I’ve been back in Singapore since Thursday. Things have been okay, and the days have been busier than I wanted them to be, and not with the things I had intended either. I’ve spent most of my time working on the photographs. I’m done with processing them and am in the middle of uploading them right now. I doubt I’ll be able to complete the uploading today (I kept about a thousand photos), but I’ll do my best.

I quite enjoyed myself over there. I went to London, Lyon, and Paris. I enjoyed Lyon for the people, Paris for the art, and London was, well, London was just my kind of city. It was cosmopolitan, bustling, and even the bad weather agreed with me somewhat. So, while it’s not fair to compare them, if I was forced to, London was my favourite stop, and I hope to be back there again some time soon. Not too soon, of course, with the Olympics coming up.

In London, I ate a proper fish and chips (it was huge), visited Shakespeare’s Globe, and saw a TARDIS. In Lyon, I chanced upon the James Joyce Pub, bought an Alphaville postcard, and visited wonderful people. In Paris, I saw my first Goya, ate my first snails, and was surprised at the lack of tourist merchandise.

Books and coins have made up the bulk of my personal souvenirs. Highlights include a lovely Folio edition of Macbeth from the Globe and a couple of beautiful coin/medals from Paris.

It was good there. It’s also good to be back.

My administrative obligations are starting to clear up, I think. I believe I’ll be able to get back to writing soon. I completed a short story recently, and–out of certain requirements–have to do another one, though the deadline isn’t that imminent. That gives me a little bit of room to look at my manuscript again. There is also the looming shadow of school. I’m completing the last of the registration procedures, though I’ll only be really done by mid-July.

In the meantime, hello again. I’ll be putting up all the photos over the next few days and will be ringing in with the links next time. Meanwhile, it’s time to write and read again.

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I didn’t do completely nothing, though. (To be fair, I was Pericles attempting to overwhelm the world with my awe-inspiring culture.) I drafted emails and picked out my choices for my FYP. I also tried watching some things. I also tidied up my computer a bit.

(Yeah, Civilization.)

I got the first draft printed on Monday and am looking to bind it. I’m not sure what I’m going to do–whether I’ll have people to test it, whether I’m putting myself on any kind of schedule, et cetera. I might take this week and even the next to think about it.

I’m not intending to get too much done these couple of weeks though. Not work, not admin, not even friends. I just want the week to go by like a gondola in Venice. That’s an awful simile. I will stop using similes for today.

Patti Smith is awesome, by the way. Have I ever told you that? I’m pretty sure you’ll see that sentence again in the next six months.

Meanwhile, you can donate to the David Lynch documentary project and get your choice of a poster print, a T-shirt, or a tote bag. [via LYNCHthreePROJECT]

Mean-also-while, you can disguise your Kindle as a Moleskine notebook. [via Amazon] I suppose it’s meant to protect it from the scratches, but it still seems a little… odd to me.

Mean-triple-while, scenes from G20. [via [daily dose of imagery]]

Right, off to get a few things sorted.

Things are happening so fast, though. It’s already the end of June and July is upon us.

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I’m beginning to realise that with my fairly tremendous list of things to do, I might have to step on the gas. This happens every time it’s the holidays. They aren’t actually big things involving a lot of investment, but you just don’t really know how to prioritise them. I’m getting it together slowly, I guess, but I better be full steam ahead soon if I hope to have any chance of clearing the holiday list.

Books

Books are one of those things. I have an idea of what to read, but then I do some writing, then I move a wardrobe, and then I watch a movie I had planned to watch, and it’s time for bed. It’s somewhat difficult to think that it’s the little things that are keeping me busy, but that’s the way it goes. I really do hope to finish at least a couple of novels and one large book by the end of the holidays. At least.

(Large books are those that are so gigantic I feel reluctant to start on them. They also tend to be the ones that are so huge that I don’t want to take them with me out of the house, when I do most of my reading.)

