YNo. Way.
Thank you, Limewire/YouTube/iTunes, for convincing record companies that free music is a great promotional tool. I think I just got myself John Mayer's newest CD Continuum for free from msn.com. With all the songs, not edited or cut or sampled! I couldn't believe my ears.
Don't really like his new look though. The dark locks and chiselled cheekbones, coupled with creepy stare remind me too much of Edward Scissorhands. But hey, his voice is still the same, and though the sound has changed slightly, the bittersweetness still remains in some songs. I like. :)
jac was here with you
10/31/2006 12:16:00 pm
YThe Most Exciting Moment Of the Day
So I'm at Commonapp.org and I'm in the midst of checking every single itty bitty detail before I submit my application for the Emory Scholars Program (Deadline: 1 Nov). So far everything's in order, I've got all my essays copied and pasted, and all the millions of little checkboxes checked (Yes, my parents are married, I stay with both, I need financial aid, I'm not on early decision...) and then I got to the Supplements tab to check if my supplements to Emory are all right.
Herein lies the shock. So there are two supplements from Emory, one the main supplement, where I have to tell them why Emory's a good match for me and ladidah, and then there's another I barely looked at, downloaded once and saw that I couldn't fill it up online and stored that information neatly at the back of my mind till the day I may use it.
That day came, today, a week late. It's the Emory application signature page, which is basically just the confirmation that my application's fine and dandy and stuff. I thought I could submit it online but I can't and the deadline's November 1 and when the realisation dawns on me that I've got to deal with last minute stuff again my head starts throbbing really badly. My parents are overseas so I can't run to them for help so I get the next best thing. "JON!!!" Even though I know he can't do anything, I just need something to calm me down.
So he comes out of his room grumbling, and I explain everything to him in one frantic, shrill breath. He clicks on the screen, looks calmly at it and goes, "Send it over to Mum and get her to post it from the US."
"How about my signature?"
"You can scan it in and email it over."
I feel like hugging him. The throbbing subsides.
I call up Mum in the US. It's 5 am but Mum can sleep anywhere, anytime, so it doesn't matter so much. She's sleepy and I explain everything to her slowly, but I think she can sense the panic in my voice. To her credit she doesn't yell (probably because she's too sleepy) and tells me Fedexing it will be faster, never mind the cost. So I call up Auntie Eugie and get the sheet of paper down to the office tomorrow. $30 for a sheet of paper! The pennycounter in me is indignant but it'll be worth it if I get the scholarship.
Yay for parents and little brothers who can calm me down. :)
Exciting Moment of the Day II happened just a little while ago when Jon's facial cleanser's cap got stuck in the hole where the cleanser comes out from. It was soo funny. I whipped out my trusty, all purpose MGS badge but it didn't help and Jon was so annoyed--"How did the thing get stuck in the bottleneck?"..."How the HELL would I know???". In the end we snipped the tip off so he could get the cleanser out and left the bottle on the shelf with a little cup over the exposed end, looking like a little sad man.
jac was here with you
10/30/2006 09:38:00 pm
YDriving Away in the Dark
Once in awhile, when it's good
It'll feel like it should
And they're all still around
And you're still safe and sound
And you don't miss a thing
Till you cry when you're driving away in the dark
Singing
Stop this train
I want to get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
Cause now I see I will never stop this train
John Mayer, Stop This Train
The thing I like about John Mayer is the bittersweetness of his songs. They're the sort of songs that make you cry at just the right time.
[Edit: Song of the moment #2--By The Way They Dance, Jump Little Children.
It's so funny, seeing all the younger ones pair up. Another indication of how we're slowly drifting past childhood into--yikes--adolescence. Sorry, being a kaypoh busybody.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEBBIE!]
jac was here with you
10/22/2006 10:31:00 pm
Yhistory is circular sometimes
Taking a breather after a whole morning of struggling with stats. Ironic that the most boring part of my A'level syllabus comes from my best subject. There was this horrible headache that just kept on throbbing while I tried to work out the sums, and that's a sign of my feeling rushed and not trusting enough. So after I was done with math I decided to take a break before starting on history.
Have been quite frustrated over the past few days because of the monotony of the routine. Haven't had lessons for two days so all I really do is stay at home and study, which is normally fine, just that wait a minute, haven't I been doing this for the past 2 months? So I decided today to go to school to study with Sam but in the end realised it would probably make me feel even more rushed so, yep, I'm back here at home.
Yesterday I was looking through what I'd written in my journal two years back at this same period, just before my O's, and I realised that I'd actually been struggling with the same issues as I am now. It was a ironically comforting reminder, though, because I've always tended to look back at my O'level year and say, "It was so easy then, I had everything down pat before prelims started, and I never had the same sort of anxieties as I do now," but I realised that at that point of time I had already begun thinking about my future and worrying about the outcome of my exams. I had never been able to not worry about it, it seems, even when I got the best possible result anyone could have gotten for prelims.
There were worries about going into Hwa Chong, wanting to make sure I got into the most perfect school. Then I had worries about my future and what I wanted to do, and contrary to what I thought on hindsight, when I'd applied for the Humanities Scholarship I had worried about everyone being arty farty and me not being able to keep up with them. I had thought about scholarships even before I entered JC, but only fleetingly, and I'd struggled with my image of God being a sadistic God who only wants to do bad things to me.
Funny thing is, despite all my angst, I was thankful for the same things: my friends. I don't think you ever really begin to appreciate your friends until you realise you need them to pull you through something, to take your mind off your concerns, to let you know you're not in this alone. God has been faithful.
So why was it ironically comforting that I'm going through the same issues as last time? Because God brought me through my O'levels, didn't He? And He brought me through them well. He may not give me the same good grades as He did two years ago but I think I can safely say that it's part of His plan, and His plans are not to harm me.
I've realised going through this life doesn't require one final relinquishing of all our cares to Him. Maybe it's because we're too weak to do follow through that sort of resolution. For me it has to start with clinging on to Him every day and telling Him, "I'm sorry about my pride, I put it down. I need You, and I'll worship You with what You want me to do this day." And then going about it with His grace.
jac was here with you
10/12/2006 02:32:00 pm
Ystop...please?
Guess what. Guess I'm tired again.
It's not without reason. It's frustrating, really. I wish I didn't have to study so much--no, it's not the studying that's the problem, it's everything else. What's with all these scholarship applications? Do I have to do them now? Only because you're afraid of losing out--didn't you decide you'd do them later, after the A's? Should I do them now? I want to slow down but I'm afraid, I guess.
Yep. I'm afraid.
Gilly told me something beautiful today: "Your future is as bright as the promises of God."
You have made my lot secure,
The boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places
Surely I have a delightful inheritance.
Psalm 16
jac was here with you
10/10/2006 03:25:00 pm