Lame jokes

2E-sion. Guess what that is.

Can't guess?

Well... it's...

Tuition! hehehe :p


Another lame joke that I was thinking about today while in the shower...

The conductor of a choir (or for that matter, the wind section of a band) is scolding his pupils and in the heat of it, he says, "You suck! You ALL suck! And do you know why? It all comes down to your breathing technique! Every time, you just open up your mouth and then... you suck!" (they suck in air, geddit? :p) Oh I love being lame :D


Speaking of wind section, when we were on holiday in Italy, someone was told that my younger bro was in the band so he asked what instrument my bro played. The cheeky fellow told him that he was actually in wind band. I said matter-of-factly (not without some evil glee :p), "He plays percussion." (not that wind band doesn't have percussion) and then my bro called me a kill blanket, spoil joy and wet sport :p

The first and only time I watched a wind band was when I went to watch the NUS Wind Band. Ordinarily I would never have gone, because I'm not really a person for the band. When I had my sec 1 orientation, during the CCA carnival my mom asked me if I wanted to join the band, because years ago, my mom had been in the Cedar Marching Band. I listened to their performance and I concluded that I was never meant for the band because it was Too Noisy! So more years of joining the choir. Haha. I don't regret it too much though. But more about the choir later while I talk about the NUS Wind Band. Basically, the reason why I went was because I happened to see a poster for their concert, which said that they were playing Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 which I'd played in my first sem at the conservatory. Well, of course I had to go and see what the wind band version is like compared to the orchestra version. So I went and... umm... well, ouch. Well, I guess it just shows how spoilt we get in the conservatory, listening to people who trained years and years just to get to a good standard. So we mustn't compare. Anyways back to Shosty. I was really disappointed that they (i.e. the wind band) only played the 4th movement of the symphony but then again, that one is the best part, so didn't really miss that much. I really take my hat off to them though. I watched that concert with Jon Lee (I realised later on that he was going as well and since it was free seating we decided to sit together) and he was commenting how the clarinets had such a rotten job playing all the repeated notes in the back from the point of the climax til the end. He complained that he already felt very tired from playing all those repeated notes on the viola, what more the clarinetists who actually have to breathe in and produce sounds. Ouch.

I was more impressed by the pretty, shiny, golden Aoyama harp though. The harpist was actually 'on loan' from the NUSSO and I got to know her. :D we are so rare in singapore, every time I get to know another it almost merits a dance, haha :D (you Know I would dance!) Hmm... about the golden harp... well it wasn't the best because Aoyama firstly isn't the best, even if it IS an Aoyama Monarch. Plus the one that the wind band had was rarely played even after years of arrival, so it never had a chance to mature (i.e. it has a really raw sound). Worse, it had once fallen off a stage and the neck broke and it got repaired. I mean well, just... wow. You'd think the harp would be gone and dead once it fell from that kind of height but well... lucky I guess. I'd have a Lyon and Healy any day though... :p and you know what? Today my mom told me that I'm going to get a Lyon and Healy for my 21st birthday! Wow what a present... it's just so...... I feel so goggle-eyed... that is Just Huge! And I thought that I would only ask for one when I got married! haha :) It won't be around by my 21st birthday though, because every harp is individually hand made, so from order to delivery takes 6-8 months. And I'm going to order a trolley at the same time so that I can finally transport my harp properly instead of putting it on a goods trolley that makes a whole lot of noise in motion, and more importantly, the harp is very unstable on it and is more likely to topple. Yay!

