Yee ‘O Lost Souls

I started reading Eldest today. Well, what can I say? Its expected. The pages were just strewn with immaturity (in part of the author) and inconsistency (in part of Eragon, the main char). You just can’t make out what kind of person this Eragon is. I mean, he’s a teenager yes, 16 to be precise, happens to be a Rider, an ancient dragon knight thought to be extinct. And he became a Rider when he found a dragon egg by accident. Furthermore, a Rider is much respected to the level of legendary. They were considered the ultimate in magic and battle prowess. And now thrown into a controversial position, held above even the rulers of already established organizations. Yeah, that’s the kind of life Eragon has to live up to. Before this he was just a farm boy and a hunter. So now his personality is torn between retaining to be a boy yet trying to be a noble knight. Unlike any professional author, a reluctant hero like Eragon would slip into the role of knight quite easily, even with so many blunders. But in the end they will always succeed. Not as beautifully or garcefully as they should, but they succeed. Reluctant hero and all. Just look at Arthur Penhaligon from Keys to the Kingdom.The only difference is that he’s younger than Eragon, 12, and came from a modern world much like ours albeit slightly more advanced with medical technology. And he was thrusts into the role of ruler and hero of another world where magic was abound. The author was a professional (Garth Nix) so Arthur’s transition was smooth, although by the end of the story he’s still boy. He’s just a boy trying to save the world, using whatever resources available, but in the end he’s still a boy. There’s no need for a dramatic personality change, no need for his vocabulary to change or his outlook on things. He communicated with the other characters as himself, not as someone else. He was still Arthur. The boy with asthma.

But Eragon’s personality change in such a short time that it should warn the others around him about how fake he is. Halfway through the first book, you just don’t know Eragon anymore. His personality was torn apart (providing he even had one in the first place). You don’t know his thought pattern or his vocabulary. After accepting his fate as a Rider, his vocabulary suddenly changed to sound more noble, but occasionally they revert back to just being a desperate, cowardy, righteous boy. I mean what the hell is up with that!?

And Arthur, when told to do something formal, like in his case, the handing of the key as the true heir. You can clearly see (read) that someone authoritive (also a solid character) teaching him the phrases.

Unlike Eragon, someone probably told him the phrases, just you don’t know who he/she is and can just assumed it was told beforehand and he had memorized it (Eragon apparently has good memories). It was funny how Eragon suddenly became a genius after just a few months of training. And the characters around him were also inconsistent. I mean, they are all important characters, of course, but they have weird speech. Their speech was made to be straight (too straight) to the point and short and authoritive and informative. So much so that they don’t sound like conversations anymore. And one thing I ntoiced about the author, Christopher Paolini, is that, he sucks at combining action and dialogue. Most of the actions were done narratively. For example like "He came to the scene and dropped his sword in disgust, muttering under hsi breath." Actually its more than that but its actually a really enraged dwarf. But you can’t know that unless you really read. The characters were nearly passive, but the dialogues seems to say "I’m important too, see?"

I was just pouring through the pages waiting for something to happen. I hate having to turn the pages and just suck everything in to get to a more interesting chapter. And the descriptions of the actions and surroundings were made to look professional but ended up confusing and boring and too much detail. This is not Harry Potter series kind of details I’m talking about. JK Rowling is in a totally different class. But I’m talking about unneccassry too much detail, filled with too many important-looking words. That just annoys me.

All and in all, this book is still the same as the previous one. Its more or less a professional-looking fanfic. I wonder how it ever got ‘rave’ reviews. Probably bribed those newspapers. Or the book just look like a bestseller. Pff. I hope to finish this book quickly.

Anyway night. Ta’ra!

I know, you know. I know. I know that healthier food choices is one of the various important factors that contribute to weight loss. Needless to say, a one factor I’ve been neglecting. Well, maybe just a little bit. But I know I need to get serious about it starting from now on. But the stuff they cook in this house! Its not like I can control what they cook! Well, mother has been suggesting I give her recipes. But the ingredients are all so confusing. Especially when you’re talking about American recipes. If this keeps up I might just start cooking my own food. :/ uhh…

I don’t like eating greens. Especially raw. However lately I’ve had a taste for the salad greens. Mainly because they are smack in the McD hamburgers hehehe. and McD burgers are good stuff. Now that I think about it, its been a while since Ive been to McD.

