...a solo cello outside a chorus...

"My salad days; when I was green in judgment, cold in blood..."
-Shakespeare (1606), 'Antony and Cleopatra'


First off. If y'all are in need of a silly smile, please click HERE.
I swear that guy is a genius. *winks*

A friendly note?
Next time you see me all grumpy and worn out, give me a brand new hoodie knit jacket and we'll see how it goes from there. *hint hint*

Things have been going on quite well these past couple of days.
The stitches on my right hand are finally patching up, thank God. Although I am still unemployed, a condition that hopefully will change by the end of next week *crossing fingers*, and I feel like my body clock is in total mess with these unproductive long nights and late-afternoon wake-ups and all, I'm nevertheless still happy as ever. Not even the strong and gusty winds -- as written by some weather forecast website thingy -- can possibly bring me down.

I'm in the mood for a lazy stay-in, with nothing to do but lounge around the house in pjs and a pair of cushy slippers. Or perhaps, spending time watching an old movie, with butter popcorns and cans of Vanilla Coke, also sounds like a good idea. Either way, I'm dying to have some quality time with myself, in peace. Something that I no longer have the luxury to freely enjoy anymore. Ah, the joys of growing up. *sighs*

Oh yeah. Was Google-ing this very particular Japanese manga series that I used to read as a guilty pleasure wayyyyyy back during my early high school years. The stories were short and sweet and probably too cheesy, but I kinda loved it. And I was like, devastated, my the series came to an end.


The title of the comic series was Salad Days. Yeah I know that's soooooo Shakespeare-ish. The picture above was the cover of the last "episode", so to speak. And yeah, just now I actually managed to find the actual quote of the play from which the title was derived, and I decided to include it at the very beginning of this post, in all its glory.

Remind me to go look for these amazing series next time I stop by at Borders. *grins*

Ballarat Trip with friends in three days YAY! *jumps around*
I've promised myself to have my hair cut, the highlights retouched, and the base color redone. I swear these dark roots are killing me. *tugs at hair desperately*
And to top it all, I'm going to Mesh at Crown Promenade for seafood buffet fiesta this Friday night.

Gosh. I'm so totally gonna go real broke if this keeps up.

Please, I need a job.
Anybody willing to give this poor man a chance at going part-time?

...the words are hushed let's not get busted...

Currently listening to: Hands Down - Dashboard Confessional
Currently reading: 'You Know You Love Me' - Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar

.rainywinter.
Swanston Street, June 19 2008

I always find it strangely amusing that people always complain about how sick and tired they are of their seemingly fucked-up lives, yet they basically do nothing to at least address their issues and find a way around them.

It is true that constant complaining is indeed included among the list of all the silly negative stuff that we do best. Sadly.
How rotten. But yeah I personally think this is relevant, even more so for a neurotic worrywart like me.

Anyway.
By judging at the scary sound of gushing winds and wacky on-and-off showers presently rampaging outside the comfortable confines of my bedroom, seems like Mother Nature is, like, having a really bad case of PMS or something. *scratches head*
Like, the winds are so noisy and strong that my window shutters are even starting to shake a bit from the force. Thank God I'm sheltered, safe and sound.

Was walking along Swanston St in the city with The Dugems this afternoon and I felt like I was going to be blown off by the ridiculously strong winds any minute. Well yeah the city does look great in Winter, with all those bare trees lining up between classic old buildings underneath the gray sky, but I swear the winds were totally driving me nuts.

It felt like I was making my way amongst some sort of a brewing snowstorm or something, except that Melbourne doesn't have snow. Well at least not yet, since if global warming is any indication, we might just start to have snow in a couple of years' time. *shudders at the eerie thought*
Okay I'm going off topic.

Still, can't dismiss the fact that I did have a great time hanging out with those two amazing people like all day long. Fanny and Alvin, I tell you, they never fail to make me laugh my ass off, everytime. Seriously. And it's very comforting to know that next semester we'll be reunited again in uni! *jumps around*
Now I have a terribly good reason to get out of bed in the morning and rush to 9am lectures next sem. LOL.

Oh yeah, in case you wanna know, I injured my right hand quite badly last Sunday.



Looks nasty, doesn't it? *sighs*
Blame the lousy camera-phone resolution for making my hand look so gray and dead and corpse-like.
Eww.

Long story short, I accidentally sliced my right palm open with the cracked side of a mug when I was washing the dishes. And the wound was so wide and deep that I needed to get it stitched up. It's recovering now, but life gets a LOT harder without my right hand around. Even typing is becoming a major pain in the ass now, yet I know I will be okay. I hope.

