Okay, okay. Maybe it's because I wanted a better username. Or maybe it's because my parents were complaining about the current ones I hold. Again.

I decided the heck with it, I might as well do a shift before it gets even more difficult to do so.. That said, the fanfiction.net pen name will be changed as well [i'll update the links, don't worry] - the only thing I'm unable to tamper with is my dA username, so only that will be left as 'fantasticbouncygirl'. Otherwise, I'm trying to unify all my stuff online under one hopefully permanent name. ><

But I'll be leaving this LJ here up - for archiving purposes, as well as the sake of reminiscing. The new account can be found at robotlove.

I've got most of the admin stuff done - all of you guys on my f-list have been added [this includes communities], add me back as you please. (:

See you on the other side.

Adios.

Eragon was okay!
Yeah Sure I would've loved more action, but other than that it was pretty fair. I think what weakened it was the script/ directing, not so much the cast. The cast can act, if you ask me.
And Jeremy Irons IMO saved the whole thing with his rendition of Brom. I didn't tear when he died, though. I did while reading the book.

---

Aunt Kimberly came over yesterday evening, together with Tyler and Cameron and her husband -in the rain- just to drop off a few bags of cookies and say Merry Christmas.

Funny. They don't even know us all that well - just through Sa Kor [my third aunt].
I thought it was really nice of them. Now these are the little things that make our Christmas warm and bright...

... I've also realized that the gingerbread cookies are HIGHLY addictive.

I need to get the recipe. Heck, goodness knows, I need to start spending more time in the kitchen as it is.

---

Oh and some lizard shat on my bath towel. I am not in the least amused.

I am no longer watching Eragon.
Not today anyway. Yan pulled out because of 百万宝, and I guess Mom's no longer that keen anymore.
Yikes, would it hurt just to enjoy some theatre time with one another as a family, with surround sound and etc and just enjoy a movie like Narnia for once...?? I mean granted LotR will always be number one, no fantasy movie can ever replace it, but I'm still interested to just.. see what it's like for myself.

..I shall stop before I go ranting again.

o7 approaches, and I guess you ultimately start to realize how close to October you're coming to, and how much time you have left to fully cover eight subjects.

The Math, Chinese, and Biology need serious working on. And heck... human-s freak or no, I still need to revise those, too.

I'm likely going to have to put aside all leisure and seriously get cracking.
oh yeah, I can say that now... let's see how much I can stick to it. ><

You probably won't be seeing much of me anywhere else but here from now on.

That said, I feel like another clean-up is due for this thing. Hm. I'm leaving all the silly rantings at the start of the holidays up, though. For the heck and the sake of it. Huzzah.
The layout, however, is definitely starting to feel old. ><

And after this... back to homework.

Goodness, there she goes again, driving me crazy.
It's wonderful to have a younger sister.

OOkay.

Camp was... fun.

Christmas was... also fun in the end, anyway. The family gathering somehow didn't turn out as appealing as it usually is, but overall I guess I can thank the YM for cheering me up.

Now, on to homework and revision... ><

Ooh, but Eragon tomorrow. I heard it wasn't all that great after all, but I'm still interested to take a look. ^^

Merry Christmas, ya'll.

Can somebody please tell me HOW on earth I actually churned out nine whole chapters worth of a lame, kiddish-ly worded and overly-hyper Danny Phantom fanfic and still managed to get a very fair amount of success over ffn??????

Yes, of course I went back to look at Sparks again.

And the more I read, the more I couldn't believe my eyes.

Oh dear.

I'm now tempted to delete it.

But then of course I won't. 184 reviews [all positive] does not warrant one.
I shall just accept that that was the work of a fourteen-year-old fangirl still trying to get her writing style into proper flow, hence the lack of maturity in it.

Granted it's matured considerably by now, though ten years down the road I think I'll probably look back and want to delete all my fics..

Yowza.

That's my new favorite word.

Whoa they got a revamp for the post to journal page? Interesting.
Anyho, I'm still pooped. TOFU was.. fun. a little crazy, but really exhausting. And I don't mean the running about. There wasn't that much of it. But you try standing almost the whole day, raking squashed watermelon, papaya and orange off the church carpark tiles, and setting up and keeping tables repeatedly. My legs were killing me. Ay. >< And I never figured those tables at church with the foldable legs are actually as heavy as they are. I mean okay, the weight's bearable enough, but they certainly don't LOOK that heavy. Nearly squashed my toes two times.
Came back and crashed but there was some argument between my mom and Indra this morning [I think] which woke me up and I couldn't go back to sleep, for the one time that I'm allowed to sleep in.
A few small things went kinda wrong here and there.. but Marcus and Ber said we did good, so..

One thing's for sure though - NO MORE FRUIT BOMBS NEXT YEAR.
Okay wait. There won't even be an actual full-day TOFU event anymore next year. Hmm. But I guess it's not Ben's fault.. You can't tell how big a mess will be made eXACTly and how many people will actually enjoy it.. can you? At least they'll/ we'll know not to use that game the next time around.

