Idiot's Convention

Prelude

2007-07-27T13:52:00.000+10:00

This place is a hole, thought Jahsin. Hardly where you'd expect to find the woman heralded as the greatest healer since Constance Moony. He scanned the bar looking for the golden glow that marked a holy mage, hoping that she would be drunk enough to reveal herself. It was only on his third scan of the room that he noticed her, sitting in the corner hunched over a glass, three empty jugs at her table. The symbols above her head glowed a faint yellow, slowly dancing in a complex circular pattern. This is the greatest healer alive?! There is more light coming from that poor attempt at a lamp than from this woman.

He walked up to her and sat at her table.

'Whadya want?' she said, gruffly.

'Do you know a man named Gerald McWarthy?' Jahsin asked.

'Do you plan on buying me a drink?' came the reply. Jahsin ordered another jug of beer and a glass for himself. After he poured them both a drink, she continued, 'Gerald McWarthy... Executed three months ago. Pity. He was a very talented shadow mage.'

The symbols above Jahsin's head began to glow a fiery red, each one looking as though they were going to explode. 'Talented?! Do you know that he killed two-hundred-and-fifty-seven people during his career?'

'That many, huh? Well, I did say that he was talented. Killing people is what shadow magi do, you know that.'

'It wasn't their time to die.'

'They died, so it must have been their time to die.'

'He killed my wife!'

'I'm sorry for your loss. Anyway, as nice as it is talking to you, you have terrible taste in beer, so if you don't have a point to make, leave.'

'You healed him.'

'I am well aware of that, I was there.'

'Why?'

'Did you get hit on the head as a baby or something? See these yellow robes? I. Am. A. Holy. Mage. A healer, in fact.' she drawled sarcastically. 'Healing people is what I do.'

'Healers are forbidden to heal wanted men.'

'The Holy Code has its flaws. I use my magic to save lives, it is what I was taught to do and what I choose to do. If there is a chance to save a life, I will take it, regardless of who that life belongs to.'

Jahsin's symbols were moving around violently, pulsating with red light. 'When Gerald was executed, I thought I lost my chance at revenge. Then I heard that he nearly died two days before he killed my wife, but fortunately for him, he was saved by a healer.'

Jahsin's body began to glow. The people in the bar began to take notice. The woman at the table sighed. 'You know what the problem with full fire mages is? It's impossible to have a conversation with one. The moment you say something they don't like, they just threaten to blow everybody up.'

One by one, a panicked expression appeared on their faces as it dawned on them what was about to happen. Suddenly, the people in the bar began to run around in terror. 'Somebody find a water mage!', 'Help, he's going to blow us all up!', 'Stop this you crazy man!', 'Don't provoke him, you'll make him angrier!'

'You don't need to do this. Killing me won't bring your wife back.'

'Maybe not, but it'll stop people like you from saving people like Gerald!'

She sighed again. The symbols above her head changed to a dark yellow and stood still. The rest of the room followed suit, Jahsin looking almost comical as his body had become bright orange. The woman closed her eyes and one of her symbols began to circle Jahsin, leaving behind a yellow trail with each pass, until he was entirely covered. Her symbols changed back to a pale yellow and the people around them continued to exit the pub.

'What is this?!' Jahsin demanded.

'You can explode, but most of the force will be contained by that shield. At best you will destroy this table in front of us.'

'How is this possible? You can't have had time to created a shield!'

'"When it's a matter of life or death, time is of no consequence." It's from the Shadow Code. Clever people, they are.'

'You're bluffing, there is no way you could have done it, so there will be holes and the escaping force would destroy you.'

'I've heard. Jahsin Holton. You have a son, Louis. What would he do if you were dead? He has already lost a mother, how would he handle losing a father not long after?'

'He only lost a mother because of you! I'm glad to have done the world a favour and rid it of you.' His spell had finally completed, his body now so bright that it hurt to look at it.

One second later, the only thing remaining in the pub was a female head, yellow symbols dancing feverishly around.

New Answering Machine Message

2005-08-02T00:21:00.000+10:00

I'm in love with our latest answering machine message. :)

It's the Mentos Answering Machine Message, by the Brown Derbies.

Sorry we cannot take your call.
We're not at home now.

We would have answered the phone,
But clearly we're not at home,
And your call is an important one.

We'll get back to you,
To make sure that we do,
Leave a message so we know you called.

Leave a message, (backup: name and number)
Leave a message,
Start recording at the tone

Mentos, the message taker.

I Hate Alloc8

2005-07-20T17:40:00.000+10:00

Considering my choice of subjects, I'm going to have to live with Alloc8 for a while. [I think I've mentioned it before, it's the timetabling system used by certain faculties at the University of Melbourne.]

Semester 2 timetable

I guess I don't have much to complain about, seeing as Jean has had a few 8AM starts, and I do get most of Monday off, but it's become a thing now. Ever semester, I must complain about my timetable. I'd be so happy if I could move my psych prac to Friday morning. Then Thursday will be less horrible. 9AM start and 6:15PM finish. :S

Oh, subject translation:

Japanese 2 242: 110-242: Japanese 2B - my Japanese subject

AlgorProbS 152: 433-152 Algorithmic Problem Solving - the second part of my first programming subject. We're learning Haskell, which Ting tells me is way better than C.

So De Cl P 121: 512-121 Social, Developmental & Clinical Psychology 1 - the second part of my psych subjects.

Sadly, no logic this semester :(

Idiot's Convention in Sydney

2005-07-11T22:38:00.000+10:00

I'm going to steal Jing's idea and just cut and paste parts of my diary. Although I took my break in Sydney to do some revision of C code, so most of my diary ended up being code. Very boring for you all, I'm sure.

Saturday 02/07/05 8:27AM

Anna's Thoughts From the Plane to Sydney. Everything i know and love have been left behind in Melbourne, and now I am going to meet Qwest (Nelson) at the airport in Sydney. I barely know him so i am a little nervous about going to see him, but he has been nothing but nice. Then on Monday, I'm going to meet Ballar (Antoni). I had no idea that when I first met them, while playing WoW, that I'd be seeing them in real life one day.

I also have no idea what I'll be doing while in Sydney. I do have to get photos of the Monopoly® streets, and photos of Qwest and Ballar. I brought a few books, including The Alchemist to read on the plane, but I already finished it. So have nothing to do for the rest of this flight.

Saturday 02/07/05 12:07PM
Met up with Qwest, and am OK... finding Qwest was hard. It took me a while to pick him out.

Saturday 02/07/05 6:31PM
I had my first meal alone in Sydney just then, and I walked to the Sydney Opera House. It was nearly deserted where I was so I got quite scared while there, but nothing bad happened.

I'm getting too lazy to do this. Summarise.

Saw some ads for a forensic science exhibition. Waaaaaaay back in year 9, I wanted to be a forensic scientist. In year 11, Mr Hanna talked me out of it saying that I'd hate the routine analysis of evidence and report writing and talked me into doing engineering instead. Haven't regretted it since. Worked out how to get there and checked it out. Even though it was aimed at 9-year-olds, I still found it very interesting.

Got lost. I spent 3 hours walking around Sydney. Even though I was lost, I knew that I could just call Qwest and ask him to pick me up, but this was my test of independence, so I didn't want to do it until I absolutely had to. It was OK though, as I managed to find my way back. Felt very homesick along the way though.

Oh, have to say, buses in Sydney are horrible. The signs on the bus stop (if there are any) tell you where the bus stop is, and the route number of the bus, but not where the bus is going! So you have to know all the route numbers, or be at a junction where someone can tell you where you're going. The bus drivers aren't too nice, and a lot of them don't speak English very well (which is why I was lost in the first place - I don't think he understood me).

Mona, my Israeli roommate, noticed that I was feeling a bit sick (cold sick, not homesick) and gave me some Israeli medicine to take. Argh, I just remembered that I forgot to check if there really is Prozac in there. Everytime I took a tablet, I felt better. Was still feeling a bit homesick though, so I went and bought a sudoku puzzle book - yes, I am sad. But the book had a few new types of puzzles, including tsunami puzzles (renamed Pixel Puzzles after the tsunami crisis). They're great fun.

When Qwest and I went to meet Ballar, we found out that he had lost his house, so he had to go househunting or be homeless in three days. So he couldn't make it. He said that he'd meet me when he came down to Melbourne though. Checked out an art gallery, and a cathedral. Got more photos of street signs. (I haven't had a chance to see my mum's face when she sees the photos, but I hope I have a camera at that time.)

I discovered that Sydney has a Chadstone wannabe, and a QV wannabe. And in the QV wannabe, they have these annoying benches. I took a photo, but I'll try and describe it. It's a normal wooden bench, but one of the planks has been moved too far to the right, on purpose! It irritated the obsessive-compulsive inside me to no end.

Oh, and Jean, you've had more influence on me than you think. I went shopping for clothes! Well, I was looking for one thing in particular that I haven't been able to find anywhere in Melbourne, and that's a Mrs. Claus jacket. Anyone who has seen me around Christmas time knows that I love Christmas, so I've been trying to find a jacket like hers. No luck though. :(

The mysterious pants. I found a pair of pants, that I thought were quite nice, in my bag. I was trying to decide whether or not I should wear them, so I sent Jean an SMS asking her what she thought. I decided to wear them, and I thought they were my size, but they were a bit big. So I spent the better part of my travels around Sydney that day pulling them up. :S I still don't know where the pants came from, but they're sitting in the laundry basket at the moment.

And that was Sydney. Was a lot more fun that I made it out to be, but I'm really not in the mood to be cheerful at the moment.

Semester 1 Results

2005-07-07T20:07:00.000+10:00

I passed Japanese, whee!

I really thought I was going to fail that subject. It even got to the point where I was trying to calculate how many marks I needed to get in order to pass during the exam, instead of doing it. Yep, I'm the person you should ask for exam techniques. I worked out that my passing the exam depended on whether the question was asking for causitive or causitive-passive. I chose causitive-passive.

For some weird reason, only one set of results are out so far. I thought the logic results would have come out at the same time at least, since they're both from the Arts faculty, but they haven't. :(

I don't know why psych results haven't come out yet either.

Oh, forgot to mention, this is my post from Sydney. So it's a special edition of the Idiot's Convention. If you attend, you get a showbag! Closing in 5..... 4..... 3... 2.. 1. Too late. Maybe next year.

I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself

2005-07-01T18:50:00.000+10:00

Maybe it's a good thing that I'm going away to Sydney tomorrow. This week has been one of the best weeks in my life, but I'm a bit down. That makes no sense, right? How can you be sad and happy at the same time? I really need to get away, but at the same time, I don't want to. This whole trip was something I was looking forward to during exam period, I've had so many semi-red days (I'll explain this in my next post, which I left as a draft because I got distracted), and one red day, but the 2nd of July was the nice big green day. I think I need to invest in a brown whiteboard marker- does anyone know where I can get one?

Anyway, if I forgot to say bye to you before I left, then this is my farewell to you. See you in a week!

Green Days

2005-06-27T19:27:00.000+10:00

A bit late as I've been to lazy to type anything, and preocupied with some other stuff (just stared playing Lemmings, much fun!). But my green day was the 23rd of June. For those who haven't seen the whiteboard in my room, I write down reminders for all the things I have to do. Good things are written in green, and bad things are written in red. When I look at my board and there are a lot of red things, I decide to add some green things to balance things out. When I look and there are a lot of green things, then I'm happy :)

Well, the 23rd of June should have been a red day, as it was the day of my Japanese exam. Though it was odd as I saw my first green car on that day. By green I mean the colour of pine trees green, not that blue-green colour. In fact, I saw a total of nine green cars that day, which was pretty incredible.

Then the 24th of June was another green day. Gelati, yummy!

Wow, trying to pick up the train of thought that I had when I started this post is hard. I have no idea what I was talking about. :S

Well, I've explained the whole green day/red day thing.

Stolen From Jean - my poor brain is not feeling creative today

2005-06-24T01:17:00.000+10:00

1. What is your full name?
Anna Chang.

2. What color pants are you wearing?
Blue, I'm almost always in jeans.

3. What are you listening to right now?
The whirring of my computer. Ah, so comforting.

4. What was the last thing you ate?
Rice.

5. Do you wish on stars?
Only gren ones.

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Green.

7. How is the weather right now?
I think as a geeky engineering student, I'm not supposed to know the answer to that question, but as I was outside not long ago, it's cold. Ah, the shame!

8. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
Sharon.

9. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Yes..... *furtive glance*

10. How old are you today?
19.

11. Favorite drink? alcoholic or otherwise?
Orange juice.

12. Favorite sport?
Curling. Join the Melbourne Uni Curling Team, you know you want to.

13. Color of hair?
Black.

14. Siblings?
One brother, two sisters. And one adopted twin.

15. Favourite food?
Pancakes.

16.What was the last movie u watched?
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous.

17. Favourite day of the year?
25th of December.

18. what was ur favourite toy as a child?
The NES.

19. Winter or Summer?Summer.
Summer.

20. Hugs or kisses?
Neither.

21. chocolate or vanilla?
Caramel?

22. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back?
Yes, because I'll get that new message thing and feel loved. =)

23. Who is most likely to respond?
Santa Claus.

24. Who is least likely to respond?
Saddam Hussein.

25. What are ur living arrangments? .
Living with family.

26. When was the last time you cried?
Can't remember.

27. What is under your bed?
Carpet. And a couple of monsters.

28. Who is the friend u have had the longest?
Tasha.

29. What did you do last night?
Ummm.... no comment.

30. Favorite smell?
Rain.

31. What inspires you?
Seeing a good movie.

32. Who would you like to kill at the moment?
Anyone that thinks Japanese verb conjugation is fun.

33.Plain, butter or salted popcorn?
Plain.

34. Favorite car/truck?
George Jetson's car, in The Jetsons.

35. Favourite flower?
Tulips, for no reason other than the fact that they resemble the flowers in the Mario games.

36. Number of keys on your key ring?
2, and one keyring.

37.How many months at your current job?
16. Wow, that's scary.

38. Favourite day of the week?
Wednesday.

39. What did you do on your last birthday?
Got presents.

40. How many states have you lived in?
1. The solid state. Although if we're mostly water, does that mean I'm mostly in a liquid state?

41. How many cities have you lived in?
1. Melbourne.

42. Most prized possession?
My lucky cow.

43. Favorite song right now?
Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata

44. Biggest annoyance?
Me, I am Anna the Annoying, after all.

45. What are you looking forward to?
Going to Sydney!

46. What's the coolest thing you've eaten recently?
Pancakes with apples and cinnamon. Mmmmmm.

47. Current obsession?
Freecell. Farewell Sudoku.

Post Secret

2005-06-07T01:32:00.000+10:00

Wow.

http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com/

Off and Away!

2005-06-06T14:35:00.000+10:00

I know I should be studying, but I've decided to take a little break and write instead. Firstly, I've decided that I'm going away to Sydney for a few days. I've never actually been anywhere or done anything without someone else watching over me (friend or family), so this is going to be my test to see if I can handle it. There are a few reasons for this, but the biggest one is because there's a thing that's running in Japan where you can go and work there for 6 months, but it'll require being in a completely new setting where most people will speak a language that is not native to me. The language part I can handle, or will get used to at least, it's the being alone thing that scares me. So yes, Sydney is my test run.

But there are a few things that I'd like to do before I go to Sydney.

1. Get hopelessly drunk.

I know, it's a weird thing to do, but I've been talking to a few people that I've only met online, and who I want to meet in Sydney. One of them is a breakdancer, and I'm going to try and get him to teach me something. But I only think I'll do it if drunk. I'd rather get drunk with people that I trust, so that I'll know if it's a good idea or not. I know that meeting complete strangers that you only know over the Internet is not a good idea in itself, but they seem really nice. OK, I'll admit that everyone seems nice when they're an axe-wielding Tauren Shaman standing between you and death by Paladin. At least if I don't return from Sydney, you'll know because he turned out to be an axe-wielding Human Psycho standing between me and the exit. Look out for me in the news.

2. Start a jogging thing.

I went to the Careers Expo on Saturday and picked up some information on becoming a fireperson. Two of the major requirements are a drivers license and passing a fitness test. Drivers license is doable, but I mentioned it to someone and he said that he didn't think the physical part was my thing. I thought about it, and I have to say that I agree. I don't think I want to be a fireperson anymore, but I also don't want to miss out on doing something just because I can't meet the physical requirements. So I'd like to promote myself from the computer chair potato status someday. This isn't something that I need to do before I go to Sydney, but I'd like to organise something before then - just in case I need to run away from maniacs. Lena and Michael said they're up for it.

