Wednesday, November 30, 2005
We Have Moved!!!
This is not a joke. To better serve the teeming masses who are dying to figure out what goes on inside my brain (yeah, right), I have created a new blog: The Web of Fudge II. Here's the address:
http://weboffudge.blogspot.com
Not too difficult to remember, right? Just replace 'blogdrive' with 'blogspot'. Everyone who has links to my blog, please do the necessary amendments. I'll make clear my reasons for moving in the very first posting of the Web of Fudge II.
Adios!
Go, Web!!!!
*fires webshooter*
Adios!
Go, Web!!!!
*fires webshooter*
Posted by Spider-Fudge at 08:12 am
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Monday, November 21, 2005
Gonna Fly Now
I have roughly three hours to the second objective of Ops Intimidation Game (if you count the Visualization test as the first objective. Or you could say, this is the first real objective, considering that the aforementioned test was a just an appetiser to what's in store for us all. Fluid Mechanics, though, isn't the same as Visualization in any way. Where Visualization was an open-book test, Fluid Mech is closed-book except for a couple of helpsheets. Where Visualization was an MCQ paper, Only a part of Fluid Mech consists of MCQ. Where Visualization was a 25-minute dash, Fluid Mech is a 2-hour trail of terror.
Most importantly, where Visualization was a relatively straightforward paper with rather predictable questions, you have absolutely no idea what they have in store for you in Fluid Mechanics. The thing about Fluid Mechanics is that there is an infinite number of scenarios that they could throw at you, and there's no way to prepare for them all. Even MOM, for all of its open-endedness, still has some element of predictability.
Now, I don't spot questions, and be it far from me to ever do that. Heck, I've always abhorred the practice of some students to spot questions. In my mind, they may get the grades, but they don't get the education. What I am trying to say is that some degree of familiarity is always comforting to me, and Fluid Mechanics can't give me that. A single twist of a familiar fluids scenario reders it totally unfamiliar. While I can usually reason out the ones with less sickening twists, the terribly-twisted ones are out of my reach. All I can hope is that I have understood the basic concepts well and still be in the right frame of mind to reason things out properly later on.
My frame of mind, incidentally, is another problem in itself. It's not exactly easy to be figuring out complex fluid mechanics concepts at 5pm in the evening when my brain functions are at their lowest. It would be far better to have it at 9am in the morning while I'm still fresh. Also, all this nerve-wrecking waiting for the paper to start is killing me. It only hurts when I stop moving.
The next paper will be MOM this Wednesday. That gives me a full day to prepare for both it and the Changing Landscapes paper on Thursday. I'll then have another day to prepare for the Sensors paper on Saturday, followed by the final Thermodynamics paper on next Tuesday.
It's not going to be easy, and the odds are stacked high against me. I know I've faced and overcome worse odds before, but I'm not sure if I can do it again. All I have to say is that you win some, and you lose some. What that really matters is your attitude in facing the situation when things no longer seem to be going your way.
I choose to stand tall and fight. And if I should go down, I'll go down fighting.
*fires webshooter*
Go, web!!!!
Trying hard now
It's so hard now
Trying hard now
Won't be long now
Getting strong now
Flying high now
Gonna fly, fly..... fly!
Most importantly, where Visualization was a relatively straightforward paper with rather predictable questions, you have absolutely no idea what they have in store for you in Fluid Mechanics. The thing about Fluid Mechanics is that there is an infinite number of scenarios that they could throw at you, and there's no way to prepare for them all. Even MOM, for all of its open-endedness, still has some element of predictability.
Now, I don't spot questions, and be it far from me to ever do that. Heck, I've always abhorred the practice of some students to spot questions. In my mind, they may get the grades, but they don't get the education. What I am trying to say is that some degree of familiarity is always comforting to me, and Fluid Mechanics can't give me that. A single twist of a familiar fluids scenario reders it totally unfamiliar. While I can usually reason out the ones with less sickening twists, the terribly-twisted ones are out of my reach. All I can hope is that I have understood the basic concepts well and still be in the right frame of mind to reason things out properly later on.
My frame of mind, incidentally, is another problem in itself. It's not exactly easy to be figuring out complex fluid mechanics concepts at 5pm in the evening when my brain functions are at their lowest. It would be far better to have it at 9am in the morning while I'm still fresh. Also, all this nerve-wrecking waiting for the paper to start is killing me. It only hurts when I stop moving.
The next paper will be MOM this Wednesday. That gives me a full day to prepare for both it and the Changing Landscapes paper on Thursday. I'll then have another day to prepare for the Sensors paper on Saturday, followed by the final Thermodynamics paper on next Tuesday.
It's not going to be easy, and the odds are stacked high against me. I know I've faced and overcome worse odds before, but I'm not sure if I can do it again. All I have to say is that you win some, and you lose some. What that really matters is your attitude in facing the situation when things no longer seem to be going your way.
I choose to stand tall and fight. And if I should go down, I'll go down fighting.
*fires webshooter*
Go, web!!!!
Trying hard now
It's so hard now
Trying hard now
Getting strong now
Won't be long now
Getting strong now
Gonna fly now
Flying high now
Gonna fly, fly..... fly!
- Rocky OST, 'Gonna Fly Now'
Posted by Spider-Fudge at 02:13 pm
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Friday, November 18, 2005
Dawn of the Blog
After seeing all the slime that's being thrown at the supposedly-hottest new blogger Dawn Yeo, I feel compelled to toss in my two cents on this issue.