Was really tempted to flour Carmen after seeing that Jing Yan got attacked anyway, but then she didn't being an extra set of clothes. Oh well. It's not like they just sat and took photos all day.. Hahah. So I spared them. -grins.

I AM TIRED. I DON'T WANT TO DO MATHS.

..but I have to.

Life is unfair.

Well.
Thanks to Bertrand, I've:
- Gotten new resolve for persevering in A Maths instead of dropping it - despite his insistent pushiness - which was a little scary actually, haha. I might as well just take it - then if I'm really that desperate I can drop it before prelims or something. heehee. xP
- discovered how hilarious Comm meetings can actually be when he's around. Boy.

Thanks to Jing Yan, I've:
- discovered that I can take IB [by going to ACS(Independent) of course] after O Levels, INSTEAD OF A LEVELS! More options. Whoopee.
- possesion of my own Final Straw and Eyes Open.

Thank you very VERY much, both of you. I appreciate it. ^^

Oh yes. And JERRY ONG came and preached today's message.. I didn't even link it as THAT Jerry until I saw the guitar pictures.. :P He was quite good, actually. I liked it. :)

In short, I shall vote today as the best day I've had in the past two weeks. x)

Now I just have to worry about homework, TOFU, Camp, my own revision, my Walk, and the piece I'm planning for Christmas...

Okay, so it's not exactly the most relaxed December ever, but i'm in a good mood right now.. better not spoil it. Heh. xD

>< Okay, so this is long overdue. As usual, I shall use the cliched "been busy" excuse.

But here's the Thailand trip [and a little after that], in a brief rundown..

- It was mostly pleasant, temperatures were wonderful
- Although Chiang Mai can get so cold in the night and mornings that you can actually see your own breath
- Accomadation wasn't half-bad - in fact the first place we stayed in [2 nights] had such beautiful flora and landscaping and was even colder (it was in the hills)that it almost didn't seem like Asia The only thing was that the toilets of our rooms weren't too jazzy. Hm. :/
- I failed my revision at horse-riding. Long story short, my bum hurt for two days (I didn't even know IF I was in the right position) and I definitely need more lessons. The ponies were okay, though. But horses would've been nicer, albeit more difficult to handle, as always. ><
- The WEEKLY [aHEM, emphasis emphasis emphasis on WEEEEEKLY.] Night Bazaar makes for GREAT clothes and accessories shopping. For your sake, folks, if you ever are there in Chiang Mai on Sunday night, THIS is the ONE time you should go for impulse buying - if more than 50% of you WANTS it, GO FOR IT. Don't be like me. Oy. Major regrets there now, I shan't say anymore.
- Food there is wonderful & wonderfully priced, but be careful of funny tsating seafood if you have weak stomachs like me. Ay. >< Oh, and BRING MEDICATION. Thank goodness for Mom's over-preparedness of course, that really paid off for once. x) you never know, do you?
- Mom and Dad have suggested we start up a whole blog with tips inclulded just for our trip this round - my sister has started it [it's still in the very initial stages] but here ya go, if you're really interested.. http://the-chiang-mai-trip.blogspot.com . Otherwise, that's my little holiday overseas in a nutshell... You can check the blog for the updates on the rest. :)

The day we went back [thursday] well.. think Lemony Snicket.
- I still had my stomach upset + 2 throbbing ulcers [hmm... lack of hydration and too much heaty stuff?? *sheepish grin*]
- I lost my brand new visors on the cab while rushing to Farewell. They were PURPLE-TINTED, too. I AM SO STUPID. Dammit. Hao xin tong ah.. [translation = how my heart aches...]
- Farewell was way hectic.. though of course I hope ma'ams and the juniors had fun...
- I came back and clipped my fingertip while trying to bolt the padlock in the dark so hard it bled.
- Next morning I woke up generally okay but then DAD, was in one of his.. moods again and breakfast was spoilt entirely for me.
- It lasted all the way till evening with Mom joining in considerably, too.
- I realized how little the parentals understand my sister and me and vice versa. Long story. You begin to give up trying to explain yourself after awhile. Sigh.
- There's still no news from my lost sunglasses report
- But basically let's say that there ARE times when you really can't stand the family/life you've been born into despite how you're supposed to accept it as God's perfect will and all - and this is a perfect example.
Sorry. I'm still pissed off here.

***this was taken from my personal journal entry dated 24th Nov, Friday - things have cooled down abit by now of course, though I'm still of the opinion that they JUST don't understand me alot of the time.***

---

HAPPY FEET ROCKS, despite the cliched plot. I don't care what anyone else says. It's time they learnt how to sit back and relax and appreciate a good movie for what it is and stop being so critical of every storyline of every movie they watch.
I shall say no more... xD!

---

I... am WAY behind in schoolwork and revision. Oh yes, and Mr. K just piled me and Ber up with a whopping 600 questions from our E Math workbook to complete by end january...