3. Break away from the Freecell-Sudoku hold.

I think Jean's right when she said that changing from Freecell to Sudoku is like giving up cocaine to start on heroine. I know that I won't be able to use computers as often in Sydney, and since I don't read the news, I see no reason to buy the paper, so I'll probably have little access to either Freecell or Sudoku. So I am not going to do either. Besides, I'm only looking forward to the hard and difficult ones now.

4. Beat Jean-Luc at Age of Kings.

I'm not usually competitive, but at the chess club, there's this kid who really wants to play me in Age of Kings, and for some reason, I want to beat him. I have no idea why. I think of him as a little brother, but there's just something about this challenge. It's something that I'll probably have to do before I go, because I think he'll be back at school by the time I get back.

Oh, I just remembered that I'll miss one session of Pendragon if I leave when I want to. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions... I want to stay as long as possible, but I also have to be back for Jean's birthday.

Gambling Going Global!

2005-05-25T18:18:00.000+10:00

OK, not quite, but I liked the alliteration Today was II's Confectionary Casino Afternoon, the first event I've organised since I joined the committee. It was going to be a card game day, only with gambling using chocolate coins. Seeing as entry and chocolate were free, I figured we wouldn't need a gambling license or anything.

So on Monday, Tim and I went over to the Original Lolly Store in Melbourne Central to check out some coins. Tim managed to negotiate a discount for us, so we ended up getting 2kg of chocolate coins (about 300 coins; 160 big coins and 140 small coins) for $51. The best part is, the student union is footing the bill - we hope (well, I dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's, the forms are in Tobais' hands now (he's the treasurer)).

This morning, I had that horrible feeling, the one you get where you know something is going to go wrong, and you don't want to get out of bed. But, as the keeper of the chocolate, and the fact that I was my event anyway, I had to get up and go to uni. I'd been worrying about it since Tuesday. See, I didn't actually want this position, it's just that the person that last held this position nominated me. She did a really good job, and everyone loved her, only she's no longer a student at Melbourne Uni. so she had to turn it over to a current student.

I have passed the mantle to the one person I thought deserved it. She'd better keep my club alive godsdamnit.

~Louise

Quoted from her livejournal (I'm sure she won't mind me borrowing it *cough* stealing it *cough*). The first part is nice, but the second part.... :S

So I hope that explains my nervousness. I fully expect them to be willing to hold another AGM (Annual General Meeting) just to get rid of me.

Talking to Rob while going to get the drinks was very calming though, as I forced myself to pay attention to everything that he was saying. By the time we got back from Safeway, I was a feeling a little more ready to run this thing. Then I got up to Mary Cooke and looked at the mass of people there. I panicked. If it weren't for the fact that people started saying, "Hey Anna! Is that the chocolate in your bag?" I think I would have run. Turns out that most of them were from MUOSS (Melbourne Uni Overseas Students' Society) whose lounge is right next to Mary Cooke.

[Oh, a side point. I now get greeted by a bunch of people that I don't know. So I'll walk in and some people will say hello, and I'll look at them, smile and say, "Hey....you!" I don't know if they can tell that I don't know their names yet, but I'm sure they'll pick up on it soon. I just never thought it'd be important to learn their names as they'll probably all graduate soon and I'll never see them again anyway. Argh, why can't everyone be called Anna? It'd make it much easier for me to remember my name, too.]

When the Casino Afternoon officially started, I had about 5 people there. And one of those 5 people was me. But I reasoned that the Star Trek AGM was being held at the same time, so people would start coming after that. While it was nice and small, we had a game of Blackjack going. As dealer, I was doing pretty well. Most people either bust, or were under what I had. I managed to get Blackjack a few times, too. Then it broke into games of 500 and poker. By the first hour, there was at least 15 people there (we needed to have at least 21 students there to cover our costs; we got 24, though that doesn't mean we make a profit, unfortunately). Then Tobias showed up and I got him to start a game of Magic: The Gathering so that more people could be playing at a time (we'd run out of decks of cards).

In the last hour, it looked like everyone was having fun. I was so relieved. All the coins were gone from the bank though, so Graham was kind enough to share his with me so that we could bet on a game of Magic. As everyone got to go home with some chocolate, I'm sure they were all happy. There was one coin leftover, so I took it home and gave it to Amanda.

Someone had left their bag in the room, so I said that I'd drop it off at her place on the way home. It was a good chance to take a walk and clear my head. I'd been so worried about the casino afternoon that I hadn't had a chance to process things that have happened this week. I was able to come to terms with something based on the fact that it's the logical thing to do. I just have to hope that the rest of my mind follows soon. I still feel guilty about it, but there's nothing I can do to change that.

On the not-so-plus side, there has been a call for an II pizza night. More organisation, whoopee!

It's the End

2005-05-20T23:24:00.000+10:00

Wow, took me a while to post about Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. I'm still undecided about it. It's not an absolute flop, but I think it's still not as good as any of the movies from the original trilogy. It is darker, and definitely not suited for little kiddies. I don't know how to describe it without spoiling it, so I'll leave it at that. I have to say though, going to see it at midnight was great fun! There were so many people in costume (I wasn't one of them, unfortunately), and the night was just filled with Star Wars quotes. Anytime someone got an opportunity to quote a line, they did.

It's also the end of my Freecell obsession. I've found a new game, sudoku. It's a Japanese game, that's kinda like a crossword for numbers. You have a 9x9 grid, and your goals is to fill each of the rows, columns, and blocks (which are 9 sets of 3x3 grids), with each of numbers from one to nine, without repeating any or leaving any out. Sounds easy? Well, there numbers that have already been filled in for you that you're not allowed to change, so you have to work around them. This keeps it so that there's only one solution for each puzzle. It was in today's Herald Sun (finally, that paper is good for something!).

Check out : http://www.sudoku.com

Thoughts of A Cookie Jar

2005-05-11T00:06:00.000+10:00

Title inspired by Jean's wonderful blog: http://thoughtsfromacookiejar.blogspot.com/

OK, so the other reason for the title. I'm one of those people who does things on impulse. I decided that I wanted to have a cookie jar filled with lots and lots of cookies, because that's why it's a cookie jar after all. So I went to Kmart and bought the biggest cookie jar that I could find, which turned out to be a 3L one (I imagined having lots of cookies). So I bring home this nice big cookie jar, and after dinner, I start baking. Since it has been a while since I last made cookies, I decided to do a test run first, so that I didn't end up with a hundred cookies that weren't very nice. Well, first batch was done, and before they even had time to cool, half of them were gone! I'm not sure if they were gone because they were eaten, or if they were gone because someone threw them out by accident. :/

I suddenly felt the urge to play Freecell, so I left that jar empty and decided to try again when I had more time. Unbeknownst to me, my mum decided that the jar was too big, and that the little jar that we used to use for peanuts would do instead. She returned the jar to Kmart, and didn't even bother to tell me! I had no idea, so when Anjelica, Amanda and I were in the supermarket (I was looking for a box of cereal that might contain a lightsabre spoon!) and I decided to restart my cookie making plan. I tell Anjelica and she tells me that mum returned my jar. I was rather attached to that jar!

I don't know why mum didn't tell me, so I got another idea. Anjelica was supposed to distract mum while I baked a hundred cookies. Then, she'd be greeted by lots of cookies on the counter, and me innocently asking where my cookie har is. Didn't quite work as planned. Mum came home early and the first lot were still in the oven.

So now I have lots of cookies, but still no jar. :(

Wednesdays are Wonderful

2005-05-06T00:42:00.000+10:00

Well, this one Wednesday was. I got an e-hug from one of my favourite people in the world (it was 2AM-ish, I'm counting it as Wednesday). I'm not normally a hug-ish person, but it was so sweet and unexpected. :D

And I take back all the horible things I said about psychology. Troy Visser is such a funny man. He's our new lecturer, and he's this Canadian guy who is very distracted by his 9-month old daughter. The one thing I remember from his first lecture, "You all might think I look familiar, but you can't quite work out why. Well, that's probably because you've seen my twin." (Picture of Keanu Reeves flashes up on the screen.) I have managed to stay awake in all of his lectures so far. Go me!

I also found out about the negative games of freecell. They're the ones that have been proven imposible. That didn't stop me from taking a look at them anyway. That also lead me to thin about the guy who invented Freecell, and I found this: http://www.austega.com/diversions/FreeCell/freecell.htm

Plus, I'm now part of II's committee. Lucky me, I get to organise things, like a camp, and a ball! Can you imagine a bunch of roleplayers turning up to a ball? More importantly, can you imagine me organising one?!

Ah, well that is the goodness that was Wednesday.

One Small Step for Anna, One Giant Leap Back Into Bed

2005-04-28T16:03:00.000+10:00

Well, I think this week is my week of good deeds. Stange that someone who wants to take over the world is trying to do something good, but that's just how this week turned out.

Monday night, while doing my lab, I found out something really amazing. Amazing, but something that I can't do anything about, so I have to leave things how they are. It's a bit of a pain, but doable. OK, so in regards to that, my good deed is going to be to end it before anything does happen, because he doesn't seem to be able to do anything, and he mentioned that he was losing sleep over it, and that's not good at all.

Tuesday, realised that break-ups can hit people really hard when it's not mutual. So decided to cheer Sam up. He got the dreaded call asking that they meet to give each other their stuff back. So I just let him vent. He was looking a little better when he left to go to class.

Wednesday, Andrew wanted to finish his assignment, but he had promised a friend that he'd take him through an instance in WoW. So I helped take his friend through instead. Andrew did come along and help later, which sped things up a lot. I also got to duel Andrew, and lost both duels, as usual. Once I catch up to his level, I'm hoping things will be different.

Thursday, more Sam cheering up. He saw his ex on the way to anime today. So after anime, I felt that it was my job to cheer him up again. He started laughing, so that's a good sign. He also said that he's in a mopey mood, so maybe it'll just take time before he becomes his cheerful self again. I'm glad that I've finallly been able to do something to help Sam, since he helped me so much when I started panicking about programming last year.

I wonder what'll happen tomorrow.

Oh, and about the title, all of this stuff has made me feel almost like an adult, which is a really scary thing for me! In primary school, age didn't matter so much, as everyone was still a kid, but in high school, I was usually one of the youngest people there. So I felt it was my right to act like a little kid. This week kinda felt like a step into adulthood, and I realised that it's really scary! So I decided to do what a kid would - jump into bed and hide.

[EDIT] Saturday 30th of April 2:18AM Happy birthday Kameshul, in case I ever give you this URL! ~Cannonfodder

Well, my good deed for Friday was to share my Japanese text book with someone. Yep, I'm the most generous person in the world, aren't I? Well, Mr. Monday said that he wasn't losing sleep because he was worried, but because he was 'happy and excited'. So that just negated my good deed for Monday. But maybe instead of doing something good, something good happened to me.

Oh, I forgot to mention something important. Psychology sucks! I hate psychology lab reports.

[EDIT] Saturday 30th of April 5:23 PM Why is it so much easier to talk about things than to do them?

New Conspiracy Theory!

2005-04-22T01:51:00.000+10:00

I just noticed that my phone has no reception. Neither does my mum, or Nick (who is also with Optus). My conclusion, it's the Telstra aliens invading Earth and blocking all Optus networks. Luckily, Optus isn't my ISP, so I'm able to record this. Dad's phone is fine, he's with Telstra. See what I mean?

Stupid Casual

2005-04-10T00:56:00.000+10:00

Who invented the term 'smart casual'? If they're still alive, then they won't be for long. If they're dead, then I'm going to do some grave digging. I was invited to Sharon's VCE tutor's 21st birthday party. He also happens to be called Mark, so all references to Mark in this post will be about him and not my 'Mark'.

Mark sees me on MSN and tells me that he's planning to have a birthday party. I say that I can come. Few days later, I get an email:

Hi everyone,

Sorry about the LATE notice but I've only just gotten confirmation from the venue today.

As planned, my belated 21st birthday party will be on

Saturday 9th April 7:30-11:30
@ INCK CAFE 401 Swanston St. Melbourne
RSVP: Please let me know that you got this email and
then RSVP as soon as you can. Cheers!

Dress Code: Nominally smart casual but if you'd prefer something slightly more formal eg. cocktail dress that's fine also.

Sharon tells me that I can't wear jeans, runners and a t-shirt. This is generally agreed to by everyone that I asked. So in true Anna fashion (oh my, what a horrible pun- why is it that people always bring attention to puns when they're not that funny?), I left it until the last minute. I went to my aunt to ask her if I could borrow some clothes. I didn't fit anything that she had, so she told me that there's 75% off stuff at Myer in Highpoint. So off we went. I never got around to writing about the trip to Chadstone with Jing and Jean, and the video that I took has disappeared.

Anyway, They spent the entire time telling me that I'm wasting my youth on wearing jeans and t-shirts. I should be out wearing things that will make me freeze to death and make me look like I just came out of a fairy floss factory, because I'd be so pink. Pink! *shudder* (It just occured to me that certain people that read this like pink, so I'll just say that it's a.... nice colour.....

I ended up getting a black shirt with sequins! I did find a shirt with robots on it though, so I'm happy.

Off to the party... and you know what I see?

Mark is wearing jeans, a t-shirt and runners!!!!!

Token Birthday Post

2005-03-31T23:43:00.000+10:00

Wow, I didn't know so many people cared. *feels loved*

Thanks to everyone who sent/posted a birthday wish. I'd write everyone's name, but then I'd get a big head. Jean mentioned the new Star Wars movie coming out soon. I know that not everybody loves Star Wars, but it'd be a good chance to see each other again. It comes out on the 19th of May, which is a Thursday, and it'd be great to be able to see it as soon as it comes out, but I know that people would rather go to class (crazy people), so how about sometime over the weekend?

Update on the Mark thing. I'm getting mixed signals. Though he seems to want to see me, I think it's only as a friend. So I've given up on the whole Mark thing. *big sigh of relief that I won't have to wear a dress* Anyone eager to see goth-Jing?

Oh, and mum and dad gave me the iTalk thing for my iPod, so I've been playing around recording the stupid things that get said around the house. When I get around to listening to hours of audio, I'll post them up somewhere.

At my cousin's wedding, my uncle suggested that we start a family website, so that everyone can visit, upload photos/movies, post messages, and just see how everyone is going. I have a basic idea of what he has in mind, but since I was never into the whole building my own web page thing (I could never think of a good topic), I'm not really sure how to do a lot of the things that he mentioned. That means lots of reading for me! (If only I could be this enthusiastic about psychology.)

And that's all folks...

Oh, now that nothing is happening with Mark, and my chess teacher is sick, I have nobody to talk to at 3AM on MSN anymore. Where is everyone?

Looking for Mark, Revised

2005-03-29T15:04:00.000+10:00

Some of you may have heard already, but I recently went looking for Mark. My chess teacher somehow convinced me that I should ask him out, but I had no way of contacting him. So we (my chess teacher and I) trawled the net for some sign of him, ie. an email address. After a long and unsuccessful search through the uni email, Nick suggested that I try looking at the list of members of certain clubs. I think that if Nick were here, I would have hugged him. Thankfully, he wasn't, so there was no hugging.

I came across this post where he started talking about his girlfriend. I was in shock, as he'd never mentioned anyone before, though there was someone that he seemed pretty close to. Oddly, her name was Anna.

So I didn't bother reading the rest of it and just left it at that. Nick was very good at cheering me up, he should be my new oniichan (my old niichan wants to be called niisan now).

After a while though, I realised that even if nothing was going to happen between us, he'd still make a great friend. So I went back and got his email address, started talking to him, and found out that that whole thing with Anna was just a joke. *happy!*

It was a bit awkward to begin with, as he didn't seem to remember me, T.T, but after a while, it got much easier and we just kept talking. You know how time seems to fly when you're having fun? Well, the next thing I knew, Dad was awake and trying to get me to go to sleep, and I noticed that it was nearly 5AM! And I wasn't even playing WoW.

Jing, before you get out the dress that you want me to wear, I'd like to point out that nothing has happened, so I'm not in love. Though that might change ^_^

Sad :(

2005-03-22T22:33:00.000+11:00

I broke one of my resolutions! *cries*

At notice printing you have 3 items overdue.

