hello! i haven't blogged here in... forever!

am b.o.r.e.d. right now. i don't feel like doing math, i have some sneaky little pathogens scratching my throat incessantly and making me cough like i have tuberculosis, and i'm not sleepy. hmph.

tomorrow looks set to be majorly boring. atleast the morning, what with the compulsory civics.
maybe i should forget about going through applications of differentiation and just going straight to bed.

i have had such a thoroughly uninteresting day. besides the Alias which was funky! it's one of cliffhanger types so now i can't WAIT for the next ep. and shoojee whatever you said about the emotional detachment, i actually thought it worked quite well because sark was so.damn.hot and vaughn was being nicely unperturbed and that scene in the prison cell kicked ass. ugh when they put vaughn and sark in a room together spontaneous combustion (in a ferociously pleasant way) becomes a very real possibility.

ahhhh can we make Alias our class tv show? it's such a GOOD show! i think it's cool that suddenly in JC i've found a lot of people who download tv shows. it's symbolic of singapore's progress and not wanting to be left behind even in terms of tv seasons. everyone downloads something or the other. yay! omfg do i sound like a ditz or do i sound like a DITZ.

the rest of this week looks promising though =) theatre, talk, rockshow. ugh my cough is back again. evil pathogens. i need one of those things they advertise on tv that go inside your throat and kill all the evil things and make your throat happy and smiley. one of those really cheesy ads which start off with some gross person coughing or sneezing away. Strepsils or something, probably.

(ugh sorry that post could have totally gone on my own blog, but i felt obliged to make my presence felt here because i am so Important and Generous with my Presence. hee.

dearest j1s, i hope your Today went off happily! come back all happy and crowd the school again - in a happy way - on wednesday ok?)

HELLO ALL good luck for math test tomorrow. i haven't started studying yet if it's a comfort (it's now 6.20pm which gives me about 4 hours of studying, leaving time for dinner and my requisite 6h of sleep per night (actually it's 8, but that's a bit too idealistic) but not for distractions). thank goodness it's only 2 topics. i hope they're easy.

-_-

anyway. have not blogged here in a long time. for some reason have had nothing to blog about. i have here two definitions of love that are quite interesting:

1. "just a word trying to find another word", carol shields
2. "the most treacherous word in the language", mary renault

okay the second isn't really a definition--but close enough.
interesting how they both focus on the fact that it's just a word, no?

ugh. math.

*

and hope our junior class did well =)

*

ARGH this is our last year in rj. (and we only came in last year how utterly ridiculous!)
as in. gah.

hey dfest is over! and what a success it was =]
finally some people in class shall have the stress monster stop haranguing them for a while, at least.
so i suggest an outing soon enough to celebrate this:

lemony snicket's at the weekend, anyone? (if it's opened by then.)

[grins at shoojee]

this place has got ever so much quieter since my departure to LJ, hasn't it? ;)

i suppose I should surf more and post more interesting links, but at present all that's holding me captive is the history of the international economy, sudan and the reconstruction of iraq.

i'm deathly scared of the math test on tuesday.

a transcript of a speech on, well, the future of iraq.

i'm sort of amused by this:
"Many Iraqi Americans know the horrors of Saddam Hussein's regime firsthand. You also know the joys of freedom you have found here in America. (Applause.) You are living proof the Iraqi people love freedom and living proof the Iraqi people can flourish in democracy. (Applause.) People who live in Iraq deserve the same freedom that you and I enjoy here in America. (Applause.) And after years of tyranny and torture, that freedom has finally arrived. (Applause.) "

if the man bleats democracy and freedom one more time i'll just die because i'll have to bleat it too.

im a convert! used to think she sings like a duck. but now i just think she sounds like one. anywaeee.. go listen to dis song ive been playing it on repeat cos its sooOO depressingG!~ makes u kinda happpy to be depressed.. ahhh :')

Fantasia Barrino
Truth Is

Ah, oh, ah, oh

[Verse 1:]
Ran into an old friend yesterday
Caught me by surprise when he called my name
He was a familiar face, from a chapter in my past
Talked for awhile, I smiled and then
Said that he was seeing somebody and
Told me this was gonna last
Showing me her photograph

And all the feelings I thought were gone
Came rushing back to me at once
Tried to smile and hide the way I felt
But I was thinking to myself

