This is me...

Geography was rather relaxing. Ms Yap had her lesson in the Computer lab and she let us do research for 1 period. Wikipedia is always the place to go! So again from the very messy and lengthy descriptions for each of the weather instruments, we were supposed to consolidate the important points and write in point form. Ms Yap asked us to leave before I went to the 4th item. The LA lecture was better than previous week as it was much more engaging. We studied the speech of Martin Luther King's and it was quite messed up. That Negro didn't speak very well. I can't believe that he could write an impromptu speech which was shown in the notes after hearing his imprecise pronunciation and unnecessary hesitance. The speech was talking about racial discrimination and the orator wanted to re-emphasise the importance of racial harmony in America and the American dream that could be build if the differences races unite as a one and work towards the same goal. His speech has lots of repetition, I wonder whether it was him stuttering. LOLs. During the break, I went down for recess and queued for the Western stall. I wanted to order Swiss Chicken which was a Thursday special and an all-time favourite. But I changed my mind and ordered beef steak instead. I changed my mind because I had never tried beef steak at that stall before and wanted to know the taste. Upon tasting it, it simply sucked! The meat was somewhat RAW.... not even grilled. I just swallowed the whole big junk piece down and sometimes, it would be stucked in my gullet and I had to wash it down by gargling on my drink. That was the last time I would say the 'beef' in school, NO WAY!!! English was better than the day before as there was class discussion. The discussion was about the summary we were going to do next as a replacement for marks if the first one we did did not score well, most possibly. Ms Loh was damn funny! Her sense of humour was quite ironic, like Ellen DeGeneres. She would murmur a very soft sentence, then immediately repeat with something contradictory loudly. Xiang Jie and I just burst our laughter uncontrollably. We wrote a speech that contained the school rules the freshmen (only girls as it was a girls' school) needed to adhere to. We named the school St. Josephine High School for Sacred Girls, although I thought St. Josephine Sacred Girls' High School would be better. Isn't it just like "Holy Innocents"? Anyway, it was just FUNNY! After LA was science. It was the first day our real science teacher walked in to the class. For the past two lessons, the relief teacher came in and taught us some deep stuff. However, no matter who walked in, what was thought was always deep and complex. Yah, so it was just pure chemistry and more chemistry.... and the BELL at 1.40pm just rattled on... I went straight home at 2.30pm. Reached home, I bathed and switched on my computer and started watching the next episode of "海派甜心". It was cool. After that, I watched the 1 hr 30 minutes interview with the actors on the heated drama "就想赖着你" that have its premiere this Saturday. Cool... Interesting.... Then, the night came. DOOM... I started doing my Confucius at 8pm. Damn it. Must mug already. So I went online and found an essay written by someone about Confucius' political philosophy and whether it was accepted by the minds of people at that time. After that I started on my bookmarks. It was already 10 plus... So for the background, I chose a gradient and i added some decorative thumbnail pictures on it. With the quotes, one of the three different ones look like this... I pasted it on hardcover and cut out an U shape in the middle to make it special. You simply have to slot the U onto the page and that's it. If you still don't get me, either your visual skills is bad or I am poor in explaining myself. Erm... It works like the principle of a hairpin... You press it, it pops and you clip it!!!