I borrowed some manga for my sister, and now I have 3 overdue books.

Also, in the past week, Graham has messaged me twice to tell me that Daniel has died again.

And I seem to have lost the ability to make a paragraph that's longer than one line.

And sadness that I haven't seen Mark in a long time.

Oh, and I have to go to a wedding on the weekend.

I also found out some very surprising news. Good surprising, not bad surprising.

I should really write something more cohesive.

But between writing my lab report and playing WoW, I've had almost no sleep. Surprisingly, I don't think I've touched my PS2 in ages. Wow, incredible, I didn't even realise.

Oh, weird thing. I saw my digital systems lecturer on Satuday. Was so weird seeing him outside of a classroom, becaus he's normally dressed formally. Except one time, it was really hot, and he was wearing shorts. It just felt so awkard. His family was also there, and I didn't really know what to say. They were all looking at me oddly, so I told him that I had to catch the bus (which was true, I had a feeling that Nibo was going to kill me :/), and I left.

This week has just been too weird, I can't wait for the holidays to start!

Do I Know You?

2005-03-09T21:24:00.000+11:00

I've been thinking about that Six Degrees of Separation thing, and I've noticed that I have a lot of 'circular friendships'- friends that are friends of friends sort of thing. I realised that the only new person that I met (someone that wasn't already friends with one of my other friends) was Sam, my ex-gay best friend. Considering how many new friends I made last year, that's really strange. So I've decided to make a new friend who is not already friends with a current friend. This is actually quite hard, since I'm inherently anti-social, but I'm going to try anyway.

My first attemt was on Tuesday. I decided to try the person sitting next to my in my philosophy tute. His name is David Edquist and he's staying at Ormond. For some reason, something clicked in my head, and I realised that the name sounded familiar. It turns out that he's also a member of II and we've actually met before! So that was a bust since he's friends with Tom, so he doesn't count as a new friend.

My next attempt was today, on my way home. I saw this guy walking by himself and I looked at him and said, "Hey! Do I know you?" which I figured was a good way to get the attention of a stranger. He stopped and looked confused. Against all of the messages in my body telling me to run, run like the wind on a windy day, I asked him what course he was doing. He's a science student. So to go with the whole recognising him, I asked if he did maths. I found out that he's a botany student. At that point, I got the feeling that he was going to open up and tell me his life story. At that point, the only thing going through my head was, "I want to go home." So we exchanged names, I said I might see him sometime, and I left. A quick search on the Email directory for Tims doing botany returned 20 reults. For some reason, I get the feeling that I'm never seeing him again.

But two half failures hasn't deterred me. I'm still going to try and find a friend that isn't already connected to my current friends. I just don't think talking to random people walking around is going to help. I'd try my psychology lecture, but I'm too busy staying awake to make conversation.

Philosophy is awesome! There are only about 80 of us (which is supposedly quite a lot for this subject, seems to be really unpopular). Out of that, maybe two thirds show up to lectures. Greg Restall, the lecturer is really funny. He has this odd thing about the moon being made of green cheese, which seems to have passed on to the tutors as well. Because of the style of the subject, we have arguments all the time, and I'm loving it! Not arguments to the scale of 'Is there a God?' or 'Why are we here?', but just about whether statements like '2 + the Pacific Ocean = Beethoven' and 'The present King of France is bald' (France doesn't currently have a king) are propositions or not. The other great thing about it is that it's very simliar to digital systems which I just passed (Yay me!), so it wasn't hard to get my head around thinking a certain way.

Anyway, I should be researching Ainu (indiginous Japanese people) at the moment, so I should stop wasting time. Hope everyone had a good first week!

High School Rant

2005-02-24T15:27:00.000+11:00

I think my one greatest problem in high school was not VCE exams, or SACs. Not keeping up with homework while trying to fit in quality TV time (since I never actually did any homework, that wasn't a problem ^_^). It was trying to tell someone that I wasn't interested in what they were saying. I'm sure that she can be absolutely fascinating, but there were times when I just couldn't stand being around her simply because I knew that she would talk and talk and talk, and I just didn't know how to escape without hurting her feelings. To be honest, I just didn't care about the things she was talking about. Yep, you're thinking, this is from someone who has a blog- but at least in my case you can close the window, never return, and I'll never know.
I first noticed it on a camp. She started talking about how much toilet paper she uses and I was trying to get to sleep. I tried paying attention for a while, hoping that she'd get tired or stop talking (how much can you say about toilet paper, honestly?) but she didn't. I'm not sure if she stopped after I fell asleep, but this was only the beginning. Some of the other people decided to start having nightly card games, but I figured that if I stayed and played with them, and her, then I'd never get any sleep as she'd just talk through the night- going over everything that had just happened, which she did the following morning anyway. She seems to do this with everything. We'll go and see a movie and she'll give a complete summary of the movie that we'd just watched. No jokes, observations, arguments, or mistakes, just a straight plot summary. For some reason, she seems completely oblivious to the fact that we were there, watching that exact same movie. Yes, we noticed that the main character is played by Julia Roberts, it even says so on the poster- is that a coincidence? Yes, we noticed that the man in the black hood was the murderer- it was only mentioned a few hundred times and was the key event that started the whole sequence of events on the rest of the movie.

*sigh* I know that I'm being very cruel, as she isn't here to defend herself, but I just wish that I knew how to deal with someone like this. I tried not speaking to her, thinking that if she didn't get a response, then she'd go and talk to someone else. But that made things worse as it let her talk more. I tried hanging around other people, but that only worked a bit, as she could still talk to me regardless of who I was with. I don't know... maybe I wish she had a window I could just close, or maybe a mute button.

It is truly regrettable that a person will treat a man who is valuable to him well, and a man who is worthless to him poorly.
-Hojo Shigetoki

Then comes the other thing I was wondering about. I know that with the person I was just talking about, that I'm guilty of doing the same thing, but this is happening with two of my friends and me. I've noticed that one of my friends is really horrible to another one. Not to his face, but behind his back. I feel bad because this guy is going through a bad time at the moment, and it would be great if his friends could support him, but the way that she treats him is at some times really mean. With the girl that I mentioned, she was my friend and I treated her like she was my friend. And she has gotten better, we've managed to find some common ground. But with these two, I don't know if I should say something. And it makes me wonder what would happen if she ever decided that I was 'worthless' to her. Anyway, I just needed somewhere to rant.

Random Day-Before-Exam Listmaking

2005-02-14T21:02:00.000+11:00

Why is it that we get inspiration at the worst possible times. Actually, I'm just killing time until Koji-san comes online and I can borrow his brain for a bit. The 2004 digital systems exam is annoying me. So I'm going to do what Jean suggested and make a new list, so that in a few years I can look at it and laugh.

My New List:

10. Knows who Daniel Jackson is- though if he knows me, it's going to be a bit hard that he hasn't at least heard of Daniel Jackson. ^_^

9. Doesn't mind if I disappear for a week or so because of a new obsession- think WoW.

8. Likes to argue

7. Has at least one allergy - it's just one of my 'things'.

6. Likes cartoons/anime

5. Isn't tennis mad- Tennis stole Daniel Jackson :'(

4. Has some strange quirk - I like odd things.

3. Doesn't ask, "How are you?"- I have actually met people that don't like being asked how they are. Well, he has to at least be able to accept that I don't want him to ask me how I am.

2. Does NOT want to see me in a dress - I think all the recent betting and my cousin's wedding has pushed this one to #2. Otherwise it'd be somewhere low down, or not on this list at all.

1. Has a good sense of humour- I think this one will always be #1.

I haven't mentioned Mark in a while. I haven't seen him for ages, but I'm guessing that once uni starts, I'll be seeing him quite a bit more. Nearly everyday. Oh, I think I'm hyperventilating.

On a nice and pleasant note, I kinda got offered another job. Nick, my chess teacher, offered to let me teach one of his classes. This is infinitely better than working at Safeway, and I'd love to take it, but I have to see if my timetable lets me. I'm nervous about doing it though because Nick is so good at chess, I'm nowhere near as good as he is, and I don't think I ever will be. So what if the school feels a bit ripped off that instead of getting Nick, they're getting me? And what if the kids throw tomatoes?

What Happens To Me After Extended Periods of Daniel Withdrawl

2005-02-06T22:58:00.000+11:00

I love the rain. I sounds and smells so nice, and when I'm walking in the rain, it feels so nice. (Except when I'm wrestling with a broken umbrella and it's very windy.) What I don't love about the rain is that somehow our phone line got damaged so now we can't call out and can't answer the phone either (when we try to pick it up, it just keeps ringing- weird, huh?). Then we were told to disconnect everything so they could find where the fault was. That meant no Internet, which meant no WoW. So I decided to start reading. Yes, there is a point somewhere in this post, hopefully something other than random rambling.

I picked up my old journal and started reading through it. It's from 2001, so year 10. I came across this list of the top 10 things I thought were the most important in a guy. Needless to say, I nearly killed myself laughing. This was post-David, pre-Yasin, so I was possibly a little confused here. I never did work out what was wrong with David. When I told people about my crush on Yasin, there wasn't much of a reaction, but when I said David, there was surprise and the general feeling of, "Why?". Anyway, I'm talking about a bunch of people that you all don't know (with the exception of Jing), so I'll move on now.

My Year 10 List:

10. Intelligent - anything better than a vegetable.

9. Likes cartoons

8. Likes arguing

7. Has at least one allergy

6. Likes playing cards

5. Computer literate - This one made me laugh the most. Compared with most of the people in my classes, I'm the most computer illiterate! But I think that was the time I tried to help teach some people how to use a computer. I got really frustrated when after half an hour, they still didn't get that right-click and left-click were two different things!

4. Short-winded - I really had a problem with someone who talked a lot. :-S

3. Criticises constructively

2. Is willing to do something different - When Nibo saw this, she wondered if that meant that he should get a new girlfriend every two weeks or so. Nibo is such a good gemella, pointing out the absolute ridiculousness of my list.

1. Good sense of humour - at least this one is still on my list.

Now my second point. I'm so happy that I'm going to be winning not one, but two bets with year! With ridiculous lists like this, there is no way that Jing or Anthea can possibly find someone for me. My gambling problem is over.

One lab and one exam to go, and then freedom! But considering all you meds start on Valentines Day, and my exam is on the 15th, you'll all be slaving away. So I won't be able to do anything with you after I get my freedom. :-( Why can't you start at the same time as the rest of us?

It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better

2005-02-01T19:51:00.000+11:00

1800 156 789

There it is, the number for Gambler's Helpline. I haven't called it, but I'm putting it there in case anyone ever wants to use it.

Well, I made a new bet today, and am in the process of making another one. My new bet is with Anthea, someone that hasn't been mentioned yet. She's also an anime fan and is learning Japanese, though she won't speak it with me. She is also a pikmin hater. Very, very sad that they can be corrupted at that age. Pikmin are so cool! [Ummm, I'd just like to note that I don't actually have the game, but there are pikmin in Nintendo Tower Defense, a WC3 map, and they're so funny! They're actually totems, but they're so awesome! Maybe that explains why I went a shaman in WoW.]

Anyway, back to the bet. Anthea was talking about her other personality's boyfriend, Bob, and I suggested that she needed one too. I honestly think that the powers that be don't want me retired as a matchmaker, otherwise they wouldn't keep throwing oppurtunities like this in my way. So I offered to set Anthea up, and for some strange reason, she did the same. So it became a bet. I have to set her up before she sets me up (if she ever does), in order to win. If I win, she has to wear a pikmin shirt for a week. If she wins, then I have to wear chest hair for a week. [This might sound odd at first, but if you ever watch Jungle Wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu it'll all make sense. I have it around somewhere if anyone wants to see it. Hmmm, maybe I should just have an anime marathon here and see if I can get Jean to like anime.]

My other bet in progress is with Ting. I have a bad feeling that this will also end with me wearing a skirt, but since I have to win at least one bet at some point in my life (not counting the one with Asha) I think one of these bets will end in somebody doing something stupid.

Since I ended my last post with a bet that could have gone really badly, I'll end this one with one of my most embarrassing bets. I made a bet with a girl at the chess club on the game that we were playing. The loser of the game was the winner of the bet. Somehow I accidentally took away all of her king's escape squares without realising it and I checkmated her by accident(because the only way to force her to take one of my pieces was to put her king in check). So I had to propose to out chess teacher. Very, very embarrassing. I did propose to him, and I'm sure most of you noticed my lack of wedding ring, so obviously he broke my heart and turned me down. *sob, sob* This was before I got to know him, so the way he turned me down was so ridiculous. For a moment, I thought he had taken me seriously! He was so serious when he told me that he never wanted to get married. I think that cured me of betting for about a week.

And on a completely unrelated note, digisys labs are crap.

And on another completely unrelated note, I haven't seen Mark for ages. Maybe something did happen to him.

And on yet another completely unrelated note, Anthea smells...

...with her nose...

At least, I hope she does.

My Gambling Problem

2005-01-28T13:16:00.000+11:00

Before you all go and stage an intervention, I'd just like to point out that my gambling problem isn't that I'm addicted. My problem is that I never win- I'm sure that I can stop at anytime. As those who knew me during high school know, I love to make bets. I don't bet for money, since doing that makes people take it too seriously and it's just no fun that way, so I bet actions/promises instead. My current bets:

Bet with Sharon- Sharon getting married before she graduates (it was extended)
If I win: She has to play Starcraft with Amanda
If she wins: I have to wear a dress to the next anime marathon. (She'll probably graduate before me so I'll still be a member of wwwa [Weekly Watchers of Wonderful Anime] as long as it's still there.)

Bet with Jing- Me getting falling in love by the end of this year
If I win: Jing has to dress like a goth for one day (this day has to be a day that she has at least one class)
If she wins: I have to wear a dress and high heels (what is with people wanting to see me in a dress?!)

Bet with Jean- Jean getting a boyfriend by the end of this year
If I win: Jean has to cook me something Italian
If she wins: I have to go without games of any kind for 5 days

I figure that with Jing's bet, there is no way that I can lose. So maybe my problem will be resolved by the end of this year, and we can all see Jing as a goth in 2006. ^_^

Oh, and if you haven't heard about it yet, the Ting/Ting bet! I made a bet with Ting (girl) that I could get Ting (guy) to ask her out to Commerce Ball 2004. If I won, then she'd have to say yes and go with him- not that she'd refuse anyway. If I lost, then I'd have to tell a lecturer that I loved him, wear a minskirt and perform She Bangs William Hung style. Neither Ting ended up going to Comm Ball anyway. Thankfully, Ting (guy) let me out of the bet- since if he found out about the bet, it would be called off. It was pretty close though. I should have learnt my lesson from that, but I didn't and I think I'm going to keep betting until I win one. Is that an addiction?

I Found One!

2005-01-22T15:13:00.000+11:00

Before I get too involved in WoW and forget that I have a life, I'll post about something amazing that has happened. I've found a new gay best friend! Well, he told me that he'll alternate between being my gay best friend and my non-gay best friend every few weeks. I don't mind that since now I have a new gay best friend- though he's currently in non-gay best friend mode.

The name of my new gay best friend is......

*drumroll and dramatic pause*

*and cough for effect*

... SAMAN!

I don't know how well he'll do with being gay, but it'll be interesting to watch. Though considering my past record, he'll probably get a girlfriend and I'll lose another gay best friend. Well, that'll mean that I indirectly helped someone else get a girlfriend and that's a good thing, right? Anyway, patch has finished downloading now. Mata, ne.

Tennis Stole My Daniel (oops)

2005-01-13T20:22:00.000+11:00

I opened the newspaper to make sure that Stargate SG-1 was on today, and to my shock I see that tennis is on instead! I don't hate tennis, but when the last episode had someone die, I don't like being left hanging! I know that she's in the SG spin-off Atlantis, but how can that be if she's dead?

I just wanted that there as my personal protest to Channel 7's programming.

About the bet with Sharon, during lunch with Lucien and Tom, I had a spark of inspiration. Stefan, a guy that trains with Tom, made a bet with Tom that he'd have a mobile phone by the end of second year. I decided to make the same bet with him. If he loses, then he has to propose to Sharon. I don't know what I have to do if I lose though. His birthday is on the 4th of August, and Sharon's birthday is on the 13th. So if he gets a phone for his birthday, then he'll have to propose to Sharon and she'll be engaged. [Ting just pointed out a hole in my plan. She can refuse. Well, I have 7 months to make them good friends.]