Here's some background information: Dawn Yeo is one of the biggest bloggers in Singapore, and her fame rivals that of the notorious Xiaxue. She has recently won several product endorsements owing to the popularity of her blog, and of course, her beauty. Now, her former colleagues and classmates have come out into the open, saying that she was not as beautiful in the past and accused her of undergoing plastic surgery. They have demanded that she go out into the open and admit that she had plastic surgery after all.
Heck, according to the New Paper, there are now a total of fifteen sites solely dedicated to this issue. As you guys know, I'm a regular forummite at sgforums.com, and a rather intense debate has been going on over this. I managed to get links to a couple of those aformentioned sites, and the amount of slime being thrown at her disgusted me so much that I really, really have to spin a web on this.
I'll admit it: I'm not an advocate of plastic surgery for the sake of beauty either. From what I believe, we should all be contented with whatever God has created for us and not try to meddle with it at the fundamental level. Perhaps I'm being a little judgemental here, but to undergo plastic surgery for the sake of appearance is a pretty extreme form of vanity. The way I see it, plastic surgery should only be for reconstructive purposes (e.g. accident victims with disfigured appearances, etc). At the most, I'd grant leeway to those who want to alter their appearance to counter the huge amount of psychological ridicule which total jerks impose on them.
Note that I said 'fundamental level', which in this case refers to physically manipulating the underlying structure itself of a person's physical appearance. Otherwise, I'll be throwing brickbats as well at makeup (which I don't).
Anyway, while I don't support plastic surgery for the sake of beauty, I'm not going to mudsling those who do indeed undergo it. What they do to their appearances is their choice. It's their face, it's their body, and it's their life. We can't really be telling them how to live it.
The same goes for Dawn Yeo. I really, really don't understand what the fuss is all about. Even if she did pay for her beauty and go under the knife to attain it, that's entirely her business. I don't see why she has a moral obligation to supposedly 'come clean' and tell everyone about what she has done.
I've seen some of the extreme stuff being posted against her, and they really sicken me to the core. I can't post those postings here, for there's no way on earth am I going to tar The Web of Fudge with samples of such postings. The thing is, what have these guys got against her? What on earth did this girl do to make all those people hate her so much?
To the people who are bent on mudslinging her, I say this to you: stop whatever you're doing, and issue an immendiate apology to her. I don't understand why you should be so incredibly riled against her. If you don't like her, then don't visit her blog. Heck, block it off with a parental control program if you want to (the way I did with Xiaxue). However, to hide behind the anonymity of cyberspace and shooting her in the back this way... that's just low brow. I have a question to ask you guys: if she really is as bad as you say she is, then does backstabbing her make you any better than her?
I only have a small inkling of what it feels like to be shot in the back by unknown strangers. The worst I've ever been faced to encounter is hurtful comments in my TAG board saying that they want me dead. Then again, I am the master of my TAG board, and I can always delete away those comments and order any other would-be jerks to buzz off. That was a one-off event, and I don't expect those jerks to come again anytime soon. I'll be ready for them if they do, though.
In case if you guys are wondering, no, I don't know Dawn Yeo personally. I write this post only because I totally abhor all this backstabbing and mudslinging that's going on.
Here's some background information: Dawn Yeo is one of the biggest bloggers in Singapore, and her fame rivals that of the notorious Xiaxue. She has recently won several product endorsements owing to the popularity of her blog, and of course, her beauty. Now, her former colleagues and classmates have come out into the open, saying that she was not as beautiful in the past and accused her of undergoing plastic surgery. They have demanded that she go out into the open and admit that she had plastic surgery after all.
Heck, according to the New Paper, there are now a total of fifteen sites solely dedicated to this issue. As you guys know, I'm a regular forummite at sgforums.com, and a rather intense debate has been going on over this. I managed to get links to a couple of those aformentioned sites, and the amount of slime being thrown at her disgusted me so much that I really, really have to spin a web on this.
I'll admit it: I'm not an advocate of plastic surgery for the sake of beauty either. From what I believe, we should all be contented with whatever God has created for us and not try to meddle with it at the fundamental level. Perhaps I'm being a little judgemental here, but to undergo plastic surgery for the sake of appearance is a pretty extreme form of vanity. The way I see it, plastic surgery should only be for reconstructive purposes (e.g. accident victims with disfigured appearances, etc). At the most, I'd grant leeway to those who want to alter their appearance to counter the huge amount of psychological ridicule which total jerks impose on them.
Note that I said 'fundamental level', which in this case refers to physically manipulating the underlying structure itself of a person's physical appearance. Otherwise, I'll be throwing brickbats as well at makeup (which I don't).
Anyway, while I don't support plastic surgery for the sake of beauty, I'm not going to mudsling those who do indeed undergo it. What they do to their appearances is their choice. It's their face, it's their body, and it's their life. We can't really be telling them how to live it.
The same goes for Dawn Yeo. I really, really don't understand what the fuss is all about. Even if she did pay for her beauty and go under the knife to attain it, that's entirely her business. I don't see why she has a moral obligation to supposedly 'come clean' and tell everyone about what she has done.
I've seen some of the extreme stuff being posted against her, and they really sicken me to the core. I can't post those postings here, for there's no way on earth am I going to tar The Web of Fudge with samples of such postings. The thing is, what have these guys got against her? What on earth did this girl do to make all those people hate her so much?