Arrived school at about 7.55 pm. I walked into class and saw everyone busy around. I took out my Maths Worksheet and started doing it. It was quite simply, you simply had to change the numbers to the same base. I was at 1 (f) when it was time for flag raising. Oh yes, I forgot to mention a guy Neo Xinyuan (something like that). He sings so beautifully every day at flag raising. You will be surprised..... It is just GROSS!!! People say that he is a little bit haywire at the brain. Crows listening to him will feel that their voices were not that horrible after all, I suppose. The first period was Chinese and we were required to write a situational composition. There were three titles and I decisively choose the first one. I don't know why, but I always like to choose the first one, even it was only just manageable for me. So the situation for the first one was you witness a group of people wasting food when your family was at a buffet restaurant. You were supposed to write an informal letter to your friend to share your views about this matter. We started on 8am, but only a few finished at 8.40, which was the time that we needed to hand in. Miss Teo said she must receive all the compos before 2.30pm, or she would start to minus marks from this assignment. She left and after a few minutes, an unknown teacher walked in. The class cheered as we knew that he was a relief teacher in substitution Mr Chen. Yeepee! This lesson was Thinking and the teacher gave us a worksheet. The worksheet was a mindmap for us to fill in. In the middle was the word "thinking" and the links were the 5w1h. I didn't care about this insane worksheet and continued my last paragraph of my situational compo. 3 minutes later, Hong Jin turned back and showed me his worksheet. It was hilarious. How? "By using your brain". What? "Something you think". When? "When you are thinking". I nearly cried blood out. After about 7 minutes, I finished my compo and began on my Maths. I finished my Maths at 8.25am and I went on to the Maths journal writing assignment. The second question was hard. But luckily, I have the self and world recognised "Maths Professor", Ka-Shing at my left. So I just used his non-understandable answer for mortals as an reference only. Okay, I'll be honest, I copied! But who cares? (Rhetorical question) At recess, I ran down to the canteen and followed Sheng Jie who queued the bread stall. As I don't patronise this stall often, I wanted to try more things. So I ordered a Ham and Cheese sandwich, a peanut butter waffle and a curry puff. Then I got to the drink stall and bought a soybean drink. Walking down to the tables, I thought the sandwich would taste nicer if it was pumping hot as the cheese would melt like thread... Smooth and silky. I came back to class at 10.20am and saw Xiang Jie copying Ka-Shing's worksheet as well. I slacked for 10 minutes and got ready for Science stuff and was ready to leave. Science was fun. I love experiments. Today was about acids and alkalines. We dipped litmus papers into solutions and see the reactions. We also learnt about the electrical conductivity of acidic and alkaline solutions. The bulb was green and Xiang Jie, who was my partner, spam played with it and the deionised water. Next period was Maths and it was quite peaceful as well... Miss Tong had corrected one of her more challenging question and it made most us felt possible to be done at last. I did guess and check and got option (E) as my answer. Then we went through the Maths journal writing assignment and she questioned us which part of someone's theory was incorrect. And that was mostly about it. Then as I said, it was CA mock session afterwards. A teacher called Mrs Sng walked in and asked us to arrange our chairs to the positions drawn on the board. Only register numbers 1 to 16 were involved. Number 17, who was How Pin went to replace Gabriel who was number 3 and had been absent for today and Thursday. Tenn Shaun heaved sighs of relief when he felt he was luckily not to be called upon as he was 18. "Number 18, be the leader of today's discussion." and Tenn Shaun was not that lucky anymore. Just before the session started, Tenn Shaun replied that he only read a few of the articles given and did not really know the topics of today's discussion. 19, who was Xiang Jie, was called upon. Xiang Jie also said he didn't read as well. Before Mrs Sng said anything, I stood up and said "I'm 20 and I also did not read". The class laughed. So at last, Shawn Ang was chosen and the session officially started. It was just plain DEAD, the discussion was DEAD. Nobody seemed to cared as it a mock trial. More "enthusiastic" people from the crowd like Xiang Jie and Junning were very engaged. So, this deadly thing that nearly killed me ended at 1.55 pm. I thought I was screwed as my choir started at 2 pm. I still had to hand in my Chinese essay to Miss Teo. Jun Ming and Jun Yang (I think), asked me to help them pass their compos as well. As I was neutral in my character, I said yes and ran down to the staff room with my heavy back tugged on my shoulders. After handing in, I sped down to SALT centre. When I reached the entrance, I saw my choir friends walking out and they told me that practice was in the music rooms. After singing for like 20 minutes in music room, we got back to SALT centre MPH to rehearse together with the new Sec 1 members. After singing for 20 minutes, a boy walked in and asked in Mandarin whether this was the place for choir. He was diminutive in size, probably just 130 cm. (NOT kidding) and I asked "Are you sure you Sec 1?" Everyone laughed. Mr Yong was quite annoyed and asked me to give up my seat to him. I was fine with that and invited him to sit as I sat on the tiers. He told me that he was a Malaysian scholar and was currently in Ortus. I asked him what was his primary school CCA and he said choir. He added that he had been a student conductor when he was P6. Hearing that, I tried badly to persuade him to join choir as he has enough experience and good qualities as a singer. We sang until 3.20pm and Mr Yong dismissed us early. I went home and slacked. I suddenly had the thought of writing my blog at 10.10pm. That's why I am posting now as I had the whole Saturday morning outdoors and I reached home at 5pm. I don't intend to write this every week. Maybe once a fortnight.

