Chemistry Blues

Had my first chemistry content upgrading yesterday. Six hours of chemical conundrum packed in one afternoon. What can i say? My head almost exploded.

The lecturers were not teaching rocket science, but at that rocket speed they were shooting terms, theories and formulae, I left the lectures more confused than enlightened. Within six hours, we covered five chapters. Or rather, we zoomed through them. To give you an idea how fast the lectures were going, here's what lecturer A said: "Yes, i'm going very fast. I'm covering in three hours what i'm supposed to cover in 24 hours actually."

When lecturer B was teaching, i just felt like leaving the room at one point. My mind was fighting a massive war, trying to sieve through the plethora of information to make an itsy-bitsy sense of things. Lecturer B was basking in the glory of glorious Chemistry, speaking with impassioned gusto about the subject. The only problem was this: nobody understood what he was saying at one point. The quiet laughters amongst us were probably mocking the absurdity of the situation and there was an invisible sense of camaradarie even though we did not know one another. A sense of comradeship knowing that we were all in the same boat. Ok, i'm not alone. That's cold comfort, but definitely better than nothing.

I think i might do better with self-study. BUT they are taking attendance for the lectures. So i'll be fighting a few more wars in my mind for the next few weeks. And the reason why I'm writing this blog is cos i've been trying to make some sense of Molecular Orbital Theory and i couldn't. I needed to vent my frustrations. Bond order, molecular orbit(MO), bonding MO, antibonding MO. Any kind soul out there who can explain all these things to me? Not at rocket speed, please! I'm not cut out for this.

A Pot of Laughter

Things that tickled me yesterday while i was reading the papers:

Life!
1) "Two points below bird flu"
-- Chat-show host Jay Leno on President George W. Bush's popularity rating.

I can't wait to see his butt out of the White House. Really don't fancy the idea of the world's most powerful man flaming antagonism and war with a frivolous click of his fingers.

2) Angelina Jolie is expecting Brad Pitt's baby and is a "presumable shoo-in for Sexiest Offspring Alive".

Before the baby is cute, it is sexy. Talk about projection and extrapolation. Aren't things going too fast?!

The Straits Times, Prime section
3) Salesman charged with appearing nude
The 29-year-old is arrested after his neighbours complained that he walked around naked in HIS flat. He has been charged with nine counts of appearing nude in public view in a PRIVATE place under the Miscellaneous Offence (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.

Is the bathroom the only place to be nude in Singapore then? Pity the nudist-wannabes. Isn't it scary that your house is considered public as long as people can see you from their flats? Drape your house well, you nudists out there! Make it as air-tight as possible! Don't even let an ant in, in case it's a peeping tom sent by your neighbour. Anyone said anything about the remnants of privacy in Singapore?

No title

My second sis is trying to create havoc in our house again. Creative havoc that's bound to change our house for the better. Heehee after doing up our living room last year (oops, it's was the year before the last!! 06 now! 06 now!) , her prying eyes are now set on our dressing/ piano/study room. Come week after next, the room will be ready, with the new cabinets, dressing area and stuff! She's drafting the layout for kitchen and planning to renovate it in June. Definitely crossing our fingers that our mum won't complain about the massive earthquake.

This deliberately progressive renovation was our clandestine plan to redo the house without our parents realising the FULL extent of it, until everything's over. And once everything's over, there's nothing they can do about it. Ha. First, living room. Next, our dressing room. Then the kitchen and our snoozing room. Very, very progressive. Well, they can't blame us for hiding it from them because we know they'll never agree to the renovation. Hahaha. Luckily they are non IT-savvy folks and they certainly have no idea what blogging is about to read my blog :P. Shhhhh...