To the people who are bent on mudslinging her, I say this to you: stop whatever you're doing, and issue an immendiate apology to her. I don't understand why you should be so incredibly riled against her. If you don't like her, then don't visit her blog. Heck, block it off with a parental control program if you want to (the way I did with Xiaxue). However, to hide behind the anonymity of cyberspace and shooting her in the back this way... that's just low brow. I have a question to ask you guys: if she really is as bad as you say she is, then does backstabbing her make you any better than her?
I only have a small inkling of what it feels like to be shot in the back by unknown strangers. The worst I've ever been faced to encounter is hurtful comments in my TAG board saying that they want me dead. Then again, I am the master of my TAG board, and I can always delete away those comments and order any other would-be jerks to buzz off. That was a one-off event, and I don't expect those jerks to come again anytime soon. I'll be ready for them if they do, though.
In case if you guys are wondering, no, I don't know Dawn Yeo personally. I write this post only because I totally abhor all this backstabbing and mudslinging that's going on.
Posted by Spider-Fudge at 12:34 am
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Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Akan Datang
Hi again, Webs.
What can I say? When I'm stressed, I get frustrated. When I get frustrated, I feel the need to vent my frustration out on something. Since I'm not the violent sort of person, I turn to blogging. Sounds weird, but then again, some people vent their frustrations by eating lots of snacks. Not exactly the healthiest thing on earth to be doing.
In the past, I used to vent out my feelings in the form of poetry. I completed most of the first three books of The Anthology of Seasons within my Sec 4 year. That tells you the amount of teenage angst I had at that time. Lately, though, I've been touching the Anthology a lot less. Heck, I haven't been writing any poetry at all for the past few weeks. Not that I want to make excuses, by it really isn't easy to have a lot of inspiration when my mind's filled with Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics concepts.
I guess The Web of Fudge itself plays a part too in the current dearth of poetry in The Anthology of Seasons. Where in the past I could express my emotions purely in verse I now have the option to do so in prose. And as much as I hate to admit it, it's easier to be writing in prose than in verse. The Web of Fudge was originally a complement to The Anthology of Seasons, but has since overtaken it. I seem to be losing my poetic edge, and I'm not sure whether that's really a good thing. I'll try to make the effort to get back to poetry once the exams are over, I promise.
Sheesh... what's happening, Spidey? Isn't The Anthology of Seasons supposed to be your life story... your legacy to your heirs when you're finally gone?
My apologies to Dead Poet, Verbosity, Adawehi, Maroux and all other fellow poets. I'll do my best to get back to poetry.
In the past, I used to vent out my feelings in the form of poetry. I completed most of the first three books of The Anthology of Seasons within my Sec 4 year. That tells you the amount of teenage angst I had at that time. Lately, though, I've been touching the Anthology a lot less. Heck, I haven't been writing any poetry at all for the past few weeks. Not that I want to make excuses, by it really isn't easy to have a lot of inspiration when my mind's filled with Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics concepts.
I guess The Web of Fudge itself plays a part too in the current dearth of poetry in The Anthology of Seasons. Where in the past I could express my emotions purely in verse I now have the option to do so in prose. And as much as I hate to admit it, it's easier to be writing in prose than in verse. The Web of Fudge was originally a complement to The Anthology of Seasons, but has since overtaken it. I seem to be losing my poetic edge, and I'm not sure whether that's really a good thing. I'll try to make the effort to get back to poetry once the exams are over, I promise.
Sheesh... what's happening, Spidey? Isn't The Anthology of Seasons supposed to be your life story... your legacy to your heirs when you're finally gone?
My apologies to Dead Poet, Verbosity, Adawehi, Maroux and all other fellow poets. I'll do my best to get back to poetry.
I've also realised that I was perhaps being a little too impulsive in wanting to change the template for the Web of Fudge. I originally thought that it was be nice to give it a slicker look. I've received feedback, though, that white words against a black background have a tendency to give the reader a spinning headache. I've tried to read one of my longer socio-political essays in the new template, and I agree. This new template was built for pimply-faced teens who usually don't write in continuous prose in their blog entries. I've always wanted The Web of Fudge to have a mature, simple yet stylish feel to it, as as much as the original template was boring, it exemplified these qualities most losely.
After the exams I'll return the template to its original layout. I wish I could do it now, but I hardly have the time to spare. HTML idiots like myself can't exactly do major webpage makeovers in a matter of minutes. The Web of Fudge shall be restored to its former glory, with perhaps a few more bells and whistles thrown in.
*TV announcer's voice*
Akan datang - The all-new, totally revamped Web of Fudge! Also, the amazing rebirth of The Anthology of Seasons! Will there be great entries? Will there be good poetry? Stay tuned to find out!
It's the show you've all been waiting for! Don't miss it!
Sigh.... I think the exam stress is really getting to me.
After the exams I'll return the template to its original layout. I wish I could do it now, but I hardly have the time to spare. HTML idiots like myself can't exactly do major webpage makeovers in a matter of minutes. The Web of Fudge shall be restored to its former glory, with perhaps a few more bells and whistles thrown in.
*TV announcer's voice*
Akan datang - The all-new, totally revamped Web of Fudge! Also, the amazing rebirth of The Anthology of Seasons! Will there be great entries? Will there be good poetry? Stay tuned to find out!
