Tossing and Turning

I am insomniac. For the last 5 days or so, I always sleep in restlessness... I've tried many methods--tiring myself out during the day, drinking milk, taking a shower, and even sleeping shirtless--but all these efforts seemed to be of no avail. No, no, I don't want to resort to sleeping pills. No drugs, whenever possible.

I suspect that my insomnia is due to hot weather. If this is so, then... damn. Big time. This sleeplessness is so severe already that it makes me be deprived of sleep! In turn, that shortage prevents me to concentrate well during my study time... arggghhhhh! I hate this!

Why can't the doctors in the medical centre give me an MC (for a reference to move to airconned hall) regarding this problem? Those STUPID (yes, I'll repeat with pleasure: STUPID) doctors seemed to neglect the fact that a psychological problem could give rise to a pathological condition! As doctors, they should have understood that this 'ere lack of sleep inhibits the work of the body's immune system and is also able to induce diabetes! If this continues until exam period, I can literally die due to lack of rest... oh my, oh my, oh my God!

In case of you want to know what a doctor said to me when I uttered this problem to me: "Ask your warden to install an aircon unit in your room lah..."

LIKE IT CAN BE DONE, BASTARD.

*ehm, sorry, I got too carried away...*

Now I understand why Prof. Leslie Loo will not give any make-up quizzes for those who cannot attend the main quiz due to sickness if their MC comes from most doctors in the medical centre. Yes, they are only taking their work for granted. Those people are pretenders.

And if my insomnia do prevail over me until exam period AND it affects my grade, then the doctors are the first to blame, and I don't even want it to happen.

Those trusted to maintain the health of people are already sick.

Health is sick.

A Thank-You Letter

Thanks for the exam wishes, guys! Love you all... and I hope you can do your best in your exam as well!

Hm? What's an exam wish?

Well... this 'ere students in NTU, especially the active PINTU (Pelajar Indonesia NTU - Indonesian Students of NTU), ran a program called Exam Wishes. Here, you can give your friends a packet of food, stationaries, or bookmark (this one comes with 3 candies). It is to encourage one another for facing the upcoming exam.

As for me, I got a packet of food, 3 packets of stationaries, and 4 packets of bookmark/sweets... meaning I have 12 caramel and chocolate candies here! Glucose could be fattening, you know... -.-a

Once again I thank my dear friends, especially "kakak" Edo "yg baik", Tozzy, Yessica, Wenty, Maria, Cia, Itin, There, chief GL, and Clement. May your good deed and endeavor be fruitful in their time =)

God bless you all ^_^

Stupid

Aaaahh... why am I so unfortunate?

Two stupid things happened to me in the past one hour.

One. I overslept. This is very common, but not in the middle of the day! You see, at 1230 I felt very sleepy, for an unknown reason. Knowing that my lecture was still two hours ahead, I took a siesta. Moments later, I woke up, refreshed and totally clueless about the time. When I looked at my handphone clock... holy shit... 1530... and so, I skipped the lecture. Damn! Exam's coming and I can still skip lectures!?

Two. I tripped. Now this is very embarrassing. I went down to the pantry to drink. It was (and is still) raining. The stairs were (and are still) wet and slippery. And it happened, all of a sudden. Somehow I lost missed a step and then... fell with an ungracious manner. As if it had not been enough, a janitor happened to be able to witness this unnecessary embarrassment...

And now I'm still waiting for another stupid occurrences to write ^_^

Natural Disaster

Special thanks to Prof. Alastair Ritchie for telling us this joke. I need to edit it though for more enjoyment and so as not to offend anyone =)

Three students from Singapore were convicted of attempting to assassinate a parliamentary member of Chile in South America. They were sentenced to death by a firing squad.

As they were being brought to the execution site, they were engaged in a brainstorm on how they could escape the horrible fate that was going to befall them. But, no ideas came to their aid...

Finally they arrived at the site. The first student, still brainstorming, was called to stand before the firing squad.

The commandant asked, "Do you want me to blindfold you?" to which the student replied, "No. I will not shrink before the power of death."

Then the commandant gave a, well, command. "Ready! Take aim..."

And the student shouted out loud, "EARTHQUAKE!!!"

As South America is very prone to earthquakes, the entire squad was distracted by the bellowing of the student. They went into a panicking frenzy. Seeing this opportunity, the student then fled to safety.

Distraught upon finding that the earthquake was just a false alarm, the commandant called the second student, who was thinking of another distraction.

Again, the commandant asked whether or not he wanted to be blindfolded, to which he replied no.

The command was shouted. "Ready! Take aim..."

This time, the student screamed, "HURRICANE!!!"

As South America is frequently stricken by hurricanes, the squad went into a frenzy once again. The student followed the path to safety, as the first one did beforehand.

The commandant--now totally distressed--called the third student. Still, he offered him a blindfold, to which the student answered no.

The commandant then gave his last command. "Ready! Take aim..."