---

BUT I AM NOT WASTING MY TIME HERE. --> http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/43958740/ See?
..Okay I am. *spent the bulk of one day last week on that... whoo. No more long DxS comics for awhile at least. xP*

I highly doubt I can finish all my planned art by the end of the hols, though. December is gonna be equally, if not more stacked, PLUS I have revision to be done...
I'm limiting it to just the Urban Jungle one [almost done there... I just need to put in a few more colors], and one Christmas piece, if I can even make the deadline.. and hopefully, one more still-in-progress DxS oneshot aside from the one I'm leaving you with below.
dxoverdt, I'm afraid the ADJL fanart will have to wait awhile still... I do, however, have the first piece I did on hand, plus my first few practice sketches. [I didn't really want to post the first one cos the pose is a far cry from what I initially wanted - but it's generally okay if you ask me. ^^ no more Jake in dragon form for me after this, though... not for awhile yet. xP] I can scan it/ them in for you if you want.

---

This: Started and finished yesterday. I was hungering for short, vague oneshot essay/prose pieces to read and ended up doing my own. It'll appear rather general if you don't know 'naught about Danny Phantom, except for one little line which actually refers to Danny's ghost sense. [in other words - you don't need to know anything about DP to read it] But otherwise, here's one more random DxS tidbit for you guys... based off another art piece I currently have in mind and am hoping to do late next year. xP

Title: Where We Go from Here
Rating: G-PG
Additional notes: Angst/Romance, Danny and Sam are eighteen. Lots of ambiguity present.

( as long as it stays this way... )

Danny and Sam (c) Butch Hartman.

FBG, Out.

Yes, I am back from Thailand.

You'll hear about that later, and sorry. Because I apparently spent so much time catching up here and there that my computer time is now UP.

Why do I have to have such restrictive parents during the HOLIDAYS..

Sigh.

Anyway. Tomorrow then.

Sigh.

So I decided to take a look at all my lovely faves on dA again before we leave for Thailand tomorrow..

And this excellent Anime-Final-Fantasy[according to Ber anyway - I can't recognize any video/PC game characters cos I'm not familiar with those kind of stuff]-ish pic I just faved yesterday has DISAPPEARED.

Dangit.

It was nice enough for me..
That's the main reason why it was on FAVES. And the best part is, I forgot the username of the artist, so I can't contact him/ her and ask what happened.

The only clue I have left with me is the time of publication of the piece. That was just yesterday. And the title.
Mistaken Identity.
And of course, what it looks like.
It was really REALLY nice. It's almost all back and white - except for the main subject which is this huntress-like young lady with wind-swept blonde hair.
Background's inclusive of treetops of a forest with dozens of crows flying overhead in the distance.
Oh yes. It was digital art. Vector. Under Anime.

And it's GONE. Just one day, and it's GOONNNNNEEEE.

SIGH. *facepalm*

Anyway. Shall be in Thailand for the most part of the week. Hopefully we'll get more riding lessons. ^^

Hahaha, okay, sorry, seems like I'm spamming this LJ all day, but thank GOODNESS I decided to full-view some of my dA gallery pics HERE, at school.

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/35515586/

LOOK at that. I can't even see THIS much contrast on my comp at home. Well, guess we have one more thing to add to the list of good things about school computers, then.

DARNIT. I initially noticed Sam's leg was too long after.. what, 3, 4 months of uploading this.. so I re-did my drawing and scanned it in again.. Did the usual photoshop cleanup... and now how was I to know the contrast level on my home monitor was so low..? Ay. It is very, VERY obvious here.

Plus I have now noticed that Sam's face is a little too ROUND. Or wide. Or something. More editing to be done there, then. Sigh.

I am now completely amazed it's my deviation with the most favorites. Wow. Even with all those little flaws... Hmmm.

SIGHSIGHSIGH. Maybe I should just redraw the whole thing.

Yeah right, like I have so much time. Doubt I'll even be able to complete all I have planned for this holidays... Work, as usual, has now gotten in the way. Oh well. I shall see what can be done.

And in the meantime - still have to discuss dropping A Math with Mom and Dad... and pray about it too.

Ya'know sumthin. I do NOT want to look at my to-do-list right now... DONOTDONOTDONOT.

EDIT: Okay, so I just fixed the art piece. THANK YOU Photoshop. And thank you whoever installed it here, too. xD I can get my dA stuff done because of you. Hooray.

Invalid video URL.

YESYESYESYESYES. I LOVE it! xDDD 'Tis GREAT trailer music.

