Dedications

This was originally in a form of a powerpoint presentation but I typed it out, tweeked it here and there, personalified it <3

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We convince ourselves that life will be better once we find that "special someone" and be swept off our feet.

Then we get frustrated that "special someone" is with someone else and that we keep convincing ourselves to keep searching.

Then we get more frustrated because all our friends have found their "special someone" and we must deal with the lonely movies and for-one dinners.

We tell ourselves our life will be better when we are not alone, when we have moved out, when we have finished university, when we buy that awesome new sporty almost-sitting-on-the-ground ferrari, when we go on a year-long european holiday, when we finally get on with life, when we retire.

The truth is that there is no better time to be happy than right now. If not, then when? Your life will always be full of challenges. It is better to admit as much and deicde to be happy in spite of it all. Let go off those grudges, take off those rose-tinted glasses and embrace life as it is.

For the longest time, it seemed that life was finally about to start. Real no-parents-nagging no-teachers-screaming-at-you-about-overdue-work life.

But there was always some obstacle along the way, an ordeal to get through, some (or a lot) work to be finished, some time to be given, one (or five gazzilion) exams to get trough. Then life would start.

I finally came to understand that those obstacles were life.

That point of view helped me see that there isn't any road to happiness. Happines IS the road.

The ultimate goal that we set is the destination.

So enjoy every moment. Get over grudges. Hug the nerd next to you. Stop teasing your friend about his so-called girlfriend.

Stop waiting for school to end, to lose 5 kilograms, to gain 5 kilograms, to get fit, to finish those exams, for work to begin, to get married, for that "special someone", for Friday evening, for Sunday morning, waiting for the weather to be better, for spring, for summer, for autumn, for winter, for university, for Christmas, for any other public holidays, for your song to be played on the radio, for your crush to like you back, till you get to hug your pop star, for your 21st, to die, to be reborn... before deciding to be happy.

"Happiness is a voyage, not a destination. There is no better time to be happy than NOW! Live and enjoy the moment" -Unknownn.

Now, think and try to answer these questions (&refrain yourself googling them all):
1- Name the 5 richest people in the world
2- Name the last 5 Miss Universe winners
3- Name the last 10 Nobel Prize winner.
4- Name the last 10 winners of the Best Actor Oscar

Can't do it? Rather difficult, isn't it? (without googling at least xD)

Don't worry, nobody remembers that (unless you are Google).

Applause dies away!

Trophies gather dust!

Winners are soon forgotten.

Now answer these questions:
1- Name 3 or more teachers who contributed to your education.
2- Name 3 or more friends who helped you in your hour of need.
3- Think of a few people who made you feel special.
4- Name 5 or more people that you like to spend time with.

More managaeble? Not so stressful? It's easier, isn't it?

The people who mean something to your life are not rated as "the best"( or the "special one"), don't have to be loaded, haven't won the greatest prizes (unless
you count your heart)...

They are the ones who care about you, take care of you, those who, no matter what, stay close by.

Think about it for a moment. Life is very short.

And you, in which list are you? Don't know?

Let me give you a hand. You are not among the most "famous", but among those to whom I remember to dedicate this message to...

Some time ago, at the Seattle Olympics, nine athletes, all mentally or physically challenged, were standing on the start line for the 100m race.

The gun fired and the race began. Not everyone was necessarily running, but everyone wanted to participate and win.

They ran in threes, a boy tripped and fell, did a few somersaults and started crying.

The other eight heard him crying. They slowed down and looked behind them.

They stopped and came back.. All eight of them...

A girl with Down's Syndrome sat down next to him, hugged him and asked "feeling better now?"

Then, all nine, walked shoulder to shoulder to the finish line.

The whole crowd stood up and applauded. And the applause lasted for a very long time...

People who witnessed this still talk about it.

Why?

Because deep down inside us, we all know that the most important thing in life is much more than winning for ourselves.

The most important thing in this life is to help others to win. Even if that means slowing down and changing our own race.

A candle loses nothing if it is used to light another one.

Dedications to (in no particular order):

Naomi, Dollie, Jess, Oliver, Albert, Eric, Dave, Heeyoung, Louise, Isidora, John, Jon, Ellen, Steph, Kelly, James, Jefferey, Kai, Kelvin, Khanh, Lucy, Lulu, Marcus, Dev,
Max, Megan, Jeremy, Michelle, Moyan, Georgia, Nathan, Natalie, Pei, Susan, Susan, Tas, Tuo, Wilson, Zoe, Jenny, Xiu, to everyone at Landmark Education, Theo,
Kurt, Trisha, Leo, Jonathan, Richard, Andrew, Jack, Saizo ('Sarah'), Pei, Alice, Jackson, Joshua, Ricky, Tom, Bri, Jane, Kathy, Nelson, to all my favorite authors
:3 hahah ...., to all the bands whose songs got me through tough times..... <3

Cash Bribes for Teachers?

That's absolutely ridiculous. Teachers get paid cash bonuses due to their stuends' grades? Bribery, that's what it is. Teachers should be able to teach their students without a money-bribe. Should not they aim to see the growth in their students' achievements rather the growth in their bank balance? This is an educational problem and like most things in life, it can not be bought, bribed or sold. There are truly amazing teachers in this state and they do whatever they can in order to benefit their students. For the other teachers that, in comparison, does not work as hard, do your job properly and stop being so selfish. Students in this modern society depend heavily on what teachers teach. Perhaps it is not noticeable now, but give it a few years and when the bubbly teenage students have turned into mature adults, you would see the significant difference.

