Bittersky.org

These days have not been the most eventful ones. I’ve been working six days a week, meeting friends and generally trying to get used to the hectic life in Hong Kong again. That does not leave too much time for other stuff. I probably haven’t been as active in online communities as I was before - but this will hopefully change when the new semester starts. You could not possibly get more free time than a university student.

It amazed me that my online friends have been very supportive, especially the masterminds on VegOpt. A few real life friends have been caring too, but others didn’t get to talk to me or see me much and that they aren’t quite used to keeping in touch online. There are times that I miss Glasgow too much that it hurts, but there are plenty of other things which can take my mind off it.

Anyway, I shall write more no matter how busy I am or how I feel. That’s a promise, Wordpress. When I look back, I will be glad that I’ve kept track of everything.

Random thoughts time. I can hardly wait for September. And I really want to see Evan Almighty.

I’ve been thinking of putting this mini-rant together for a while. The fact that I’m working on an essay due next Monday has made this possible.

Before you read on: Both online and real life friends are aware of my strong reluctance to debate. Everybody is entitled to his or her own opinion, but when there is a debate, people tend to lose their heads and try too hard to prove others wrong. I like hearing other people’s thoughts but I do not desire talking to someone who thinks I’m stupid because I have different opinions on certain matters. Feel free to share your thoughts no matter you agree with me or not. Just keep in mind that my intention is far from upsetting anybody and I am not interested in getting in any sort of argument. Discussions are fine, arguments aren’t.

A few friends have pointed out that I’m very much an internet person and that I cannot live without it. Although it is not always true, I admit I like being on the internet. There are too many things about it that I like, such as the amount of information and the possibility to interact with people on the other side of the world. However, when a place is filled with too many diversities, some things are bound to go wrong. A few popular online habits have recently come to my attention, in a bad way. Allow me to explain why they bother me so much.

1. Pay Per Post
I might have lofty standards, but selling your (supposedly personal) blog sound like a bad idea to me. It is even worse than putting advertisements on your site because PPP posts are advertisements in disguise occupying the main content area of the website. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against anyone who just wants to make some money for their debts or loans. However, I have also made it very clear that I do not want to read those posts. A few of my LJ friends crossposts all their PPP posts to their LJ, which takes up most of my friends page. That bugs me to no end.

2. Text speaking
While I don’t text speak in text messages, I completely understand how painful it is to type on mobile phones and feel obliged to endure poor spelling in my phone. You have no excuse to do that when you have a full proper keyboard with you though. Text speaking shows extreme laziness and poor communication skills. You will eventually lose the ability to spell, although it is not like you treasure it now.

3. Posting self portraits on public messages boards saying “OMG I look so awful!”
For the last time, if you actually think you look awful, do not show your pictures. If you think you are gorgeous, do not pretend you lack self-confidence and throw lines like that to get compliments. There are people who really need such encouragement, and those people can’t even look at themselves in the mirror - not to mention taking pictures.

4. Overuse of internet slangs
Using “lol” or “lmao” can be funny at times. But when you type “lol” every five words in an instant messaging conversation, it gets tiring and very, very annoying - not to mention when you use it like that in a blog. Seriously, we all know you are not even laughing or rolling on the floor. Because if you laugh at that frequency, you should already have died of suffocation and we would have been rid of such stupidity.

5. E-pokes and nudges
Or whatever you call them. The above two are the terms used on Facebook and MSN. These refers to an online way to get someone’s attention with just one click without saying anything at all. It is like those people have problems communicating. You’d wish they knew people usually start a conversation with “hi”. In fact, if they actually don’t know what to say but want to talk, just tell me so. When someone cannot gather the energy to even type a “hello”, I will take it as I’m not even worth the minimal effort.

Hopefully I have managed to express my sentiment towards these habits. I wish for them to disappear every single day, with little luck. I doubt they ever will - like I said certain ridiculousness is inevitable with all the diversities. Now that you know how I feel about them, I’d appreciate a favour of leaving me in peace without harassing me with them.

Does anybody know of a decent script or plugin which allows you to post and manage photographs? I’m using Google’s Picasa for the gallery page as of now, but it is not working quite the way I desire it to. I like Photobucket, but it is painful to upload so many images all at once. Thanks in advance!