Wardrobe

So my dad shifted my gigantic wardrobe thing to my room with a bit of help from me. Though to be a bit more honest, it felt like a full day’s work. I’m just glad that we’ve shifted it over finally and won’t probably have to worry about doing that again. It involved a lot of tilting, dismantling, emptying, and pushing. (It’s basically too large to be moved about and too tall to fit readily under the doorways.)

And after that, I did a standard day’s worth of writing.

Book Club

Book clubs are just one of those things that sound easy and should probably be easy, but end up being altogether more tricky than most than you can foresee. I’m taking it a bit at a time, and starting with an experiment to figure out what actually needs to be taken care of and what doesn’t work. God bless the people who will be participating, especially if it doesn’t work out. (Significant chance of failure.)

I’m trying my best to figure out what has to be done and in what order. That’s less obvious that I thought it’d be. I’ve been looking at a couple of online book clubs hoping to figure out a few things, but it doesn’t get too much easier. Well, I don’t think I’ll wait much longer, and I’ll just dive in and hope for the best.

After I take a deep breath.

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As I was busy taking my Christmas-New Year break, the Tenth Doctor said goodbye to audiences with his final episodes. Farewell, Tenth Doctor. It was a great run, in spite of the scattershot quality of the stories. I think David Tennant’s run will probably be remembered as the one that almost miraculously catapulted the Ninth’s successful revival attempt into a real force to be reckoned with, which is great for all the long-time fans of the show, of course.

But if there’s one thing the show has taught us, it’s change. Time to move on, and here’s a trailer of the new series coming this year, with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan looking quite good in their roles:

I must complain about seeing the Daleks again for the sixth time (I think?) in five years, although I’ll reserve judgement until it becomes clear what all that’s about. It’s nice to see vampires that are not sparkly Twilight things in this day and age. And I’ve never been big on River Song, but I’ll wait and see what she brings to the new show. Apart from that, everything is looking good to me. Including the very fleeting glimpse at what I suppose is the new TARDIS interior.

I think it’s going to be a rocking 2010.

One Week

Oh no! One week to school! I think! Wait, I better get that date checked out.

But yes, not too much longer. It hasn’t been too bad, really, and I’ve got quite a few things done. I think I’ll spend the week just trying to sort out the little administrative stuff and do a little stockchecking. I’ve got some books I want to finish up with, some videos (including the marvellous Planet Earth), and some other chores to settle. I also want to plan a bit for the coming semester. To make it a bit more exciting, I hope.

Well, phew, 2010 already. Here goes nothing.

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There’s always something strangely faceless and terrifying about checking your results online. You just punch in your account information and click. Before you can even hope for the best, all your results pop up in front of you like a summons. That is, assuming you don’t sometimes have a connection like mine. (I imagine it will in that case be somewhat like a Hitchcock film.)

I suppose the good times are almost up. Time runs away like Usain Bolt with the baton when you’re not looking. I excel at bad metaphors.

I’ve still been at my chores. Yesterday, I tried to pack up my music library a bit. I cleaned it up quite properly, if I dare say so myself, but it’s still incomplete, so I’ll have to get back to it. Shopping has been going fairly well, but it too is incomplete. I’ve made inquiries about the various things I’ve got to sort out, which is all very dandy, but I’ve yet to actually sort them out. So everything is in that sort of stasis, reluctant to be completed. But it’s getting there.

Although we don’t have much of the holidays left. But who knows what will happen tomorrow anyway? Wish me luck.

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I’ve been writing, been sorting out some chores, been playing some Dragon Age and been watching some classic television shows. It’s all going kind of okay. I think I have to speed up on the chores. I’m quite efficient in Dragon Age. And the classic television are as classic as ever. Writing, on the other hand, proceeds a little like a headless chicken. I’m trying to steer it somewhere, somehow, but keep in mind that I’m basically starting with nothing, working with nothing. I’m just going ahead to see where it all pans out.

