Alrighty. Sorry it’s been such a freaking long time since I last posted. Got a bit lazy. Kept thinking to myself, wanna update, update, update, but never actually got round to it. Short ones this time round cos I don’t quite remember anymore. Let’s see… since the last time I updated I’ve done:

Writing exercise
Got selected to go for a writing exercise as part of the process for a trainee post. Since they haven’t gotten back to me yet, I’m assuming it’s good news and they haven’t just cut me out like that. Fingers crossed. It’s a good opportunity. I think I did not too bad for the test. Think my writing style was a bit blogger-ish but then again, that’s my writing background – blogs. Hope it didn’t count against me.

MJC reunion
Went with Duan and TY for a reunion for the MJ pioneer batch. It was a BBQ thing held in school. That was pretty interesting. Haven’t been back there for years. Last time I went was… something to do with the choir, ages ago. They’ve landscaped the place now. That bare patch of grass that was outside our classroom is now turned into a nice relaxing spot, like some tropical getaway place. Of course, I was wondering who actually sits there, given that the cushions on the outdoor furniture have to take quite a beating from the weather. But it’s a beautiful spot.

Not many people turned up for the reunion though. Think it wasn’t well publicised. I was actually quite worried that it was going to be just a small thing where the cliques were meeting, specifically the science students. A certain guy I used to know wasn’t there, though a certain guy Duan used to know was there. I wonder if one can really get over a crush. Oh well, I’m over that guy by now. I think. (He wished me happy birthday on FB the other day. ok, I’m pathetic.)

Clar was there and Jerome and I think that was it from my class. Haha! Clar mentioned that we might be doing our own class gathering soon with Naresh. He’s not at MJ anymore. Pity. Ms Lai is still principal, despite rumours to the contrary. She was at the BBQ. Didn’t talk to her though. Thought she was going to say a few words, but she didn’t. A few of the teachers were there. None of mine though. Lots of our teachers aren’t they now. Dr S still is though, yay! No one should miss being taught by the Goddess herself. Pity Mdm Yew, the Queen, has left the school too. She was fabulous. No other word for her. Dr S too.

Fame @ Cineleisure
Went to watch the remake of Fame at Cineleisure also with Duan and TY. Duan was running late and we were waiting for her to have lunch because she said she has vouchers. 15 minutes before the show was due to start she calls and says we shouldn’t wait for her cos she’s gonna be later than she thought. So the two of us ran down to BK and grabbed burgers and inhaled them down. Then went up to meet her at the door but couldn’t find her. Turned out, she was on the wrong floor. Haha! The movie wasn’t very good. It was entertaining but not interesting. Went home and found the original Fame movie on Youtube. So much better lor!

TY made non baked blueberry cheesecake and brought some for us and we sat in the Kopitiam and ate it after the movie. It was yummy. Of course, by then it had somewhat melted but not as bad as when I made it. I admit, gelatine was missing from my recipe. Stupid recipe. Anyway, she’s a good baker. She should improve her skills then we can open a cake shop some day. That would be fun.

Saw Michael Jackson while I was Cineleisure. No, I wasn’t just saying it to see if you were still paying attention. Haha! Ok, it was some guy dressed up as MJ but, in the circumstances… I was sitting in the waiting area and there was this screen playing and replaying trailers of This Is It. Suddenly I look up and, “Holy shit! Michael Jackson lives!!!” I spot the guy at the end of the corridor, half hiding behind a door. Looked like him with the horrendously short pants, white socks, sunglasses, curly hair, white skin, armband, shiny shirt and entourage of 3-4 guys in black suits. Gave me a surprise. Anyway, like I said, an impersonator probably on the way out to the promo event outside. Interesting though.

Birthday
And so, I’m now officially 23. Doesn’t feel any different, getting older. Didn’t really do much but that’s ok. I’m not exactly keen on doing anything super special or anything like that. Given that I’m at the point where I’m actively avoiding people cos of my unemployment, I don’t see anything to celebrate about. Oh well. Duan gave me a set of penguin bath accessories though. No idea what to do with them but the penguins are cuuuuuute!!! Looking for somewhere in my room where I can display them.

Halloween
Halloween was yesterday. It wasn’t that bad, given we don’t really celebrate Halloween here. First I ‘organised’ a ‘party’ at the Moulin Orange. That was funny. When the ladies over at the WMS start getting all excited about things, it gets pretty hyper and over the top. Haha! That made my morning actually and really got me in a Halloween mood.

Then it rained in the afternoon. Not so good. Cos in the evening I was meeting the girls to go for the Amanda Palmer “Graveyard Party” gig at Arts House. Some people dressed up but we didn’t cos the rain just dampened the mood. Yeah right. We just didn’t bother lah. Haha! It was supposed to be an open air event. We were monitoring the weather and seeing if it was worth going down. We did, in the end. But the event had been moved indoors. It was… interesting. Think it would have worked better outdoors though. Outdoors, it would have had a whole different vibe. Indoors, it became more of a showcase. We sit and listen, she stands in front with spotlight and sings. Amanda Palmer is really quirky and energetic and kind of a fun personality. Her music wasn’t really my taste but it was unique. Different.