It's the show you've all been waiting for! Don't miss it!
Sigh.... I think the exam stress is really getting to me.
Posted by Spider-Fudge at 12:21 am
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Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Excess Baggage
Hi Webs,
As expected, Ops Intimidation Game hasn't been coming along very smoothly at all. As I've said before, I guess the major cause of the problem is due to my initial 'fast and furious' approach to revision. Unfortunately, as I don't really have a lot of experience in doing things fast and furious, I end up overdoing it and 'fast and furious' becomes 'too fast, too furious'. As a result, I end up burning out too quickly and having little motivation or willpower to simply move on.
Ops Lightning Storm last semester was indeed fast and furious, but I had kick-started the operation with just three weeks remaining. By the time I was burning out, it was pretty much nearing the end of the exams. I guess that's how I got slightly better grades than in the first semester.
I know I've said that I can't really be the best and that I can only hope to do my best and accept whatever results that comes my way. The truth is, I sometimes find it hard to convince myself to accept whatever I'm saying. Regardless of what the idealists may tell you, academic success is indeed important. While grades aren't everything, surely having a solid academic grounding will put you firmly on the road to success.
It was so much easier for me to accept that academic success wasn't everything in the past. Back when I was in JC 2 the Public Service Commission gave me and some of my peers notice that they were interested in us and wanted us to take a psychometric test to gauge our suitability for a PSC scholarship. I didn't think I'd get anywhere past the test, but I actually did pass through it and got to the next round along with a few others. They indicated to me that they were interested in me and wanted to sponsor me to take the SAT test (it wasn't part of university requirements at that time, but it was a scholarship prerequisite). The only condition was that I had to take two S Papers on top of my four A Level subjects. With a good A Level showing, they'd put me up for further review before further deciding on whether or not to award me a scholarship.
I'm not trying to show off here. I was like, 'Woah.... a PSC scholarship for little ol' me?' I decided to plunge headlong into the challenge. Unfortunately, as it turned out, things weren't exactly that simple.
Believe me, taking 4 A Level subjects, 2 AO papers, and 2 S papers is highly detrimental to one's health. Compounding my workload was the MCS-organised annual Gema Temasek performance which I was highly involved in. Additionally, we all know the heavy financial problems I had which caused me to go hungry much of the time. All those factors conspired to take a heavy burden on my abilities and willpower.
Hungry, sleep-deprived and delirious with my near-constant flu attacks (I fell ill once every three weeks or so), I kept telling myself that I had to get the PSC scholarship no matter the cost. I had to get the scholarship or die trying.
Then I found myself running up against and hitting a wall. Metaphorically, of course. I started asking myself, 'Why should I DIE TRYING to be someone I'm not? Why don't I just do whatever I do best and make the most of whatever I can do? Why don't I just be who I am?'
I decided that it was simply not worth torturing myself to be someone I'm not. I was doing it all the wrong way... I viewed success as about being the best. The truth is, I'm not the best, I was never the best, and can never be the best. As much as it would be nice to have the ultimate honour of a PSC scholarship, it's just not worth it to torture myself over it.
In the end, I dropped both my S Papers and wrote a withdrawal letter to the people in charge of the whole thing. With the end of Gema Temasek and my clearing of the Yr 2 June Paper for my Malay AO, things got much better. I suddenly found myself having more free time on my hands than I ever had. I started making the most of it and put in the effort to slowly pull up my A Level subjects. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do, but it was a whole lot more easier without all that excess baggage weighing me down.
We all know the rest of the story.
I know I've been dealing a lot with this theme of what success is all about.... I guess I'm having problems trying to convince myself of what I'm saying.
Ops Lightning Storm last semester was indeed fast and furious, but I had kick-started the operation with just three weeks remaining. By the time I was burning out, it was pretty much nearing the end of the exams. I guess that's how I got slightly better grades than in the first semester.
I know I've said that I can't really be the best and that I can only hope to do my best and accept whatever results that comes my way. The truth is, I sometimes find it hard to convince myself to accept whatever I'm saying. Regardless of what the idealists may tell you, academic success is indeed important. While grades aren't everything, surely having a solid academic grounding will put you firmly on the road to success.
It was so much easier for me to accept that academic success wasn't everything in the past. Back when I was in JC 2 the Public Service Commission gave me and some of my peers notice that they were interested in us and wanted us to take a psychometric test to gauge our suitability for a PSC scholarship. I didn't think I'd get anywhere past the test, but I actually did pass through it and got to the next round along with a few others. They indicated to me that they were interested in me and wanted to sponsor me to take the SAT test (it wasn't part of university requirements at that time, but it was a scholarship prerequisite). The only condition was that I had to take two S Papers on top of my four A Level subjects. With a good A Level showing, they'd put me up for further review before further deciding on whether or not to award me a scholarship.
I'm not trying to show off here. I was like, 'Woah.... a PSC scholarship for little ol' me?' I decided to plunge headlong into the challenge. Unfortunately, as it turned out, things weren't exactly that simple.
Believe me, taking 4 A Level subjects, 2 AO papers, and 2 S papers is highly detrimental to one's health. Compounding my workload was the MCS-organised annual Gema Temasek performance which I was highly involved in. Additionally, we all know the heavy financial problems I had which caused me to go hungry much of the time. All those factors conspired to take a heavy burden on my abilities and willpower.
