wafblog v3.0

Whoops. I had a draft sitting in WordPress since Thursday that I’d forgotten about. I’ve published it ‘as is’ cos I don’t even remember what else I was going to say. Plus, lots of other things have happened since then.

I graduated on Friday :D I shall be posting photos up soon. Turned out to be a rather hectic day – mainly because I slept in a bit (yeay!) and then mum made us late. But, I still made it to uni in time to get my gown, take a few photos and make it into the hall with time to spare. So that was pretty good. I also didn’t fall down the stairs after collecting my degree, which was a relief. It rained a little bit before the ceremony so we were quite worried that we wouldn’t be able to take any good photos, but afterwards the sun was out in full force. Quite lucky I must say. Also glad the ceremony only went for an hour so didn’t have to try to stay awake. The quote the guy used at the end was pretty amusing too – “Remember to always be yourself, after all, everyone else is taken”.

Manda, Mike and I headed off to the Arthouse to meet up with M1ke who also graduated on Friday in an earlier session. He was only here for a few days and I wanted to meet up with him before he went back to Japan forever. Didn’t end up staying there for long and not that many people turned up, but it was nice anyways. I’d organised dinner with my uni group and this had caused major heartache just planning it. I don’t really wish to rant about it again as I’ve ranted about it more than once now to several people and it’s out of my system. I am still a little disappointed but it’s ok, I’ve learnt my lesson. I enjoyed the meal at Macchiato and it was great to catch up with everyone. It’s difficult to organise those sorts of group outings now as everyone’s working and very busy in general so definitely nice that they made effort to come. After dinner, a couple of us went up to Danny and Cherryl’s office. Played foosball for a bit (lots of fun, but I’m so crap) and then ended up going to Pancakes with the others. I doubt I’ll be going back to Pancakes for a while. I should also note that of late, I’ve found service in the restaurants to be absolutely appalling. In Tony Romas they totally jipped us, in Macchiato it was just slow (and wrong) and in Pancakes it was also slow. For restaurants that are generally considered to be good this was rather frustrating.

Met up with Manda and M1ke for Thai on Saturday. I survived, so I’m happy. Of course, eating fried rice every time I go to a Thai restaurant could become boring very quickly. Plus, to me anyways, Thai food seems like Chinese food with chili and more oil. Neither of which I actually like. Didn’t do much else until the arvo, when Manda finished class. We decided we’d ‘wing it’ for once, and not plan out our entire day. So we made little paper thingies to choose our activities for us. This turned out to be ‘Zoo/Manly’ and then dinner at Kansai (all you can eat sushi for $25!). All you can eat sushi was awesome :D Although the sake was not so awesome and I am now all sushi’d out LOL. We ate quick enough to have time for a ferry trip to Manly and back, which was heaps nice. I think growing up in Sydney, or even Australia for that matter, you’re surrounded by water and beaches so there’s a great appreciation for those sorts of activities. I haven’t been on the harbour since the Anime Christmas Cruise about a year ago…

I keep on thinking of things to write about and then forgetting about them when I get to a computer to blog. Annoying.

First things, got a package in the mail from uni. I will be graduating on November 24th, 2:00pm ceremony. W00t. So 5.5 years of study, procrastination, stress, not going to class and late night assignment work have paid off. I think I’m just glad that it’s over. It seems like uni’s been over for a long time, considering I was only in one day a week last semester and had my final exam back in June. Still, I do miss it and maybe when I look back in 20 years time they will be the best years of my life. Who knows?

I got a call on my mobile from a telemarketer yesterday. Totally screwed my chi for the day. I was like “No thanks, I’m not interested”, and she was like “What if I said we’ll give you a Telstra 850 3G phone for free?”, “I’m still not interested.”, “But you won’t have to pay anymore than you currently are?”, “Look, nothing you say is going to change my mind”. To which she said, “I hear what you’re saying, but we’ll give you a free phone”. By this time I was really really pissed, because I was at work and I had been nice and polite in trying to get her off the phone. I just got so fed up, I told her if she kept talking I was going to hang up. So of course, she said (again), “I hear what you’re saying..” so I said goodbye and promptly hung up. Hearing is not the same as listening, idiot. At least it seems to answer the question of who all those bloody “Withheld” calls I was getting were from.

