy, twitchy and horrible (not necessarily in that order) and having forked out 27.60 bucks worth of library fines - Joey you should have gotten the money away from me earlier( it was supposed to go to the soccer fund, kill me now) - really what on earth possessed me to pay up I have no idea, perhaps lying to a librarian was not how I wanted to end my day and it was my way of waving a white flag of surrender to the combined forces of Murphy and teenage awfulness.

Anyway.

It wasn't really surprising that I ended up getting locked out of the flat, having absent-mindedly left the key on the table in the morning. Sat on the steps and proceeded to keep myself occupied. Apparently, I presented a rather sad picture (very latch-key, even though we had maids for the first 17 years of my life) and a neighbour on the floor below ours paused in her steps to exchange a few murmured words of sympathy and a shared wince. I found myself thinking almost wistfully that it'd be nice if there were neighbours we were close enough to, who'd invite you in for a coupa if you get locked out - you know, the sort we used to write in our baozhangbaodaos, those sorts who, while not necessarily overtly nosy, are nonetheless, not just people who live in the same estate, but something like family friends. The family closest to this ideal is the one right next to the lift landing, who gives us fresh fish (the husband is a fish seller) and my mom would return the gesture with fruits (we're heartlanders, after all). But aside from a nod here and a cheery salutation there, each family still remains in their isolated circles (ohhh ISOLATION, the favourite literary theme!) with only the most superficial interactions (of course, the RC continues to languish on the void deck).

Then an Indian guy spotted me as he was walking down the flight of stairs. "Hello," said he, "what happened? Parents not at home?" "Yeah, got locked out," I replied rather sheepishly - I could hear my mom's exasperation and really, who on earth had to depend on their long-suffering younger sister to come home to unlock the front door for them? He continues, " Hey, if you'd like to, you can go up to my home - my wife's up there - and sit down somewhere more comfortable until someone gets home. You'll just have to walk up about 3 floors. It's no problem, I can call her." Oh man, though I, wow - I'm like Aladdin, except without the genie! But I demurred, because hey, it feels a little awkward, and after all I didn't want to inconvenience them due to something that was entirely my fault. I figured that was the end of it and went back to my reading.

Several minutes later, a lady comes down the flight of stairs. "Hey, my husband told me and are you sure you wouldn't like to come upstairs and wait until someone gets home? You can sit down and do your work in the meantime." By then I figured it was as strong a prod the Powers-that-Be would give me and perhaps it'd be rather rude of me to refuse the lady's offer, since she'd gone down all the way just to get me. I was fairly nervy, of course, this having never happened to me before. Well, it's all about New Experiences, Veronica.

I just can't figure out what stopped that nice guy in his tracks and prompted him to offer a complete stranger (granted rather sad-looking and definitely unthreatening) into his home. His wife offered me a cup of apple juice - with ice! and a doughnut. I have never seen them before, they live on the 9th floor and probably use the lift on the 10th floor, and therefore, would hardly ever walk the entire flight of stairs down to the ground floor. Yet the neighbour who lived just a floor below never thought of this - she lend my aunt the use of her housephone once when she was handphone-less and was locked out too (almost becoming family tradition, that). It's not even that they are mean, nasty, thoughtless neighbours. They're pretty friendly, we know their names, we say hi every time we pass each other by, my mom talks to them, my dad knows her father quite well - but somehow, it just ends there. Neither side goes any further.

The entire event was interesting, surprising and more than a little touching. It's like the world figured, let's give that girl a break for once. It makes me even more wistful for that phantom neighbourliness (perhaps I've just been reading too much and watching too many sitcoms) - perhaps it's too late, too surprising, too jarring. So Velma (and your husband, whom I don't yet know the name of), thanks for the apple juice - with ice!(that still gives me a happy little tingles inside, because i'm strange like that), that lovely, lovely doughnut, the company of your delightful dog Max and nearly an hour's invitation into your home as well as the treat of the wonderful smell of home-cooked food.

My mom (in all her fruity glory) says she's going to bring up a watermelon.

So, what did i decide to do instead of
a) cleaning/clearing up my room
b) chores
c) math homework
d) finish drawing up those thumbnails for the comics due in jan?

I baked</b>!
...with my sister as my kitchen help(READ: MENIAL LABOUR/SLAVE).

Anyway, then it was off to my aunt's place for dinner and my uncle presented a 7kg turkey which he cooked in the oven for 3 hours.

It was exquisite and it was followed by ham, duck, beef curry, shepherd's pie, beehoon, fried rice, salads and jelly. Not forgetting of course, my not-exactly brownie but still chocolatey enough to qualify mini-cakes.

I think i'm going to explode from overeating.