Hungry, sleep-deprived and delirious with my near-constant flu attacks (I fell ill once every three weeks or so), I kept telling myself that I had to get the PSC scholarship no matter the cost. I had to get the scholarship or die trying.
Then I found myself running up against and hitting a wall. Metaphorically, of course. I started asking myself, 'Why should I DIE TRYING to be someone I'm not? Why don't I just do whatever I do best and make the most of whatever I can do? Why don't I just be who I am?'
I decided that it was simply not worth torturing myself to be someone I'm not. I was doing it all the wrong way... I viewed success as about being the best. The truth is, I'm not the best, I was never the best, and can never be the best. As much as it would be nice to have the ultimate honour of a PSC scholarship, it's just not worth it to torture myself over it.
In the end, I dropped both my S Papers and wrote a withdrawal letter to the people in charge of the whole thing. With the end of Gema Temasek and my clearing of the Yr 2 June Paper for my Malay AO, things got much better. I suddenly found myself having more free time on my hands than I ever had. I started making the most of it and put in the effort to slowly pull up my A Level subjects. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do, but it was a whole lot more easier without all that excess baggage weighing me down.
We all know the rest of the story.
I know I've been dealing a lot with this theme of what success is all about.... I guess I'm having problems trying to convince myself of what I'm saying.
Posted by Spider-Fudge at 12:33 am
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Friday, November 11, 2005
Success
I know I shouldn't really be blogging so much in the midst of Intimidation Game, but I've got to find a way to destress. It's 1.30 am in the morning, and really I ought to be sleeping. However, I once again find myself facing the quandary of being both too tired to study properly and too hyped-up to sleep properly. I guess the caffeine dose I had just now wasn't effective at all. Instead of hyping my mind up to a level tolerable enough to allow for useful studying, it has hyped my mind just enough to keep me awake but not enough to allow me to study.
I don't know about you guys, but the way I see it, if I end up staring at my notes without hardly a shred of information entering my mind, then that's not useful studying at all. Effective studying should not just be about the quantity of studying, but about the quality of studying as well. To be frank, I have nothing but disdain for people who look down upon other people just because they study fewer hours than they do. Hey come on.... who knows, they may very well have accomplished much more in that short period of time.
Heck, I know of people who proudly proclaim that they sleep '4 or 5 hours only' as though it were a badge of productivity and chide me for sleeping early. I've even been called a lazy pig for having a good night's sleep. When I ask them what they do at night besides studying, they'll usually say things like:
'Oh... I spent two hours chatting on MSN Messenger.'
'I was on the phone for nearly three hours last night.'
'There was a great football match last night! You didn't watch it?!?!?'
Uh-huh. In other words, they slack by talking on the phone or sticking their eyes to the television. Well, I choose to slack by sleeping in my comfortable bed. Basic reasoning tells me that a couple extra hours of sleep is far more beneficial to my tired mind than unproductive chatting on MSN for hours. They shall have their way of slacking, and I shall have mine. Just don't diss me for doing things differently. Having the 'it's my way, or the highway' mentality smacks of bigotry.
I won't lie... it's more than a little unnerving when I see other people studying into the wee hours of the morning when I usually turn in at 12 midnight or just slightly later. However, I also know that if I can't really do anything productive, then it's not really worth the effort to stay up. I might as well have a good rest and do highly-productive work when I feel much more refreshed.
I don't know about you guys, but the way I see it, if I end up staring at my notes without hardly a shred of information entering my mind, then that's not useful studying at all. Effective studying should not just be about the quantity of studying, but about the quality of studying as well. To be frank, I have nothing but disdain for people who look down upon other people just because they study fewer hours than they do. Hey come on.... who knows, they may very well have accomplished much more in that short period of time.
Heck, I know of people who proudly proclaim that they sleep '4 or 5 hours only' as though it were a badge of productivity and chide me for sleeping early. I've even been called a lazy pig for having a good night's sleep. When I ask them what they do at night besides studying, they'll usually say things like:
'Oh... I spent two hours chatting on MSN Messenger.'
'I was on the phone for nearly three hours last night.'
'There was a great football match last night! You didn't watch it?!?!?'
Uh-huh. In other words, they slack by talking on the phone or sticking their eyes to the television. Well, I choose to slack by sleeping in my comfortable bed. Basic reasoning tells me that a couple extra hours of sleep is far more beneficial to my tired mind than unproductive chatting on MSN for hours. They shall have their way of slacking, and I shall have mine. Just don't diss me for doing things differently. Having the 'it's my way, or the highway' mentality smacks of bigotry.
I won't lie... it's more than a little unnerving when I see other people studying into the wee hours of the morning when I usually turn in at 12 midnight or just slightly later. However, I also know that if I can't really do anything productive, then it's not really worth the effort to stay up. I might as well have a good rest and do highly-productive work when I feel much more refreshed.
Besides, I have long since accepted the fact that I can never be counted among the best in my cohort. As much as I don't want to say it, there are limits to my abilities. I'm not an idealist who thinks that the sky's the limit. Rather, I'm a realist who recognises the fact that there are limits to the abilities a person has, and different people have different limits. Success isn't just about being the best. More importantly, it is about doing my best and putting in the ultimate effort. As long as I know that I've done my best, I don't have anything to be ashamed of.
