Autumn

The leaves are red, the weather is getting cold, and I need a car... 

Amazing Room

My roommate FINALLY got round to housekeeping. and Frankly, I'M IMPRESSED! 

Navy Pier

Top of the Ferris Wheel @ Navy Pier. Freaking COLD. And that leather jacket is something new that I just bought THAT DAY:) woo hoo 

My sister and her comments:)

Ok, so I was church camp committee president back in 2001, and now, in 2005, my sister is heading the church camp. Good luck:). We had a fun time 4 years ago.

And this is what she says about me:)

"my brother is spending alot of money and now he wants a car. yeah. good job! BUT OH WELL that's better than being shot and killed by blacks roaming the streets." -Oct 29th

"and the leeying award goes to coolest guy on earth: tie between dad and elder bro" -Oct 24th

And to think I used to write "leeying is stupid" in glow-in-the-dark chalk right above my parent's TV (it's still there), and treated her pretty shit for almost 18 years:) haha.

Yay! My sister rocks!

Check it out @ http://overandoveragain.blogspot.com/

lip
ranting

Memories of the past...

A friend asked me why I put:

"memories of the past,
illusions of the present,
hope for the future"

in my sidebar.

I guess it was what I came up with after Sep 2003:). Where the past was so transient and dear to me and I was holding on to it so much, the present seemed like an illusion. (all the weights, the stripping in the army, the studying, the bridge building, the hazing (or tekkan in Singlish). And I was hoping for a better future.

I guess that future has arrived. So, maybe the present is an illusion, but at least, it's a oasis in the desert, not merely a mirage that does not hold. Let's see how long the hope lasts.

Carpe Diem.

lip
ranting

Why I blog the way I do.

Because:

1) The people who read this are those who truly give a shit. If you don't give two hoots and want to read it to garner (negative) information that you can use against me, well i'm not affected by what you think:)

2) I blog because I am. It's a outlet for thoughts. And frankly, I don't care what you think. It's mine! muhahaha... (copyrighted)

3) My roommate's in his underwear and playing loud country-type music (he'll argue if I call it country music). So I blog.

4) Well, it's just me:)

P.S. No, I don't owe you dinner Shar. You lost the bet.
P.P.S and I don't owe you four seasons Hanxue:) hehe. next time, sign a contract!. BECAUSE I DID NOT PUKE! haha. (or at least I can't remember)

lip
ranting

I miss....

Clarence - for the stupid DoTA sessions and general ability to talk crap about anything and anyone whenever we meet up, and for the equally fast switch from random banter to deep and thoughtful conversation about everything and anyone...

Jesse, Alex, ZL, JR and gang - for soccer nights, mahjong nights, drinking nights @ Walas and for generally being the mainstay of my social life back in Singapore.

Debi, Wendy, Mich, Maria, Weng - for the 01S70 action that always seems to be around whenever we guys hang out. And for the friendship and unspoken concern that will always be around.

Joanna - for generally being there whenever she wants to (like a cat) and calling at random times for clubbing and prata (depending on whether she needs my car or not).

Sharleen - for teaching me so much about life:) and generally being a bitch at most times, and at the same time, someone whom I used to love. (key: used to).

Wenliang, Des, Hanting and army gang - for the times we spent back in camp, to the chao geng times, and the tough times, from Ex Spade (thanks Elliot!) to 24 km Route March, Ex Beaver Venture and EOAC, to all the fun times and strip shit. Yay!

Sheryl! For being my latest coffee buddy and future work colleague (groan, work!)

XY, WZ, Ben, Faith etc - For being strong in faith, friends in more faithful times, and for generally caring about me:)

Being insommatic at 5 a.m. really sucks. Because you start thinking about life... and how shallow relationships are in America. It's hi, bye, carry on with your own thing. Individuals i guess, and you can't build up a solid friendship over a cup of coffee or a beer (mainly because everyone is underaged).

Resolve: To build more college friendships. Not transient ones that start with "hi, how's it going" and ends the moment you see someone else.

Maybe that's what I've been needing all this while...

I'm lucky to have friends:)

lip
ranting

Detached

Part of the problem about being a guy is that there are all these social expectations that weigh you down.

Guy-guy relations and guy-girl relations differ so much in scope and in type that it's often a fucking CHORE just to connect with people.

But then again, we are all humans, and we are all social creatures. But we are all afraid of being penetrated down to our social core, to who we really are, to the person deep inside all of us.

