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Grah. I was halfway through writing this post when all of a sudden the school computer asplodes on me and I lost the things that I've written. Augh. Blah.

Oh well, for now advanced happy birthday to you Mia. If you read this before we meet later tonight, yay. If not, oh well.

I'll continue this post later on the day. *twitches* Web Development teacher just talked about the <marquee> tag. Grnff. And she was teaching about the <font> tag before. I can't count the times that I want to scream "GET WITH THE TIMES WOMAN" during classes that teach HTML.

Oh, and I'm reading The Catcher in the Rye now. On a blog I was reading the other day, the writer called teenage bloggers (or, in my vernacular, teen-angsters) cyber Holden Caufields. I thought it was fitting.

GOOD DEITY! SHE'S USING THE <center> TAG NOW

Continuation

Okay, so I've been in my new school for a whole week now. Been okay so far. Don't know too many people yet. Okay, so I don't really know anyone yet. I take a while to acclimatize to new environs and all the classes I go to already have their established cliques. Thats the problem with transferring I suppose. You don't go through that whole get-to-know-you crap (wait that sounds like a good thing actually) and each class I go to, I only see them for one subject. Oh and theres that whole introvertness thing too :P

I'll survive through, don't worry.

I do so like Art Apreciation class because my seat is practically surrounded by girls. Problem is the girl sitting next to me was reading one of those cheap, thin, romance novellas. Books that are worse than daytime soaps with no redeeming quality whatsoever. It was slightly depressing. I know it sounds like an elitist bastard thing to say, but there you go, I question my seatmates intellect just by the book she was reading. I shouldn't be though, seeing as how I have a friendster account. And seeing as how I actually log into it frequently. I think just having a friendster account disqualifies you from being an elitist bastard, what with friendster being practically that place where the proles lived in 1984. Now, on the other hand, if I had an Orkut account...

I guess thats all I can say about my new school for now.

I took the MRT too this week. By myself even. Though I never really worried much when I was riding the train (other than getting lost) this article kinda makes me nervous now. Back in Singapore the only way you'd die in train stations is if you were being a stupid idiot and fell into the tracks. Here, you can get shot at. How lovely.

So tomorrow I go to a whole new school. Good stuff that. I'm not really nervous or anxious or anything of that kind right now, but I probably will be tomorrow. See, I even procastinate nerves. Weird/interesting thing about APC. Students have to wear office attire to school for most days. It's better than having a uniform I suppose. At least you'll be responsible when you look stupid. As I don't really have office attire in my wardrobe, I had to go out and, ugh, shop. Good thing all it entailed was getting the right size and then just picking out colours. No trying out outfits or anything. Oh, and I got a spiffy new bag too, which rocks.

I think I will enjoy APC a lot more than AMA. I hope to anyway. When I was enrolling, I happened to pass by a lab that was totally dedicated to open source! A whole network of 20 or so computers just dedicated to running open source apps. Fantastic! I wonder if I can go in and play around even if I'm not a CS/IT student.

Watched Kung-Fu Hustle today. As long as you don't expect anything more than slapstick humour and great action, its an excellent movie to watch. Great humour and action although the story is a bit on the weak side. I was especially let down by the ending. It just felt very abrupt like it was put there just to end the story. The love interest was also a huge letdown since it never really plays a huge part in the story and the way it was tied up was just too neat for me. The effects work on it is also a study in how 3d effects can be great as long as its done in moderation (Matrix, I'm looking at you). Kung Fu Hustle blended live action and 3d effects way better in its major fight scene. Think Matrix's burly brawl but better.

So I'm out of that stupid school. FINALLY. As I was coming back from the mall, I passed by the school building without feeling the depression I would normally feel. It's a great feeling. Now I'm pondering whether to initiate bridge burning ops (which is likely to take the dreaded 'e' word, effort) or to just leave that place alone. Ah well, since I'm too lazy, I'll probably just leave it alone.

So it turns out that the course I mentioned in the previous post accepts people regardless of colour blindness or not. Happy days! Tomorrow I'll see if they can let me start this semester, which starts on Monday. There may be some problems with the transferring procedures since I'm still waiting for AMA (previous school) to release my credentials but so far I'm happy with APC (Asia Pacific College).

Will I miss AMA? Heck no. Maybe the things around school though. In AMA, there were two malls within walking distance which were nice places to escape from the drudgery of school. APC doesn't seem to be near any place I can entertain myself, but oh well. At least the change of course means that I'll no longer bear a hate for my school. Another thing I might miss about AMA is the Starbucks behind it, near to UAP which was really nice for girl watching. But then again, APC may be good for girlwatching itself.

Well.. maybe I'll miss certain people from AMA. I don't think I'll be able to say a proper farewell to them since I'm unsure if I'll ever see them again.