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Officially down with cough and flu. Ehh, that's just after one week of school, doesn't seem to speak well of my immunity system huh? But i'll like to think it's b's fault since he's the only person around me suffering from flu at this point in time. He must have spread the lurking, nasty virus to me. I certainly hope it's not the I-hate-school-and memorising syndrome regurgitating in my system cos that certainly doesn't bode well for my nie life. Oh, in case you might like to moan and groan with me, my Tuesdays are officially Chemistry days now. It runs from 12: 30pm to 6:30pm, with a ten-minute break in between. (What the ....??!!!) We're supposed to cover 60% of NUS year-one syllabus from now till end Feb, with a test in early Mar. I thought it was an April Fool's joke, but apparently i was the only one who wanted to be fooled. My lecturers were dead serious. April Fool's Day is officially dead, according to them.

Colours of My Day

Orange news today:
Another happy bombshell piece of news landed on my laps today. Yeah, the kind of bombshell that makes u wanna confirm the news ten times before u allow it to finally seep through you. Congrats!! I'm really, really happy and excited for u!! U noe who u are. :)

Black news today:
Logged into my student account today, found out that i am registered for 9 courses. And i have a feeling that i'm supposed to clear all by end May. Hmmm, couple that with my piano theory exam in Mar, practical exam either in Jul or Nov. My lindy performance end Feb. Ehh, i certainly hope i won't suffer from indigestion anytime soon. Really sounds like an insurmountable amount of work. Pardon me if you hear me belch and/or fart incessantly for the next six months. :(

You Think You Know Me?

Things you probably don't know about me:
1. Never sat on a viking/ rollber-coaster/ other hell rides. Don't intend to. Never will. The only ride i ever sat was the water coaster at Haw Par Villa and that sealed my decision to never try any of those hell rides. I felt my heart popping out and my bones disintegrating when i tried the water coaster. I thought i'd get over the initial fear. So i tried it for five times straight. The answer remains a BIG NO.

2. Crocos are the most hideous creatures in my books, far worse than other cannibals. Surreptitious creatures with slitty eyes -- pretending to be logs -- that pounce on preys that are unaware of their presence. Absolute fakos. Probably cannot reconcile the fact that camouflaging is nature's call for the very ugly-looking predators.

3. Thought i was a super human when i was young, that i could be well and alive and still stand on my feet after jumping down from my house on the 19th floor. Thank goodness i wasn't curious enough to try and find out, though i was pretty tempted to on a few occasions.

4. Never had a manicure or pedicure done in my life. I really think it's a waste of money. Detractors would say once you try one, you'll have it no other way but i beg to differ. I'll use the money to satisfy my tummy any time. I can take care of my own nails.

5. Am fascinated by the vastness of the universe, by how we are all smaller than specks of dust in this marvellous scheme of things, by how distances between planets, solar systems etc. have to be calculated in light-years when we mere earthlings do it using metres, yards, etc. A very humbling thought.

6. Tried to blackmail my sisters to do my bidding by threatening to run to my parents and cry when i was young. What was i thinking?!?

7. Have weird dreams. Used to dream about vampires, ghosts etc. Dreamt about being a mouse getting chased by an eagle. Being involved in car accidents. BUT had sweet dreams too. Most memorable: dressed in a Victorian dress, dancing in a huge ballroom with Mr Prince Charming. Don't ask me how he looked like. I didn't manage to picture it.

Hmm...more about other stuff in time to come.

Brand New Me?!?

Have this impulse to write something on New Year's Day and am trying to beat the midnight hour to blog something before 2nd Jan steps in. Sometimes, it's just fun to do things on impulse, to do whatever you feel like doing at that very moment, with that spirit of insouciance. It's feels liberating because sometimes we just try so hard to live up to expectations. Expectations of whatever sorts. Have no time for 2006 resolution cos time is running out. It's about five minutes away from Jan 2. But I'll try to put some resolutions down.

1. To be happy

2. To not think too much about things that are beyond my control. (Trying very, very hard to do that. I wish somebody can remove my brains before going to bed so that i can sleep better at night)

3. To give more than to receive. (I think i've been receiving more than i've been giving all these while.)

4. To be much more organised. (Am a very messy person. Used to be very neat. My "neat" cells have somehow degenerated. Absolutely no idea why. Hey but i always know where to find my stuff still!)