Enough said. Bottom line, I’m sick of them.

As a result, I made a compromise to really abstain from something this year (usually it fails). I used to abstain from meat, but since 2 years ago, I decided that it’s just too easy to abstain from meat (no need for self-control whatsoever)

So maybe I told Him that I shall try to abstain from shopping unnecessary stuffs. Which is too heavy a cross to carry, honestly, although it will do a good fix on my leaking bank account.

But of course, it’s best to start from the simpler stuff. What about abstaining from excessive daily internet consumption? Oh no, I can’t abstain from internet. And it’s very difficult to define ‘excessive’.

Let me try abstaining from snacks. Another impossible thing to do, lol. Anyway, I have been snacking on yoghurt, which is rather healthy, so there’s no point abstaining from something that benefits my body.

I really can’t decide. But one thing for sure, I can’t even abstain from meat now because, hm well, I’ve turned carnivorous since the beginning of the year (it’s all chicken and chicken and chicken). And it’s very difficult to find a substitute for meat here. The hostel caterer does not usually serve fish (and even if fish is served, I can’t even stand the sight of it, let alone eat it), which I eat as a substitute to meat.

OH HELP ME!!!

I foresee this post is going to be a super random one. I have no choice because lately, I have no inspiration whatsoever to write a new entry for this darling blog.

Let’s start with a quick update on my boring life:

I’m teaching now (temporary, but still…)

I’m addicted to yoghurt (much healthier choice than Ruffles cheddar, fortunately) and fashion blogs

I’m stuck with the December edition of my TIME magazines and I’m trying very hard to catch up

Anyway, that’s all I can think of at this moment. Let’s talk about teenagers now, coming from the point of view of someone who is going to quit teenage phase soon (OH NOOO!!!) I don’t know if it’s me or it’s a teenager thing, but we tend to feel that we own the world and that we are bursting with so much energy and desire to be in charge of our own lives. Sometimes I observe my students, and I realise that some of the things they were talking about are not even the important things in life, but somehow they will be offended if you tell them so. And they feel like they know everything, and there’s no way grown-ups will understand what’s going on. WHICH IS TOTALLY WRONG OF COURSE! It’s quite easy to see through behind their facade, and to see how vulnerable they are, and how they really need someone to guide them along. It’s as if they are transparent to you, hahas.

This is scary. I think back and I realise I might have been transparent to my parents and teachers, too. MAYBE EVEN NOW, I’m transparent to them? This is really a depressing thought.

That’s why sometimes I feel protective of my students *blush*. Some of my younger female students actually caught the eyes of their older male schoolmates. Sometimes I feel like telling those older students “Yo, dude, why don’t you stay away from MY student? Come back when you have conquered the world and maybe I will let you have a small chat with her” LOL cheesy, but really, that’s how I feel.

But, anyway, happy birthday, Barbie. Look at you! I guess you need some Botox, huh? That will be a perfect birthday gift specially from me to you. What? You would rather receive other gifts? No way, Barbie. This is a fabulous gift, and I’m sorry to remind you, but isn’t Ken turning 50, too? That’s alarming, Barb, he might start getting mid-life crisis anytime soon and surely you know many men undergoing mid-life crisis tend to succumb to the temptation of cheating (perhaps that’s just an excuse, and who knows, maybe they anticipate their 50th birthday far more enthusiastically than their 21th birthday). Aww, Barb baby, don’t worry, I’m just saying that it’s a possibility. Now you see how Botox is important. But, psst, you can always turn to Blaine if Ken ever cheats on you. Spending your retirement age in Australia is not such a bad idea, but no more surfing or suntanning please, because last time I heard, the ozone layer there is depleting and I can guarantee that if you continue your suntanning habit, you will not only get wrinkles but also skin cancer. Now, that’s something Botox can’t fix.

Hm, maybe I should give you some fake suntanning treats instead. Perhaps you would like to try “Maui”? Paris mentioned that one in that campaign vidoe of hers. Probably the most fabulous tan in town.