Hi everyone,

I am very thankful that you guys managed to read this entry. So basically for the rest of the year, there would be floods and floods of entries flowing in... Please do comment on each posts to do both your and my good-ACE. I suppose that the followers are people that I know and I really appreciate if you guys can "poach" your other friends here. Be assured that I will be responsible enough to follow your blogs as blogging is simply karma. For this very unique first kick-start entry, I will share more about myself.

Q2. Singapore is going to have her first casino, but lots of people are against it, why? Do they simply think the government is trying another mean to gain money, or are there second thoughts? In my opinion, I think those people assume that building and operating a casino will lead to a lot of gambling addiction cases. People who want to gamble can gamble openly then, instead on going underground for some illegal gambling or horse betting. I hereby agree with the people who are against it, having a casino is Singapore is definitely not a good idea.

"It's not just men who are addicted, a growing number of women have become compulsive gamblers too." The Early Show, CBS

"In reality, it is the longer you gamble compulsively, which was what I was doing, the more you would become a compulsive liar" Melanie Morgan, once a newscaster.

These two quotes can legally be proven that gambling will cause the following incidents. In America, women are addicted to gambling as well. Their obsession even neglected their health and choice. They became troubled and depressed; and needed much help to overcome their urge to gamble. Their daily routine were disrupted, and lost their jobs. To have more freedom instead of taking care of the children, the addicted female gamblers left their toddlers under the care of babysitters. These shows the impact of gambling and its indifference of both genders. Three women who were interviewed told the reporter that they had lost a sum of over 10K dollars and one even stayed in jail for a whole year for her attempt to steal cash to gamble.

Melanie Morgan, who was once an outstanding newscaster, lost her job when she became addicted to gambling. She stated that gambling would cause people to become a total liar. This was because she needed to hide the truth from her husband and did not want him to worry too much. She was not held back to gambling even when she was pregnant. Before an hour when she gave birth to her child, she was still in a casino, gambling. She now realises her mistake and wept when she thought of those unappealing memories. She said she really needed help and could not control her need to gamble.

The above are my reasons of why there shouldn't be casinos in Singapore, and I am against of the idea.

Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), popularly known as E. E. Cummings, with the abbreviated form of his name often written by others in all lowercase letters as e. e. cummings, was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. His body of work encompasses approximately 2,900 poems, an autobiographical novel, four plays and several essays, as well as numerous drawings and paintings. He is remembered as a preeminent voice of 20th century poetry, as well as one of the most popular. In 1917, Cummings' first published poems appeared in the anthology Eight Harvard Poets. The same year, Cummings left the United States for France as a volunteer ambulance driver in World War I. Five months after his assignment, however, he and a friend were interned in a prison camp by the French authorities on suspicion of espionage (an experience recounted in his novel, The Enormous Room) for his outspoken anti-war convictions.
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Cummings is my favourite poet because he has a great style of writing. The poems that he had written were filled with expression and much variation. He is an outstanding person and and was gifted in writing. His first poem was composed when he was only three years old. It was depicting the life of a bird. His poems are mostly written in the form of hyperbole and personification. The words he used wasn't grand or sophisticated. He likes to repeat and emphasise on some verses; to bring out or enhance the context. I think he supposedly wants to create a bigger impression for the readers and let us imagine of the image for ourselves in our minds. The poems he wrote were mostly in English, but he also composed poems in other languages, such as French and Greek. Cummings was involved in World War 1 and was patriotic and religious. The content he wrote were mostly about war and relationships. He changed his style of writing after his father departed in a car accident. He began to treasure life more and this can be seen in his poems. His most famous poems were 'The Enormous Room' and 'Tulips and Chimneys'. In 1952, his alma mater, Harvard, awarded Cummings an honorary seat as a guest professor. The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures he gave in 1952 and 1955 were later collected as i: six nonlectures. Cummings spent the last decade of his life traveling, fulfilling speaking engagements, and spending time at his summer home, Joy Farm, in Silver Lake, New Hampshire. He died on September 3, 1962, at the age of 67 in North Conway, New Hampshire of a stroke. [13] His cremated remains were buried in Lot 748 Althaea Path, in Section 6, Forest Hill Cemetery and Crematory in Boston. In 1969, his third wife, Marion Morehouse Cummings, died and was buried in an adjoining plot: Lot 748, Althaea Path, Section 6.