[Chorus:]
(Truth is) I never got over you
(Truth is) wish I was standing in her shoes
(Truth is) and when it's all said and done
Guess I'm still I love with you
(Truth is) I never should have let you go
(Truth is) and it's killing me cause, now I know
(Truth is) and when it's all said and done
Guess I'm still I love with you

[Verse 2:]We reminisce on the way things used to be
Shared a couple laughs, shared some memories
Talked about the things that changed
Some for good and some for bad
Then he said good-bye and he paid for brunch
Promised that we'd always keep in touch
Grabbed my bags and grabbed my furs
Walked away and that was that

And all the feelings I thought were gone
Came rushing back to me at once
Tried to smile and hide the way I felt
But I was thinking to myself

[Chorus:]
(Truth is) I never got over you
(Truth is) wish I was standing in her shoes
(Truth is) and when it's all said and done
Guess I'm still I love with you
(Truth is) I never should have let you go
(Truth is) and it's killing me cuz now I know
(Truth is) and when it's all said and done
Guess I'm still I love with you

[Bridge:]
Now the truth is, it hurts
But I know that the fault's mine
Cause I let him go
Tried to get over it, but it's messed up
He's not mine (because I know)

[Chorus:] [2x]
(Truth is) I never got over you
(Truth is) wish I was standing in her shoes
(Truth is) and when it's all said and done
Guess I'm still I love with you
(Truth is) I never should have let you go
(Truth is) and it's killing me cuz now I know
(Truth is) and when it's all said and done
Guess I'm still I love with youI just gotta be honest, I guess
I-I guess, I'm still in love, in love, in love

i dare you to refute that statement.

SHE LOVES YOU YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!

Many posts from me lately. I will give you guys a break for a while so here's my (likely to be) last post for a while.

Perhaps I am just being a bitch again but I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT when people stand behind me when I am using the computer. In fact, I hate being watched in any way at all... sometimes it's okay I guess but for most of it I rather be left alone. Gah. I ESP hate it when I am in the computer lab and people around start starring at your screen. Go mind your own beeswax you annoying human beings.

(there, at least I was generous)

why, hello, post that should be on soph's own blog! (except, of course, she doesn't have her own blog...)

come on, soph, admit it, go back to blogging like I did. :P

LiveJournal is waiting for you!

I just can't seem to calm my nerves down. Don't know why. I seriously think I lack music. That -must- be what is bothering me because I really can't think of anything else. Am in the process of detailing post A-Level Plans. It's all quite exciting. I was contemplating a break of about a year or two for some travel and adventure. My parents obviously would rather me finish uni first etc etc but I guess they decided it's still best for me to decide. So my dad said I can take a break. But I may come to a compromise. Adventure till about August, followed by university in September. Not sure yet of everything but have just sent enquiries to a ship which I'm very interested in joining for a coupla months.

Of course there's always my backup plan. Was considering applying to be a house tutor at Nanyang boarding. That would take care of lodging and food. Then was thinking maybe can apply to MG or something to be a relief teacher. That would take care of expenses. (You have to understand that I don't have a house in Singapore and therefore would need to work if I want to stay here post-As and prior to university). But then Singapore isn't the most happening place around so...

Of course there's the option of staying in Malaysia for six months but I think I will be rather bored. And there's the option of going to UK where my sis is, but that would be rather costly.

I was supposed to be doing work today but met Hongyi in the library and we started talking for ages and ages *laughs* was detailing my plans to go sailing. Anyway, guess that's it from me. I really wonder what's frazzling my nerves. Jon and Yixun are coming back soon!!!! Now of course we are all really excited no? (Yes, yes, I refer to Yixun too. hah) I mean, despite him constantly -not- greeting me or looking at the ceiling when I am "down here!" his presence is much missed. And his obnoxious, self-absorbed voice is much missed too. *laughs* I'm kidding. really really really.

(cant get my mind of post-As!)

Why is it that after a while, people who get attached become much nicer/more interesting/less grating people, while the rest fo us stay as annoying as we were before? Perhaps this is the mark of a good relationship then.. when it brings the best out of people.

But then it makes me wonder, what happens when they break up? Will they be able to manage their new personalities or will they revert back to their nasty annoying selves? =)

PS. If anyone's going to respond to this, pls don't need to give the "because they want to impress their spouse, uh, I mean, friend" answer because that's quite a given. i think.

For those who are interested. As far as I know this is correct.

