about the holiday camp: it definitely turned out a lot better than i had anticipated. initially i was highly bummed out about the whole thing because it meant cancelling many debate hours which meant losing much $$$ and rescheduling what should have been the most intense training period before nats. plus there's the bone marrow busking drive which is happening now and i'm sure claud is irritated with me for not being around to work the canners during opening week. ah well, you can't please everyone. the thing about the camp is that along the way i realised that it actually does change people for the better, and i feel really good about being part of the whole process. plus some of the things were pretty cool, like the steel rod demonstration and the high beam. i would have enjoyed the outdoor stuff a lot more if i hadnt spent most of the time perched on metal scaffolding which was hell on the butt. especially during the second day when bert kept kicking the beam while the campers were walking on it cos it sent vibrations up the entire scaffolding. i need more fats in Strategic Places, ha ha =P

the other crappy thing about the camp was the sleep deprivation, especially since i'm on my plan to reduce caffeine intake and experiencing major withdrawal symptoms. did you know that caffeine is the world's most abused drug and that moderate caffeine users' brains function at only 70% of their usual capacity when they don't drink for a day? that definitely can't be good. plus i had to room with 2 girls, and as we all know girls take longer to get ready because we are vainer and have more clothing to wear. plus there were morning calls and messages which meant i got quite a bit less sleep everyday, which on average was about 2-3 hours i believe. i'm thinking of finding caffeine pills because they are supposedly better if you're trying to control your intake over a period of time and it's what researchers at harvard and other hoitytoity places use.

apart from this, i'm glad to have met really good people like sheryl bert gillian yehong gabriel who made me not feel like a terribly outsidish person the whole time. i think it would have been better if nobody knew about med school or found out about how i flavr savr so early on though. otherwise i have been quite inspired to not produce royal fuckdom out of my first year, as i have invariably done with JC and secondary school. cadavers are not easy to come by, after all ;)

in other news, i am horribly frustrated with having to put off running plans, especially since me and aud now have a Goal to meet. i contemplated getting up an hour early to go jogging around copthorne a few days, but i considered how the stupidity of this could mean another 6 weeks to a perfect rib cage and was deterred. my sis wants to start using the gym regularly which i think is a good thing because it's been a while since i've used a proper weights machine and i dont care if josie says i should stop lifting weights because they are enlarging my triceps. one day i will become the world's best pilates instructor and then they will all wish they never said anything about my muscle-flab combination, so there.

also, i heard Schubert's Impromptu No.3 in G flat being played about 16 million times a day during camp, which is sad because i thought being able to play it would make me special. now it's almost been reduced to fur elise standards though not quite because the right hand of the piece is still kick ass. i have been meaning to conquer chopin's etude no 10 in C minor (aka the 'revolutionary') but everytime i see the chords i get a feeling of humji which really shouldnt be there because apparently by now i should be able to sight read shit like that. i really am the world's most useless pianist but this is all because my parents never sent me to NAFA when i was young, ha ha ha.

lastly! my sister's taste in boys disgusts me. it's so typical of her to pick the jocks, especially she who publicly lists her criteria for boyfriends as being "drop dead gorgeous, eight pack, not so smart". at her age i think i was already onto bigger things such as johnny depp and michael vartan, though i'll have to fish out ancient blog posts to verify this.

'tis all for now! i'm typing on my lifebook in bed and it's resting uncomfortably on my bladder which needs emptying. toodleS :D