I’ve got some reasonable ideas, I think, but none of them will be sufficient to seize the whole thing and consolidate the entire project the way that these things ought to happen. (And I just realised that that’s an exceptionally vague way of describing things, but I tried.)

So, onwards, holidays. Onwards.

People

And I really need to get to meeting people. A few people that I need to find these holidays. Meet up, have fun, do stuff, talk nonsense, et cetera. Yes, I target a 70% success rate. Let’s hope I don’t end up too disappointing with regards to my attendance at social functions these holidays.

Love Story

I don’t know if you’ve seen this before, and I suppose I’m a little slow to the party, but anyway, here’s a very good Schweppes viral video:

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On Friday, I took the last paper, which went reasonably well. As well as could be expected, I guess. And with it came the end of the term, which was a strange term, to be fair, but I suppose I should be glad that it’s over. Except that I’m not. Not really. Things will change from here, more than they’ve ever changed from semester to semester in the past, and it’s a little frightening.

Certainly, there are specific personal reasons that I didn’t want this term to come to an end. Sometimes it feels as if I’ve got things I’ve to say, and have yet to say, and I’ll never get a chance again.

All To Do

In the meantime, the holidays are here, and in this very brief break, I’ve a plethora of things to do. I’ve got to meet friends; I’ve got to work on a new project; I’ve got to plan stuff; I’ve got to get a haircut; I’ve got to go photographing; I need to see the dentist; I need to buy presents; and on and on. I started with a list of five things and that’s since exploded into an enormous litany of obligations.

Hard Work

Speaking of writing, I tried to write a bit over the weekend. It’s hard. It’s harder than I remember it. Part of it is probably because I’ve not been writing very much; and it usually takes a bit of work to scrape off the rust on my imaginary writing joints. But I think it’s also how I’m writing in a fashion (and with a setting) similar to The River, except I’ve changed quite a bit since then and I’m finding it a bit hard to go back into the same sort of groove. It doesn’t help that Bukit Merah was a complete departure from the tone and style of The River, so I’m as far removed from that approach as I possibly could be.

I don’t have anything concrete now, so I’m really just putting words together in the hopes that I can unify it when I get a better sense for what it is I’m doing. In the meantime, I can only keep at it until it sorts itself out, or until I get a better idea and change my mind.

Shopping Suggestions

If you missed it, I put up my Christmas gift suggestions up there.

Now, I better start on my list of obligations and start packing my room.

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Yesterday’s Physiology paper was a bit of a challenge, and I think it’s fair to say the best part about it is that it’s over. While not as awful as the Math paper, it did a pretty good job of trying to put a damper on our spirits.

Still! First new day! Plans! Plans! Plans! And plenty of fist-shaking, looking as if aggrieved!

Today’s Menu

Today, I’ve got a doctor’s appointment to do a little bit of a check-up. Then I think I’ll pop around town to do a bit of shopping. While this is going on, I think I’ll start on my rereading of Ulysses. I’ll also have to coordinate a gathering on Saturday, so I’ve got to start working that out in my head whenever I get bored and then SMS people too. Then I’ve got to start planning the rest of the holidays, and how I’m going to work things out.

Oh and I hope I don’t forget to wish my birthday friend a happy birthday.

Blind Faith

Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood performed in a number of shows together last year, and coming May 19th, there’ll be a live album and a concert film being released. [via Eric Clapton] Set list looks great. I’m definitely going to buy it, though it’s all fast burning a hole in my pocket bigger than the one in the ozone layer.

.deTuned

This looks absolutely trippy. [via PlayStation Blog] I think I’ll be getting it if it’s not too expensive. I always like these artsy things.

Watchmen Aerosol Graffiti

From the description:

Time lapse aerosol graffiti promo video commissioned by Paramount for the UK West end movie premiere of ‘Watchmen’ 2009. executed by ‘End of the line’ artists: Bleach, Probs, Busk and Zadok.

Right Then…

Off to enjoy this first non-exam day, desperately in need of sleep because I stayed up for football.

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