a little something

I was pretty surprised that I could clear this (Subterranean Animism Normal 1CC). I guess after a morning of revising Hedda Gabler a few Touhou runs would be fine, and... the run went pretty well. The late-stages were bad, but most of the stuff prior to it was good.

Stage 1 and 2 were pretty much perfect runs; stage 3 went quite well, think I capped everything except 怪力乱神. Stage 4 was tricky; I believe I died to the midboss pattern as well as to Boundary of Wave and Particle. Capped Flying Insect's Nest, which is pretty much the only of the second half cards that I have a shot at. Stage 5 was tough as always; especially Orin; I think I only captured one card - "Thousand Needle Mountain" or something like that. Stage 6... well... I think (hopefully intelligent) use of bombs and lives got me through it. Interestingly, for me actually I think the most capturable of the final boss patterns is actually the last one - the death on that was completely careless. Finished with 1 life in stock and 2.xx power, I think.

Interestingly this is the first time I've played SA in a while. Then again, doing Hard runs of Imperishable Night as well as Extra runs of my own scripted TNN Touhou seem to have improved my dodging skill.

jk.

wisps of air

The holidays are coming to a close, and I guess I've finished my TOK and EE first drafts, which is fine. I'm still rather pissed with myself at being unable to accomplish reading more of next year's texts (namely, Paddy Clarke and Miss Julie... which is actually this year's but I haven't read it!) and also develop some other skills and interests, like playing the piano or the guitar (yes, I do both, though I personally am rather inept at either of them).

My SAT scores have returned; they're decent-good, not particularly great yet not worth complaining too much about either. Daniel Yee outscored me (by 20; not much to say), and I think Hui Jun did (7xx for all 3 categories implies a range of 2100 to 2370; given that Mathematics is likely on the high end, Reading as well, we're looking at maybe a high 22xx?).

I've been going out a bit more the past few days, since I finished off my TOK essay; first with Russell and then with Shaun, Shaun and Hui Jun. It's been a good way to release some stress, though in notably different ways...

Apparently Jayne might be switching out of my class next year. As far as this is concerned, I guess I can say that I'm rather fortunate to be in pt 14; I wouldn't swap it for any of the other classes given the option. True, it might seem that many of my closer friends are in actuality from the other classes (13/15/16?); yet, pt 14 seems to be a nice environment. I guess not sharing classes with friends can be a good thing in a different way as well...

For the duration of this Christmas season, I've tried to avoid using the greeting "Merry Christmas"; and as far as I'm concerned my avoidance seems to have been fairly successful. For some reason, the word "Merry" seems to bear a negative connotation from my perspective; it seems to lack an element of reflection or sobriety that appears appropriate for the birthday of Jesus Christ. True, joy should quite definitely be a part in celebrating such an occasion; yet, senseless joy at the abandon of sobriety appears questionable.

jk.

a night of fellowship.

Thanks, guys. Thanks for all the memories, and for just being really good friends. =)

Hearts on Fire

The MCYC Camp was one of the most eventful camps I can say I've been to. It was only 3 days 2 nights, but I think it was enough.

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Day 1


I honestly didn't expect the camp to go too well (expecting substantial misdemeanor and the like), and the first day was pretty... rough, I would say.


I lost my temper somewhat during Night Games. I was honestly pretty sick of some of the campers disrupting the smooth running of the games, by screwing around during the preparation time. While I don't think it would be too unreasonable to be irritated, I overreacted somewhat. When one of the campers tried to splash me with a waterbomb (before game started) after several attempts to do that to other campers, I grabbed his hand and knocked the waterbomb out.


Doesn't seem too bad, except I forgot that when I'm angry, my grasp can be quite hard. So the relevant camper began to cry a little. I felt bad, but still somewhat justified in the sense of a lack of better alternatives that I could see. I spoke to the camper for a while (there was quite a bit of time before the games started); though I must admit it was more out of my need for self-justification than out of love for the relevant camper. (Tough love, I guess...).


I was really tired out by the end of the day, more in an emotional sense than anything else really.


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Day 2


I enjoyed running the dice station game. I must admit Joel Tieh had very good insight for this one - when I first opened the dice pack, I was wondering: "12 only? That means a structure of 6 - and I have to occupy them for half an hour?" But 12 was more than enough.


I did several things in order to try and solve this - firstly, to hold a somewhat longer introduction to the game, done by talking a bit about math and perspectives in playing the game, and then secondly to add an additional (nasty) rule - the orientation of 2s, 3s and 6s must be correct as well.

The day went much more smoothly (except for the skit, I guess) in an emotional as well as spiritual sense, even though it rained which to some extent was initially bad for the barbecue yet proved to be a blessing in disguise. The atmosphere of togetherness in the hall was, I'd think, preferable to each group being at a separate bench cooking their own food.

I also cleared up an old grudge that I've been having for quite a while. The new feeling of some sense of unity, some sense of amiability is indeed refreshing. Indeed, I believe this is one area where I really need to learn. To learn how to relax; and to learn to love those who, at times, seem difficult to love.

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Day 3

Actually, it was very short; I don't have much to say, honestly. But in general, the camp was, as I said, eventful, and also very tiring. I guess it doesn't help that the SATs are incoming.