So I’ve been listening to the Angels and Airwaves album recently. I guess it is punk, although not the sort of punk that I normally like (The Offspring, Blink 182, early Green Day, some other band I’ve forgotten – maybe it was Unwritten Law but I think they were ska). It’s more… melodic and less chugging. There’s also some actual singing. It feels a bit pop, but the tunes are catchy and the lyrics have much more substance. Let’s face it, some of the Blink 182 lyrics were really stupid. I’ve kind of realised that posting up lyrics is in no way a reflection of how good a song is, but it’s not like I can post up an mp3. So how to convey what I really like about a song?

When all is said and done
Will we still feel pain inside?
Will the scars go away with night?
Try to smile for the morning light
It’s like the best dream to have
Where every thing is not so bad
Every tear is so alone
Like God himself is coming home to say

I, I can do anything
If you want me here
And I can fix any thing
If you let me near
Where are those secrets now
That you’re too scared to tell
I’d whisper them all aloud
So you can hear yourself

Green trees were the first sign
The deepest blue, the clearest sky
The silence came with the brightest eyes
And turned water into wine
The children ran to see
The parents stood in disbelief
And those who knew braced for the ride
The earth itself then came alive to say

I, I can do anything
If you want me here
And I can fix anything
If you let me near
Where are those secrets now
That you’re too scared to tell
I whisper them all aloud
So you can hear yourself

I’m sorry I have to say it but you look like you’re sad Your smile is gone; I’ve noticed it bad
The cure is if you let in just a little more love
I promise you this, a little’s enough

(Just a little…)
Angels and Airwaves – A Little’s Enough

So, my exam results were FINALLY released today.
I’ve been waiting and waiting for the last two weeks and getting frustrated because the number of people doing Comp Eng is like 30… so dunno why it took so LONG. But it doesn’t matter now cos they’re out! Ya-woot!
I got 75 for my thesis and 69 for Comp Eng. I’m pretty happy with that considering I was worried I hadn’t done enough work for my thesis and I failed the midsem for Comp Eng. I can breathe a giant sigh of relief now, and sit back and relax. All good :D

I’m so happy for you
I could cry
Yeah, I’m so elated
Cross my heart and hope to die

I don’t normally remember my dreams. Most of the time I wake up and I don’t remember dreaming at all. Other times, I’ll wake up and have a few lingering images in my head. About a week ago, I had the most bizarre dream. Someone I know (and I won’t name who), was trying to kill me. And it was in this weird stalkerish way. I was walking down the street with a friend and this person would come and taunt me. It wasn’t violent or gory, and I woke up before anything particularly unpleasant happened. I just feel really weirded out for like, the next three days. I think I’m *still* weirded out about it, because the person I dreamed was trying to kill me is someone I actually know and would consider a friend. I just found it really unnerving because usually I won’t remember what I’ve dreamed, and honestly, I don’t really remember ever having a nightmare like most people do. I’ve never dreamed that I was falling into a bottomless pit. This is the first time I’ve ever (remembered) dreaming about being chased like that.

But right now
Everything you want is wrong,
And right now
All your dreams are waking up,
And right now
I wish I could follow you
To the shores of freedom,
Where no one lives.

Onto more pleasant things, I had my first session with my personal trainer yesterday. My body is punishing me today. My arms/shoulders hurt from doing push ups (I only managed 8 proper ones \:) and my thighs hurt from the run. But, I did rightly guess that I could only make it 5 minutes running. The personal trainer seems pretty nice, and good at motivating people. However, his favourite phrase is “challenge your body”, closely followed by “overcome the challenge”. That is somewhat aggravating, but I get what he’s saying and what he’s trying to do. And honestly, I’ll achieve much more if I have some goals than if I keep going the way I normally do and don’t push myself. I just have to remember not to take the stairs the next day.

But right now
Everything is turning blue,
And right now
The sun is trying to kill the moon,
And right now
I wish I could follow you
To the shores of freedom,
Where no one lives

I’m sweating it out at the moment, waiting for my uni results to come out. The MyUni thing says that official results will be mailed out mid July. Well it’s mid July dammit, so why aren’t they at least online? So I am a little worried about my marks, but really I just want them back so I can move onto other things and know that uni is finished. I guess I just want to have one less thing to worry over. I must be one of the most impatient people around, so I hope they realise this and send my results SOON.