Aaanyway. I got my KGS card today for family member yay! Next I’ll just register for the gym and I’m all set until April 22nd 2008. For those of you who dont know, thats when I turn 21 and my membership expires. To continue I must register as a member. Ain’t happening.

I’m all set for the new year, how’s you guys huh??? I achieved all of my resolution for 2005 except one but that one is an exception because I’m gonna attempt that in 2006! Oh yeah! I’ve written down my resolutions. And its going to be another great year. (Even if it isn’t, you can still be optimistic, right?)

Sister returned from a holiday shopping trip to KL today, bearing gifts! I finally got the book Inheritence Trilogy: Eldest the one I’ve been wanting to buy. Surisingly it was way cheaper there than here. A 20 ringgit difference is a lot you know. And I also got Craig David’s new CD! Yay! The songs are awesome. Reminds you of the first album. The second album was a major disappointment but this one makes up for it. Its even better than the first one. I still havent decided on a favorite yet. But I might soon though hehehe. This CD is keping me away from Kujong (my PS2) damnit. Oh yeah, have I said I’ve been playing game instead of watching Harry Potter? Uh huh that’s right. Ive been playing Suikoden Tactics. I thought it would be called Rhapsodia, but the North American version it seems is Suikoden Tactics. Oh well. I’m not complaining. tis a good name. Im enjoying it so far.

I hope my TV cabinet hurries. I called up the store and harrassed the sales girls (two of them because I called twice). So they both have some sensibility and asked someone else apparently someone with more authority to call me back. He said the cabinet will arrive by 31st this month at the latest. Let’s just trust his integrity for now ok?

And also, I e-mailed Monash University and asked them if I could enter the degree programs after I completed my foundation. It was a short, straight to the point email. And guess what they they replied me with? It started with a brief history of Monash uni and asked that I give more info if I’m representing the student!! And at the end of the email asked if the info was any useful! DAMN RIGHT USEFUL! As useful as the mosquitoes roaming around my room! It was probably just an automtic email.

like how Mr. Leaf put it "most likely someone sitting in during the holidays firing off standard response. either that or its automated"

Its probably automated. Or that someone has just about as much brain as a crash test dummy! Pisses me off. I was anticipating this email and it turned out like this! Pff. I might as well just call them up and harrass them like I did those salesgirls. (And they better have my cabinet!)

Ok that’s all for my ranting. I’m off! *poof*

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrghh!!! ITS INSANE!!! While I was gone, the stock market was ripe with activities!! Look at THIS! Two gaps! TWO GAPS! All happening while I was away from the internet!! Gaahh this is what makes me feel so frustrated! Even Microsoft had activities going on. After going strong throughout November, it goes down again at the beginning of December! I thought Christmas is a good time for it with all the Xbox 360 being sold and all. Pfff!

Just goes to say a good trade waits for no one!

The day’s event. Well I didnt exercise in the morning as I had planned to but I did exercise later in the afternoon hehehehe. AFter I came back from the airport I went to the Triangle. Oooh yeah. Great place to be on xmas. Was looking for that hat, but only the thin ugly one was available *cries* so I didnt buy it. I also wanted to watch Narnia but decided against it because I wanted to go back and workout (and as mentioned earlier, I didnt). And instead of watching Harry Potter DVD I spent the good part of the day reading the script for Vandal Hearts 2. I found the whole story script from gamefaqs.com (yes, the whole story). I played a bit of that game, but then stopped because the picture in the textbox was terrible. Like, really terrible. You can hardly tell the character’s looks. After reading some reviews, I finally found the words to describe the picture box. They are a poor attempt at making the characters’ portraits. Whats with that? And to quote a reviewer, avoid this game like a plague. If you don’t mind the crappy graphics, play it. But if you’re planning to buy a tactics game, get Final Fantasy Tactics instead. Its a Final Fantasy. You won’t be disappointed.

Now should I start playing Rhapsodia (to be politically correct because the cover was vainly named Suikoden Tactics.) or watch Harry Potter? Decisions, decisions.

