.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

<<~ wakarimasen! ~>>

Saturday, September 24, 2005

To Friends...

Yesterday was the last day we'll ever have to wake up in the morning, wonder what we should wear and realise that we really have no say in the matter. The last day we'll ever sit around in a classroom pretending to do work when all we're really doing is getting frustrated at the crossword. I've spent six years bagging out Sefton at every opportunity and now that we can finally leave it all behind, I've found something about it that's not so bad. My friends have always been there to back me up, no matter how crazy my ambitions were. They've been there to celebrate my successes and to comfort me in times of distress. You guys all kick ass harder than any superhero ever created and I'll always be there for you because I know you'll be there for me. Much love.

The graduation ceremony went surprisingly well. I remember last year's year twelves went out in tears, but not our grade. We hardly cried a single tear. Not ecause we're all cold, heartless bums, but because we knew that we'd see each other again, far too many times. You'd figure that on our very last day at school, they might get it all done properly. Alas, 'tis too much to ask from Sefton. Quoting from the graduation certificates that we received, we all "graduated on the 23rd november, 2005". It'd be lovely if yesterday was the 23rd of november because that would mean my exams would all be over.

After the rather dry affair that was our final role call, a few of us (pronounced "large mob") crashed the nearby bowling alley for a few hours. I tell you, I have never played a worse or a better game of bowling than I did yesterday. First game score: 54 ><. Second game score: 108 ^^ (a new record for me). But the best part of it all was that I kicked arse with my friends as witness and because I'll be seeing you guys around till death do us part, I'm never going to let any of you forget it, so there!

After that, it was time to head back to the school for the luncheon. The food looked great. But that's about where the goodness ended. The cordial tasted like what I imagine diluted urine would taste like, the roast beef tasted like foam and would have made more suitable plates than the crappy foam things we got. Dessert provided saving grace for the catering company. Mmmmmm... chocolate cake.... And to top it all off, our beloved year advisor bought us a jumbo cake to celebrate his finally getting rid of us (even though he said it was because we were a "relatively untroublesome bunch"). By the way, if you heard a hell of a lot of balloons popping, that was Keagan and myself getting rather bored and sick of the crappola music.

After that, a quick train trip (the trains were on time, believe it or not) to Cabramatta to pick up Ansel and then onto a bus to my place to grab some stuff for the party. That's right, it's not just a party, it was the party to end all parties because the hosts (Mary, Phoebe and myself) rock! Having said that, it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without everybody that attended. Thanks for rocking the house, burning up the dance floor and remaining generally well behaved. And a particularly huge thanks to Ace, Xing, William, Melissa, Minh, Thuy, Ansel, Sarah, Merlin, Likan, Mary's family and Mandy (in order of importance =P. Mandy and Ace will get the joke) for getting there early to help set up and prepare the food (which, incidentally, hardly anybody ate) and for helping us clean the place up afterwards. You guys are the best and if you ever have parties, I'd be more than happy to be your slave for a few hours. Thanks also to Vatche for bartending the entire night and making sure that we all stayed (mostly) sober. The music wasn't exactly to my taste (rnb = run n' barf) but I was far too happy (and/or drunk) to care and 'danced' the night away (as I do at most parties).

Happy birthday to Phoebe (who shares the same b'day as me), Mai (who also shares the same b'day), Mary (who turns eighteen in a few days and because she's just Mary) and to Amelia from Singapore (who will be turning eighteen tomorrow). Oh, and happy birthday to me as well =P.

I guess that's all I have to say for now. This may be my last post for a while, assuming my plans to 'study' for the HSC actually go ahead. Admittedly, I'm rather skeptical about that actually happening, but just in case it does: GOOD LUCK CLASS OF '05!

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Finally it Ends, and None Too Soon

A Stage Play by Nicholas Chow

[Music- Channel Ten News]

Anchor 1: Hello and welcome to Channel Ten News- first at five.

[Technician whisper’s into Anchor’s ear]

Anchor 1: Ah, that’s second at five. (Mumbles) Damn Channel Seven at four-thirty, beating our copyrights on a technicality. Our top stories tonight: Beck Cartwright’s doubts over partner Hewitt’s choice of toilet paper, Tom Cruise says “no” to much needed brain surgery saying unwanted spiritual beings are after him, and some cute cute kittens rescued from a tiger’s pen at Taronga Zoo. Oh and in other news, peace declared in the Middle East, George W. Bush says “what global warming?” in our exclusive interview with him at the new Hilton Tropical resort in Antarctica, and there is a very very big comet hurtling towards our planet. Those less rating-orientated stories towards the end of the show, I mean… news bulletin…

Anchor 2: But first, Big Brother is watching, though it seems he might need laser eye correction surgery. The show’s host Gretel Killeen and its producers have been unexpectedly arrested at a live broadcast and detained without bail for a blatant violation of human rights. With shameless self-promotion, here are a few moments from the best show there is- Big Brother.

[Music- Big Brother]

[Focus on Gretel]

Gretel Killeen: Hello and welcome to another episode of Big Brother! Live! I’m Gretel Killeen! I’m blonde! Oh, no I’m not! We’ve got another exciting night for you sad voyeurs! Yeah! Excited?! Tonight, we’re introducing a new concept to Big Brother- one that hasn’t been done for nearly a week! We will be introducing an intruder with a dark secret! Without further ado, here’s another exciting look into the current situation in the household!

