080392
Parentheses - An interruption of continuity; an interval.
"This is one of the things I wasn't prepared for — the amount of unfilled time, the long parentheses of nothing" (Margaret Atwood).
“For every period of time when you exist, short or long, there is a temporal part of you that exists only then. And for any temporal parts of any objects whatsoever, there is a larger object made up of just those parts.” - John Locke
"Every time I enunciate 'I', even in my thought, an identity is assumed, and this identity is itself not simple, but a figure of a complex gathering of personal and impersonal histories, texts, discourses, beliefs, cultural assumptions, and ideological interpellations...it is not an artifact but a process." - Richard Dyer
Friday, January 1, 2010
happy new year!!!!!! :D
spent my countdown w the tennis people (the girls pangseh-ed omggggg ;[ & shuying came late and left early), who are somewhat old friends, in that ive known them from before but never emotionally close, so it was, to me, kinda weird! but still it was tremendous fun! :D which brings me to my point..
looking back on the year, ive come to realise how special this cohort of year5s 09 is. we're all familiar w each other, in that most of us are not new friends to anyone, thanks to the 3 switching of classes, GPP trips, OBS, 2 or more CCAs, etc. it's sometimes scary to remember what a long way we've come together (not forgetting the retainees and people who left along the way) from that campus at Commonwealth in Sec1/2, then at Malan Rd in Yr 2-5, and now at BoonLay in Yr6. sometimes i wonder if coming back to the BoonLay campus after we graduated would hold much meaning at all when going back to the Malan Rd one will definitely bring back more memories. in any case, i think it's so lovely that we hv this bunch of people who share these collective memories/inside jokes, with whom we've spent SO MUCH time together it's scary to even begin to calculate, & who've been through thick and thin together. i guess we'll not know how much this bunch of people mean to us until after we leave the school. meanwhile, i'll treasure this last year we hv together, even though its still the same old painful process of going through the daily grind & suffering together during PE (as we've done so in the past FIIIIVE years), studying crazily for the As, sitting for the As together... and finally the prom will be the culmination of all these memories forged in the past 6yrs (almost the entire of our teenage lives). it seems like lots are in store in 2010 for us - the best is yet to be (:
anyway, the past year was brilliant due to the many things ive managed to do outside school/school-related things. i began serving in worship, serving in YF - through which ive learnt a whole lot on commitment and responsibility. picked up tennis formally - loving it more each time i play (WHATS WITH THE HOLES IN THE NEW TENNIS COURTS?!?!!). going for SMUN & SAL law prog - really glad i went for these, cos they really clarified my perceptions of a career in the Foreign Affairs ministry and law (which are the only two i'm interested in atm thank goodness), very insightful interaction with prominent and inspiring figures esp during the law prog, & got a good glimpse of the standard of fellow peers sitting for the same As which i realised i fell FAR below in terms of constructing formal documents, thinking ultra-critically on my feet & delivering a cogent, well-considered argument/speech impromptu. still playing the piano - finishing grade 8 nxt year like finally, thinking of doing diploma during free time after As but i wonder if its all that worthwhile. recently picked up the guitar, again - still cant play B & F major, bummer ;(
regarding my personal life, it's been a different year (yes different is all i can think of). it's the first year ive spent single since 2005.. for the record, i've only had 1 serious relationship. though single, ive had to deal with more nonsense from the male species than ever before. no im not flattered - entertained, maybe. but more importantly, and maybe in a no-link way, it made me more spiritual. i discovered the real meaning of Jesus being the Lover of my soul. now, i'm too selfish to give away any bit of my time with God to another who demands it. every second i'm alone i automatically spend it in conversation with God, and i dont want to have to give away my precious free time to another. i desire no other lover because He fulfils what i truly need in an emotional/spiritual partner. it's awesome how you can feel so much better even without hugs and kisses (and how those can actually not make you feel any better). now you know why i could only describe my love life this year as 'different'. anyway, do read Xiaxue's post on her love story! it's the fairytale story of this age. personally, my philosophy to dating follows the analogy of buying clothes: when you buy clothes, you pick out the ones that catch your eye first, and then try them on to see if they fit. similarly, when dating, you pick out those that you're attracted to and then see if their personality suits you. it may be a male, 'look-ist' (new term some of my classmates came up with, meaning disliking those who dont look that good) way of picking a partner but so be it. & now im pretty sure that the only things that matter are Sincerity and Chemistry, without which any relationship would fail. so this is what i've come to realise this year.
so for me 2009 has been a year of self-discovery & stretching the horizons. ive done so many things i never expected to do (special feature: such as donating blood!), grown so much spiritually by God's grace, and through these i've come to know more of what i want out of this ONE life i have, and the type of person i want to become & also to spend my life with.