EDIT. okay, the RBC link is *NOT* working. And I can't preview the song anywhere else because this is a SCHOOL COMP. Honestly the only good thing about our school comps is that they're fast and they come with nice keyboards. *stupid school admin...* ::admin guy opens door of admin staff room and blasts me with a gun:: Sorry. I think Ber's cheesiness has affected me major today. ><

Huh, okay I wanted to write "musings" for the title, but... no idea where the word "prattling" came from - I suspect macbeth, HAHA - and it sounded similar so I decided hey, let's just use it. xD

Anyway - I'm currently wondering why on earth I didn't share this with any of you guys earlier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciPI5knxOlw

Thanks goes to Ber for the tip-off - Click and watch - this guy is suPERB. I wish I could get a distortion guitar and then play like that. :/ Heheh, so far all I have is my humble little 3/4-sized classical. ><

And speaking of music - maybe some of you think Chasing Cars is being WAY overplayed by now, *nudgenudge, dewyeyed* ;) - and okay, so I didn't quite get the sense of it the first couple of times around but that thing. is. ADDICTIVE. Whoo, I think once you're able to connect it to something, it makes all the sense in the world... It's beautiful. x)
I do believe all my extra lesson worksheets are gonna have the lyrics doodled in their margins. Heh.

Ay.. oh yes. Update to the wishlist. Because I feel like it and not because Christmas is coming. xP

1. 3 Doors Down, Seventeen Days cd album - the one with the two bonus acoustic tracks of Away from the Sun and Here Without You.
2. Still and once again the DP micro-management tee, because I can't bear to maul the one I got for U2.. and also cos I rather like how the original looks anyway. xP
3. My own room when we move back to Pasir Ris. Particularly, the study. I want my desk in there, my wardrobe, my clothes, all my stuff in there. I want to decorate it myself. And the study tables can all sit outside. HAHAHA. I want my own safe private little heaven away from the pest of a sister.
4. Tablet PC - which I believe I shall have to get by the time I enter/ graduate from college anyway, so yay. x)

I do believe that's all I really want for now.. in terms of material goods anyway. There are certain things which money just can't buy, but... well. *shrugs*

I've been musing about my own walk with God lately. My QTs have been on and off, so has prayer.. and considering how much time I spend and devote to other things sometimes He's just really not in the picture at all.
And I feel guilty when I think about it, of course I do, the problem is that I don't seem to be feeling guilty ENOUGH to DO something about it.
Ay. If I don't watch myself I'll start becoming a standard hypocrite.. or maybe I already am one.
Sigh. I may give the most mature discussions and comments in church but I think at least my SG knows I have problems in walking too. I think I'm too easily distracted. That's one of the major problems.
Mmm.. but I shall take this in my stride.. this thing needs more pondering and serious praying over. ><

--Sorry, had to log off last night before I could finish up here.

Sharon sent me a link to another little funny video last night - LOST fans, go here: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/sawyer.php
Beware, nonsensical songs and high-pitched voices abound.

Oh yes, and I've been reading this hilarious book by Jaclyn Moriaty I think, not sure if I spelt it right - but hilarious as it was it *did* make me wonder just what some girls think of guys - and what guys think of themselves/ what they have to be.
Honestly it's not fair to stereotype all guys and say they HAVE to be funny - some people just weren't born funny. Forcing a guy to BE funny when he's not can be pure torture.
And *this* issue here wasn't exactly brought up in the book, and forgive me if I've mentioned it before, but what's with the mindset that guys should be strong, shouldn't cry, and BEST of all, shouldn't be SENSITIVE? HUH???
( Cut due to another long rant )

And... that'd be all. I'm off to work on my self-projects.

---
"If I lay here... If I just lay here, Would you lie with me, and just forget the world?"
-Snow Patrol, Chasing Cars.
xD

Oh goodness, do the spammers actually think the majority of people who use e-mails are THAT dumb, especially after SO many hoax and virus-infecting junk mail with all those suspicious attatchments?

Look, they're even impersonating GMAIL now. I just got a message in my Yahoo! mail spambox saying it was from noreply@gmail.com, with the subject as "Protected Message"
and then there were details about some protected message of mine being in the attatchment and some funny username and password I had to use and a reminder not to share it with anyone, with even the usual Gmail team sign off, I think.
And an attatchment called "data.zip." following the message.

nice. But not convincing enough.
PUH-LEEZE, do they actually have SO MUCH TIME TO WASTE?? Honestly you're gonna have to do better than that to make me even TOUCH any stupid 'download attatchment'. Good 'ol Yahoo! Mail - else I probably wouldn't even have identified it as spam until I saw the attatchment name - I would've been suspicious, yes, but.. welp. If it's in my Bulk mailbox, it's even more suspicious and all the more easily identifiable as a stupid hoax, you see.

Anyway - just to warn you guys who use Gmail too - THAT IS NOT A GENUINE GMAIL LETTER, IF YOU EVER RECIEVE SOMETHING SIMILAR. That is PUTRID SPAM, no matter how convincing it is.

Okay. And now down to the crux of this - here are the poems, finally. Yay.

1. We were hit with the worst haze we ever had in nine years last month. Plus I was a little caught up in local poetry at that point of time - so here's a little something that's a little closer to home - literally.

( Haze Day )


2. Whalala. One more ADJL-based poem.. I lost count how many times I replayed that scene from The Academy - loved it so. xP But anyway.. it's not like you need to know what happened there to understand it, so.. here we go.