Btw, for those who don’t know, it was a part of the Singapore Writer’s Festival. I had actually signed up for updates cos of the Neil Gaiman events but didn’t manage to get tickets (gave up eventually). Amanda Palmer is Neil Gaiman’s girlfriend. Think I saw him lurking in a corner during her show but I can’t be sure cos I only saw a glimpse of his profile. Haha! Closest I’m gonna get to a real author.

Duan and Sumi says they enjoyed the showcase, which was good. Was worried it might bore them. Apparently it’s Sumi’s kind of music so that’s good. Not a waste of an evening at all, though I wish I could’ve stayed and hung round longer with the girls.

Church
Which brings me to the next point. These days, I go to church on sundays wishing fervently that I didn’t have to. 9am mass on a sunday morning just kills an antisocial girl’s chance at a social life. Seriously. For example, the night of the MJ BBQ I had to watch what I ate and leave early cos I had to cantor the next day. Not sure what the point of that was since the musician forgot to lower the key and I ended up frantically grasping to reach high D at 9.15am. I managed it in the end, though. Yay me. Even though the further into the song it went, the more shaky my voice got. I’m an alto!! Once, I sang tenor!! Sigh. I think I gotta train my voice to wake up earlier. It usually wakes up after the gospel where I tend to zone out and ‘power nap’.

Talking about zoning out, last week during Fr K’s homily, I was so sleepy I literally zoned out. Like I think I went into micro sleep or something. Sleeping with eyes open, whatever. When I snapped out of it, I realised he’s STILL talking away in his extremely soothing monotonous voice. I’m sure he has a really good point to make – he’s a good preacher – but his delivery is just so tedious. I feel sleepy just thinking about it.

Then, last night, we (Duan, Sumi and I) were really tempted to go to the Asian Civilisations Museum Fright Night event after the Amanda Palmer thing. It was free admission after all, and Halloween and it was there. But, I had to rush off cos it was 11pm and this morning I was due to conduct at mass. Again, wished mass weren’t so early in the morning. Had headache for most of the night and I resisted taking Panadol until around 3.3oam. Then couldn’t take the pain and discomfort anymore and popped the pills and fell asleep. Super reluctant to wake up when my alarm clock rang.

Anyway, went to church and did what I had to do. It was strange, conducting again after such a long time. It’s been years. My arm aches. Gloria was pure torture. Finally got the hang of it about half way through mass but unfortunately by then, my arm began to really ache and I couldn’t really lift it too high. Yeah. Josh was giving me panicked looks during his song and that worried me in case I came in wrong or what. Both of us are unused to what we’re doing (me conducting and he playing). But he says that’s just his face when he plays the organ. Lol!

Other miscellaneous stuff
November has come round. That means it’s another round of Nanowrimo. OMG! Was actually not sure if I was going to take part this year cos I was already working on a story. Decided to take part but I’m only starting counting from where I left off. Not sure if I can manage another 50,000 words, even though there’s still a lot to write. Currently undergoing writer’s block. It’s one of those bits where you know where you want the story to go but no idea how to get it there. I just wrote about 2000 words which I think about 3/4 of it is pure crap. But that’s the point of Nanowrimo. To just write. Editing will come in December.

Been watching House MD on Tudou lately and I blame TY entirely. She introduced the show to me at a time when I had finished watching Grey’s Anatomy and Doctor Who and Project Runway and was fishing around for another good show to watch. It’s not too bad, though the earlier seasons were better. I’m up to season 5 by now. *indifferent shrug* I recognise that actor that plays Dr Wilson. He’s the guy that was on Dead Poets Society. I looked it up and was shocked to find out that it’s been 20 years since DPS was made. TWENTY. That’s practically a lifetime ago. But the message of it is still going strong today. Wonderful. That reminds me, if that character Neil didn’t die in DPS, he would be the same age as Dr Wilson now AND Neil’s parents in the film wanted him to become a doctor. And he sorta did. Haha!

Got the next book in the Christ the Lord series called “The Road to Cana”. I think the second book’s better than the first, though I can’t be sure cos I sped read through the first book as part of my mental block against all things religious. Ok, I enjoyed the second book up until the scene where Yeshua (to use the name given in the book) starts collecting the disciples. And, apparently there are a lot of people in first century Israel named John, Joseph and Mary. I lost track of which variant of the name they were talking about. I like how Anne Rice wrote that Joseph (husband of Mary, mother of Yeshua) died in Matthew the toll collector’s tent. It explains why Matthew is the gospel that has the nativity story in it.

Had a thought while I was reading about the part where Yeshua goes into the desert for 40 days after his baptism in the river by John the Baptist his cousin. Entirely non religious and probably stemming from the fact that I watch too many medical dramas but I was thinking, technically it’s not possible for a human to go into the desert and fast for 40 days and nights and not die of starvation, dehydration, heat stroke and/or hypothermia. I think this story’s in the bible but, given the above technicality, then the temptation by the devil and all that can be written off as hallucinations and Yeshua is a delusional guy who happens to have some kind of medical powers or something like that. Whatever. Just a thought.

Ok, I think that’s all. Gonna go off and watch Flash Foward now on TV.