Quote of the Post: "Computers will never take the place of books. You can't stand on a floppy disk to reach a high shelf." - Sam Ewing

Word of the Day: "reredos"

Random Playlist Song: Rameau - Les Indes Galantes - Contredanse

Almost wants me want to watch the opera. But the only time I saw an opera I fell asleep. Damn Italians.

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Thanks to Yucheng, I took longer to come out of the toilet than 3 teenage girls.

Oh, the indignity! The dishonour! The shame!

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A shining example

"Perhaps there is a lesson in Indonesia's experience not just for Islamic countries, but for one of Asia's other giants too. The party men who run China like to argue that democracy is unsuited to a poor, sprawling country that has no experience of it: chaos is what China's leaders say they fear above all. But it does now seem that Indonesia—a polyglot rag-bag of islands that emerged as a nation only through the accident of having been collectively administered by the Dutch—has given the world a powerful counter-example."

This is slightly too optimistic a view, I think. But anyhow we know chaos is just an excuse China's communists use to keep their claws on power. I'm sure they can come up with countless more sufficiently delusional reasons to justify their repression.

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"I squirted into the bottle 4 times" - Someone on transferring shampoo into a smaller bottle.

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Phlogger Comment from "hey": "please resurrect rgs yearbooks!!!!!!"

Answer from me: No. Have fun doing them yourself :)

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Dr Seamus Phan apologises for defamatory article on NKF

"If they make allegations that are defamatory and that are damaging to NKF, we will have to take action because our reputation is at stake and knowing what we have done for the citizens of Singapore, for the poor and for the 2,000 patients that we have, we have to take the necessary actions as required."

Now, where have we heard this (or words to that effect) before?

At least now we know what they do with all that money.

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It seems that either deviantart is easily hackable or people have easily guessable passwords.

Ivan is the 6th person to get hacked by this one hacker so far, and he lost:

- One blogger account (with 3 blogs deleted)
- One Gmail account
- One Yahoo! email account
- One DeviantArt account
- One Gondolend account
- One EZBoards account

Our condolences.

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I was analysing, with the help of some friends, the reasons why I was reviled where e'er I went in secondary school and JC, and how likely it would be that I would be similarly ostracised in NUS. Many thought I was over-reacting, but I do have a reputation, and I must have built up that reputation somehow.

It was, in a sense, unfortunate that I had (and have) many characteristics that teenage denizens of boy schools despise. A low pain threshold, weakness (both emotional and physical), being fat, singing Soprano 2, a loud scream... and various other flourishes considered unseemly.

Funnily enough, though I used to be called a "faggot" (a female maggot, as the official definition went) during lower secondary in RI, people now complain to me about other people whom they deem "faggots". Probably this has something to do with the fact that I no longer scream, but I'm sure there's more to it than that, for I still retain some, if not effeminate, then non-masculine tendencies. Perhaps extended exposure to post-pubescent girls: their mindless foppery, frequent hysterics and general screwed-up-ness did the trick - compared to them, I cannot hold a candle.

In JC, it was slightly different. Some of my reputation carried over (one of the disadvantages of going to a JC for which your secondary school is a feeder for), but I also became enamoured of strange hobbies, like playing with hard-boiled egg yolks. And I'm sure most of my various sobriquets did not endear me to the ones I named, fond though I might have been of them (the people) and of expressing my fondness for them with a warm feeling and smile everytime I used their nicknames. It was also probably most unwise to publicise said nicknames: I have a feeling almost all of them know what I called them, and not everyone appreciates being called "Deformed Student" (though I still maintain that I used that phrase fondly, not maliciously, hard though it may be to believe).

Someone pointed out that previously, I hadn't seemed to bother about my eccentricities and social gaffes and stiltedness. That isn't strictly true, but I suppose I have also decided to be pleasanter - if for nothing else, then to reduce others' distress. However, as always, there are some things I will not compromise on. Trade my various entertaining indulgences and quirks for the mere trifle that is social acceptance and popularity? No can do, bub. As Achilles declined to choose a long but dull life, so do I refuse the staid existence. No one is going to prise Wo-hen Nankan (aka the Asian Prince) from me, except from my cold, dead fingers! Though it would be nice to find some other fans of his, for I am alone in my adoration.

[Addendum: Apparently, there is a widespread misconception that I always choose to be different for the sake of being different. I must note that I would imagine that pretending to be weird when one isn't actually is an extremely tiring and tedious chore, and is absolutely not worth the effort it entails.]

There have always been the people who have taken the time to appreciate my insanity (if any of you are reading this - thank you). I think, too, that at this level, people should be at least a bit more mature and tolerant of weirdness and social inaptitude. Finally, if nothing else, I am assured that soon I will have other social misfits to keep me company during the cold winter days!