( Academy )


Now for a little something else I did over the weekend - I think I remembered Yanyao's birthday and then the song somehow got stuck in my head and VIOLA, inspiration. xD Thank you Yanyao.
And now we have, finally, some original prose of mine. Rated PG for mild morbidity, just in case. ><

( He Promised to buy me a bunch of Blue Ribbons )

That'd be all. All work (c) Charis Mah, Oct/Nov 2oo6.

I'm not too sure how many of my sec one juniors actually bothered to do enough scoping out to find me here. Maybe none of them did. I sure didn't go looking for theirs until what, about half an hour ago.

Whatever it is.. yesterday's eight hour training. Hmm.

Well, to my sec ones, thank you all for being honest with us [okay, I'll say *mostly* honest - I'm not reprimanding you because you weren't, but I *do* know some people who probably didn't say what they really felt], and of course your feedback will be taken seriously... and all that jazz. You know the drill there.

I do realize that some of you dislike Red Cross. Don't worry. We don't blame you. It's natural. I know I was shocked by the amount of militancy that was in it when I first joined. I only expected to learn first aid, and what did I get? Drill, drill, and more drill. Sit up straight, STOP dragging your feet, NO Arguing, Bargaining, Complaining, Dawdling, etc etc etc. And then holiday training, holiday training, and more holiday training. Meetings, meetings, and more meetings. What the hell. But you'll grow to like it despite all of that. Or at least, get used to it. Trust me. It's not that bad after awhile... and hey. All those PT's for your benefit of devloping muscle and stamina. Ask your Yu Ting ma'am, hahaha. And you DO play games there and have fun too, don't you? :)
And you really shouldn't clam up and refrain from voicing out things you want to. If there's something we've done that you're unhappy about or you feel is unfair, say it. Bring it to our attention, and we'll see what can be done about it. I repeat, we will NOT bite your heads off! ..Are we honestly that scary? :S

For those of you who already love RCY to pieces - that's great, and it's really nice to see your high enthusiasm levels. Jiayou.

Your squad conflicts... We're trying to step in and interfere as little as possible, especially since you guys are expected to work it out among yourselves... but it *does* seem rather serious.
You guys are a big squad, as we've said. It's normal to have these sort of things going on. For those of you stressing yourselves out over it, please don't do it unneccessarily. It's not just up to you guys to hold the squad together. Let me emphasize on TEAMWORK. If your fellow squadmates who are being difficult continue to refuse to co-operate even after everything you've tried... don't lose hope. And let us know. It's not entirely YOUR responsibilty. It's up to your whole squad as well. If one person doesn't co-operate, it can affect the whole squad's performance.
Also - bring this question into mind - have you ever thought about why those who aren't co-operating, aren't co-operating? Could it perhaps be because of something you unintentionally said or did to them? Perhaps the way you sometimes treat them without really knowing it? Start with examining yourselves, then work outward. And then try again.

And to those of you who aren't among [or know you aren't exactly among] those who are the so-called 'leaders' of your squad - are you sure you're hardly ever given the chance to show your potential? Perhaps the opportunity has presented itself many a time before, and you just didn't take notice?

To all of you - please, please, PLEASE, when your fellow squadmates call for meetings - be it to discuss things, or to practice your farewell item, whatever - do try your best to attend. Don't take on the mindset that "Oh, I won't be given an important role anyway", or, "ah, I don't have THAT big a part to play as compared to the others" or, worse still, "Ma'ams aren't there what. Why should I go?" - and then do the opposite and try your best to find a reason to skip out.
Teamwork, people. Everyone has a part to play. Your plans will fall apart if even the smallest person chooses not to co-operate. Plus, you stress out the rest of your squad because they can't get certain things done without you. I'm not scolding you guys if you're guilty of doing that - I'm asking you to change, and to think of your other squadmates.
If you don't like the way they're treating you, bring it up to them. Perhaps they're unaware of it. If you don't like the way things are being carried out, say so. Voice your opinion. And to those on the receiving end of all of this - don't be so quick to put your squadmates down. If they're wrong about something, nicely correct them, or explain to them why things cannot be so. Don't shoot back in an instant or give them dirty looks - your friends will only get more put off. And of course, do take into mind what they feedback to you.

And we all know there are clique problems among you guys. Personally, though, I'd still advise you not to start categorizing yourselves into 'leaders' and 'slackers' etc - these terms will only serve to disband the squad even further. What we want - and I'm sure, what YOU want, is a united squad, not a squad divided into different sub-categorized groups.

I'm not sure if I'm making any sense to you guys over here, I'm just voicing what I personally feel about your whole conflict issue/s. But hopefully what I've given will come in as useful advice.

Last, but not least - we're sorry if there has ever been any double standards in the unit. We're sorry if we ever shot at you for no reason and put you down for making mistakes. I know I just told you guys to try and reason/ explain nicely to your squadmates if they ever get the wrong idea of things or if they ever do something wrong. We'll try our best to start doing that with you guys too.
And I know you guys would love to get to know us better - I believe we're currently exploring just how far the senior-junior line has to be drawn in the Red Cross UG... But I do honestly hope we'll be given more flexibility in this area in the future.

