stolen colours

You know that Creative warehouse sale that people queued up for overnight on Thursday? Mosquito and her bf went again today (they were there on Thursday but didn’t manage to get anything) and kindly helped me get stuff that I wanted. My brother, greedy opportunistic fellow, requested a Nomad Jukebox 3. I just wanted the Nomad II MG. Mosquito called and told me that there were only 6 sets left and they were… PINK. This is rather reminiscent of my digicam; every time I don’t buy some gadget myself it turns out to be PINK. Thankfully, the computer world’s idea of PINK isn’t baby pink, but some kind of royal purple. Thanks so much Mosquito and ZL!

In the afternoon Father, Sister and I went to buy table lamps on offer from Best Denki. Just that we didn’t read the fine print in the advertisement and ended up going to the wrong branch. In the end we didn’t buy any lamps. After that we went to Carrefour to get photocopier/laser paper. Somehow stacks and stacks of blank paper give me this immense sense of satisfaction; I can’t say why.

Went out in the morning yesterday to Robinsons’ at Centrepoint, hoping to find something during the Great Singapore Sale that I could spend my $20 voucher on. Argh. I was there for almost an hour and COULDN’T find anything. That place sucks. Everything was going for $19.90. Ach.

In the afternoon I went back to school to play basketball with Shmeen, Weijia, Pui Mun, Xiujun, Weihao and Minwei. Correction. They played basketball. I was a mobile on-court impediment to motion who happened to touch the ball sporadically. But it was fun, anyway ^^;

After that, in sweaty sports gear, I went to City Hall with Weijia (waited ages for 171!) and looked at the Robinsons’ at Raffles City. No luck there either >.

Father came home with his new Volvo last night. I love it!!!!!!!!!!! It’s big and spacious and goes up to 230 km/h effortlessly. (of course he didn’t try 230 km/h) We went up for a late night spin and Mother didn’t let go of the handle at the top of the door even once. ^^;;;

friday five

1. How are you planning to spend the summer [winter]?
Enjoying my life before I don’t one anymore >.

To beingfunny: my sister is 13 this year, in sec 1. My siblings and I were born at 3-year intervals. My parents are geniuses ^^;

To qich: Oh, my area is pretty well-lit and I jog on the pavement of a relatively ‘main’ road that’s next to private housing. If anything happens there’re lots of people within screaming distance So I’m more worried about tripping over something and hurting myself. I once slipped and slammed into a parked car such that my back arched back suddenly. It hurt to bend my back for a week after that >grey: You poor, poor thing! I can’t believe your mum actually made you do it, too! *horrified speechless*

I am probably the worst older sister I know of. Sister wanted to come jogging with me tonight, so she went to the sock drawer before me and got her socks for jogging. I was in the kitchen discussing the ice-box’s recent inability to freeze ice with Mother. Then went to the sock drawer and couldn’t find the normal pair of socks that I wear for jogging – it’s the only pair I have that fits me and isn’t too slippery. Those coloured ankle socks and Hang Ten socks don’t give enough grip. It turned out that Sister took it, even though it looks distinctly different from her socks (normal white socks that all schoolkids have, and socks bearing the name of her school).

me: Do you think those socks are yours?
sis: I don’t know whose they are.
me: So you think they’re yours?
sis: No. *doesn’t have anything else to say*

This happened some time ago with my mug. Ach. I get bored of the standard fare at times and buy back little things to use e.g. my mug and my sock. In my household everyone has their own cup/mug, own spoon and fork… but my mug happens to be entirely different instead of just being a different colour. So one day she just took my mug and we had a conversation identical to the above one. Just that she said that she wanted to use something different.

Why am I so mad with her? I can’t exactly pinpoint the reason.

1. She just assumes that everything is hers for the taking. It doesn’t occur to her that that thing might actually, ACTUALLY belong to someone else. It’s different from thinking “Aha. That’s Jie’s mug. Mwahaha I’ll just use it anyway.”

1a. It’s not just a few instances. It’s rooted in her mentality. Other conversations go like this:

sis: Buy me a birthday present. (this was sometime in april)
me: Why? And what? (it was really out of the blue)
sis: Harry Potter Book 5.
me: No.
sis: WHY???????? *as if it is decreed that she must receive any kind of gift she desires*
me: I’m buying that for myself. I’m not going to get you another copy. It’s damn expensive.
sis: You’re so mean.
me: I’m not going to talk to you.

I can’t believe how she keeps assuming that the world revolves around her when I assure her otherwise every chance I get. (There are many, many more instances which I shall not talk about here.)

2. She gets a sense of satisfaction when she uses something ‘new’; happy that she’s innovative enough to want something non-routine. When it was I who actually brought in the new object in the first place. It’s kinda like she’s usurping what I am, and I don’t like that. I don’t know how to phrase it, and maybe I’m not being fair to her. (but the world isn’t fair. mwahaha.)