Here I am, back from a long absence! I have much to tell. There has not been much happening the days before my trip to the Land Below the Wind. Anyway it was a great trip and the seafood was excellent! I can’t say enough about this though. Although some varieties can be pricey (like the lobsters) but you only eat fresh lobsters once so its well worth it. Buttered lobsters yum yum yum. And I ride the banana boat for the first time! Whee! Would have been more fun to have fallen off the boat a few times but nothing happened! *pfff* And thanks to my dad’s friend who lent us his car for our stay and went out of his way to show us around and stuff. Thank you Uncle Jamal and family! Met some really great people. Hope to see you people again!

Oh by the way, Merry Christmas and happy new year! I don’t celebrate xmas but I did went out tonight. Went to eat steamboat with Farida and Elain. Its Farida’s last night here because she’s leaving tomorrow for uni. Well, I’m gonna miss you my faithful driver (LOL). Just kidding heh. I do hope she keeps exercising. It would do her good. I will lose a jogging partner it seems, but at least my sis still keeps me company. And I wonder about that KGS application. I hope it completes quickly because I want to register for the gym. So much hassle. Anyway I’ll be seeing her off at the airport tomorrow too.

Once she’s gone, I wont have anyone to torture for some time. Sniff sniff…

AH well. Life goes on. Summer semester is such a drag. I even started skipping classes. Bad. But its the boring class. Cant stand two hours of it. The teacher wont stop unless its a full two-hour. Torture!

Ugh! Ate so much. Steamboat and grill. All-you-can-eat too. One day I’m going to try a christmas buffet at the hotels. Roast turkey, beef, pie..*drools*

*wipes saliva off her chin* err right. Hmm my plans for tomorrow. Its Christmas eh? So I’m in the holiday season. I plan to have a movie marathon. Well…I only have one movie to watch actually. But who knows? I might just go get some more tomorrow. And I want one of those cute red santa hats too. Pop it on my head as I sit down watching Harry Potter with popcorn and pepsi. Ah~ the life!

I therefore seriously need to workout tomorrow. Lest I gain unneccessary pounds! O_O

Need to be fit for the new year. Some total makeover is needed too! Yeah, go me!

By the way, yesterday I saw a display of impulse buying at its best! hahaha. Well second best, perhaps. There’s been worse cases hehe. It happens when you attack the supermarket without a shopping list. Then you ended up buying stuff you think you might need and left out all the stuff you actually need lol! I bought a lot of apples. Gonna have juices for the new year! Yeah!!

So tired. Wanna sleep. Good night!

This here is like the appetizer. I have a lot to say after my long online absence. We got a new modem installed and the connection is up and running again. I’m happy. Might have pictures too later on, so look forward to that hehehehe. For now, I have to get ready for class hehehehe. Bye bye.

I think from now on I will stop going to the Open Lab at night until things there improve. I mean, the people there spend their time playing warcraft, are noisy and rude and don’t keep a satisfactory level of hygiene (if you know what I mean).

So yeah, that.

Anyway this isn’t a pre-made post like my previous ones. Finally, a fresh one eh? Hehehehe. Im taking time out at the library now to go check on online updates. Man its almost the new year but my connection is still not up!! Pffff!

Yesterday I’m supposed to go for a jog in the morning with my sis for her first time. But I think I slammed the alarm button of my clock when it rang and I went to back to sleep. Woke up a bit later though. But it seems my sis didn’t get up too. Some commitment :P. I made a resolution to work out as much as I can this sem so I’m gonna stick to it. I made a list too yesterday on a yellow stick-it note and stuck it to my mirror. Listed a few things I need to get done. Now Im almost done with it. So, yay! At least I get to use my yellow stick on notes hehehe.

So what’s been happening hmmm. On Tuesday night I went for a late night movie with my friend. It was Kung Fu Mahjong 2, funny movie hehehe. It was worth a late night movie because its funny. Planning to watch Zathura but was 20 minutes late. And suppsoedly to watch it the next day on Wednesday but went too late too and I don’t like to do things last minute like that. Especially when going to watch a movie. If I am not satisfied I might go buy the DVD (pirated one of course, except for Harry Potter hehehe).