I wanna be the first to call and tell you
Yesterday I heard the news
I hear you oughtta be congratulated
So I guess that’s what I’ll do

I’m a bit confused at the moment. I’m not entirely sure I know what it is I want anymore. Or it’s like that work/love/house triumvirate thing is not all it could be. (If you don’t get the reference – watch ‘Secret Life Of Us’). I’ve got the work part, and it’s going well. Job’s good, a bit boring, but most days there’s something new and I’m not looking at exactly the same spreadsheet. The house thing is ok too. Parents are a little more relaxed than they were before, and I’ve got more freedom to go out and do what I want. It’s a really good feeling although I keep having this feeling that my parents are going to turn around and find some reason to stop me from going out and doing what I want. So that leaves the last part. I guess I just want concrete answers. I want to know where I should be heading, and what I should be preparing myself for. Everyone reacts differently, and everyone deals differently. That’s cool. I react by shutting down. Or annoying my closest friends with the incessant need to dissect everything into little pieces. I guess that’s just how it works. I don’t like uncertainty. It’s much much easier to make decisions if you know all the facts. Which comes back to Rosi’s current philosophy that you make your decisions based on what you know at the time and you have to be satisfied you made the right decision. That whole no regrets thing didn’t work out so well.

I don’t think about you every night
Before I close my eyes
I’m so happy for you baby,
I could cry.

It’s been a while since I last blogged although I haven’t been up to much. In fact, I didn’t really do much last week at all. I went to uni a couple of times to study, but it was fairly unproductive. Also got my lab report back and got 70 for it… which was fairly shocking considering the lack of work that went into it and the comments on our timing diagrams that said “what is this meant to show?”. What indeed. So my lab partner and I were pretty stoked about that. As long as we pass the final, we’ll pass the course.

Oh yeah, also was the last time I went to Dtecht. I met up with my supervisor to return some of his texts and he took me out to coffee. It was pretty nice, and it was good to speak about things not related to the project. He asked a lot about choosing courses and stuff, apparently IT is not popular this year, and there’s only like 30 students or something. Not sure if that’s strictly IT or BCST, but compared to when I was doing COMP1001, that’s a big change. It’s not too surprising though, I was doing those courses when IT was at its peak. I guess it’s a cycle and in a couple of years IT will re-invent itself and become necessary again.

Kind of went on a movie spree too. On Friday, I saw The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift because I had four hours to kill before Su’s goodbye dinner. Honestly, I never walk into a movie like that with any sort of expectations. I know it’s going to be shit. I don’t expect a plot, good acting or anything. I do however, know that the cars are going to be awesome and the racing scenes will be impressive. So I guess that’s why I can walk out of a movie like that and say it was good. Maybe this is why I can say quite a few movies are good LOL.

Su’s goodbye dinner was alright. Bit pricey cos we went to tapas restaurant. But I got to have meatballs and sausages and fried potatoes so you know, as if I’m going to complain. Went to French Riviera ice-cream place afterwards and got this mountain of ice-cream to share. I really should have taken a picture as I’ll never be getting that by myself. It was kind of sad, cos I know Su’s gone for at least three months, and by the time she’s coming back I’ll probably be going overseas myself. That’s if she comes back. But you know, everyone has to move on with their lives and go out and do what they want or need to. I never pegged her as being one of those people to go overseas to work. Oh wells, there’s always the phone and internet so it’s not like we’ll lose touch I guess.

On Saturday I ended up going to see Da Vinci code by myself. I’d heard mainly bad things about it, and for once they were warranted. I’ll admit right now that I have not read the book and I’m kind of glad I haven’t. I’ve read two other books by Dan Brown (Angels & Demons and Deception Point), and I found them both enjoyable but I think there’s only so much Dan Brown you can take at one time. So yeah, Tom Hanks’ Robert Langdon is not the Langdon I imagined from Angels & Demons, and I doubt the character changed that much in Da Vinci Code. Mostly I was just disappointed that the whole Sophie story arc was blatantly obvious about one-third of the way through the movie. It was a surprisingly L-O-N-G movie. Paul Bettany was pretty amazing as Silas, and Ian McKellen was brilliant as ever, but it just wasn’t enough to carry the movie. So yes, it was fairly bad.