First set of numbers being wins-losses and second set being ballots for and against (ie. how many judges gave it to the teams vs how many didn't)

1. Australia 8-0, 23-1
2. South Africa 8-0, 21-3
2. Ireland 8-0, 21-3
2. Pakistan 8-0, 21-3
5. Argentina 7-1, 19-5
6. Canada 6-2, 19-5
7. New Zealand 6-2, 17-7
8. United States 6-2, 15-9
9. England 5-3, 17-7
9. Singapore 5-3, 17-7
11. Scotland 5-3, 16-8
12. Hong Kong 5-3, 14-10
12. Wales 5-3, 14-10
14. Kuwait 4-4, 13-11
14. Greece 4-4, 13-11
16. Slovenia 4-4, 12-12
16. Romania 4-4, 12-12
18. Czech 4-4, 8-16
19. Netherlands 3-5, 9-15
20. Peru 3-5, 7-17
21. South Korea 2-6, 9-15
22. Indonesia 2-6, 8-16
22. Philippines 2-6, 8-16
24. Israel 2-6, 7-17
24. Germany 2-6, 7-17
26. Estonia 2-6, 7-17
27. Sri Lanka 1-7, 4-20
27. Slovakia 1-7, 4-20
29. Bermuda 1-7, 3-21
30. Hungary 0-8, 2-22
30. Lithuania 0-8, 2-22

Note the Australians. All-time Debate Champs
And.. Singapore makes it into the Octos.

Economist.com | The new Iraqi parliament

because, you know, public service and keeping updated and all that kind of thing.

but do keep updated on iraq. i like the show.

lol. had a bout of nostalgia and went to look at our blog archives, and realised that we're nowhere near our intended goals of setting up a print library, a cd library and a notes sharing system.

haha how arh? =p

I have finally completed the effing CIP log. what a waste of a holiday. it is most unfortunate that I should be leaving my -big- island for your -little- island rather soon. *scoff*

_she ducks as the little people throw tomatoes her way_

*laughs*


yes, it's funny to note that these hols I prefered staying at home much much more to going out. I didn't meet a single friend, and only took the car out for a spin twice. other than that, i've been home, sleeping, reading kerouac or trying to be presentable for guests... but it was been pleasant. I didn't go to the beach, didn't go to the caves.. this has been a lazy (but I must say strangely satisfying) holiday. perhaps the new sofas was what did it in.

today, to mentally prepare myself for leaving I took the car out for a ride. sped down Song Rd. to Angel's house. The road works made the road most awkward and at some points I (if not for nice drivers) would have gotten into quite a road fix. (ie. get stuck in an awkward position). but this trip back there were no dashing across traffic lights like last time, which was really done unintentionally and was mainly due to the bad advice of (a non-driver might I add) someone who was sitting beside me.

Angel could not be found, or at least no one came to the door (I have a bad habit of arriving places unannounced) so I went off for a little ride to Lodge Prep School (my ex-school) and reminicsed a while. I don't know how to spell reminesceid/whatever as u can tell. After lodge I went down to my old house and shed a few sentimental tears and pretended I was telling someone about my life "when we were poor". tsk tsk. I manage to spare a few teardrops everytime I visit the old place. good memories. good days.

then I decided to just drive straight ie. no reversing/turning back. so I kept driving straight and arrived many strange memorable places. then I drove to this house which is absolutely fantastically huge. think OC with a bigger compound. I do this without fail every trip (esp since I got me license) to remind myself why I slog in Singapore.

Yea, then I went home for dinner and my mum was packing my stuff.

My flight back is going to be an odd one. I'll be flying to KLIA for a while... will do some airport browsing I suppose and then will be flying to Changi. Terribly extravagant and I refused to go at first but me daddy said he would feel stressed if I didn't get an airticket now. (Coz there aren't any tickets and we'll have to wait) so okay, fine. health first, I'll take the trip to KL. I don't like West Malaysia see? Never did. but hey, I suppose waiving the trip from Johor to Singapore is always good. But it's terrible. The plane ticket costs more than 5 times my usual ticket because I'll be taking two international flights. O_O sigh. expenses expenses. This is why the govt shd really give us more money. I think I shall forgo future trips this year to make up for this one. hm... yea, I need to re-accumulate my squandered wealth.

my bad, a missing < / div > tag within the blogger code that had nested divs reproducing within each other. it didn't bother msie, but that's what hung firefox. i don't know whether or not that implies good things about msie.

yes many thanks on the compliments on the poster. remember claudia created, teh exclusive, teh chic and teh pwnage. grin.