Oh and some people might notice that I’ve been avoiding to watch Harry Potter GoF. Its because Im waiting for it on DVD for maximum satisfaction.

Also on Tuesday I finally bought the new Suikoden game. The actual title is Rhapsodia, but the one I have is carelessly anmed Suikoden Tactics. You can’t expect much from a pirated version but really but I dont mind the cover, as long as the game is the same :D. I don’t think I’ll be able to play it any time soon. I have assignments due and overdue :/. Besides, I’m going to the Land Below the Wind this Sunday. Can’t wait. So have to finish a few things before I leave. More homework!….yay!

Oh and finally, yesterday I put the juicer to work! Its been on a long sabbatical. I stuffed it with carrots and later apples. But I found some fresh stack of banana at home and decided to put it in with the last chunk of apple. Well bananas on their own dont have a lot of juice and the mix of apple+banana I made taste…well, not good. So don’t try it. Unless you’re a big banana fan. Im glad it was only a bit though O_O. I think now I need to go buy more fruits and veges to make juice of. After all, fruits and veges are best consumed when raw and they still retain the enzymes our bodies need that get burned off when cooked. Since I hate eating veges unless they are cooked, I turned them into juice. So you can still get your 5 servings of fruits and vege a day - but they will taste good!

I think I wanna go watch Narnia today.

See how that goes, okay?

Ta’ra!

Hello. I noticed lately that I like to talk about myself.
…
Im not complaining. Are you?
So what’s been up eh? Hmm let’s see. After yesterday’s session it accounts for the third time I went out for a jog at that place. Not a bad place for a jog really. Especially on week days when its almost deserted. I won’t stop going there until I can run around the lake without stopping. How’s that for a commitment eh? But now I have two parties to join for the morning jog. I am considering jogging in the morning and evening hehehhe. I hope that’s not too much, hm. Either way, my outdoor running shoes peeled off finally. Made a weird flappy sound as I walk hehehehe. So now I am forced to wear my indoor shoes O_O. This pair is rather new and it has never been exposed to outdoor footing before. I am extremely careful when using it because I dont want to ruin it so early. I read that if you’re an avid jogger, you have to change shoes every three months for your own safety. I hope I wont have to do that anytime soon!
I can feel my stamina increasing with the running I’ve been doing (even though its only been three days hahaha). But surprisingly my running partner seemed to have fit into her jeans lol. She said when she got back from uni she can’t even fit into them jean skirts but now she can. Really rapid effects we have here. Other than that, the eating factor accounts for it too. If she doesn’t control what she eats it doesnt matter how much calories she burned if she’s just going to succumb to temptation and hunger and regained them all. So I helped her picked a cereal for breakfast (and dinner):D. This is a pretty neat dietary system. Its not really a diet, more like a eating habit. Like I said, dieting by starving yourself never work. The only way to lose weight and keep it off is to change your lifestyle, in particularly, eating habits. The Kelloggs diet plans consists of you eating cereal for breakfast and replace cereal for either lunch or dinner. I prefer replacing dinner for cereal if you ask me. You just eat normally for lunch then (rice, noodle, etc). I’ve told this to a couple of people but lately its me with the obsession for whole grains cereals hehehe.
Oh yes! Last Saturday night, I watched the Miss Oriental Pearl Pageant on TV. Oh wow, SO MANY HOT LADIES!!!!! I was practically drooling and melting in front of the TV. I keep shouting in my head "THAT’S the figure I want!" but of course, some of them were too skinny. I especially liked contestants numbers 2, 10 (my fav of all),12, 23, 24, 36 40 and 42. Actually theres more but I cant really recall all their numbers. And one named Joyce from Amsterdam. Wooo she’s HOT!! I WANT HER!!!! SHE’S MINE, MINE, MINE!! (Omar you can have number 1 for all I care. She’s no match for the combined beauty of all of MINE! MWAHAHAHA)
Today is 6th December. I received funds I think around over a week ago but when I tracked my expenditures its alrealy over RM 60!!! W00T! I need to be more careful on what I spend my money on :/.
So the new year is a-coming! It marks yet again another beginning! I already write down my new year’s resolution. I’m inspired by my last year’s resolution that I have fulfilled. It feels great aye?
By the way, I did mention about yo-yos huh? Well there’s this yo-yo that lights up when you play it on a cupboard outside my room. Well, as I was bored I started toying with it. I found out that playing yo-yos is much like human relationships. See, when you pull the yoyo too hard it will spin and tangle on its own string. There’s a sense of moderation and patience in how you pull the strings and control momentum. But then again, even if its spin all over the place at the end of the string, you can always put it back in order by using the right amount of force. Now that’s just creepy. To compare relationships with yoyos? In addition, as yoyos go up and down, so does the human emotions. there’s always the highs and lows but with patience and well, practice, it gets better. Hey this does NOT imply to me! Unless of course its with guys like these :D.

