Wednesday, April 28, 2004

hypoglycaemia

i would like to apologise to the 4 people who have read my blog since my last entry two weeks ago. i would love to update more often, but i've been pretty bogged down lately. it's not just college and the usual uni applications and things like that. i've been thinking alot, and all this thinking and reflecting does take up quite alot of energy.

as you know, the brain can only utilise glucose and since it does not have its own store of the simple sugar, a regular intake of glucose is essential in maintaining good brain activity. i have to confess that i've been rather "naughty" lately: skipping lunch and eating foods that are high in protein and fat instead of carbohydrates. in simple terms, i'm on a modified version of the atkin's diet but it's in no way intended for me to lose weight. rather, it was brought about simply because i am fast running out of time and money.

anyway, back to the brain. this lack of glucose has somehow caused me to act rather strange lately. as some people here may have observed, i've become cornier than eng tee, something i had not believed possible till now. i've also become more irritable, indifferent and all things unpleasant.

i guess this must be the grey matter talking to me. "you gobble down that loaf of bread now and give me my supply of simple sugar or else i'll turn you into a monster with a personality to go with that!"

oh well.

my neurones are not working too well either. i managed to cause a poor friend of mine to literally "fall head over heels for me" because of poor motor neurone coordination. me, that is, not him. he had the perfect sense to avoid running into me. i, on the other hand, just froze while the poor guy tripped over the lecture theatre stairs, twisted his ankle, and slammed into the floor right in front of the lecturer.

ouch.

but what a thrill! the first time any guy's ever "fallen" for me!

i've gotta go. my brain cells are protesting over the fact that i have chosen to sit here in front of a glaring computer monitor screen over going downstairs for a bite to eat. they've just started a demonstration in my head and are now in the process of hammering my temples.

who supplies them with the armoury anyway?

lishun at 3:21 PM

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Tuesday, April 13, 2004

the passion of,,,

the word on everyone's lips these days is "passion", owing partly to the release of mel gibson's much hyped movie, "the passion of the Christ".

i managed to catch the movie last week, at the invitation of my roommate, whose church mass-booked hundreds of seats and gave free tickets to people, especially the "to-be-saved". i heard the movie's banned in my beloved motherland malaysia. funny, especially since i heard that the film, "Jesus of nazareth" wasn't banned when it came out years ago. but then, things change, no?

anyway, on this theme of passion, let me tell you about what i think about the passion of...

...the Christ
i started this entry mentioning the film, so it's only fair i start with my thoughts on it, no? i went, expecting a bloody show of gore and torture and everything that is just...yuck. well, it was bloody and gory and terribly painful to watch, but somehow all that violence was justified.

it wasn't like the other mel gibson movie, pulp fiction, where the blood and gore was just, well, blood and gore. and senseless blood and gore, may i add. somehow every drop of bodily fluid shed in "the passion" made sense. each stroke felled on Jesus' back during the scourging felt necessary. it is hard to explain...but that was what it felt like, to me.

and the movie didn't touch me as it did make me understand the scriptures better. it's odd. but i guess it just impacts people in different ways.

...arsenal
"passion" can mean many things, from just a strong feeling, to suffering, as can be seen from the previous point.

i'll bet for arsenal, it was both.

i just need to say this, because since february, when man utd fell into not-so-satisfactory form, i've been taunted to bits by annoying arsenal fans. actually, i'm not even sure i should call them "fans". more like glory-hunters, fakers and whatnot. after all, empty vessels make the most noise.

so here's "up yours" to anyone who's been boasting and glorifying arsenal and going on and on about how fabulous henry is compared to "van diver".

it was with a cynic grin that i greeted the comments like, "oh, the treble was never on our minds" or "we played too many games in too short a period of time" or even "it wasn't fair".

first of all, the treble was on your minds, and while you may say it was the media who hyped things up, admit it. you were waiting to equal man utd's 1999 treble and perhaps rub some manchunian faces in the dirt. secondly, have you ever watched spanish football? and thirdly...nothing's ever been fair for arsenal, except when they win, right?

arsenal is a great team, there's no denying it. it's the "fans" that piss me off. just shut up and discuss football, won't you?

...me
i'm rethinking about what i really want to do. what my passion is. what it is that i can truly put my heart into and love. and the answer, frustratingly, is still "i don't know".

time is fast running out for me, and i'm starting to panic, what if i never find what my passion is? what if i end up lost all my life? what if...?

anyway, the period's over. comments are welcome. by the way, i have new pictures up! well, it's up to you to decide if they're new (they've been up for almost a month) but go check them out anyway.

cheers.

lishun at 9:58 PM

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Thursday, April 01, 2004

gross out!

i joined a science project team.

yes, i know that science projects are usually something limited to primary school, where everyone either turns up with a volcano (baking soda, vinegar, red food dye...and voila!) or a piece of mouldy bread. i can still remember being super excited over my mould project back in QBS, hong kong, where we hung damp pieces of bread around our classroom and watched the black-green fungus grow.

absolutely fascinating.

well, pre-u science projects are somewhat different, but one thing has definitely not changed: the ick factor. while brainstorming for a project to work on, the team came up with some pretty wild ideas about breeding weird one-eyed microorganisms or bubbling phosphate into water to watch algae grow.

what we decided on is no less gross. we decided to study the effects of natural repellents on cockroaches, based on the myth that pandan leaves are effective in warding off the disgusting critters.

how wrong we were! the cockroaches proved to live up to their reputation as the most hardy of all living creatures. they were unfazed by the various pungent materials we tested on them, thus giving us a lesson on why they managed to outlive the dinosaurs and the other 99.9% of species that have gone extinct since the world began. they shrugged off mothballs (well, i didn't see them shrug, nor am i sure they have shoulders, but with all those joints...who knows?) and turned up their antennae at pandan leaves.

but that wasn't the really gross thing about them. as you know, i am not really afraid of cockroaches. as long as they are grounded, i take consolation in the fact that i can either shoo them away or stomp on 'em. however, i was unprepared to face 20 huge american cockroaches all clustered around in one jar, staring menacingly at us scientist wannabes.

and the smell. oh the smell! if you thought the smell your flip-flops reek off after you step on a cockroach was disgusting, try taking a whiff of eau de 20 cockroaches when you unintentionally open the jar that contained them!

not something i would like to experience again.

i can tell you what i learnt from this. cockroaches truly are the scum of the earth! and although i'm a stauch environmentalist who despises the idea of all that synthetic chemicals, killing not only cockroaches but possibly every living thing they make contact with, seeping into our environment...i'm all out for research on developing some natural way to get rid of 'em all!

forget about repellants...what about a lean, mean, green cockroach killing machine?

lishun at 1:16 PM

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