It's day 13 into 2005 and I've already bought my first game. Well, it's sold out at the moment, but I've ordered a copy.

Overdue library books: 0 (v.g.)
Kanji learnt: 0/0 (well, Japanese hasn't started yet!)
Money spent on games: soon to be $89.00, and since it's an MMORPG, I'll be spending more each month(v.v.v.b.)
Time spent watching TV: 3 hours (v.v.b.- but Azumanga Daioh is just so funny!)
Time spent doing constructive stuff for community: 0
Time spent writing a script: 0

I am looking forward to playing World of Warcraft though, it looks like so much fun. It may be the cause of my failing digisys. I want to go a priest and an orc, but the orcs don't have the priest class. So the closest thing I could find was an orc shaman.

Oh, and about the word vomit guy (who I'll nickname Mark in honour of Mark Darcy. 'Word Vomit Guy' is a really bad name!). He's disappeared! I haven't seen him in ages. Very sad, because I usually see him at least once a week. I wonder what happened to him? He didn't mention going anywhere- not that he tells me his life story every time I see him. I wonder what happened. Maybe he found out that there's a gold mine under Brunswick, and the council has been hiding it all this time. In order to stop him from talking, they tried to bribe him, but it didn't work, so they kidnapped him. Oh no! What should I do? Heh, maybe I should stop making up weird scenarios.

EDIT (10th April 2005)I just realised that I posted the same thing twice. Oops. I've delete the first post but here's Wayland's comment from the bottom of that:

WOW! No pun intended ;).ANYWAY (those who didn't get the above joke can ask me). I want to play World of Warcraft but I fear I won't get enough time to play...so I;m not getting it...but it looks so good...I spent a day or two reading up on it...ah well...Wayland out.
By Wayland, at 8:36 PM, January 19, 2005

Welcoming Back Summer Fun

2005-01-06T23:38:00.000+11:00

I mentioned a while ago that I was going to fail Electrical Circuits and have to do it over the Summer Semester. Well, thankfully, I passed it, but I decided to do Digital Systems 1 over Summer Semester so that I could do psychology and philosophy and decide which I want to major in. My first class was on Tuesday, wasn't as bad as I expected. It was held in the same theatre as Electrical Circuits, I thought that was a really bad sign, but it was pretty interesting. I'm going to go into some weird stuff now...

Binary numbers- I'm sure you've all heard of binary numbers (you know, there are only 10 types of people in the world- those who know binary, and those who don't). Well, did you know a shortcut to convert decimal to binary is this division thing?

Take the decimal number 57:

57/2 = 28 remainder 1
28/2 = 14 remainder 0
14/2 = 7 remainder 0
7/2 = 3 remainder 1
3/2 = 1 remainder 1
1/2 = 0 remainder 1

And so you take the remainders, starting from the bottom 111001 to get the number 57 in decimal. Cool, huh? And that works with any base, you just divide with the new base instead of 2.

And if you wanted to convert from binary to octal (base eight), then you just group them into groups of three:

(using decimal 57 again)

111 001 (in binary)

111 in binary codes for 7
001 in binary codes for 1

so 57 (decimal) = 71 in octal.

And, if you were really demented, or really loved numbers, you could convert from binary into hexadecimal (base 16- has numbers 0 through to 9, and then A = 10, B= 11 up to F=15)! Just like for octal, only you group them into groups of four.

(using decimal 57 again)

0011 1001 (in binary-added two 0's to make groups even)

0011 in binary codes for 3
1001 in binary codes for 9

So 57 (decimal) = 39 in hex. 1111 1111

[Oh, and just to illustrate the letter thing, 15 in dec = F in hex. 16 in dec = 10 in hex. 255 in dec = FF in hex.]

But wait, there's still more! There's BCD (binary coded decimal). Where instead of converting the whole number to binary, you code each individual digit.

So 57 becomes 0101 0111.

Well, that's it for number systems. I have to admit though, that even though I wrote this kinda sarcastically, I'm actually interested in this subject! I'm still finding it hard to stay awake in the lectures, but that's mostly due to the fact that it's in the morning.

I think there was something that I was going to write about, but I forgot what it is. Oh, I finally checked out the engineering library. It's scary in there, not anywhere near as friendly as the Rowden White. I picked up a few books and looked inside, and there were so many acronyms that I doubt there were any real words in there! They also happen to have old copies of The Engineer, which is a magazine for engineers. I thought it'd have articles about how many pens to have in your pocket, and what to eat if you want to code all night, but it looked pretty normal.

Well, for those of you who passed the boring number stuff and the engineering library stuff, I managed to remember what I was going to post about, other than Summer semester. You know how when you have a crush on someone, you get this weird feeling whenever they're around? Well, I got that feeling today, and it was when I saw someone that I didn't expect to see. So I was kinda in shock for a moment and speechless, so that when he started talking to me I panicked. And Bridget Jones style word vomit came out. I think she would have been proud. I also found out that he's graduating next year - well, if he passes everything this year, so after this year, I won't see him! T.T That should be reason enough to talk to him, right? But I don't know him that well, and it feels weird. Oh well, maybe something strange will happen during this year, it has only just begun after all.

How to Get A Guy In Eight Months?

2005-01-01T22:11:00.000+11:00

I haven't made a bet in a while. I haven't won a bet in an even longer while. Oh, and hope everyone has a safe and happy new year! Anyway, I've made a bet with Sharon. She commented that Nick's, guy that we work with, brother got married at the age of 20 and that it's early. i was bored, she was bored, so we decided to make a bet. I bet that she would be married, or at least engaged, at the age of 20. The things that I have to do if I lose don't look too good:

-Go clubbing
-Wear a dress to the next anime marathon
-Run to uni and back-to home, I mean (being a horribly unfit nerd, I'd probably die)
-Ask Tom out on a date
-Dance somewhere along Sydney Rd.
-Hug Salem (one of the managers at Safeway- he can be very creepy at times)
-Be Amanda's slave for a day (Amanda is my seven-year-old sister)
-Spend an hour on the phone with Victor (Victor is Sharon's younger brother; phone conversations with him mostly consist of, "Hi Anna" repeated over and over)
-Cook for the next party that I have
-Listen to Elvis all night (all night being from dusk 'til dawn)

I don't have to do all of those things, but Graham is going to choose one of them at random, and that'll be thing thing I have to do if I lose.

If I win, however, Sharon has to do one of these things-also chosen at random by Graham:

-Sing at her wedding
-Play Starcraft against Amanda
-Choose one language, and speak it for the whole day
-Go and watch a play
-Do some tabletop dancing at her wedding (courtesy of Wayland)
-Do a Geroge of the Jungle type call (courtesy of Jing-I personally want to see her to this! ^_^)
-Walk around the city with a sign saying, "I'm married now- you missed out, buddy" for an hour -Dress up as a teddy bear
-Go shopping for clothes for 6 hours, but don't actually buy anything
-Tell everyone that Michael Shanks is the hottest guy in the world!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like New Year's

2004-12-29T23:11:00.000+11:00

I've just finished reading Bridget Jones' Diary, and without Colin Firth, I don't think it's as good. But she did have a nice list of New Years resolutions, and I've decided to make my own list. Even if I only manage to keep one resolution, then it'll be an achievement.

ANNA'S RESOLUTIONS:

1. No overdue library books
(Last year, I decided that this was going to be my resolution. 10 minutes into the new year, I remembered that book I'd left on my desk that was due on the 31st.) Must try harder this year.

2. Learn the kanji as we learn them in class
This was I can avoid trying to cram 200 characters 2 hours before the Japanese exam.

3. Spend less than $1000 on games (this includes 40k models)
I know that I'm supporting the industry that I'm hopefully trying to get into- the software industry that is- but I'm hoping to go to Japan with Nadia at the end of next year, and I'll need to have some money left to get manga!

4. Spend less time watching TV
I'm going to try and restrict myself to shows that I actually want to watch, instead of just watching what's on and mindlessly getting absorbed in some show that I'll have fogotten about a week later.

5. Try and do something productive for society
Sharon and I were going to do some voluntary work at the RCH, but we were told that they were inundated with applications and that we should apply 3 months later. So I am going to volunteer for something.

6. Finish a proper movie, worthy of an arts student
I haven't made any real movies since I bought my video camera, just a few short clips that I've joined together and added some background music to. This year, I am going to try and make a proper movie, it'll probably end up being a christmas card again, but I am going to aim for twenty minutes at least. So it'll probably have to be a family card, since nobody else will want to watch twenty minutes of footage of strangers.

Well, that's all I can think of at the moment. I'll try and add some more before NYE.

[EDIT 30-12-04] 7.Try not to think about a certain person
But even the act of thinking about not thinking about someone requires that you think about them, so I don't quite know how I'm going to do this. At least I resolve to stop messaging him like I did while I was on holiday. I think he's responsible for half of my credit being gone. :'(

Queen of Queens(land), Part 2

2004-12-28T01:47:00.000+11:00

Sorry that I haven't continued that last post, but I've been kinda lazy. And still feeling a bit lazy, since I have Stuck On You, on pause. So I'll try to be quick. Anyway, nobody wants to read a 5 page essay on my trip to Queensland.

Day 1:
Amanda, my youngest sister, had a terrible time on the plane. She started to cry at the end of the plane ride and the flight attendant had to give her something to smell. The apartment that we stayed at was called The Penthouses, it had three bedrooms and was right next to the beach. We were too tired to go anywhere that night so we had a nice dinner of instant noodles in weird containers- we couldn't find the bowls.

Day 2:
Seaworld. I forgot to take the tags off my bag from the plane, so the stickers came off and were all over my back. Anjelica didn't tell me about them right away, and started laughing. So I was walking around with a bunch of barcodes on my back. She told me eventually. We saw the dolphin show and the seal show- the seal show was so funny, but one of the actors was really bad. He's the kind of person that overacts. We also saw polar bears, they're so cute. Amanda cried again when we went to see Planet SOS, which is a 3D movie about the trouble our planet is in. In the first few pics from Queensland, I'm wearing a Red Cross hat, but after Seaworld, the hat is never seen again. I lost it on a water ride- it flew off my head when we were going downhill .When mum went back to Seaworld (she, Alex, Anjelica and Amanda chose to return to Seaworld), she said that she saw it on a rock.

Day 3:
Movieworld. Most of the time here was spent buying stuff. Scott went home with bags of stuff from Movieworld. I also picked up a new hat from here. The Scooby-Doo 2 ride was really funny. For some reason, there was a part where you go up an elevator, so you spend a minute waiting for the elevator. I've never seen that in a ride before. There was also the usual things jumping out at you and weird shadows. Oh, and the Police Academy Stunt Show was awesome! Before the show, there was this clown guy and he made fun of people walking past him. The funniest thing about it was that the people that were being made fun of didn't notice that he was making fun of them! He'd follow someone and tickle their neck with a fluffy thing, and they'd swat it away thinking that it's a fly, then he'd do it again and continue until they turned around. Then he'd look away and pretend to be innocent. His other job was to direct people to seats, but when some people refused to go where he was pointing (he mimed everything), he'd reach into his holster and pull out.... a banana! This couple asked him to take a photo for them, and he looks as though he's going to, then he asks the guy to hold the camera, and gets that guy to take a photo of him and the other guy's girlfriend together!

Day 4:
Wet 'N Wild. Basic waterslide, floating on tubes rides. Nobody else wanted to go on the fun rides, like the really high waterslides. They really missed out. Anjelica and I spend a lot of time teasing Amanda by telling her that we were going to put her on one of those floaty tube things and leave her in the deep end of the wave pool.

Day 5:
We had one of those 3 Park Super Pass things, and you're allowed to use it to return to the park of your choice. Scott, my aunty, my uncle and I decided to return to Movieworld. We suspected that in the stunt show, part of it was set up (4 people were picked from the audience to be in the show, but only one actually did anything). We were right, it was set up. Scott also picked up more souvenirs, and I found Agent Smith sunglasses! I was so happy. Debney(my highs chool, for those of you with a short memory) had a fashion parade when I was in Year 12, and Asha and I were going to go as Niobe and Agent Smith, but I couldn't find the right sunnies to go with the suit. I also had a problem with getting a suit! Tu gave me a Harry Potter costume for Christmas, so I decided to go as HP, but in the morning, being late as usual, I forgot. More photos were taken, and Scott and I went on the Batman Ride. It wasn't really a ride, it was one of those movies with moving seats. On the way back to the apartment, I fell on the bus and sprained my ankle, so decided to pick up some Christmas cards and write to people.

Day 6:
Lazed about the beach, wrote cards, oh, I forgot to mention this weird guy that I met. His name was Alex and he was doing some construction thing on one of the apartments. We started talking, and I got the impression that he was flirting, but then I was thinking that he's one of those people that takes advantage of the girls that go to Queensland during schoolies, so I kinda ignored that. I also wondered what Saman would do. And considering that it was a guy, I doubt Saman would have gone for him either. ^_^ (There's your mention Saman.)It was nice talking to him though, since he had this weird Aussie thing (going to Debney meant that I saw very few Aussie people, and I find them so funny! :D). Anyway, it was on this day that I suspect he was also hitting on my mother! Yuck, yuck, yuck!

Day 7:
Last day in Queensland. Got up early because we had to be out of the apartment by 10. My aunty wanted us to leave Queensland as soon as possible so that they could get in as much driving time as they could, so that we'd reach Sydney quickly. But then they go and look at all thte tourist traps along the way- makes no sense to me. We visited a chocolate factory. I saw a milk and white chocolate chess board that I wanted, it looked so good.

Wow, it's getting late. Basics of trip to Sydney and Canberra. Stayed at Taree before reaching Sydney. Ate more Chinese food. Amanda found a little friend called Zong, and we all tease her about him being her boyfriend now. Lost a pair of pants and that Cranky Monkey T-Shirt that I bought with Jing and Jean on our shopping trip. Went to see the Opera House and rode the monorail. Went to Canberra and Parliament house, but didn't see Sam as he had gone to Mt Kosciusko for the day. We drove back to Melbourne, encountering that locust swarm that's been in the news.

Going back to Matt Damon now. Oyasumi.

Queen of Queens(land)

2004-12-21T23:55:00.000+11:00

Well, we came back from our trip a few days early, since Scott really didn't want to stay in Sydney. Since we just got back about 2 hours ago, I haven't had time to look through the hours of footage that I took, so Saman, those pics aren't ready yet. Oh, and I think I got some strange looks from my family when I started filming girls on the beach. Sorry, I didn't bring anyone home for you. Oh, and I didn't get to go surfing. I finally managed to convince Scott, but the day before we were meant to go, I managed to trip over on the bus and sprained my ankle.

Sorry for the short post, but I'm feeling really sleepy at the moment. I'll write more later.

つづく　（to be continued)

Goodbye, Cruel World

2004-12-11T04:49:00.000+11:00

Since Saman is the only one on at this crazy time, I'm using this to say goodbye to everyone. I'm giving up life, throwing in the towel... I don't know how much more of this I can take. Nothing makes sense and everything has just gone wrong. I don't know what to do anymore. Not even Saman could change my mind. Life sucks to much to go on living...

Wow, that sounded so odd. Actually, what I wanted to say goodbye for, was my trip to Queensland, which I'm leaving for in a few minutes. I've offered to bring Saman along in my backpack, but I don't think he'd fit. Well, I could bring him and not have anything else.... and I'd have to chop him up first.

Anyway, in Queensland, I'll probably be without access to the net, so if you don't see me online, or I don't reply, it's not because I hate you... it could be, but I doubt it.

Movin' On Out

2004-12-08T22:33:00.000+11:00

I know that I've already done a post on moving out, but the topic has come up again, and I need help. It seems that Graham has hit a snag in his moving out plan, that being he doesn't have anyone to move out with. Also, sometime earlier this year, Sharon asked me to move out with her and Ting. I refused both offers, for the reasons stated in my last post. So the logical thing would be to get Graham to move out with Sharon and Ting, right? Killing two birds with one stone, and Sharon and Graham get along well (that is NOT a sign that I'm going to try and set them up. When my latest one is over, then I'm retiring, for good. So unless Jean and William get it in their heads to see each other of their own free will, there will be no Jean and William *sobs* ).

