|| m n e m o s y n e || version v.iii swirls and inkblots

Feeling: Indignant
Weather: Humid
Listening To: Ichimaru Gin- Hyouri

“About 300 stray dogs were rounded up by Pulau Ketam residents and deported to an isolated island to fend for themselves. Over half of them are already dead and the remaining ones may not live long. A rescue mission is being mounted and your help is needed.“- Pulau Ketam Dog Rescue Mission.

I feel compelled to make a post out of this, because my heart twinges with ache for the fates and plight of the poor dogs. For those who do not know about this issue yet, here is where you can get all the information and updates.

My intention of writing this (short) post is not to solicit help (Considering my close-knit and limited group of readers) in any way, nor is it to put the blame on any party (As mentioned on the site, what’s important is saving the dogs for now- although admittedly, I cannot help but question what is wrong with the people, to be able to carry out such atrocious, callous acts towards animals, and cannot help cursing them deep down inside. I am hardly humanistic nor as forgiving), but it is good to have some exposure or awareness about issues such as this, and I am merely spreading the word around.

I love animals, even more so than I love my fellow humans (Because of their ability to do such things). Cases like this just makes me lose even more faith towards humanity and turn a blind eye towards the afflictions that are affecting them.

Yes, cases like these are more touching, heart-rending and important to me than cases like rebellion and genocide of humans >_>

Feeling: Tired
Weather: Humid
Listening To: Luna Sea- 4 A.M.

For the semester is finally over!

This semester was tiring- mentally, socially and academically. The only good things about this semester are HAN101 Introduction To Anthropology as a whole and Ms. Winnee for PSY201 Advanced Research Methodology, as a person but not the subject. Sadly, the lecturer for HAN101 Introduction To Anthropology (Who is a senior lecturer and the same lecturer I had for HPH101 Introduction To Philosophy) is leaving. I am sad, because I loved her classes, and her as a person for she is awesome, although her knowledge intimidates me sometimes XD Going out on a lunch and shopping trip with her sometime this week…

I am quite confident I can pass all of my subjects. I might not get very shiny marks this time (And drag down my CGPA slightly), save for HAN101 Introduction To Anthropology, but I will pass nonetheless. After all, I did do my best, and most of the shit that happened is by no fault of mine.

A note to myself for the subsequent semesters: Never, ever allow tutors or lecturers, or even friends to randomly slot in people into our group assignments at the last minute, and if my gut feeling tells me that the person is bad news, he/she most likely is. I’ve learnt my lesson this semester and paid the price =_=

Going to have quite a long break, as the next semester commences on 11th May 2009. I will most likely be taking four subjects as opposed to three. Hopefully I can cope, but it shouldn’t be a problem XD My holidays will be spent catching up on things I want to do such as honing my Japanese, sleeping as much as I can to make up for the lack of sleep I’m experiencing and maybe revamp my room. Maybe.

Feeling rather bored last night, I stumbled on an interesting course I could consider for my Masters degree: Psychological And Psychiatric Anthropology :D It sounds so interesting (Also no thanks to the beloved lecturer who further fueled my interest in Anthropology)! I’m considering it, as well as Occupational Psychology (Which has always been my first choice, also known as Industrial/Organisational Psychology), depending on which one has less emphasis on research and more emphasis on application. Applied Psychology for the win!

This semester has made me so rant-y. Argh.

On a side note, I still can’t find a Twitter widget/application/plugin/tool thing for my sidebar that’s tailored to my tastes or looks the way I want it to :(

Now I am going to celebrate by playing on my Wii :D

Feeling: Rant-y
Weather: Cool
Listening To: Matthew Sweet- Girlfriend

So… the research colloquium has ended. It was… epic, so to speak. As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, today was my research colloquium presentation and poster defense. Research colloquium is a big event for our department in University. I won’t be going into the poster defense because it wasn’t very important anyway, and we didn’t expect much from it XD But the presentation is a different story >_> I hate that group member of mine with a passion. Mentioning his name or thinking about him makes my blood pressure rise. Gah.

Anyway, my group (Except him) tried our best- we were the first to present, which is fine by me anyway since I always try to be first/second/third to present, rather than the middle to last ones, and lo kong and me stayed for the prize-giving ceremony at the end (After attending the compulsory one-hour session too). The winners for best group presentations were expected, but what really floored me were the winners for the best individual speakers (For our class) D: It really cemented my frustration on the tutors in my department in University- 9/10 of the winners for the best individual speakers presented in a flamboyant, over-the-top manner, which, compared with other speakers, lacked content, understanding of their material and inferential ability in general. They mainly presented by being dramatic and reading off little papers in their hands, not off the cuff. Goes to show how much critical thinking skills the tutors have huh >_>

OK, I admit that there is an exception, as the tutor really asked critical, good questions. But the others… what the hell?

I’m not bitter or angry about not winning, though. I tried my best, and I knew competition was going to be tough in a way (Factor in my lack of confidence in tutors, I would rather Ms. Winnee herself be the judge of my presentation)… but come on, there are OTHER people who deserve the best individual presenter awards than the ones who have actually gotten it D:

There are also some groups which I have NO IDEA how they passed Ms. Winnee‘s stringent mock presentation requirements.

Otherwise, it was quite a fun experience, being the first real colloquium I’ve presented in. Now I’m torn on whether should I polish my flamboyant READING skills (And in the process, annoy lo kong) for the next colloquium (I’ve actually been semi-trained to present in the manner since primary school, but I ditched it when I went to University because it was a bit too amateur for my liking- there’s a difference between that kind of presentation and a spontaneous one), or stick to presenting off the cuff. Hmm :P

I’m actually getting quite used to blogging using WordPress now, which is a good thing XD I just need to come up with a better system for photos and images, though, since I’m still not very content with my current manner of organising them :( I also don’t really enjoy having to approve comments on my posts.

My next posts will return to it’s ‘original’ photo-post format XD Hopefully, once I’ve found a nice way to file the images and all.

P.S. I really love the Embalming Fluid, Kumiho and Aizen-Myoo perfume oils from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. I’ve got a full-sized bottle of Aizen-Myoo, am getting a full-sized bottle of Embalming Fluid (By Monday, hopefully, with the other set of Imps and my other stuff which I will update on too :P) and am contemplating on getting a full-size for Kumiho. I’ll have to test the set of Imps first, though, before I buy anymore full-size since shipping would be cheaper that way.

Can’t wait for Monday! XD But am not looking forward to the Anthropology presentation and reports due next week :(