Camping...

I disregarded my take home exam due Mon and went camping with the International Small Group just across the border in Virginia at an old farm land owned by the family of my SG leader John Clark since the 1700s. While it was fun, I learned several important things.

1) Sida is such a city kid. He can't cut wood and can't start a fire

2) Sleeping on a slope means your legs might protrude out of the tent

3) Lantrines dug on a slope are meant for acrobats

4) Gortex boots aren't made for winter (Duh! It was made for a tropical army!)

Post Fall Break

Rights. Just had my fall break and off I went to Chicago. Windy City one might ask. Definitely! Wind chill was...well....splendid. It was a pretty relaxing trip. Stayed with friends of Andreas and one of them turned out to be my VJC senior. Talk about small world yes? Personal highlight of the trip was my pilgrimage to Buddy Guy's Legends. For the uninformed, that's a Blues Club spewing good old Chicago Blues. The man himself wasn't there sadly...but heck...music was good!

Little advertisement, my friend Lyndon and I have set up a little venture importing CDs of Seth Horan, an indie bassist, back to Singapore. To all my bassist friends out there (Yes! That means you Marcus Khoo!), check out www.sethsbase.com for info and sound clips. If you are interested, you can get the CDs off us. Do our bit to help fellow bassists!

Statistics

Its middle of my semester

I have written:
3 x 2000 word essay
1 x 1000 word essay
7 x 500 word response paper
2 x mid sem test

7 more weeks till exams

I have to write:
4 x 2000 word essay
6 x 500 word response paper
1 x mid sem test

Yes, ironically I'm on exchange. I feel as though I am doing 2 semester's worth of work here. Let's see..... total word count is 21500 words. That's almost equal to 2 Honours Thesis! Gah!

Something to take home

I found something very valuable to bring home. It's a quote by UNC's very own Michael Jordan.

"I can accept failure. But I can't accept myself not trying"

Michael Jordan

Yes. This is exactly how I feel about my school work. Enough said.

Pointless...

I'm bored

Just came back from Laser quest with 9 other guys

The gamemaster was this 17 yr old chick....Guys went wild...and we were all from IV...talk about nice decent Christian guys

Still bored

Have 2 tests on Monday...need to study...but morale low....brain stalled...how?

Going to be bored some more

Tess and I each have our security pillow. Though her's is Teddy and mine is my beloved bolster Bao Bao. We both agreed that our security pillows are the few things in life which haven't let us down. Our constant companion. Maybe Bao Bao and Teddy should get aquainted.

I know...I'm bored

Why marry a bass player?

Following ideas drawn from article by Robin Meloy Goldbys as found in Sep 2005 Bass Player

Why should ladies seriously consider a bass player as your partner.

Advantages

Bass Players are inadvertently strong. Do you have any idea how heavy a bass guitar is? A bass player has no trouble picking you up and swinging you around just because he can. Of course he’ll be handy to carry things around the house.

Bass players love the curves of their bass guitars, of course they’ll also love those curves of yours.

Bass players need to stretch their hands to reach those frets. Imagine what those hands can do to you.

Bass players are team players. Always there supporting the show. Absolutely no airs. Always ready to change keys to suit you.

Minor Drawbacks

You need to find furniture to match those bass guitars

You’ll have to incorporate the phrase “Watch the bass” into everyday sentences with your children. Example: “Hi darling! Watch the bass. How was school? Watch the bass. What would you like for lunch?”

You’ll perhaps be doomed to MPVs instead of that sporty new BMW Z4 to fit all the music gear.

And no...I'm not advertising for myself. But there are plenty of single, available and willing bass players around...just let me hook you with one.

Bulb brightens

After spending about 2 months here I guess I shoud share what has been revealed to me through my experiences. Being on exchange gives you the joy of not having to study. I kid you not. Especially when you major in a subject that has no wrong answer. If you just turn in your work you'll probably get a C, which is what I need to pass.

For those who have been victims of my periods of traumatic stress, you would know I struggle with self esteem and have a tendancy to compare myself with others. Wel, being here has made me realised that if I could just stop comparing myself to others to feed my own ego, I can actually find a WHOLE lot more enjoyment in what I do. I have never enjoyed sitting through a lecture this much with the knowledge that my grades don't matter. I finally could sit back, relax, enjoy the wealth of information that is being shared and enjoy sitting till 3am (to my freshie roomie's disgust) reading my course materials and doing essays without stressing over my CAP score which now hangs dangerously in the balance. I get so much more out of it now that I'm not underpressure to perform.

Its time to stop, ponder and align, and to enjoy to the fullest, what God has given me to do, be it History, Bass playing or my new found hobby, cooking, to the best of my abilities regardless of how they might compare.

To hell with my CAP score. I love history (I know..I'm a geek) and nothing's gonna stop me from enjoyng it...I hope