Confessions of an Undisguised Drama Queen

Monday, July 31, 2006

We Live in a Contaminated World

Cute plush toys? Think again...
This is what they REALLY are;

Mr. Common Cold

Little Flu Bug

Mr. Scratch-your-Throat

Ms. Gives-You-The-Runs

Ms. Ulceration w/ Funky Hair

Mr. Bad Breath aka Listerine's nemesis

Ms. Deadly Ebola Virus

Little Yeast

Ms. Kissing Disease Bacteria (??)

Martian Life (????)

Bookworm (??!!!)

Talk about microbial infections.

Sympathy for the life of bacteria

If you were bacteria:

* You have 0.001 times as much DNA as a eukaryotic cell.

* You live in a medium which has a viscosity about equal to asphalt.

* You have a wonderful "motor" for swimming. Unfortunately, your motor can only run in two directions and at one speed. In forward, you are propelled in one direction at 30 mph. In reverse your motor makes you turn flips or tumble. You can only do one or the other. You cannot stop.

* While you can "learn", you divide every twenty minutes and have to restart your education.

* You can have sex, with males possessing a sexual apparatus for transferring genetic information to receptive females. However, since you are both going 30 mph it is difficult to find each other. Furthermore, if you are male, nature gave you a severe problem. Everytime you mate with a female, she turns into a male. In bacteria, "maleness" is an infective venereal disease.

* Also, at fairly high frequencies, spontaneous mutations cause you to turn into a female.

* Eukaryotes have enslaved some of your "brethren" to use as energy generating mitochondria and chloroplasts. They are also using you as a tool in a massive effort to understand genetics. The method of recombinant DNA is designed to exploit you for their own good. There is no SPCA to protect you.

* The last laugh may be yours. You have spent three and a half billion years practicing chemical warfare. Humans thought that antibiotics would end infectious diseases, but the overuse of drugs has resulted in the selection of drug resistant bacteria. They didn't realize that this was only the first battle, and now the war is ready to begin.

* Humans think this is their era.
A more truthful statement would be that we all live in the age of bacteria.

[Time of Confession] 12:22 PM
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Saturday, July 29, 2006

Restored

'You're quite the worrier, you know.'

'I think they're scared of you leh. Really.'

Two separate comments from friends of mine.

So does that make me a scary worrywart?

It's true that I've been quite the jittery mouse lately. The business plan, my FYP, post-grad plans... all occuring just about the same time. There's only so much a girl can take at one time you know; and I haven't got THAT BIG a pair of hands.

But in the midst of my squirming and fretting, I forgot one important truth.

My God has got hands so big, He could spin the earth on one finger.

It was simply wonderful to just enjoy His presence and remember what it's like to rest in Him. In the heart of worship, all the problems, all the worries, just shrunk. Or maybe it was He that was magnified in me. I literally felt like I was standing atop a mountain and looking down at the things that have been bugging me.

They looked so tiny I could flick them off like flies.

It's comforting to know that He's always there, watching out for me.

No need to worry anymore; I just have to let His grace and favour flow.

Jesus, You're the BEST!

[Time of Confession] 1:31 AM
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Thursday, July 27, 2006

Bounce

I feel a little spring in my step and a bounce in my walk.

Must be the fact that come tomorrow, 5pm, I will be released from shackles of woe and fuss.
When that time comes, I will be free free freeeeee.

We are handing in our business plan tomorrow and I just can't wait.

It's been a total hell of a week - science students forced to sit through 6 x 8 hours of intensive lectures and class activities for a module in Entrepreneurship.

Yes, E-N-T-R-E-P-R-E-N-E-U-R-S-H-I-P.

If we were the least bit interested in business and that sort, I don't think we'd be doing an honours course in BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES right? Duh. And we don't even have the liberty of choice. Pui.

It's been tiring and bothersome and boy am I glad that it is ALMOST over.

At least I've had Von to be with throughout this period. And at least most of my group mates have been really sweet and nice. Well, I've got something good out of a whole load of shit so maybe I shouldn't complain so much.

Dinner with QY at JP today. T'was good taking time off to get outta campus, even if it was only for a few hours. We had a good time laughing at our embarrassing moments over a very delectable and VERY generous 5 scoops of ice-cream @ Scoopz.

Good company and good food never fails to brighten my day, err night.

Then there was Project Runway.