I told Sharon about my idea, and she went from enthusiastic about moving out to heistant. I told Graham about my idea and he started saying stuff about how he hasn't known Sharon for very long. I only met him in January this year- and when uni started, I introduced him to Sharon. So he has known her for almost as long as he's known me. Oh, but we were in the same maths class in semester one, so I saw him a lot more then. Why don't they like my idea? I think it's a good idea. Sharon and Ting want to live together. Graham needs something closer to the uni so he doesn't have to get up at 7 or 8AM to make an 11AM class. It's a win-win situation.

Yesterday, Graham asked me if I'd like to move out with him again. I made the same excuses that I did last time, but you know how when you make excuses, and they're not very good, how they seem to get weaker every time you use them? Well, that happened. And I'm scared that one of two things will happen:

1. I'll keep making the same excuses, and then eventually, he'll come up with an argument that I can't beat, and I'll say yes, simply because it's the logical thing to do. If there's no reason for me NOT to move out, then I should if there's a reason for me to move out. Oh, and I forgot to mention, while he's looking for a place to stay in Melbourne, he's living with his sister and her fiancée, but he can't stay there for too long. That would be the reason FOR me to move out.

2. I'll keep saying no and he'll get insulted. Then there'll be this stain in out friendship, and that would be very bad. He's one of the few people who'll be around in my final year (he's doing arts/eng as well). Oh, he might not, unless he extends it by a year. I could make more friends, but that's more work, and Graham is a good friend. I hate losing friends.

And on a completely unrelated note, I was just helping someone prepare for a Test of English as Foreign Language(TOEFL) test. So it is now 12:20AM (compare the time to what it says at the bottom of this post!). Cho, the person that I was helping lives in Thailand, and he is studying so hard (makes me feel so guilty)! It's pretty weird how I met him. I was bored, as usual, and David Tomic, one of my friends from DPSC (Jing, I think you might remember him), suggested that I add random people to my contact list on MSN Messenger, and see how well I can get to know them. Well, I ended up filling up my contact list, but i think about 12 people out of 80-something actually added me and spoke to me. Cho was one of them.

So I've just been trying to explain quoting to him (he said that he did it briefly in class, but I don't think he really knew what it was for). I didn't have a good topic to use as an example, so I just sent him chunks of this post- so he can know about my moving woes too! Then I had a flash of inspiration, and made up a topic, though it wasn't very good. "Do you think chicken is tasty?" Discuss. I don't know if Wayland's post caused it, or if it's just because I'm hungry, but in order to continue with this example, I had to come up with some weird sources. Like a scientist from the Russian Chicken Research Company. Is there such a thing? I just Googled it, and came up with nothing. I bet it's classified!

Jing, Jean and I went to Chadstone, but I'll wait until I do something with the video before I write about it. Actually, I'm probably the worst person you could ask about it. I'm going to sleep while I still have the positive vibes from helping someone. Oyasuminasai.

People Dancing Really Well... And Then Me....

2004-12-06T21:05:00.000+11:00

Today, wwwa (Weekly Watchers of Wonderful Anime) held an anime marathon. Anjelica, her friend Anthea, her other friend Mitchell, Sharon and I all went. Since they were showing the end of a series that they'd been showing during semester in the morning, we didn't want to watch just the end, so we headed for the games room. They had a couple of DDR mats hooked up to a laptop, and had a huge collection of songs. I'd never seen so many people play DDR in my life! We do have a couple of DDR mats here, and at Anjelica's birthday party there were quite a few people who were willing to make total fools of themselves. Unfortunately, none of them would let me near them with my camera. :(

Anyway, in the games room, there were some really good (and some really bad -hint, hint, me...) dancers. The guy who owns the game, I think his name was Tom, was amazing. I could barely register the arrows on the screen, and he was moving like mad! He played this song that was 300bpm (5 beats per second), and he cleared it easily! Then he and this other girl started this marathon song that went for 10 minutes. I would have died! We watched a few episodes of some stuff, then we went back, and he was still there dancing!

Anjelica and Mitchell got up to play, on the condition that they could do the song at half the normal speed. It was so slow that there were having trouble hitting the notes at the right time. Then Anthea and I got up and attempted to dance. It's so scary getting up in front of strangers and trying not to fall over. But Anthea and I made it through the song alive and have decided NOT to do that ever again.

I used to think that people who were good at those games: Beatmania, DDR, Guitarmania, etc. were really sad, ie. don't they have anything better to do??? Though, after seeing those people dance today, I think I'm just jealous. Athens, the game, can be played on a dance mat, and you have to move your feet really fast. I'm absolutely hopeless at it, and usually end up giving up halfway through the race- because of sheer exhaustion! I don't know if it's the 200m or 400m race, but one of them is the longest race you can play on a dance mat, and it just goes forever! Or it could just be because I'm horribly unfit....

Stars of Tomorrow

2004-12-03T19:29:00.000+11:00

This blog has been re-enabled. ;)

Well, few people came over today. (Yeah, a few. This morning, mum asked how many people were coming, and I said about 4. Anjelica, after everyone had left, told me that I can't count.)

First, Jing and Saman battled it out, Jing winning by a m.....er, Jing winning. (Don't want to offend one of the very few people that read this!) We also heard a nice duet of This Love from Jing and Wayland. Then they kicked butt in pass the mic, score was me; Jean; and Saman:6, to Jing; and Wayland:8, even though Wayland had wasted all of their shuffle tokens in one turn! Should have seen Saman and I try and sing Survivor together... let's just say that neither of us is going to be the fourth member of Destiny's Child anytime soon. Then it was girls against guys, and we won! Well, it was more like Jing and Jean won, and I just mumbled my way through the songs.

Throughout the day, we pretty much established that Jing and Jean are really good singers. Anjelica started playing and was surprised to see how many times their names were on the scoreboard.

Lunch was pizza, and Nadia and Rie (not sure how it's spelt, but she's Japanese, so I'm guessing that's how her name would be spelt) joined us, but didn't sing. :(

But I think my greatest achievement for the day was finally getting Tom to see Spiderman 2. We went to see it in July, but we missed it and didn't want to wait around for an hour, so we went and saw something else. But I did it!

Nobody would let me film them, so all I got were these three pics:

[EDIT] Sorry to Saman, Jing and Wayland, who tried to access the links, but Tripod wouldn't let them. Fixed it now...

http://annatheannoying.tripod.com/Singstar_pics_1.htm (70KB)

http://annatheannoying.tripod.com/Singstar_pics_2.htm (103KB)

http://annatheannoying.tripod.com/Singstar_pics_3.htm (91KB)

Attention All Readers

2004-11-30T20:39:00.002+11:00

We are sorry to inform you that this blog has been disabled, due to inappropriate content, until further notice. The author has been contacted and informed of his/her misdemeanor. If the problem is unable to be solved, then this blog will be removed. We are sorry for any inconvenience and advise you to check out many of our other quality blogs.

Staff at blogger.com

Did I managed to fool you, even for a second? Yeah... didn't think I'd make a good lawyer, don't like formal speech that much. Saman commented that all blogs seem to have died, what happened?

Today was Sony's Christmas Evening, which for some reason, I got invited to. I suspect it was one of those competitions I entered. It said that I could bring one guest, and seeing as she was sitting next to me at the time, I asked my sister. So today, the two of us set of for Chapel St. (why do they pick the weirdest of places- Chadstone for a PS2 event, and Chapel St. for a Sony event?) A lot of the stuff there was way out of my price range, but my sister really wanted a Walkman so that she could listen to it on our trip to Queensland. So I bought one for her for her Christmas present-hehehe, but the thing is, she can't open it until Christmas, and we'll be back from Queensland by then!

Should I let her open it? I'm thinking about letting Tom open his present early, since I'm getting him cheese and I'll have to give it to him before the 11th (which is when we leave), and if he has to wait until the 25th....

We also got these cool bags from Sony. There were three things inside, a DVD (I got Spiderman 2 and Anjelica got 50 First Dates), a CD (we both got a Pete Murray CD- and an Anastacia CD came with Anjelica's Walkman) and a USB phone charger. I'm just happy that I got Spiderman 2!!! Tobey Maguire... *sigh*

Sorry this is so short, but I'm being asked to play Starcraft with Scott, and he's getting impatient!

[EDIT] I just found this on a friend's LiveJournal, isn't it cool? It's true, too. (I added this to the bottom because I wanted to keep that thing at the top so the more than one person could see it.)

You Are the Investigator

5
You're independent - and a logical analytical thinker.
You love learning and ideas... and know things no one else does.
Bored by small talk, you refuse to participate in boring conversations.
You are open minded. A visionary. You understand the world and may change it.

What number are you?

I'm going to change the world by taking it over!

And another funny little thing:

You Know You're Addicted to Video Games When...

Your wife [it didn't even have '/husband', *annoyed*] tells you that you are, and you two kids; Mario, and Sonic; agree with her.
Whenever something bad happens you reach for the pause button.
You can microwave and eat a pizza pop using only your feet.
You've spent so much time playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 -- you actually taught youself how to skateboard.
You've worn out the buttons in the elevator of your apartment.
The only joystick you play with anymore is plugged in to your Xbox.
You've decided you won't go outside anymore due to the 'tacky graphics, poor sound and low playability.'
You've moved your PS2 into the bathroom -- just in case you make it to the next level on Vice City.
Your hands are so gnarled from gripping the controller, you can't even tie your shoes.
You ask your doctor how many lives you have left.
You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends who are addicted to video games.

Get Your Own Addicted Meme Here

This post has become very long!

The Great Big Microsoft Secret

2004-11-26T02:53:00.000+11:00

Hmmm, in a conspiracy theory mood at the moment. I've been talking to Ting(guy) on MSN, and he's suggested a few solutions, but maybe I should write what it is first!

This is a Try-It-At-Home one. Click on [Favourites]. Notice the [Links] folder. OK, delete it (if you had anything important in there, as if you would, move it somewhere else first). See, it's gone? Ah, but it comes back! What you didn't know is, Microsoft has a secret plan. This is -going to sound very far-fetched- but what decent conspiracy theory isn't? Microsoft is going to use those Links folders to take over the world; one million Internet Explorer users at a time. Here's how it works (remember, I'm a software eng student, so you have to take my word for it that everything is true):

1. Place something that is present, but everyone thinks is harmless. Come on, admit it, you just ignore the links folder, don't you? Bet you didn't even remember it was there until you read this. It's in the user agreement that you acknowledge the presence of the Links folder.

2. Now that the folders are there, and with Microsoft being the over-dominating OS at the moment, out comes the little program. It's disguised as an update, probably as a security update (ha, the irony!). This program will set of the true purpose of the Links folder.

3. Since nobody notices the Links folder anymore, nobody bothers to check what is in it. Soon, all of your personal information that's stored on your computer will end up in the Links folder. Everytime you connect to the net (if you don't connect everytime you turn your computer on) the contents of the folder will be sent to a Microsoft computer and filed away. After they have your personal information, then program is programmed to search for interesting documents. AI is further along than you think.

4. With all of this knowledge, Microsoft will claim to be omniscient. Of course, we'll all deny it, but then starts the blackmailing. Microsoft will take over the world!

Actually, not long after I started this post, Ting found a site that tells you how to get rid of the Links folder:

http://www.tweakxp.com/tweak211.aspx

I figured that I might as well finish the post, being the sort of person that finishes everything she starts (er...yeah).

Anyway, now, after 4 years of trying, I'm finally Links folder free!

Anna the Food Disposal Unit

2004-11-23T22:46:00.000+11:00

For some odd reason, my mum seems to think that I'm the food disposal unit around the house- the same way I think of my dad as the food tester for whenever I try to cook something. If there's leftover food that she doesn't want to keep for the next day, she tries to make me eat it all. On one hand, it means I can eat something right away when I come back from work. On the other hand, it means that every night I go to sleep with a very, very full stomach. And I have to eat everything that nobody else likes to eat (every week, mum cooks salmon mornay, and everyone else is sick of it, so I have to eat it).

Graham is moving to Melbourne (he lives way out in Broadford -it's really far away), and is staying with his sister for the moment, but he's looking for a place for himself. That got me thinking about moving out- for all of about a minute. It'd be an adventure! First I'd have to find some roomies to live with, since I'm hopeless at anything remotely domestic-like.

[Little side story here: Sometime in primary school, I can't remember who brought it up, and Jean, if you remember anything, feel free to add it, since I have the memory of a gold fish. Who are you again? Who are you again? Anyway, Jean, Ting and I planned to live together somewhere. I'm not too sure how well we'd get along if we lived in the same house, but we had all this stuff worked out, like rent, jobs, bills, and we were only in primary school at the time! I wonder what happened to the list that we made.]

To-Do List

Task One: Find a Gay Guy
Gay guys make everything so lively, just look at the Fab Five. Not only would we have a cool looking house, I'd have someone to give me fashion tips so that I don't go out looking like a colour-blind person- which is probably the case now. And if things go well, then I'd have my gay best friend thing covered.

Task Two: Find Female That Has Hopeless Luck with Relationships
What household would be complete without the romantically dysfunctional woman who uses up our entire supply of tissues in one day? Although my people skills are about as good as my golf skills, this is where the gay guy comes in; to take her out for a little retail therapy. Then she could come home and have a bath waiting for her (yes, I can fill a bathtub) and just relax her woes until the next guy comes along.

Task Three: Find a Place to Call Home
If it were a perfect world, then both of the above-mentioned people will go to the same uni, and work around Brunswick, but chances are, that's not going to happen. I'll probably end up in Whoop Whoop (which I consider anywhere outside Brunswick). It'd be a good opportunity to get over the fact that I'm locationally challenged (I got lost today walking from Melbourne Uni to the Royal Exhibition Building).

Task Four: Survive One Week Without Starving to Death
Hmmm, maybe we need another roommate, someone that can cook.

Task Five: Find Someone That Can Cook
Hey, if I could that guy from the Fab Five who can cook, then I'll get two for the price of one! Otherwise, it's just anyone that can stop us from starving to death- well, with all the redecorating, and consoling that we'll be doing, we won't have time to cook anything!

Task Six: Have A Housewarming Party
It's kinda late, considered that we will have survived a week already, but I figure, we should see if this works out before celebrating. And you all better bring presents- like spare light globes, frozen food, a new fridge.

On second thought, at home, I'm near uni, I live across the road from work, I get free food, and board. Hmmm, be a food disposal unit or move out. FDU. Move out. FDU. Move out. What am I complaining about? Living at home rocks!

Summer Fun Returns!

2004-11-18T18:40:00.000+11:00

Seems like Summer and fun can't stay away for very long. For some reason, mum decided that she wants to go somewhere for Christmas this year (but to be here on Christmas Day so that she can go to the annual family party :-( *sigh*). So we're off to Queensland. *excited, excited* We'll be staying at this place called The Penthouses, which is about 10m from a beach, and is close to Surfer's Paradise. We'll be going with my aunty, uncle, and my cousin Scott.

So with something like that to look forward too, who can be sad about exams? I think the trip has put a positive spin on everything and I think Pr(failing everything) ≠1. [It's probably at about 0.95, but hey, at least it isn't certain anymore!]

We're going to fly up there and drive back. That way we can bring stuff back and see places along the way. My aunty wants to stop in Sydney, and I want to go to Wagga Wagga, because Sam talks about it so much- even though it's just to say that nothing is there. Well, I also want to go there because it has a funny name. :D

I can't wait to try surfing. I've loved that sport for so long, but I've been too scared to try it. I think my family deciding to go to Queenland is a sign. I'll also be able to lie on the beach and play my Gameboy. OK... so that's not the best use of the beach, but I've never done that before! There will also be a lot of swimming, and building of sandcastles. And my video camera is going to get a good workout. If it were possible, I'd never stop filming, but hey, who wants footage of my view from the toilet? I don't know about taking it to Wet 'N' Wild, but we'll see.

So excited, so excited. I don't think I can sit down. How will I survive until we leave? I want to jump up and down, but I won't last until the end of the week. *jump, jump* I can't stop thinking about it. So excited.

Hmmm, maybe I should follow Jing and Wayland's idea and have a quiz:

What emotion am I feeling now?

The first person to answer that, that hasn't already been mocktioned, can be the next lucky person to be mocktioned!

Pancakes!