We show that root only to those we really care about, and to those we trust the most. Isn't that what emotional trust is all about? To love the very SOUL of the person? Whether good or bad, rotten or messed-up, whether they differ from you or whether they are similar?

For there are always differences between the face we show the world and the face we keep hidden. Whether there is a geniune fear of being hurt, of having our trust ripped about. Whether there is a GENUINE TRUTH in this fucking world.

I'm in my angsty mood, so forgive my rants. Being interested in people is a must for good social relations, but what about people being interested in you? Do you reject them? Do you side-step and launch a counterstroke? Are you such a bastard that you can only invest your trust in people after they have invested theirs in yours in a tit-for-tat situation?

Or is that real humanity? Where everyone is self-centered and individualistic, where there can only be emotional exchange at the self-interest of people (ala Smith).

Sigh.

lip
ranting

A bit of a urhhh moment:)

This is interesting:) hehe. I don't know what was happening! haha. But Serene's on the right, very high, very loud... from left: Andy, Germaine, Xuda and Serene. Don't tear any more guy's shirts please, Jianfeng is enough :) 

Jiahui and Bryan:)

Truth or dare. To piggy back someone around the room:) So he goes for his wife.. :) 

Andy Tan: Mambo King

This guy is the Lao Da:) Life of the party:) haha. He KNOWS ALL THE MAMBO MOVES! JO! Let's MAMBO! haha

New Zouk... Can't wait... 

Wincy!

Cute right! I mean the guy on the right:) haha. Thanks for the Photos Wincy! Too bad I don't have Stella's photo, cos she baked the cake, RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE! And I didn't realise. gosh 

The First years!

From left: Me (With beer, Kenneth, Wai Keong, Sibo, Jason, Calvin, Yik Lei)! We had an awesome time (at least I did). Me, Jason and Kenneth stayed over:) 

Birthday girls!

Thanks to Hanxue (in blue, foreground) for providing the Apartment for the party! And i didn't even know it:) From left: Annie (yr 3), Helena (yr 3),, Hanxue (yr 2) , Wincy (yr 2) and Germaine (yr 3). I think hanging out with seniors rocks:) hehe 

Happy Birthday to Me from Chicago

The best things about birthdays is how everyone remembers and you don't.

You wake up, think it's a normal day, your friend invites you over for dinner and a party, you go without any inkling, you have loads of fun, your friend's roommate bakes a cake for you which you go over and STUPIDLY ask: Hey! who's this for, and you believe her lie that it's for someone other than you. And you have ABSOLUTELY NO FREAKING IDEA that there was going to be a party for you and friends came and everything.

then suddenly, bam, it's 12:00 am and there's this cake (which you watched being baked) and everyone starts singing and you ALREADY had like 20 shots and you just start acting really sketchy.

And your dad calls the next morning to wish you happy birthday and you are at your friend's place and there's no reception and people leave you stuff on your facebook and you have 1001 msn messages wishing your happy birthday and your come back to your dorm @ 11 am.

Bad.

:)

But fun! And wish me luck!


lip
ranting

My really cool desktop

Yay! My transformation to an apple is finally complete! haha 

Math Mid Term is tomorrow.

and i'm blogging. Bad Bad me.

Anyway, I think classes are getting more and more interesting. We had a class on Herodotus today, about ethonography and anthropology and on Greek/Persian History.

And in Sociology class, we went through the Communist Manifesto. Interesting that. French Revolution, Industrialization, Smithian 1776 theory Versus Marxist 1848 Theory. I should have taken like European history during O levels or something. Oh well.

Back to math. Archimedean Principle, L'Hospital's Rule and L.U.B axiom. Here we go!

lip
ranting

Let there be light

And there was light 

Fuck all ye who enter here

The entrance to my dorm room:). Fuck all ye who enter here. and Hongyan! I met Julia from NUS/Upenn. Please acknowledge because we both agree you are a very very good drinker. 

Piana SHOWCASE!

And being the egoist that I am, I must trumpet the fact that my piano is soo good, they asked me to perform next Thursday at the showcase. So come and watch! Haha. Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody no. 10 will be played. Hopefully, well:). 

Entrance to the Suite.

So I have to enter 2 doors to get into my room. That's the first door. Enter. Right side, Shower room, Left side, Toilet. Common space right inside the door. Splits into 2 rooms, left side my room. 315B. Right side, Anthony's and Jon's room. Understood:)?