This reminds me of a friend of mine who quit school after she failed her JC Yr 1 Promotional Exams back in my Temasek Junior College days. She eventually got married to a well-known artiste, joined the Malay television channel, and is now a rising star. I won't mention names, but some of you should know who I'm talking about. Now, I've often thought to myself: who's the more successful person here? Yes, academically-wise, I'm ahead of her. However, when it comes to the less tangible aspects of life like happiness, satisfaction and overall quality of life, I'm going to say that she's the more successful one. I'm just a struggling undergraduate who barely scrapes financially and has hardly any time to enjoy life and make the most of it.
One lesson we can learn from this is that success takes many forms, and academic success is only one of them. Even if you do fail academically, it's not the end of the world, regardless of what others may tell you. You can still be more successful in life than the guy who gets a PhD and drives a Mercedes. Still, what our elders told us about education being a solid anchor in life still holds true. There's hardly anything more important than having a good education for a more stable life.
One lesson we can learn from this is that success takes many forms, and academic success is only one of them. Even if you do fail academically, it's not the end of the world, regardless of what others may tell you. You can still be more successful in life than the guy who gets a PhD and drives a Mercedes. Still, what our elders told us about education being a solid anchor in life still holds true. There's hardly anything more important than having a good education for a more stable life.
I've said it once, and I'll say it again: success is not just about being the best. It's more about doing your best. I don't know what the future holds for me, but I'm not going to cower in one corner and let my fears overcome me. If I have to go down, I'll go down fighting with my head held up high.
Posted by Spider-Fudge at 02:08 am
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Sunday, November 06, 2005
The Fudge and the Furious
Well, I suppose I won't be putting up any socio-political essays for the next three weeks. It's not easy to be writing 1000-word articles on social issues when I'm in the thick of Ops Intimidation Game and am furiously trying to prepare for six modules all at one go. At least the very first objective of Intimidation Game will be tomorrow. By this time tomorrow, it will be one down, and five to go.
The ME 2103 module quiz will be held tomorrow at 12 noon. Concept-wise, Visualization isn't actually a difficult module. So far the only work I've actually been doing where this module is concerned is playing around with the Solidworks software. Heck, I neglect it even more than my Changing Landscapes module, which I've already declared S/U.
The hard part is the actual final quiz tomorrow. It's an online MCQ quiz consisting of fifty questions. You may be thinking, 'MCQ? Bah! Relax lah, brudder!' Well, dig this: I have to do the 50 MCQs within 25 minutes. That translates to 30 seconds per question. That's not exactly a lot of time, is it? I've decided that if I can't answer a question within 15 seconds, I'll simply move on to the next one. Sure, the test is open-book, but you don't really have 30 seconds to spare just to flip through the lecture notes.
If that wasn't already enough of a challenge, the test itself carries a weightage of 50% to my final grade. In short, if I mess this paper up, I'm screwed. And this is the one paper which I can't afford to screw up since most people are expected to do well for this paper. What's more, I'm going to have to depend on this module as well as on MOM for my grades and to pull up my CAP score. I may be able to do well enough for the four critical modules (Mechanics of Materials, Fluid Mechanics, Sensors and Actuators, Thermodynamics), but then again, I may not do well either.
The ME 2103 module quiz will be held tomorrow at 12 noon. Concept-wise, Visualization isn't actually a difficult module. So far the only work I've actually been doing where this module is concerned is playing around with the Solidworks software. Heck, I neglect it even more than my Changing Landscapes module, which I've already declared S/U.
The hard part is the actual final quiz tomorrow. It's an online MCQ quiz consisting of fifty questions. You may be thinking, 'MCQ? Bah! Relax lah, brudder!' Well, dig this: I have to do the 50 MCQs within 25 minutes. That translates to 30 seconds per question. That's not exactly a lot of time, is it? I've decided that if I can't answer a question within 15 seconds, I'll simply move on to the next one. Sure, the test is open-book, but you don't really have 30 seconds to spare just to flip through the lecture notes.
If that wasn't already enough of a challenge, the test itself carries a weightage of 50% to my final grade. In short, if I mess this paper up, I'm screwed. And this is the one paper which I can't afford to screw up since most people are expected to do well for this paper. What's more, I'm going to have to depend on this module as well as on MOM for my grades and to pull up my CAP score. I may be able to do well enough for the four critical modules (Mechanics of Materials, Fluid Mechanics, Sensors and Actuators, Thermodynamics), but then again, I may not do well either.
Anyway, I think my preparations for Intimidation Game have been going on a bit too well. I feel that I've been pretty much rushing through my revision in the belief that I don't have a lot of time to spare. The truth is, perhaps I do have quite a bit of time to spare. I started revising about four weeks before the first paper (Fluid Mechanics). Now, the first paper is in fifteen days' time, and I've completed about 75% of my revision. By the Year 1 standards, that's not so bad. Back in Yr 1 Semester 1 I started all-out revision just 2 1/2 weeks before the first paper. Even during Ops Lightning Storm last year I started about three weeks before the first paper.
Sure, by my old O Level and A Level standards, that's not so good. For those two pivotal papers (as well as their respective Prelim examinations), I started six weeks prior to the first paper. I was an extremely firm advocate of a slow and steady approach to revision. The problem is, when you're too used to being slow and steady, you end up in suffering when you're forced to adopt a fast and furious pace. And in my case, I may end up being too fast, too furious.