My only TV indulgence in 7 days. The only TV programme that captures my full attention for 1 hour nowadays. The only show I look forward to and absolutely cannot miss.

And of course there's the charming Daniel V. too.

That's him, always putting his heart and soul into his work.

It's a pity he likes men too.

Oh Daniel... whyyy?

[Time of Confession] 12:11 AM
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Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Still here, as always.

Work is here to stay, as always.

Not-so nice-people you're forced to work with still exist, as always.

Sleepless nights with never-ending bugging dreams continue to bug, as always.

And then, at the other side of the coin;

Getting to know acquaintances at a deeper level, though through trying times, still brings a smile, as always.

Steadfast friends who have always been there, showering me with care and sincere thoughts still brings me warmth and comfort, as always.

I'm missing my bestest friend, who is far so away, but hearing her voice just closes up the distance, as always.

I noticed that through the many years of ups and downs, there's one thing in this world that is my only constant. My friends' and their support. It's true how some of us grow apart and lose that close contact we used to have, but that doesn't change the friendship between us. It doesn't make me love them any less, and I know it's the same on their part. We have but walked in different directions as we moved on but it doesn't make us any less friends.

To all my bosom buddies whom I haven't had the chance to hang out with and share crazy times together like we used to, I still love you.

Ahh... getting all emotional.

[Time of Confession] 11:47 AM
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Saturday, July 15, 2006

Oh Bugger!

'Bugger Bugger Bugger BUGGER!'

That's Capt. Jack Sparrow's favourite line in Pirates of the Caribbean - The Dead Man's Chest.

I absolutely ADORE Johnny Depp and his character in Pirates! What utter pleasure than to watch him resume his zany role in this laudable Disney production (we haven't had many since don't know when!).

Pirates 2 is a definite must-watch summer movie. Finally something good comes along after a string of mediocre B-grade movies (or so they all seem like). The plot is not hundred percent cogent, but with Depp, there's never a dull moment.

Scriptwriters responsible for Capt. Sparrow's dialogue deserve much credit as well - the wit, the humour, the charm. Simply irresistable. Call me biased but Orlando Bloom's performance clearly paled in the mighty presence of Depp.

WARNING: Movie spoiler ahead!

Some of the Funny Quotes From the Movie

1. Jack Sparrow: Is this a dream?
'Bootstrap' Bill Turner: No, no, it is not a dream.
Jack Sparrow: Thought not. 'Cause if this were a dream... there'd be rum.

2. [Jack shows him a cloth containing a picture of a key which he has just risked his life for]
Gibbs: A key!
Jack Sparrow: No. Much more better... It's a drawing of a key!

3. Jack Sparrow: [to Norrington] What are you doing here? You look bloody awful.
Norrington: You hired me. I can't help it if your standards are lax.
Jack Sparrow: You smell funny.

4. Jack Sparrow: [to Elizabeth] You know, these clothes do not fancy you at all. It should be a dress or nothing. I happen to have no dress in my cabin.

5. Elizabeth Swann: It's real!
Norrington: My God. You actually were telling the truth.
Jack Sparrow: I do that quite a lot. Yet people are always surprised.
Will Turner: And with good reason.

6. Jack Sparrow: Dirt? This is a jar of dirt. How is this going to help me?
Tia Dalma: If you don't want it, you can always give it back.
Jack Sparrow: No.
Tia Dalma: Then it helps.

7. Jack Sparrow: Guard the boat, mind the tide... don't touch my dirt.

8. Jack Sparrow: [sing-song] I've got a jar of dirt! I've got a jar of dirt! And guess what's inside it?

9. Jack Sparrow: How did you get here?
Will Turner: Sea turtles, mate. A pair of them strapped to my feet.
Jack Sparrow: Not so easy is it?

10. Jack Sparrow: Why fight when you can negotiate?

11. Jack Sparrow: My incredibly intuitive sense of the female mind tells me you're troubled.

12. Davey Jones: Can you live with yourself Jack? Can you live with condemning an innocent man - a friend - to a life of solitude?
Jack Sparrow: Yep, I'm good with it.

13. Elizabeth Swann: There will come a moment when you have the chance to do the right thing.
Jack Sparrow: I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by.

Hoho, this is such a good show! So feel like catching it AGAIN!

[Time of Confession] 6:41 PM
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Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Contest of the Iron Heads

By now, news of Portugal losing 3-1 to Germany has faded into oblivion as the Italy-France finals hog the headlines. Head-lines, to be precise.