Sources: http://poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/156
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/e__e__cummings

Below is the poem 'I know why the caged bird sings' by Maya Angelou

A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange suns rays
And dares to claim the sky.

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage
Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
And the trade winds soft through
The sighing trees
And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright
Lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams
His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with
A fearful trill of things unknown
But longed for still and his
Tune is heard on the distant hill
For the caged bird sings of freedom.
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Q1: In the first verse, there is presence of personification and hyperbole. The poet illustrates the wind to be smooth flowing and the free bird filled with boldness and courage. The emotions of the free bird is significantly exaggerated when the poet indicated that it dares to claim the sky. This effect is to express the carefree of the bird. The second verse compares the free bird with a caged bird; the latter being restricted in agony. There is personification and metaphor. The anger accumulated in the caged bird was overbearing and how he longed himself to be freed and let its wings soar in the sky. His singing are actually the moaning of his pain. Through the third and fourth verses, the poet continues to widen the difference of the two kinds of birds. The caged, about to lose its sanity and patience, sings out loud with a trace of fear and determination; whereas the free bird continues to enjoy its freedom and is quietly searching for its preys when the sun rose. At the fifth verse, hyperbole is mostly seen. the caged bird could not tolerate anymore, he wanted to be freed. All the anger and pain will erupt any moment. But the truth is, his fate is sealed. This is his destiny. Through the defiance, every thing remained in its state. This is eminent in the last verse, where the caged bird slowly begin the succumb and finally, loses hope.

Q2: I like this poem as it strongly expresses the difference in personalities and destinies. This poem also shows how the weaker ones or people at a disadvantage strongly fight back for the lives they want. The spirit and will is totally overwhelming. However, the poet ended this poem with a sad ending. I think this is rather real, as sometimes fate is really sealed. What is yours is yours; you can't possibly change. This also gives as an inspiration that no matter what, we must always try. The results may vary with the condition of trying. The caged bird will never know whether it can escape, unless it tries. Trying is important, very important...

Below is my experience when I suddenly lose my eyesight.

Dear Diary,
Today I became blind. Every thing seemed pitch black and my heart was engulfed in total fear. I did not dare to move from where I was; it seemed like a tough challenge. My life was in total darkness and how I hoped that I could see a glimpse of light, shining into my miserable life; giving me a sense of hope. Now I finally understand how the blind people feel, their lives seemed pathetic and pitiful but yet every day they lived with so much courage and boldness. My life was totally me when I could see, but now, my life was much dependent on the crane I am griping as I walk or the passer-bys I had encountered when I ask for directions. Though I am blind, I will not let anyone despise me for my disability; I will try my very best to live my precious life to its utmost potential. A lot of blind people deserve our true respect such as Bach, Helen Keller and others. Being blind is not a sad thing; it is only tragic if you don't value your life and think that you are inferior. We are definitely not. The black in all we see are actually the behind of a door, leading you to unlimited possibilities... It is just the matter whether you are willing to fling it open.
Bye,
Susan F.Y