Oh, and yes, we're all aware that you miss your Sec 4 ma'ams... and that you haven't quite adpated to us yet. It's understandable. And it's good that you look up to our Sec 4 ma'ams so much.
But we aspire to set good examples too (and if we haven't, once again, we're sorry) - and hopefully earn the same amount of respect (and response) from you soon enough - and not just command it.

JIAYOU, and sorry. ><

Regards,
Charis ma'am
3 Nov 2oo6.

PS: I hope I made sense, lol.

PPS: I don't have a tagboard, but I DO have anonymous comment-posting enabled. If you have anything to say to me - don't hesitate to reply here. As I always say, your head will not be bitten off. ^^

Okay. I've narrowed the holiday self-projects down to eight art pieces, three or four of which are still only tentative, [Three Danny Phantom, two Amdrag (one tentative), and three Chirstmas pieces (one KP, one DP, and one Amdrag, all tentative. Coloring needs to be mastered, especially after last year's Chirstmas cards, which seemed nice but pale to my eyes now.)] and one more little DannyxSam oneshot.
Well, maybe two. If I can can get the whole Danny death thing right, or at least the way I want it. If I can even be bothered to get back to that unfinished oneshot that I originally planned to illustrate for and then gave up.

I'll post the poems when I'm not busy doing other things.. There's been a number of things acting up rearding Red Cross and I'm going off to do some scoping now before I give my own two cents on it.

How nice is that. Nine things to do for the holidays. And it doesn't even look like all will get done. How on earth did I get myself this busy? :S

It's beginning to seem like the holidays are never actually proper breaks.

The only real break I think we had is the period right after exams - when the teachers are slaving away marking our stuff.

This round - what I have in store for myself is -

1. RC training. It's better now that you're in charge, but i'm telling you, the stress level is still there because you have to keep up the disciplined standard and set good examples - and of course, know what you're doing. And it's not easy.
2. Church stuff. Organizing TOFU while balancing two ministries [and in one of which you are one of the only four members] is no piece o cake, and there are e-mails and sms-es flying everywhere. Take today for eg. My gmail is cluttered with lots of confusing stuff for tonight's Prayer Concert - all under the same topic. And I keep hearing my Kimmunicator ringtone beeping because new text messages are coming in every oh, say 5, 10 minutes or so - with regards to tomorrow's publicity for TOFU. [TOFU, by the way, stands for The Orientation For U, something which the Youth Min carries out every year for the new Sec ones who are graduating from Sunday School and coming into the ministry. Oh and by the way, my phone is going BONKERS. What's the point of setting it to vibrating alert when it DOES NOT VIBRATE? I SO need a new one next year.
3. Make-up lessons. Oh joy, yes yes... we are now WONDERFULLY termed as the "Class of 2007" Nice. And we're already branded as Sec 4s. Even nicer. And we have a WHOLE STRING OF LESSONS TO GO FOR. And certain days drag so long they might as well just call it a school day. It doesn't help that Mrs. Ong just told us next year we'd be going at twice the speed we're going at now for lessons. Okay it does, because it's mental preparation, but who likes the thought? Yikes *shudders*
4. My own self-revision. If I haven't already announced, how's about I FLOPPED end years. Well, okay, Math.. I was expecting it. Chinese, I actually did better than I expected, with a B4. But SCIENCE... WTH HAPPENED. I ace Chmeistry. I ALWAYS ACE IT. AND the best part is, THAt was the subject that I studied the HARDEST for. HOW ON EARTH DID I GET A B3. And I don't even do that badly for Bio. BIO. A miserable C6!!!! Science was the most disappointing part. Geog.. I wasn't that well prepared, so I guess that one I deserved. Meh.
The only ONE paper I really like isn't even my English. Hahah. It's my Lit paper. But I guess I have Mr. Sng to thank for the Macbeth part - he set a SUPER easy question. Unseen... I got the highest mark in the level. Again. [Needless to say, though, this time I wasn't the only one who got the highest. I'm sure there were lots more with the same score.] And though I aced that... I keep thinking my Unseen is a fluke. Especially since I KEPT flopping the prose this year. [So of course I chose the poem for the exam, duh] xP I'm worried.
And back to the main point - I am NOT gonna hear the end of it if I don't do something about my Math. Look, of all the people, Deeksha put it perfectly - I think you can do well in Maths, Charis. Maybe even better than me. You just have no interest in it whatsoever.
She's dang right.
To all my dear Math teachers out there - it's NOT YOUR FAULT. WHY do they keep thinking its their fault. My Math teachers rock - even Mrs. Chia - I guess at the start of Term 3 she was just a little cranky due to *ahemcoughcough*menopause*coughcough* that's all. She's actually very nice now. I CERTAINLY don't hate Math because of them. And it's not like they did a horrible job of trying to cultivate that interest. I'm just so very closed-minded there. I'd rather surrender to the queer and vast world of Literature where almost anything is possible and I don't have silly formulas floating around all over in my head.
So yes, I think the only reason is ME. Because I don't take interest, I don't practice.
But I doubt I can afford to devote so much time to both maths next year.. hence I'm thinking of dropping A, even though A is soooo much more fun to do. E Maths is draggish.
ANYHO, [look how much of a rant that turned into] I'd better get crackin. Because, I suppose, Singapore is a cruel place when it comes to education and like it or not, I have to count ONE Math, at least, in my L1R5 for the Os next year.
And then Han lao shi just gave me a whole lecture on how I should spend more time on Chinese too, how she knows I can do it because she always sees me looking very "bright-eyed at her" during her lessons and she feels very "encouraged" by my willingness to participate. Oookaaayyy... but HALF AN HOUR EVERY DAY??? For the holidays, yeah, sure, I guess that could work if I wanted it to. But ALL THE WAY UNTIL O LEVELS??
Help me, someone. Arggh. I don't understand my own mother tongue.
5. And of course, not forgetting, our dearest friend called "HOLIDAY HOMEWORK".
Ah well. at least I'll get to practice more Math there.

