The Final Hurdle

As I am slowly dragged towards my 21st birthday (kicking and screaming), I have one more rite of passage to go through as a teenager - the acne breakout. I know some will argue that 20 years old is hardly a "teenager" anymore, but since the Malaysian government considers 21 to be the legal age of an adult, I'll stick with the label "teenager", thank you.

I didn't have much of an acne problem during puberty, but it seems the pimples have caught up with me. Since the beginning of this year, I have had endless outbreaks around my cheeks. They don't come all at once (thankfully), but they do break out one after the other. It is certainly traumatic because I have always had pretty good skin. I use facial cleansers very regularly to keep it oil-free, but they still keep on coming even if I try not to pinch it.

I have no idea why this is happening, but I am praying beyond hope that it is caused by stress. This year has certainly been full of pressure to perform in my final semesters and I really, REALLY, hope that my skin will clear up after I finish. I certainly don't feel the need to propagate the stereotype of pimply-faced IT geeks.

Rock Bottom

I have encountered several times, a piece of shit so hard and so big that it cannot be flushed. I'm not joking; When I enter the cubicle, I will see the carrot-sized piece of doody lying at the bottom of the toilet bowl. I can flush it once, or twice, or even thrice but the stool doesn't move an inch. It's quite amazing how it can remain there. I certainly wonder what those guys have been eating. I myself have never passed a turd as heavy as gold - have you?

Save the Bunnies!

Gentlemen, we have a situation. A situation so serious, so big that it will threaten the entire bunny population. To help you understand the magnitude of this problem, I want you to soak in the fact that all bunnies are cute and important for the Earth's ecosystem:



When I was in Mid Valley Megamall last Sunday, I was trying to buy some carrots for my juicing pleasure. To my horror, I discovered that there's not a single stalk of carrot being sold in the whole mall! Actually I just checked Jusco and Carrefour, but if there are no carrots there, then you won't find it elsewhere either.



If you still haven't figured out the international crisis at hand, you deserve a bonk in the head. With the shortage of carrots, the entire rabbit world is doomed to starvation. We, as the responsible citizens of Earth, must not allow that to happen.

What was that, you say? "They're just animals?" ANIMALS!?!? YOU are an animal if you can let the bunnies die. I want you to look the bunnies below in the eye... no, I said look them in the eye! Don't you DARE scroll past the cute bunny pictures. Look them in the eye. Can you honestly say to the bunnies, "That is the last carrot you will ever taste?" Huh? HUH? You CAN'T, can you?



Once you close the browser window, I command you to write a letter to your local MP stressing this crisis once again. Feel free to include cute bunny pictures. And it wouldn't exactly hurt if you send $500 in cash to me. Y'know, for a good cause and all.

(All pictures stolen from CuteOverload, your one-stop centre for all things cute. Who needs Chicken Soup for the Soul when the pictures there heal your spirit just as well?)

I Would Like to Use My Lifeline

In a recent post, I wrote that The Gang of Four is terrorizing my semester with their incompetence. It is especially difficult for me to pay attention to Blurry and Sleepy. Luckily, my MP3 player has paid off its dues by providing me some soothing music as I listen to both of them do their job half-assedly.

Half-assedly. Hmm, I'm inventing my own words now.

Closure

All humans need closure. To be able to move away from tragic or influential events, they need a sign that it's time to move on. You commonly see this in people who have lost a loved one. They will be rather sad for a period, and suddenly they become OK again.

I found my closure tonight for Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. I started playing it in March, mistakenly thinking that it would be a short game. After all, it is for the Game Boy Advance, so how long could it be? The last time I checked, however, it was 52 hours long. And that is pretty long by any RPG's standards.

The more I played, the more I got hooked. Being the anal-retentive freak that I am, I was insistent on finishing it. Slowly, it began to creep into every aspect of my life. Hours would just disappear while I battle it out in the game. I became demotivated in my studies, frequently turning to it whenever I get a mental road block. I've even stopped listening during lab classes, prefering to level up my characters instead.

