Seriously boring post. Or maybe not.

I shall tell you all about my exciting day. You really shouldn't read it unless you are interested in the events of my day recounted with a tinge of sarcasm.

It started off with road run. 3.4km for girls, 5.1km for guys. It was somewhat satisfying to see convulsing quad muscles even on the most unfit and pasty white of students. I can see their sedentary selves being pushed to work. Toned bods are always a treat for the eyes. I came in at about 18 minutes. I was probably among the top twenty, but it makes me wince slightly to think that I was THAT close to being in the top ten. I wasn't aiming to be in the top ten, though. The likelihood of it only struck when I saw how close within my reach it was. I guess we always want what we can't get.

Vivien recommends that one should get a bite within thirty minutes of exercising, because it helps to replenish the nutrients lost. She had some lengthy explanation accompanying it, something to do with diminishing muscle mass if you don't replenish yourself, so yea, just eat.

I was going to have training in the afternoon, so I stayed in school to eat lunch. A very bad one, I may add. The noodles stall sucks; I don't know why people eat there. I only ate there because I think the western stall doesn't really cut it for me. My juniors asked me if I wanted to go along with them to KAP to have lunch, but I turned down their offer. I must have came off as quite anti-social, but I was just too lethargic to socialise. Socialising is extremely tiring. When I am forced to behave in a way that I am not inclined to, my body's defence mechanism kicks in and I get all fatigued and lethargic. Instead, I wanted so badly to sleep, so I went to the Oasis and got as comfortable as I could on a narrow, hard bench.

Then Tammy called and asked me to find Kenneth, the soccer guys captain, because she had left school and he was uncontactable, so I had to traipse all the way down to the grandstand (which is a real pain in the ass considering NJ's mountainous terrain) in search of him. So I spoke to him for the first time ever, because I don't ever speak to the soccer guys and we mainly communicate only for transactionary purposes. "Hi, do you have the keys?" "Hi, how many tables are you taking for the CCA fest?" Etcetera etcetera.

After obtaining the sacred keys to the cage which contained the balls, I went in search of another cosy spot to sleep. I didn't want to go back to the Oasis because it's stupid, and there were people there anyway. There were people everywhere else, so I went to my civics venue to sleep. I switched on a lone fan, arranged three chairs side by side and lay down. I was in a state of drowsy grogginess for about two hours. I didn't actually sleep properly, because I reverted to consciousness a few times, but nevertheless it allowed me to rest my tired body.

Well, training wasn't so bad, I think I'm getting better, even though my left leg is still pretty redundant and I can't do shit with it. Tammy decided to organise an impromptu dinner thing, but like five hours ago, I felt disinclined to socialise and mingle. In fact, my fatigue was made worse from kicking stitched pleather around, so I declined her invitation. Again, very anti-social of me to do so, but I rather turn down the offer than turn up sullen and quiet. I was just tired. It's as if the physical fatigue had wormed its way into my usually hyperactive mind, churning my brains in a vat of lactic acid.

And here I am, blogging after downing a can of F&N cherry-flavoured drink (I usually hate those artificial fruit-flavoured stuff, but I was craving for something sweet) and fatty pork knuckles for dinner. I can actually feel the salty residue on my skin, from a day's worth of perspiration. It's pretty sick. But I don't feel like showering just yet.

I just felt the need to rant. I guess that's what blogs are good for. I can't possibly imagine having to listen to all that crap I said.

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Why I think Heart of Darkness is a crap book:
Marlow spends ages talking, but says nothing. It's all fluff. He doesn't even know what he's talking about. If he isn't sure of what to say or what to think, he should just shut up. The book is also much too inaccessible. Conrad tries too hard to experiment with narrative techniques that it just ruins pleasure of reading the story. Very "hua she tian zu". No wonder it wasn't popular. But this is just me, the "get what I want and I want it now" generation. I must try to like the damn book. Bloody.

