Because, it is written.

Where got time?

2010-02-03T21:24:00.003+08:00

How does one blog when leisure time in front of a computer is barely available. How.
I NEED TO ORD SOON.
Alas, unless more than a year can be considered soon, that is a faint glimmering of an improbability.

Everything under the sun? Nay, infinity and beyond.

2010-01-16T18:09:00.012+08:00

I'd like to meet someone. But not any old someone.
This someone is different from all the other someones; this someone is special, unique, eccentric even.

I'd like to meet another person who i can talk to about anything of our choosing, whether it be intellectual, ridiculous, the highly improbable or the future. It is not possible to speak about the impossible, for impossibility is impossible. Therefore, the only thing of topic "impossible" to talk about is impossibility.
That wouldn't make very colourful conversation.

Anyway...

No nO NO now that i think more deeply about it, some things are meant to remain within the confines of my mind, for if conveyed in conversation will surely discredit me with insanity as each word is spoken. Suffice it shall then, to meet someone who i could make interesting verbal exchanges with.

Infinity and beyond? No thank you, under the sun will do just fine :)

P.S. I actually paused and thought at the "..." above.

You look different

2010-01-10T15:52:00.008+08:00

Some people don't recognise me anymore.

Me: "Hey hello Algae!"
Algae: "Mm..." *Eyes squinting*
Me: "Darren lah. Why, do i look different?"
Algae: "Ya no wonder! I was thinking: Where've i seen this face before."

I smiled and muttered my way home after that.
It's not just him but quite a number of people have told me that i look different.

CASE STUDY OF THOSE PEOPLE

Person/People	Last met	Met again	Difference
Two Nieces from China	Apr 08'	Apr 09'	24 months
SJIJ Cub Scout Teacher	Nov 08'	Nov 09'	24 months
JC Classmate	Mar 09'	Jan 10'	9 months
Algae	Oct 08'	Jan 10'	14 months

Extrapolating from the data above, i'm sure the two nieces will say i look different again when i meet them in 3 months' time.

Anyhow, it was my JC classmate's comment that made me take note and begin to ponder.
How much can my face change in 9 months?
From that i recounted the more recent times i was told such, and that's why i asked Algae whether or not i looked different when he couldn't identify me, without waiting for him to first tell me,

"Hey! You look different."

Mindblast

2010-01-08T22:58:00.005+08:00

It's roaring in my ear. I literally hear it.
It's making me notice the distance between my eyes and the screen.
The vast expanse.
It feels kind of weird. But it isn't unprecedented.

The sound of silence is deafening.
And my lack of sleep is amplifying it.

All that does not glitter

2010-01-04T14:36:00.005+08:00

Old friends truly are gold.

Though they may be wearing new clothes, new shoes, perhaps even a new hairstyle, they are rather much the same as when they were the friends that were inbetween new-ness and old-ness.

Comfort - old friends allow for one's natural behavior to manifest with little restraint because being around them creates a feeling of familiarity, largely because they do not glitter the way new acquaintances do anymore. A better understanding of the person's character is a major contributing factor to this. Metaphorically, they no longer glitter but radiate a steady gleam.

Curious it is that oftentimes the relationship between two old friends seem to pick up right where they left off; the two of them would have changed in the time that they were separated but behave and interact in a manner similar to before separation when they meet again after a long time.

Anyhow, i'm glad to have met quite a few recently and i'm glad to be meeting more soon!

Drawing On Words

2010-01-01T16:51:00.010+08:00

I like words, and things which concern words.

Like sentences, which string words of varying complexities together to form the basis for a multitude of meanings.
Like poems, which spring from sentences and tickle the intellect. (Though this i currently do not appreciate as much as i would like to.)
Like stories, which envelope the mind in a world which can be as real as the one we believe to be real.
Pictures even, which are a clichéd thousand words each.

My most favoured form of words however, is speech. For it is from speech that masses are moved, audiences are entertained, and quotes can be taken to recreate the essence of that speech for future benefit.

"Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something." - Plato

It is a personal goal to perpetually develop my power of expression, which can be rather cumbersome to pursue at times, but i sincerely believe that drawing on the power of words has helped and will continue to help me in my endeavours.
How awesome (for lack of a better word) it would be to be a charismatic speaker, who can inform, persuade, entertain or invigorate with magnetic charm. Better still were the speaker able to do more than just one of the aforementioned simultaneously.
To this, i aspire.