2004-11-11T23:41:00.000+11:00

To continue the tradition that was started last semester, we went out for lunch after the physics exam. Last time it was just four of us: me, Sharon, Lucien and Tom. This time we've expanded: me, Sharon, Lucien, Tom, Sam, Matt, Graham, Ricky-nii and Sasha. Matt is Sam's friend, and Sasha is Graham's friend. I think I've mentioned everyone else before.

When I suggested pancakes, I didn't expect people to agree so readily, but I was so excited when they did! Pancakes.... *drools* Sadly though, there were a lot of jokes about things I can't eat. Tom make many references to pizza and the fact that I have to eat it without cheese. He is so mean! I want to punch him, but I never can. If only he'd stay still...

So we walked in the rain to The Pancake Parlour on Bourke St., and then half of them left to go to the ATM. When we all finally sat down, Graham and Sasha had to leave because they had a Russian exam that they had to go to. :( Sam and Sharon seemed like they were going to start fighting (in a good way), but they wouldn't let me go home and grab my video camera first.

At the end of the lunch, Tom started saying stuff about how slow I eat. I'm starting to think I'm fickle- not with love, but with my opinion of Tom. One moment, he'll say something completely bizarre, and I'll think he's a good person- weird, but good (I like weird people). But then he'll do something else, and I'll feel like throwing him out the window (if I could, that'd be amazing, too!). But it's in a good way, if that's possible. Actually, it's not only Tom. When Barbara told me that Nick threw stones at platypuses, I was shocked. He's one of the nicest people I know. Apparently, he also chases kangaroos, too. Then he sits down and starts playing chess with the other kids, acting like a kid himself while he's at it, and I'll go back to thinking he's a nice person. I would go on, but there's a possibility that the next few people actually read this blog, so maybe I won't.

Next we went to Games Workshop, where Sharon bought me an early Christmas present, two Dire Avengers. サンキュウ、シャロンさん。By then only Lucien, Tom, Sharon, niichan and I were left. All of us except Sharon play GW games. Maybe she might start, too. Well, if she's interested in being broke anytime soon. ^_^

Lucien left and we got to the part where we wander around for a while not knowing where to go, so we went home. I'm just happy that I got to eat pancakes, and Jamaican banana. I'm also bored and waiting for everyone to go to sleep so that I can watch Stargate in peace.

But other than an infection that I somehow got on my foot (I bandaged my foot up so I could walk), I have this funny feeling from the lunch today. I don't know what it is, but it's bothering me. Not a sick/vomit-feeling, but an emotion-feeling. Maybe it's the 'Awww, I'm so glad I have such wonderful friends' feeling? Or the 'Yay, I got to eat pancakes today, but now I have this annoying itch' feeling? (yes, I know pancakes have both egg and milk in them, but that's part of why I love them so much, because I really shouldn't eat them, being allergic to egg and dairy products and all) Maybe it's the 'Niichan gave me anime' feeling? I don't know, but it's unsettling and bothering me. :(

But off to feel better and watch Stargate! Daniel Jackson が好きです。

[I just tried a spell check, because I wasn't sure I had Jamaican right, and it turns out that the spell check doesn't even recognise the word 'blog'! Argh, I so should be studying.]

Goodbye, Summer Fun

2004-11-09T13:53:00.000+11:00

After the horrible circuits exam this morning, I don't really feel like making kanji cards or working through maths problem sheets. Niichan doesn't seem to think it was that hard, but he's niichan, I don't think he thinks anything is hard.

Just a quick apology to everyone for the short, or lack of, comments/posts. Between studying for circuits, and being depressed by circuits, I didn't really do much else. Come to think of it, this computer is a pile of circuits. *kick* No! I can't do it, I might lose all of my videos!

So in January, think of me while I'm locked inside a lecture theatre listening to someone talk about something that I should have paid attention to this semester. :(

Anyway, on a happier note, I'm going to play The Sims 2 now. Suffer, my litle sims, suffer! This game is great because if you want to make them suffer, they do more than just sob. For example, one of my sims is currently low on social. There's a Social Bunny that follows her around, and she can interact with it, too- though nobody else in the family can 'see' it so they can't do anything with it. So she has been slapping with giant bunny thing and getting into fights with it. Oh, but the other family members can cheer her on if she starts fighting with it.

Bend It Like Tse-Tung

2004-10-31T23:05:00.000+11:00

Bend It Like Beckham was on just then. I love that movie, and it's because of that movie that I had this thing for Indian people. I was just thinking about how my parents would react if I told them that I wanted to marry a non-Chinese person. Well, after they got over the initial shock of me wanting to get married. Considering that my cousin recently married an Aussie, and another of my cousins is going to do the same next year, I don't think it'd be that much of a problem, but let's think worst case scenario here.

They're too polite to just tell him to get lost. They'd have to think of some other way to make him think twice. So first on their list would have to be exposing him to the craziness that is my extended family. First he would be inundated with names. "Hey, this is my Uncle Tony. This is _______." They'd shake hands, and then we'd move on to the next person. After my 9 aunts and 8 uncles, we'd move on to my cousins. Last count, there were 21, but that was 7 years ago. I think we've expanded far beyond that now. We have my older cousins that are now married, or have boy/girlfriends -who seem to change every month (not the married ones!). The teenage cousins that have discovered that it's not as boring if they bring along a friend (someone who has been well briefed in how to avoid being cross-interogated by my family). Last, there are the children of my married cousins, whose numbers seem to be growing at an exponential rate. Are you confused yet? Even I don't know the names of most of the people that I'd have to introduce to him.

If he somehow survives that and doesn't run away, then he'd have to survive the family Mah Jongg games. There's smoking, shouting, and at New Year's, drinking. On a bad day, there's accusations of cheating, and they can get really heated.

Last, I think my parents will try to scare him away by pretending to be Triad members. My mum is famous for stuffing people so that they can't move. He might think that they drugged him and are going to take him to a meat freezer and kill him Romeo Must Die style. I found out the one of my cousins got a dragon tattooed on to the back of his head- it's cool, but it has really creepy eyes! He'd help keep up the pretense.

http://annatheannoying.tripod.com/dantat.htm
(Daniel: If you're reading this a year from now, remember that you let me put this up!)

So considering that I've yet to fall for a Chinese guy, I think there are going to be a few problems in the future...

[By the way, Chuang Tse-Tung is a Chinese table tennis player, I just Googled a name.]

Bonsai!

2004-10-30T01:31:00.000+10:00

My project for Japanese 1B was on bonsai. One of the requirements was to make either a Powerpoint presentation, or as website. So look at the awesomeness that is my bonsai website! (It's not that awesome, plus, it's in Japanese, so if you don't have the text file installed, then you'll just see squares or weird symbols or both. You'll still be able to see the crappy pics that we ripped off other sites- which I'm really sorry for, by the way. I credited the pic I stole! I didn't ask for permission though, but I blame pre-deadline stress.)

http://bonsaiproject.tripod.com/index.htm

I said that I'd get those AT-AT pics up a while ago. I don't know why, but I've been playing around with Dreamweaver a lot. Actually, I do know why, because I don't want to think about the circuits exam. Anyway, the pics are on my site, as well as something my little sister wanted me to write. Sorry, but the pics are kinda big!

http://annatheannoying.tripod.com/index.htm

I found a new rival today. I met him at work. He told me that he wants to take over the world as well. He's even having meetings with chips, chocolate and drinks! I'm so behind.... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

10 Things I Hate About Being A Check-Out Chick

2004-10-25T21:34:00.000+10:00

Since my username is 'annatheannoying', I thought I'd put something up about annoying people; in particular, check-out people.

10 WAYS TO ANNOY A 'SERVICE CASHIER':

1. If you're paying with notes, fold them or crumple them up so that they're as little as possible. If the notes aren't nice and flat, then they tend to spring up whenever you lift that thing that holds them down.

2. Pay with as much change as possible. And make sure not to count it out in front of the person, because they can count it while you're doing it. So if you just hand them out a lot of change, they have to count it out for themselves.

3. If paying by EFTPOS and asked if you want cash out, change your mind constantly (I don't know if you can do this at other supermarkets, but you can at Safeway).

4. When getting change, ask for it in 5c coins, or whatever you think you can carry, depending on how much you're getting back. This works really well with number 2, and you can get some extra annoyance in if you go back to the same person and pay them with all the change that you just got! [Plus, in order to give you your change, they might have to order more change, so they'll have to call their supervisor to get that change.]

5. If you're buying lots of stuff, tell them that you don't need a bag, and then watch them as they run out of space to place things. Laugh a little to yourself, and then tell them that you changed you mind (or that you realised that you forgot your bags), and that you do actually want everything bagged.

6. Try and get it so that you get $88.85 change (if you're feeling rich and like carrying around $100 notes), or $38.85- basically an amount that makes them have to use as many different coins and notes possible.

7. Go through at the express lane and hold a basket (with about 10 items) saying something like, "Oh, I'm sorry, but I think I'm over the limit. Is it still OK if I come through?". If it works, they'll look at your basket and say, "Yeah, you're probably just over," [insert attempt at polite smile] "Come on through." You hand over your basket and while they're halfway through say, "Oh, and I forgot about these 5 other baskets that I had, silly me! Sorry about that." If you're at Safeway, and you've spent over $15, then the cashier will have to call their supervisor to void that sale (I don't know the value for anywhere else), so I think they'd rather just finish it off.

8. This one is a little gross, but if you're after a lot of meat, make sure that it's still dripping blood. If it drips enough, then they'll have to get a mop and bucket to clean it (Yep, I've had to do this.) because it's a safety hazard if the floor is wet- can't have too many of those lying around. Also, if they don't clean up the blood, it dries, and it's hell cleaning blood off those conveyor belt things.

9. Buy a few items, and then exclaim that you've forgotten something. Ask if you can quickly run and get it. If they're nice, which most of them are (and I know that this will make you feel a little guilty), but run off and... DON'T COME BACK! Yep, just leave through another register, or out of any other exit that you can find. After a while, they'll save the transaction and continue serving other people (waiting customers are grumpy people, and grumpy people are very persuasive). If you're feeling particularly mean, choose that time to come back, and seem angry that they didn't wait.

10. When you are being served, ask the cashier how they are. When they ask you in return, tell them your life story. This one takes a little guts, but make sure that there are people behind you, and don't make any signs of moving away. Even if you've paid for your stuff already, keep talking. If you manage it well enough, they won't be able to get a word in. [This is one of the reasons why I hate the question 'How are you?'] Eventually, someone behind you will get angry. You have to judge this right- some people start sighing, but they're not likely to say anything. Others will start reading a magazine, so they're fine. It's usually someone that's alone and/or carrying a lot of stuff that is likely to get angry. Also, try to make it seem natural, but turn around and pretend not to notice everyone (you could demonstrate a dance move or something), but check to see if anyone is looking at their watch. If they pull out a gun, that's definitely a sign that you should make haste!

I have to say though, nobody mentioned any of this stuff to me when I did cashier training. They told us about people who ae picky about which things go in which bags, and people who demand plastic bags for a piece of gum, but never any of the people who do those above listed things. If they had, I think that I would have thought twice about taking this job. I swear, it's an exercise in emotional restraint.

Anyway, I just wanted to complain about work. Please, please, don't do anything that I just listed there. You never know, you might be the cause of supermarket cashiers committing suicide.

Where Is the Love?

2004-10-22T22:44:00.000+10:00

I think Jing's love of music is contagious. A few weeks ago I would not have known this song or even heard of Black Eyed Peas, but for some reason, I'm actually paying attention to the music I hear around me. (Except for the Safeway theme song, I hate that with a vengence. NEVER get put on hold if you're calling Safeway, the song sucks!)

Anyway, aside from everyone's favourite "platonic" couple, it seems as though everyone is breaking up these days. I spoke to a friend of mine and found out that she broke up with her boyfriend (she said it happened in June- I'm always the last to know!), Jean had her heart broken, and now I've rejoined the single world...

I'm kinda in the mood for a Bridget Jones night. Bad karaoke, smoking (I don't smoke, but Bridget does), drinking and .....blue soup! Either that or a horror movie night. I went to see Alien Versus Predator with Graham today and I didn't think of anything other than the movie the whole time! And Graham always makes me laugh, so no feeling sad at all. The problem is, I can count on the number of fingers of a person with no hands the number of people that I know like horror movies! (Was that sentence confusing enough???)

Oh, and I forgot to mention this before, but I got a Lego® AT-AT(All Terrain Armoured Transport), one of those huge things that you see in the battle of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. It took me about 5 hours to put it together. I was going to take a pic of it, but I'm feeling a bit lazy at the moment, so maybe another time.

Anyone up for horror? Hmmm, maybe comedy is better. Sci-fi? Anything, anyone? (Anything but soppy romances!)

Zombies at Chadstone

2004-10-20T23:30:00.000+10:00

Last week I registered to go to a screening of Resident Evil: Apocalypse held by playstation.com at Hoyts Chadstone. So when I got the email saying that I was invited, I was excited, probably heightened by the fact that I had no clue where Chadstone was- and so I didn't know how far away it is!!! But after a few phone calls, I worked out how to get there, I even made sure that I had an extra hour, since I get lost so easily!

But hooray, I didn't get lost at all! I managed to make all the right turns, but that meant that I showed up one hour early. You'd think that being at Chadstone Shopping Centre- the so-called fashion capital- would be a girl's dream, but it wasn't. Half because clothing stores bore me (I don't know why, I have seriously tried to be interested, but I'm always reminded of my Gameboy that's in my pocket everytime I'm in one!), and half because almost everything was closed. So I walked around Borders for a while looking at books. Lynne Truss has three other books out for sale now!

So the screening started with The Making of Killzone (a new PS2 game), and some footage from the game. It looks so cool! But I'm not that into FPS, so I don't know if I'll get it or not. Resident Evil: Apocalypse was suprisingly OK, considering that it's a game movie. (Though when it comes to movies, I'm easy to impress.)

But I'd have to say the worst part was getting home. To get to Chadstone I caught a train and then walked. Since I expected the movie to finish late, around 9-ish, I thought that it'd be safer to catch the bus back to the station, but the last bus left at 6-ish! So I had to walk. And after seeing zombies roaming around, my imagination went crazy! A cat crossed my path and I nearly had a heart attack! And then this car came out of nowhere and I very nearly started screaming like a little girl- but I didn't want to have people come out of their houses wondering what was going on! [It was a neighbourhood watch neighbourhood!]

But since you're reading this now it means that I lived to blog another day (takes all the suspense out of it, doesn't it?). My advice is:

Zombies + walking alone in the dark + being in an unfamiliar place = horror! Never, EVER do it!!!!!

Conspiracy Theory

2004-10-08T01:11:00.000+10:00

Does anyone, other than me, think it's weird that Rove makes fun of John Howard for two weeks, while trying to get him onto his show, and then his studio is burnt to the ground? Maybe Johnny finally decided to pay his studio a visit? The fire is said to have started on the roof. The prime minister flying over the city wouldn't be noticed, right? The helicopter could have just tilted to the side a bit, and oops.... what was that that fell down? Oh, nevermind, couldn't have been very important.

Well, if my house has suddenly burnt down, you all know who's responsible!

Mocktion™ No. 4!

2004-10-03T01:58:00.000+10:00

(isn't she pretty?)
Name: Jing Wang
D.O.B.: 21/03/86
Eye colour: Brown
Hair colour: Black

Height: 155cm I think...but could be 156cm for all we know
Likes: MUSIC!!!! e.g. Jeff Buckley, Led Zeppelin, the Killers, Augie March, Pearl Jam, Maroon 5, the Smiths, Franz Ferdinand, QOTSA, Nick Drake, etc etc.
Dislikes: techno and dance music. People who fake being nice. Drizzling rain (either don't rain or just bucket down please!)
Position in the army of Anna the Supreme Ruler of the Universe: lazy...something...see I'm too lazy to come up with a position even. Ok ok more seriously...the...lazy but enthusiastic soldier who's more interested in...out of the job activities...such as music...and more music...and more music...er but don't get me wrong. I'd contribute to the cause. Just in a way that's not so obviously contributing. Am I making any sense? ok I'll move on.

A: There are three birds in a room. One is eating grain, one is dancing the 'Can-Can', and one is flying. Which is the real bird and why?
J: The one dancing the 'Can-Can' of course! It's the only REAL bird cos it appreciates good music as all good birdies ought to.