Thanks a lot for those who've been concerned. I'll be alright. *smiles*

Have a great week people!

...so if my words don't come together...

.myHERO.
Michael Buble Melbourne Concert, Rod Laver Arena, June 19 2008

To sum up, last night was a total dream come true for me.

After all this time. After all these years. I finally realized that six long years of dreaming, of longing, of worshiping, and of waiting, have not at all been for nothing.

I saw the man. I watched him sing. I witnessed him laugh. I sang along to his songs. I jumped, I cheered, I clapped. I even caught a glimpse of his teary eyes wandering about dreamily when the saluting final applause just wouldn't stop echoing throughout the arena.

And, most important, most authentic of all, I finally got the chance to listen to his voice, totally live, with my own two ears. I heard his voice, the crisp, sexy, tantalizing voice that has captured my ears, and my heart, six far-long-gone years ago.

I just watched Michael Buble, my idol, my role model, my true HERO.
LIVE.













From the very first moment I saw him on stage, my heart somehow just gave way, and I instantly got carried away by the beats, and the notes, the swings, and the groove. Every aspect, every part of the concert, everything felt perfectly right.

It is not an overstatement, for me, to say that Michael Buble defines perfection.
From the way he sang, the way he greeted the audience, the way he joked about silly stuff, the way he blushed furiously after a crazy fan grabbed his ass, and even the way he mimicked Amy Winehouse or sang along to One Republic's hit song... Everything was, and is, just right about him.

He made me laugh. He made me dance. He even made me cry, during his last songs. When he sang That's Life with the choir, I almost burst into tears, too awfully moved to hold back 'cuz it was so beautiful. And when he got into his encore and sang A Song For You without a microphone, I was so deeply touched that I really cried, for real. The sans-microphone performance was really, REALLY inspirational. It was as if he was trying to show that he actually loved his fans that much, so much that he needed to bare himself off of all those supporting effects and sound systems and just showed the very person that he was, in all his acoustic glory, personally singing into the hearts of his loyal fans.

During the unforgettable one-and-a-half hour show, I felt like I was dancing in paradise.

Call me sappy, call me over-dramatic, call me irresponsible *winks*. But all I've said so far are true and most sincere. He was my biggest inspiration growing up, and after six complete years of admiring everything that he is from afar, finally having this precious opportunity to watch his concert live feels like a tremendous blessing for me.

He is phenomenal. Down-to-earth, modest, and funny, but majorly phenomenal.
*bows down*

He has successfully proven himself as a true idol, an inspiration, a hero, for me.
If only I had been given the chance to actually meet him in person... *sighs*
One step at a time, I guess. Patience is a virtue.

But really. If someday that chance is given to me, and I hope that time will eventually come, I promise myself, that the first thing I'm gonna say to him will be the honest confession that he's my hero. And that I will never stop admiring how sincere, how talented, and how inspiring he is, no matter what happens.

I'm really deeply immensely thankful right now.
No words can describe just how grateful I am.
Well, the man did promise to come back to Melbourne. And I'm gonna be holding on to that promise, knowing that next time he comes around, it will be a much better experience.

So, thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Michael Buble.

Six years and counting...

...walk a mile in my shoes...

Currently listening to: What It's Like To Be Me - Britney Spears & Justin Timberlake

.winterinmelbourne.
The State Library of Victoria, Swanston St., June 13 2008

I successfully got fined by a merciless train inspector yesterday. *sobs*
Well thanks to my pair of straying legs which happened to have been resting on the exactly wrong seat at the exactly super-wrong time. Add this to my currently far-from-prosperous financial record, and now d'you reckon it's about time for me to file for immediate bankruptcy?

Like, zOMG. From now on I swear I'm gonna be a good boy and sit up straight at all times whenever I take the train. Hear my words, people. *sobs again*

Apart from that, yesterday was GREAT, with caps.
I just love Melbourne in winter. Seems like the true welcoming spirits of this sweet city are felt reverberating from every corner only when the winds are cold and the trees are bald. And don't forget the rain! Oh my, rainy Melbourne in Winter sounds just right, agreed? *laughs*

The happier part? After enduring a day's worth of surprisingly productive study session in Starbucks City Square with Neja, we decided to give ourselves a little treat and watch Sex and the City: The Movie!
It was simply fab, to say the least. Not to mention shiny, as well as dreamily sexy. *gasps*
Alright I'm gonna stop there before I say too much.