The student was very sure that his hoax would be successful, seeing the previous two had escaped to safety with the aid of natural disaster bullshits.

He then shouted another kind of disaster, "FIRE!!!"

Another Perspective

Holy darkness, blessed night
Heaven's answer hidden from our sight
As we await you, o God of silence
We embrace your holy night

~ Holy Darkness by Dan Schutte, inspired by St. John of the Cross ~

I found this song in the Breaking Bread a few months ago. The title, Holy Darkness, was noteworthy for me. So I decided to take a look at the song and sang it.

... marvelous.

Dan Schutte's works are always of superb and ear-friendly tune. Take a glance at Here I Am Lord, City of God, or Though the Mountains May Fall, and listen to them. They are beautiful works of a composer. Aside from the tonal works, what made me compelled to reflect was primarily the lyrics of Holy Darkness.

Darkness.

Everyone seemed to think of it as a negative word. True, as for me, I don't like darkness as well, since darkness can and will discomfort me very badly. People frequently associate darkness with something bad, evil, horrible, you name it.

This song pierces through our cognizance about darkness. It's simply an exact opposite from what we have in mind.

Just reading the refrain makes me reflect...

He's there to comfort us whenever we are sad.
He's there to lift us whenever we are depressed.
He's there to be our hope whenever we are desperate.
He's there to die on the cross for our sins.

Basically, He's always there in our hours of darkness. So, why should we fear and feel discomforted by darkness? Maybe because in darkness we don't know where to go. Our senses don't work as they're supposed to. We lose direction. But that doesn't mean we lose our faith!

Let me jump to the song's fourth verse.

In your deepest hour of darkness
I will give you wealth untold
When the silence stills your spirit
Will my riches fill your soul

This particular verse brings to us yet another reason why we shouldn't think of darkness as an unpleasant issue. It strongly implies that He does not leave us even in its totality.

We often think whenever we are in darkness, He forsakes us and is unwilling to help.

And now I know that it's wrong...

As we struggle in darkness, He struggles to help us...

And tries to comfort us in its silence.

Just remember that He made darkness to negate us of our daily anxieties, so that we may rest relaxedly. It's not meant to have us be frightened or freaked out.

So, Loving God, we thank you for your holy darkness.

God bless you all ^_^

Sometimes Honesty Does Not Avail

Hueeee... it's been a very long time - a month - since I last wrote...

And here I am again... trying to gather in mind what I am gonna write here... haha...

I must say that today I am very depressed. Why, because of a doctor at the medical centre! Now, let's see... who was the doctor? Ah, PY (for privacy reason). That old, bald doctor was so irrational!

Now, the reason I was at the medcent was to obtain a medical certificate (MC) as a reference to move from my hellishly hot hall to one of the two Antarctic-cold (ok, I was hyperbolic) halls.

And so, I said, "Well, you see, my hall is so hot, and I tend to develop rashes and acnes if I sweat."

To my surprise, he responded, "Then why don't you ask your warden to install aircon (AC, in case you don't know what an aircon is =P) in your room?"

Oh come on, doc, what is the rationale behind your words!? To date, only two out of sixteen halls in NTU are destined to be air-conditioned! And if your "splendid" (sarcastic mode: on) solution is doable, people would not even GIVE A DAMN about moving to hall 3 and 16! They can just give the general office a visit and said, "Hey, come to my room and give me an aircon unit, because I'm scorched dead," and voila! You get your oh-so-longed-for aircon unit magically installed.

What's more, he said, "It is you who have to adapt with the environment, not vice versa."

To some extent, his words are indeed true. Nothing is wrong. But please! How can I cope with the scorching weather here with my 'ere pimples and rashes? He said that as if he were able to adapt himself with the condition here. I'm sure if we remove his car's battery, he would complain in agony about how hot it is.

I was honest, but treated as though were lying.

Damn.

How very fortunate of me to have good friends. They're the ones who keep me sane. If I didn't have them, chances are tomorrow I'm going to wrap a sphigmomanometer's band (the band they wrap around your arm to measure your blood pressure) around the doc's neck, pump the device, and measure his systole and diastole as his cervical arteries burst... (sadistic mode: on)

No, of course not! I'm just kidding... =)

Anyway, tomorrow I'm gonna have a game of bowling with Edo and Randy. Afterwards, I'm having a dinner at KFC! What a nice (and also lavish) weekend treat! ^_^

Chorus Angelorum

Yesterday was very tiring, but I was a bit amused.

The NTU CAC (Cultural Activities Club - or whatever the name) Choir performed a concert on the day indicating the leap year, February 29 (which happened to be yesterday, as said in the beginning), called Viva Voce.

But, I wonder why?

I could only enjoy the first half of the show... really; I don't intend to offend the choir guys, but it was true. It might be due to the genre... I guess I was more interested in choral songs they presented at the beginning.

Anyway... it was quite an amusement to watch them sing; I really have to go out and watch more choral concerts =)