Great indeed is the power of utterance methinks.

A Flash Return

2009-12-31T18:29:00.006+08:00

Back in my early days of primary school, i would run to the school field during recess, a far and shady corner of the school field, to watch my friends dig up the earth. At least ten would be labouring each day, all in search of earthworms. I would eat what my mother packed in my lunchbox the night before and watch them work.

To have such a memory slip my mind for so many years, up till a sudden recent recollection, is something that i thought was worth thinking about. It isn't a very big issue, but it intrigues me rather much when i consider that i never ever remembered this, even when i walked that same field in more recent years.

The corner, albeit in more recent years.

Nevertheless, i am glad i remembered it, and even happier that it happened. Happy memories for the win!

Quoting Myself

2009-12-26T10:15:00.003+08:00

"The secret to wealth is keeping it." - Darren Chua
In essence, i believe in prudence. Spending only when it is worth it, and really analysing the price-utility difference. Mind that perceived utility and actual utility may differ greatly at times.

The richest of people seldom use credit cards, and make a habit of saving. Investments count too, provided they are risk-managed.

But,
Don't listen to my reasoning, it may be flawed.
Don't believe me, i may be wrong.
Don't do as i do, i haven't succeeded yet.

Just,
Quote me.

Good Times

2009-12-20T19:18:00.001+08:00

Love the friends, love the fun, and i will grow to love the new responsibilities.
Youth Camp@Dairy Farm and Rover AGM cum x'mas party was great.

Perception vs. Reality

2009-12-16T22:59:00.003+08:00

"SUKA MAK KAU"
That's what i saw printed on a mud flap of a truck on the roads today and i started grinning to myself in my bus seat. It translates into "like your mom".

If i had seen anyone smiling on the bus without any immediately discernible reason, i would have thought that person insane.
But then again, if i had seen myself smiling on the bus without any immediately discernible reason, i would have thought that there is some reflective surface somewhere that must have caught my eye.

Like, don't like, like, don't know.

2009-12-11T17:13:00.006+08:00

Army days have been wonderful thus far, if they are compared to what others have to endure, that is.

I get a kick from driving, whether on or off the road, especially if the vehicle is a stickshift. And it is from the army that i have come to realise that i love work. Or rather, i regard having nothing to do with disdain.

Note the left (slowest) lane position. Darned 50km/h.

Oftentimes in the past i would seek periods of relaxation, lulls in my daily life where i could partake in an activity of my choosing, be it sleeping or resting or napping or some other recreational activity, like taking forty winks. But then came along this major break in which i really had nothing to do. "Sian of being sian" is an apt description. It dawned on me that i didn't particularly like being absolutely liberated, because having nothing to do is like retiring.
"Retirement means death" - MM LKY
Like continuing to exist whilst ceasing to live. Vegetative.

Curious it was that i looked to slack when engaged in activity but sought occupation when at rest. Thankfully i like my work of clocking mileage now. (kind of!)

Welcomed Inundation

2009-12-04T10:02:00.001+08:00

Things to task my mind to consider: uni course choice, choice of the uni.

The question. To be or not to be? A medical student, a doctor, a researcher, this path of one vocation, almost. The study, especially during the pre-clinical years, causes my double-take. Volumes upon volumes of texts to be remembered. One day, one chapter. Or so it seems. Seven hours of unbroken study. What insanity.

My once held perception of university days is this unprecedented abundance. Of time. Of opportunities to travel. Of chances for novel recreational activities. Of freedom! Open campuses with wide green fields, lectures which i attend and not have to study after because content is will be an easy thing for me to remember. Effortless. And i've been looking forward to all these too, ever since this idea was put in my head.
"A Levels are the toughest exams that you will undertake. After that, university is a breeze." - Parents (Mine)
Today i know that what i knew is mostly true, provided the right course is chosen. But those courses are not what i want.

Life's like that sometimes. Unless maybe by a slim chance i find reading medicine an easy thing. A breeze. That'd be nice. The thought makes me grin.

Yes, that would be very nice indeed.

2009-11-29T18:42:00.000+08:00

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