Funny thing was, we kept bumping into this certain stranger, like, everywhere. From Starbucks in the afternoon to Chillipadi in the evening. He sure was friendly, and when we saw him there at Chillipadi during dinner we were like OMG it's you again! *snickers*

Err. Come to think of it, there was this other stranger who was desperately trying to talk to me when I was still on my way to the city. He was sitting right opposite me on the train, and from the looks of it, perhaps he was on his way to some formal day-function or something, judging from the semi-formal suit he was wearing. Probably he noticed the sour look-who-just-got-fined expression on my face and was trying to cheer me up, but I was too bitter to even care.
Now that I've mentioned it, I feel bad for ignoring him, sorta. *sighs* I guess good souls just always come around whenever you need them the most.

Anyways.
Was looking at the event countdown on the sidebar of my Facebook page, and I realized that I'm watching Michael Buble's concert in SIX DAYS! Wo-hooooooo!!
*jumps around*
Okay this is so random but whatever.

Saturdays make me feel extremely lazy.
It's almost 3 pm right about now but I haven't even taken a shower yet.
Whatever happened to my plan to go grocery-shopping at Clayton Rd? *sighs*

Have a splendid weekend, guys!

...a song that's written simply for you...

Currently listening to: Gun Lae Gun (You & Me) - OST. The Love of Siam


The MKC2500 exam went quite well yesterday, thankfully.
*breathes out a sigh of relief*

Now I will take some time off to catch up with sleep, before the work starts again for the killer MKX2521-MGC1020 combo is looming somewhere in the horizon, waiting for me. June 23rd is the date, and nothing's gonna stop me from trying to perform reasonably well in those two remaining battles. *grins*

I'm currently feeling, to be honest, lovesick.
Actually scratch that. Maybe mellow is a better word.

After all, I consider myself as a hopeless romantic. And hopeless romantics are at their best when they are inspired, and dreamy, and smitten, and mellow. So please pardon my sappiness for the time being.

Blame a very good romantic movie *points at poster below*, and a certain dreamy person whom I rate 30 out of 1o *winks furiously*, for this awfully lingering state of being.



For the record, The Love of Siam is very sweet, not to mention memorably inspiring. Yeah, perhaps it is full of multi-layered dramas and soap-opera-like intrigues, yet I personally feel that the portrayal of innocence and desired honesty showcased in the movie has warmly touched my heart.

While watching the movie, I was reminded again about the universality of love. Often we misperceive that love is all about a guy and a girl all matched up and lovestruck, holding hands, kissing, hugging, even ferociously getting all over each other, and that's it. While in reality, love is NEVER that shallow. Love can be interpreted in many sweet, sometimes simple ways.

The movie successfully pictures various kinds of love that reality represents, many of which are often dismissed, hated, discriminated against, or taken for granted. Love transcends all boundaries, be it gender, age gaps, peer groups, generations, and so on.

Be it the love present between friends, the undying love that a father has for his missing daughter, the unspoken love a wife has for her constantly-drunk husband, the care and love a grandmother has for her grandson, the sincere, innocent love between two sweet teenage boys, the unrequited love a cheery girl has for her eccentric, out-of-reach neighbor, or the platonic love that a shy band-mate has for his saddened and brokenhearted vocalist, the whole movie strives to show and prove that in its essence, love isn't something that is always physical; it is meaningful, it is sweet, and it is universal.

I think it has played its part well in this case. *grins*
I'm particularly amazed by the quality of astounding performances showcased by the cast, though. The chemistry between them seems so real, so authentic. Especially between the two main actors who played Tong and Mew. And oh yeah, the character of the mother is very, VERY emotionally engaging.

Alright I shouldn't be rambling too much about it. Can spoil the fun.
So yeah guys, I recommend you to watch it, if you want. But if you do watch it, please remember to always keep an open mind.

A little sneak peek? The blog-song with an indecipherable language that you're probably listening to right now is the official soundtrack of the movie. It's sung in Thai, obviously, so yeah, it sounds a bit wonky. But the melody is beautiful, and the lyrics are sooooooooooooo romantic. Well at least that's the impression I get from reading the translated version. *laughs*

Well, I'll leave you guys at that. It's getting late and my head is throbbing. I'm probably gonna need another dose of caffeine fix if I were to stay up longer.
G'nite g'nite! *waves*

*****

"If I said that this song is made for you, would you believe it?
It's probably not melodious, not affectionate, not beautiful like other songs
I want you to know that if there's no love, you can't write a love song
But for you, my dear, do you know? I wrote it easily..."

...tell me is it worth the pain?...

Currently listening to: I'll Be Alright - Anggun


I swear all these undecipherable statistical numbers are seriously KILLING me.