Anyway, these are my birthday wishes to you. I wish you have a good year ahead. I wish you and Ken will be forever together (only if he agrees to do something about his hair, otherwise I’m totally for Blaine). I wish your agency will order more environmentally-friendly hair dyes and nail paints for you. And most importantly, I wish that children will love you more than those hydrocephalic brats and that your dreams come true.

xoxo,

bolstalova

PS: No offence Barbie, this is just a joke although the wishes part are genuinely and sincerely from my heart <3. You are still a favourite doll of mine and I wished Santa, who obviously thought I was very naughty, would have relented and given you to ME (he gave you to my sister, instead).

Current song playing on iPod: “The Crisis” by Enrio Morricone

Current TV shows I’m watching: Gossip Girl, Stylista (finishing season 1, waiting eagerly for season 2)

Current book on the nightstand: “Immoral” by Brian Freeman

Current obsessions: fashion blog, working clothes (I’m working now! Can you believe it???)

Current wants: sleep, a new bag, many new pairs of shoes, a pair of aviator sunnies, money, a good flat iron

Current staple food: wholemeal wheat bread and cheese…oh and oatmeal

Current crush-to-be: a doctor-to-be

1. Aubrey by Bread

(Basically Bread’s songs are very effective in bringing me to sleep. Try ‘If’ or ‘Make It With You’, too.)

2. Together Forever by Carol Banawa and RJ Rosales

3. Have I Told You Lately by Rod Stewart

4. Three Times a Lady by Lionel Richie

5. Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum

I think one of the reasons why these songs get me sleepy is the fact that they are familiar songs that give comfort and remind me of home. Now a list of songs that help me stay awake.

1. The Prayer by Charlotte Church and Josh Groban

(Ok, it is nice and soothing at the beginning, but when they start picking up the notes and ‘screaming’ at each other –Groban in Italian (or Latin, I don’t know) and Church in English, you can’t possibly fall asleep. The song is just too grand.)

2. Don’t Be Stupid by Shania Twain

(I’ve tried listening to Shania Twain’s songs to get myself asleep. Some, like ‘You’ve Got A Way’ or ‘From This Moment On’ or ‘You’re Still The One’, do work. This particular song, however, irritates the hell out of me. Imagine how everytime you are about to fall asleep, and you’re saying to yourself ‘yes, finally, i’m about to fall asleep’, Twain replies curtly ‘Don’t be stupid!!!’ Talk about bursting bubbles.)

3. I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab for Cutie

(OHKAY. So it’s a sweet song. But to listen it in the middle of night, with leaves rustling and wind blowing and wolves howling (the latter is an exaggeration obviously), it’s plain creepy.

4. U.R.A. Fever by The Kills

5. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.

(Definitely a song to get you high, and not one that can get you asleep.)

2. People (or at least people around me) tend to, erm, fall in love during stressful periods, like exams and end-of-year exams for that matter. Nothing implied.

3. Ligands do not exist in hexagonal shapes. (I know somebody is laughing her head off when she read this)

4. The thing I hate the most about exam is that 1-3 minutes waiting for the paper to start in the sports hall.

5. Global financial crisis is not just a macroeconomic issue. I have recently noticed that my wallet is thinning rapidly.

6. Some songs can be totally depressing even though they have cheerful tunes. Check out “Alone Again (Naturally)” by Gary O’Sullivan

7. I don’t like feeling hurt when I’m supposed to be angry.

8. Thanksgiving is a nice tradition. Maybe I should start one in my family

9. Indie songs are not bad at all!!! I regret having badmouthed that genre before, now I totally love indie songs, thanks to a certain popular TV show about a certain borough in NYC.

10. Paris Hilton can be amusing, and not in the dumb-blonde-bimbo way, either. I have gained new respect for her after her rebuttal video against McCain (that was totally original), her interview session with Tyra Banks, and her various appearances in Ellen Degeneres (I hope I spell her name correctly) and her endless torture in David Letterman’s late shows.