By Ed Edelson, HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- It seems the heart can really break, although it can also recover rapidly from the damage wrought by a sudden emotional shock.
The phenomenon is known as "broken heart syndrome," and it can trigger severe, temporary heart muscle weakness that mimics a classic heart attack, Johns Hopkins scientists claim in a new report.

Their study describes 20 patients, almost all of them women, who were hospitalized with all the symptoms of a heart attack, including chest pain, shortness of breath, fluid in the lungs and drastically reduced ability of the heart to pump blood.
But careful study found the problems were just temporary, caused by a massive release of stress hormones called catecholamines that can "stun" the heart. They include adrenaline, and flood the body following emotional shocks ranging from news of a loved one's death, to an armed robbery, to an auto accident, the report said. Rather than requiring the drastic treatment necessary for a heart attack, the patients needed only supportive therapy for a few days to allow the heart to recover, the researchers said.

"This kind of thing has been described by others," said study author Dr. Hunter C. Champion, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. But, he added, it's still important to remind physicians that the cardiac problem might be due to stress cardiomyopathy, rather than a heart attack.
"You can save patients from having treatments such as an implanted defibrillator or even a heart transplant," Champion said.

The study appears in the Feb. 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The report described 19 patients, 18 of them women, whose median age was 63 when they came to Hopkins for emergency treatment. "Everyone thought they were having heart attacks," Champion said.

But physical exams and blood tests did not show the symptoms of a heart attack -- no blockage of the coronary arteries, no increased levels of the enzymes released when the heart muscle is damaged, no physical signs of heart damage. However, a striking feature of the syndrome was the heart's unique contraction pattern when viewed by echocardiogram. Although the base of the heart's main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, contracted normally, there was weakened contraction in the middle and upper portions of the muscle.

The patients' condition improved considerably in a few days, and they recovered completely within two weeks, while even partial recovery from a heart attack can take weeks or months, the researchers said.

The Hopkins physicians are doing studies to determine how stress hormones can stun the heart, why the condition strikes predominantly older women and whether there might be a genetic vulnerability to the condition, Champion said.

They also are trying to determine how often it occurs. There have been several reports on stress cardiomyopathy, most from Japan but a few from the United States, Champion said. "But my guess is that it happens much more frequently than has been thought," he added.

"We do see this quite regularly," said Dr. Marc S. Penn, medical director of the coronary intensive care unit at the Cleveland Clinic. "It is not uncommon to see it in patients who have been referred to us."

The Hopkins report "will lead to more questioning of patients before the physician comes up with a diagnosis," Penn said. It also should prompt more measurements to detect elevated levels of the stress hormones described in the new report, he said.
The condition appears to be associated only with "significant life events," Penn said. "We don't think that everyone who has an argument with a spouse goes into heart failure.

a recipe for sangria

ok all this needs is cheap wine from cold storage and a couple of fruits!! maybe f&n orange if you want it fizzy! it's damn nice!

mm hmhm. sangrias nicee! haha. mmm. whee. heeehee.

partially to show off and to remind you all of this. grin.

this image is available at this url: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/laudreate/dfest05-postersmall.jpg

i love working in css. well-organised classes means changing urls, some font names, sizes and colours and voila.

went over to jb for cny eve.
found the following books in my yeye's library, and subsequently brought them home (with some encouragement, since they would otherwise have been donated to the local library). my dad and i are conspiring to hide them from my mom.

- memoirs of winston churchill, mostly centering around ww2, in 12 volumes
- kafka
- darwin
- plato's "lives"
(the last three were in the kind of binding you don't see anymore--they use it on the old dictionaries and encyclopaedias: hard-cover, brown with letters engraved in gold)
- another tract on plato
- 2 agatha christie books
- alexandre dumas' "the black tulip"
- "secrets and stories of the war", 2 volumes. i have sentimental feeling for these as i used to read them whenever i was in jb at their house.
- collins gem dictionary of quotations
- "springs of japanese wisdom"
- "the challenge and the change", which is about the peace corps
- solzhenitsyn (the one who wrote "a day in the life of ivan ivanovich", or whatever his name was), 2 books--"the gulag archipelago" and "cancer ward", fascinating stuff if i can get through them
- a guide to cats, for my sister
- books on russia, italy, france
- poetry for schools in south-east asia (i opened it and it had the "margaret! margaret!" lost mermaird poem by matthew arnold)
- "the chrysalids"
- my dad's school annuals when he was at st xavier's in malaysia. he looked strange. ;p

the list is not exhaustive. and there's a lot more i didn't take back: the hemingway, ian fleming, james mitchener, something on lky, various tracts on pig rearing and vegetable growing and dogs, my dad's f maths/ maths/ engineering textbooks, dictionaries, thesaurii (?) etc. fascinating.