Been desperately trying to make some sense out of those seemingly endless lines of pluses and minuses and symbols and what-have-yous for like the last three frikkin' hours, and so far I've got nothing but a ridiculously dense, foggy layer of nonsensical crap clouding my already-overworked remnants of a brain. Well, if I did happen to have a functional one before, that is. But that's totally besides the point.

So the annoying excuse of a second-year Marketing subject in question is actually an extensive combination of marketing research theories and obscure concepts of statistics. A combination which sounds bloody damn smart if you ask me.
I mean, studying both marketing and stats at the same time? What can possibly be more brilliantly engaging than that? *blinks*

But then after spending a full three-month semester feeling like the biggest imbecile of the century, I can finally conclude that a subject that sounds terribly smart also requires the taker of the subject to actually be, well, smart. At least smart enough to think, to count, and to endure the inevitable pain and humiliation which are bound to strike at some point, eventually.

Like d-duh, obviously.
I have worked my ass off these past few days, trying unsuccessfully to cram for this upcoming exam. I even spent these last three hours getting myself face-to-face with incomprehensible stuff like this one:


And this one:


And honestly, when I first read those wackydoodle mumbojumbo formulas I was like WHAT THE FUCK?!?!

*sounds of plates and glasses being smashed onto the floor*

This is frustrating.
Next time, please remind me to NEVER take any subject associated with any form of statistics, ever again. Twice is foolish enough. And it's official: I can't count to save my life. *sighs*

How I heart MKC2500. *pukes*
No joke. I could end up feeling suicidal by June 10 if this keeps up.

For the time being, don't blame me if right now I'm wrapping up this post by boasting that I'm sitting here, inside the warm confines of my room, with a large chocolate Sundae clutched tightly in my left hand and a spoon in the other. Don't even ask how with both hands occupied I still possibly can continue typing this bloody post at the same time. A midnight Maccas-run never hurts, especially in desperate times like this. *wink wink*


...Oh c'mon, peeps.
If a guy can't even ask for that, what can a guy ask for?
*rolls eyes*

...you're lookin' good when you're half-dressed...

Currently listening to: Showdown - Britney Spears


Please do ignore the too-horny-for-my-own-good title of this post. *laughs*

I've just finished eating my self-made stir-fried broccoli with seafood and garlic, and I'm now feeling so proudly satisfied with myself. *wink wink*
Quite recently I have successfully re-discovered a very effective way to restore my peace of mind by playing around in the kitchen. More or less I've been channeling my inner chef, if you like, and so far I'm loving it. And yeah, cooking has never been more fun ever since.

Watch out, Gordon Ramsay. 'Cuz this immensely talented and extremely good-looking Next Iron Chef from Panorama Street is coming your way!!

*insert sound of clanking frying-pans and slicing knives here*

...Hahaha. Very funny JJ. *rolls eyes*

The local weather's been generously nice but I just haven't got any spare moments of my precious time to be wasted rolling around the grass or lying under the sun and stuff, what with exams coming up much faster than I thought they would be. June 10 is like five frikkin' days away and I'm thoroughly prepared, NOT.

Whoever smart enough to have invented this demented thing called Statistics must be rolling around all hysteric in his or her grave by now, feeling extremely proud to have just made the life of a big dumb fat university loser a LOT more uneasy to get by.
I know that was a crazy-ass metaphor of a statement I just said just now but hell I don't care. No time. Not mine. *looks away*

So yeah. All those silly stuff above written and done with, I might as well still say life's been uneventful, to say the very least.

These past few days I've just been spending a HUGE portion of my time mugging, as Jacelyn puts in, at various places around dear ol' Melbourne. From the academic confines of Sir Louis Matheson Library to the super-comfy cushions of Starbucks Coffee Southland, the two of us have been desperately trying to figure out a way to make sense of all those formula sheets and irrelevant numbers as the dreaded exam draws near. *sighs*

I've also filled in a couple of employment application forms along the way, and am also about to submit some more tomorrow. Let the classic cross-your-fingers game begin.
Now I dearly hope that my Winter holidays this year won't be wasted slacking off and potentially going bankrupt. It's about time for me to get a job to keep up with my spending habits. Might be a very good way to start learning how to grow up financially, for real. So, please do wish me luck on this, guys, will you? *bows*

After all, life is all but a very long game.
And just like Britney Spears sings in her song;
"Here comes the showdown,
What goes around comes around..."

And no, I wasn't trying to sound philosophical. Guess I was just too sleepy. *yawns*
Feel free to blame it on the brocolli, by the way.

Have a good night, people. =)