In other news - Ber and I were at Dhoby Ghaut hunting for plush Pandas on Tuesday - and since we arrived a little early she decided to hop down to PC Bunk - apparently she owed some AuditSEA pals some money.
Guess what. There was this little sparrow-like bird STUCK in the underpass, literally flying round in circles and banging.. well, into all the glass panels. We thought it was a sparrow because of the size - but it's actually all brown, with little specks of darker colors here and there on the feathers, and a fanned tail.
And the poor thing was so freaked and confused. Eventually we gave up on trying to approach it slowly and then catch it and carry it out - so we resorted to fanning it all the way to the staircase entry, whereupon this little guy of about say, 10, 11 years joined in and we got it all the way to the first few steps.
That's where the boy stooped and tried getting it onto his finger - and the bird actually let him TOUCH it - unfortunately, it didn't seem to know how to perch. So I extended my hand and whaddayaknow, the thing just hopped on - and we brought it out.
Half of me was so scared it'd peck or poop or something - but I guess it was too dazed to do much. And the OTHER half of me was geeking out like "I HAVE A WILD BIRD ON MY HAND. IT'S SITTING ON MY HAND."
Because I've never had that experience before [I know, I know - what a deprieved life, right?]
So anyway - we got it out to the greenery and warmer air - Ber figured it was probably a migratory one because hardly would you find a local bird that flies into an underpass and doesn't know how to get out. xP
Or, you know what - maybe some careless pet owner left the cage door OPEN. Hm. Oh well. I carried a wittle birdie. Yay. xP

Okay, anyway. My time here's way up.. and I have to go clear up my head so I know exactly what I have to do for church over this weekend.. it's hectic. Sigh.
You'll get the poems another day.
Oh, and if I never stated that I take back my horror when I first heard about Kindred Spirits, I'm stating it now. KS is one of my fave DP season 2 eppys, infact. :P

Okay. First-off:
You KNEW this was coming people.

( Urban Jungle SPOILERS/ rants )

I also caught the chunk I missed from ADJL's Breakout - thank you once again dxoverdt! Not a bad ep either. Not bad at all. x) In fact I think it's the best Jake/Rose one I've seen so far too. Dreamscape was good.. but somehow I find the former better.

Now to other news - I have the ADJL-based poem I spoke of - as well as another sorta Singapore-ish-based poem done. Will post those in awhile.

There's more stuff up on my dA - and more coming soon, hopefully, if I can wade my way through the pile of self-accumalated project's I confessed to having earlier. All the frustrations I faced with the latest DannyxSam artwork I posted are under it in the artists' comments there. meh.
While we're there I might as well post something I've been mulling over in the weekend - why do I post my stuff anyway? Sure, the favorites and the number of people watching me/ reading/ viewing my stuff is splendid motivation - in fact half my stuff probably wouldn't even have made it into creation had it not been for the publicity I get for them. But most of my earlier works would've been done anyway due to my lovely muse..
Yan said I'm just trying to show-off.
Could be true, you know. I've gotta watch this thing. Hmm. :/
But of course.. I'll still take the motivation and encouragement where I can get it. :)

In the latest news - Grandma was watching a documentary on badgers this morning - which prompted me to go dig up one of my fave childhood books - The Siege of White Deer Park. Number five or six or seven in the Animals of Farthing Wood series, I believe. This book is the one responsible for helping me rid that blasted fear of snakes I had when I was younger.
I was chuckling away at Adder's moronic attempts to converse with Sinuous - such a cool, calm, collected character suddenly becoming so baffled at a mere FEMALE of his own kind. Hilarious. And whaddaya know - I think I can actually indentify with him sometimes.. :3
Anyway. That got me in a good mood - but then that also meant I was so TICKED off when the darned NLB catalogue told me they only had the sequel in TWO libraries across the entire country. And one of it was the "Repository Used book Collection."
And the omnibuses of the Farthing Wood series, published/ released in 2001, have the status "Item not available for loan yet."
Oh HAHA. And when OTHER new books come in you have them within a month. Funny. Very funny.
Or maybe your catalogue just ain't working, hmm? Hello? What's the point of me looking it up from HOME? So that I don't have to go all the way down to the library BRANCH and look it up THERE, isn't it? So why is it the online one is so heavily inaccurate and annoying but the one in the libraries are so fast and GOOD? HUH?
I wanna find out what happened to Adder and Sinuous, darnit. I know she got killed in the last book and he avenged her - because I READ it. But I still don't know what happened in between ya know. Grrr.