On another note, not to single people out particularly, there are a portion of students that do not work hard and this has completely abostlutely nothing to do with the teachers' performance. No matter how well the teachers teach (or how much they get paid), their scores drop like a negative expoential graph. With the exception of those with mental disabilities, students should get their butt as well as their mind running to those high scores and meet those deadlines.
Personally, I am terrified of the approaching end of high school and I know that I need to organize my time better. Like many students my I age, I plan for a fruitful life, family (&a few pets), european holidays, and a peaceful retirement. What do I need in order to make my dreams a reality? Money. Therefore, in order to earn the gold, I would need to work hard, achieve an extremely high ENTER, get into university, achieve high scores in university, open up my own business and wooooooooooooooooooooork. So, it's a long hard road (with the hot Melbourne sun beating down), but no pain no gain, right?

One last word, for those that are not so motivated, think of it this way: if you want the golden (literally) life, then you need to work your way out of this tunnel of childhood. All the best~

Yes, I do miss you and what we had.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

So there was a guy that I used to love… well, actually, I still love him, but not in love with him.
Despite the distance between us (him in America and me in Australia), in my opinion, we managed a very close relationship ( : I openly admit that I still don’t know the details of his life very well but thinking back, I don’t think it quite mattered. It was just me, him, and the rest of the cyber-world and it was enough.
He made me feel like the luckiest girl alive and showered me with love that no one I have met in real life had done. He opened me up to a different world where it is acceptable to be clingy at times and to be openly affectionate (rather than keeping it locked away in a dusty old box with creaky hinges). Back then, & please excuse the cliché, he was my life, my soul, my heart. He was the one that I first thought of in the morning and my last thought at night. I would wish upon stars for his wellbeing, his happiness, and most of all, us. Yes, he was everything to me and I could not (& would not) imagine life without.
Unfortunately, as most relationships we experience as teenagers, it ended after a few happy months. I still think of him now and then and I don’t regret anything that had happened. Occasionally, when I feel completely & utterly hopeless and alone, I would even read back over the conversations that I had saved, just to relive the memory, relive the happiness and love.
Now he has his life and I have mine. We are not as close, nor do we talk as much, but as I said then: ‘you will always be a part of my life because you are a part of my memories’. I’m sure whoever he is with now would wholly agree with my views. He truly is one special guy (even though he would never ever admit it himself) and despite his background, he deserves the world. I hope he is happy with his current girlfriend (I know he is <3) and make her feel as special and loved as he made me feel.
Many friends of mine that I have shared this story with perceived the relationship as not ‘an actual relationship’. I don’t necessarily mind their accusations but I do beg to differ.
How would you define ‘an actual relationship’? The warm and fuzzy feeling of being loved and cared for? Seeing your beloved smile and laugh? The closeness?
We had all that and more. I saw him through his words and he saw me through mine. &there was always the endless supply of that warm and fuzzy sensation. In my perception, us humans undermine the power to language and words far to easily. It exceeds the face-to-face boundaries and into the unknown territory of imagination. Whoever that has been in my situation would understand that a cyber-relationship is very different to a ‘real’ one. It really felt then that he was with me… our love was as real and solid as if I could touch it with my hands. I would not be able to count how many ‘I love you’s he had said to me and how many I had returned (though I pretty sure that he said more than me <3). Perhaps to an outsider looking into the shadow of my life, it was just another ‘desperate’ teenage hormone-filled cyber relationship, but to me, it was real and the memories we had would live on forever in my dreams. For me, at least.



Dear Kurt,
If you’re reading this (&I hope you are), thank you for everything. I don’t think everything can even cover the world that you had opened up for me. You were more than just ‘some internet boyfriend’ <3 and I hope you truly know (and believe) that. As time goes by and life drifts on, I hope you live up to your dreams and expectations and reach for those newly-set goals ( : you will reach them, kaa, I know you will~
I just want to let you know that no matter what happens down the track, no matter how alone you feel, you would always have me.
I hope you will continue to be the same beautiful, sweet, stubborn guy that I fell in love with last year pre-xmas because it is who you are and don’t you dare let anybody change you. You’re perfect the way you are.
All the best with life, kaato.


Love always, Liddie.

Ps, don’t forget to sleep, eat, exercise~! After all, you did promise me remember? :3

Well, there goes 5%...

okay.. so methods exam 1 is over... exam 2 next monday D:

im so freaked out man... seriously. exam 1 is straightforward while exam 2 has more twists and turns :S

i need a study score of above 35 but im aiming for above 40 (: but already in exam 1, i've lost at least 5% D:

in one of the questions, it says to antidifferentiate this log base e equation and i remembered all the 1/a and the absolute values but you know what i forgot? i forgot the negative sign because a is NEGATIVE.... I LEFT THAT OUT. the question is worth 2 marks .. so there goes 50% of that >.>


*sighs* i hope i do well in exam 2 . wish me luck world.



con affetto, L.