e pur si muove

What I managed to do this year:

1. Recovered $1,500 by liquidating textbooks on Amazon.
2. Dropped a course because it was too hard for the first time in my life.
3. Experienced a personal high temperature (115°F, 46.1°C) on campus.
4. Watched bemusedly as an offended art critic flung his program at the stage in disgust as he walks out on a world premiere on campus.
5. Finally learnt how to pronounce the name Siobhan. (I have it on good authority that it’s Show-VAHN)
6. Learnt that the only correct way to tip is 15%+ the post-tax amount.
7. Got my first Google Adsense direct deposit. The more the merrier, I must say!
8. Tried to write a novel, and failed miserably.
9. Rediscovered a JC friend through her blog.
10. Whipped up my first serving of fried computer chips.
11. Got whapped on the head with a program falling from the balcony level of the Krannert Center’s Great Hall.
12. Read 44 academic books.
13. Got cited in Japan and discussed in Dubai.
14. Lost my virginity to an enchanting Latina.
15. Received my first ever blog-related job offer.
16. Made loads of new friends through this blog.
17. Participated in my first-ever blog carnival.
18. Wrote the first draft of my first to-be-peer-reviewed paper.
19. Became anoited King of My Blog.
20. Got my shirt cuff signed by an opera diva after a concert.
21. Experienced a personal low temperature (-5°F, -20.6°C) on campus.
22. Discovered that the most painless way to remove splinters is to sanitize the puncture point, ignore it for four days, then trim off the scab that forms around the splinter.
23. Joined the chic clique by buying my first MP3 player ever, and then promptly crashing it.
24. Became a critically-acclaimed rapper.
25. Learnt that the Leibniz chain rule for derivatives does not apply in the functional calculus.
26. Witnessed blogicide.
27. Finally finished that damned novel.
28. Dabbled in real estate investment by buying my own apartment.
29. Discovered that my favorite childhood porridge additive, Bovril, is now available in Singapore after a fourteen-year absence.
30. For a brief period in time, had my own Wikipedia entry.
31. Learnt of a contact’s death through her blog.
32. Made my own croissants and hot cross buns.

Two of the items above are false. Which two?

For today’s readers, thank you so much for your support. Remember, even if the world deals you a one-two knockout punch, you gotta “just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming swimming swimming…”

For 2005, I’m Elia Diodati.

And doing little more than zombie-ing out in front of the TV watching Iron Chef America. TV just isn’t the same without 300 cable channels. Sigh.

Kevin’s place is chock full of gadgets, ranging from an old-fashioned turntable mixer to a refurbished 3Com home appliance (I forgot what it’s called) that features a touch screen and wireless keyboard. It’s now running some Linux and its keyboard is being rapidly coated with my finger oils. Kevin says most of the stuff in the house was salvaged from semi-broken, abandoned electronic junk. Except his bookcase, of course. Not many bookshelves I’ve seen hold a copy of Sensational Sex next to Faulkner’s Cooperative Strategy.

The turntable shares its place on a table facing a balcony window, under a disco ball, a vase containing a dozen white roses, and the remnants of four expired tealights. The wall on the left is adorned by a print of Robert Doisneau’s famous Le Baiser de l’Hôtel de Ville (The Kiss by City Hall). The entire table of eclectica sits right next to the entertainment console, which is tastefully adorned by three plastics guys who vaguely resemble navy divers. Underneath, the last five minutes of Iron Chef America are rapidly counting down the final minutes of the competition. The stuff onscreen looks irresistably yummy, but they don’t compare to Penny’s homemade pizza, made from scratch (!) from pita bread topped with ketchup, onions, ground beef, olive oil, parsley, and fresh mozzarella cheese. Which makes me conclude that Penny’s cooking is indeed as delectable as the pictures on her blog. And Kevin gets to eat this everyday?! *envious*

Thankfully, the trip here was uneventful, if somewhat jocular. I checked in online before taking the bus from campus to the airportg, but then stupidly left to boarding pass in the office. Turned out not to be a big deal: I got it reprinted at the terminal’s self check-in machines. Mercifully enough, the security line at Midway wasn’t too bad; I managed to zip through in less than ten minutes. I was actually surprised that the TSA website’s estimate was quite on the mark! Kudos to the data collection guys for a great job. I had a chicken-mozzarella arkopita from Pegasus from the airport food court, which turned out to be nothing more than a large curry puff appropriately stuff. What a waste of dough.

Despite the recent tragedy where a Southwest airlines flight skid off the runway at Midway and crashed into traffic on the perimeter of the airport, response to the airline has been mostly positive. And no wonder: the planes were small but clean, the flight was smooth, and the cabin crew didn’t look like they were out to kill you if you asked for a second round of Diet Sprite. Before landing almost 20 min early, the chief steward greeted us not with the usual corporate blabber of how “We know you have a choice in your choice of carrier and we are pleased to be your airline of choice today”, but rather with “The weather in Buffalo is 72 degrees with clear skies. Don’t believe me? OK, it’s 32 degrees and snowing. Sit tight and fasten your seatbelts, because we will be going really, really fast.” What a difference a crew taking their last flight of the day makes!

Something interesting about Southwest is how they do not sell reserved seats, and the entire plane is economy class. The latter makes sense, considering it’s a budget airline (or at least, what passes for one in the New World). The former is more interesting. Passengers are allocated into A, B or C classes in order that they check in, and are allowed to board onto the plane in that order, after allowing the wheelchaired folk and little kids on first, Which means, mercifully enough, that there weren’t confused passengers milling about the passageway and holding up everyone else while they waddle up and down the aisle looking for their correct seat. Plus I finally got to sit in the emergency exit row and stretch my legs like nobody’s businees. Yeah baby! There’s no in-flight entertainment, but who cares? Oh, did I also mention that the ticket only cost $39? That’s my kind of budget.

Not to mention that their frequent flyer program doesn’t read like the IRS 1040 Tax Instruction Booklet. Fly on 16 Southwest airplanbes, earn a free roundtrip. End of story. No mucking about with miles and affiliate programs. I’m looking very much forward to my next flight with them ($59 to Tampa Bay) just before school reopens.

Tomorrow I’ll be visiting the Buffalo campus, followed by an exhibition of contemporary Chinese Art at the Albert Knox Museum, and topped off by a sushi restaurant dinner by the Niagara Falls. Till then, sweet dreams from Kevin’s living room couch.

The first image result for “Elia Diodati” from good ol’ Google.

The second image result. (:- (Elia Diodati = The Ash Tray Is Full???) :=p

The first image result for “Vandice”.

The second image result. (So gay! Mebbe I really should change my pseudonym!)

Okay okay… I know I’m very the boh liao… But give your name a try on Google Image. You never know what manner of hilarity it trawls up!

The man is leaving town to welcome the New Year in the company of family, so I’m here to keep shop for him. Unfortunately, I can’t post brilliant stuff like he can (yes I dig this blog), so you guys will just have to bear with me. Alright, I guess that’s enough for hello. I’ll leave you with two quotes, which I find meaningful as we eagerly await the arrival of 2006

“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” –Bill Vaughn

“What you focus on will expand.” –Oprah Winfrey

Ciao.