A ray of sunlight touches my skin, activating some of the five million touch receptors in my skin, alerting my sensory neurons which transmit the information through the dorsal of the spinal cord to my forebrain. The thalamus then processes this information and sends it to the somatosensory cortex located in the parietal lobe. Neurons located within the somatosensory cortex further process the information telling me- it’s a hot day.

Yes this is what happens when one attempts to study psyc 1020 on a dangerously hot day.

Just a poem I came across while doing my readings for discourse analysis

Who killed Diana?
I said the Tabloid
With such loving devotion
I killed Diana.

Who saw her die?
I said the Paparazzo,
with my little eye
I saw her die.

Who'll be the judge?
I said the broadsheet,
from vantage on high,
I'll be the judge.

And all the people of the press,
began to sob and sigh,
When they heard the church bell tolling
For poor Princess Di.

Golly, how I do miss literature!




 

I’m supposed to be studying right now, I’m not here, you can’t see me or hear me but somehow you’re inside my head listening to my thoughts. I don’t know if I have ever talked about libraries- but the fact is I love libraries. The first time I fell in love with them was from watching a particular scene in Walt Disney’s Beauty and the Beast where the Beast leads a blindfolded Belle into a breathtaking space filled with rows and rows of crisp, sturdy-spine, hardcover books. It was a literary heaven-on-earth moment which made my heart set on owning a replica of that one day. Floor-to-ceiling bookcases, books lined back to front leaving not even an inch of empty space and a wooden oak ladder strung across for a classic feel.

A well-designed library of course is just like the lip-smacking, drool-inducing icing on a cupcake. The cupcake itself takes the simple form of endless volumes of novels waiting to be read, waiting to transport me through experiences and enlighten me with epiphanies through the magical power of 26 alphabets. Then there’s also the sheer delight of just holding a book in my hand, sitting in a comfy corner, engrossed in each word after the other on the page. I’m attributing this aspect of myself to my Dad who is an avid reader. A person who has read to me and taught me to read even before I was apt at walking, running and jumping and till today generously funds my finances for such purposes.

Even as this is a period of hardcore exam preparation (or so I tell myself) sitting in the library calms me, helps me to focus and reminds me why I am an arts student- not a science or a business student but an arts student. I take a moment to thank God for that and go back to studying :)

P.s This is not a shameless promo for my upcoming birthday but if you’re puzzled over what to get me then get me a book:) And when I build my world-famous library someday, you’ll be invited.

I’ve recently watched the first 2 episodes of Ugly Betty and the 5^th and 6^th episode of Grey’s anatomy... awesome awesome stuff people. If we were acting in a television series, this would be the episode where everyone’s stressed out and exhausted. We’ve pulled though an entire semester of quizzes, assignments, projects, bitch fights, boyfriend- girlfriend fights, politics, tears, feelings of depression and being directionless and just about anything and everything else a person can possibly feel..ONLY to realise the crux of it is approaching, which just makes us wonder even more how we are going to surmount the huge mountain of obstacles before home beckons.

Think you’re alone? As you struggle with whatever it is you are struggling with, someone is sitting in  darkness at midnight staring into space; someone is embarking on a journey of self-discovery with an assignment hot on her heels; someone is on the phone trying to explain a simple situation blown out of proportion; someone is simply hoping to graduate this semester. My point being that there are a million and one conundrums waiting to confound us, a few billion questions waiting to be answered and just about a gazillion emotional rollercoaster rides to get on- but now is not the time. Instead we press on because one day in the near future we’ll be able to look back and laugh at all these issues, and realise how foolish we were. Lousy grades however are not that amusing, even on hindsight since the university track is one-way- you get what you get basically, nothing changes for that module till eternity.

As the saying goes-when push comes to shove, things will get going. NEWS FLASH! Shove is officially here as indicated by Swotvac week, hardcore people we’re going hardcore! See you after the exams;)

Citizen Journalism is the concept of members of the public "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information". 

Members of the public- Just about anyone and everyone, heck even my ex jc mate has like a video diary series on the webbie. In all honesty, she's the last person I expected to be doing it, from my vague impressions on her she's more suited for some chinese newspaper or radio programme. THEN again, it's stomp so yeah you get the point..

playing an active role- active is an understatement, from snapping pictures to writing articles, to commenting utter nonsense...I'm 'proud' to say Singaporeans do embrace the inner reporter in them.

Here are some comments about a man baring his bottom at a public swimming pool:

*Notice the bad english and absolutely ridiculous content? And yes there was a Indian man in the background. They should put all this to good use by using it as comedic relief therapy for like depressed people..