A:What is the best birthday present that you've ever received?
J: I recieved the best present ever tonight called "a sonnet to jing". VERY belated, but... great present. [EDIT: 14/10/04 1:17AM]

A: What are you most afraid of?
J: DEATH!!! No no seriously um...dying alone? Or losing a loved one suddenly.

A: If you had a pet, what would you want it to be? And what would you call it?
J: It would be a talking frog named Herbet...don't ask.

A: Is farming fun?
J: Hmmm...what sort of farming? Would it involve killing? If so...NO. If not...still no.

A: Which do you prefer: A guy who does the whole pulling-out-the-chair-and-paying-for-stuff thing, or a guy who is more into equality?
J:First one. Cos: 1. I'm seriously broke and 2. It's...nice. But I mean if I wasn't so pathetically broke or if the guy wasn't so well off himself I'm all for equality.

A:Would you serenade someone in public, or like to be serenaded?
J: Um...I'd definitely LIKE to be serenaded :). As for serendading someone else in public, it's a possibility if I could see the necessity there.

A: What is your favourite movie?
J:At the moment I'd have to say...Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Almost Famous.

A: What do you think about pancakes?
J: I'm quite impartial when it comes to pancakes. I mean they're good...but not...THAT good.

A: What type of plastic surgery would you get if you woke up and found
you looked like John Howard?
J: THE WHOLE DEAL!!!! JESUS!!! NOOOOOO!!!!

Silly me. If you want to know more about Jing, why not check out her blog: http://theadventuresofjingles.blogspot.com/ ?

Completely unrelated: it's niichan's birthday today! Happy 18th birthday, Ricky-nii!
(I know that niichan is older brother, and that I'm older than him, but he didn't want to be my otouto.)

Osaka!

2004-10-02T22:52:00.000+10:00

This is Osaka-san from Azumanga Diaoh. I think that she has some of the best lines in the anime. She's kinda ditzy, but she is actually quite smart; mostly when it comes to word puzzles. Her name isn't actually Osaka, it's Ayumu Kasuga. She's from Osaka, so one of her classmates decided to call her Osaka and everyone agreed. It even said Osaka instead of her real name when the class list was posted!

Osaka quotes (these aren't direct, just what the subtitles said.):

*looking really scared* "Last night when I was alone in my room, from out of nowhere... I smelled a fart that wasn't mine."

"Team Sea Slug!" -announcing the name of her basketball team.

"Tomo-chan, Tomo-chan! Heee..."- she managed to break one of those chopsticks you get that are stuck together evenly and she's really proud of herself.

Osaka: "Aaaaah...? You're already awake... I messed up..."
Yukari-sensei: "..." (!) "Osaka, what are you doing with that knife?!"
Osaka: "Aaaah...? A knife? I thought it was a frying pan..."
Yukari-sensei *opens her mouth in shock*
Osaka: *wanders off to the kitchen, punctuated by Chiyo's screams*

I'm just playing around with adding pictures. I realised that I don't have any pictures other than this weird one of Duong which I drew all over anyway.

Anna = 200 metres ???

2004-10-01T19:05:00.000+10:00

WARNING! Sorry to all the guys that are reading this post, but I'm going to make some really sexist comments! I don't mean it in a bad way, but I'm just trying to defend myself. SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY!!!

Graham, Tom and I played 40k again yesterday; but I'm not going to go into what happened in the game. Though during the game, Tom made a comment that one of Graham's models had its hand in a 'feminine' pose. I said that I have never made a gesture like that and that's when Graham decided to educate me about something that a lot of people have pointed out to me, but I don't think is true.

Graham said I was 200m, and Tom was 500m. In his [Graham's] opinion, I should stop spending so much time with the 500m people and try to hang around with more 200m people. I didn't quite understand why I was 200m and Tom was 500m. I'm not 200m tall, I don't compete in 200m races (Tom does athletics, but Stefan told me that they do 10/20km), I don't live 200m from anything that Graham would know- so what's with calling me 200m???

What I think he was getting at (and I'm sure that you've all figured it out by now) was that I spend way too much more time with guys than I do with girls- which is definitely not true! What's worrying is that, at my 18th birthday party, Tu made a similar comment; and Ting(guy) and Lucien have gone so far as to say that I'm like a guy! I don't get it.

I don't sound like a guy, I don't look like a guy (I hope), I don't smell like a guy (as far as I know), I don't taste like a guy(but I'm not going to verify that) and I don't feel like a guy. That covers all five senses, so what else is there? Not a big fan of fast cars. I'm hopeless at sports.

I can't help that I like computer/console games, wargaming, sci-fi and playing chess. I know plenty of females that like these things too. As for the hanging around guys too much thing:

1. I'm still looking for a new gay best friend.

2. Almost all of my friends from Japanese are female.

3. I AM doing engineering!

So it might just look like I hang around guys a lot, but I don't. At least, I don't think I do... now I'm getting second thoughts. One of the problems I had with auctioning niichan over MSN was that most of the people that I had online were other guys. All of my friends from my eng subjects are all guys.

On the other hand, the person that I hang around with most is Sharon, and she's not a guy!

Pandas Rampaging in Restaurants

2004-09-28T13:40:00.000+10:00

Last night I finished reading Eats, Shoots and Leaves, by Lynne Truss. It's a book that's now a best-seller by a woman who is a stickler for puntuation. She even went so far as to go around with a marker adding the apostrophe to the posters from the movie Two Weeks Notice (it's supposed to be Two Weeks' Notice; in this case it's indicating time). [Look at my use of the semi-colon! I'm not too sure if it's right, but it's supposed to be the bridge between two sentences that are directly related. Well, if Lynne Truss is reading this- that would be so cool- I'll happily edit anything that she finds wrong with it.]

I just wanted to put here some examples, from the book, of misplaced/missing punctuation.

Dicks in tray (I'm guessing it's supposed to be Dick's in-tray)
Glady's (on the badge of a salesgirl, who is probably named Gladys)
XMA'S TREES
apple,s, orange,s and grape,s (I guess they don't know about the apostrophe)
Your 21 today! (on a birthday card)

Look at the difference puntuation makes in these sentences:

A woman, without her man, is nothing.
A woman: with her, man is nothing.

The convict said the judge is mad.
The convict, said the judge, is mad.

And if you're wondering what this has to do with pandas rampaging, read the book! It does go into the history of punctuation, which I strangely found interesting after a while, but I know it's not for everyone. The book is funny; it was even classfied as Reference/Humour. It's barcode number is 9781861976123 and it's ISBN is 1-86197-612-7. As you can see, I've run out if stuff to say about the book. Just go out and read it!

Unicon

2004-09-27T10:37:00.000+10:00

I barely ever get up before 11, so it surprised even me that I managed to post something in my brain-mush stage. But there was a reason. Unicon 2004 ws held last weekend. Unicon is a role-playing and wargamming convention organised by the role-playing/wargamming clubs at RMIT, Melbourne Uni, and I think Monash as well.

I was there that early because I volunteered to sit in the canteen and sell stuff. (Nobody had food-handling certificate, so there was no hot food. I just sold drinks and chocolate and stuff). Also in the canteen were the Kaleidoscope people. Kaleidoscope is this puzzle game where you have different pieces (that look like those pieces from Tetris) and they're coloured. Red and black on one side, and blue, yellow and black on the other. You have to arrange the pieces so that not only do they fit into a sqaure box thing, but so that the coloured squares make a certain picture. I managed to do the checkerboard pretty easily, but the baby elephant took me over an hour! There's a $10 prize for anyone that can do it in under 10 minutes and a lot of people have won it. There's also a chance to win prize of $1000 worth of flowers for anyone that can make this flower thingy.

Oops, this was supposed to be about Unicon. Though I have no clue what went on really, since I was sitting in the canteen the whole time. Oh, but David Hopkins had these board games and we played one called "Deadwood" where you're a bad actor and the point of the game is to get little bit-part roles and earn money. It was really funny.

It was surprising how many people there spoke Japanese. I was one of the few Asian people there (not counting the people from the anime club who were providing anime, but I don't know that any of them were Asian either, since I didn't see them). So many of the people there had already been to Japan... I'm so jealous!

Oh, and I sad that Scott is in hospital. He seems to be alright with it so far, no complaints about bad food, but still... being in hospital isn't that much fun. He's in there because his eczema has flared up. Poor Scott. :'(

Drunkpath

2004-09-25T08:16:00.000+10:00

No, that's not 'Drunk Path', it's supposed to be like empath, but for drunken people. Which is what I think I am. A drunken empath. That is, I act drunk around drunken people, even though I'm not. Drunk that is. (Man, the word 'drunk' is there a lot!)

[Note the time stamp on this- it's too early in the morning to form cohesive sentences!]

I'm not too sure when the thought occurred to me, but I've been thinking about it for a while now. I don't drink, even when invited to drinking parties (so sorry, Tash, and Chris!) so I don't know what I'd be like if I really were drunk, but I've just noticed that I generally talk more and say things I normally wouldn't, while around people that are drinking. And since most of the people that read my blog are doing med/dent, I figured maybe they'd know why.

Although it's possible that I'm a hypochondriac (though drunkpath-itis isn't actually a disease....yet!) because in year 10 I diagnosed myself with every possible mental disorder that I could find. And then decided that wasn't enough, so I started looking for exotic diseases that I could have. It was a pity that I didn't show symptoms of any of the deadly ones, or I could have been a walking anthrax-bomb-ish thing! Going back to 18th century terrorism techiniques.

Reunion

2004-09-14T22:28:00.000+10:00

Jean pretty much summed up the reunion in her blog, and I'm too lazy to type up the same stuff, so just head over to there to read it: http://thoughtsfromacookiejar.blogspot.com/2004/09/telemarketers-beware.html (Telemarketers... no clue...)

Isn't she a brilliant writer?

I haven't posted in a while, since I've been spending time playing around with me new camera! Well, not so new since I've had it since Manifest, which was 14-15 of August.

I've got about 6 hours of footage, but 1 hour of it is just my relatives playing Mah Jongg, so none of it is very interesting. Though I managed to get Sharon singing. The camera was sitting right in front of her, and the red light started flashing when the tape was running out. I still can't believe she didn't see it!

There's also some footage from the reunion, but it's kinda disjointed, and I'm not too sure what to do with it. Though I did tell Jean that I would show it to William first, so I'll have to do something with it soon because Steve is asking for it.

I should be studying for the Japanese listening test tomorrow, but I'm so unmotivated at the moment, all I want to do is watch Azumanga Daioh. (for those of you who haven't heard of it, it's an anime) Osaka is so cool. It's so sad that there aren't anymore episodes. :'( OK, I'd better look at the word list at least, otherwise I'll start watching Alias and not do anything at all!

けいぐ, みんなさん!　ひらがなをよめますか？
敬具、みんなさん！　ひらがなを読めますか？

Hey, the Japanese does come up, though you might need to have it installed on your computer before you can read it. If you don't, it says, "Keigu, minnasan! Hiragana o yomemasuka?" which means, " (Keigu is some closing phrase for letters, I don't even know what it means. Dougal sensee probably told us, but I forgot), everybody! Can you read hiragana?" I put the kanji there so that anyone who knows Chinese can get the gist of the sentence, and could one of you tell me what keigu means? It's the first two characters. As you can see, I'm going to fail Japanese!!!

日本語は難しいですが、大好きです。
Nihongo wa muzukashii desuga, daisuki desu.
Japanese is difficult, but I love it.

Another One Bites the Dust

2004-08-31T22:00:00.000+10:00

Well, it happened again. It's so tragic! :'(

I just found out that Sam has a girlfriend. Sam, the guy from IntroProg who is supposed to be my gay best friend, has a girlfriend! So this is my second gay best friend that I've lost due to him getting a girlfriend, I really have to start finding some guys that are actually gay!

This is just a little break from all of the auctioning, but it'll be over soon, because I have someone new to auction! Won't be a moment, I just have to think up some questions to ask her and then you'll have another wonderful person to bid for!

Mocktion™ Number Three

2004-08-22T08:43:00.000+10:00

Name: Chris
D.O.B.: 20 December '84
Eye colour: Green
Hair colour: Brown

Height: 176cm
Likes: snowboarding, payback
Dislikes: drugs and slow cars
Position in the army of Anna the Supreme Ruler of the Universe: nemisis

A: What is the funniest thing that you've ever seen in a toilet?
C: my own reflection after too much jose guervo

A: Why is it that you want to take over the world? You're destroying
the dreams of an innocent, little 18 year old!
C: hey dont worry you can be my butler or something

A: Can I have the blueprints to your secret underground lair?
C: its only a cardboard box that has some breathing holes. but sure.

A: There is a cow in your bedroom, please explain... (*does a
horrible Pauline Hanson impersonation*)
C: thats just a big penguin.

A: I should be asking proper date-ish questions. So, what is your
idea of a perfect date?
C: gotta be romantic...summertime, nice restaurant, candles, roses,outaside under the stars...you know the usual stuff

A: Would you insist on paying for everything, splitting it 50-50 or
making him/her pay for everything?
C: guy paying everything, always.

A: You want to know why I had him/her? Well, you never know, a guy
ended up winning the bid for Ricky-san!
C: what are you talking about?

Same rules apply. The current highest bid is $100. Bid away!!!

Auctions are Fun! Part two

2004-08-18T23:49:00.000+10:00

Part of being able to auction Tasha over MSN was the agreement that she could auction me too, and there has been a request to put up a page for other people to post their bids for me, and now Chris too (I'll get to his page in a moment, when finishes my interview). I had no idea that I would end up interviewing myself... what am I going to ask me???

Name: Anna Chang, that's Anna the Supreme Ruler of the Universe to all of you!
D.O.B.: 31/03/1986
Eye colour: Brown
Hair colour: Black, dark brown, whatever.

Height: 160cm
Likes: Funny people, nerds, funny nerds, pancakes (yum!), sci fi, Daniel Jackson (when will he be coming back???)
Dislikes: Falling asleep in the uncomfortable Harold Woodruff theatre.
Position in the army of Anna the Supreme Ruler of the Universe: Supreme Ruler of the Universe

A: There is a monkey sitting on the floor.
A: And the question is...?

A: That wasn't a question, I was just commenting.
A: Oh, well, it's not real anyway.

A: Glad I got that sorted out... OK, now for the interview. If there were 5 people stuck in an elevator, and you were one of them, who else would you want with you?
A: Keanu Reeves. Who cares who else is in there, because he can save us all!

A: Close your eyes, what do you see?
A: I saw an old monkey pissing on me... I know that I CANA"T SEE THE KEYBOARD<>

A: Er..., OK, I'm going to let me open my eyes now. I don't think I got a propler answer to my quiestions, but I don't also don't want to try that again. OK... opening eyes now. Wow, that was bad. I really can't type. Moving on.... What is your favourite subject at the moment?
A: Well, Japanese is my best subject, since I'm horrible at the other two. But I kinda like circuits, because my lecturer has one of those voices that puts you to sleep, so I can catch up on some sleep during circuits lectures. Plus, my tutes always seem to finish 40 minutes early.

A: What are your plans for the future?
A: Once I take over the world, which isn't far away, start building those statues!!! I'm going to fix all those matches that didn't quite work out, starting with Ting and Ting!

A: Who do you think Ting Chen should take to Commerce Ball?
A: Ting Liu, but I think Comm Ball 2004 is over, so maybe next year?

A: Who would you like to win this auction?
A: Well, I used to be a fan of Bill Gates, and if this were real, then he'd win if he wanted. But I'd love to have Isaac Asimov win this. Not only would it be cool to go out with him, because he is a funny nerd, but it'd also mean that he somehow came back from the dead.

A: It's getting late, and you have a composition to finish, can I finish this later?
A: Sure. Ja mata.

Considering what's happening with infinity bids, there are new rules:

1. The most recent bid that's higher than the previous highest bid is the current highest bid.

2. If your bid cannot be expressed as a constant, then it doesn't count.

3. You cannot bid your life, or someone else's, only fake money.

REMINDER :If you're going to post anonymously, could you put your name at the end?

Auctions are fun!

2004-08-01T21:33:00.000+10:00

Sorry for doing two posts in the same day, but something that I wanted to post just came up, and it has nothing to do with stalkers, so I figured that I should put it into it's own post. The auction of Ricky-san is over, I got a max bid of $10 from Scott, and a min bid. (which was after the last bid was made) of 5c from Tom.