Speaking of which, I really love the Duchess of Malfi. After the first lesson, I pored over the book and finished it as soon as I could. I think the characters are all so deliciously sinful and evil! (This exact same reason makes Vivien shudder at the repulsiveness of the human condition after every single lesson. Whereas I gaze awestruck in delight. We're quite different people.) I think the Cardinal is especially cool. (this resulted in an incredulous "uhh" from Leung Yan)I know, he's a cold-blooded snake, but that's what makes him so awesome! Unlike Ferdinand, the Cardinal is in control of his emotions. He's beyond human. He strips away the impulsive, vunerable aspects of being an animal, yet retains the vicious and cunning nature that allows him to get what he wants. Anger and recklessness are shortcomings he has eradicated, and what's left is the essence of pure evil, untainted by human folly. Not only does he possess self-awareness, he is highly aware of how other people's minds work too, allowing him to manipulate them to his advantage. People, being such volatile creatures, are so tough to work with. If the Cardinal has managed to master the art of manipulating other people, he can do practically anything he wants! Can you imagine the power he wields? Immense!

As for the Duchess, she's kinda boring. Your average horny woman confined by societal conventions. Bosola is pretty boring too, your average romantic cynic. Ferdinand is just a deranged incestuous animal, not really worth my attention. It's the Cardinal that's the kind of character you can't find in reality. He's just much too perfect. If you call being detached and devoid of emotion perfect. Actually, I wouldn't say he is devoid of emotion. It's just that he manages to keep it within his control, and not let his emotions rule his head. He is aware of the fact that other people do not possess the kind of discipline he has with his own emotions, and that is why he is able to utilise other people to his advantage. By knowing of his own emotions, he becomes aware of how people could feel, and what better way to beat the enemy than to know them? He is cool with a capital K.

That's my analysis of the current Literature texts I'm doing. I'm doing Great Expectations and Murder in the Cathedral as well. Similarly, I absolutely abhor Murder in the Cathedral, though not as much as I abhor Heart of Darkness. You know what? I don't think the problem lies with the text. It's the teacher. MY GOD. Ugh. Ugh. UGH.

During KI lesson, we were trying to slack off from doing work so we attacked our teacher with questions about his personal life. It was interesting to know his view on marriage and stuff. I find it foolish to think that he would try picking chicks up by talking about his work, i.e. philosophical stuff. Of course not! It'd be way too weird to be picked up with a: "Is this beer real?" You don't expect math teachers or science teachers to flirt by talking about work (i.e. scientific theories and mathematical laws), right. :S

I guess it's true, when he says that marriage is a social contract that appeases the folks. And well, it does achieve economies of scale, even if you're not intending to have kids. I like to think of marriage as merely a means to not have bastard children.

I was thinking about the difference between pessimism and cynicsm recently. Pessimists are people who only see the pile of shit at the end of the rainbow, whereas cynics are open to the possibility of seeing a pile of shit and/or a pot of gold.

I'd say pessimists are more annoying people, because they are so negative and such dampeners, whereas cynics enjoy life with a measure of caution. Hmmm. The dictionary definition of a cynic is someone who believes that only selfishness motivates human actions and who disbelieves in or minimizes selfless acts or disinterested points of view. This would make what I said earlier on untrue, then.

About interesting people:

Here is a compilation of the results I have acquired through asking people what they think makes a person interesting. Speaking of surveys, I get slightly miffed whenever people respond with: "Well, I may be wrong because not everyone else may think like me." And my standard response for that is: "I am asking for your opinion, so obviously I want to know what you think!"

Okay, back to the results.

1. People whom you can talk to.
2. Eccentric people.
3. Dao (mysterious, aloof) people.
4. People who can satisfy your curiosity about things you are interested in, granted that they are effective in communicating their knowledge.
5. People who can talk to you for more than an hour and not get freaked out. (Contributed by a person whom I deem interesting)

It's funny how no one actually mentioned humourous people as interesting. And that is because humourous people are merely entertaining. They may be fun to be with, but they are not exactly the kind of people you may develop a fascination with. Entertaining /= interesting, I suppose. Entertaining people are interesting on a very superficial level.

Point 1 and 4 are quite similar. It sort of echoes the opinion of mine that people are interested in others whom they can see a part of themselves. Everyone is self-obsessed, so an interest in someone similar to you is actually normal, because everyone is interested in their own reflection.

As for Point 2, it represents a more clinical interest in another individual. To be interested in eccentric/weird people is because their thought processes are differ from the average individual, so you want to know how their mind works. You're not really interested in the person per se, but more like the intricacies of his mind. (But isn't the mind the person? Hmm.)

Point 3 is pretty representative of the "we want what we can't get" mentality.

Hmmm. I don't know why I'm dwelling so much on the interesting thing. It's not even vaguely related to my IS (I guess it actually is, since knowledge encompasses everything) I wish it was. Then I wouldn't have to do so much work. Damn.