Anyway, here’s a quote: “Yesterday’s moral outrage has a way of becoming today’s necessary evil and tomorrow’s common good.”

It does make sense. It’s getting harder and harder not to sin these days, because the surrounding just force us to sin. And I don’t even like to use the word ‘sin’ today, because it sounds so horrible, like I’ve committed some mistakes that cannot be undone, which is not true theoretically (and theologically, through ablution you can fix it), so I’d rather use the word ‘mistake’. And by the way, I have never accepted the notion of ‘original sin’. It just doesn’t make sense.

My priest said one day that the Catholics in the USA are ‘cafetarian Catholics’ because they choose what they want to believe in, and discard others that are not so appealing to them. I guess I’m like them. But how can the church continue to force-feed us some teachings that do not make sense anymore? And how do we know that those are really what God wants?

One day, my mom and I share this thought: what if the entire Bible is just a book of analogy, and perhaps a historical script and a book of moral guidance? Given Jesus’ fondness of analogies, I think this is a reasonable thought. And what if this whole faith thing is not about searching a physical deity? Maybe it’s about reaching a state of peace of mind (because that’s what modern priests have told us today, that heaven is no longer a place, but a mental state) In a way, I love that idea. And especially after I read the book “Eat, Pray and Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert (who seek both worldly pleasure and divine transcendence -something I want, too), the idea of seeking a peaceful mental state and to find the divine deity that rests within us sounds very nice. And I’ve always known that in time of depression, I can’t never rely on others. Okay, so I talk to others, I listen to their solution, but in the end, it’s the overcoming of my OWN mental barrier that help me go through difficult time. It’s about listening to my inner self, and perhaps that’s the divine deity Gilbert has been talking about. I hope so.

But my mom and I were too scared to continue to deal with that notion. It’s just too foreign, and too profound. It changes our entire perception of our religion. And I don’t like how that idea doesn’t offer any explanation about the afterlife (so okay, who can possibly explain that?) I don’t want to accept the idea that after I die, it’s nothing, just a peace of mind, just a long, eternal slumber. Honestly, I’d rather have an Eden with angels floating around playing harps and an endless supply of wine (which is boring in my priest’s opinion). But if that idea is what my religion has been hiding and refusing to reveal it (because it’s too groundbreaking-earthshaking), then by all means, tell us, give us some hints, so that we may finally believe in the power of religions and not wrestling with them continuously, comparing it to science, blaming it for the sorrow of the world, cursing those who spread religions forcefully and insensitively (including many evangelists, in my opinion). And finally, let us have that little peace of mind.

small miracle happens to me today Well, actually you can’t even call it a miracle, since there’s nothing extraordinary about it. But still, it’s miraculous to me: my ancient, spoiled iPod shuffle actually works again!

After almost a year, I can’t figure out what is wrong with my iPod, everytime I plugged it into my laptop, iTunes just won’t detect it. Some forums on the internet gave me some idea that some bugs might have attacked my iPod. But I, never an expert in fixing computer problems, had no idea how to kill the bugs.

Then few days ago, I updated my iTunes (there’s a gap of about 4 versions between my old iTunes and my current iTunes). And today, I just plugged my iPod in again, in the smallest hope that the new iTunes might recognise it. AND IT DOES!!! Love you Steve Jobs!

Now I won’t have to live with the guilt of buying a new iPod and throwing away an iPod that can’t work anymore (okay, weird, isn’t it much easier to use a spoiled iPod as an excuse to buy a new one? But my somehow illogical mind doesn’t work that way) And I have fallen for the new iPod nano, although I can’t decide which colour is the best. My ambition is to buy one using my own money, once I start working next year. (yeah, unlimited wants, limited resources, or rather, non-existent resources since I haven’t even started working!!!)

I JUST SAW A LIZARD IN MY ROOM!!! I hope good luck is on its way to me.