Silver hair anyone? Let me introduce you to Kuja and the winged one, Katan. And sorry, they are both, again, MINE! Mwahahahahahah!!

And besides. Who could resist a silver-haired hottie with wings? :D:D
…But that Miss World thing coming up…I’M NOT MISSING IT!!!!!
Have a nice day. Ta’ra!

Sarcasm. everywhere. i forgot to bring my disket. wanted to talk about yo-yos with some pics but i left the pics at home as i was leaving for class. just wait for my next post then i guess hehehe. and the weekend is here. which translate into 2 days of no internet connection for me. i’ve been dependent on the uni pc lab lately. …that’s not good. :/ err wait. thats 3 days without internet connection. monday is day off too. i am so not enjoying this.

just now as i was filling up the weekly planner for study&info subject, i actually had to look through my blog to see what i have been doing the past three weeks. its freaky in a way. i never thought the blog would serve any educational purposes at all. its actually a planner which means you put stuff in first and act according to it. but i have been filling in the past weeks’ ones like it was a personal diary where i just put what i did instead of what i should be doing. but who cares right? theres 6 more weeks coming so its not too late to start.

tomorrow i shall be doing more jogging. my legs are slightly sore but not bad. i’m just starting so its normal for the body to protest at first hehehe. when your body speaks to you, you gotta listen to it. if you push it too hard it will tell you in ways you wish it hadn’t.

lately the only type of vegetation that i consume is bananas. they are good for you, of course. so from now on I’m going bananas!

have to go now. good night!

p/s if you notice the lack of caps and capital letters on certain words, its because this keyboard is so weird that you turn off caps lock using the shift button. im just not used to that so for now i just dropped the formalities.

Thursday, Dec 1st 2005

Today, for the first time I went out for a jog outside my neighbourhood. Finally! FINALLY! Yeah well I’ve been planning to go jogging for a while now anyway. So I’m mighty glad I finally went on one. If not because of my jogging companion, it would have been so veriest boring. It felt funny. When I workout at home, I do a full 20 minute session and sweated like a pig and felt all the enrgy drained from me. But jogging is just well, unless you walked for at least an hour, you wouldnt feel like you’ve jogged at all! Because the session is spread out depending on how long you plan to jog, say, an hour. And no, God NO! I can’t jog for 20 minutes straight! I can jog for 10 mins max and then walk, then jog, walk, jog, walk, walk, walk. Yeah I notice the abundance of walking. But I do get winded pretty easily. But at least I can last longer than before. Well, its a start. As Denise said, The hardest part is getting started. She got that right. Now all I need is to fix my running shoes. The rubber at the bottom is peeling off. :/
And also, man what an eventful day! A relative of mine was admitted to the hospital today and she’s pretty critical. Praying the best for her, that’s all I can do. All her relatives kinda came over and stuff. I was surprised to see so many cars when I got back from class. Oh man this is depressing me. Let’s talk about something else, shall we?
Okay okay. Last night I started another comic. I had so many ideas in my head. I wasn’t sure which one to do because either one could make it through a short story (one of many actually -_-"). It was a hard decision but I finally started one and a very good opening (in my opinion hehehe). I decided on it depending which one had the stronger "Feeling", the one with the most emotions in the characters usually win. I like it when the characters actually have a point to prove to others. That just inspires me.

That’s all then. Ta’ra!