Looking on the bright(er) side

I was going to say that i'm typing this now since i'm not in the mood to do work, but then i realized that this is pretty much the norm, so it's not really worth mentioning in the first place (though of course the irony is that i do end up mentioning it to make my point).

It's no secret that these past few months at nie have been some of the least enjoyable in recent memory for me. I've been struggling (and am struggling) to come to terms with a lot of what we've had to do, for as much as the intentions behind what goes on may be noble and commendable, at the end of the day people there just seem to not be able to get it. And i'm led to conclude that we've all to suck it up at the very least because we get paid, and uniquely so in the whole world, or so they say.

In spite of my latent annoyance (and at least it's not resentment), i've been drawing comfort from the fact that, even though i still see myself as being at one extreme end of the cynical scale, many, if not most, of those around me seem to be echoing my sentiments. So i've been reassuring myself that it's not just me, but indeed the system as a whole, that has a problem. Scant comfort, i know, but at least it helps to get me by.

But well, as of late, i've realized that maybe it's me after all, or at least to some extent. Somehow, even when i compare notes with others about our own bones to pick with the system, i always have to hold back somewhat, cos i find my list of complaints to far outweigh the others, and so if i were to bleah out all my annoyances, i would probably monopolize the conversation and turn the other off.

And also, as has been my consistent point of sharing recently, think i've been reminded of how poor a testimony i am as a Christian if i were to ooze negativity as i have been accustomed to doing once i step off the mrt train and catch the first whiffs of the nauseating raw cocoa odor of Boon Lay. So, as a friend has rather aptly likened the suffering which prodices perseverance, then character, and then hope, that Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 5 to nie, i've to try and put things into perspective, in the light of why i'm there in the first place.

So, as i prepare to get cracking on e-portfolios, podcasts, and whatever other fancily-named-but-tortuous-all-the-same assignments that have to be done, while i'm not about to do so with a forced smile on my face, at least i can try to see the bigger picture, and definitely not feed a growing reservoir of repressed exasperation and anger. Yupyup.

on the side

In spite of my latent frustrations with nus, the S'porean in me felt that there was nothing to lose in sending the alumni relations people my current address so that they could mail me my complementary alumni privilege card (they had sent me an email saying they had received back the card which they had sent to my old address). Well i didn't expect much from them in terms of the benefits (this is after all, a complementary card), but i have to admit i was expecting a brochure at least somewhat more presentable than this:


Not to sound fussy or condescending, but i've seen even many a mission trip prayer letter which were more professionally done than this - as much as i'm all for the 'greener' approach, surely they could have come up with something more appealing than this. I suppose the fleeting nature of some of the offers (as in expire at the end of this month kinda fleeting) meant that they didn't want to invest in a more permanent atas-ish kinda brochure... Or maybe since the card is free they were working on a skeletal budget to begin with...

In other, rather surprising news, my random amateur birdwatching somehow eventuated in this. Haha who would've thought...

Contest/No Contest

The pace over at nie has definitely gotten more demanding as of late, and probably the combination of the longer school hours plus the already (generally) unspectacular classes and always draining journey to and from the place have combined to really such out all the energy from me, particularly from this week onwards. By the time i reach school, even before any lessons have started, i already feel so sapped of energy, as if it's time to go back. So for this weekend, instead of going for the fes conference thingy, i've decided to just stay home and re-energize (eh, and of course try and get some more of that seemingly neverending stream of boring school work done).

Of course, staying home means that the usual distractions are commonplace. I thought that once the Olympics went there would be less stuff to keep me from my work (which i oh so want to do) but then came the Democratic and now Republican National Conventions. The fact that CNN has basically let these take centerstage over the past two weeks has meant that it has become oh-so-easy for me to plop my laptop in front of the telly, hoping to type out some assignment, only to instead end up watching convention coverage for hours on end. I've always been intrigued by American politics, and this is no exception.

You can therefore imagine my fascination in seeing McCain's veep pick. For some strange reason, unlike apparently most of the American public, i knew who Sarah Palin was before her name was announced - guess it says a lot about how much i allow politics-watching to distract me from other stuff. But that aside, i was quite amused to see some of the stuff that has popped up on facebook as of late in response to her being chosen, with groups emerging that are both for ("draft sarah palin for veep") and against ("i have more foreign policy experience than sarah palin") the choice. The latter was quite funny really. And there were (i suppose and hope what were) amusing doctored pictures of her as well, handily summing up some of what has been learnt about her over the past week - not the most flattering of shots, but here it is anyways - cracked me up (can't imagine similar stuff popping up over here too often)


Oh well, whatever it is, looks like i'm going to be getting myself very distracted with this all the way until november... (And seriously, is the best CNN can do for an interview with a Republican activist really Stephen Baldwin??)