Also saw ‘The Break Up’ right after that. Definitely not what I was expecting. I was sort of expecting some romantic-comedy or something, but definitely not. I’m not entirely sure what the point of the movie was. It didn’t leave me feeling anything, and I half believe the moral is “some relationships just don’t work out”. Well… that’s great. The acting wasn’t bad, and some of the stuff was rather funny but yeah.. I think the ending was just flat.

I finally found ‘The Boondock Saints’, took me a little while to find it as it’s a fairly old movie. But damn it was awesome. It’s gritty, it’s kind of funny and it’s rather gory. It’s a bit like Lock Stock, although not as fun. Billy Connolly at the end was magnificent, and the prayers that the boys say are thought-provoking. The entire movie was thought-provoking even though it’s based around a bunch of vigilantes.

After my exam I’m going to find the time to re-watch 12 Monkeys (my favourite time-travel movie) and Primal Fear, both of which I bought on DVD last weekend. I love 12 Monkeys because it’s probably the only movie where time-travel actually makes sense and doesn’t screw the story line. It also shows Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt in some of their best roles I reckon. I also love Primal Fear. The movie’s a bit of a mindfuck, because you never really know who the bad guy is or what’s going on… Ed Norton was awesome in this movie and the ending is so chilling. Definitely have to re-watch this.

Other than that, I’ve been spending all my time finishing One Tree Hill season 3, Gilmore Girls season 2 and then I started Grey’s Anatomy and I’ve finished season 1 and half of season 2. So much for study huh.

So yes, no more watching stuff until I’ve done some proper study. I’m working two days next week as well, so I really should do as much study as I can now.

Yeap, that’s right. Thesis is done. Over. Handed-in and all that. I stayed awake for 54 hours straight and boy did I pay for it. I think I’m still recovering. It really is amazing though, what you can push your body to do with a few cups of coffee and some adrenaline. Nevertheless, I am NEVER doing this again. Not that I should have to, considering this is my last major project for uni…

That being said, I’m fairly disappointed in myself and probably a little angry too. I know I didn’t put enough effort in, and I really could have done more for my project. Yes, I’ve been really busy this semester with lots of things that weren’t uni, but at the same time, this was my last big project and I could’ve made it into whatever I wanted. I did learn a lot of new things, I’m not sure I had enough time to actually demonstrate that in my thesis either. But at the same time, there was a lot of stuff I didn’t get to investigate and I feel I let my supervisor down a little because he was encouraging the whole time and gave me lots of good advice on what to do and what to research. So on the whole, definitely not my best work, but I do suppose it’s enough to pass and maybe that’s good enough.

Now that that’s out of the way, I’ve just the thesis presentation to do this Friday, and the ELEC4605 Stopwatch assignment. I’ll be concentrating on the latter for the next few days. I bought a VHDL book off Kurt for $20 (yeay for cheap second-hand books!) and I managed to find a torrent for the old version of Altium Designer so at least I can try and see if the code compiles and all that sort of thing. Can’t actually do any testing from home, so that’ll have to wait until Tuesday. I must say, my lab partner’s been mighty understanding. I’ve missed the last two lectures, and I’ve missed two labs in total now. But she’s been all ‘your thesis is more important’ and ‘don’t worry, I’ll just draw up the diagram’ so that’s been a real blessing. I hope that I’ll get to finish off most of the coding so at least I’ll have done my fair share of the work. I do hate writing lab reports though \: I hope to have mine done by Thursday so I don’t have to do a last minute rush job again. But that does seem rather unlikely.

In other news, we got a wireless router yesterday. My dad’s been on his computer every night for the past few weeks, and he’s been bugging me. I find it very hard to work with other people in the room, I guess because I work, I look at LJ, I work, I chat, I work, I check e-mail. And really, no parent ever seems to understand how you can study like that. Plus, he always goes “Ros, why isn’t this working?” and I’m thinking, I’m trying to do work dammit. So finally mum convinced him to move his computer upstairs and we got a wireless router. I gave him my wireless PCI card that I wasn’t using and now it’s all working fine. This also means I can use my laptop upstairs and use the ‘Net! Not that I’d want to – I can’t sit in my chair for the mountain of clothes it’s holding, nor see the desk for the piles of paper on it. So unless I want sit on my bed to study, that’s not a good plan.