Sure, by my old O Level and A Level standards, that's not so good. For those two pivotal papers (as well as their respective Prelim examinations), I started six weeks prior to the first paper. I was an extremely firm advocate of a slow and steady approach to revision. The problem is, when you're too used to being slow and steady, you end up in suffering when you're forced to adopt a fast and furious pace. And in my case, I may end up being too fast, too furious.
I know I'm being too fast and too furious when I end up feeling burnt out. Last night and this morning I simply didn't have any mood to study. I stared at my Thermodynamics notes with hardly anything registering in my mind. I guess my brain's protesting at the extreme stresses I've been subjecting it to.
What can I say? I guess I'll slow down a bit, but by just a bit. I have to recover from my burnt-out state, but I can't exactly slacken off entirely.
What can I say? I guess I'll slow down a bit, but by just a bit. I have to recover from my burnt-out state, but I can't exactly slacken off entirely.
As I always like to say.... it takes an idiot to join NUS Faculty of Engineering, and it takes a crazy person to survive it.
Posted by Spider-Fudge at 11:24 pm
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Thursday, November 03, 2005
A New Web
Unless if you really need a change in your prescription spectacles, you'd have noticed that I've changed the template for the Web of Fudge. I did so after receiving countless feedback that the layout is too boring and snore-inducing.
So I chose another slicker and meaner template. Unfortunately, the BlogDrive server doesn't seem to be cooperating. For some reason the beautiful header I installed doesn't seem to want to show itself. This of course, makes the 'slickness' argument fall flat.
All I can do is complain to their management and wait for things to be ironed out. Oh, well.... this is just a minor facelift. Expect the Web of Fudge to undergo a major revamp after my exams.
So I guess I'll be off now. I ought to be sleeping, but my insomnia's stopping me in my tracks. Even piriton isn't working. If this happens again one more time, then it's off to the doctor.
Oh... and to all Muslim readers,
Image courtesy of kennysia.com... but you guys would have known that already.
So I chose another slicker and meaner template. Unfortunately, the BlogDrive server doesn't seem to be cooperating. For some reason the beautiful header I installed doesn't seem to want to show itself. This of course, makes the 'slickness' argument fall flat.
All I can do is complain to their management and wait for things to be ironed out. Oh, well.... this is just a minor facelift. Expect the Web of Fudge to undergo a major revamp after my exams.
So I guess I'll be off now. I ought to be sleeping, but my insomnia's stopping me in my tracks. Even piriton isn't working. If this happens again one more time, then it's off to the doctor.
Oh... and to all Muslim readers,
Image courtesy of kennysia.com... but you guys would have known that already.
Posted by Spider-Fudge at 01:33 am
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Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Dreamland
The logical and reasonable person in me would decide that now's the best time to go to sleep after a long hard day of slogging through Thermodynamics and Mechanics of Materials. Of course, the Thermodynamics lecture at 10am in the morning also demands that I sleep early in order to maintain a good level of concentration. However, it's apparent that my body's temperamental circadian cycle isn't cooperating at all. In layman's terms, I'm having another one of my chronic bouts of insomnia.
This isn't looking good at all. When I want to study in the afternoon, my zombified brain can't seem to handle even simple MOM questions which are basically rehashed versions of what I experienced in Statics last semester. Even now when I want to sleep, my brain's just too active to allow me to knock off into dreamland properly. To make matters worse, my brain's just tired enough such that I can't really study properly either. It just doesn't make sense to be staring at a piece of paper with nothing coming to mind.
So with nothing better to do, I decided that the next best thing to tossing and turning in bed for the next few hours would be to rant about my problems in the Web of Fudge. It has struck me that I haven't been touching the Anthology of Seasons in weeks. Not that I don't want to write any more poetry, but the plain and simple truth is that I hardly have any more time or breathing space to spare for iambic pentameter in The Anthology of Seasons. Nowadays it's been all about revision, revision, revision.... and even more revision.
It has reached the stage where I don't even feel in the mood for Hari Raya. Extremely sad, for this sort of thing only comes along once a year. Then again, all the Hari Rayas since 2002 have never been really that great. That was the year when I entered the Army. Even ORD in 2004 didn't change things much, for it is highly unfortunate that the exam period has to come right after Hari Raya. The same goes for this year. Sigh.
As was the case with last year, I can only afford to spend a day of enjoying Hari Raya. That's not good, considering that the celebration occurs over the length of a month. Believe me, the Malays are pretty enthusiastic when it comes to celebrating this festival. I can still remember what happened last year... I was back in school the very next day to mug together with Stephanie at the Central Library. I can imagine that's going to be the case this time round as well, except that I now don't have the mood to go all the way down to Kent Ridge for intensive mugging. It's just not worth sacrificing an hour of sleep just to reserve a place at the Central Library. With my current chronic insomnia, any sleep I can get is good sleep.
If this keeps up, I'm going to have to get treatment for it. I don't like the idea, but I don't have much of a choice either. As much as I said in my last entry that it takes a crazy person to survive NUS Faculty of Engineering, there's only so much craziness which I can take.
So with nothing better to do, I decided that the next best thing to tossing and turning in bed for the next few hours would be to rant about my problems in the Web of Fudge. It has struck me that I haven't been touching the Anthology of Seasons in weeks. Not that I don't want to write any more poetry, but the plain and simple truth is that I hardly have any more time or breathing space to spare for iambic pentameter in The Anthology of Seasons. Nowadays it's been all about revision, revision, revision.... and even more revision.