Everyone's buzzing about the chest-butting furor that Zidane executed and speculating what caused the otherwise ice-cool soccer legend to do something that would mar the end of his career with such controversy and disparagement.

Some say it's about being called a terrorist, some say it's vindictive insults towards his family. We don't really know the real reason but it's definitely something hurtful. For all we know, it was something hair-raising. Probably Materazzi passed some comment about his hair loss problem and Zizou got really mad and lost his head. Men can get rather sensitive about balding.

Or maybe, just maybe, they were actually competing to see who has the harder skull. Materazzi boasting of his strong head that scored the crucial equaliser earlier in the match yada yada yada and that pissed Zizou off because of the tension that late in the game...

Materazzi: Me head is zee most powerful! Deed you see zee beeeauteeful header of mine? Oh it was magnificent! I am so veryyy proud of meself. T'was terrrrific, no? Did you not admire zee beeeeauty of me goal? No? Oh mee goodness gracious, no?? You should have seen it! Learn from zee maestro! Mee!

Zizou: Oh shut up. I'll SHOW you what a strong head can do. *butts Materazzi in the chest*

Alright. Enough of my crap.

The Germany-Portugal match was a big disappointment.
I stayed up late on Saturday just to see the team I supported lose the third place to the clinical German players (clinical = boring).
Portugal has so much potential and talent. It's a pity they haven't made full use of it for the last few matches. It's probably expected, considering the amount of energy used to roll around the field, wail and squeeze tears out of their tear ducts. But I must admit though, their sneakiness does add alot more excitement to the games.

Goodbye Figo

C. Ronaldo will never be half the player Figo is if he keeps wasting energy on diving

The finals was the total opposite. The game was exciting and the atmosphere was fanatical.For once, I watched the game in public; and for once, the team that I support didn't lose! I was beginning to suspect that it was some kinda hex but nnnoooo.... coz ITALY'S the FIFA 2006 Champions!

I wasn't on either side before the match started. I was 100% neutral - 50% for Les Bleus; 50% for the Azzurri. I was planning to cheer for the losing team just for excitement but what pushed me off the fence was the nutsy Les Bleus fans at CHIJMES.

'Ole Les Bleus! Ole Les Bleus! Ole Les Bleus!' Ok ok I get it already! Quit yelling in my ears! One deranged fan even attempted to climb and remove an Italy flag that was put up. That was the ultimatum - my allegiance was pledged to the Azzurri.

I think this was the most exciting match of the few I managed to catch, not only because my team won, but because both sides played really hard AND there was a whole lot of drama going on.

C'est parfait!

Will miss the WC hullabaloo though I won't suffer from withdrawal as bad as the hardcore soccer fans. I've got a whole string of experiments to keep me occupied anyway, no time to mourn over the end of the WC. Which is why I took a whole 3 days just to finish this blog entry.

So readers should be extra patient with me with the updating of my blog. My project beckons...

[Time of Confession] 10:49 AM
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Saturday, July 08, 2006

E words

I've been in the lab since 9.15am. It's now 7.03pm.

That's more than 8 hours of being a lab-rat. And it's a Saturday!

Oh well, I have no prior appointments anyway so it's good to be spending my time productively. Minus the net-surfing and blogging part that is.

All I have eaten all day is a Sausage McMuffin meal in the morning. Which brings me to my first E word;

Excrutiating hunger.

I'm soooooo hungry and I'm craving for some good dinner now. Unfortunately there is NOTHING to eat in school. None of the canteens nearby are open and the access card reader to the lab is wonky today. If I were to leave to find food, I won't be able to get back in to continue with my work.

Which leaves me to ration for anything edible.

Here's what I have to keep me alive while I wait in pain, for my experiments to finish:
ONE dark chocolate with Jack Daniel's Whiskey
ONE packet of McDonald's FANCY KETCHUP (it says so on the packaging)
ONE packet of McDonald's Garlic Chilli Sauce

I'm saving the chocolate for later, when I am really unable to bear with the hunger. As for the Ketchup, it's not so fancy without anything to go with and garlic chilli? Yuk. I don't want to kill my cells with garlic breath.

Then there's always plain water.