Whee. My cousin came to visit my younger bro and when I answered the door he said, "It's Xavier!" I said, "Oh, are you at the door?" "Yes." "Well, you can stay there" *absolutely evil laugh* :p

They (meaning the bros and cousin, I couldn't play because they only had 3 controllers) and they played Halo 3's Slayer. Younger bro called his profile 's' for 'stanley', and he soon got a killing spree. It didn't last though, as "Player 1 ended s' spree" S spree. Esprit! haha :)

Well. I guess I'm in a good mood because my concert today is over and I didn't have to go for OMM's rehearsal today (Jinjun told me that yesterday when I called him to ask about C, actually) and I was watching a funny show, so I'm rather giggly at the moment. Heh! :D I feel almost... drunk in a way. When I laugh too much my sense of judgement decreases and I just wanna keep laughing :p Then again, my friends always say that I look drunk. Specifically, drunk on nothing but laughter. Yeah that's me :p To test the 'look drunk' thing, once I Did act drunk even though I had had not a drop of alcohol, and they totally bought it, muahahaha :p

On a Slightly more serious note *smirk* I had a conversation with Jonny and we were talking about the difference between reacting and responding calmly. I told him that I still tend to snap rather easily but I really hate that because my mom tends to do the same thing and I get worried that I will become the same. Tough luck I guess. Most daughters end up becoming just like their moms. I really resent that. I am able to keep my cool almost all the time with my friends (at least I don't remember snapping at them) but when it gets to family or even Nambi when I was with him... I just got a bit irrational. Jon said that hating your own bad behaviour is a good thing because I will change.

Well I Am trying... on my younger bro at least... gosh he's so irritating, haha. But also with my mom because that's who I have the shortest circuit with. Especially when the situation is important... when she was driving she wanted to do some acrobatics on her phone or something and I snapped, "Can you stop doing that? You're driving!" I mean well, if you wanna endanger yourself, at least you shouldn't go endanger others, especially on the road, when there are always other cars, motorcyclists and pedestrians around. Though I was still quite rude. Actually I would be happy if I could reduce my snaps into only situations where it's so pertinent to respond immediately that I don't have time to think. I feel bad every time I snap and I will recall it even days afterward, so I suppose that's good in helping me to change. Jon said 'use that energy to your own advantage'.

Hmm... You know, I really love that I have such inspiring friends. They encourage me to be stronger, better, faster (wonder where that phrase is from, sounds familiar somehow...) by their example. I love that Jon is a true survivor and has the drive to keep on improving himself. I told him that I was proud of him and that I was always happy to have inspiring friends. He said I was a great person to be with too, always with excess positive energy. I like that phrase. Excess positive energy. Brimming over with it! Spilling over into others and bring light into their lives. I like that. Hehe. On friday when we went for that movie, he had started out being a little glum, but after a while after I had made him smile (with my excess positive energy :p), he said, "haha I picked the right person to go out with." Indeed. I like to think of myself as a survivor too like Jon, except in a slightly different way... other than the tenacity to hold on, I am also stubbornly optimist. Add to that many of my life's other experiences and I think that the building of my spirit is built on flexible enough foundations to withstand even a strong earthquake. (yes, the best foundations are those which are flexible and in essence, Sway with the earthquake)

You know the story of the carrot, the egg and the coffee bean? Perhaps it's best to be the coffee bean, but I think that I am a tremendous egg, always changing to the environment. Even when I read books... for a while afterward I will often speak in the same style as the words in the book. Maybe that's why I have so much empathy (not sympathy, there is a difference) for others. And after I adapt... I go out and change people's lives for the better :D

Hmm... sigh... I probably have to go rework some of what I said. I realise that Greg (my associate dean in case you forgot) (yeah I call him just Greg, haha) would take issue with a lot of my statements because they are not following the 'craft of thinking'. But when I try to think of it, I often 'hit the wall' as Tony calls it (another of my teachers, love him). How can I change that... this bears some thinking. It's really annoying though how I always run out of time just after these new questions come up, and I doubt actually, that they will actually be resolved.

P.S. I suspect the problem is that I just can't express myself well most of the time. Always had this problem in writing essays. Yet if I think enough, usually I can iron out the kinks in the line of thought... Well, an interesting link about the survivor personality: http://www.successfulschizophrenia.org/articles/nietz.html#questions