It has reached the stage where I don't even feel in the mood for Hari Raya. Extremely sad, for this sort of thing only comes along once a year. Then again, all the Hari Rayas since 2002 have never been really that great. That was the year when I entered the Army. Even ORD in 2004 didn't change things much, for it is highly unfortunate that the exam period has to come right after Hari Raya. The same goes for this year. Sigh.
As was the case with last year, I can only afford to spend a day of enjoying Hari Raya. That's not good, considering that the celebration occurs over the length of a month. Believe me, the Malays are pretty enthusiastic when it comes to celebrating this festival. I can still remember what happened last year... I was back in school the very next day to mug together with Stephanie at the Central Library. I can imagine that's going to be the case this time round as well, except that I now don't have the mood to go all the way down to Kent Ridge for intensive mugging. It's just not worth sacrificing an hour of sleep just to reserve a place at the Central Library. With my current chronic insomnia, any sleep I can get is good sleep.
If this keeps up, I'm going to have to get treatment for it. I don't like the idea, but I don't have much of a choice either. As much as I said in my last entry that it takes a crazy person to survive NUS Faculty of Engineering, there's only so much craziness which I can take.
Posted by Spider-Fudge at 02:27 am
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Friday, October 28, 2005
Crazy
Ok, you guys can breathe easy - I'm not going to write one of my infamous long-winded essays on social issues this time round. It's simply not possible to do so in my sleep-deprived, overworked, hyperstressed, and mildly hypoglycaemic and dehydrated state. I was whacking Thermodynamics for the whole of last night. Rankine Cycle, Brayton Cycle, Otto Cycle, Diesel Cycle... these fellas sure know how to make my head go round in cycles.
So far I've been making progress with Operation Intimidation Game, but the progress isn't as much as what I would have liked. It's not easy trying to conduct a full-blown revision when they haven't even finished teaching some of the modules. Sure, they've already completed Sensors and MOM, but as far as I know, all the other modules still have another lecture or two to go. How on earth do I start revising when I can't even keep up with what they're teaching?
At least the labs are finally over. My final lab on Flow and Energy Loss was an absolute killer. The experiment itself was straightforward - I left the lab after just 1 hr 45 minutes. The lab report, though, was a different story altogether. Unfortunately, it was an informal report. Believe me, 'informal' is a misnomer. Where I had one week to complete formal reports, I have to hand in informal reports the next day. And the length of informal reports isn't that much different from that of a formal report. It's just fewer discussion questions to do, that's all.
So I ended up doing the informal report from 7.30pm in the evening till 2am in the morning. Of course, it wasn't non-stop... I don't have the ability to do such a thing. Still, I hardly took any breaks within those 6 hours. By the time I finished printing out the final draft, I was burnt out. I couldn't even be bothered to attend the Thermodynamics tutorial I had the following morning - I was too busy trying to make up for lost sleep.
Heck, I missed my Fluid Mechanics tutorial today just to make up for more lost sleep. I know that it's not exactly the best conduct an undergraduate can have, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Sometimes the rules have to be bent just to get the job done.
Friday night is supposed to be my Slacker's Night, but I don't think that's going to be the case tonight. I'm far behind in my revision, and with just three weeks to go, I can't spare the luxury of a Slackers' Night. The most I can do is to take it easy tonight and quit revising after a couple of hours or so. Otherwise I'm going to go crazy with all this revision.
What can I say? It takes a crazy person to survive NUS Faculty of Engineering.
So far I've been making progress with Operation Intimidation Game, but the progress isn't as much as what I would have liked. It's not easy trying to conduct a full-blown revision when they haven't even finished teaching some of the modules. Sure, they've already completed Sensors and MOM, but as far as I know, all the other modules still have another lecture or two to go. How on earth do I start revising when I can't even keep up with what they're teaching?
At least the labs are finally over. My final lab on Flow and Energy Loss was an absolute killer. The experiment itself was straightforward - I left the lab after just 1 hr 45 minutes. The lab report, though, was a different story altogether. Unfortunately, it was an informal report. Believe me, 'informal' is a misnomer. Where I had one week to complete formal reports, I have to hand in informal reports the next day. And the length of informal reports isn't that much different from that of a formal report. It's just fewer discussion questions to do, that's all.
So I ended up doing the informal report from 7.30pm in the evening till 2am in the morning. Of course, it wasn't non-stop... I don't have the ability to do such a thing. Still, I hardly took any breaks within those 6 hours. By the time I finished printing out the final draft, I was burnt out. I couldn't even be bothered to attend the Thermodynamics tutorial I had the following morning - I was too busy trying to make up for lost sleep.
Heck, I missed my Fluid Mechanics tutorial today just to make up for more lost sleep. I know that it's not exactly the best conduct an undergraduate can have, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Sometimes the rules have to be bent just to get the job done.
Friday night is supposed to be my Slacker's Night, but I don't think that's going to be the case tonight. I'm far behind in my revision, and with just three weeks to go, I can't spare the luxury of a Slackers' Night. The most I can do is to take it easy tonight and quit revising after a couple of hours or so. Otherwise I'm going to go crazy with all this revision.
What can I say? It takes a crazy person to survive NUS Faculty of Engineering.
Posted by Spider-Fudge at 01:32 pm
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