I'm off to clear up my link list. The poetry blog is also begging for a re-vamp.
GGD's "Here is Gone" has also made it to the top few songs on my list, for anyone who cares. Y'all can thank rockontheedge for that - as well as for the icon i'm using for this post. x) [This was accurate at the time of publishing. :P]

--> Exit FBG.

OKay, so DP had its turn yesterday. I realized I shoulda mentioned KP too, but alas, as usual, forgot.

Actually all I wanted to do was to give Felix some attention. The guy's only appeared in two eps as far as I know but he is SUCH a great character - and I realized I actually like him a lot. I like him as much as I do Ron, in fact. ^^ Heard somewhere that they're not giving him much attention in Season four - hope that's gonna change. :/
He's smart, he's fun, he's funny, he's calm - and he has absolutely no problem at all being in a wheelchair. Plus he's also rather cute. ^_^V

In fact maybe I should go do some Felix studies in my sketchbook when I have the time this holidays. xP

But while we're on the topic of KP - I'm wondering if I ever did mention my favorite episodes here...
I know - this is SO random, right. Oh well, been watching lots of KP/ DP/ ADJL since the exams were over, so expect more rantings thrown here and there.
Let's see... Ehrm, of everything, I guess the top two would be Bueno Nacho and A Very Possible Christmas. VPC was one of the BEST. It had KxR, it had DrakkenxShego [yeah yeah I can't say DxS can I? We'll get mixed up and then.. it'll seem abit wrong. HAHAHA. xP] and then.. Oh yes. Gives a warm fuzzy feeling too.
As for BN - well we all know of the platonic Kim-Ron relationship explored deeply and nicely there - what's more to say? x)

I ask people if I come across to them as some TV freak because I keep talking about cartoons. You know what? In actual fact, KP, DP and a FEW Amdrag eps are all I watch nowadays aside from movies? There's hardly anything good left on TV. Meh. And those on the local channels are always littered with trashy stuff in between and such LONG ads. It's SO annoying.

Oh and the cartoons... are on my list beCAUSE, as I keep ranting to my friends - their storylines are actually GOOD stuff. Not some ridiculously painful nonsense i-have-nothing-better-to-do-so-let's-watch-this-just-to-kill-time storylines like CERTAIN shows [eg Cow and Chicken. And what not.] They address teen issues in a non-explicit, non-trashy manner. They have humor, they have action, and for some, superheroics and romance as well. And if you're a LIt student, heck, even if you aren't, you'll probably enjoy all the hidden jokes they throw in too [when you're an older viewer, you start noticing LOTS more things.. like -

"Portals XL? That LOUSY piece of PAPERWARE?"

HAHAHAHAHA. My dad'll love that. If only he'd bother. *shrug*

Oh YEAH! And yes, as seraphimkiss pointed out in her comment on my Reality Trip entry, I forgot to say there WERE also LOTS of funny moments in that ep.

AND there are actually FOUR things I really liked - I didn't mention how great it was that Danny actually got a chance to fly the NASA ship. And how many of us actually identified with the line "Okay. I've run the simulation a HUNDRED times on my computer." ? x) It makes him sound more human than anything else if you ask me. SUCH a typical fanboy line. x)))

Sometimes I wonder why i still have KP on the top of my list. I mean the only DP ep I don't really care for so far is "Splitting Images" - but KP has produced its share of rather bland eps as well. In that sense, IMO, DP *does* have much better/ more intriguing storylines..
I think it's because I like KP's art style better. And the overall... I don't know, would you call it ambience? the show gives. And of course it also HAS its share of excellent episodes.. x) Or maybe it's because I fell in love with that first. HAHAHA. Whatever it is - it's still staying tops. xD Although of course, DP fan-stuff is easier to do AND the show comes quite close in second.

Oh, and romance now. So far I think Amdrag's is the most original - it's what got me onto the show in the first place despite it being one of the few shows to star an Asian as its main character. Followed by DannyxSam - because the board actually explores and gives that a lot of development in the show. KimxRon wasn't hinted at that much until Season 3.. and StD WAS Rockin' good, but felt a bit.. rushed in that sense. :3 Oh well. When all three shows conclude - THAT's when I'll give me final verdict.
If I even remember to. xP

...oookay, this, I think, by far is my most RANDOM entry ever. Oh well. It's called ranting. It's a favorite pastime, as Riverfox will know! xD

I think that's it for cartoons this round. FBG -> Out.