Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Here I am, back again.
Wonderful day.
Less than 1 week before block tests.
Getting panicky.
Skipping recess and lunch.
Downing $1.10 worth of coffee per day.
Getting edgy. Feel like biting someone's head off only that I don't have the dental apparatus for it.
Probably getting stupid as well... Math questions nowadays seem unjustifiably unstraightforward. Mind skidding all over the place, can't seem to collect thoughts and order them logically. Life goes in a cycle of hyperexcitement followed by utter lethargy.
On the other hand...
Wonderful day.
Managed to keep awake and relatively alert the entire day despite staying up late last night/ this morning to watch the Oscars. Billy Crystal was a riot. I hadn't expected one of the awardees to openly thank his boyfriend. Courageous thing to do, nice to see it wasn't a victim of the now infamous 5-second delay. The Kodak Theatre is frickin'
huge.
And ROTK made a grand sweep of all 11 nominations. I divided my time between reading genetics, being alternately bored and entertained, and of course, merrily keeping score.
On the literary front, I've read 'The Silmarillion' and 'Unfinished Tales' and actually
liked them. 'Unfinished Tales' is Geek Paradise. 'Narn i Hin Hurin' is lovely - pity it wasn't finished. 'History of Middle Earth' is for obsessive fans with an excess of time and stamina - rough drafts and annotations and contradictory notes; for the record, I've only attempted one volume, the rest will have to wait until I've reread the 'canon' stories so that I don't confuse myself.
International Biology Olympiad training is, for now, (do I dare to say it?)
interesting. That said, I can almost see the final team line-up, and it's not encouraging. Oh well, it's all about the exposure and learning experience and all that, isn't it? Besides, it's given me the chance to listen to some very engaging professors. Dr. Peter Ng, Director of the Raffles Museum of Biological Research, is a superb example. During last Saturday's workshop he weaved Latin, linguistics and history into a lecture on biological nomenclature. I haven't been so impressed with a speaker since I heard DPM Lee at last year's Pre U seminar.
words were spilled on Tuesday, March 02, 2004
