Friday, July 31, 2009

Summing Up

It had been a couple of days since he last updated his blog. Suddenly, he remembered, vividly, the feeling of non-posting again - the feeling you get after the initial enthusiasm of blogging once more. Addictive as non-posting could be, he had sworn to himself to upkeep this site and honour his vow. And he would do it.

One week had passed since the quarantining of his college. Truth to be told, he had merely hibernated at home. Homework was almost again untouched, but because he wanted to watch Harry Potter tomorrow, guilt-free, he ruefully completed his Math. OK, as good as completed his Math.

On the plus side, he had bought two new pairs of shoes (one leather, one sports), finished Angels and Demons, achieved 3.86s on typing A-Z and watched 3 seasons of South Park.

All in all, a good week indeed.

-Back to porkless hell-

Monday, July 27, 2009

The Great Depression

Jood learned a new word today: ennui. Instead of the common ennui of winter, of exams, etc, he also discovered a new usage of the word.

ennui of unforeseen semester breaks

Contrary to his initial anticipation of rest, relaxation and enjoyment, the week was swiftly evolving into a bowl of cold porridge of boredom, much like the one he had to eat this afternoon. TV wasn't much help; his long span away from home had sadly made him lose interest in programmes he was previously hooked on - House, CSIs and (embarassing as it is) The Nanny. Depressing.

Thankfully, he found new refuge in Wipeout (an awesome unofficial sequel to Fear Factor) and in his latest investment, Angels and Demons. But if the days ahead emulated today - rain rain rain rain rain - he wouldn't hold much longer.

He needed to get OUT.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Paradoxes, Swans and Light

He was eighteen, for god's sake. And so he had to read materials an eighteen year old would be caught reading. No, nothing pornographic, religious or political. But fiction would definitely be cut down and Enid Blyton a thing of the past.

With the two RM50 MPH vouchers he was given for winning the German Spelling Bee - where he only had to spell three words: Chipkarte (mircrochip), Forschungsgemeinschaft (research team) and Nationalsozialismus (national socialism) - he wasted no time and made a beeline for Subang Parade, whose MPH was commendably sized. And yes, Germans always freakin' glue their words together like that. It bloody annoyed him sometimes.

After a few dizzyingly long hours of circling the shop, he finally queued up at the counter with two books in his arms: The Time Paradox and The Black Swan. Without warning, the lights in the entire mall blacked out and he was suddenly tempted by the idea, "Should I walk out with the books under my shirt?"

Needless to say, his heart was too pure. He ended up waiting for his turn to pay and walked out of the parade a guilt-free, RM24.85-less man. (The books were more than 100, dang.)

The Symptom

Damn, he thought. It had been two days since his throat turned sore. He had hoped it would be as bad as it could get, but no - hot breath, tired eyes, painful joints - all signs that a fever was brewing.

To add boiling water to an overcooked egg, he found out that two of his three roommates were having similar symptoms.
Please, please don't let it be ....

The H1N1 Quarantine

Part of the reason he decided to post once more is the quarantining of his college, INTEC UiTM Shah Alam. A full week of freedom had surprisingly been handed out to all INTEC students last Friday when Jood was playing Dota in class.

The news was sudden, unofficial and totally unexpected. What a joyous shock he received when he heard it! He jumped and punched the air - he hadn't been home for three weeks, was experiencing more-boring-than-ever classes since the start of the semester and was absolutely exhausted preparing and organising the German Week, which turned out to be a quite a failure. It was the best post-birthday surprise. The break, not the failure.

But he was unknowing of the fact that he would not be having a mid-sem break anymore, as the quarantine replaces it; that the closing ceremony of the German Week was to be cruelly canceled after all the blood, sweat and tears of juniors and seniors alike. That really deflated his momentary bubble of bliss.

But here he was nevertheless - home.

Prost!
-> Means cheers in German ;)

A Short Note

And thus it began, yet again. Jood, a college-attending eighteen year old started a renewed resolution to blog and keep on blogging. With new determination came new plans. Jood had sworn to himself to

1. be short, concise and frequent in his posts.
2. avoid another matchstick blog - ignites brightly in the start, then burns off after a while
3. write from a third person point of view for reasons unknown even to himself

Well, there you go. He really hoped this would work out. Who knows, one day it might be converted into a book ...