So tomorrow I go back to school to collect my crappy results. And it will be crappy cause I let this tri go to crap. I'll be checking out another school though, mainly cause it has a course I want to go to. I want to ditch IT cause really, I can self study that quite easily. I want to do something more creative, follow my dreams and take control of my life. Or some crap like that anyway. I wonder if the course has restrictions on colour blind people entering, just like in Singapore. Colour blindness just surprises me sometimes. I was playing a game the other day when my icklest sister pointed out that the bullets I shot out were green when all along I thought they were some sick shade of brown.

Random linking ahoy!

• Clever Logos. Once again I am fascinated by logo designs. I love the way they can communicate so economically. Also, the next time you see a FedEx logo, look at it closely and try to find an arrow. It's so cleverly hidden in plain sight that I adore it.

• Colour Schemes. Some nice colour schemes to try out. And while we're on the topic of colour, how about a colour scheme forecast for 2005? Meanwhile, ColorWhore seems to be back up now, after a little spate of domain stealing. Hurrah!

• Websnark. If you love webcomics, bookmark this blog now. Quite an insightful blog on webcomics. I've found quite a few good new comics to read through this blog.

• The MatrIEx. Just read it damnit.

• Anacrusis. The power of being economical with words. A great little experiment where the author writes a short story, keeping it at 101 words. It reads beautifully.

• Lifehacks. Some really useful stuff there. Right now though, I want one of those Moleskine things mentioned there. Looks like a really yummy notepad. And yes, I'm applying the adjective yummy to a non-edible object.

• Copper. Wonderful monthly webcomic. Fantastic art and the stories told are just imaginative, provocative and heartwarming. My fave among them.

• Talking Cock. I haven't visited the website for ages but when I dropped by just now, it seems an interesting thing happened to the website during the establishment of Singapore as a dynasty. Talking Cock went down on August 11, just before the handover of power to Lee Hsien Loong on August 12. Even though it could be just an innocent little glitch, you do have to admit the timing seems suspicious.

So it's a new year. Some would say its time for a fresh start, for you to start making changes to your life. I say meh to that. Meh to all that new year resolution crap. If I don't follow through on anything else, what makes you think I would follow through with new years resolutions eh?

So yesterday was new years eve (or as the channel German informs me, Sylvester). It was pretty exciting since its the first new years I've had in the Philippines in quite a while. Traditionally here in the Philippines, people set off fireworks during new years eve. And back in Singapore, fireworks are rare. The government hogs all the fireworks for themselves and only sets em off once a year. Here though, its a free for all. Anyone can procure fireworks and have their own fireworks display. I can't tell you how novel this idea seems to me, the Singaporeanised boy.

Throughout the afternoon, you could already hear sporadic explosions as people set off firecrackers in their enthuiasm. Sometimes they would be loud enough to shock you at inopportune moments. The fireworks display at night though, is something else. If you didn't know any better, you would think that you're in a warzone with all the constant explosions surrounding you. You'd hear high pitch screams, sounding eerily like mortar fire. You would see a whole series of explosions lighting up the night sky like flowers blossoming or fire flys scattering in the midnight air. The sound of Chinese firecrackers exploding is transformed into machine gun fire in your mind. The smell of explosives and smoke hang heavy in the air as a mass of fireworks are set off at around midnight. You have to fight the urge to find a ditch and dive into it.

As I walked underneath a tree, I glanced up and happened to see an orange bloom as another rocket lit up the sky. It seemed romantic to me.

In any case, thats how I basically spent new years eve. Here though, it seems to be more a case of quantity rather than quality. The NDP fireworks display is quite a thing to behold, seeing as how the whole display is coordinated. Here though people just set off a lot of fireworks, without any real coordination. I set off a couple of fireworks off too so the pyromaniac in me got to have some fun. Although I did break a new year tradition of mine this year. Since 2000, I've had this stupid little tradition of showering right after midnight. I wanted to be the first to shower in the new millenium, which is how that whole thing started. If you think about it though the whole shower thing seems a bit symbolic. Wash away the old year and start over anew.

So today is the aftermath, the hangover that lasts a whole year.

I wonder how many people blew themselves up over new years eve. Another new years tradition of the Philippines, causing physical hurt to yourself or others in darkly comical ways. You have your perennial classic, the firework mishap; a nice classy way to say goodbye to a finger or two or a hand even. Or you could have the indirect fire gunshot wound, thanks in large part to the fucktards who get drunk and decide to shoot their pistols into the air. Now, I wouldn't have so much a problem with that if they just shot each other and eliminated the problem all together, but when they manage to shoot up bystanders... I think Lystra was quite close to adding a new catagory of new years eve mishaps: the ham cutting accident. There was a dead pig that required slicing and Lystra just happened to be wielding a knife. Which she just happened to lose control of. And quite coincidentally, my hand just happened to be in the way. Close call.

'Tis a new year. The smoke rises and clears from the debris of the past year. Its been a year for new experiences, a year for doing the same old. A year for radical changes, a year for staying the same. A whole damn year for regrets.

I came to my homeland to feel displaced. Wretched feelings of homesickness still grip me.

I refuse the change.

I felt the glimmer of hope, yet I let it go.

I've grown closer to family.

I've grown a little more mature.