P.S. i dont do resolutions, because nobody remembers them by February.
spent my countdown w the tennis people (the girls pangseh-ed omggggg ;[ & shuying came late and left early), who are somewhat old friends, in that ive known them from before but never emotionally close, so it was, to me, kinda weird! but still it was tremendous fun! :D which brings me to my point..
looking back on the year, ive come to realise how special this cohort of year5s 09 is. we're all familiar w each other, in that most of us are not new friends to anyone, thanks to the 3 switching of classes, GPP trips, OBS, 2 or more CCAs, etc. it's sometimes scary to remember what a long way we've come together (not forgetting the retainees and people who left along the way) from that campus at Commonwealth in Sec1/2, then at Malan Rd in Yr 2-5, and now at BoonLay in Yr6. sometimes i wonder if coming back to the BoonLay campus after we graduated would hold much meaning at all when going back to the Malan Rd one will definitely bring back more memories. in any case, i think it's so lovely that we hv this bunch of people who share these collective memories/inside jokes, with whom we've spent SO MUCH time together it's scary to even begin to calculate, & who've been through thick and thin together. i guess we'll not know how much this bunch of people mean to us until after we leave the school. meanwhile, i'll treasure this last year we hv together, even though its still the same old painful process of going through the daily grind & suffering together during PE (as we've done so in the past FIIIIVE years), studying crazily for the As, sitting for the As together... and finally the prom will be the culmination of all these memories forged in the past 6yrs (almost the entire of our teenage lives). it seems like lots are in store in 2010 for us - the best is yet to be (:
anyway, the past year was brilliant due to the many things ive managed to do outside school/school-related things. i began serving in worship, serving in YF - through which ive learnt a whole lot on commitment and responsibility. picked up tennis formally - loving it more each time i play (WHATS WITH THE HOLES IN THE NEW TENNIS COURTS?!?!!). going for SMUN & SAL law prog - really glad i went for these, cos they really clarified my perceptions of a career in the Foreign Affairs ministry and law (which are the only two i'm interested in atm thank goodness), very insightful interaction with prominent and inspiring figures esp during the law prog, & got a good glimpse of the standard of fellow peers sitting for the same As which i realised i fell FAR below in terms of constructing formal documents, thinking ultra-critically on my feet & delivering a cogent, well-considered argument/speech impromptu. still playing the piano - finishing grade 8 nxt year like finally, thinking of doing diploma during free time after As but i wonder if its all that worthwhile. recently picked up the guitar, again - still cant play B & F major, bummer ;(
regarding my personal life, it's been a different year (yes different is all i can think of). it's the first year ive spent single since 2005.. for the record, i've only had 1 serious relationship. though single, ive had to deal with more nonsense from the male species than ever before. no im not flattered - entertained, maybe. but more importantly, and maybe in a no-link way, it made me more spiritual. i discovered the real meaning of Jesus being the Lover of my soul. now, i'm too selfish to give away any bit of my time with God to another who demands it. every second i'm alone i automatically spend it in conversation with God, and i dont want to have to give away my precious free time to another. i desire no other lover because He fulfils what i truly need in an emotional/spiritual partner. it's awesome how you can feel so much better even without hugs and kisses (and how those can actually not make you feel any better). now you know why i could only describe my love life this year as 'different'. anyway, do read Xiaxue's post on her love story! it's the fairytale story of this age. personally, my philosophy to dating follows the analogy of buying clothes: when you buy clothes, you pick out the ones that catch your eye first, and then try them on to see if they fit. similarly, when dating, you pick out those that you're attracted to and then see if their personality suits you. it may be a male, 'look-ist' (new term some of my classmates came up with, meaning disliking those who dont look that good) way of picking a partner but so be it. & now im pretty sure that the only things that matter are Sincerity and Chemistry, without which any relationship would fail. so this is what i've come to realise this year.
so for me 2009 has been a year of self-discovery & stretching the horizons. ive done so many things i never expected to do (special feature: such as donating blood!), grown so much spiritually by God's grace, and through these i've come to know more of what i want out of this ONE life i have, and the type of person i want to become & also to spend my life with.
P.S. i dont do resolutions, because nobody remembers them by February.
Labels: hello to high and dry