My Easter trip, named Melody’s Trip to Ireland 2007 (courtesy of my flatmate Grace and her friend Ashley), will start next Tuesday. I’ll fly to Belfast, stay with a friend for a bit and meet up a couple flatmates. Then I will head to “the country”, spend some time with Grace and Ashley’s family and possibly going down to Dublin. I was talking to a new online friend (who is Northern Irish) last night, and he made me very excited about the trip already! I will be sure to make myself at least touch some horses or sheep - I’ve never seen any real ones.

Speaking of this new friend, it was surprising how much we have in common. Saying that he is a male version of me would be an insult to him, but we do like and dislike the same things. It’s been a while since I last had a conversation which I didn’t even need to try to hold. How I enjoy talking to people who share my somewhat obscure interests!

One thing I like about the internet is that although you still cannot be friends with everyone, you never find it hard to get along with people online. If you dislike someone, you can just ignore or delete them. Real life is completely different. A few of you might be aware of my problems with one of my flatmates. My feeling towards him is mixed. While I know he is good in nature and does not mean to do any harm, the things he actually says and does are slowly crushing my barely existent ego and he doesn’t have a clue. He said that I was always unhappy, I don’t blame him because he does not know what I have been through and I don’t know him enough to tell. He said I was rude and disgusting, and too stupid to understand his jokes. He might have said those as jokes, but the words he used did not sound good to a girl at all. I feel guilty to feel relieved that he’s gone home for Easter now. Can someone please tell me what to do and how to deal?

It is quite easy to neglect a blog, especially a public one like this. Sometimes you just do not bother to write things which everybody can read. It is hard not to mention certain people without having to explain who they are. I’m back and trying, given that I still love this domain to pieces.

This is the last week of class before Easter break, and nobody is in the mood for classes. Nobody has read much of Ulysses before going to the tutorial on Thursday and they basically spent the whole period discussing how hard it is. Not one of the best classes I have.

Kevin shaved his head. It makes him look like a crack dealer, but also incredibly cute when you look closer. Things have been hard for him but he managed to relax while he was here.

Back home there’s a fuss about photos, graduation etc. There have also been some fucked up break-ups and changes. Although I did have an idea of all these happening before I set my feet on Glasgow, it is weird to be so distant. I’ve always felt isolated so it isn’t that much of a problem. It just makes me wonder what if I were there all along, and what I will be.

Manda decided to be awesome and created a fanlisting for me.. This time I’m not going to be a loser and ask you to join. However, for the effort she’s put, do pay a visit! She put a few of my favourite things together and it looks amazing. Thank you, Manda!

It has been almost a month since I last posted. I have been a bit busy at school as the courses were getting harder and I needed to catch up. Tomorrow will be the first day of winter holiday!

Last week, Kevin took me to the cinema and we watched “Tenacious D - The Pick of Destiny”. It was quite a dumb movie itself and I’m not a big fan of hard loud rock music. We enjoyed the movie nonetheless. Jack Black and Kyle Gass were more than slightly overweight and that was funny watching them. The songs are really hilarious, too. We both agree that last song was bizzare: Satan taking Kyle Gass back to hell “to be his little bitch”? It was so wrong. However, Kevin could not stop singing it. It surprised me because he’d only listened to it once.

This year I’m taking part in the Secret Santa game at both TFL and TAFL boards and it’s really fun. Making gifts for people is quite a new experience for me, but I’m enjoying it so far. My Secret Santas are utter nice to me. The TAFL Santa made a pretty layout for reverie-lost.net featuring L (I have yet to write the css). The TFL Santa made a bunch of pretty icons, a header for reverie-lost.net and link buttons for bittersky.org! I’m really thankful, I feel like I’ve really been good this year.

Speaking of fanlistings, I’m now a trouble checker for the series category at TAFL. My first trouble check was a bit late due to technical problems. Kel, the staffer was very understanding about it. I feel happy about my new “job”.

I bought the two CDs I listed in my last entry and I am in love with Sound the Alarm. [Shout out to Sophie: I beg you not to confuse Saves the Day with Fall Out Boy. They are not the same because Saves the Day is way better (in my opinions anyway). Their lyrics always remind me of poetry, metaphors and imagery.] Kevin also borrowed me a few CDs. I’ve been listening to so much new music these days and it makes me somewhat contented. Damien Rice’s music is the next thing I’ll try out.

I’m flying to the south of England next week. I’m looking forward to it.