There is no better word to describe this but "addiction". I was well aware of it, but I could hardly break free. Even when I vehemently resolved to only play it during lab classes, I still open it up for a quick battle or two during breaks.

But all that came to an end as I battled the final boss tonight. She was tough, but through sheer luck I won the fight on my second attempt. As the final cutscene rolled, I felt a sense of relief. This is it, I thought. This is the closure I was looking for. I have completed a good game, and I can continue my life now. I can begin addicted to my final project! The ordeal is finally over.

That is, until I found out that I can now access secret missions.


Damn.

Perfect Timing

It's inevitable, but I tend to bump into acquaintences at the swimming pool whom I'd rather not acquaint with. Of course, I mean "bump into" as in 'saw someone we know while we're recovering our breaths" and not literally bump into each other as we were swimming.

It's not that they are bad people. It's just that they are a friend of a friend and we don't really have much to chat about. I can almost hear you say, "Oh... THAT kind of acquaintence." It's a matter of politeness and social convention to say Hi to each other even if I don't really remember their names. While it's kinda boring to go swimming alone, I think it's worse if we have to make meaningless small talk when my body is already oxygen deprived. Seriously, if I had to comment on how hot the weather is for ONE more time, I would force my head into the water and drown there and then. At least that would make for a better conversation topic.

However, I have found an alternative that works almost as well without requiring Dad to pay for my funeral fees. It is commonly agreed that Obligatory Small Talk only has to be carried out at the ends of the pool, while we're recovering. I doubt anyone would be thinking of what to say to that guy whose name probably starts with an 'M' (or is it 'K'?) while they're mid-stroke.

So when I'm resting and I see someone I probably have to talk to (but preferred otherwise, thank you) approaching, I will quickly start out on my lap again regardless of how tired I am. That way, we are synchronized to NEVER meet at the same end, but only when we're crossing paths in the pool. Feel free to try it - it's a strategy that works quite well with one or two people.


No wonder I don't have many friends.

To Cut or Not to Cut?

I like reading Kenny Sia, but I rarely comment because he already has 5000 readers a day to write a response. But I couldn't help myself when I read his latest entry, Zhng My Penis. I had quite a reaction to his desire to get circumcised and gave a comment. I posted it below, but you should go read the full post before reading my reply.

I don't think you should go for the circumcision. To put it bluntly, you're just thinking of doing it coz you are:

a) Lazy to peel back the foreskin every time you pee
b) Lazy to wash under the foresking during showers
c) Lazy to practice and improve your sexual techniques so you can last longer

I'm not flaming you, but I think you need some Tough Love. If you go to a real medical specialist, they will advise you to go for it ONLY if you have a medical condition that is caused by your foreskin. You have none of those.

Yes, I understand how it feels like when you're peeing. One minute it goes here, then it goes there, and finally everywhere! BUT, are you so lazy that you can't spend 20 seconds focusing on retracting your foreskin? I'm sure your attention span is not that bad.

Like you, I make sure I clean my foreskin during showers. There's no need to sterilize it - just rinsing is usually good enough. It takes about 5 seconds to do. Again, not too hard.

And when it comes to the delicate issue of sex, there has been no study showing that a majority of women prefer circumcised penis over uncircumcised ones (at least in Malaysia). A person with circumcised penis can still have Premature Ejaculation, and a person with his foreskin intact can still know how to make his woman very happy (twice or more).

In conclusion, there's really no fantastic reason to get circumcised. But as your loyal reader, I support your decision and hope you blog about the outcome :)

As I already made clear, I do not support it. Needless to say I'm not circumcised. It's just irrational for someone to remove a part of their body when it isn't causing them serious problems. For example, our appendix. We all know it serves no function but do we purposely go and remove it if it's not hurting us?

I think that is a sign of the times. People want a quick fix to all their problems, instead of being content. Small boobs? Boob enlargement. Dick looks small? Lengthening surgery. Sad to say I am guilty of this crime too. There was once I almost had surgery to remove my tonsils. But more about that in another post.