P.S. I stole the caution tape from downtown from some construction. I hope no one dies as a result of the removal of Caution Tape. 

My room

Room photo! After my room mate moved in. Bed on the left is mine, as is the messy desk in the foreground. Check ou the new Harmon Kardon speakers and my Seinheiser HD 250 Headphones. Woot! 

South Koreans

June Hyuk, Sang and Suhgoo from left to right. Interesting people. That guy on the left is ranked #16 in the world for Maths. And i thought Calvin was good:). Sang is very good at guitar, and Suhgoo's a pretty funny dude. 

Suite Mates

My suite mates, Anthony on the left and Jon on the right. My room mate has not arrived yet (this was taken first week of school). I'll get a pic of him up ASAP. Once I get over the laziness of taking pictures 

Interesting Cap

Shopping @ Aurora, where I bought a $170 Calvin Klein Winter Jacket, $70 timberland boots, and various cardigans and shirts for a grand total of $350 of shopping.

And Nike is pretty cheap here too. So is Levi's

hope everything is sexy out there

i need money.

wtf.

29th & 3rd in college.

she dumped me on my law school graduation day.

i recommend the movie "woman in the window" to you guys. it is filmed in 1945, black and white, film nior woman. chio.

i do my laundry and fold my clothes. i am such a nice boy.

i have cool earphones. and i will throw 4 parties when i turn 21. :D

Hanxue @ Lip's Dorm

Republicans in America

"I'm all for Bush, who made this country great again" -Quoted.

Wow. The same Bush who had his infamous bushisms and decided to go to war against Iraq based on WMD reasons. (like Baghdad beans produce farts which pollute the Earth because of Greenhouse gas effect (Which incidentally, Kyoto is not part of his agenda)).

I'm disturbed by that one comment. Classic redneck American from the South, elitism and imperialistic over the rest of the world. (Though they don't show it, but they think it.).

Nice. Really nice. And i have a lot more to blog about, but then, I have a Power, Identity and Resistance class in 25 minutes and I need to refresh Smithian theory in my head before the Prof. comes down on me for my poor understanding of Smith.

lip
ranting

The Aim of Frat Parties

Is to get drunk.

.Nuff Said. And it's very sad that's the one and ONLY aim.

Unless you're there to dance, and then you have to contend with groping and dirty dancing with perfect strangers who try to kiss you.

Not good.

So next time, I shall just go to apartment parties, where I can talk to the people there (ahha! More relationship voodoo stuff), and actually get to know them better.

I have to go for Andreas Schiff's Bach concert downtown. Will update later. But this is the first weekend, I didn't even FEEL like drinking, because, alcohol just tastes sooo bad.

lip
ranting

Getting into the swing of things

After a inordinately long period of time without any academic pursuits, my brain decided to take a vacation and decided that it would not inform me either of its whereabouts or of its estimated return date.

I have resorted to undertaking a quest to search for. and hopefully, find out, the whereabouts of my brain.

After being without it for the first 2 weeks of class, it finally made an appearance at Statistics 23400 today. "Hey lip jin without a brain, i'm back! and therefore, I am going to help you understand what the lecturer is saying!" (I shall not go into the complexities of illustrating how someone can function normally without a brain).

And *poof*. I can understand what the Prof was saying. And thereby, I can actually do my homework and get a decent grade for the class.

Yay!

lip
ranting

My parents know the existance of my blog

Bad.

Hi dad, Hi mum! Welcome! haha. I'm currently reading objects of Ethonography for Humanities class (Wtf) and trying to figure out how to get my stats book in time for the test next Monday, which I am kinda screwed for because my stats book doesn't arrive until MONDAY!

Yay. Die die die.

lip
ranting

A brief episode in my life

And so it ends.

Past week has been interesting (especially Hanxue and her drunkedness), and some encounters with the Venusians from Planet Venus. And perhaps, this has awakened my conciousness that, yes, there are other species on the planet earth besides us Martian Men.

And that of course, refers to the Venusian female.

For since 2003, I have been cloistered inside my own emotional wall and that I have been afraid to let it take hold of me again. Some friends have told me to learn to live and love again, but perhaps, it is not so simple and definitely not as rewarding to keep yourself walled up.

So here goes nothing. And Chicago, beware:)


lip
ranting