Disseminating news and information- this is the part where I get so cracked up I laugh, get a cardiac arrest and die. News ranges from  teenagers kissing in public areas, a family taking as much free food as they can from a reproduction talk to too many CCTV cameras at Toa Payoh Mrt Station. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

No doubt one doesn't have to study journalism/ mass communications to be in the media industry but these are the standards we get. I'M APPALLED PEOPLE I'M APPALLED!

haha if you don't believe me just go to stomp.com.sg and have a read.

Intellectual Abuse

The thing with free online publications like blogspot and livejournal is that we end up having a plethora of reading material but not much that is really worth reading. Maybe it's because I'm a jour/socy/pysc student and most of the time our writing has to be grammatically sound, concerning something substantial and artistically tasteful, which renders anything less than that a lousy read IN MY OPINION .

I'm beginning to get the feeling my generation is dangerously narcissist  and it reflects clearly in our trivialised and spectacularised writing about ourselves. Not that it's wrong but not that it's right either. HOWEVER,  all is not lost haha if you enjoy grey's anatomy or good screenwriting . Check out the official website of the grey's anatomy script writers: http://www.greyswriters.com/  It's such a easy and engaging read I'm half convinced to not do my second major in psyc and swtich to screenwriting instead. LOL 

Physical Abuse 

I've been feeding my body so much crap.  2 litres of Coke, 2 litres of Ice cream, A LOT of frozen food and snacks for the past week. The saying' you are what you eat?' So true. On thursday night when my body could no longer bear the brunt of the repeated intensive abuse it broke down. So there I was with a runny nose, a fever and a highly screwed up face sitting in front of my notebook trying to rush through the edits for our jour assignment. Thank you Yu lin for offering me Vitamin C, warm tea and shoulder massages!


 

Emotional Abuse

AHHHHHHH POLO BOYS AIRED ON CHANNEL 5 YESTERDAY....this is cruelty...that i am such a huge fan of Nat Ho but I can't watch him in live hot action.... On top of that, Ugly Betty season 4 is out as well..and  I can't watch it either because the internet situation in Australia is just too depressing to even talk about. Maybe I should consider looking for an Ugly Betty writer's blog?? On a happier note I get to watch ' Mode after hours' on youtube :)


 Yes after all this abuse, this weekend is going to be spent in rehab, drinking lots of water, exercising, sleeping, doing gossip ( thank you to everyone who contributes to those little bits of joy in my life haha) and maybe get round to doing some readings. Wish me luck!

As much as I detest doing group assignments in uni, I realised it's a very practical stepping stone to prepare me for the working world- especially in media. From this semester, I've learnt that there's always going to be one or two imbeciles that a person will have to work with. This is expected and to a certain extent tolerable because who can blame a person for being stupid, but DO NOT destroy that last bit of self-respect I have for you by being so digustingly lazy. Haven't you heard ? If one is lacking in intellect then the only saving grace  is to work doubly ( I'm being kind here) hard to make up for that default in your biological make-up.  I don't want to reinforce racist stereotypes by saying that you're like that cause you're Australian but to be blatantly honest you're a disgrace to humanity in general not just a particular nationality. oh AND when you're done obsessing with boys and getting laid, call me because for the sake of producing a piece of work that is reasonably presentable I have GRACIOUSLY decided to lower myself to your level and try my best to work with you.

Afterwhich you may KMAABO.
 
goodbye.
 

OMGOMGOMGOMG PANIC ATTACK!

Just yesterday, 4 magazines were terminated and 180 staff retrenched  at Condé Nast Publications- le creme de la creme of  Manhattan media. While my bread, butter and pudding of Vanity Fair, Vogue and The New Yorker are still in publication, closing down 4 magazines is not a good sign for my reading interests or for my future career aspirations.

In times like these, Mode magazine/ Meade publications from tv series Ugly Betty as unrealistic as it seems, seems such an apt analogy of  Condé Nast itself, with its seasons of

"purring black cars waiting to whisk the people inside off to expensive boîtes and remarkable parties"      
to
"Graydon Carter, the editor of Vanity Fair, being spotted in the cafateria, waiting in line like any other mere mortal, a sure sign that the jig is up"

Analysts from the NYT reckon it is due to the selling prices of the magazines being lower than the cost price of producing the issues, but seriously  their magazines cost so much already!! I wonder how much more i'm gonna have to pay just to soothe the reader in me. Sigh.. now how on earth am I supposed to focus on the socy essay.....

on a more Joyful note, thank God for little surprises and encouragement here and there :)


 

"You know how your mum and dad always tell you to love your silblings cause they're gonna be your best friends in life? It turns out Mum and Dad are always right."- Aretha