I’ve tried to remember the kind of person I was like at 13, but it doesn’t work. (13-year-old me was just plhu. 18-year-old me is plhu who has allowed masque and spleen to surface.) I don’t even contemplate morphing into the kind of nice sweet elder sister who just oozes unconditional love that shmeen and LL have. Perhaps I should change myself and be more forgiving instead of being so critical, but I just can’t bring myself to do it every time I think of her.

You are Revelation.

Which book of the Bible are you? at Quizilla

My abdomen is screaming at me. Y’see, Mother cooked soup for dinner (soup is a misnomer here because it’s actually a big pot of lots of thing that happen to be floating in liquid), and Grandmother brought over ginkgo-nut-and-barley dessert, so I gorged myself at the dinner table and couldn’t walk upright for 15 minutes after getting up. And since there were leftovers, Mother left the pots on the stove and I kept taking more helpings throughout the night. Ach. My alimentary canal can’t take it. I have the feeling that burping would help, but everytime I tried, liquid started to regurgitate, so I hurriedly stopped myself. I did think of vomitting, but halted it midway. The memory of retching is too painful. Ach. So I went jogging – this is why they say don’t eat anything for 2 hours before vigourous exercise – and could feel all that nutrition in my stomach sloshing away. I made it through the usual route safely. The night’s too cool to be spent indoors; it’s simply MADE for jogging. I wonder how much nourishment I’ll actually be able to absorb before my body decides enough is enough and expels everything. Ach.

Ach.
I’ve only gotten 4 episodes of Haibane Renmei.

What happened on Saturday was actually something everyone else would find insignificant. It’s small, but it was the result of a serious flaw in the way I get things done. So I got overly upset; and it was also one of those this-is-the-last-straw! things. I’m not going to elaborate further. But thanks beingfunny, qich, mosquito (i’m so sorry!) and firefly. Btw I have now gotten it, so I’m back.

It’s been great cutting myself off from the social Internet. Instead of wasting time on ICQ – waiting for people to reply, thinking of what to type in replies – and visiting and refreshing blogs in the hope that they’re updated, I’ve been watching anime fansubs and reading manga that I should have done long ago. Also found some nice Photoshop tutorials on the Internet. I really should start removing people from my ICQ visible list; it just keeps growing and I really have to do something about that ^^; Y’see, when I’m on ICQ it doesn’t always mean that I want to chat. I just like being ‘connected’ and knowing who’s also online with me. So that I know I have company on the Internet and I’m not just a lonely surfer.

1. Did a new batch of stencilled bookmarks this morning. This time round I have all 3 primary colours, so they look better than the previous batch – GOOD.

2. Tried to make spaghetti again. Mother added too much meat into the sauce – BAD.

3. Great revelation at 4pm – VERY VERY VERY BAD.

4. Bumped into Peixian at Clarke Quay – GOOD.

5. Watched Sondheim Revue and enjoyed it very much. Must borrow West Side Story sometime – GOOD.

6. Quarreled with Father over great revelation – BAD.

7. Stupid sister makes snide remarks – BAD.

Will be on social internet hiatus from blogs and chatting till I get it. Am now deleting ICQ from desktop and start menu and bookmarks to blogs.

dragon’s winter
Dragon’s Winter is about twin brothers. In the world there are changelings – humans who can transform into animals when they come of age. It’s passed on in the blood. So the lord of Dragon Keep had twin sons, the elder of which is a dragon changeling, while the younger is pure human. The elder son is the one I really like… don’t want to spoil it for potential readers ^^; The younger son is jealous, goes off to learn the black arts, gets corrupted by power, and steals the core of his twin’s power. Then he sets up a Black Citadel and starts sending his beasts to kill off his brother’s people. A fairly simple plot, but I love her characters. (of course there’re more than the twin brothers.) Highly recommended!!!

to beingfunny
Thanks for your comments It does help to have the perspective of an older person. And nope, I’m not allowed to drive anyway in the first year without a parent by my side…just wishful thinking on my part *sigh*

to stejuste
I’d rather not eat peanut butter ‘cos it’s rather…calorie-laden ^^; And it sticks and leaves a ’sandy’ feeling in my mouth. Btw I haven’t started on Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand yet ^^;;; Still trying to finish reading whatever books I don’t own. And The Order of the Phoenix is coming out today, so I guess I’ll be reading that once I get my copy ^^;

the harry potter craze
I guess Harry Potter is big mainly because of the times we live in, where everything is ultra-commercialised and the media just penetrates every part of our lives mercilessly. If books like The Chronicles of Narnia and Alice in Wonderland had been newly published today I’m sure they’d have gotten the same hype. As to why Harry Potter is more successful than its peers, I think the reason lies in good story-telling, characterisation, a brilliant backdrop of the wizarding world, and the deep exploration of themes. I tried reading Artemis Fowl, but gave up: it’s too smart-alecky and soulless. Nothing resonates – to quote Catherine Lim on TV last night.