The newest person up for auction is Tasha, but I haven't interviewed her yet, so this is it now.

Name: Tasha Lam
Age: 19
Eye colour: Brown
Hair colour: Black

Height: small
Likes: boys
Dislikes: skanks!
Position in the army of Anna the Supreme Ruler of the Universe: Loyal soldier of Chris' army

And, she has gone to sleep... so I might or might not get more later.

Stalking the Stalker

2004-08-01T21:07:00.000+10:00

Anyone that has talked to me in the past few days will probably have heard about how I am now stalking Ricky-san. He's an eng/sci dude that was in my introprog and math lectures last semester, and is the person that I'm auctioning over MSN. ($10 is the highest bid so far, come on people!!!) I'm a good stalker, I found out his last name! And the fact that he's now in my maths lectures again is just a happy coincidence. ^_^

Anyway... It seems that all that false smiling at Safeway has earned me not a promotion, but a stalker. There's this weirdo dude that waits for me outside work, and then starts following me... Ummm, he offered to buy me stuff, but I told him not to. And given that I live across the road from where I work, I was kinda freaked out, and didn't want to walk home right away. He was also there when I walked to the pool with Anjelica, and started talking to us, even though he didn't really know us.

I'm glad though that he's going away for a while, so I don't have to worry about him for now. And I'm starting to think that I'm a bit paranoid...

Supreme Ruler of the Universe at Your Service!

2004-07-20T23:01:00.000+10:00

Today was the big match. Graham came down from Broadford to challenge me and Tom in a game of Warhammer 40K. We started with a three player free-for-all, with me in the middle defending two towers.

Short note- Warhammer 40K is a war gaming game that is set in the future and there are a whole bunch of futuristic races with cool weapons. So basically, in the game you have an army of a particular points vaule (agreed on by all the participants), with certain models worth different points and having different abilities. Stick them all on a table with scenery and fight.

Back to the game. I was playing with Eldar, kinda like futuristic elves. Tom was playing Dark Eldar, evil elves. Graham was playing with Necrons (the worst thing about them is that once they die, there's a 50% chance that they can repair themselves and get back up again). We had a roaming band of Orcs, but they spent most of the game trying to run off the table edge...

Most of my dudes got ripped up, and my rangers, which are the best shooters in my army, had trouble hitting anything, so I didn't do too well, but it's all training for that one day when I take on the world leaders!

Anyway, I'm just writing about this because I'm waiting until midnight so I can change my timetable. Yeah, I'm crazy, but you already knew that.

Farmer Anna on the Rampage!!!

2004-07-13T18:32:00.000+10:00

Last week I finally managed to track down a copy of the game Harvest Moon, though I didn't have a Gamecube at that time so I had to pick up one of those as well. There goes my video camera...

Anyway, it's Autumn/Fall on Cow Farm (yep, original name, aren't I creative?). I have four female chickens, one male chicken, a horse, a female cow, a male cow and a sheep. Plus a pet dog, and an apple tree. Given that I sold all of my crops, Isaac (the main character), is dying of starvation and all of the girls that I've tried to get marry him are saying, "No". *sigh* I'm still hopeless at matchmaking in a game...

The male chicken seems to have no problem getting laid (hahaha, yeah, it's a bad joke), but the female cow isn't doing anything interesting, and I'm not paying another 4000G for another one!

I've also managed to kill an apple tree, destroy plants before they were meant to be picked, and pissed off a vagrant. Oh well, it seems like I won't be allowed near any farms anytime soon.

Supermarket Requirements

2004-07-04T21:42:00.000+10:00

Have you ever noticed how the females that speak over the PA in supermarkets always have nasal voices? Some of the people that I work with have the nicest voices, yet once they start speaking over the PA, it sounds so nasal. I don't get it. It's like some unwritten supermarket rule: Thou shall not use thy normal voice over the PA. It makes no sense, but I've been told that I do the same thing. My cousin didn't even recognise my voice, or so my sister says.

Oh, and another stupid requirement. Why are we supposed to wear dangly things like scarves and ties? They get in the way! I don't know what they're supposed to do, probably make us look like we're all part of the same team, but at Safeway we have a choice between green and red ties/scarves, and there's also a black tie available. So how does that make us look like we're part of the same team?!

Introducing...

2004-06-24T17:26:00.000+10:00

Seems there are lots of guys out there looking for someone.

Name: Wayland Wang
D.O.B.: 09/02/1986
Eye colour: Brown
Hair colour: Brown

Height: 187cm
Likes: "Um...hm...most things. Simpsons, MSN...pretty much anything really"
Dislikes: "Um...dunno...lotsa stuff as well...hm...nothing comes to mind...oh...my old printer..."
Position in the army of Anna the Supreme Ruler of the Universe: "A loyal servant who is actually a secret agent bringing the establishment down from the inside. make that a loyal general, commander of the robots"

A: If you had a fire truck, what would you call it?
W: Squirter

A: What do you think of pancakes?
W: deliciously flat

A: As a general, what tips can you give future officers of my army?
W: Join the dark side my friends! Usurp the tyrannical Anna!

A: Can you operate a machine gun while flying a helicopter?
W: I can parachute out of a helicopter...desert the cause and stuff you know...but I am a quick learner...so maybe

A: If Jean were in a flaming building, how would you save her?
W: Heroically burst in the door, get stuck inside and call on Superman to save us! Or I could use Squirter...but you know...this sounds better...

A: If you saw Jean sitting alone, how would you ask her to dance?
W: Why all the questions about Jean? And I don't know how to dance...so probably not...not out on the street anyway...or anywhere in public...but I would probably go over to talk to her.

A: Jean is the only person we have in common, I'm too lazy to make up hypothetical people.
W: LOL, fine.

A: Anyway... If you were a mage, what element would you specialise in (eg, fire or lightning)? Why?
W: Lightning, cos lightning's the best!

A: But you might accidentally fry your girlfriend! Anyway... Who is cuter, elton john or george bush?
W: george bush, cos he's so funnily stoopid

A: Are you gay?!
W: no i'm not

A: Well, it's an important question!
W: haha, true, but i'm perfectly straight

A: Oh, another important question! what kind of girl do you like?
W: any i'm not fussed at this stage

A: What happened to the bikini models?
W: oh yeah, them too, whoever and what's with the bikini models anyway?

A: It's the stereotype for doctors.
W: LOL really? well, if you get me hooked up with a bikini model i'd be very happy

A: OK, in movies, and CSI Miami, where everyone seems to walk around in bikinis. Females I mean! I'm an engineer, I don't know any!
W: well that's different, lol, I wasn't thinking that, but now that you mention it...

A: Oh, are YOU a closet bikini man?
W: ...no... ...maybe sometimes .look, it was only once ok!! Quit bugging me about it. And it wasn't a bikini, I had a skirt and something else dunno how to say it, um kinda a vest but girly nonetheless. lol it was for med camp, everyone did it!
And that's all folks. Interested?
Check out his blog, too[but he has retired for the moment :'( ]: http://waylandwang.blogspot.com/

Short retirement

2004-06-24T00:47:00.000+10:00

Yay! I have a new project. I know that I retired from matchmaking, but Ricky-san (:P) is just too irresistable. He's looking for "cute geeky girls". Here's the interview:

Name: Richard Francis Cook
D.O.B.: 03/10/1986
Eye colour: Blue
Hair colour: Brown

Height: "about 6foot"
Likes: "being pretentious", and geeks
Dislikes: "non pretentious things"
Position in the army of Anna the Supreme Ruler of the Universe: "unnoticed bystander" (promotion pending)

A: If you had a pie and you could do anything with it, what would it be?
R: eat its delicious insides

A: What do you think of pancakes?
R: a poor subtitute for pie (elimination order pending)

A: What is your greatest talent and how will it serve me in my quest to take over the world?
R: poor spelling. Well, no thats not really going to help at all. Thats probably why i'm an unnoticed bystander

A: Can you operate a F/A-22 Raptor?
R: i would be lying if i didn't say yes

A: There should be more questions that I should be asking you, but I can't think of anything else that they'd want to know. So, any miscellaneous stuff?
R: they'd want to know :P who's gonna read this anyway :P i'm pretty much on a computer all the time when i'm awake.. thats probably necessary!

A: Tell me more!
R: no :P

A: Please. I'll be your best friend!
R: iiiii reffuuuse!

A: You cannot resist. It's natural for someone to talk about themselves.
R: I'm unnatural^_^

A: Ah! You just told me something. What do you do in your spare time?
R: you know watch anime. .and i play video games too! so i must you know steal candy from little children aswell.. because i am a bad man because video games warp zee mind

A: Considering that, i don't know why you don't already have a girlfriend (that was NOT sarcastic)
R: o-ok.. thanks for clearing that up!

A: Respond, say something!
R: purple monkey dishwasher

A: I guess that concludes this little interview. Thank you ricky-san :P
R: oh noes i've been quoted

To quote Warren: Over to you, ladies.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a pig?!

2004-06-20T21:10:00.000+10:00

I don't know if pigs are flying out there, but something that I never thought could happen happened. Victor the Great, a.k.a. The Evil One, was actually nice to me! He still kicked my ass at chess, but he helped me catch Christian who had run off with my 'Director of Play' badge. He even gave me his phone number! Victor isn't THAT evil, but it's so cool that he's finally being nice.

Victor, Aylwin and I went to have lunch together before the chess tournament. Aylwin started telling gross stories like what happens to pooh when you eat too many chillies. Suddenly I wasn't so hungry...

As a DOP, I had cool DOP-ish powers, like telling people to shut up, and instilling fear in the hearts of the competitors. I did tell a lot of people to shut up, and was told to shut up in return. So much for instilling fear...

Nick told me that Fiona (that person that I mentioned earlier) doesn't want to be a chess teacher anymore. That's so sad because she's really nice.

Crazy Music Teachers

2004-06-16T18:33:00.000+10:00

I was going through all the sheet music that I'd collected over the years, and I found this one song that I was supposed to play for a concert. I was told to do the cello part, but Hayden (my piano teacher at the time, and who I miss surprisingly much), wanted me to learn the cello, viola and two violin parts and play them all at once. And you think I'm crazy!

But I'm going to try it anyway.

End of my short-lived career

2004-06-15T11:48:00.000+10:00

After failure #7, I've decided to resign as a match-maker. Obviously, I'm really bad at it, and should quit before someone tries to kill me! But I did manage to get Tom to talk to Elise. The power of not-so-modern technology- the 3-way call! (For those who are wondering, Elise is well- a bit hungover when I called her, but well.)

Elise was a bit surprised to hear from Tom. I let them talk for a bit, so I have no idea what they were talking about. But I'm afraid that I was right, she did break up with her boyfriend. Only she has a new one now... poor Tom. I tried to convince them to go out for coffee anyway, but Elise wasn't feeling too awake and wanted to sleep. Plus, her mum was stuck on top of a cupboard and she had to go.

So there ends my career as a matchmaker.

I wrote down this number a while ago, does anyone know who it belongs too? 0431258250. It's almost my cousin Scott's number. But it isn't. Does anyone recognise it? I've tried calling it, but the phone always seems to be off.

Elise, Fiona, Tom and Tuesday

2004-06-13T02:27:00.000+10:00

Well, since Tom said that he isn't going to post a comment, and Elise doesn't even know this is here, I'm going to record my plans on how I'm going to get the two of them together. (It'll probably serve no purpose other than to help prepare my future victims.)

I played chess against this person named Fiona, and I don't know why, but I told her about what I'm trying to do with Elise and Tom. After convincing her that I had good intentions (Ha! I don't know how that happened) she suggested something, though it wasn't far from what I was already trying to do. But she did bring up and important point. Maybe there is a reason why he's not calling her. She said that he might be too proud, but I'm not too sure about that one.

Oh, but I am making progress. I've established that they both like coffee.

Tom wrote:

"coffee is ok most days, except tuesday & friday. however, i generally drink coffee in the morning, or at latest lunch. if we go for coffee, you have to have a coffee too. and i don't care who comes, i just want to drink coffee (coffee is good)."

Elise wrote something a while ago about inviting someone for coffee and sex, so I'm going to logically conclude that she likes coffee.

And Tom also wrote:

"given that that is failure #7[my seventh failure at making a match], why not make challenge #8 something that might be achievable, say, painting your eldar, or getting me to talk to elise?"

So he thinks that getting him to talk to Elise is achievable!!!

But I think that I've hit a problem. In one of the last emails she sent me, Elise mentioned that she had a boyfriend, I think his name is Scott, though I might have pulled that name out of thin air. Whoops, thinking of someone else. James, maybe? Now I'm too scared to tell Tom in case it breaks his heart (which is my fault since I brought her up in conversation). He claims that his heart is unbreakable, yet he said that I broke it just because he wanted to prove me wrong (I know that makes no sense, but it's a long story. 74 minutes, in fact. I could fit it on to a CD {nonsensical rambling- it's been a long day, midnight shift rocks!}). But if I've kinda broken his heart already, it won't hurt to tell him that Elise might have a boyfriend. Don't want to jinx Elise, but maybe they broke up.

My last problem is timing. Tom said that he's free for coffee on Wednesday. But that's after Tuesday, which is when my 2-week interest in this expires. So hopefully I can convince him to call her today, so that they can be off and having coffee by tomorrow, and I will have succeeded by Tuesday.

Am I crazy, or am I crazy? (Wow, this is long)

Matchmaking

2004-06-11T11:34:00.000+10:00

Everyone has seen or read something about matchmaking, right? Or at least heard of it. It looks so easy, but in actual fact, it's not as easy as it seems. I hadn't tried to match anyone before, so my failure rate was 0% at the start of this year. Then Ting (girl) and I realised that Sharon and Duong was hopeless (sorry, Sharon!!!). So I shot from 0% to 100%. *sobs*

Also on my list were:
2. Sharon and Lucien -FAILED
3. Ting and Ting (LOL!!!)-FAILED
4. Lucien and Graham-FAILED*
5. Graham and Tom-FAILED MISERABLY**
6. William and Jean-FAILED

And now my current challenge, Tom and Elise. (Tom, if you're reading this...call her already!)

I'm trying to convince them to go out for coffee together, but I can't seem to contact Elise. So I've decided to make an online petition. Post a comment and say if you think Tom should call Elise! Pleeeeeeeeeeease, I don't like having failed so much.

*This was before I met Sam.
**This was after I met Sam, but I though that it'd be really cool if they were together. :D (But Graham isn't gay.)

Arts

2004-06-10T14:05:00.000+10:00

Looking at the course thingy for software eng combined degrees, I realised that I get to do 3 arts subjects next year! So taking out the 2 Japanese ones, that leaves one spare. I have no idea what I want to do anymore.

I did want to do philosophy and criminology, but making those argument maps doesn't seem like too much fun. Now I'm kinda leaning towards cinema studies (did you know that there's a whole subject dedicated to Hong Kong movies?). But then again, text response wasn't my favourite part of English. Sharon suggested Chinese, but one look at the list of Kanji I have to learn and I quickly ran away from that idea. Archaeology seems good, always did like myths. But from what Graham has been doing, it looks like a lot of reading and writing. ESL!!! I want to do ESL! Communication skills, hmmm, maybe not. Creative writing? Well, my last poem was booed out of existance...

How about history and philosophy of science? Jesse (my Intro Programming tutor) said that it's good. Italian? *thinks back to year 10 Italian* Am I insane? Physics is an art? Planning and design! I heard that there's a subject that requires you to draw one box-ish looking thing every two weeks and that's it. No exam or anything! Only, I can't draw...

Vietnamese? If I do that then I'll have so many people to help.

Someone give me a suggestion!

Why I started this blog

2004-06-07T14:14:00.000+10:00

I don't know why I have a blog, since I already keep a diary, but the only way I could post a comment on Jean's blog was to sign up, so I did.

Now she's supposed to post one on mine (hint, hint).

Well, I figure a blog is easier than a diary, since I type much faster than I write, and it's way neater, ( when I write faster than one word a minute it's illegible). But then a blog is public, so I don't think this will be a substitute for a diary. (Don't want everyone to know how I'm going to take over the world...wait... I've already told them... Hmmmmm....)

Well, today was the day of the Maths A test. I'm glad that Software Eng only requires 2 math subjects, that means that if I somehow pass this exam, then that leaves only one maths subject, and then after that none! Yay!