My class has a senior, who is a guy, but very popularly known as the "Chio Butch", simply cos he is damn good looking, and has realli nice eyes like a ger's.

rofl. that's hilarious! wonder who he's talking about?

i am pleased to announce the opening of:

the louvres

my chalky side of the sidewalk.

My dad's attempting to teach me to cook. those who've eaten anything cooked by me will realise it is going to be an uphill battle. esp since I'm sitting at the comp now. hm, come to think of it, I much prefer furnishing the house. we re-did the living room a bit and I'm in the process of convincing them to lay down carpets too.. so far we have this pro-looking suede(?) sofa set in dark and dusty brown plus a huge lazy chair and a 'solitary chair' which I insisted was 'symbolic'. haha the set is cool. it can be rearranged in many shapes, and can be made into one of those 'along the wall' chairs, ie.. L shaped, coz the sides dont have arm rests and we have an 'angle' chair. we also moved the piano up and I put two new pics on it. One with aps and me at kitson's place and one with a certain Really Goodlooking Human. =D The old sofa set was moved around.. a love seat is under the stairs next to the (small) library so hopefully (unless lizards gather there) it can be a nice reading sofa. when I get back will hit spotlight for fabrics.

the library is deteriorating both in quality and neatness. it's terrible. everytime I go back I clear it up and reorganise the books and the next time I return I find comic books all over the house. good thing being lil bro doesn't read anything else so the rest generally stay in place. in terms of quality, it's more likely coz I've actually started reading more literary books, a bit lah... so.. a whole shelf of Enid Blyton looks.. ah... how to put it? Its saving grace is the sprinkle of shakespeare and the stuff my sis did for her A Level course. literary snobbery? The library also has a whole shelf for bibles. haha what my parents do with so many bibles is beyond me really.

and I think we -seriously- need to sell some furniture away. we can't keep putting in without taking out - I shall reform the house! after the As I will have more time to turn the house into something more classy, more up-to-date, more.. (singaporean?) oh dear... I hope my parents never find this. They dun like singapore. haha

oh that reminds me... about underage driving... here's the article.

SAND LAKE, Mich. - A boy drove his mother’s car to a video store in the middle of the night, police said — and he’s all of 4 years old.

Even though he was unable to reach the accelerator, the boy managed to put the car in gear and the idling engine provided enough power to take him slowly to the store, a quarter-mile from his home, about 1:30 a.m. Friday, Police Chief Doug Heugel said. Finding the store closed, the youngster began a slow trip home.

Weaving and with its headlights off, the car got the attention of police Sgt. Jay Osga, who initially thought he was following a driverless car that had taken off after being left running at a gas pump.

The car turned into the boy’s apartment complex and struck two parked cars, then backed up and struck Osga’s police car.

That’s when Osga discovered the boy inside.

“He knew how to go from forward to reverse,” Osga said Monday. “The mother said she taught him how to drive by letting him sit on her lap and steer.”

No charges will be filed against the boy or his mother, Heugel said.

“He’s 4 years old. His mom didn’t even know he was up,” Heugel told The Grand Rapids Press. “I don’t think he even realizes what he did.”

must say my brother is being rather patient waiting for the comp. or maybe he's scared I'll just smack him behind his head again. heh been reading other people's blogs... esp the lil ones.. can emphatise with certain bouts of depression. J1's like that isn't it? I remember telling ah, wads her name? J2 in 1A last year... pretty girl who's always with wei um.. oh dear, you see? I'm a lousy junior. pretty girl who's quite fair. long hair. ah nvm..

neway, happy chinese new year to all involved. I'm feeling a tad (very) guilty because I havent done any work... tis wad singapore does to you. *shrugs*

*laughs* this girl really knows her stuff...