*stomach growling*

Excitement.
It's the match for the 3rd and 4th placings of the FIFA World Cup tonight/tomorrow early morning! Portugal VS Germany. Go Portugal... show us something more than pained expressions and roll-overs please! And Ronaldo, I beg you, just concentrate on playing the game well and skip the acting. We have HBO and what not for that. If the team just gets itself together, I'm sure they'll be able to beat Germany without a bat of an eyelid.

Enchantment

The Lake House

An upcoming movie that looks so darn enticing! Despite the fact that this movie has a plot somewhat similar to that of Frequency. But look:

Keanu Reeves looks so yummy.

I can't wait!

[Time of Confession] 5:56 PM
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Thursday, July 06, 2006

Musings in the midst of crankiness

I had no idea that my new blog layout was a total mess on IE.

It's rather sucky how if the html fits Firefox, it looks like shit on IE and vice versa. Well, I've made some adjustments to my template using IE so it's presentable now. Sadly for us Firefox users, the layout looks kinda sloppy.

Dang. Can't have the best of both worlds.

Cranky today.

< 4 hours of sleep -> headache + dry eyes -> cannot wear contacts -> wearing glasses -> headache -> CRANKY

Late night out -> FUN -> stayed up late -> watched WC -> rooting for Portugal -> beaten by Frenchmates -> loss of sleep + no victory -> CRANKY

Was out at Timbre with Lydia, Mokkie and their friends to celebrate Lydia's birthday - it was hilarious just watching Lyd and Cecelia's banter cos they're such drama-mamas when put together! For once, we all condoned Lyd's DIVA behaviour and we must have made such a racket at the bistro. Hope Danny didn't mind us being so boisterous - singing the birthday song at decibels enough for the world to hear. Well, girls do get carried away sometimes when there's booze and the mood is right.

I should have skipped the latte and downed more beer had I known that France would kick Portugal's ass so hard (to drown my sorrows mah...). I'm not an ardent fan but I was rooting for them to win. I thought they'd be the dark horse that would take the World Cup title while the rest of the world stood with their mouths gaping and in supreme shock. What a pleasant sight that would be.

Bleah. I would have to wait another 4 years to anticipate a reaction like that again.

Anyway, with both Brazil and Portugal out, I have no preference for the winning team. I just hope that both the Italian and the French players will put up a good fight in the finals and not allow me to endure an excrutiatingly BORING match (like the Germany-Argentina quarters. i can just yawn thinking about it).

More cool tricks! More goals! More drama! More excitement!

Meanwhile, need to space out and rest my tired eyes.

Got the WCSDS - world cup sleep deprived syndrome.

[Time of Confession] 2:06 PM
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Wednesday, July 05, 2006

A matter of perspective

I've been scouring the net for something relevant that might ease my slight dubiety but have come up with nothing. Apparently H1299 cells are not so popular with researchers. Everyone loves Henrietta Lack's cervical cancer cells but not this random Caucasian guy who magnanimously donated his NSCLC adenocarcimona cells.

Poor thing.

Me, I mean. So if anyone out there happens to work with this cell line, can you kindly tell me what its doubling time is like? Cos my cells seem to be progressing through the cell cycle at snail speed... maybe I should give them Red Bull or something? Or sing to them? Then again, that might just make them grow even slower.

Since there's tons of waiting time while waiting for my darlings to multiply, I thought a bit about my dad and I. Especially since it was his birthday just yesterday.

I used to be alot closer to my dad a few years back. I was Daddy's girl. I remember vividly that I would have multiple clashes with my mum - she would work long hours, we barely talked, and when we did, the similarity in both our characters was the perfect formula for disagreements and arguments.

Then things at home got a little messy. My parents stopped talking, accusations were made, denial, denial and more denial. They were never upfront about what was going on, so what I gather was based on my own assumptions and observations. Then they tried confrontation but it fell through and everything got swept under the carpet and never to be brought up.

It wasn't easy growing up in a situation like that. There was stress at school, the pressure of fitting in, adolescence, rebellion and on top of that the burden of being Daddy's girl. I was the only one present at home and naturally became my dad's Aunt Agony. Having to deal with that gave immense pressure and thus, slowly, I started to pull away, for my own sake. Anyway, I wouldn't be able to do anything to make things any better no matter how much I listened to his woes. Or so I thought.

Thinking back, I do feel bad that I wasn't able to give my dad the support he needed at that time. But to be fair, I probably wasn't even mature enough to handle it all.