[Focus on household]

[Sound- Crickets]

Girl with hands over ears rocking backwards and forwards, talking to herself

A couple lying motionless on the floor

A group in the middle doing the Sudoku, one member who is looking at her hands

People reading newspapers

A guy walks over to join group

Guy: You can’t put a three there- you already have it in this column.

Group member: Damn it! Now the whole thing’s stuffed!

Bimbo: Argh! The Sudoku makes my brain hurt!

Group member: (Mumbles) Hand over the twenty bucks- I told you she had one.

Bimbo walks over to motionless couple

Bimbo: Anthony! Cleo! Kicks them. Phew! Where’s that stench of decomposing flesh coming from? Guys! I need your help, this is sooo serious. Which of my hands are bigger? My left or right? Looks at hands quizzically. Guys! Having no response she starts walking over to the sofa- nearly slips near the couple. Who left that red sticky liquid lying around that’s starting to clot? Sits on sofa next to Ariel and Cher, who is waving clothes in front of herself. Proceeds to hold her hands up to the light.

Bimbo: Oh Cher, what are you doing?

Cher: I can’t decide what to wear!

Bimbo: Get a life Cher.

Cher: But I have a way normal life!

Big Brother: Ariel, this… is Big Brother speaking. Proceed to the swimming pool and make sure to wear a very white t-shirt.

Ariel: Oh, not again!

Ariel gets up and moves off stage

Big Brother: This…is Big Brother speaking. I am going to open the pen doors for the intruder. Do not attempt to exercise your Constitutional right to freedom.

[Sound of door opening]

Man walks in

Linda leaves Sudoku group and walks over to the newly arrived man

Girl: Hi! I’m Linda. What’s your name sweetheart?

George: George. My name is George.

Linda: Pleased to meet you George. Shakes his hand. George wipes his hand on his pants. I heard that you have a dark dark secret. Between you and me, can it be more exciting than this place already is?

[Sound- Wind] Tumble weed rolls across stage

George: Yes. Yes it is.

Linda: Oh yeah? What is it?

George: This!

George pulls out an MP5 sub machine gun

Housemates scream and run frantic

Couple on the floor motionless

Girl still rocking backwards and forwards

Bimbo still sitting on sofa looking at hands

Sudoku Group: No!!! Was it a seven or a four?

Group Member: Is this a test?

[Sound- Door opening and battle noises]- Enter swat team

Swat Team: Freeze! Don’t move!

Swat team proceeds to disarm George and arrest him

Gretel Killeen jumps up as officers start surrounding her

Gretel Killeen: What’s all this? I demand to know!

Man with big “DOCS” sign on shirt walks up to her

DOCS: Mrs Killeen

Gretel Killeen: That’s Ms Killeen! But ah…you can call me Gretel…

DOCS: MS Killeen, we’re arresting you and your associates under the Mental Health Act 1990 for the exploitation and detention of these mentally disabled contestants.

Gretel Killeen: Oh the housemates aren’t mentally disabled!

[Focus on girl with hands over ears rocking backwards and forwards talking to herself. Gretel and DOCS both look.]

Gretel Killeen: Laughs nervously

Gretel ushered off stage with a towel over her head

[Focus back to Channel Ten News]

Anchor 1 & 2 are standing up saluting Gretel as she departs

They sit

Anchor 2: Sighs contently. And we’ll be back with the weather with Tim Bailey after this short commercial break.

[Focus on Tim Bailey]

Tim Bailey: I may not be that good of a weatherman and not know the difference between snow and sleet, but I’ve been to more places and shopping centres than you have! Ha!

[Music- Channel Ten News]

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Reflection

She stood on the street
With a cigarette.
The air, their hands - cold and numb
Beneath the gray blanket.

The flaxened adulteress tempts him
To be the first to taste her vintage.
It is her traitorous lips that bleed
Him from the inside
While outside he drowns
In her designer misery.

All he wants is her
Affection.
She wants the same thing
From her reflection,
Expects a smile,
Finds only tears.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Birthday Party

Here's the deal - turning eighteen on the very last day of school I'll ever have to attend (great farewell gift. Thanks alot, Sefton). To celebrate, I'm co-hosting a party with Mary and maybe Phoebe (who happens to be turning eighteen on the same day). The hall we're hiring takes about 200 people, so you're all invited (as far as I know). But, we're having minor problems with picking the food and the music. Any suggestions/requests?

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Wasted Weekend!

That pretty much sums up the last forty odd hours. Unfortunately, it's not the kind of 'wasted' commonly associated with consuming copious ammounts of alcohol, but it was just as mindless. A complete and utter waste of time, even by weekend standards. How is that possible, you may ask? Well, it all started with UNSW open day on Saturday, which was a damn fine excuse not to go to tutor for the second week running (last week's excuse was Japanese speaking exam). The psychology lecture was far from being informative, but it was pretty interesting none the less. Especially the pick-the-culprit video that we watched. Lecturer: "The correct answer is that you did not see any of these nine people in the video". I feel jipped...

Between arriving home yesterday and now, I've completed forty five sudoku puzzles. No, that's not a typo, I actually did complete forty five of them in an attempt to avoid any real work. That's on top of the three or four that I almost finished but botched near the end. As William was telling me, "you can make a career out of this". =P

In summary:
45 + 0
=number of sudokus completed + information gained at open day
= a wasted weekend

Note: currently nursing a headache induced by sudokus and bruising caused to head as a result of frustration from dumbing down my script for the dumb masses.