"Dinner at a fancy restaurant? A moonlit ride in a horse-drawn carriage? This might be your idea of a night of bliss, but he’d rather kick it back at home, watch some TV on the flat screen, and make out. Sure, guys are romantics, but they’re also a bit lazy. They don’t require extravagant dates with exotic itineraries, where they have to dress up and spend lots of cash. Save that for your special night on the town. The recipe to his dream night is much simpler. All you need to supply is: Great entertainment (rent a guy classic movie, such as Old School or The Big Lebowski); great food (pizza with any meat topping or steak burritos will suffice); and great company. As long as you show up, he’s happy as a clam."

All I can say is... a bit? =D

hey guess what? our class blog's going to be a year old!

letsgetdownand13: the oldest and the only active humans blog. grin. :P to 1a and 1b.

what shall we do to celebrate? shall i swop templates to the first one for a day? grin.

the following were pointed out to me by my sister--

this is unbelievably bizarre: rj in wikipedia.

and for the rg girls--this.
do look at the note to the school song, which says "Some may note the vaguely pagan undertones of the school song." haha. you know what i really miss it--the song i mean. it sounded so much nicer sung =) or more melodic, at least, and easier to sing, and somehow i think it meant more.

also look at the "oddities" section--in fact i shall copy and paste it below:
Unique among girls schools (at least in Singapore), RGS girls cheer in an artificially low voice, instead of the screams and squeals typical of the rest. But of course, this oddity pales in comparison to CHIJ Toa Payoh's. Of course, a possibility is that they are trying to imitate Raffles Institution. It is however, a very slight one, thought significant only by certain people.

and sucks to those rg girls who don't roll there sleeves up!! ;p
The uniform of RGS consists of a knee-length dark navy blue pleated pinafore over a white collared blouse. Students customarily fold their sleeves, following in a time-honoured school tradition.

haha i can't even begin to imagine who put all that info up on wiki.

and GOSH go and look at the ri one, it's very long. i bet the school admin put the stuff up there.

"The Dalmatian is the only specie of dogs to have spots. But how did they get this unique look? The answer relates back to hundreds of years ago.

Once, two dogs, named Dalloway Matian and his friend, were running in the jungle. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a big black panther leaped at both dogs. Dalloway was lucky enough to escape but the panther devoured his friend. A few hours later, Dalloway returned to the scene and his friend was gone. Even the carcass was massacred. Dalloway howled for days & nights, mourning the death of his beloved friend. “That Panther has killed many other creatures. If this continues, all the creatures of the jungle will be gone. Someone ought to teach that panther a thing or two!” thought Dalloway.

That night, Dalloway came up with a plan. “If I can disguise myself as a panther, then I can fool the real panther and kill him!” thought Dalloway. His only question was where to find the disguise. He then remembered, that every day, a van supplying paint to a factory goes through the jungle. He hoped to steal a can of black paint. He went to sleep, knowing that the van would come the day after.

As expected, the next day, the van drove through the jungle. Dalloway jumped into it and rolled two cans of paints out of the van. The problem however, was not solved. Dalloway didn’t know which can contained black paint. He jumped into the can of white paint by mistake. Before he could even realise it, his head hit the hard material of the paint can and he became unconscious. He regained his consciousness quickly, but the paint was quick drying, so it dried up on him “What a blunder! It’s no big deal, though. I’ll just jump into the other can and I KNOW that that is black paint,” he thought. He jumped into the other can and was 100% black in colour now. Suddenly, It started raining heavily! Dalloway immediately ran for shelter. However, a lot of black paint was lost due to the rain and only spots of it could be seen. Dalloway, not realising this, went to sleep, as he was tired.

The next day, he woke up and saw many dogs staring at him. “He is one-of-a-kind! None of us have spots like that!” they all exclaimed. Dalloway did not succeed in his mission to get rid of the panther, but he certainly earned the title of being one of the most unique species of dogs. Ever since, he and his descendents were called “Dalmatians” which is a combination of Dal (short form for Dalloway) and Matian."

little, quickly-forgotten gems like these are marvellously funny :D

Disability Living Allowance

well, so much for Mrs Thatcher- here's a link to something that helps assess your mental/physical health, "that you may be able to claim if you are under 65 and have a long term health problem, mental or physical, that affects your everyday activities."

essentially, if you're chronically depressed and simply cannot do anything from sheer dysfunctionality, you get an allowance to help you.

i get the strong, strong feeling that a large number of singaporean students could qualify for this.

the pragmatic, stuff-you-if-you-can't-take it singaporean in me says it's a rubbish policy. the pinko-lib in me says... well maybe that's what makes the uk seem a touch more forgiving.

entirely disputable.