As years pass, dust covers and the facts become blurry. No one really knows what happened exactly. We don't talk about it either. It's like taboo. Although I don't feel estranged from my family or anything like that, the shady past seems to have an subtle stirring effect on us. Maybe no one notices it but me. Point is, I'm no longer Daddy's girl. I love my dad, of course. But the closeness we used to share, the friendship, has become mere courtesy and respect.

Relationships are all about working things out together. Like they say, it takes two to tango. Nothing matters more than family, this I am still learning. I'm glad I took the initiative yesterday to have a celebratory dinner for my dad. It sort of reminded me how things used to be. There is still hope for us yet...

Solemn thought asides, I had a swishing good time yesterday on my brother's new old bike!

The road back to NTU was super long (plus the fact that we lost our way trying to find PIE) and exciting! Almost all senses are heightened when riding, as compared to driving. You can smell the exhaust, hear the other riders' conversations at traffic stops, feel the wind in your face and taste the... err humidity of the air?

The only impaired sense would be that of sight. Frankly, I must have been a pretty hilarious sight for the adjacent drivers and riders - I had half-closed eyes with a scrunched up face. Wind too strong mah...

When I finally get over the fear, I will take up riding lessons and get my own bike! One fine day... I think.

Just a dream?

[Time of Confession] 11:46 AM
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Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Monkey Opinion

The monkey rates my life and here's what it says:

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	7.5
Mind:	7.9
Body:	8.9
Spirit:	9.2
Friends/Family:	5.3
Love:	1.5
Finance:	6.5
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Life's pretty rosy from the scores given, except for the love part that is. Not that it bothers me, but here's what they said -

Love: Your love rating is a measure of your current romantic situation. --> ie. non-existent Sharing your heart with another person is one of life's most glorious, terrifying --> couldn't have put it in a better way, rewarding experiences.
Your love score is very low --> YES i can SEE that,
indicating trouble --> really? that's funny cos it's otherwise for me... no boyfriend blues or relationship woes... whee hoo!
There is love out there for you. --> can this be any more cliche?
Seek the advice of wise people on how to go about finding it.
Do not lose hope. --> so what, now i'm hopeless??

Here's what I think. I'm NOT anti-love/relationships but I'm definitely pro-singlehood. For now at least. Recently, I got wind of some girls gossiping and it incurred my wrath. A little. If they'd known what I just said about me being pro-singlehood, they'd probably shut their mouths and think twice about gossiping about someone they don't even know. Seriously.

Anyway, back to the point. Now's really not the time for me to be on the prowl for love. I'm cramming a year's course in 6 months, getting entangled in a love-love (by right should be love-hate lah, but I don't hate working on my FYP at all, amazingly) relationship with my cells and research, planning for further studies..... the list goes on inevitably. My life rocks at the moment!! It's full of changes and plans - scary yet exciting. Exactly how I like it.

So no, there's no room nor time for a special someone. Of course, this won't be a permanent arrangement. Someday I will welcome the new excitement but only when I'm mentally ready and when I meet someone worth sharing my life with (the checklist is another issue altogether).

I have no complaints and neither should anyone.

[Time of Confession] 1:39 PM
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Sunday, July 02, 2006

Broken

The news dropped like a pin in total silence. Time stopped and everything came to a standstill.

Heart sank. Mouth opened in shock. Eyes watered. Fever broken.

When I found out that Brazil's out of the World Cup , I was more than disappointed. I was devastated. The excitement of watching the World Cup matches just flushed down the toilet. It was World Cup Fever no more. And it doesn't help that I barely got to catch the matches because of the bloody cable and lofty charges to subscribe.

And not only do I want to kick the French for beating the Brazilians (so what if they played well and deserved to win?? I'm a sore loser, cannot ah), I want to kick myself even more - for not waking up when my alarm sounded at 3am.

I had just finished watching the dark house, Portugal, beat the daylights out of hot favourite, England, by penalty kicks, and decided to take a short nap to recharge before Brazil played. 1 hour was enough for me to fall into deep sleep and by the time it was 3, I decided to give the match a miss. 'I'll get to watch them play in the finals anyway... ' I thought optimistically.

I even went back to lala-land dreaming that Brazil trashed France 3-0.

Unfortunately, that will remain a dream.

Goodbye Brazil, please don't disappoint in 2010.

[Time of Confession] 7:33 PM
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