Keep your enemies closer

Keep your enemies closer

It's that sort of saying that supposed to be witty or funny, or it could possibly be straight out of the successful businessman-slash-corporate-player's handbook: Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.

In the current state of mind I am in, I choose to interpret it as a quote that's in the same vein as "Familiarity breeds contempt." Enemies and friends are thus not disjoint entities, and hence friends can become enemies, precisely because they become far too close.

Friends are held close to the heart, and this precisely grants them the oppressive power they wield. They're given the opportunity to inflict the harshest pain because of their proximity. They could stab you if they want to, but we like to sweep that disturbing thought under the rug, and rely on that bright yellow sign that reads "FRIENDSHIP".

But the fact remains that friends can become enemies, however subversive and unthinkable the act of stabbing may be. Who do we trust really? Beats me.

Oh well. When life delivers a nasty surprise, sometimes we just shrug and accept the way the cookie crumbles.

* * *

Haha! Semi-random thoughts. Don't worry guys, I'm OK! =P The Joseph is well and good and getting pumped up for the exams.

* * *

Good news of the day: Of the four kilograms that Joseph lost during the Dark times of last semester, he has gained one kilo back! Good eating habits (sleeping habits are still screwed up though) helped quite a lot, so eat your bananas and apples and bread and eggs you guys!

The End

The End

My GEK1046: Intro to Cultural Studies projectmates and I finally uploaded our project online yesterday. Samantha and I worked the longest and hardest on it (the day before I was powered by coffee and slept at 7AM making the rough final draft, as Sam was similarly burdened with a truckload with essays to do on top of her church commitments), thus we both felt totally relieved that it was finally finished. It was a Powerpoint presentation about The Real Cultural Influence of Reality TV, and I personally feel it was a well-done project. I handled the layout and design, apart from a good chunk of the text, and I even included a lot of fun editorial cartoons & comic strips and googled (and searched in Flickr) for really nice images to make the presentation look sleek and classy. Each in our group of five of course all contributed input, and everyone wanted it to work. As it was only Sam and I who chose the module to be letter-graded instead of opting for the pass/fail option (module not included in cumulative grade calculation), we had a lot more at stake and thus we were given free rein to tweak it as much as we wished. Congratulations to the whole group for a job well done.

The submission was significant to me. It marked the end of the various required submissions and lectures and tutorials of the semester. It marked the beginning of Revision Week, in preparation for next week's exams. This particular semester violently took its toll on me, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and thus allow me to mark the end of that ugly period now, and consider the revision and the exams separate.

* * *

Endings are funny things. They are poignant reminders of how we performed in the events leading to it, they teach us closure, and the need to move on. I'm also graduating very soon, and hence the concept of "The End" is particularly resonant to me.

There are many endings that happen every day, particularly recently for me, and I think these deserve particular attention, so we're not caught off-guard. More importantly, to borrow from the band Semisonic, every new beginning is some other beginning's end. Time to start afresh.

It's time to take a bow, drop the curtains, roll the credits. It's been interesting, thank you very much, but now, on to the next leg.

Happy Post

Happy Post

I know I haven't been blogging, and I presume that equates to less blog visitors (not that I was one for the big crowd anyway -- I was more after the small intimate crowd after all, but I digress), but I just cannot quite stand a depressing post at the forefront of the blog, when I'm not quite depressed anymore. Seriously, it's just not right. And hence, this post.

Yep, Jose is in good spirits again. It may not be for long (or it may be), but everything's OK now and that's always nice.

Last week was The Week, according to Karen. And it was, on many levels. Karen and Mega, happy happy first anniversary! I know Karen is relishing my compliments, and I probably should stop, but here's one more: GET MARRIED. You're perfect for each other. =P

Michael John also came over to Singapore from the Philippines last week. I had initial apprehensions about the timing of his Monday-to-Friday visit, as it fell on a week that was incredibly toxic for me (following a similarly stressful week), the highlight of which was my 3000-word Literature essay due last Wednesday. But as it turned out, Mike's timing couldn't be any more perfect.

Thanks Mike, for reminding me to relax and enjoy myself, and for pointing out I need to go out more. :) Haha yes, the dangers of a living in a self-sustaining community like NUS.. one can very well live in it, forgetting about the "outside world". And so, dear Michael John, as much as I had a shortage of sleep in your brief stay here, I'm very happy you did visit, and I realized I sort of missed you old buddy! Haha. Besides, it was good to get reacquainted with the Merlion and Esplanade and Ministry of Sound and Clarke Quay and Chijmes and discovering Vivo City too! I'm glad you enjoyed shopping around at Orchard and Suntec and Marina Square and elsewhere too, Mike, even if Karen and I weren't there due to our classes during the day. Karen, we seriously should congratulate ourselves for making Operation: Michael John a big success. :)


*unfinished post*

Today is November 13th, and it's been a week since I made this post. I had every intention of finishing it, but I never did. It's been marked as "Draft" too long, so let's just put this up so it doesn't get too dated, shall we?